Non-stop

In the midst of our crazy gymnastics saga, Reggie had a swim meet and K had several soccer games!  They are both improving and it is a lot of fun to watch.

We also managed to squeeze in the walk-a-thon/carnival at Rancho.  Reggie and K played games and did the climbing wall.  

Thankfully, Ryan hasn't traveled much because things overlap and I just can't make it everywhere we need to be (he is traveling this week and tonight we had soccer, our foster support group meeting and Ainsley's gym-had to skip soccer and leave the group early!).  I will just do the best I can.  I don't know how people have their kids in multiple sports!  Tomorrow isn't much better....gym, swimming, visit from the social worker and an appointment for Reggie's headaches at the Cranio-sacral office.  This schedule makes naps tough for K because there's just no time after school and having to pick up Ainsley at 7:30 pushes out bedtime for him and I am just hoping he can hang on until we can find a day to nap and catch up on some much needed sleep.
I have also been trying to figure out what to do with a couple of feral cats in our neighborhood.  Ainsley thinks she is the animal whisperer and decided to befriend one of them and we've been feeding it for a few weeks.  Now that he is comfortable with us, he is quite loving and very friendly.  He and Elsa play through the screen and I have been trying to find a cat shelter that will fix him up and give him shots.  Only 1 of the 5 places I have called is considering helping, but they are swamped.  It would be nice to be able to let him in, but without shots, there's no way that is happening.  Even though he is friendly to Elsa through the screen, I am not so sure what he would do face to face.  "Leo" has started bringing his brother around and he is a trouble maker.  We saw him in a cat fight this morning and he isn't nearly as friendly, although he is warming up too.  Yesterday, I opened up the door and the 2 of them came running.  I felt like the cat lady....

Oh, gymnastics

It has been a bit of a whirlwind the past couple weeks.  It became very evident at Ainsley's first meet that the coaching situation was still a huge problem.  The girls had considerably lower scores on 2 events and the coach on those 2 events left the meet when his events were done!  The parents were fuming and they have been talking about the coaching issues since we returned.  I told the parents it was probably time for us to voice our concerns.  I had gone to both coaches and didn't get anywhere, so that really left one option.  Long story short, I sent an e-mail to the owner and sent that e-mail to all the parents and encouraged them express their issues.  Several parents did and thanked me for speaking up.  It was on Wed. that the owner found out I started everything and he was so angry he expelled Ainsley from the gym :o(.  Let's just say, I didn't sleep much that night, thinking about how I ruined her gymnastics dreams in mid season.  First thing the next morning, Ryan called the one gym we hadn't been to, Edge (I didn't want to drive the extra few minutes).  Ainsley was evaluated and encouraged to attend the practice the next day.  I was awake that night, thinking about all the possibilities of this new gym and that she might actually make her goal of qualifying for state.
It has been really hard for her to understand and we've had lots of talks about God and how things can seem really bad and hard, but there's a purpose and He knows best.  She misses her friends and I miss mine and the comfort of what we know, but I have to say that God did not want her there and that door was shut for a reason.  So, it was a long week of practice (4 hours, 3X a week), but I think she is getting used to it.  We've encouraged her to snack because I know that will help.
The new gym is amazing on lots of different levels.  It is huge (2 floors and like 9 beams!) and the coaches are very attentive and give good instruction, but the girls have lots of fun.  It is what we've been searching for this entire time.  They have been so accommodating, the parents are really friendly and get this......they had one competition suit left and it was just her size.  That is the biggest issue when you switch gyms mid season, trying to get the uniforms and getting signed up for meets.  We were lucky because the home meet was this weekend, so they had a lot of flexibility.  After only one week of practice there, she competed with her new team on Saturday!  She was really nervous all day, wanting to get back into soccer and talking silly and it was even worse when we got to the meet and I fixed her hair wrong.  She was in tears and asking to go home.  She managed to get it together and thankfully, they started on vault, so she could get her nerves out.  Vault has been a struggle for her...she scored a 6.6 at the last meet and it was the event that kept her from going to state.  She was all smiles when she got her score of an 8.3!
Vault at 1st meet (notice how slow it is):

Vault at 2nd meet:

Here's her much improved bar routine (almost a point higher):

She qualified for state and was so excited :o).  We went to help out today and she got to hang out with her new friends and I think she has a bit of a different attitude now....change can be a good thing!

