Borrowing a verse from the dear 4th and 5th graders on our DI team:

“We are the TIN HEADS with gears so bright

We have prepared with all out might.

We were not foiled, we did not rest.

We wowed you all with our BEST!”

To say that helping to manage Ariana’s Destination ImagiNation team this year has been exhausting would be an understatement, but absolutely nothing compares to seeing the joy and confidence of the kids blossom through their amazing accomplishments.

Adorned with their custom t-shirts, pins and silver cowboy hats, our team had the opportunity to compete at DI Global Finals in Knoxville, TN a few weeks ago.

Tuesday, May 24th–Check into the dorms.  BT and the three boys, LT and three girls.  Dorms look more like prison cells, but the kids don’t seem to mind.  Attended Opening Ceremonies where Ariana represented our team and the great state of Texas by marching in a parade with teams from across the country and thirteen other countries.

Wednesday, May 25th–Breakfast and pin trading with teams from around the globe.  Checked out the competition venues at the Convention Center.  Met middle school team from Abilene, TX.  They roomed across the hall from our team and were so kind and attentive to our kids.

Thursday, May 26th–More pin trading.  Participated in a remote control car team challenge sponsored by 3M. Watched performances of a few teams.  Met up with buddy team of high schoolers from Massachusetts–their team manager, Joanne Taylor, was a HUGE help to us as we prepped for Globals and navigated all the frenzied activities once we were there. Instant Challenge practice with a middle school team from Abilene, TX.

Friday, May 27th–Pin trading, watched performances, team picture taken, Instant Challenge, celebrated team member’s birthday by going swimming and having cake and ice cream. After the birthday festivities, the kids readied their props and built a structure for their big performance the next day.

Saturday, May 28th–Skit practice in an empty parking lot, performance at Convention Center, pin trading, Closing Ceremonies.

Out of the 79 teams in our division, we placed FIFTH overall and won FIRST PLACE honors our skit and props.  My camera broke the evening before their skit, so I need to get pictures from the other parents.

Exhausted?  Just a bit.

ECSTATIC and PROUD?  You bet!

Having funded our pediatrician’s kids’ college funds over the last month with our frequent visits, I was hesitant to take Ariana in for the rash that had developed on her face.  I dosed her up with Benadryl every four to six hours and waited for the rash to subside.

But it didn’t.

And then the school called and said that the rash was getting worse and her face was swelling.

I waited another 24-hours, washed all her bedding and waited for the rash to go away.

But it didn’t.

So I broke down and took her to the doctor.  Even though she wasn’t complaining of a sore throat, they swabbed her throat, and we waited for the test to come back “negative.”

But it didn’t.

Scarlet Fever, aka Strep with a Rash.

Grateful am I for antibiotics and competent physicians and my sweet Scarlet Ariana.

Have you wondered why the blog hasn’t been updated?

Or the laundry finished?

Or meals prepared?

Or why you can’t see my kitchen counters?

Or why The Littles (Tad & Vivi) watch entirely too much t.v. these days?

Or why Bryan and I have bags under our eyes?

It shouldn’t be hard to figure out why … if you use your imagination!

For the past several months, Bryan and I have helped oversee a little team of six 4th and 5th graders as they’ve prepared for the Destination Imagination tournament.

First a bit of background on Destination ImagiNation–”Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is an extraordinary non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Every year, they reach 100,000 students across the U.S. and in more than 30 countries. Destination ImagiNation is an educational program in which student teams solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions at Tournaments. Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the Challenges. Participants gain more than just basic knowledge and skills—they learn to unleash their imaginations and take unique approaches to problem solving.”

We formed a team last year as a chance for Bryan to play a more active roll in Ariana’s life and for Ariana to have an outlet for her bright, creative mind.  She didn’t qualify for the “Gifted and Talented” program at school, so Ariana and I saw this as an opportunity for her to do similar activities and exercises at home.

Last year, the team placed 6th at the regional tournament.  They had a lot of fun preparing and presenting but I think that everyone was shocked at the high caliber of the elementary school teams.

As Fall 2010 approached, half the members from last year’s team signed up again, and we recruited another three kids to participate.  They decided to tackle the “structure building” challenge:

• Design and build a structure made only of aluminum foil, wood and glue
• Test how much weight the structure will hold
• Present a story about a character that is foiled
• Integrate a team-written verse and a published verse into the story

Meeting one night a week (and then more frequently as the February regional tournament approached), the kids worked together to create the solution to their Challenge.  And much to our surprise, they took FIRST PLACE at the regional tournament and qualified for the state tournament to be held in Lubbock, TX.

