Khalif update

This year has had its ups and downs for sure.  I checked in with his teacher awhile after starting the CBD and it stopped working after the first few weeks.  I've asked every teacher he has had if they think he should be tested for ADHD and the answer was always no until this Spring.  His teacher said he talked more than any child in her 20 years of teaching.  Disruptive for other students and not good for his learning either.  She loves him and was absolutely a great resource, reminding me that getting a diagnosis doesn't mean you have to medicate, but she did say that we'd know within the first couple days if he has it because the difference will be so great.  So, I got the paperwork and we filled it out.  Ryan suddenly became very aware of his behavior after filling out the forms.  We met with his pediatrician and she agreed that he was a candidate for medication.  At this point, we decided to give it a try.  There were a few days I noticed a significant change in his behavior but other days nothing.  His teacher was very excited about the initial change in his behavior but I checked in with her after school got out and she said it stopped working.  So, we are going to have to go back to the pediatrician and see what other options are out there.  I'm also trying to get EEG bio-feedback approved through his insurance, but it may end up being a dead end.  He continues his regular therapy and there's a theme in his play regarding safety, so he is still working through that.  Absolutely amazing that safety is still an issue.  Who knew overcoming the first 20 months of his life will likely take a lifetime?!
Khalif has been visiting his Aunt's family at least once a month.  He enjoys hanging out with them and usually sees his grandma too.  They've done some pretty fun stuff....San Francisco...the water park.  He gets spoiled when he goes there and that's good for him!

He had a great school year with friends.  Khalif continues to be a helper to those classmates in need and a good friend.  He had his Destination Imagination group every Thursday and really enjoyed the creativity and working on solving problems.  It also forced him to get out of his comfort zone which was a good thing!  Speaking of that, he was chosen to be the lead in the 3rd grade play but after a few practices his teacher could tell something was up, so she asked him if he wanted to do it and he said no.  She was hoping he would let his personality come out, but I guess not.  

Ryan also decided it was time to try wrestling, so we stopped Jujitsu and he started that in May.  Although he says he doesn't like it, he has a smile on his face at practice and learns new moves from Ryan and wrestles with him almost daily.  He was the same way with Jujitsu but accidentally admitted to me one day that he was excited to go sometimes.  It is very challenging to try to figure out what the truth is at times, so we push forward until something becomes clear.  Sadly, the boys swim team is not going to pick back up, so that is finished for now.

Front and center...

Definitely the most exciting thing that happened this year was that he was baptized in early June (at least for me!).  My friend from bible study passed away and as we were talking about her, he told me he wanted to get baptized.  They did it a little different than normal and I was worried he wasn't going to go through with it, but he was ready!  Even more exciting, his grandma decided to get baptized too!!!

The whole gang enjoying menchies!

New York

My mom mentioned that she was going to New York to visit her brother in early June and I thought that might be fun for us to go too so I invited myself (and the kids)!  Flights were amazingly cheap, around $129 each way and the kids were out of school so early this year, so how could we not go?  Arthur and Lee-Ann purchased the house next door for her mother, but it wasn't quite complete and her mom was still waiting for her house to sell, so we had a nice place to stay.
We left the house at 3:30 am for a 6 o'clock flight out of SFO, OUCH!  Things were great until after our 4 hour layover in Milwaukee.  We went to our gate and the flight was delayed.  Just a few minutes later, they told us the flight was cancelled!  Everyone rushed to the counter to get the 24 seats on the 6 am flight the next day, but they were gone by the time I made it to the counter, so our options were to go to Denver at 2:30 and then fly to Laguardia and arrive at 11:10 or drive to Chicago Midway and fly out at 2 and arrive around 4.  That sounded like a better option, so we rented a car and found a hotel near Midway.  All this is of course not paid for by Southwest because it was all "weather" related.  I did my first Uber and about had a heart attack when it was $135 to go 32 miles, but it was during rush hour.  About 2 hours in the Uber driver got a text from Uber saying the ride was over and he should find a safe place and drop us off!  That was just what we needed after the disastrous travel experience we had already had.  Thankfully, he was nice and didn't follow instructions!  We finally arrived almost 24 hours later than expected and everyone was so happy to be there.  The vacation got much better after that fiasco!

 Airport fun

 He is no expert at that game, but we had an agreement that there was no screen time at the airport, only on the plane.

 This is a rarity!  That's how bored she was!

We settled in and did a lot of eating and visiting with family.  Our attempts to go to the beach and pool were thwarted by the weather, but we made the best of it!  Khalif had his usual travel challenges, but seemed to settle down around the 3rd day.  Ainsley had a toe infection that needed medicine, so we had to make a trip to the walk-in clinic and then she got bit by a bug and her leg swelled quite a lot.  Reggie had a hard time getting his face out of his phone or computer but finally came around a bit.  Khalif and Arthur had a good time making him a house, riding in his convertible and playing in the pool.  Ainsley and Jackie did a lot of gymnastics, swimming and crafting.  And us adults did a lot of talking and eating!

 Enjoying delicious pizza

Everyone's favorite dog!

