I'll start with Grandma-Great's 75th birthday party, which all of us weren't invited to! My mom and dad threw a party for my Grandma up in Canada with all her siblings, so I can't really be too sad we missed out. I know she had a wonderful time, and we still got to eat cake and give her presents the next day. We went all homemade this year and built her a terrarium and I crocheted her some dishcloths. I'm teaching myself to crochet, and it's way fun! We're so thankful to have such a wonderful Grandma in our lives. She does so much to help us out, and the boys love spending time with her each week. Just one of the many, many perks of living multi-generational in the same city.
Luke saw his allergist last week, and it was a frustrating and sad appointment. He told us, under no uncertain circumstances, that we need to get rid of Tana, our cat. We're all pretty sad, and it's been hard so far trying to find her a new home. Granted, our hearts haven't really been in it. The doctor also suggested that we start doing an elimination diet with him if getting rid of the cat isn't enough to alleviate his symptoms. We're still avoiding the peanuts entirely, but the tests were inconclusive on what other foods may be definitively causing his symptoms. The potential culprits are eggs, wheat, oats, dairy, banana, and tomato. It's a long list to eliminate, and we still have many long months ahead of us.
Max has been immersed in the arts this month. I took him to a creativity co-op activity at a museum earlier this month. He completed a few cute art projects and took in the abstract art. I was so blown away by his interpretation of the art, even with very little prompting from me. He loved, loved, loved getting to meander around the museum with his hands in his pockets taking everything in. The next week the entire family went to a few shows connected with western art week. Once again, Max soaked it all in, loving every minute. Today I took him to my sister's Youth Orchestra concert, his first ever full-length classical concert. Despite my initial apprehension, Max was a little rock star during it! The boy who never, ever is quiet sat and listened to the entire thing. Love that little man.
Darreck is pretty much status quo, but I'm suffering through a flare-up of my old back injury. I've felt so loved this week as my family has really stepped it up to care for me. Darreck took time off work, and my mom helped with babysitting, making dinner, doing laundry, and carting me off to my first ever chiropractor appointment. I'm one very, very blessed girl!
One last piece of big news- our house is for sale! We've been house hunting for what feels like forever, but we finally made the plunge, listed our house, and made an offer on our first choice of new properties. We're really excited, even though we have no idea what the outcome will be. It's going to be a long few months of trying to keep the boys out of everything and weather the storms of real estate. We have faith that Heavenly Father will direct us to wherever we need to be.
I'll leave with some pictures of Max making his preschool homework project of the month.
