School is winding down, but activities are ramping up

I think I've been on 5 field trips in the last month and will be at school activities almost everyday this coming week!  Ainsley has bowling and the park, Reggie has a brunch and park day.  Thank goodness Khalif had his park day and pajama day this week.  The last day of school is Olympic day, so this will be a pretty fun week for them!
Friday was the mile challenge and Ainsley woke up with an abscess in her mouth.  I took a picture and sent it to her orthodontist, so after she ran we went to the dentist and the orthodontist.  Running seemed to really help as it popped and drained.  She told me she tasted blood afterward :(.  We spent the morning at the dentist and orthodontist where he removed her permanent retainer and the braces bracket on that tooth.  He started digging around (which was super painful for Ainsley), but found the source of the infection....3 popcorn kernels!  We were bad and let her eat popcorn because Reggie had no issues and ate popcorn all the time.  Turns out it is only the 3rd time in his 15 year career that he's had this issue, so it really isn't that common.  Ainsley is having some really bad luck!  The good news is that her crossbite has been corrected, as long as her mouth doesn't move too much.  The gap in her front teeth is gone, so we know it has closed a little, but we are praying that we don't have to widen the roof of her mouth again.  I didn't realize how much I hated that retainer until it came out.  We were very excited not to have to deal with it and brushing at night is SOOO much quicker.
She did really well in the run (2nd girl in her grade, but I didn't hear her time) and wasn't too far behind her big brother...

I didn't hear Reggie's time either, but I think he ran around his usual 6 1/2 minute mile.  The top runner in the school ran a 5:49!  He did his best and we are starting to realize he is not a morning runner (gets that from me I guess).  To qualify for the run, they had 2 tries and he finished faster than the race day because they ran in the afternoon!

Yesterday was the 5th grade awards assembly.  Crazy to think this was the last time we'd be at an assembly at Rancho.  I am a bit sad, but I am also looking forward to this next chapter at a new school.  Reggie was given the President's Education Award for maintaining above a 3.5 and being a good student in class.  We weren't really expecting it, so we were surprised and he was really excited in his own way (he has a very even temperament and as Brian said jokingly, you looked really excited buddy!), making sure I knew that President Obama signed it!  There were about 20 kids in his class of around 110 that received this award and I told him now he has some expectations to get high grades in middle school!

 With his teacher Mrs. Mitchell:

Khalif had a really fun week!  Park day was on Tuesday and they played games and hung out with their friends for the entire morning.  They lucked out with the weather because Monday was 105 degrees and Wednesday it rained all morning!  Nobody could remember a time when it rained this late in Livermore...crazy.  Then on Friday, he had pajama day and a pizza party.  I think the teachers are ready for school to be over....it is so late this year.
Being goofy with his friend Elijah.

We also had court on Thursday.  The judge made some special arrangements so that we could have our own courtroom!  I was finally able to take the stand, but we didn't finish, so I have to go back on the 23rd to be cross examined.  It was so hard to remember things that happened as long as 4 years ago.....I am lucky if I remember what happened yesterday.  I reviewed my court documents that I had previously submitted and I was shocked at how many things I had forgotten.  Thankfully, the memory fades because 2013 was a REALLY challenging year.  Everyone is hoping that he'll finally be freed for adoption!  Of course, it will likely be appealed, so we're a long way out, but it would be huge progress.
The last name issue has been quiet for awhile, but ironically it popped up twice this week.  They have progress reports at gymnastics and I couldn't find his and I wondered if they put it under our last name and sure enough the sheet said Khalif Wade.  He was so excited, taking it to show Ainsley.  Then the very next day they called the kids by first and last names at school and when they said Khalif Ford, he put up his hand, and said, "soon to be Wade."  I wish that were true for his sake....