Let your conscience be your guide...

This round of allergy test results are back. This year for Nate we just did the food panel. he is still positive for peanuts, treenuts, soy, egg, wheat, and gluten. He did not test positive for a cow milk allergy, but we keep him off of it anyways. He is also still off corn and complex carbs- so no diet changes right now! Same ol' hard core diet. :) Neve's soy and nut came back not a concern for now-HOORAY!!! BUT she will still be gluten and nut free for a couple years at least I am guessing- so no real changes there except I can ease up a little on restricting soy.

After today we have 9 more dasy til school starts for both kiddos. Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if we can just survive the next week. :)

Saturday I took Neve on a Mommy/daughter date to see Pinocchio at the local Children's theater. we LOVE that place. Neve has such a great time every time we go. I forgot my camera (*gasp*) so I was stuck with cell phone pics.

I had planned to take her to Oregano's afterwards for lunch but she started chanting, "SU-SHI!". What's a mom to do?

Nate is doing fine. He won't sit still for photos lately or I would make him pose too-ha! Oh- but his new communication device comes in tomorrow so we are super excited to start that journey! :)

Fun with Allergies

It's that time of year again, my friends....annual allergy testing.

Nate was a champ and we just finished his blood testing and we are waiting on results. I don't expect much to change..but it's ALL good to know so I can go through my yearly spiel with the teacher and nurse of Nate's new school.

Neve was REALLY good for her skin tests. I am always so amazed at how well she does with things. I am so used to Nate and how hard doc visits are for ALL of us with Nate..and then Miss Thang is an angel. I must look like a total fool as I am always telling her how proud I am of her and I usually am teary eyed. I know that sounds RIDICULOUS to anyone that has never been in my shoes, but it's true. She is growing up so fast and I hope she just rolls with things like she is learning to now.

Waiting to see the allergist.

Neve's artwork on the exam table paper. :)

The skin test. We didn't have to do a full panel this time, only food. Neve has not had any known reactions to seasonal or animal allergens- phew!!!!!!!! So we didn't test for those on this visit.

I make you wanna...JUMP! JUMP!

Another weekend of not too much going on around here. Aaron took Neve to see the Winnie the Pooh movie this morning. I can't explain why I don't like Winnie the Pooh, I just don't. Anyway, Aaron and Neve had a good time while I hung with Nateman and we played Just Dance on Wii. I can only imagine what a sight we were. :)

This afternoon we headed to the bounce park to get some of the energy out of our kiddos while still being in the air conditioning.

Heading up the slide. Neve loves manhandling Nate til he goes down with her.

Nate on the velcro wall. I am sure he picked up SARS from that suit but it was hilarious.

Aaron and his girl playing bounce basketball.



Summer Days

Our days are spent mostly driving between sporadic summer camp activities as well as therapy for Nate. It's, quite frankly, getting old. BUT, we are managing to find things to do here and there while staying stuck in our house to avoid the insane heat.

For those of you wondering about our tabby, Glenn the cat, he is alive and well. Well, he might have had a glue stick attached to his tail or chunks of fur missing from Nate's "hug", but he is alive at least. :) I never mention our kitty..so here he is.

Neve painted his picture today- completely independent too except for the name..

Then she painted a bird with feathers (she told me) and his bunny friend. Ok..I see that, Neve. :)

The rest of the day was spent in the cave. The Dragon cave to be exact.

 Neve then informed me that this particular dragon eatspeople and dried apricots.

Neve then repeatedly tried to coerce her big brother to join her in the cave.

hahhahahahah...not so successful..but I definitely girl the girl credit for trying!!! Let's hope she never STOPS trying. :)

Need a little patience, yeah...Just a little patience, yeah

30 days til back to school. Not that I am counting or anything. Um, actually I am REALLY ready to pack my little boogers up with their backpacks and send them on their way. They are ready too...but instead we wait...and try to avoid the insane HEAT right outside our door. It makes it impossible to drive anywhere in the afternoons without getting out of the car a sweaty mess (thank you, leather seats).

But yes, the countdown is on for back to school..as well as our Disney trip. Neve is beside herself with excitement and we crafted a countdown chain to give her a visual sense of time. She LOVES it.

This was Neve at 7:15am this morning..ready to go in her princess gear.

She is excited to meet the Disney princesses and keeps watching Youtube videos with her Dad of other's trips to Disneyland. It's going to be a lot of fun.

But for now, it's counting down...and waiting..and finding patience(thank you, Axl, for your help).

Light My Fire...Cracker

We actually threw caution to the wind and ventured out for our first family fireworks trip. Aaron and I haven't actually gone to see fireworks in 6 years so it was nice to do it!! We, of course, worried and speculated on how Nate would handle it all. The loudness, the people, the WAITING, the overstimulation, etc.  Plus the show here in town started at 8:30, which is already 2 hours past their bedtime..
 I am happy to report it all went really well!!

First Bomb Pop. She had a nice sugar buzz going.

Please notice the lovely port-a-potties in the background. I will give myself an "F" for composition. lol.

We went to the local city.church show and had an hour or so to kill before the show started. They had music playing and the kiddos had popsicles, sno cones, and played with the glow sticks and beach balls.

Nateman was definitely overstimulated with noises and plugged his ears a lot.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...more waiting.

Finally the show started and for the most part it was a complete success. I didn't get any pictures of the actual show as Nate was jumping and cheering in front of me so I had to be on duty and keep helping him sit back down. Aaron and I just laughed - the kid loved it..he was stimming and flapping so hard I seriously thought he might take flight. ha!

Neve loved it too. She kept alternating between saying, "This is my favorite thing ever!"...to, "Can we go home now?". hahaha. She was really tired by the time the show started.

We made it back safely to the car before the dust storm hit. It was of course a mad house getting out of the church parking lot and both kiddos were sawin' logs before we even left the site. Everyone was a bit cranky this morning but I would call it a success. Happy 4th of July!!

She's crafty..and she's just my type

The girl is a craftin fool. Thankfully summer camp has been a craft madhouse (and I have the glitter-filled car to prove it).

It's actually really cute. Anytime we have just a second of downtime she says, "Well, we could do a craft?!". Hahahah..that's why our family members get random pictures in the mail. Another obsession is the mail. She LOVES getting mail from her grandparents and Aunt Jen, etc..

I am not artistic but I am certainly creative when I need to be. I think that comes from my dad, for sure. My mom? not so much. hahahha  ..and Aaron is hilariously pitiful when it comes to crafting or anything that involves glue, glitter, ribbon, or the like. We have decided that Aaron can handle the academics(I'll throw him a bone ;) ) and I will help create the awesome dioramas.

Now getting Nate involved in projects is a whole other story...lordy. He takes after his dad I suppose. :)