Aspergillus and Bermuda grass and Cottonwood, Oh My!

Today was Spencer's pulmonary and allergy skin tests. I didn't get the complete results of the lung test, although the technician said there was a huge improvement after he gave him the inhaler. And he was asymptomatic today. But the skin test was amazing. He had a positive reaction to 14 out of 15 environmental allergens. The worst were the grasses. The nurse said he had an amazing amount of energy considering the extent of his allergies. He's always been snotty and we figured he probably had seasonal allergies, but we didn't know how extensive they were. Here is the complete list: alternaria (?) , aspergillus (mold), bermuda grass, orchard grass, black cottonwood, western sycamore, dog, cat, ragweed, rye, scale (?), dust mite DF and DP, and cantaloupe. I told him he needs to live in the dessert where nothing grows. The good thing is that he has had much less snot since we started him on the nasal lavage and nasal steroid spray.

Dinnertime Talk

Dallin (holding up a drumstick at dinner): "What is this?"
Us: "It's a chicken leg."
Dallin: "Someone went to the farm and took the chicken's leg?!"

Tyler: "Did I eat enough dinner to get dessert?"

Spencer: "What movie is this from?..." We often play name that movie in which we say a line from a movie and everyone has to guess what movie it is - the boys are much better at it than we are.

Scripture Time

We try to read about half a page in the Book of Mormon every day with the kids (morning during the school year and evening in the summer). But sometimes I wonder how much they are really getting out of it. Spencer pays attention well - he participates in our discussions while we read; Tyler holds still but doesn't know what we're reading about if we ask him; and Dallin doesn't sit still or listen at all. So Dave came up with a brilliant idea. He tells the boys a word they need to listen for. The first person to hear it gets to tickle Dave's feet. They really get into it. Even Dallin is right there, listening and giggling when he gets to tickle. I love it when an idea works. Sometimes you've got to be creative with kids.

Beach Hike

We went on a hike along the coast today. It's a new trail that was just opened to the public recently. We had to check in and check out, since it goes up near the nuclear power plant.


There were some beautiful views of cliffs, jutting rocks and beaches down below.


This was a sink hole that formed 10 years ago. Before that it was an underground cave. It was cool to hear the water roar in and out.

After the hike we drove down to the beach. It's a fun place with lots of rock formations to climb on.
The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water
And collecting shells and awesome rocks to put in their ocean room.
Spencer and his cousins climbed all over these jagged cliffs up above the water
While Dallin found a smaller, safer cliff to climb. Everyone had such a great time it was hard to leave.

Pioneer BBQ

Yesterday was Pioneer Day, the day that Mormons honor our pioneer ancestors.

Today we celebrated by having a big BBQ and playing games in the field behind the church.

It was still quite warm, so there were lots of water games.

And tug-o-war. The kids had a blast.

Happy Birthday Dallin!

Dallin turned 4 years old today. He started the day off by making and eating muffins, of course. Then I let him stay in his jammies as long as he wanted to, or until we had to go somewhere at 3:00.

He's been wanting this "Silly Monster" cake from my cake decorating book for months. It's one of my kids' favorite books - they love to look through it and plan the next several years' worth of birthday cakes they want. I have to admit - I do enjoy making them. I can't come up with creative ideas on my own, but I'm great at copying other people's ideas.

Dallin unwrapped his presents so fast he barely looked at each thing before moving on to the next one. He even started to blow out the candles before we were done singing Happy Birthday to him. He's been looking forward to this day for so long you'd think he'd want to savor it a little bit, but apparently not.
We invited Kristen and Nathan's family over for an instant party. The pinata was a hit, and luckily no one got hurt. Overall a quick but successful birthday party. I decided around noon that we really should do something for his birthday today. It's a good thing Kristen called to nail me down to a time.

Dressing up

My boys love to dress up, but not as your typical superman or batman. They get creative and combine all kinds of things. This morning Dallin was Muffin Man

And Tyler was some kind of Harry Potter/knight. They crack me up, and they're not even trying to be funny. They are taking themselves very seriously. Dallin told me he was flying to save someone. He even has blueberry muffin residue on his face.