Art and organization

We have a bunch of artists in this house!  I don't know where they get it, but they all are good at it and love to draw/color.  Maybe it is because Reggie does it so often and the other 2 participate with him.  Very recently, even K has started drawing things and taping his artwork to the wall.
Last Friday, the kids had an art assembly, followed by family drawing night in the evening.  Reggie had scouts, but chose to skip it to go to art night.  They drew 3 different sketches and then the artist did a raffle of 6 drawings and Reggie was the very last winner and was so super excited!  they have been drawing the same drawings all week on their new nicely organized table.

I finally got the organization bug after a year and a half of living here (maybe it took me that long to recover from moving).  The laundry room has been driving me nuts because it hasn't been very functional and my initial ideas to make it functional didn't work.  I guess with my children if it has a door or drawer, nothing will land in the right spot.  Thank goodness for wire cube cubbies!
My small laundry room project turned into quite the overhaul.  I absolutely love it now, but Ryan was less than thrilled to help me with my project.  The nice thing is that his old office is completely cleaned, the art area and photo books are all in one spot and the laundry room is wide open!  I still have to get a couple cabinets and then I'll be satisfied, but now I'm motivated to work on the garage and other non-functioning parts of the house.  
It doesn't look that exciting, but it is a big improvement :o).

What happened to the last 5 weeks?

I guess we've just been doing the usual stuff....school, sports, birthday parties, homework, date nights, housework, blah, blah, blah.  Thankfully, there's nothing too exciting to write about.  Everyone has been pretty healthy, except for a few colds.  Allergies should be starting really soon as the flowers are starting to bloom on the trees and the smell of spring is in the air.
Until Valentine's Day, I hadn't taken a single picture!!!  I took this one at K's party and got him doing the monkey bars which he is obsessed with.  He was so excited to have me there :o).

Video of the monkey bars:

We went to see the Lego movie yesterday with some friends and it was really entertaining.  It had a good message for adults too :o).  The kids got some Christmas money and have decided to spend it on going to the movies.  They are patiently waiting until RIO 2 comes out.
Reggie started track a couple weeks ago and is loving it.  I am very glad he has a friend doing it with him.  It changes the entire experience.  He is so competitive even in practice, always looking over his shoulder to make sure he is winning.  His friend was telling his mom that Reggie is REALLY hard to beat.  He has an interesting running style and it will be interesting to see if they get him sprinting on his toes.  The timing for ending swimming wasn't the best....everything was really starting to click and he got moved up a lane to swim with the faster swimmers.  He will go back next week because he is participating in a swim meet in March, so we'll see just how much he improved.
Now that I think back over the last month, maybe it was a blur because Ryan traveled every single week.  It was really hard keeping up with the ever changing schedule!

Court

Court was last week and it was interesting.  We have been waiting to get DeFacto Parent Status since September and our judge just can't make a decision.  That is why we are almost 3 years into this process!!!  My prayers have been directed toward the judge because he will ultimately make the decision and he really struggles in that area.  Well, God is good and fixed that problem on Tuesday.  We had an unfamiliar face sitting in the judge seat.  She was wondering why there was such a delay in giving us this status, so even with opposition, she granted us DeFacto Parent Status as well as held the March court dates that they were trying to push out yet again.
Unfortunately, while waiting to enter the courtroom, I had a conversation with K's dad.  The relationship that I have worked so hard to build between us is unraveling quickly.  We do not agree on what is best for K and he was enraged by my honesty.  It confirms we are doing the right thing, but it is really hard and a bit scary.  Please pray that his emotions will settle.
Not sure who our judge will be in March, but it will be a game changer if it isn't out usual one.  What a miracle that would be......

Cats

We have 4 very large planters that have become the local cat litter box.  This weekend we decided to clean them out and get ready to actually plant some fruit and veggies.  I got several ideas online and decided to go with a 3 part strategy.
Here's a picture of what we came up with.

Unfortunately, the next morning a cat decided to walk right through the skewers and was not deterred by the chili pepper or lemons (cats aren't supposed to like citrus).  So, I rearranged the skewers to cross and point toward the outer rim and so far so good.  I also put motion activated Zurg out there to scare the cats away.  I sure hope we can get this figured out.  It is so gross!!!

