House projects

Well, our HVAC project didn't exactly go smoothly.  When we ran the air conditioner it would blow really hard and then stop and then blow really hard and then stop, but occasionally, it would work correctly.  Miller's was great about troubleshooting but they had never seen this before.  They replaced basically the entire unit, moved stuff around, put in a ground and still no luck.  Finally they did some electrical testing and it was getting feedback from a couple wires that were touching (or something like that-I didn't really understand).  So after several months, we finally have a working system (the last visit and fix left me with a lot of questions based on how it was working and they were not able to answer my questions, so I guess we will have to wait until next year to find out if the problem is truly fixed).
There's actually a lot of things we need to do around here and the driveway is one....dad fixes it almost every time they come but it is still a cracked mess.  I would like to move the driveway to the street side and make it longer so we could have the option of parking 2 cars in the garage.  It will become more important when the kids start driving and if Ryan's company does a car allowance instead of a car (he wants to get a Tesla).  We had absolutely no idea how much something like this would cost and we only had one contractor who came and followed up with a quote.  We've heard they are so busy and can pick and choose there work, so it we definitely don't have the upper hand.  The quote was around 50K which didn't seem worth it for either of us but as I looked at the quote, I realized if we found someone to do the work themselves and not contract out everything and changed a few things, it would drop down to about 35K which is worth it to me since replacing the driveway alone is around 17K.  So, we will see if we can find anyone, but I'm not thinking this will happen anytime soon.
In the process of dreaming about that, I did realize there's a very small project that will make my life so much better!  I don't have a pantry and haven't since we've been married.  It is very hard to have enough food for these hungry children with no place to store it (right now our utility sink is being used as a pantry!).  We have a room on the other side of the kitchen that is overflow for a lot of different things, but if we cut access to it and closed off the existing door, it would be an awesome place for a pantry.  The one problem was the electrical panel is where the door would be :(.  We got a couple quotes to move it and it wasn't as much as we thought, so that was finished last weekend and hopefully, by thanksgiving, I'll have a pantry!!!

Ainsley

It was a long summer for Ainsley....she got sick right after the 4th of July with a sore throat virus and after several days, I took her in because it wasn't resolving.  They checked her for strep and she didn't have it and started to rebound a bit, but then started complaining about a sore throat again a few days later.  We were at Lummi and I looked at her throat and she had white pockets, but no fever.  I decided to take her in on our way home and they did another strep test and it was negative.  2 days later they called and said it was positive, so she had a different strain that wouldn't show on the rapid test.  Finally, an answer and an easy fix.  We picked up her antibiotics and the label said 7 days...what?  That didn't seem right to me so I gave her everything in the bottle which ended up being about 9 days.  You could still hear her throat was swollen and a few days later she complained again, but it was close enough to our trip home that I decided to wait it out.  Just about that time, Khalif got sick and was complaining of a sore throat.  He had a mild fever and was playing with Easton who was also sick.  I finally looked at his throat and he had pin pricks of blood which looked like Hand, Foot, Mouth.  We let Dustin know, but he took his kids in and the doctor said it wasn't HFM, it was another virus in the Coxsackie family, Herpangina.  Who names these things??!!  It wasn't long after and Ainsley got that too.  I think Reggie and I were immune since we both had HFM when he was a baby.  Her white pockets returned, but no strep.  Her doctor was amazed at the series of events and was very sympathetic but could offer no help.  I think she spent about 80% of her summer with a sore throat!  Miraculously, she was only out of commission for a few days and ended up just rallying and doing most everything sick.  We went to see our acupuncturist when we got back and she improved so much overnight, but it still took several weeks for her tonsils to recover.
School started for her not long after feeling better and she was back at trampoline and started fall volleyball. 
First day of school-they look so old :(

