Exciting couple of weeks

It has been in exciting couple of weeks! Reggie and Ainsley were baptized on February 21. And my parents came into town to celebrate the occasion!!! 

Here they are enjoying the nice, warm sun:

Our good family friends came to support the kids, the Williams and Caldeira's, along with Kelly and Wayne and a couple of others from Reggie school who just happen to be at the service. The hot tub heater went out so it was a bit chilly, but we survived! Afterward the whole group went to Menchies for some frozen yogurt. We sure made that place really loud and I bet they were happy when we left. I am so proud of the kids and this choice that they have made....they sure are good kids :). 

We finally made it to the eye doctor after our discovery at the science center around Christmas that Ainsley could not see very well. She is mildly nearsighted with vision around 20/30 to 20/40. She picked out the glasses all by herself and was very excited to get them and test them on many different things. I wish this would be something that she might grow out of but the doctor said it will likely get worse :(. 

Last weekend I was in Seattle by myself spending time with family and attending grandpa's memorial. I hate to say it but sometimes funerals can be a good thing because they bring family together. It was fun to see everyone and all the little ones and not have to worry about mine. I did miss them and I knew that they would've had fun so that made it a little hard. It has been a long time since I have been away and it was nice to actually miss my family and have them miss me! 
Reggie had his crossing over ceremony for Cub Scouts this weekend and we are now officially done (although he will participate in the derby car race). 

His flag football team also made the playoffs and as soon as I got off the plane we raced to his game. He played really well and they ended up winning so now they are in the "Super Bowl". 
K spent the weekend with his aunt so at least Ryan only had the two older kids to worry about. He has been having strange swollen glands under his ears and he had a blood draw that showed nothing. I'm thinking/hoping it may be his molars coming in but it was so painful there for a couple days that he could not turn his head :(. Court update: we were granted a miss trial so we have a new judge and the next court date is April 17. Prayers much appreciated!

Lots of happenings...

Ainsley has been in front of an audience a lot these past couple weeks.  They just had their class play, America's Tallest Tales, where she had a singing part with a group of other students.  I heard the play songs A LOT, especially when she had her classmate over.  I finally had to tell them to stop singing!  Plays at this age are a little hard to follow and when I asked her what it was about, she said she had no idea, which is how we all feel when we watch them :o).  It was a good experience for her.  She also had to do a report and speech in front of her class on a famous person and she ended up with Marie Curie, founder of Radium.  I ended up reading the book with her because it was really interesting.  She practiced a lot and got 100%.  She said she was really nervous, but I think her gymnastics has prepared her well for handling her nerves.
Ainsley dressed as Marie (Ainsley is way cuter!):

She has been continuing to learn her new gymnastics skills and is surprising the coaches.  I thought she would never do her backwalkover on high beam and a few weeks ago they bribed her with stickers and that's all it took.  Here's a video of her back tuck:

K has been doing really well lately!  It took several weeks for his behavior to return to normal after the visit with his mom and I am very thankful we have a good therapist :o).  Court was last month and I was hopeful we would move forward, however the judge let things fall apart.  So, on Tuesday, K's attorney is filing for a mistrial and hopefully we will get a new judge!   We are coming up on 4 years this April.  His class had snow day a couple weeks ago and the local ice arena dropped off a pile of ice shavings.  The kids had an absolute blast and they even did an article on it in the local paper.

Yesterday, he had his Valentine's party....parties in his class are over the top!  He had a rough time with one particular game because he didn't ever win and he turned into quite the moping child.  Even Elijah, one of his classmates was asking why he was so sad (it was pretty sweet).  Thank goodness for lunch and recess where he finally snapped out of it.
This was when he was still happy-he is holding a bird feeder that they made out of fruit loops.  He said he is going to eat it instead of the birds:

Reggie had a fever virus at the end of January and we were home for several days.  It is nice that he's older because he stayed home while I took the other 2 to school and I was able to run a few errands and even get a run in.  We actually had a very nice time watching Iron Man and the Hunger games movies.  We don't usually get to watch those PG/PG-13 movies because of the younger kids, so it was a nice relaxing week for me too.  Sometimes it isn't so bad to be stuck at home!  We have entered a new era with him....talking on the phone with friends!  He and his buddy have been playing their DS's while talking on the phone.  I think this is the start of something new.  I am glad he has really nice friends :o).  He has been doing a lot of scouts lately in preparation for the Blue and Gold dinner at the end of February where he will get his Arrow of Light.

