Trust Your Mommy Intuition

Caleb has been sick with mono for 6 weeks now. He has dragged all summer long. He has spent most of the time in his bed or on the couch. He complains all the time that different parts of his body hurt, but it was always something new and since the complaints weren't specific to one part of the body, I wasn't sure if I could call the dr. with that kind of non-descript complaint. I kept telling myself that this is what happens when you have mono and the tiredness, aches and pains would go away soon. But then I would see pictures that we had taken of him. He looked so weak and listless, his skin color was awful, and he had dark circles under his eyes. It shocked me everytime I looked at him and saw how bad he looked. However, not wanting to be the overactive parent, I waited till 5 1/2 wks. of mono to make another appointment at the doctor's office. The nurse practitioner that we saw was pretty rude. She basically chastised me for not waiting the full 6 wks. and told me that this was just how kids with mono acted.

I don't get mad much, but I was really MAD!!! I stood my ground and told her that when a 13 yr. old boy breaks down crying several times a week because he feels too bad to do anything, there is something wrong and I wasn't going to leave till she figured out what it was. So she agreed to check his white blood cell count (just to appease me, I think) and told me it would be low because that is what happens when you have mono. Unbelievably, she didn't even apologize to me when she came back in with the results......his white count was HIGH, indicating bacterial infection somewhere in his body. Caleb has now been on antibiotics 5 days and he is a different person! He has energy, he can go to the pool and swim with us, he actually smiles and laughs, life is good! I cannot believe that I waited so long to take him back to the dr. I really feel bad that he lost his whole summer to this. Hopefully he can have lots of fun on our family beach vacation next week and make up for some of this misery!

We Have a Fungus......

Well, not us really, but our cucumbers do indeed have a fungus! I had no idea that vegetable gardens with growing plants could get a fungus! Who knew this would become an instructional gardening blog?!!! I took a leaf from my cucumber vine into the local farm store after my dad told me it looked like I needed to spray a fungicide on the garden. They helped me pick out a fungicide that hopefully will be able to treat the garden. My squash was starting to show signs of fungal spores too, so it was just in time. There was a wealth of information at the farm store and I strongly advise you go there first rather than wasting your time at Lowes or Home Depot garden departments. I was also able to find out what happened to my other 2 squash plants....apparently there is a borer that chews through the base of a healthy squash plant causing it to go from growing nicely to dead in a matter of days. I do believe we were victims! So I am chalking this up to a very educational year in my garden and hope to try again with pesticides and fungicides from the start next year!

Fun in the Garden

It's the lazy hazy days of August and not alot is going on around our house, so I thought I would update on the garden. If anyone has gardening advice, feel free to send it my way, because we have some funky stuff going on in our garden!


Savannah has started watering her watermelon twice a day and is still asking me everytime if we can pick it yet. We have found that watermelons are a perfect plant for kids to grow because you can actually see them growing! It is amazing how we can tell that it is getting bigger everytime we water!

Our cantaloupe is not doing so well. It stopped growing and now seems to be shrivelling up. I have no idea what happened to it and we haven't see any others pop up on the vine, although there are lots of flowers.

The cucumbers continue to grow and I think they are the best thing ever! They taste SO good! Fortunately for me, I am the only one who likes them!

Something weird is going on with our cucumber plants though. I planted two plants and only one is producing cucumbers. The other one looks like this. The leaves have yellow splotches and I am starting to see this on the plant that is producing now too. Does this mean it is dying?

Here is what happens to your tomato plants when you don't use large enough baskets to support their weight. I will probably be getting half as many tomatoes now, but hey, that's better than nothing!

I am happy to report that my lone squash plant is producing more squash! I think I have about 5 on it now and I am anxiously awaiting their growth so I can EAT them!

Garden Update

The mystery is solved! Apparently my neighbor's daughter was visiting last Saturday and they sent her out to the garden to pick veggies. She didn't know that I have a small section of the garden, so she picked my squash by accident! Unfortunately there are no new squash growing yet. :(

We now have a cantaloupe and a watermelon growing! Savannah is beside herself with excitement and can't wait to pick and eat the watermelon. I am having a hard time convincing her that a watermelon the size of the palm of her hand would not taste very good! I am so glad that we decided to garden this year. It has been a really fun experience for our whole family! I just might be tempted to spend the money to take out some trees next year so we can have a full size garden in our yard!

The Game Room

A friend of ours gave us a combo pool/air hockey/ping pong table for our basement which we have been hoping to turn into a gameroom. The kids have been down there ever since we set it up last night and are in HEAVEN!
We really need to finish this part of our house to create a cool teenage hangout since our kids are getting older and wanting to have friends over more often. In our house now, the family room is right off our bedroom, so it gets kind of loud when they kids stay up and watch tv and we want to go to bed.
Of course, Savannah is still thrilled to have a place to drive her little car around in. She was unphased by the new game table, but loves having everyone else hang out with her downstairs! Maybe this will be the incentive we need to go ahead and finish our basement....or at least the gameroom portion of it!

Can You Really Love Something TOO Much?

Savannah went to get her favorite "grandma blanky" out of the dryer the other day, only to find it looking like this. She was devastated! This blanky was made by her Grandma and given to her at birth. It has been with her every night without fail for almost 5 years now. It was there to comfort her when she was tired, scared, lonely, sick or hurt. It has been dragged through dirt and mud and washed too many times to count. Shortly after Savannah came home from the hospital, her wild and crazy brother Samuel decided to bite it with his teeth and drag it away from her. That's when the first tear happened and I did my first repair on the beloved yellow blanky.