The six-week period between the regional and state tournament was intense as our house and garage were turned into DI Central.  And even though all the parents were incredibly proud of the work and workmanship of the kids, no one could have predicted that the team would take home FIRST PLACE at the state tournament and qualify for the GLOBAL DI tournament in Knoxville, TN.

Texas is a BIG state!

DI is HUGE in Texas!

And our team should feel ENORMOUS pride about what they’ve accomplished!

Their tiny 8.78 gram structure held 465 pounds, and their skit based on the poem “Homework Machine” by Shel Silverstein was adorable.

When one parent told us last night that her child wanted to wear his medal to bed at night, Bryan and I couldn’t hold back the tears. Some schools only invite children from the “Gifted and Talented” classes to participate on a DI team. Most of the kids on our team are not extraordinary by the school district’s standards. Very few are or ever will be celebrated for their scholastic achievements. In fact, we’re very much like the “Bad News Bears” of DI, if you know what I mean. But I have no doubt that each child on our team will forever remember that they were a part of something special … even magical … and that through hard work, team work, and using their noggins they can accomplish the unimaginable.

Destination … GLOBAL!

A decade ago, I was a brand new mother with a brand new baby who would wouldn’t nurse; who cried incessantly; and who, when not crying, was pooping through more diapers and more clothes than I thought possible.  But despite these early challenges, I couldn’t imagine loving anyone more than I loved her.

I can remember the day I went back to work.  While still dark outside, I crept into Ariana’s room tastefully decorated in vintage-style Beatrix Potter and placed my precious seven-week-old daughter in her crib.  (She typically slept in the carseat by my side during the night).  I carefully covered her up with my “blankie”–a tattered blue and white checked quilt with prairie-point edging that I had received as a gift when I was a newborn.  I knew that my absence was unavoidable–you can’t eat love–and I hoped that this blanket that I had slept with for nearly thirty years would be the next best thing to having me there.

The northeast corner of 45th South and Riverboat Road in Salt Lake City.  That’s where I was sure I was going to die of a broken heart.  As I neared my office, a passage from one of my favorite books came to mind and reassured me that I would survive:

The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine, or than anyone can who has not felt how roughly they may be pulled without breaking. You might be miserable without [Ariana], but even you could live; and not so miserably as you suppose. The human heart is like india-rubber; a little swells it, but a great deal will not burst it. If little more than nothing will disturb it, little less than all things will suffice to break it. As in the outer members of our frame, there is a vital power inherent in it. (Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte)

I endured that day and others like it.  And somewhere along the way, Ariana and I reached a peaceable compromise to nursing, she stopped crying, started pooping in the potty, and has developed into one of the kindest, most amazing people I know.

As the next ten years will inevitably slip by just as quickly as the prior ten, this digital time capsule will help me remember my favorite firstborn as she is today:

1. The Harry Potter books, all seven of them.  She read the series multiple times over the summer and only after parental “encouragement” has she started in on a new series–The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.
2. Legos.  Harry Potter Legos, to be exact, but she loves all kinds and spends hours and hours building and rebuilding.  I love that.
3. An American Girl catalog.  But we’d have to beat Dad to the mailbox; the catalog never makes it safely into the house when he gets the mail.
4. A bowl of homemade soup.  Ariana loves soup, and last week while I was preparing dinner, she waxed poetic about the pan of steamy goodness:   “A bowl of soup is a peace offering to winter.”
5. Denim capris and an Aeropostale t-shirt.  Cousin Claire’s hand-me-downs are Ariana’s preferred garb–nothing fancy or feminine.
6. A wallet full of money.  She’s our little cheapskate with dreams of becoming the world’s youngest real estate tycoon (and owner of a cupcake shoppe).
7. A composition notebook and a big box of crayons.  As author and artist, Ariana is gifted in her ability to write and create.
8. A “pass along” card.  Admirably, Ariana is not afraid to share her beliefs with others.  During the first week of school, one of her classmates was taking the Lord’s name in vain several times a day.  When she heard him use profanity at recess, Ariana chased him down and kindly asked him to stop.  ”I felt like everyone was looking at me run after him, but I knew that I needed to ask him to stop saying those things.”  You go, girl!  May we all be so bold in standing up for that which we deem sacred.
9. A “paino” festival ribbon.  Ariana’s unintentional misspelling of “piano” has become a running joke in our home.  She doesn’t enjoy practicing “pain-o,” but I’d include one of the ribbons she’s won to remind her that good things come to those who work.
10. An autographed copy of Good Eats by Alton Brown.  She’s his biggest fan.

Ariana, I couldn’t be more proud of who you are and what you are becoming.

A state fair/carnival-theme birthday party with the Conway cousins (and Grandma/Grandpa)