Front Porch Makeover

We undertook a front porch makeover this weekend, power washing the porch and buying new porch furniture, a new door mat and a new flag. Joel severely injured his back power washing (not sure exactly how) but thankfully seems to be on the mend a bit by today!

Good News!

Got the word this morning from Caroline's GI doctor that her TTG level was 8 this time around. Normal is < 7 so we are going to go ahead and call this normal! This is the lowest level she has had, since last time was 32 and the previous time she had got down to 19 before going back up. Yay Caroline!!!! I think we should be in the all-clear now to go to yearly follow-ups instead of every 6 months, from here on out. Woo-hoo!!!!

Back to the Doctor

Caroline had her semi-annual GI appointment yesterday. She is getting old enough to ask questions about why she has to go to the doctor, so I told her the doctor needs to make sure her tummy is feeling ok and check to make sure there is no gluten in her body to make her sick. So on the way to the appointment she says to me, "Mom are we almost there yet?! Because I can feel the gluten getting all over my body!"

At her last checkup her gluten antibody levels had increased from the time before so the million dollar question is whether they will have gone up or down this time. If up we will need to discuss next steps with the doctor, which could include an endoscopy to take a look and see what's going on in her intestines. Fingers crossed that the blood test results are good and we don't have to do that! Her health has been good and she has been growing and gaining weight so we don't have any reason to suspect that she is still ingesting gluten somehow except for those stubborn antibody levels that have refused to return to normal so far!

Caroline was, as usual, a rock star during the blood draw and held perfectly still and whimpered just a little. 

Dressed to Swim

In her new swim team uniform. Go Sharks!

Ice Cream!

Joint Robinson-Kaplan homemade strawberry ice cream making was a success! Albeit neither quick nor particularly easy ;) But it was delicious!!

Pool Season

Pool season returns!!

Power Washing

Passport Photos

For some soon-to-be international travelers :)

We got the kids' passport applications taken care of this afternoon. The actual appointment was pretty painless and took 20 minutes to get all three kids taken care of. The drive home in rush hour traffic, however, took about a hundred years. 

Popsicles

My latest obsession is homemade Popsicles. This is attempt number two which unlike attempt number one successfully unmolded but still wasn't all that tasty. It was supposed to be mango lassi flavor but was a bit lacking in flavor. Despite the happy smiles both girls turned their Popsicles back over to me a couple minutes later ;) one of these days I will come up with a good recipe!

Swim Team Practice

Becca joined the swim team last week so now she has practice every day after school except Fridays. She also has several swim meets, which should be interesting seeing as how they last like four hours and parents are required to volunteer to help run the meets. Fortunately Abby is doing it with me, cuz misery loves company :)

Becca is thoroughly enjoying swim practice though and her coach says she has great form :)

A Little Attitude on a Monday Morning

First Slip N Slide

She couldn't quite get the hang of it but had fun anyway :)

Role Reversal

Caroline pretending to be a puppy:

Jasper pretending to be a baby:

Mitzvah Day 2015

Ben and Rebecca participated in Mitzvah Day with Temple Beth El religious school this morning, sorting donations at a local food pantry. Joel was tasked with getting some pictures since he was the one who went with them... Not the greatest photographer but oh well :)

Gluten Free Biscuits

Had to source some pretty strange ingredients for this one :)

Seven Years of Back Yard Fun

Then and now :) The back yard play set has seen finer days but still gets a lot of use so a fresh coat of stain is in its near future. 

JFS Mother's Day Race

Abby and I ran the 5k -- although not having had enough time to train, hurting my leg and coming down with a bad cold this week meant I walked about a third of it and ran the rest -- and the kids ran the 1 mile race. Ben took third place and got to bring home a medal. It was his first race and I am sure with practice he has the makings of a great distance runner. Yay Ben!

The Tooth Fairy Gets a Call Back

Rebecca has spent the last half hour trying to make the "th" sound ;)

Trapeze Bar Antics

Finally Friday

Too many trips to the doctor this week, for one thing. I had a visit to the eye doctor to meet with a cataract surgeon because I have a cataract in my right eye. I don't have much vision in that eye to begin with but I still am noticing the cataract so I am going to have cataract surgery at some point just not sure when yet (they were supposed to call to schedule it but have not yet).

I also took a trip to the urgent care to get evaluated for a suspected UTI so am on antibiotics for a few days (and fighting off a cold as well so just not feeling real great in general this week).

Becca visited the doctor yesterday was well; Joel and I met with her teacher on Tuesday where she told us that Becca's attention issues (rocking/zoning out during class) have gotten much worse and that she is not paying attention about 80% of the day. She rocks her chair backwards halfway across the room without noticing, is much slower completing assignments than the other kids, is always the last one to come to the carpet, line up, pack up, or do whatever it is that the teacher has just asked all the kids to do, and the other kids in the class have started asking about why Rebecca rocks / hums / etc all the time and several have complained about sitting next to her because she disturbs them when they are trying to work :( SO, we are starting off on a low dose of methylphenidate as of today, to see if that improves things any. Because the "wait and see" that we have been doing for the last almost two years hasn't helped. Sigh. On the bright side her teacher has observed that she must be very smart because she only pays attention for about 20% of the day but is still miraculously on grade level. I can't imagine that she would be able to stay on grade level for much longer though, with that level of inattention. Also, I don't want other kids to start teasing her, which hasn't happened yet but I am sure will start soon if things don't improve. Anyway, fingers crossed.

There's a lot going on this weekend, including two flag football games, a charity home tour, dance class, the JFS Mother's Day 5k/family fun run, and dinner at Papa and Mary's new apartment down the street. Bring on the weekend!

Birthday Pooped

Caroline missed her nap this afternoon to attend cousin Charlie's birthday party. She thought the trampoline might be a good spot to rest for a bit :)

Taste Tester

Becca was more than happy to taste test a new gluten free cupcake recipe for me this morning :)

Lending a Hand

For some reason Ben is always happy to lend a hand around other peoples' houses, just not ours. Here he is with his friend James helping to scrub James's porch. And the last time he went over to James's house he shoveled mulch. 

Getting an Early Start on Breakfast

These muffins were from scratch and the batter needed to rest for 30 minutes before baking, so Caroline and I thought we'd better pre-approve them before the Saturday morning breakfast rush :) A little extra sleep never hurt anyone.