She was very nervous to go back to trampoline after taking the summer off and was talking about not going back but it was easy to see that she was actually afraid to do her skills.  I made her go and everything came back quickly and she has been loving it.  She will compete level 7 starting in December.  The season goes through May which will be interesting because club volleyball is at the same time!  We are really keeping our options open so we can try to have her do volleyball on opposite days of trampoline.  She is really loving volleyball and has improved a lot the last few months.  Try-outs for club are in a couple weeks and that will be telling as far as what her skills are.  I don't know volleyball at all, so I have no sense of how she is doing.  I will say, it is a bit over the top just to try out....you have to sign up for USA volleyball and pay for each try-out.  I'm thinking this will be kind of intense, but we shall see.
I haven't been there in time to see her trampoline routine, but I saw her latest on double mini:

Ainsley has had a lot more time on her hands which is a good and a bad.  Good because she is able to do more things and be a little more well rounded, but bad because she hasn't quite figured out how to prioritize and she ends up wasting so much time and then has to do her homework late at night.  So, she is showing us this month that she can organize herself and put in a little more effort into school before we sign up for another volleyball commitment.  I know she is capable because when she had no time, she was so much more efficient and was able to get things done.  Maybe its her hormones????  She is full blown tween and has an attitude sometimes that is very challenging. I'm just thankful that she tells me things.  I hear from so many moms that they have no idea what is going on (that is kinda how we feel with Reggie, since he isn't much of a talker).  The tricky thing is trying not to react when she tells me things.  So fun being a parent sometimes!
Perfect example is the dress below.  She pitched a fit about wearing leggings.  Thought it was fine without and I told her to bend over and sure enough her butt was hanging out!  Then she understood, but it doesn't help when she sees others wearing inappropriate things (although, it does help at times because she recognizes it).

Pinot's palette-she loves the explore her artistic side

Reggie

Big milestone for Reggie this year...the start of high school!!! 

 His buddies decided to walk together on the first day

The high school schedule has been a bit of an adjustment.  Reggie is out the door at 7:45 and doesn't return until 3:15.  He has a full schedule (some of his friends are missing a class) and it isn't an easy one, Geometry, Biology, English, FIT (freshman in training) and Social Science.  So far he is hanging steading with all A's and a B+ in Biology!  He was very nervous about Geometry so he looked in the book before school started and thought he would be o.k. and he just got 100% on his quiz.  The teacher found him and said to come to her if he ever needs any help because she wants him to get an A+!  We have seen a lot of maturity this year and although he still needs a little coaching, he is managing his classes really well.

Our house seems to be the drop off and pick up location and he and a friend spend some time everyday after school playing their game.  We just had a family meeting on Friday to reel everyone back in and make sure we aren't spending too much time on our devices (Reggie was playing every night and we have a rule of no screen time on the weekdays!).  These kids are always pushing the limits and unfortunately, they are growing up in different times and aren't able to manage their devices in a healthy way.  Its hard because many of his friends are on playing fort night for hours and hours.  I have told him if technology is what you like, then find a way to use it for good.  We have a retirement home just down the road with lots of elderly who could use a little help.  So far, he hasn't figured out how to make that work for him.  He will be going to work with Ryan for the first couple days of the Thanksgiving break to spend some time with some engineers at Molex to see what real life work in that field looks like.  Maybe he will pick up a new hobby!
We've encouraged him to try new sports at school and he is not even a smidge open to that, but we are strongly suggesting (actually, we are forcing) him to try out for the swim team in high school.  It hasn't been easy finding a new place for him to swim since his team is on hiatus for several months.  He is so resistant to change and going to new places, but we'll work through it.  I gave him his swim options and he chose the one with a lot of change and swimming in multiple places, so we shall see how that works out!
Reggie at a swim meet this weekend.  He got his BB time for the freestyle, his favorite and best stroke.

Homecoming was this last weekend and he and his friends had no interest in going to the dance, but we did go to the football game, a first for him.  I think he liked the snack bar best!
Hanging out with friends instead of going to the dance

Khalif

Khalif had a birthday over the summer and got to celebrate it multiple times...lucky boy!  We had a small family party and then an extended family party and then when we came back, he had a friend party!  We went to pump it up and ice cream with a couple of his best buddies, Miles and Kadin.  They had a blast and it was such an easy party for me to manage and thankfully, we were able to fit it in before school started.

His friends know him well....

