Catching up.

The basic problem with blogging/journaling is that the more you have to write about, the less time you have to write. Quite the catch 22. So let me just summarize a few highlights of the past couple weeks.

Last Saturday (10 days ago) we got another load of wood chips and put it all around the front yard. We've been wanting to do it pretty much since we moved in, and it looks tons better.

Our frogs have returned to the backyard with the spring weather, and the boys are thrilled. They really are the perfect pets - sitting under our big rock waiting to be played with then returned when we're done with them. They require no upkeep on our part, and of course they stay outside. Recently they found 3 frogs, put them in the driver seats of some toy trucks and raced them around the yard. (See how yucky and weedy my herb garden is next to the patio? Well Dave weeded it and put down weed barrier and the rest of the wood chips there Saturday, as well as planting that rose tree his office gave him in memory of Kevin. It looks beautiful.)

Last week was the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet.
Spencer earned his Wolf badge, a whole 3 months early! It helps that I'm his leader.

We went to the bay on Saturday. I'll do another post about that, since I took lots of pictures.I watched Kristen's boys while they saw Ben's play Friday night, then they watched our boys so we could see it Saturday night. My brother played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we really enjoyed it. They did it Bollywood style, and my favorite part was the big Indian wedding dance at the end. They did a great job of keeping Shakespeare easy to understand and interesting. You know how boring those monologues can be.

But our most exciting news is that we have started giving Brennan wheat!!! We just had a feeling that we should try giving his some to see how he'd do. So last week I made apple oatmeal muffins, which have flour, eggs and milk in them. We gave him one and he devoured it. It was like he'd never eaten anything so wonderful in his life. But the best part was that he didn't get a rash! A year ago he would have developed hives all over his face after just one bite. We were going to start him out slow with just one, but then he wanted more and more. Can you blame him? He ended up eating 4 or 5 that day - no rash. Then we watched for diarrhea, his other main symptom last year. He didn't have any problems. Since then he has had sugar cookies, wheat bread, regular pancakes, cake (homemade and store bought), graham crackers, and pizza crust. I walked through the grocery store Saturday giddy with excitement about all the yummy foods I want to give him. But I realize we should still take it slow, so I just bought fish crackers (not cheddar). We are still watching for eczema, but he hasn't had any so far. I'm so happy I want to cry.