Christmas break

We got up bright and early (3:45) for our 6 am flight to Seattle on Dec. 21^st!  Everyone was excited and I was happy to be done packing and organizing.  The airport was nuts and we were very thankful that Ryan is A list preferred because we went to the front of the baggage line that was out the door and down the street!  The flight was great and we didn’t leave any bags at the airport this time!
The Christmas festivities started immediately.  We headed to Grandma Peggy’s and hung out with Ryan’s side of the family for the day.  It was super fun and the Cougs played, so it added a bit of excitement because not everyone was rooting for them.  They Coug’d it bigger than ever and Uncle Shane and a few of us had big smiles on our faces :o).  We had great food and great company and it was fun to see everyone.  

 Watching the Cougs, Coug it!

 Thanks to Holly for taking such great pictures :o).

We stayed the night there and then headed up to the lake the next day and the cousins were so excited to see each other.  The volume was ridiculous!  The weather was terrible, but the kids went out in the fort anyway and played in the snow piles (it snowed the day before we got there and then it rained and rained and rained).  We played lots of board games, grandma taught the kids some new games (chicken foot) and we ate and ate and ate!  We laughed a lot :o).  

 Eating snow...

Christmas was great, as usual.  The kids didn’t wake up all that early, so it was nice to not have to peel open my eyes.  Mom and Dad hosted so everyone came around 3.  The kids were getting hungry, so since the turkey was done early, we decided to get them going (always seems more relaxing to feed them first), but it seemed that everyone else was really hungry and we couldn’t put stuff out fast enough.  It was the craziest holiday dinner I can remember and there wasn’t much left over!  Our white elephant gift exchange was strangely quiet this year…no steals (maybe everyone was too full from dinner!) and I am thankful that the gifts we chose were very small and packed well.  We have come a long way with the white elephant (one year there were leftover dead fishing worms and a gay sex book-poor Grandpa Geno got that one!). 

The next day Grandma Pam came up to the lake and we had Christmas again with her.  Our activity that day was making the dreaded butter cookies.  They save this task every year for me because the cookies really aren’t so fun to roll out, but we’ve really got a system down and it went much quicker this year, thanks to kid participation :o).  Ryan and I also made Toffee before Christmas and Aunt Pam got the last piece…it didn’t last very long.

  

We headed back down to Grandma Peggy’s for the weekend and they went to see Walking With Dinosaurs and they all loved it!  Ryan and I had our own date night and went to the Mongolian Grill…we miss that place!  It was very nice to get out and about and do some shopping.  It is nice that there’s extra room at grandma’s place, so we can stay there and the kids can spend a little more time with grandma. 
Ainsley was starting to get a little stir crazy, so I took her to a gymnastics class on Monday.  My old gym is so flexible and they just let her join the team class.  She must really love gymnastics because she didn’t know anyone and was still willing to go!  After that, we all met up for bowling at Riverside Lanes :o).   Mom was worried about her arthritic thumb, but she managed just fine.  I didn’t quite live up to my 4-bagger college nickname, but I did get a turkey :o).  The kids used the bumpers, so they weren’t doing so bad either.  Afterward, we went to Taco Del Mar (we try to go to our favorite places that they don’t have in CA) and ate too much…seemed to be the theme for us!
A couple days later we went roller skating for the first time.  The kids looked like deer on ice, falling all over the place!  I was pretty worried 5 minutes in because they clearly were not getting it, but as time went on, they seemed to pick it up.  We realized about 20 minutes before the session ended that the girls’ wheels were locked, so we unlocked them and then it became much less work and a lot more fun.  Ainsley can’t wait to do it again.  Even Reggie enjoyed himself and he was dreading it.  Even mom got out there and showed her stuff.  She was worried about falling, but did fine and I think it was a good reminder that even if you are old, you can still have fun and try things.  Ryan had the opposite problem and thought he was 12 again.  Skating used to be the cool thing to do and he was hot stuff, but that was 25 years ago.  He entered the race at the end of the session and didn’t fare so well.  He was in the lead the entire time and kept having some balance issues and finally wiped out rounding the last corner and landed on his hip.  He got a huge raspberry that is now black and blue and still very tender.  At least he walked away!

 Enjoying the Seahawk game....happy to be able to watch it...they don't give any preference to the Seahawks in the Bay Area!

 Juicing all the lemons we brought :o)

Our last day was Maggie’s birthday, so grandma took the kids down to the Rinehardt’s bright and early and Ryan, dad and I stayed and cleaned the house.  Usually we leave so early that we can’t ever clean up and it was nice to be able to do that, especially good that the kids were gone.  They had lots of fun there and grandma made one last batch of moose munch and then we headed to birthday dinner at the spaghetti factory.  Another place we don’t get to enjoy!  Reggie has turned into quite the garlic fan, so he had myzithra and garlic pasta.  Must be Aunt Liha’s influence!

