Family, Parties, Allergies, oh my!

 My cousin Jennifer turned "40" in January and I was able to attend a little impromptu party at her sister Jill's house. It was so fun to see my Uncle and cousins!

The boys made valentine's boxes for school. Spencer made a Nyan Unicorn (check out youtubes Nyan Cat and you'll understand), and Preston made a penguin.  I guess I should say "I" made.  I need to learn to stay completely out of their projects from day one so that years later they don't expect so much from me.

 March was the Cub Scout Blue & Gold, and being the Primary Counselor over scouting I got to help decorate. Our theme was from the Lego Movie "Cub Scouting is Awesome".

 Spencer completed a month long PACE (Performance Assessment of Critical Elements) project for the fifth grade. They are learning about American History and government.  Their project was on “We the People”. He had to  research a question, "Should Congress have the power to over-ride the Presidents veto? Why or Why not?" and then write and memorize a speech that was presented in a group before a panel of judges.  A week or so after their school presentation, they held a parent one. It was pretty impressive to watch. Spencer did a great job memorizing his speech, and participating in the question and answer part.

 Preston loves origami, he likes the complicated stuff though, so I usually end up making them. Here are a dragon and a monster that I made for him.

Shannon's nephew was married and it was fun to see Preston get so excited about attending his first wedding. He thought it was cool that his cousin Dallas (who is close to his age) got to walk down the isle. He was so concerned that either Jordan (nephew) or Katie would not say "I do." When the ceremony ended, he said, "Everything was perfect!" Their super-hero theme and cake topper were really fun!

 Over spring break I took the two boys and went to Shannon's mom's house to help her paint the outside trim on her house. Since I thought that was a kind of lame way to spend spring break when everyone else was going to Disney Land, or the San Diego Zoo, or Mount Rushmore (Mark:), or the Oregon Coast, etc., I decided I would invite a couple of my sibling to come help me out. My brother Mark doesn't live too far away and was very willing to come over for a day, and I bribed my sister Emily with a haircut & color if she'd come. My parents also came a day and we just visited since the weather was bad. It was great to have my family around!

 We have suspected that Preston has allergies for some time, so we finally took him in for allergy testing. It's kind of crazy how they do it. They  mark his back so they know what they are testing where, and then they use a little toothpick like thing and put drops of the active allergen (?I'm sure there are more technical terms?) on his back and then let it sit for 10-15 min and wait for a reaction. His lower left reacted so quickly and became very itchy, but not much else developed, which surprised me. I thought he had seasonal allergies. It's nice to be wrong. He is however, allergic to dogs, cats, horses, and dust mites. We haven't quite decided if we'll get rid of our dog Frankie. For now we will try medicated nasal spray instead of antihistamines, and air filter in his room. It has already helped that I have been more diligent in making him shower, changing his bed sheets/pillow case more frequently, vacuuming his room, and changing the house filters. We haven't really ever let the dog in his room, so that helps.
I'd be fine getting rid of the dog, but I know one husband and two kids who don't want to get rid of her. So we'll see.