Busy, busy

We are fully engulfed in school and sports!  All the kids are really enjoying school and getting back into a routine.  I was dreading getting all 3 moving in the morning and in the car on time, but I devised a star system and so far, it has been working really well and I am not sure if I've even raised my voice yet.  What usually drives me crazy in the mornings is repeating myself over and over of what they need to do, so I decided to make a list for each of them everyday and when they finish a task, they erase it.  If they get their list done, they each get a star and after 20 stars they will get a prize.  It has been working so well that I've added chores like scooping the litter box, vacuuming, practicing piano, taking out the garbage, unloading the dishwasher and making part of their lunch and I am surprised at how productive they can be in the morning :o)!!   If they are all in the car by 8:10 they get a group star and after 20 stars they will get to go to the movies.
I have really been enjoying my mornings where I can catch up, grocery shop, work-out or read without any interruption.  Not sure that I'll ever be totally caught up, but I am going to try to get as caught up as I can because tonight is back to school night and I'll have a pretty good idea when I will volunteer in the classroom.
School has been huge for K...He struggled a bit after we got back to California.  Change is hard for him and it seems that restarting visitation brings up some questions in his mind.  I don’t think he is sure what is going to happen and his behavior digresses.  I did a lot of extra therapy with him and it has helped, but a few weeks ago he had a lot of issues with controlling his body.  I changed his sheets 4 times because he was wetting the bed and then he pooped in our gym pool :o(.  It is hard to describe his other behavior struggles we’ve had during that time, but I will say that if someone didn’t know him, they might think he had ADHD.  He had very little awareness toward his surroundings and an inability to control his body movements.  
 At 3 in the morning, I was awake for a long time trying to understand what might be going on in his little head.  The next day, I decided to ask him a bunch of big picture questions about his life and being a foster child to see if anything was bothering him.  He answered yes to only one question, “Are you worried you are going to move again.”  We talked through it and he cuddled up and was able to just sit still for 10 minutes, which was huge progress.  We revisit this every so often and I always tell him he is staying with us, but maybe because he isn’t a “Wade” yet, he doesn’t believe it.  Things seem to be better after our talk and then when school started, he really turned a corner.  I think because they are all at the same school, he feels more secure and the same as Reggie and Ainsley.  He also started soccer and that may be helping as well!

Here's a cute conversation between K and his soccer friend-the dad e-mailed me....said it made his day :o).

Brandon: Khalif does your mom know how to read?

K: Yes. She reads the Bible.

Brandon: I have a Bible with pictures in it.

K: My Mom has a big Bible. Do you know how to read?

Brandon: No, but I read my Bible.

K: Did you know that the Bible is all true?

Brandon: Yep and Jesus is good.

K: Yes. Look at my pichachoo.....

Ainlsey has been going to gym 4 days a week and loving it.  She is getting ready for her first meet this weekend, but seemed to have tweaked her groin yesterday, so could barely walk.  I hope it heals quickly, but in my experience, the groin injuries linger, but I guess she has youth on her side!  We managed to fit in a couple of horse riding lessons (her birthday present that I won in a raffle!) and she loved that.

 Reggie had a swim meet last weekend and had some huge improvement since his last competition.  He got an "A" time in the 50 free-still not sure what that means, but it is good and puts him in a more competitive group.  He also really loved doing the breast stroke and placed 2nd in his heat.  He seems to be enjoying it more and more :o).  The babysitter came on Sat. and Ryan and I took Reggie on his scout hike at Big Basin.  It was so enjoyable to have some time with just him.  The trees were amazing and we learned a lot from our guide.  The drive was a little nerve wracking, lots of hairpin turns and skinny roads (not even wide enough for stripes) and since we were late, Ryan was driving like a maniac.  I was so carsick on the way out, just hoping I didn't toss my cookies!
This tree is a few thousand years old!  You can see it withstood a fire or maybe more than one fire!