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!):

Back

Thankfully, the trip back to Livermore was a breeze.  The kids had fun on the plane and no one had ear problems :o).  We told the kiddos everything had to be put away before we opened presents that night, so we had some help unpacking!  The big present from Santa was a trampoline!  I was a bit excited about that too (my mom said I could have one if I saved up enough money to buy one, but when I did, she said no!).  So, now I have my trampoline and I’ll probably hurt myself far easier now than when I was a kid!  We had fun opening the rest of the presents because the kids gave each other gifts and they were very excited about giving. 

Getting the house in order after presents and getting the Christmas decorations down was exhausting the next day, but I’m finding I’m less flexible living in a mess.  It was beneficial for all of us to get things in order, because there’s some truth in the phrase, “a happy wife, a happy life”.  It is always a bit of a transition coming back from vacation because there’s no easing into things.  School started, activities started and the running around began and hasn’t stopped!
Last weekend, Ryan and Reggie spent 3-4 hours putting the trampoline together and they did an awesome job!  Reggie is a great helper when he is motivated and Ryan couldn’t have done it without him :o).  The kids have enjoyed playing on the trampoline almost daily and thankfully it has been in the low 60’s and sunny :o).  We have to build up our vitamin D after our trip!  Ainsley’s gymnastics has really benefited from the trampoline and I think all the kids sleep better from jumping around on it and playing tag.  I’ve even been out on it a couple times, doing some backhandsprings and back tucks :o).  

Ryan has been working hard these days digging trenches/holes and pouring cement for the mother-in-law.  He has his part done and the plumber will come this week to finish his piece and then it is just the finishing work and electrical and we should be done-I say that like it will only take a couple days!  I am still on the hunt for a Murphy bed and can’t stomach buying a new one, so the Aerobed might have to do for a little awhile.

Christmas vacation!

How blessed we were to be surrounded by family and be healthy over the holiday break.  Dad was still recovering from his Spontaneous Pneumothorax (popped his lung from falling on the snow shovel), but was very lucky to be in such good shape-he could have easily broken a few ribs.  I think he’ll be a little more careful next time and make sure he’s not wearing slippers in the snow! 
Happy to be alive (maybe he's holding up the victory sign because he is so excited Obama won?)

 Christmas approached quickly after we arrived and we went to Peggy’s for Christmas Eve and had a nice brunch and visit.  Reggie got his big Lego set, so he was building for about 4 hours straight.  He was so excited to get the 4 headed dragon from Ninjago-It had over 1000 pieces.  Ainsley got her American Girl, along with the American Girl gymnastics movie, so they were happy and occupied!  It was good to see Dustin and Anthony :o).  Later that day, we went to Aunt Kim’s and had some great food and visited some more.  I’m really glad we get to see everyone at least once a year!  You can really see how fast time goes when you look at how much the kids have grown.

 Uncle Anthony watching Reggie hard at work.

Christmas morning was nice.  We had to wait for K to wake up, so we got to sleep in a little too.  Ryan made waffles with strawberries and whip cream and everyone enjoyed that.  Later, the Rinehardt gang showed up and all the kids got Razor’s, so they were out in the freezing cold riding them!  After lunch, the extended family arrived and we had a nice taco bar meal and a great time visiting.  The kids all played nicely together and were happy to participate in their gift exchange.  We had a little white elephant excitement when Ryan stole Lacey’s gift, but he was kind enough to give it to her afterward.  Who knew garden gnomes would be so popular!
Excited about Christmas morning:

 Sporting his new cougar gear:

 Wii played lots of Wii dance!

The weather was mid-30’s almost everyday, but we still got the kids outside for some fresh air, walking in the woods or riding their razors.  We even went sledding a couple of times!  The snow was more like ice, but that made it easy to go fast on a very small incline.  It is good the other side of the lake doesn’t get much sun or we wouldn’t have been able to go.  Mom and Dad’s snow was pretty much melted after the first few days.

 What is it with boys and sticks??!!

Reggie and Ainsley had a sleepover with Grandma Peggy and they were spoiled as usual.  Made cookies and cupcakes, shopped for toys, watched movies, stayed up late and had a blast.  We paid for it the next day as Reggie was a mess.  Ainsley will take a nap when she is tired, but he won’t.  The stinkers won’t ever sleep in when they are up late, which is a real bummer because we really can’t stretch bedtime :o(.  While they were gone, Ryan took K to Chuck E. Cheese while I had lunch with my college friend, Jill.  It was so great to catch up and hang out.  It is nice to have friends that even when you haven’t seen them for awhile, you can pick up right where you left off :o).  I also saw Rebecca, another college friend at the Children’s Museum, but we didn’t get to chat much because the kids were all in different places. 
Besides the Children’s Museum, we went to Jungle Playland and we celebrated Maggie’s birthday at Chuck E Cheese and Red Robin.  The girls got to go to the American Girl store so Maggie could pick out a doll for her birthday.  That was quite an experience.  They really do have everything!!!  We had lunch at their cafe and the dolls got special chairs and teacups.  It would be really easy to spend  a lot of money there (glad we found Ainsley’s girl on Craigslist!).   

Making cookies:

Spencer and K boxing on the Wii:

 First snow for K:

 Making a gingerbread house:

 Enjoying rootbeer floats :o)

That's it!!  The adults had a lot of fun over the break playing dominos and a new game called Phase 10.  Ryan, the anti-game player even wanted to play!  The last night he finally had redemption and beat us all :o).  Thanks to dad, we also watched some interesting movies!
Our trip was really relaxing and the kids got along very well.  All of K’s behavioral issues seemed to melt away.  It actually felt like a vacation (probably not for my parents!!) and I’m really thankful that we have that time with our families!!!  Thank you mom and dad for hosting us for 2 weeks :o).