Monday, August 25, 2014

First day of school!

What great looking kids on their first day of school!  K was just a little excited....had a very hard time containing himself!  Ainsley was a bit nervous because she didn't know much about her teacher and was bummed that Ginger was not in her class.  Reggie was cool as ice, as usual, easy peasy.  He has one of his good buddies in his class and was very happy about that.  We started a star chart to get ready in the morning and have everyone get in the car on time with no yelling from mom!  It was a fabulous morning and I hope it lasts :o).  They all seemed ready to go back and I was very ready to have them go back :).  I chatted with friends all morning and then went to the gym for a nice work-out....so nice to have some adult conversations!!!
K has Mrs. Pastranak, Ainsley has Mrs. Mastrantonio and Reggie has Mrs. Mitchell.  They all reported after school that they had a fabulous day and loved their teacher's.  Reggie said his was really funny and Ainsley said her teacher called her Sweetie (if only she knew!).  K had several friends from preschool, church and the gym in his class, all boys, so there was probably some serious energy, but I didn't hear about it, so all is good.  He told Ainsley he loves school, YES!  Reggie and Ainsley were playing 4-square together at school today :o).  I am curious and excited to see how this year goes for all of them and how they learn and grow.  
On another note, we had some excitement early Sunday morning.  I woke up at 3:20 to our bed rolling like we were in the ocean.  I quickly realized we were having and earthquake and woke up Ryan.  He ran out to the dining room and we were trying to figure out if we should get the kids and get out, but before we could even move, it was over, thank God!  The epicenter was near Napa, about 70 miles away and it was a strong earthquake (6.1).  One of the more powerful I felt and we've been in about 4 now (2 in Washington, 2 in California).  Thankfully, it was short, 10-20 seconds or it would have done some major damage.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Happy Birthday Ainsley!!!


Hard to believe Ainsley is going to be 8 tomorrow!  She had a friend birthday party yesterday and I saw an older side of her that FREAKED me out.  I'm not quite ready for what's coming in the near future.  She was a little excited since she hadn't seen any of her friends the whole summer!  She decided to invite only her really good friends, which was great for us!  3 was totally manageable :o).  We went to see Maleficent and then came back to open presents and have strawberry shortcake.  Unfortunately, Ainsley got her first headache, but thanks to Ibuprofen, it passed quickly and she could enjoy her sleepover with Ginger :o).
Anne-Sophie, Ginger and Naomi
 In her happy place

She had a few birthday festivities before we left for California....Grandma took the girls to the American Girl Cafe and Aunt Liha took her to get a pedicure!
 Her toes are still looking good!
I feel like Ainsley grew up a lot in just the past couple weeks!  Her new gym camp wasn't going well and we were out of gym's to try and I suggested we go back to her old one and she was up for it.  Monday was her first day back and she was on cloud nine.  I could tell she was feeling confident and super happy to see her friends.  She learned a lot on this little gymnastics journey and she is better for it.  Things changed a bit at her old gym for the better, so I hope to be there for a really long time!
What can I say about Ainsley....she is my thinker.  We can talk and talk when she is curious about something...she'll fire question after question and I love that about her :o).  She's our stinker....poor thing takes after me and got BO at age 5, but thanks to our lemon tree, it is manageable.  She is super physical...loves to play take-out and is usually upside down in our house (I can no longer beat her in a handstand contest...not even close!) and goes a little nuts if she doesn't have that outlet.  She has the greatest giggle and laugh.  She is still the troublemaker!  We were reading old Christmas cards the other night and 2 of them mentioned her picking on Reggie-I'd like to think this is improving, but it is hard to tell since she has 2 targets now.  She is so sweet with babies and has such a mother instinct-she will drop everything to hold one.  She loves to cook with her Grandma's (I wish I could provide her with that opportunity more often, but I do not have that gift).  She is very protective of her brothers, intervenes when they are upset and tries to make things better (when Reggie lost his wallet, she gave him $5 of her own money!).  She is still our little teacher, although now she is starting to teach K gymnastics :-o.  Ainsley is a special girl with lots of love and laughter and I can't wait to see how she grows and learns this year :o).
She is 51 1/2 inches tall
She is 61 pounds