Sunday, April 28, 2013

Center stage

Both Reggie and Ainsley took center stage this week.  
Ainsley had her class play, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  She was so excited for the play and did a great job and had a ton of fun.  She told me afterward that she really liked being on stage.  Kinda strange since she is a little shy, but maybe she's starting to come out of her shell a bit.  Her teacher chose her to try out for Goldilocks when they were first practicing and she had to sing the part in front of her class and enjoyed that as well!  According to her, she didn't get the part because she wasn't loud enough.


Reggie had his piano recital this afternoon and he did great!  They had to memorize it this time and he practiced quite a bit.  He played Go Tell it on the Mountain and it had some chords and tricky parts.  It was nice this time because he didn't fight us about doing it, maybe because he has improved so much.  His teacher is very pleased she took him as a student (I bugged her for almost a year!) because he has caught on so quickly and the books he was using she really liked and switched all her students to these new books!


Monday, April 22, 2013

Fun weekend!

It was a busy weekend, but lots of fun :o).  Sat. evening was Rancho's school fundraiser.  It was Vegas themed with gambling and bidding on auction items and raffle drawings.  We didn't win any raffle items, but bid on a party pack and got that for Ainsley's birthday.  So, she and 4 friends will be having a good time at Parti Palooza and Menchie's and it was only $80!  We also got 5 tickets for miniature golf at Boomer's, so I think we'll be doing that soon :o).  We had a great time visiting with friends and dancing a bit....the night went quick and we were booted out at 10, so we decided to have a little treat at the Nestle cafe-there's nothing better than a chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven :o).  I was a little bit worried I would get a headache because every time I drink, which isn't very often, I get a headache-super annoying!  Wine and Tequila are not good for me, but I think Vodka is the ticket.  I had a couple Mike's hard lemonades and I had no issues, which was good because we were up early the next day to head to the sheep shearing demonstration at Ardenwood Farms.
It was a bit of a drive, but well worth it.  Reggie was mesmerized when they were shearing.  They somehow get all the wool off in one big piece!  I could have watched it all day too, but Ainsley wanted to go because she was worried they were getting hurt (they are a bit rough with them).  We saw how they spin the wool to make thread and got a little education on cleaning wool and the history of clothes making.  We also saw a dog herding the sheep...it was a powerful visual and I paralleled it to a mom and her children.  So, I have already referenced a few times that I am the dog and they are the sheep!!!  It was one of the more interesting activities we have gone too.  The kids were more interested in the Peacocks and baby goats though.  There was also an elderly gentleman who was playing guitar and singing kids songs and K and Ainsley joined in the dancing and singing while Reggie was tracking a ladybug.  It was nice to do something a little different.



Later that day, I have no idea why, we went to the pool.  As if one activity isn't enough?  It was almost 90 here yesterday and since Ryan joined my gym, we now have a family plan that allows all of us to go.  We didn't realize this until I was signing him up and it has turned out to be such a great thing!  We now have an outdoor pool to go to whenever we want for only $40 more than I pay per month!  Plus, I can now take all the kids to the gym if Ryan is out of town.  I am pretty sure we'll get our moneys worth as it will likely be a weekly Sunday event.  We are still working to get K warmed up to being in the water, but I think he made really good progress.

With the warm weather has come allergies and for the first time Reggie has them.  He is pretty miserable sneezing a lot and itching his eyes.  I need to look into getting an eye drop because the Claritin doesn't seem to be working as well as I would like.  It is supposed to be in the 80's all week and we may even have to turn on the air conditioning!  Spring is definitely here and are fruit trees are going nuts, even the peach tree we just planted has over 25 peaches already :o).  The smell is so good and last night we had all the windows and doors open and there was such a sweet smell coming in from the lemon and orange trees.  I love this time of year and I love my family!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Spring break

The Rinehardt's came for a visit over spring break and 5 kids and 4 adults in one house (well 1 1/2 houses-Liha and Wade stayed in the Casita) was a little crazy, but surprisingly manageable.  We made the mistake of having a sleepover one night and the little ones were awake until 9:30 which meant for some grumpy 3 year olds the next day!
It was a nice mix of activities and down-time.  The trampoline was a huge hit and the dad's and kids played take-out at least once a day.  The kids were out there several times every day and amazingly no one got hurt, well hurt enough to need medical attention!  We went to the Jelly Belly Factory, Parti Palooza, the movie theater to see The Crood's and made a visit to the golden arches and Sweet Tomatoes.
The adults had some fun too, playing shuffleboard (I have to say that Liha needs to spend a little more time in a bar with Shuffleboard.  As her partner, it was ugly!), balderdash, Mexican Train and watching some good old t.v.  I think we got them hooked on the Voice :o).  The weather was pretty decent, a bit all over the place, but not like the rain in Washington.  The kids were outside for several hours everyday, playing in the sandbox, collecting snails, riding scooters and playing in the play house...Liha was almost convinced to move here, but when I sent Wade a job, she backed out!
Maggie and Spencer ate all kinds of things they don't normally eat and I was proud of them for trying new things and eating all their vegetables.  The girls picked a few lemons and tried to eat them, but they didn't get very far.  I'm surprised they were able to get them off the tree with all the bees, busy doing their thing.  The yard still smells amazing from the flowers on the trees and I think we are going to have a big crop of lemons/oranges next winter :o).
The picture behind us is made out of jelly beans!






 Our kids got to try some new food too, but they volunteered to eat the cookies :o).  That is the first time in our new oven has made cookies and we ate them quickly which is why our oven won't make cookies for a long time!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Late Birthday Post

We discovered last week that Ryan put a nice post on Facebook for my birthday.  Being new at Facebook, he didn't tag me and even though he told me to check my page, nothing was there from him.  I thought he was wanting me to see what others were posting.  Glad we figured it out :o).  Here's his nice words:
I want to wish my beautiful wife Happy Birthday! 10 things I love about Trina. I love that she's filled with the Holy Spirit, I love her smile, she's a selfless person, she is a fantastic mother of our children, she's ridiculously smart, I love that she loves college football even though she's a Husky, I love her decision making skills, her love for life, her loyalty, her friendship. I love you so much Trina and thank you for being born. Have a wonderful day!!!!

Easter!

The kids had good Friday off and K had a visit, so I took the Reggie and Ainsley to church and they came in the sanctuary with me.  I got a bunch of questions from Ainsley and Reggie thought it was boring.  I think they were both glad that they usually go to Sunday school.  It definitely got us all in the right place for Easter :o).  Later that day, I decided to take them to the gym to go swimming.  They have a couple outdoor pools and we had such a nice time.  Reggie got his dive, but we still have a bit of work to do on his flip turn.
Easter Sunday was a fun day spent with friends.  The kids each had an easter basket, but we made sure they knew it was from us and that we were giving them gifts in celebration of the gift God gave to us.  In talking through a lot of it, it seemed a little hard for kids to understand (the whole sin thing and God having to die so that we could be forgiven), but at the same time they accept it.  We started at the Penner's for a late brunch and then went to the Williams for an early dinner.  We had lots of food, good company and they kids played hard and had 2 easter egg hunts.  Reggie got the golden egg at the Williams which had $5 in it.  You can imagine how excited he was about that :o).  We have a lot of candy in the house right now!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are often reminded throughout the year of the sacrifice God made for us :o).
 Really....what am I supposed to do with a real egg??