Overwhelmed

Yes, yes, I'm still here. Just totally behind! I'm pretty much caught up on laundry, totally unpacked, the mail is all sorted out and almost all dealt with, and most importantly, we DID survive Avery's 3rd birthday party today. Phew. It was gloriously insane. 10 kids total, from age 1-1/2 to 6. It was a good spread of ages, and everyone had a great time. Avery, however, was a little overwhelmed, and did spend some time in her room, some time under the table, and some time on the floor with her "boo bankie" (blue blanket) in hand. She seems a bit quiet and shy in groups, her own birthday party included.

Thanks to all the kids (and parents): Kate, Katie, Sarah, Sean, Tina, Brian, Noah, Reyna, & cousin Heidi (all the way from Seattle). We all had a blast! Avery couldn't quit talking about how great her birthday party was (and couldn't wait to dig into the toys) this evening.

She went to nana Noma's last night around 7:00pm, and didn't come home until 11:00am this morning, so Devon & I had a chance to get the cakes & cupcakes made, the decorations up, the games planned, etc. Then she came home, and had to keep her hands off for 4 hours -- it was torture. We went out immediately to try to catch up with Santa Claus, who was in town at the train station, but so did every other kid in Vancouver, so faced with an hours-long wait in line, we decided to come home & try to keep busy. She did great, but she could hardly keep her hands off her party favors. No big surprise there, I suppose.

I have this fantasy of spending a good part of the day tomorrow sorting through my pictures and getting them updated here. Hang in there, I'll get caught up here soon. I mean, how are you all surviving without our daily soap opera (ha-ha!!).