Today, I am afraid that the blanky may be well beyond repair since the fabric seems to be degrading and shredding. But how do you let go of something that is loved so much? Savannah is still happy to sleep with it, even in its current condition! Grandma, do you have enough of this fabric left over to make another one?

Garden Surprises

My little garden is finally starting to produce! When we got home from day camp on Friday, I was able to pick my first cucumber! I peeled it, sliced it up, and we all shared it; well all of us that I could convince to have a taste anyway, in spite of the fact that it was a green vegetable! It was so yummy!

My watermelon and cantaloupe plants look great but they still haven't fruited. There are lots of flowers though, so we are holding out hope.

My tomatoes are coming along nicely, although they are growing out of their tomato cages. I think next year I will use larger cages. I didn't realize when I planted beefsteak tomatoes that the small cages would be completely insufficient to support them.

Two of my yellow squash plants have died, but the third is thriving. I have been watching a squash grow on it and was so excited to pick it. Then I went out this morning and the lone squash was GONE! There is no evidence of trauma to the plant, and my neighbors have all their squash plants on the other side of the garden, so I cannot believe they would have picked it by mistake. It has just vanished into thin air! I am so disappointed because I LOVE yellow squash! My dad has this great recipe where he cooks bacon, onions and yellow squash to death, leaving no semblance of nutrients, but it tastes SO good. I was looking forward to making some with my three squash plants, but it is looking more and more like I will be getting my squash from the grocery store again this year.

Cub Scout Day Camp

It's been a long, hard, and very fun week at cub scout day camp. Savannah will miss the tot lot and is already counting down till next year! Samuel has had so much fun this year, but is disappointed that he can't really earn all the pins and belt loops till next year. It's all about the award to him, I guess!
Joshua made new friends, became a skilled marksman with the red ryder bb gun and emerged as a leader in his den. He will be an excellent webelo next year!

Shelby and Caleb worked harder than they have ever worked in their lives in 100 degree heat plus humidity! They danced and sang their hearts out all week!
Here is a fun video of Shelby and her friend doing a camp song with the kids.

After a full year of searching for and trying out different crafts, here are the ones that made the final cut! If you want to make your own, click on the title and there will be a link to instructions for how to make it.

The African Drum (Djembe)

Tahitian Tiki Tapa Bookmark

Japanese Carp Kite

Malaysian Blow Guns (okay so they are marshmallow guns!)

We also did the geodesic dome, but I have already shown that one on my blog. It was a little crazy that day, so I didn't get pictures! If anyone has any cool craft ideas for next year, send them my way!

Swim Team Awards Night

We had our end of year Swim Team banquet and awards night this week. After a full day at day camp, the kids were excited to go jump in the pool and cool off!

Savannah has been waiting to get a ribbon all year, so she was ecstatic to get participation medal!Samuel and his best friend, Timmy, are a pair to be reckoned with in the pool! They race against each other at all the practices.

Samuel got an award for Most Improved Swimmer and received his medals and ribbons from Champs.Joshua has worked hard this year on swim team and is an enthusiastic coach by cheering on all the swimmers on his team!

Caleb and Shelby were too cool to wear their medals! I thought it was cute how all the older kids just hold them!

Where Have We Been????

Yes, I know, I have been MIA as a blogger lately. When my sister, Shannon, calls and says, "Where are you? I haven't seen any updates on your blog in over a week." I know I am a slacker! So even though I am in the midst of a crazy week at cub day camp, here is a little update!

Caleb and Dad came home from scout camp. We were so glad that Caleb survived! He was dragging all week, but he made it through! He even tried to go on the zip line, but when he got to the top of the line, they said he was too small. Apparently most 13 yr. old boys weigh 100 lbs by now! Poor Caleb is still pushing 70 lbs!

Here is the group of scouts from our ward at the mess hall. Caleb is in the far right corner. Apparently the food left much to be desired! Our Relief Society fed the missionaries at zone conference midway through the week and Chris just happened to be coming home to work one day in the middle of scout camp, so we were able to send all our leftovers back up to camp for the boys to enjoy! Funny how things work out for the best!

Samuel swam in the championship swim meet and did a great job! He placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in his races and improved his times substantially! Here he is waiting at clerk of course before his first race.

And this is how he looked after his race! Apparently the goggles and swim cap were a bit tight!

Here is a video of Samuel swimming freestyle at champs. He is in the second lane from the top.

We have been spending the week at cub day camp and having a great time! Samuel and Joshua are in the Grasshopper Den. Here they are with Samuel's craft from yesterday, Japanese Carp Kites.
Shelby and Caleb are working on staff with me in "The Craft Shack" providing entertainment for the cub scouts. They lead camp songs and activities when we take breaks from crafting! It has definitely been a stretch for Caleb, but Shelby is really good at this! We have had several parents comment on how well she performs with the kids! I am glad for this opportunity to volunteer with my kids and watch them grow and feel the rewards of serving others. I can't think of a funner place to volunteer than cub day camp!

Joshua has done really well at camp this year. He scored high enough in BB's to get his junior marksmanship patch. He was so excited! He came very close last year and has waited all year to try again!

Samuel is technically not a cub scout (he will be 8 in November), but since I am on staff they are letting him attend camp as a cub scout. It has been fun for him to be a part of everything this year, but it is extremely HOT! I think he misses the air conditioning in tot lot!

Savannah is in tot lot while we all are at camp. She has enjoyed making new friends, but I took this picture on a day when she was feeling a bit left out. Things are better now! She really does love tot lot and looks forward to this all year long! This is our 3rd year volunteering as a family as cub day camp and we are really enjoying ourselves!