I was really tired the last part of January and didn't have much motivation.  In the past, I have had issues with my chest being tight and feeling like I can't take a deep breath and I was feeling that again.  A few years ago I did acupuncture which fixed the problem, so I knew it was time to go back.  My acupuncturist is always learning new things and she did something totally different and was able to see the problem in about 2 minutes.  6 of my 7 energy centers (Chakra's) were nearly closed and the only one open was my heart and it was taking on the load for the rest.  She opened them with her magic and I left feeling so alive and 100 times better.  This is a different way of thinking, but experiencing such a change in just a few minutes made me realize that I need to figure out how to do this myself.  She said it isn't difficult, but I think it will take some practice.  Yoga can help a lot with this, but unfortunately, I don't like Yoga.  Maybe I'll have to give it another try....

Bumpy ride!

I almost forgot the funniest video....this is Grandma and Reggie in the back of the van on the freeway....the freeway that is supposed to be the smoothest part of the trip!  Mom and Dad got a top of the line 1990 something, 7 seater van, so they could pick us up at the airport and we'd have another 4 wheel drive vehicle in the winter.  Car seats were not an issue because there were no shoulder straps on the seat belts!  Ainsley was enjoying the reclining function of the seat, which was super comfortable.  You'll have to go to arrtwade.blogspot.com to watch the video....

Trip to Washington

There was a little stress the day before we left for Washington....I had blood in my urine and through a series of tests and labs in Washington and back here in California, it is unexplained.  My bladder has calmed down and I am feeling pretty much normal, but it was a very strange and a somewhat stressful health episode.  I guess that is the story of most of the medical issues I have had, but I could have done without the added drama.

Other than that, the trip was really fun.  Aunt/Grandma Pam treated all of us to a trip to the Science Center and Spaghetti Factory shortly after we arrived.  We rode the monorail into Westlake and putzed around there a bit.  

 We are a big group!

 Ripley's believe it or not was at the Science Center and this guy was so tall.

Grandma Patty's service was a few days later and it was like a family reunion!!!  So fun for all the cousins to see each other and catch up.  It was at the Catholic church, so we were all a bit out of sorts, but all of their traditions kept the children interested.  Ryan gave a really nice speech and I think made just about everyone cry.  The family was very thankful for all the stories and memories.  And, the kids met Ryan's dad for the first time!

Christmas came quick and K thought he would head down to grandma's at 3:30 in the morning.  Thankfully, we heard him (somehow he is the loudest when he walks around) and steered him back into his bed!  Then he was the last to wake up and the other 2 were itching to get going with presents.  Finally, at 8 we were ready :o).

 The Rinehardt's joined us shortly after and then the extended family came after lunch.  The kids played nicely and us adults had a great time chatting away.

 Kiki and Marley-two cuties!

A few days later, we had Christmas again with the Wade's.  Ainsley was the recipient of the box inside the box, inside the box trick and they thought that was pretty funny!

 Ryan having a little fun with Dustin's hunting gear.

 I don't know what was so funny?

Ainsley went to gymnastics a couple times when we were there and we took all the kids to open gym and they had a really good time, especially rope swinging into the pit!

We made cookies.....

Uncle Wade launched a rocket.....

Aunt Liha took the boys to the reptile zoo.....

We went hiking....

We celebrated Maggie's birthday....

We had a couple of visits with Easton...

And finally, on the last day, we got a little snow.  I'm not even sure you could call it snow, more like slush.  The kids didn't care...they were happy to sled on the 1/4 inch of mush....

I'm not sure where Reggie got the idea to stand up, but we were impressed with his snowboarding skills.  

Making slush angels...

At the airport....

Home sweet home......

Sleeping good at night

I am thankful that school is out tomorrow and we will finally be on the airplane Friday morning.  My brain hurts from trying to keep everything straight....visits with friends, teacher gifts, wrapping, packing, toffee making, the list goes on.
We decided to have a last minute birthday party for Reggie since he didn't really have one last year.  I told him there were no funds since he went to the Seahawk game, so it was basically a large play date.  I was cracking up....those kids take Pokemon VERY seriously!  I was hoping they would stick with that, but because it had been raining for a few day, the kids were ready to be outside and decided to play lightsaber and nerf guns.  There was about an hour left and I was praying no one was going to get hurt.  They definitely had a great time and I am glad he got to hang out with his buddies!

Sunday was a big day....we went to the Foster Wonderland and the kids did activities and got a few presents.  They got their picture taken with Santa (a very young santa!) :o).

After we left there, we visited K's mom in rehab.  He hasn't seen her in over 2 years and I didn't know how it was going to go.  He was a bit hesitant in the beginning, but then warmed up.  There's been a lot of questions and statements since, that tell me he has been thinking a lot and it is hard to know how this impacted him.  The only way I know if it was good is if he asks to go back, so time will tell.  Later that day, we had a visit from Kelly, our past respite provider and that was fun the catch up and visit with her for awhile.

