Life Lately

It's been 5 years since Rockwell was tested for allergies. We took him in to be tested again, and also get Tessa and Damon tested. The good news is Tessa and Damon are not allergic to tree nuts. Yay!! 

Rockwell's allergies have only gotten worse though. Once you test at a 7, it's anaphylactic. Five years ago he tested at a 20 and 19 for cashews and pistachios, and a few points lower for the other nuts. This time he was at a 40 and 35 for pistachios and cashews, and closer to 20 for the rest of them. 

These allergies are hard on Rockwell. If there's the slightest question about whether something might have tree nuts in it, he'll simply pass on eating it, even when that means he's the only one not eating delicious-looking treats. He is so very responsible and mature about it, and handles it like a champ. But being tested again really showed me that it's a hard and scary thing for him. Before we went to the allergist's office, I was explaining how the testing is done. When I said that they'll poke the kids' backs with drops of each nut, Rockwell immediately got teary. He was afraid of the nuts being put into his skin. I explained that the doctor knows just how much he can put on his back while keeping him safe, and how it won't have any effect on his breathing. I could tell he was nervous about it all, but cooperated just fine. The same nurse that tested him last time tested him again this time. She remembered him, and as soon as his bumps started reacting, she said she could tell his allergy has gotten worse. He got teary again hearing that. I think he felt better after the doctor explained that he doesn't need to do anything differently with the allergy getting worse.  It really doesn't change anything about how he needs to handle life. He needed complete avoidance before, and he needs complete avoidance now. 

It was an emotionally hard day for him. He's glad Tessa and Damon don't have the allergies, but he's a little jealous too. He kept saying, "Me and Kyle, we can't eat nuts and we need our epipens." He feels better knowing his cool cousin who he looks up to carries an epipen everywhere too. :) I took the kids to see a movie after the appointment instead of taking Rock back to school. We saw Penguins, and had the whole theater to ourselves. Rockwell loved it! 

Northridge did a Nighthawk Walk for their fundraiser this year. Damon and I were able to go cheer Tessa on for a couple laps. It was cute to see her and Halina having so much fun running.

Both Tessa and Rockwell did great. Tessa ran 2 1/3 miles, and Rockwell ran 3 1/3 miles. Rock ran the most laps in his class. He loved that Mr. Bunker announced that to everyone. :)

Paul took Rockwell with him to an event at his school. They watched Here Comes the Boom in the auditorium. Rockwell loved going with Dad!

Alexys had her last dance concert at school. She was so excited for it, and I'm glad I could make it to watch. She is a beautiful dancer, and she loves performing. I love to see her so confident on stage. 

They had some cute crafts at the story time right before Easter. 

We had a pretty warm day a while ago, so the kids played with Rockwell's water balloons that he got for his birthday. 

Paul made a great campfire for us.

Hillary sent me this cute picture of Tessa and Opal. They love playing together.

We had a family dinner with Grandma and Gramps Clark on Sunday. We celebrated Emilie's, Carrie's, and Rockwell's birthdays.

While the kids played outside, the adults and big kids played a few games and had some good laughs. It was a great family dinner. I loved watching Damon take his job very seriously. He was in charge of guarding the dolls while Tessa and Brylie washed their hands for dinner. :)

Rockwell has loved playing with all his new Legos that he got from Grandma and Gramps!

We were playing outside the other day and there were a ton of butterflies in our tree.

Tessa wanted to catch one so bad. She jumped, climbed, waited patiently, and chased them, but no luck. She was sure cute trying though.

 

This kid! He makes us laugh all day long. The other day I was helping him get dressed and I laid his pants out for him at the same time he threw his underwear down for me to lay out. They landed on top of each other, and Damon said, "Mom, you're a disaster." What?!? I was laughing so hard at that one!

I'm always a little late getting out of class on the Sundays that I teach Relief Society. The kids had fun playing in Dad's truck while they waited for me this week. 

 

Soccer!!

Damon is playing his first season of soccer in Lindon, and it is just adorable!

He was excited to go to the first practice, but was really nervous once we got there. He has been going to primary so well lately, that I forgot how nervous he gets with new things and especially being away from his parents. As soon as we got there and he started holding onto my leg and crying, I remembered all those many many months of crying about nursery. He did decide to participate in practice for the last ten minutes, but was very timid about it. I wasn't sure how the game would go on Saturday, but he didn't have any problems going out on the field. He absolutely loved playing! 

His coaches were really surprised after how practice went. They called him their secret weapon. :) He wasn't timid at all and scored all 6 of the team's goals. 

I forgot how cute 3-year-old soccer is! It was so funny to watch all the kids grabbing the ball to put it where they wanted it, laying on the field, and having no clue when they had gone out of bounds and were playing on the field next to their own. :)

Damon knew just what to do though. My favorite part was his little strut after each goal he made. He would do the cutest little walk back to his coaches and give them a high five, then run over and give Rockwell a hug before he lined up for the next play. He was on cloud nine the rest of the day, and kept reminding us all how good he is at soccer. :) I love to see him proud of himself!

Rockwell had his first Lindon game right before Damon's game. He played SUCH a good game too. He scored 5 of his team's 6 goals, assisted the goal he didn't make, and played great defense. 

The last goal he made was awesome! Wyatt was playing goalie (which he did great at!), he blocked a shot and kicked it out far to Rockwell, who dribbled it past a defender and shot it high. The goalie's fingertips touched it, but he wasn't able to get high enough to block it. And that won the game. It was a great day for these boys!!

Rockwell finished his league in Provo this week too. It was a fun team this year. I'm loving watching Rockwell get better and better each season.

Easter

We had a nice Easter morning. The kids loved finding the eggs hidden around the house, and seeing what was in their baskets. 

They each had new pajamas in their basket and those were the favorite thing this year.

We enjoyed going to church. I love the weeks with extra focus on Christ's atonement and resurrection, and the hope and meaning He gives to our lives here and in eternity.

Some nice neighbors "egged" our house again this year. The note said there were 12 eggs, and not to be surprised by the one empty egg. It signified Christ's empty tomb and that He has risen from the dead.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Ham's house for Easter dinner. The kids got to do another egg hunt there, which they loved.

Everyday Adventures

The third grade had their Wax Museum/Biography Day at school. Rockwell chose to learn about LeBron James.

He did a great job writing a report about LeBron, making a poster with the information he learned, and telling the parents about him at the museum.

Brylie got to come play at our house while Carrie was running some errands one day. We all loved having her over. She is adorable!

Rockwell went to Bode's birthday party at Provo Beach Resort. It was a beautiful day, so Tessa, Damon and I stuck around and shopped at the Riverwoods.

Tessa is very proud of the big bubbles she can blow.

Grandpa Barth came over for lunch while he was in town. The kids loved the Easter gift he gave each of them.

And Rockwell loved beating him at arm wrestling. :)

It's been a while since Damon and I have been able to go to story time. We went this week, and Damon loved going again.


Tessa is so funny. She goes all in when she pretends.


These two were laughing so hard while we were waiting to pick Rockwell up from school. I could listen to it all day!


Rockwell has been playing spring soccer in Provo. He's doing great and had an especially good game on Saturday. He really seems to be trying to implement what his coach teaches him. I just love watching him play!
  
  
Rockwell loves that he gets to play with Wyatt, and I love that I get to see my nephew play every week. Wyatt and Hallee came home with us after their game on Saturday. They had so much fun spending the afternoon with their cousins.