We took a trip to Hayward the weekend before school started to visit Kelly (our past Respite provider) and have a wonderful breakfast and visit.  The kids really enjoyed the juice and hashbrowns, visiting with their dog, Angel, and UNO attack.  It is has been neat to see who God has brought into our lives through fostering, people we would have never otherwise met!  

The Foster Parent Association had a back to school BBQ not far from there, so we went there for lunch.  Can I just say, it was a little too much food for the day!  The kids picked out backpacks and got school supplies and a few toys.  I ran into quite a few people I knew and it was fun to hear what they were up to.  One family was in our training 5 years ago and that was very interesting sharing stories!

We survived the first week of school at our new school! Khalif settled down in his behavior and has been really sweet and helpful. Amazing how we can get all worked up about something and then it happens and it wasn't worth all the stress. I think he realized that he'll be just fine at school and he's already made a new friend. Although he has told me that the kids are telling him he's mean so I'm not sure how popular he is going to be and since he didn't want to talk about it I'm not really sure what he was doing to make them feel that way. Let's hope it works itself out. Ainsley also had a lot of nerves but was able to keep herself in check before school started. She has an amazing Christian teacher who was very open about that and she has enjoyed his class very much. He is a very good artist and she has enjoyed doing art at school. Her teacher also had them apply for a job in his classroom (had to actually fill out an application) and she found out that she did get her requested job of pencil sharpener! He gives them Walker money and she has earned quite a bit of that for good behavior. She has also written a check so it appears she is learning a lot of life skills :). There seems to be a good group of girls that she has connected with and one of them has already told Ainsley that she is her best friend, so she couldn't be happier. Reggie has had a whole lot to learn this first week. They have a block schedule, so they have four classes one day and different classes the next, so they have to track what day they're on to determine which classes they go to. He went to the wrong PE class and really enjoyed it until they figured out he was in the wrong class and then he decided he did not like the other teacher much, but that's part of life. He also made the mistake of going into the girls restroom but thankfully no one was in there! He also realized after the second day and a killer headache that carrying everything on his back all day was not going to work. So we scrambled to find a roller backpack and he is much happier (although we are on our 3rd one...one had a wheel break, another ripped after the first day, so we're hoping 3rd time is a charm). It is amazing what they have to bring every day because they don't have lockers anymore :(. 

The school has grown by 200 over the last couple years and their drop off and pick up process has been a little crazy. Lots of cars everywhere and doesn't appear people really know what to do. It has been really nice being able to walk to school and not have to deal with a lot of that although Ainsley almost got hit twice using the crosswalk :(. A few of us Rancho moms are brainstorming solutions and hopefully the school is open to change. 

I certainly have enjoyed getting back into a routine and having some free time to get some things done. I have been crossing all kinds of things off my list but I keep adding to the list! Last weekend Ryan and I spent all of Saturday reorganizing the garage and taking down the insulation. But, before we did that we cleaned out a nook off of the guest bedroom and turned it into a fort/play area which occupied the kids all day!  The garage is so nice, clean and orderly and I just hope we can keep it that way. It feels good to get rid of stuff and de-clutter.  Ryan went in there last night and said, "I love the garage."  That's when you know you are old!

Reggie is in heaven...I just wish we would have done it 3 years ago.

Saturday night night Ainsley and I had a mother-daughter event with her gymnastics team. We went out to dinner and then the girls went on a scavenger hunt. Thankfully, the older girls had their phones and watched out for the younger ones. We were at the Blackhawk mall and they had all kinds of tasks to accomplish and things to find (autograph of a stranger, selfie with another team, singing a group song, getting a perfume sample, etc.) and Ainsley had so much fun. She has never done anything like that and it was good for her to have that experience. I had a great time getting to know the other moms. 

Sunday night we got invited to dinner with one of Ryan's work friends. He somehow had heard that we like to Posole (A Mexican soup), so they made that for us. It was delicious! I think I could eat it every day. Unfortunately the two people we know who make it don't have a recipe for it since they just go from memory, so I asked her to write it down next time. It was fun to get to know them :). 

We also had some raccoon excitement last week.  Three of them decided to visit.  So far, they have not been able to break in with this new fancy cat door!  Ryan was out with his BB gun trying to make sure they didn't come back.  It was pretty comical and they could've cared less!