Bribe

A couple months ago, Ryan told the kids he would give them $100 if they water skiied.  They both agreed, but as it got closer, Ainsley wasn’t so sure.  By the time we got here, she was out.  Reggie was still wanting to do it because he could buy a lot of toys for $100!  The day came and he was nervous, but Grandma got in the water with him and we were ready.  Ryan was holding the rope handle in the boat and was supposed to let go if Reggie was falling because Reggie’s handle was hooked to the skiies, but it didn’t register in time and the skiies ripped off his feet.  I think it hurt a bit and there were tears and that was the end of it.  Ryan skiied after that and wiped out, but got up and tried again (what a good example!).  So, the next day, Reggie decided he wanted to give it another try.  We did it a bit different this time, dragging him slowly behind the boat, so he could get a feel and then Ryan said, “hit it, he’s ready”.  So, I did and he popped right out of the water, but wouldn’t stand completely up.  The look on his face was sheer terror and he was screaming and crying.  Ryan told me to slow down, but when you are going 10, it is hard to go slower, so he sunk and this time, Ryan let go.  I guess Ryan never told him he was going to go faster than the idle we were dragging him at.  We encouraged him to try it again, but it was too traumatizing and he hasn’t mentioned it since.  All the kids were watching, so although, we have a nice boat, it will likely never get any use :o(.

Happy 4th Birthday K!!!

Wow, 4…hard to believe it has been over 2 years since he first entered our lives.  He has come so far!  When I think back to the first time we went out to eat or when I took him to watch Ainsley’s dance, it makes me cringe a bit.  Having just recently gone to those places and seeing how different he is is amazing!  We still have some work to do, but we’ll get there!

We love K for lots of reasons:
He is thoughtful-I was getting sprect by bacon grease the other day and he went into my dresser and brought me a shirt (I was cooking on the BBQ wearing my swim suit). 
He is full of excitement  :o).

He is content-It doesn’t take much for him to be happy, a sucker, a sticker, etc.

 

He is grateful-grateful just to be part of our family.  He was excited to go on our trip this summer just because we were going as a family.
He is super smart and has a crazy memory-Reggie and Ainsley are even starting to notice that he makes some big connections for his age.
He loves life, loves to go new places and see new things :o).

He keeps us laughing (this can be a challenge because many times he doesn't like to be laughed at!).

He is happy to run errands with me!
He loves to help-I don't know too many 3 year olds who can put silverware away, take out the garbage, put clothes away, clean their rooms and actually ask if they can do it!
He is a cuddler-he loves to be held and give hugs.
Things we are still working on:
Control of his body, especially when excited or angry.
Control of his volume, especially when excited or angry.
Letting go and not controlling his situation (funny, he can’t control himself when he needs to).
Using kind words that don’t hurt people’s feelings.
Getting his urine in the toilet (we’ve come a long way with this and are almost there).

I pray that this is a big year for him and that the court will give him some long-term stability with us.  We had a conversation about middle names a few days ago and I told him his and he wasn’t too excited about it and I asked him if he could pick any middle name, what would it be…he said, “Wade…I want to be K Wade.”  I hope someday that will happen!

Summer fun!

The kids have been playing with the neighbors a lot this year.  Reggie and Carson are the closest in age and have made some big sand creations and built a treehouse using 3 trees!  He worked really hard on it and is so excited to finally have a treehouse (he has been wanting one in Livermore, but it is pretty low on the priority list!).  They are going to be working on the walls soon, so it is a little safer!  Ainsley has found a friend in their 12 year old daughter, Cami.  She has 4 brothers, so doesn’t mind playing with the younger girls.  They draw and dance and have all kinds of fun.  Ainsley told me last night that she wanted to live with her because she is so nice :o).  They are really good kids and a nice family and I’m glad the kids have fun with their new friends.
The girls....

 Tree fort!

We’ve gone on a few walks in the woods since our arrival.  Liha thought it would be fun to find the old beaver dam.  That turned into quite an adventure!!!  We really had to weave in and out of bushes, climb over fallen trees, cross streams, but we were “on the trail” because we could see the colored flags!  We finally found it and it somehow turned into a manmade structure (the damn that has been holding the lake water steady is rotting and letting way too much water out), but seemed to be doing its job.  The lake had an algae bloom that really made the lake stink and it could have been caused by the warm weather and low lake levels, so it really got people’s attention this year.  K’s foot sunk in some mud and he was not a happy hiker.  Things were better when we found water and got him cleaned up, but he seems to be panicking easily these days, hmmm.  Two hours later, we finally made it back to the car!  Let’s just say they ate a lot for lunch!

We also went down to Everett a couple of Tuesdays to watch the Regal $1 movies and then play at the Rinehardt’s.  They have a nice, big back yard where the kids slip and slide and have all kinds of other fun.  We stayed the night this week and went to Elevated Sportz (many trampoline’s and a large McDonald’s type maze) and the kids got nice and tired out.  