From there we went to Grandma Pam’s in Issaquah to stay there so she could take us to the airport in the morning.  The kids loved her house…Reggie just couldn’t get over how soft the carpet was.  They are funny kids!  They did lot of art in the morning and enjoyed staying there.
I have to say, the weather was so drizzly and dreary almost the entire time we were there and we were very happy to come back and see the sun!  It was hard to be cooped up for that long.  I haven’t had a twinge in my back for months and sure enough about a week in, it was a bit unhappy.  Not sure if it was the weather or the lack of activity, but it was a reminder that I have come a long way and I don’t want to go back!  It has been around 70 here and today we played Frisbee, went on the trampoline and had a good bike ride.  Just to feel the warmth of the sun is heavenly.  

Long week

Ryan left for Chicago bright and early Monday morning and it was just like the good old days when he used to travel and things went awry.  It started a bit early this time with a flat tire on Sunday morning.  Ryan was at the Seahawk/49er game, so I had to solve that one on my own and get out the old air compressor because Ainsley had a gymnastics team party that day and I had my girls night out!  It took forever to get to a drivable state, but it managed to hold air for the rest of the day and night.
My GNO was great as usual.  We went out to dinner at Uncle Yu's, the best chinese restaurant ever and then we headed to church for the Women's Christmas Event.  They brought in a speaker who was fabulous and it was just a great way to kick off the week.  I went to the tire place bright and early Monday morning and they found a screw in my tire (probably from our garage....I wish I could say Ryan put things in their place and picked up after himself, but it is clear where the kids get it!)

I am not sure what was going on with the kids, but I couldn't get any of them to move.  I would ask them to get dressed in the morning or brush their teeth and it was like I wasn't even talking and then when they did acknowledge I said something, they would start to move toward completing whatever it was and never get there!  I watched K and Ainsley wander aimlessly in their own little worlds.  It was amazing and extremely frustrating, but we were managing!  There's a lot of running around when there is only one of us.  Ainsley has gymnastics from 3:30-5:30 in Pleasanton and then Reggie has to be on the other side of Livermore (a good 20 minutes away) at 6 for swimming and somehow we squeeze dinner in there.  That schedule is 2 nights a week and is a bit challenging.
And then came Thursday....I had toffee making day with my girlfriends, while K was at a visit.  Problem is transportation didn't come and the visit didn't happen.  So, poor guy had to come with me, but he did great!  The best part is we didn't have to deal with all the issues he has when he has a visit, so that was a real blessing.  We made our toffee and Moose Munch and it was a nice break in the week.  Until I got home and the social worker decided to schedule 2, 8 hour visits for next week on his school days, one of them being his pajama day.  He has been looking forward to pajama day for several days and was in tears when I told him.  Mama bear came out and I told him I would fix it.  Long story short, after many phone calls to his dad and social worker, I finally got it figured out, phew!  However, the amount of stress put on me and disgust for the lack of regard for K was more than I could stand, so I have escalated things up the chain in hopes that someone will think about this little child for once.  This system is so very broken and I could write pages and pages of terrible things that we have experienced, but I am choosing to see if there is any way I can help fix it.
On to better things....Reggie had his swim party that night and although I didn't feel like going, the kids were super excited for Mountain Mike's pizza.  It turned out it was just what I needed....the coaches he has are great and it was fun to hear their stories about the kids.  I had no idea there were so many talented swimmers on our team!  Reggie got most improved swimmer and he felt really good about it.  That was one of the first things he told Ryan when they talked the next day.  Reggie is funny because he will swim fast when they are doing relays in practice and will swim faster than some of the big kids, but put him in a swim meet and he'll take his sweet time :o).

Thankfully, the week ended much better and we went to Wonderland for the Foster-A-Dream Christmas event.  The kids made cookies, played games, sat with Santa and picked out gifts.  The amount of gifts they get is ridiculous and it initially bothered me, but it has been a long year and my kids have to put up with a lot of extra junk due to the foster process, so I say good for them.  I was looking for the adult present shop....I could really use a spa day or an IPAD, but no dice!  I did get a very small manicure set :o).  I digress.....anyway, they gave Ainsley a new bike and I just couldn't go for that, so I talked to her and she didn't even want it anyway, so we gave it back for someone who really needed it.  Then we went out to lunch, which we never do and they were so very good that day!  Ryan finally flew home (thank goodness he made it out of Chicago, just before the snow really hit) and met us after lunch to take Reggie to a birthday party, while I took Ainsley to her gymnastics/dance performance.

 Santa doesn't look very excited...

