The Big Thaw

Hallelujiah - spring is finally here! This picture was taken two weeks ago when it started to warm up, and after this week of glorious sunshine, the snow is gone. We discovered that a huge swath of bushes in our front yard were totally decimated by the five feet of snow piled on them, so Andy dug them out on Saturday and now has a new yard project in replacing them. Our tulips and daffodils are also popping up and will be in full bloom soon.

This was the best we could come up with for Lucy so she could sit up and be near us. Still working on rolling over and sitting independently.

I hosted Cooking Club this week and made a treat in honor of the season. Can you tell we're excited??

Sadly, the 60 degree days were too good to last permanently and on Saturday it rained, so we had to get creative. Ben and I decided we should do an indoor campout complete with hot dogs roasted over an "open fire," chips, s'mores, the tent in our living room, games, and scary stories (watching part of Harry Potter #6). This was the only picture we snapped before the camera's batteries gave up the ghost with nary another to be found. The hot dogs actually worked out really well and the s'mores cooked on a pan under the broiler in the oven came out nearly perfect.

For those of you who are wondering what we're doing feeding Ben s'mores, the happy news is that we think his wheat allergy is subsiding. After reading an article on how many childhood food allergies are misdiagnosed and encouraging food challenges to see how they'll react, he tried some normally taboo foods with no negative reaction. He started with some graham crackers and moved on to regular bread and finally his very first doughnut. Chocolate with sprinkles. He loves toast and even had his hot dogs in a bun East Coast style (a.k.a. folded into a piece of bread). We aren't going to try any peanut food challenges unless it's in a clinical setting, but this is a start and Ben's loving the new world open to him. You should have seen his face when he ate his first s'more: Covered in a chocolately mess and smiling radiantly.