K has his day!!

K's last day of preschool was Thursday and they had a nice brunch and provided some entertainment for us

 :o).  This is the first time I have seen the preschool do songs like these with just a few students at a time and it was a lot more fun to watch.  He was the crocodile getting the monkeys out of the tree (absolutely perfect for him!):

They kept his best artwork and put it together in a nice bound book.  The biggest difference was the drawing of himself at the beginning of the year, which wasn't even a shape, which at the end of the year was a circle with eyes and legs.  It was quite an improvement!  His teachers are still amazed how far he has come this year.  Remember, the fall was when he was having all of his transition issues, so when they met him, his behavior was at its worst.  They (and we) are very happy that he has mellowed out!

Triathlon and more.....

Today was a first for Livermore and for the kids.  It was the 1st Triathlon they've put on and it was great.  They had a good turnout, about 70 kids, ranging from 5-13.  Reggie was in the 9-10 year age group and he rocked it.  He was the first one out of the water, but got beat in the transition by a very experienced racer and then was trying to play catch up the rest of the time.  It was so fun to see his competitiveness really come out and he ended up finishing just seconds behind the other racer.  The other boy came up and shook Reggie's hand afterward :o).  He did tell me tonight that his legs felt really funny when he tried to run after biking.  I said, "Yeah, kinda like your legs are bricks!".
Here's Reggie swimming fast:

Ainsley hasn't had nearly as much swim experience, so it was a bit more challenging.  We also probably
should have put her on her small bike because she said she was tired.  She booked it on the run though!

They were both happy to be done!  We took them out for a nice frozen yogurt treat after lunch :o).

These kinds of activities are really important for Reggie because he is so closed minded about trying new things.  He didn't really put up a fight this time and we talked about track and field next February and he seemed open to it, even thinking he might like to try high jump!  

His teacher has done a good job of getting him out of his comfort zone.  They had a play last week and he was the mechanic and had a few lines in the play.  He did great and I'm not sure which was more entertaining, watching Reggie or watching Ainsley.  She was so proud of him and got all excited when he said his lines correctly and did his robot moves and sang his songs.

They also had a dance assembly on Friday that we went to and it was pretty fun to watch.  Reggie was easy to spot....just standing still as everyone was moving around him.  Ainsley was watching and trying to learn the movements :o).  It was also Rancho's 40th birthday party, so they had a BBQ and special ceremony and more dancing!

The weather here has been really mild, mid to high 70's with a few scorcher days in there, but we've been enjoying the outdoors a lot.  We went to a new park where the kids got to ride their scooters, but they decided to roll down the hills.  We discovered about an hour later that Reggie and Ainsley have a pretty severe reaction to grass and they had red marks and were itchy all night.  The drama girl freaked out and didn't want to take a shower, but she did and it wasn't too bad.  K didn't really seem affected by the grass, lucky boy!

Gymnastics

Last week Ainsley was invited to do team.  We are kinda split on this....I'm not so sure, but Ryan wants to see what she can do and Ainsley wants to move up because all her friends are moving up.  So, we are going to give it a try for the month of May.  M/W/F/S for 2 hours.  It is quite a commitment and also rather expensive, so we'll see how this goes.  She is loving it more and more, but we will wait and see what she thinks at the end of the month.
She had a fall on the trampoline the other night that was really scary and I thought that might be the end of gymnastics, but she seems to be fine.  Here's a fun little video:

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!

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!

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!

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??

Egg drop

We finally got to participate in the egg drop!  We've watched it every year at Rancho and Reggie is finally a 3rd grader and able to participate.  We brainstormed a bit and it was a group effort to come up with his idea.  We used an empty peanut butter jar, filled it half way with marshmallows and then surrounded the egg on all sides and top with more marshmallows.  We added a plastic bag on top for a parachute and it worked pretty well.  Here's the video (not sure how to fix the orientation):

This is an activity that has all the kids attention and it was interesting to see some of the ideas....water balloons surrounding the egg (and it didn't break!), sponges, foam, cardboard boxes....some exploded as they hit and created quite a mess!