This week, we went to an amazing light show.  I don't know how this person did it, but he had the Frozen movie playing on a screen and the lights were synced with the music and he had water shooting up on cue.  It was quite impressive, but I have to think with all the noise and traffic his neighbors might not be so cheery!

And last night, K had his school performance where the kids sang songs for us.  He did a great job and looked so super cute!

 Here he is with his teachers :o).

Happy 11th Birthday Reggie!

Well, it has been quite the birthday for Reggie.  Our gift to him was a ticket to the Seattle Seahawk/49er football game.  It was his first game and although the crowd was a bit intoxicated and belligerent, he still thoroughly enjoyed himself.  It really helped that Seattle completely dominated!!!

While at the game Reggie and I (Dad) had the privilege to be around an interesting crowd.  There was one guy in particular that was dressed in cowboy gear and he had his 8 year old son next to him in a Seahawks jersey??  Not sure how that happened considering that he was a 49er season ticket holder.  Needless to say he out wore his welcome as he nearly got in fights with all the surrounding 49er fans and was removed from the game while his 8 year old son sat in their seats.  5 minutes later the security guard came back and got his child (very sad to see).  It was interesting to see Reggies reaction and how he handled the chaos.  I asked Reggie if he understood what was happening and he said yes and was very focused on the game trying to ignore what was happening.  It justs reminds me of how important it is to set a good example for our children as they hear everything!  One more small thing that happened at the beginning of the game.  49er fan comes up and asks Reggie and I for a pen.  After telling him we didn't have one, he pulls out his own pen that has Richard Sherman's face on it in which he had turned it into a voodoo doll and was looking to stick it as this was his ritual for Thursday Nights Game.  After 3 quarters of play, I looked at the guy and told him that was a bad idea and that it back fired big time as Sherman picked off Kapernick twice during the showdown.  We had a great time, and the outcome was awesome of course.  Now we'll cheer on our team and see if they can get it done this week against the Eagles.

 He wanted to go to Red Robin for his birthday, so we headed there after opening his presents (we celebrated on Sunday because he had a swim party today).  He couldn't decide which present he loved most.  I have to say, everyone really gave him things he wanted....Seahawk towel, Comic Book Bible, Pokemon movie (that Khalif bought him at the thrift store for $.27!), a new down jacket, the new Wimpy Kid Book (which he already finished), etc.  You can see Khalif was very excited about the present he gave Reggie....

Tonight the swim team celebrated Reggie's birthday at Mountain Mike's Pizza (not really....it just happened to be the year end party).  It is always fun to hear what the coach says about the kids.  I was surprised that Reggie got best freestyle.  Apparently, that is his stroke and the coaches are really hoping he sticks with swimming!

We have noticed that Reggie is changing a bit these last few months.  He is starting to get a bit of acne on his nose and a few hairs in his pits.  Along with that has come some attitude and the realization that at 11 he knows it all and feels like he can freely say no to our requests.  It is unchartered territory for us dealing with him and it seems to come in waves, so thankfully, we have time to recover in between these behavior changes.  He loves God is still a super good kid and has such a big heart.  He loves Pokemon, playing with friends, drawing/writing, reading and FOOTBALL.  He really is quite a unique personality and it will be fun to watch him grow and see what path he takes :o).

Angels Camp

We decided to head out of town the weekend before thanksgiving, just to get away and have a change in scenery.  It is amazing how much the kids enjoy being in a new place!  It was a bit of a fiasco getting out the door because when I started Ryan's car to leave, the key case cracked and totally fell apart.  We tried duck taping it back together, but apparently when the key is dislodged from the electronics, it won't work.  So, we took a trip to Lexus and $90 later, we were on our way.  It was a blessing because if we had been 2 hours away up at Angels camp (with a population of 3700 and no Lexus dealer), we would most likely have had to be towed!  So, although it started out a bit rocky, we really enjoyed our time there.  The kids and Ryan swam in the pool (I forgot my suit, darn it!), ate junk food, played ping pong, visited Calaveras Big Trees Park and then toured the Mercer Caverns.
The Mercer Caverns was a bit interesting....we went 16 stories underground and the stairs were very skinny and steep.  At one point K was starting to freak out, but I picked him up and thankfully, he pulled it together.  He has come along way...I can remember a couple summers ago when the panic set in and he could not recover, so it was good to see his progress :o).  We learned a lot about the history of the cavern and saw the really neat Limestone displays.  Ryan was very happy to get out...he was starting to panic a little too.

Pool pictures.....Reggie is getting a little too heavy for dad:

 Not quite the same height....