Friday, April 20, 2018

Is it spring yet?

Some girlfriends and I had a quick getaway to Sun Valley for the weekend. Turns out I picked the perfect weekend not to be on the soccer field with the kids (sorry Ryan!)
And we had our first moose sighting. I'd like to take a bow and acknowledge that we pretty much saved that big guys life by honking at cars not to hit him. You are welcome Mother Nature.
A dinner out, followed by the BEST people watching. Karen was convinced there was an 80's party somewhere that had converged on the Cellar. Nope, we were just a good solid decade or two older than everyone in the bar. 

*please note Karen planking on the big chair. And don't ask why because I don't think there is a good answer?

Spa day Saturday, followed by a dinner we INHALED, led to this. We are old, my friends. We are old.
And that's a wrap on volleyball season. 
Celebrating another quarter of straight A's! Proud of these little bugs....
 And then it was Easter...
 I swear, we were dressed up nicely, went to church, ate ham and did all the Easter stuff.
 Maybe the sugar went to their brains?
 As if soccer wasn't enough, Aidan tried track for the first time! He was AWESOME! 
 Super fun to see him try something new and even more fun to watch him have fun with friends...
Will he ever get to an age where I don't want to eat him up? Look at that form people.

Denver - 3rd Time is the Charm!

Man, I'm a little Morgan posting heavy, but I swear Aidan is still around doing great! Morgan had some food allergy blood work done in the fall and we quickly sent the results to National Jewish to see if there were any more foods she could food challenge. Food challenges are basically where you sit in a room, with a whole bunch of medical people watch you eat foods that you were previously allergic to. If that doesn't sound fun enough, it gets better! You get to see there for 4ish hours per food and progressively eat a whole bunch of food you kind of hate because it's made you so sick in the past. But let me tell you, the results were worth it. So, so, so worth it. Morgan ate and passed to peanuts (I KNOW!!! PEANUTS!), eggs (I KNOW!), a whole bunch of nuts, some fish (but important fish because now she can have french fries in restaurants!!!), garbanzo beans (random, but okay). She is now only officially allergic to sesame seeds, cashew/pistachio, salmon/tuna. I'm getting a little teary just typing this. Truly a life changer.
Remember that late night concert, yeah, my puffy eyes don't lie. An early morning flight to Denver.
Asian pear styrofoam on your face, ok.
If you have to spend spring break in a hospital, you get a bit spoiled in the sugar and shopping departments. 
And then we sit. And sit. And sit. Thank you to the creators of the show Friends. Yes, she did watch EVERY episode.
Shockingly, this skin testing is much improved. But still some pretty big ones.
So excited to eat nuts. SO EXCITED (kidding).
We celebrated a successful first day of challenging with a movie at Alamo Drafthouse. (Truly my favorite way to watch a movie!)
And then we sit.
And do some testing type stuff.
And then eat. Lots of eating.
And lots of coloring and watching Friends.
And play kiddie games. 
After the biggest day, we had to go and get some groceries. This was the day she passed eggs and peanuts. Did I start crying in the grocery store looking at the ALL of the foods she can eat. You bet I did. I used to cry (regularly, sorry people of Boise, that sobbing mess was me) in the grocery store trying to figure out what in the heck I was going to feed her. So it was a bit emotional to be on the other side of that. 
Since it was another day of challenging, I limited my celebration. 
And since National Jewish is the #1 respiratory hospital in the country, of course more lung function testing. 
Cod for breakfast, sure! 
She could have challenged hazelnuts, but she'd had enough and we settled on nutella. Unfortunately, that she means she's not cleared to eat actual hazelnuts, but nutella will do until the next trip.
Tuna and ketchup, coming right up.
I wonder sometimes if the staff miss seeing us sitting in this same spot for 11 hours a day for a week, coloring and watching Friends? Likely, someone else is filling our spots. But I bet they don't color nearly as well as we do.
And we are free! Exhausted, thrilled and ready to go home! 
It's really the simple things!
Morgan thought this was a bear habitat in the Denver airport. Ummm no.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you National Jewish. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Winter 2018!

Oh Boy, it's kind of pathetic that I can pretty much get caught up with the blog in two postings. Someone force me to take some pictures!
We had some pretty spectacular weekends of skiing this year. Don't  tell the kids, but this knee/hip deep powder was when we left them with the babysitter for the weekend and needless to say, had a blast. You could hear people squealing down the mountain and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. 
Meanwhile in Boise, Morgan and Aidan were freezing their faces off at a tournament. I did catch this game and am still recovering from the hypothermia....
Baylee is in love with Ryan. I am wanting for the day that she changes the locks on the doors so I can't get into our house. 
Baylee has a new buddy! Teddy battled Parvo, thanks to his owner, and is now one of the funniest little guys. 
March was Social Work Appreciation Month. I'm having my 15th anniversary of being a licensed social worker and let's just say, some days this meme is spot on! 
Once again, Kearneys are LOVING their new schools! So many great things to be a part of. After kicking herself all winter for not playing basketball, Morgan tried out for volleyball. After never having touched a volleyball, she said she thought she might make varsity. *we cringed thinking no way. Then she told us there would be two varsity teams and she might be on the top varsity team. *we cringed again, hoping there would be no tears. It's not like we don't believe in her, but she's never touched a volleyball before. In true Morgan fashion, she made the top varsity team. And that my friends, calls for treats! 

I mean, c'mon, could she be cuter!?!

And then it was the Dolly llamas birthday! Happiest of birthdays to our fine little chickadee matriarch.
We all love her so...
It's shocking that Morgan and I are the way that we are, especially seeing the serious role model we have... 

If you haven't caught a volleyball game in a  while, I highly recommend. So much fun to watch! 

Kind of random, but Ryan's good friend from high school manages a Seattle band in town for Tree fort (Thunderpussy). We met up with Chris for happy hour and spent some time with the band. So much fun, so much fun that Morgan and I decided to go to their 1 a.m. show. I know! 1 AM. I'm still tired and questioned, what am I doing? But TOTALLY worth it.
Morgan cringed at the taking of this picture. But I really don't think anyone in the crowd was concerned with the old lady and the young kid in the audience. The band was absolutely great! They are kind of bad-assy and Morgan LOVED it.
So fun to see them all bad assy on stage and then totally melt meeting their youngest fan. They were so kind and sweet to Morgan, asking her a billion questions and giving her big hugs. She was thrilled! 
Despite our rock star night the night before, Morgan and I headed to do a little marching. Kids shouldn't be in fear of getting shot at at school. Mmm kay. It's that simple. Ugh, blood boiling.