 You may be wondering if his egg broke, but he was very excited to open the peanut butter jar and find his egg in tact!

The kindergarten hat parade was after that and I think the kids had a lot of fun at school today, exchanging easter eggs and having class parties!
Spring break starts tomorrow on Good Friday and then the Rinehardt's come for a visit on Monday and everyone is super excited!!!

Maui, maui

We are thoroughly enjoying Maui!!! We have been getting lots of sleep at night and resting and enjoying the beach during the days. We had an awesome whale show on Tuesday where we saw a pod of probably five that were jumping in and out of the water for at least 15 minutes. They were far enough out but they are so big that we could see there huge splash.... It was quite impressive. Today was our best day by far!!! We saw two turtles mating out in the water and then they both came up on the beach, one staying for quite some time. I said a little prayer when they were farther out that we would be able to get a better view....I'd say God cares about the little things too as they were only a few feet away!  I did not realize how big they are-you can't really tell from the picture, but they are 3-4 feet long!  Pretty amazing :o). 

The sun was out all day today and the waves were awesome! We were out body surfing for a couple hours on and off and we didn't realize all the sunscreen had worn off where we scraped in the sand, so Ryan is lobster red and I am pink on my knees and in weird places (Even though we reapplied sunscreen at least twice!). It has been entertaining to people watch as well. I finished a book today and I can't even remember the last book I read from start to finish :).  View from our chairs!

Getting ready to watch the sunset, although the clouds didn't allow it, so we'll have to try again!

The kids are doing great at home with grandma thank the good Lord! The night before we left Ryan, grandma and I were cleaning up throw up for a good 45 minutes at midnight. Poor Khalif either ate something bad or had a mild bug and it was an amazing mess :(. Seems like this is the MO whenever we go somewhere. The good news is it happened before we left and everything's been great since! We've face timed with them a couple times and it's good to see them and they are excited to see us. Ainsley explained to K that grandma was like a substitute teacher....pretty good analogy for a 6 year old :). We miss them a lot but we are really enjoying each other and having the freedom to do what we want to do....what a gift...thank you mom and dad!!!

Busy, busy

Every 2 weeks, we have a big cleaning weekend where we mop, do sheets, bathtubs, etc. etc. (I'm sure some of you are disgusted that we only do this every 2 weeks, but that is life right now!) and have decided to include the children in our fun.  It is a lot of work to clean the entire house from top to bottom and even though the kids aren't perfect and we have to redo a lot of what they do, it feels better to get some help from them and it teaches them how to clean, so hopefully, someday we won't have to redo their work.  K and Reggie actually had fun last week washing windows:

It was perfect timing since my parents were coming for a visit.  They decided to surprise us and come on Monday instead of Wed., but we were suspicious that they might pull that since we showed up to their house early last summer.  We were nice and ready, but the kids were totally surprised :o).  It was good because they had a few more days to get into the swing of things at our crazy house!  Dad got out of the car and went right to work on the Casita!  We made some good progress this week and just have to hook up the bathroom plumbing and paint and we should be good to go!!!!  The tankless hot water works great, the counter tops look awesome and things are starting to  land in their permanent places, FINALLY.  Poor Ryan finally went to the doctor since his hand goes numb every night.  It got better when he separated his shoulder because he couldn't do anything.  No surprise he has tennis elbow and is supposed to rest, but he keeps working instead.  The pain woke him up this morning :(.
Today, Reggie had the pinewood derby for cub scouts and that was a lot of fun.  His car was in the middle of the pack most of the time and grandpa was very excited about the Hershey chocolate car.  Ainsley found her friends right away and K made friends in an instant, so they were all smiles.

 Ryan helping out....

From there, Ainsley, K and I went to his brother's birthday party.  Ainsley had so much fun playing with his cousin, Natalie.  They will all sleep good tonight!