We had some ups and downs this summer and unfortunately, we had a walk in the woods that brought on a lot of fear and took him to a place in his early childhood and there was no rationalizing with him.  I was particularly discouraged by this since we spent a year doing EMDR to overcome his trauma.  It appears we will have to learn to deal with it on an ongoing basis.  He is finally starting regular therapy next week....we often revisit some of the days issues and he doesn't know why he does what he does and he doesn't want to continue these habits, but he can't seem to stop, so hopefully, she will be able to give him some tools.
The start of the school year was a good indication that he needed some help.  He had his two best buddies in his class and got the teacher he wanted (and she is so amazing!), so things should have been great and they were, but he could not harness his energy, excitement and spinning mind.  His teacher talked to him several times a day and they had a couple heart to hearts and then she talked to me and I decided it was time to give CBD a try, rather than go through all the school testing.    Anxiety can look a lot like ADHD.  His teacher asked me if he ever stopped talking and it made me really aware of how much he does talk and how active his mind is, to the point where it is counterproductive sometimes.  So, I had a consultation and was given instruction on how to dose, but unfortunately, Khalif can't necessarily give an accurate assessment of what is happening in his body.  After the 3rd day of him noticing nothing, I decided to ask his teacher.  This was her response, "I almost sent an email today to compliment Khalif.  I told him today how proud I was of his efforts this week.  He is so much more engaged, full of timely questions and doing really well socially.  I hope you are seeing the same changes at home.  He is such a wonderful kid!"  I guess it works for him!!!  Although it wears off by the time he gets home.  We just had his conference and she asked if I had any concerns, so I brought up his behavior and she said that a month ago, that would have been the topic for the conference, but he has settled down so much.  Phew!  She said she has maybe 1-2 kids like him per year and sees him being a merit scholar someday, so thankfully, we don't have to worry about his intelligence!  He is very bright :).
First day of school

We also started Jujitsu last month and it was quite an ordeal.  He had an incident in June where a boy came at him and he got a bloody lip, so he was very fearful about going back which is unfortunate because he was enjoying it and the coaches there are so amazing at reading him and have really made him feel comfortable (even letting him sit out at times).  This is where it gets difficult as a parent....not good to let fear direct the choices we make, but at the same time, I don't want to increase his anxiety so much that it is altering him.  So, it has been several weeks now and he has been crushing other kids...he is very gifted in this sport, but if you ask him, he will tell you he doesn't like it.  Hmmm.  Again, what to do.  We will give it a little more time.  Ryan is drooling because he sees an amazing little wrestler, but Khalif isn't willing to give that sport a try.  Maybe someday.
Sadly, swimming ended this week.  Our team is dissolving for 7 months while the pool is closed for repairs.  They were not able to secure a spot anywhere else and there's no other team in the area where the kids could practice at the same time, so we are taking a little break, which is a bummer because they just had a swim meet and Khalif made huge progress, dropping 35 seconds off of one of his races!  I can't seem to upload the video of his 50 fly, so here's the link:  https://www.facebook.com/ryan.wade.9216/videos/1155947791244969/
He sure has a cool gi!

So far behind!

Where does the time go?  I am going to do my best to catch up and fill in the last 4 months! 
I guess I'll start with the most recent.....KOA.  Last weekend we had our annual halloween bash.  Adults dress up and it always seems a little difficult to get our costumes together, but it wasn't too hard since we decided to be trailer trash.  There was actually an entire site dedicated to this theme, so we fit right in (we don't know these people, but everyone is a friend at KOA)!

 Ran into some star wars friends

The kids costumes were thrown together....everything was so last minute even though I reminded them the weekend before that they needed to get something together.  Reggie made his costume which was a bit stressful given he didn't start until Tuesday, but he pulled it together and was a Llama skin from the fort night game.  Ainsley brought Ginger and we went through all our costumes and they picked the M&M's and Khalif decided to join them.  Reggie brought his friend, Caleb, and it was a great addition!  One of his few friends who will participate in life and do things other than video games.