Ryan and I spent a lot of time two weeks ago at the Kirkland house.  It has been the most disappointing experience we’ve had yet.  It made sense that a single guy would have been easier on the house than a whole family, but that wasn’t the case.  He completely let the yard go and stained the carpet, both upstairs and downstairs and we had to replace it downstairs.  There were lots of other issues, but the main thing is he didn’t take responsibility for anything (even though he had taken over 100 pictures when he moved in and it was pretty clear who was the cause) and we believe he lied to us about having a pet.  It has been a good learning experience for us and I even shared with the kids how lying and not taking responsibility for things impacts other people, so not a total loss.  The new family signed a 3 year lease, so if all goes according to plan, we won’t have to deal with this for a few years which will be a really nice break for us!  
While I was down at the house working I got to visit baby Marley!  She arrived on Tuesday, July 9th, and weighed a whopping 10 lbs., 6 oz.!  Forget the newborn clothes.  

More fun pictures from the lake:

 Dad's birthday...not sure what was said, but the faces say it was something crazy from grandpa...

Albino deer!

 So happy to have a "pet".  Not sure Maui agrees...

 We went to the maze again this year and we got lost for quite a while.  The kids enjoyed the slide, but grandma treated everyone to ice cream, so according to K, he would go back there for the ice cream, but not all that walking around in the trees!

The kids went to Grandma Peggy's again this weekend and went to see Despicable Me 2 and they loved it!  I had a nice day shopping around and then a night out with the girls.  Jill invited me to Kirkland Uncorked (a wine tasting event downtown) and it was great!  
The dynamic between K & Ainsley was a bit tough this morning and Reggie and Khalif were crying in the car 5 minutes after I got them.  Reggie was tired and K was a mess.  Things were good after K had a nap....they played outside all afternoon and were in the water for a couple hours after dinner without any issues!  I kinda missed them, but after the first 10 minutes with them, I was ready for them to go far away.  I'm glad things were better this evening!  We had a nice fiesta with the neighbors tonight, lots and lots of good food.  The weather has continued to be beautiful and there's nothing better than being at the lake when the sun is shining!

Settled in...

Our  drive to Washington was fairly easy.  The kids were amazing in the car, but we hit some traffic in Portland, Fort Lewis and Olympia which really slowed down our time and made Ryan and I nuts!  We were all very happy to arrive around 9 o'clock, but it is always hard because the kids are so excited and they pretty much have to go right to bed.

The Rinehardt's arrived the next day and the kids played and played.  The volume of 5 kids (2 especially) is a lot.  Mom and Dad sure lost their peace and quiet!  We were at the table the other night and Wade was commenting how K had his brother's loud gene.  K thought about that and about 5 minutes later asked Uncle Wade what his jeans looked like!  Instead of confusing him more, he went with it and they were blue jeans of course!
The kids decorated their scooters for the 4th of July and we went over to the fire hall for the parade.  The kids got to explore the fire truck and K and Spencer ran through the spray from the fire hose!  I decided to run home from the firehall and the amount of cars headed to parties was ridiculous!  We had our usual party and it was a really nice group of people, small enough that it was easy to visit with everyone.  Lacey was about to pop, so it was good Eloisa (the midwife) was there, but Marley decided not to make an appearance!  The lake was as alive as I have ever seen it.  We went for a party boat ride and I think there were close to 20 of us piled in!  My good friend Jill even made it for the festivities :o).  Dad and Ryan usually get some fireworks, but they went to the warehouse and 1/2 of it was filled with those Indian blankets, so we pretty much only had kid stuff.  They were sure happy with the sparklers, smoke bombs and bees.  The s'mores made them even more content.  Not too many hung around for the big fireworks....how the party has changed since most everyone is either really old or has small children!  It gets dark here so late, but there were a handful of us went out on the party boat to enjoy everyone else's fireworks.  We didn't get back until close to 11, so Reggie and K were toast.

That weekend the kids stayed over at Grandma Peggy's while we did our walk through with our past tenant, did a little shopping and then went to see The Heat (very funny and I would recommend it!).  The kids had a great time playing pool, watching a movie and going to the park!  They were very excited about the sleeping arrangements, K and Reggie had a sleepover and Ainsley got to sleep with Grandma.  We picked them up on Sunday and Dustin and his family came up right after lunch.  We got to meet baby Easton....he sure is a cutie and a happy guy.  Both the kids were enjoying holding him and K still talks about what a cute baby he is.  They want me to have one and that is NOT going to happen!  It was a really nice visit and the kids enjoyed the party boat ride, jumping on the trampoline and playing in the water.
The kids loved playing with Aunt Holly's dog....now they want one (glad they can visit grandma and get a dog fix because we aren't getting one anytime soon)!

 Ainsley in heaven with Easton

 Reggie's not quite sure....

 Dustin driving the steam boat...

That night Ainsley completely melted down!  She and K had a rough day on Friday, lots of grumpy behavior and poor listening.  Reggie had his day on Monday and he also completely freaked out.  I was short, Ryan was toast and we've discovered that we need to plan for more down time, with just our family.  Our schedule was shot and everything was a bit out of sorts.  I think we've finally settled in to a new normal here and have found a nice mix of cousin time and family time.