Black Diamond Mines

K had a visit on Sunday with his aunt, so we decided to explore the area by where they live.  She recommended the Black Diamond Regional Preserve.  We looked it up on the internet and it had some beautiful pictures and gave information about the tour (you had to be 7, so it isn't something we could have done if K wasn't visiting his family, so we decided to fudge a little on Ainsley's age and go for it).  It was the opening weekend, so we had no idea what to expect, but we were able to get tickets.  Once we finally found the opening to the mine, we went in with our tour guide and spent about 30 minutes learning the history of coal mining and silicate (sand) mining in that location.  It was super interesting, but really cold....the temperature in there is always 56.  Ryan only had a t-shirt on, so he was the least prepared :o(.  We learned that the coal was not very high quality there, so the mining company moved to Washington, hence, Black Diamond!  So, I guess we learned something about Washington as well.    From there, we put on the hard hats and walked down the long corridors and into the tunnels that stretched for many, many miles.  It was amazing to see how much sand they excavated, 1.8 million tons which was sent to Oakland to be processed by the Atlas glass company.  We saw what coal looked liked and the bottom of the ocean floor (including fossils).  I didn't realize that area was ocean 55 million years ago.  The kids were fascinated and hopefully, have a new appreciation for their lifestyle, since we also learned that boys started mining after the 3rd grade! It was really nice to do something different for a change!

We finally have Taco Del Mar back in California and it was only 1/2 mile from where K's aunt lives, so we had to eat dinner there (the true motivation of our outing!).

Snow

When dad was visiting last week, we were driving back from Lowe's and I swore there was slush hitting our windshield.  The temperature was 40, so not close to snow, but it was chilly and really rainy.  The next day, I stopped at the bank and saw the hills around us and they were covered in snow!!!  It was beautiful :o).

It was a beautiful weekend and Ryan and I had date night last night and decided to go for a hike.  I'll have to take a picture of the path we chose and post it later.....it was straight up and right next to a huge drop off :o).  We had to hang onto the grass to keep from slipping!  It was a beautiful view when we got to the top...we just had to avoid the fresh cow droppings.  From there we went to the gym (he had a free trial where I go) and decided to play a little hoop.  First PIG and then Bump.  It has been awhile since we've played ball and everything was short.  I have got to practice some more.  Bump was against my better judgement because it has been years since we've played is pretty physical.  No one got hurt and by the time I warmed up, Ryan had a quick lead.  I caught him, but in the end he came out ahead.  He was dead on the gym floor, but he won!  A rematch is definitely in the near future :o).  The awesome thing about my gym is it feels like a resort. There's a couple outdoor pools and a big hot tub, so we pretended we were on vacation and hit the hot tub. I rarely have time to do that, so it was a treat and super relaxing.
The kids had a fun weekend too.  Ainsley had a sleepover at the Williams and Reggie and K had their own sleepover.  They boys were very excited :o)!!  Two peas in a pod.....

Birthday parties and more....

All the kids have had birthday parties to attend within the last week.  It was a bit busy, but fun as always.  Reggie is getting old enough that we can finally drop him at parties (we've been lucky enough to have some parents who stay with their kids and watch over Reggie!).  We would never leave him without knowing the place or parents, but we know most all of his friends :o).  Ainsley went to a trampline party, which used to be really cool, but now that we have one in the yard, it isn't quite as exciting.  She did get to hang with her friends which is a huge bonus.  K had a swim party!  It was his first party with his friends and he was bursting with excitement.  He wasn't so sure about swimming, but once we got there, he was fine.  It was quite entertaining to watch him with his school friends at the party and then again when he saw them at school after the party.

Valentine's day snuck up on me this year and I was trying to think of something really thoughtful to get Ryan and nothing was coming to mind.  We are low budget these days and watching our calories since we are going to Maui in a month, so we exchanged cards :o).  I got a free Redbox movie and we enjoyed a quiet night.  The kids loved sharing Valentine cards with their classmates and I was able to help out in Ainsley's class for her party :o).  Look at the concentration....

