Sometimes it’s hard to find an indoor place suitable for a playdate, but today my friend and I met up with our kids at the indoor playland of a newly remodeled McDonald’s (which, by the way, is part of a 1 billion dollar worldwide remodeling effort to make McD’s feel more like a Starbucks).

Yes, I feed my kids French fries. When Carissa caught sight of the fries her excitement level shot up from about a 1.5 to a full 10. She ate them all, except for the few I sneaked from her.

Wes preferred his chocolate milk.

The best part for Wes–the indoor basketball court!

Wes and his friend Abby had so much fun together.

First off, Wes tried to pack his own lunch for preschool today.

Today Carissa took a trip to an allergist’s office.

She’s had peanut butter a few times, and each time she’s broken out in hives around her mouth.

I’m a little out of my element with allergies since I have none, nor does anyone in my family.

The nurse dabbed high concentrations of peanuts, nuts, and eggs on Carissa’s back and then pricked her skin in each area. We hung out for fifteen minutes while the hives grew and grew.

Carissa is allergic to peanuts, VERY allergic to walnuts, and more mildly allergic to almonds and pistachios. She is also allergic to egg whites (but not egg yolks). I asked him to test for eggs because she tried some the other day and spit it up fast.

Then I got a quick education about the epipen (and it’s cost–over $200 per pack). It’s a quick shot of adrenalin that I’ll keep in my purse and at home near the kitchen. If Carissa has an allergic reaction that’s bad where she is choking or can’t breath, we’ll pull out the epipen and stick it in her upper thigh. The adrenaline reverses the allergic reaction so we have time to get to the hospital.

So we’re set. No nuts, no food processed on the same equipment as nuts (pretzels are OK!–first thing I checked), and no eggs.

The doctor said that many kids outgrow egg and dairy allergies in four or five years. Only one in five kids outgrow nut allergies. So we’ll see.

This week it’s been warm enough for the kids to play outside without jackets.

Today, the start of a new year, our church’s start time moved back two hours. Three congregations share the same building so, to keep everyone feeling equal, every year we rotate our meeting times.

All last year our Sunday mornings were somewhat of a groggy haze of getting kids bathed, dressed, fed, hair combed, socks and shoes found and put on, diaper bag packed, etc., while getting myself dressed and presentable and getting John–the Not Morning Person–out of bed and on his way. Breakfast was frequently unbuttered toast, eaten standing over the sink at home, then a gulp of water from the drinking fountain once we got to church. We were not the award winners for being on time each week.

Today we had TWO MORE HOURS! What did we do?

First, Carissa walked down the stairs by herself for the first time, and Wes cheered her on.

Then the kids ate toast and drank milk on the couch under the same blanket.

I had time to make French baguettes–my new favorite bread to make because 1) I have new baguette pans that shape them so nicely and 2) they take only about an hour to make from start to finish.

Carissa wanted to use the trash can. She knows we put stuff inside it, and she really wants to put stuff in it, too. She is also learning how to blow her nose.

I didn’t bother to take pictures of it, but while I was upstairs putting Carissa’s dress on, Wes was downstairs at the sink filling a measuring cup with water and dumping it on the floor over and over again. So then I got to clean it up and start a load of laundry of the armful of towels I used.

But we got everyone dressed, fed, and out the door on time. And, I even curled my hair.

It’s looking to be a good year.