The kids did pretty good this year looting for me.  Daniella even remembered my favorites :).  I have to say, Costco is ruining Halloween...everyone passes out the same candy

 They did eat some healthy food :)

Lots of time spent around the camp fire 

The kids were all over the place....Khalif brought his bike and had some good practice riding all over with Sophia.  The girls spent a lot of time on the jumpy pillow and we had an outing to the beach and pool Saturday after breakfast.  There were lots of whales and it was so awesome..I kept making the kids look and Ainsley said, "There just whales mom."  Then one came completely out of the water and she freaked out and I said, "There just whales Ainsley."  Teenagers!  It almost felt like Hawaii, until I put my foot in the water!  Definitely not Maui....it was freezing and the older boys didn't have wetsuits but that didn't stop them.  The girls and Khalif were a little warmer in their suits so they boogey boarded a bit longer.

Mom and Dad visit

We crossed paths with mom and dad.  They drove here the weekend we went back there for the wedding!  They gathered the kids for us since we got back on Sunday afternoon.  It was great timing since Ryan headed to Italy for most of the week.  It is very, very hard to manage the activities with one person.  I'm usually in the car driving around in circles, getting everyone to where they need to be.
Dad thought it would be fun to teach Reggie how to play bridge, so they had a few lessons.  Not sure how far they got!  He and Ainsley found a fun game to play, but I the video is too big to upload.  They sure laughed a lot!  The kids got there fill of treats and bread (I think they went through 5 loaves of french bread in 5 days!).  The yard got some much needed TLC and dad managed to stay on the ladder, so all was good.  The vegetables that mom planted are just starting to come up and we will be enjoying them soon.  I think I should have a list next time, so dad stays out of trouble!  They did spend a bit of time trying to get him tested for agent orange, which they managed to do and believe it or not, he has no residual from his time in Vietnam.

There happened to be a old time car show in Livermore on Sunday and dad really wanted to go to that, so we did!  Lots of fun old cars to look at :).  Then we went to an Operation Christmas Child event through Samaritan's Purse and I didn't really know what the event was and not sure I would go again, but it was an experience and we got a better understanding of how the entire process works.
There a really cool, rare car right behind us, but we blocked it!

Later that evening, life got very crazy.  We agreed to take a sibling set for 5 days not realizing my parents would be there.  It was actually very helpful because they could drive our kids around, but it wasn't so pleasant.  These kids were the most challenging we've had on many levels!  We've never had 2 and the reason we agreed is because they were in Livermore and the 4 year old is non-verbal and they were wanting to keep her in her speech program.  They both were in childcare all day, so that was a huge help, but the nights were crazy!  Not sure I would have survived the week if they were with me all day!  Between food and bath issues and bedtime, along with being in a new place, the kids were having a hard time.  The older one rallied after the first day, but the 1 1/2 year old was never very happy until after his visit with his mom.  Then he seemed to calm down a bit, but he was a runner, so we could never sit down.  I don't think they were told what the plan was, so these poor kids had no idea why they were staying with us.  God bless the family they are with....she has 4 older kids of her own and the 1 1/2 year old is her grandson, so she agreed to take them but they had a trip to Disneyland planned, so the whole thing made perfect sense.  It was a really sad situation all the way around and it was the first time I felt that things weren't going to end well for these 2-probably not going to be able to stay together long-term :(.  Even Ainsley couldn't wait for them to go and she is usually so into helping and hanging with these kids.  Not thinking we'll do a sibling set again!
I almost forgot, in the midst of the chaos, my car got hit in the grocery outlet parking lot.  I wanted to just leave, but there was enough damage to my car that it needed to be fixed.  So, she admitted fault, called her insurance before I even got around to it, but because we were both backing up, it was considered 50/50, so now I have to pay to get my car fixed and of course, her car was perfectly fine.  I'm not thinking that's going to happen anytime soon :(.
We had a little celebration after they left.  We BBQ'd and had some apple crisp on Saturday and spent some time around the fire :).

They had to leave to go take care of the cat who needs his medication twice a day.  He looks like he could die anytime, but continues to hunt, kill and eat various things, so I'm not sure it will be soon.  When he passes away, hopefully, they can stay longer :).  Two weeks goes by in the blink of an eye!