Goldilocks....Ainsley's class is doing a play next month and she has been talking quite a bit about being Goldilocks-she was very nervous.  I was sure she was misunderstanding because she doesn't really have the personality to get up in front of people and have such a key part.  But, last week she and another student tried out and she did her song in front of her class and actually seemed excited that she might actually be Goldilocks.  Who knew???  I asked her if she was worried about it and she said, "Not anymore."  I'm not sure if she will get chosen, but it was a huge confidence booster for her.  She is really having to come out of her shell these days.  We have been selling girl scout cookies and it has forced her to talk to adults and she has been doing great :o).
We had a four day weekend this week and Friday we picked grandpa up from the airport.  He and Ryan got busy getting supplies and working on framing the bathroom of the Casita.  It has been going really quickly and hopefully, the couple challenges we have will come together quickly (we bought a Neo-angle glass enclosure that doesn't quite fit).  The electrician is there today and when he is done, they should be able to drywall and then it will be close to a functional living space.  Reggie has been very intrigued by all that is going on and has been tagging along on the boys' adventures to pick up supplies and see how things are done.  He's even offered up his advice on fixing some of their issues!
Cutting the tile...

Laying the tile.....

Funny story.....my dad never wears a seat belt and it finally caught up with him.  On the way back from Lowe's today, they got pulled over!  He made up some excuse about his incision scar from his recent lung incident and the cop wasn't buying it....made him put the seat belt on to see if it even hit that spot and of course, it didn't.  You can imagine what Reggie and Ryan were thinking watching this circus!!!  He tried to get out of the car to show the cop his scar and he kept saying don't get out of the car!  He said he'd never heard an excuse quite like that and for some reason he gave him a stern warning (probably because if I remember right, the driver gets the ticket for a passenger with no seat belt, and I'm sure he felt terrible for Ryan).  Ryan has been having way too many close calls with policemen lately.  He got pulled over last week for going 60 in a 35!!!  I can't believe he only got a warning, but it probably was because he recognized the cop from a cub scout tour of the police station.  God is good :o).

It sure has been cold lately, especially at night!  The days warm up to the low-mid 60's, but it feels colder for some reason.  Today, I was freezing in the house, so I decided to sit in the yard and read my bible for a bit.  It was heavenly...so sunny and warm.  It wasn't long before I was snoring!  Nothing like taking a 15 minute power nap :o).
I'm very grateful the days have been warmer because we had our house re-piped this weekend and the front door was open the entire time.  It was such a mess because the crawl space is a very fine, dry, powdery dirt and there were 3 men going in and out of the crawl space.  The dust just from that was quite amazing.  We had to wipe down or vacuum every surface and I think we are going to have to re-mop soon.  We didn't re-pipe the upstairs and since it was an addition a little later, we're hoping to have another 10 years with the existing pipes.  We do have an issue with the kitchen sink (aren't there always issues!) because it is essentially stuck between 2 foundations with no access-they got a permit for the kitchen addition, but didn't follow code??!!  We're hoping they can use the new flex pipe and make it work because our plumber can get his hands in there, just not far enough to solder.
While the plumbing was getting done on Sat., the electrician came over to look at what he has to do.  All the while, Ryan was gone picking up a Murphy bed (we finally got one!!!) with a friend which turned into an all-day event.  It came with 5 cabinets, so we won't have to build any closets in there!  It was a very crazy day, but thankfully, the kids were super good, playing all day without needing anything except food :o).  We are making some good progress on the casita and dad will be coming at the end of next week to frame up the bathroom walls and hopefully, get things in the appropriate places.  It has turned into quite the project and Ryan has done the majority of it and will be happy when it is finished.
Yesterday, we relaxed long enough to watch the Super Bowl.  We were invited to some friends' house, but EVERYONE here is a 49er fan and we just couldn't root for them, so we decided to stay home and have the freedom to scream for the Ravens (did you see the Joe Montana stain commercial??-that was a riot!).  It was a little nauseating to see all the husbands and wives walking around and at the grocery store in their matching jerseys and jackets.  Hopefully, we can be those fans next year!!!  It sure was an exciting game, right down to the wire and we were just happy to be SITTING in a warm house with clean, running water :o).
Other than that, we've been in our normal pattern of life and everyone is going great :o).
Field trip at the Bankhead Theater (I had to have one picture!):