Ryan had quite the week in Chicago.  His boss was fired last week and his new boss is interesting to say the least and he had really, really long days.  He was so ready to come home and we were asleep by 9:30.  It was the first good night of sleep I had in a few days.
Today was also fun.  We had a message at church that was tailored to the both of us.....how to have hope in hopeless situations.  It is just awesome when you go to church and feel like the pastor is talking directly to you!  We even visited scripture that I had quoted earlier in the week...Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose :o).
From there I took Ainsley to her gymnastics party where they exchanged gifts and watched a slide show.  The food was terrible and we left absolutely starving, so we came home and ate a bunch of toffee!  After dinner we went to a live walk-through nativity.  It was so impressive.  They build an entire village and have actors, dancers, live animals and village activities from that time period.  It was really busy and I wish we would have had more time to explore the village, but the kids did write their names with feather pens and dipped them in ink and Reggie wrote his name in Greek.  We saw how they made "flashlights" from pinch pots, wick and oil and how they made bread.  We learned about the census and it really felt like we flashed back in time.  Mary came in on a donkey and we saw the story come to life.  It was beautiful and a good reminder of what this season is really about.  I think K thought baby Jesus was really in the hay!

Happy Birthday Reggie!

10 is a big birthday…Reggie is now in double digits!  He is 56 ¾ inches tall and weighs a whopping 77 pounds of solid muscle :o).   

Reggie continues to be a sweetheart, the kind of kid you would want your kid to be friends with.  It makes it hard for us because there aren’t too many kids like him and so many of his friends fall short of the bar Reggie has set.  He is such a good friend and has such a kind way about him.  He has grown in lots of ways this year…there seems to be a new level of responsibility.  His teacher expects a lot from him and he is working to take his reading tests and speak up in class and he is doing it on his own :o).  Reggie doesn’t whine and complain much about his homework anymore…he knows he has to do that and piano before he gets to play and he knocks that out pretty quick (because he still loves to play!).  His room is still littered with lego’s and he and K build away and battle with their creations.  Oh how he loves to play!  We have been into board games lately and it is really fun to watch him….our babysitter couldn’t wait for a checkers rematch with him. 
Reggie is becoming a lot more competitive in all things.  He is still on swim team and had a couple meets this year and works to beat the person next to him….the problem with swimming is you can’t see beyond who is right next to you!  He did a triathlon in June and we were impressed that he came in a close second to a really experienced racer.  He continues to talk about the mile race at the end of the year and how he is going to win this time!  More exciting than that is he is enjoying football!!!  He can’t get enough of it and watches most games with us and then plays many days at school and at home with Ryan.  He has quite an arm, but isn’t wanting to play.  He is still comfortable in his little box, but our job is to continue to expand his box and strongly encourage him to try new things.  We are going to do track and field in the early spring and likely flag football sometime next year too!  We are getting less resistance from him in trying new things, so we are making progress.  He didn’t put up a stink about his piano recital recently and I think he might be starting to like it and be more confident in his abilities. 
We celebrated his birthday this weekend.  Reggie chose to invite one friend to the Tech Museum  to enjoy their Star Wars exhibit.  Samantha came to watch the other two, while Ryan, Reggie, Tyler and I drove to San Jose.  This place was amazing and we only had time to see a fraction of it.  We did all the Star Wars activities, built a light saber and worked with magnets and levitation.  They had costumes from the movies and displays of characters and models of flying fighters.  It was pretty impressive and the kids (and Ryan!) really enjoyed learning about the props.  They also had a section on prosthetics and it was fascinating!  What hope for the future :o).

 Our finished project....I guess you can easily build these at home!

 My favorite...YODA

We had a little time to explore the regular part of the museum and I challenged the boys to make a plane fly farther than mine.  In the end I won, but they did a good job of working together and it went pretty far.  We also experienced the 6.8 Seattle earthquake of 2001in their seismology lab and powered an astronaut pod in space.  I wish it were closer because I was very tempted to buy an annual membership.  Definitely a place we’d all like to visit again.

Their plane:

Winning plane...

Inside a tsunami rescue pod:

 Space driving:

From there we headed to Red Robin and we all stuffed ourselves.  Ryan and Tyler have a running bet that he can’t eat an entire burger from Red Robin.  I think if we hadn’t waited for our food so long and Tyler didn’t drink so much before the food came, he might have done it!
Today is his actual birthday and after church, we went to the gym and swam in the warm pool.  We opened presents when we got home and had spaghetti for dinner and movie night!  Monsters University is a really cute one :o).  It was a great weekend and I think Reggie will remember it forever!

 Heaven....

 Working hard on the space needle!