 Khalif's house

 Protecting his pizza from getting sand blasted!

Our trip to the city was awesome....our tour guides, Lisa and Heather, mapped it all out and everyone was happy!  We went to the Vessel, walked the elevated path through the city, saw the 911 memorial, went to FAO Shwartz, the Nintendo and M&M store and finally ended in Times Square.  We got a great feel for the city, subway and train!!! 
On Father's Day, we had a nice BBQ at Lisa's house and had more time to visit and get to know both  of the Eddie's.  Who knew Eddie worked for TSA and hooked me up at the security gate!  Mom had a little too much to drink at the BBQ and ended up throwing up which really made Reggie nervous.  He told me he knew exactly what was happening....alcohol poisoning...had learned it in health and his teacher told him that if that ever happened to them, they should call 911.  Hmmm.  Grandma survived without intervention, but the next day was a long one! 
The vessel:

 911 Memorial

 Subway

 Nintendo store....look at those smiles!

You should've seen his smile!  He almost got escorted out of the area because he was in a no walk zone

  Outside view of the vessel

 Picture at the top of the vessel...nice views!

And then, we went our separate ways...mom and dad took the kids to Seattle and I went back to SFO. 

Bocce

One of our favorite activities with friends is Bocce!  We had a really fun group and the girls were victorious yet again.  The problem is that it is a pretty short evening and there's not much time to sober up.  I had 3 glasses of wine and it crushed me.  I got sick and was out of commission the entire next day.  Never have I been so affected by alcohol...I guess I'm getting wimpy as I age.

Clearly too much wine!

Yard project

One section of our backyard has always been a bit of a disaster.  We partially fixed it two years ago, but our path was cracking and the slate rocks were broken so dad cleared it all out in March and there was nothing but dirt left.  Under the trampoline and by the tree was looking pretty miserable as well because the bark was no longer covering the ripped weed barrier, so when I looked out my kitchen window, all I saw was weeds, dirt and ripped black paper.  So, after all the sports stopped, we had a few weekends at home and it was time to take care of the mess.  We decided to do artificial grass since its forgiving and pretty easy to work with but we had one problem...the trampoline was too big to move anywhere, so it was tricky.  The trampoline took all 4 of us to lift and even then it barely came off the ground.  We somehow made it work and I can't tell you how much nicer it is!!!

 The neighbors tree is a little bit of a problem, dropping stuff all over the place.  We never used to see it since it was bark and dirt, so now we have a little maintenance, but I don't mind blowing.

Christian Alliance for Orphans

My church asked if I wanted to go to the CAFO conference this year in Louisville, KY and it took me a whole 2 seconds to decide to go!  Although I did have second thoughts when I found out it was on our 20th anniversary, but Ryan insisted, so I went.  I left very early Tuesday morning and came back very late Friday night.  The sessions were so powerful and it was just what I needed to be refreshed and give me some hope.  Tim Tebow made an appearance and we were the live audience for a radio show that was interviewing the governor of Kentucky...wow...is he sure amazing (and his wife too).  I hope he runs for president some day!  It was inspiring to hear the stories of how these speakers overcame their circumstances....terrible, unimaginable circumstances.  God is amazing!  He can turn ashes into beauty :).

Maui

Ryan and I had our annual trip to Maui in early March and it never disappoints.  We go to the beach almost everyday, but try to do one new thing each time.  Ziplining was it this year and although it was a long day, the last zipline was amazing!

We had another first this year...we met a couple from Oregon on the beach and struck up a friendship.  We even went out to dinner with them.  There's a pizza place that was on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives that we went to and none of us would go back (I think it was the gluten free crust).  We usually just keep to ourselves, but our paths were meant to cross....they sure had a lot of fun stories!
Ryan out looking for his Apple Watch.  Oops.  He was lucky enough to retrieve it from the lake but not the ocean!  It's been a very good thing for him to have a regular old watch :).

Lots of whales this year:

Mom and dad were having lots of fun with the kids while we were gone!  Reggie had a swim meet and Ainsley had a trampoline competition.  Thankfully, no volleyball tournament because that would've been a little much!  The weather was terrible again but Khalif and Ainsley put on a jumping show for grandma.  The trampoline we got off Craigslist is super bouncy.

 Uncle Yu's for my birthday dinner :).  It's amazing how many people fit around a round table.

Dad and Ainsley play these funny games (rock, paper, scissors too) and she just laughs and laughs.

Grandma came back in May when Ryan was in Asia and I remembered to take a few pictures (I'm not as on top of it as I used to be).
Enjoying the 1st market of the year.  It was pretty quiet but very lovely.

 Grandma got to play Bocce!

Driving range

We tested out our golfing skills and we still have a very long way to go!  Ryan should've been there as I know nothing about how a golf swing should look but he was in Asia so we did the best we could and at least by the end were making contact with the ball some of the time!  Khalif was visiting his aunt so he wasn't there to experience our amazingness.  It seems important to say, "keep your eye on the ball."  We had lots of laughs :).

There's some potential

Reggie:

After practice

And me: