Croup

Croup Symptoms
Children with croup usually wake up in the middle of the night with a loud cough that sounds like a barking seal. Other croup symptoms might include a fever, hoarse voice and runny nose.
In more severe cases, children will also have stridor, which the AAP describes as a "coarse, musical sound each time that he breathes in."
If a child with croup has stridor while he is quite and sleeping or resting, that is usually a sign that he is having a lot of trouble breathing and you should seek medical attention.
These croup symptoms are caused by swelling and mucus buildup below the child's vocal cords.

Holy smokes no one warned me about croup...
So this is what Macey has been battling for the last 4 days! The poor little thing is miserable. We've been to the Dr. every morning for the last 4 days so that they can keep an eye on her because she has had a severe case. Not so fun! Her little voice is super hoarse but really high pitched and she sounds like Darth Vader when she breathes.

I attempted to capture her funny sounds on video, but you can't tell very well. The staticy sound that you hear is her breathing in...

Thomas has been a life saver! Croup is worse at night = no sleep! She gets coughing fits and then hyperventilates and can't breath! We've been taking turns sleeping in her room to make sure she is ok. Tonight is the 5th night though and hopefully it will get better! Who would have known?

The Family Up-date!

Thomas noticed that the blog was lacking in the family photos... so here are a few!

Our fall harvest. Notice the blanket covering my tomatoes in the background... I lasted a few extra days but eventually the frost won. We are done gardening for the winter. What sad time of the year for plants...

She decided she needed to wear this skirt on her head. She was really happier about it than she looks at this moment!

Macey learning to eat with a spoon; an acquired skill...

Her favorite little trick... I'll stand upside down and look at you mom.Love love loves my glasses.

Thomas and I at the luncheon for the Hinckley scholarship he received.

Ward Halloween Party. Tiger and tiger hunters.

The Tiger. A holiday devoted to sugar. How can that be bad?

PTC

I recently joined the PTC aka the Parents Television Council. It's a nation wide organization that is working to promote decency in media. Profanity, sex, and violence in TV, movies, and video games are what they fight against. I think we all know that we aren't going to get rid of all filth, so they focus on family hour TV. They want shows that are on after school until 9pm to be appropriate for the whole family.

One campaign right now is to target the companies who advertise during certain shows deemed inappropriate. Letters are written to the company to let them know the filth they are supporting and to tell them people to don't like it. The PTC has seen tremendous results from this campaign. Shows like "Swing Town" have been taken off the air all together.

The number of members of the PTC in Utah is sadly low. It takes lots of people to make major changes... Why should we sit back and talk about how bad media is getting when there are channels for change! Here is their website- see what they are up to, sign up for their emails, read the studies that they have conducted about the effects of sex and violence on our kids. http://www.parentstv.org/

The Phantom

Someone just knocked on my door and left me TREATS! Guess what the plate included! A caramel apple... not a rock hard one but a succulent treat that I am enjoying at this moment. What a simple thing, yet, my day (and tomorrow) have been brightened! Holy cow... can someone fess up to the surprise so that I can have the recipe?? Thank you phantom.

Here is the cute poem that came with it!

The Phantom has been here
The Phantom has been here with a treat just for you,
He crept to your door in a fog misty blue.
This isn't a trick, this treat isn't for free,
Now it's your turn and the Phantom you'll be!
The Phantom loves treats and also loves rhymes.
Visit WWW.HALLOWEENPHANTOM.COM
To reprint this TWO times.
So he won't strike again, hang this on your window or door.
Take this and a treat and deliver TWO more
To a neighbor or friend in the black of the night.
Pound on their door, and give 'em a fright
Then by Halloween night, there surely should be
Phantoms on all of the doors that we see.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I'm pretty sure this could have been who left it...

Fall at its finest...

Caramel Apples! So I thought that I should try my hand at these fall favorites. I made the caramel from scratch.

Upon cooling I realized that I cooked the caramel for too long... after it cooled it became rock hard. They are really pretty, but somewhat disappointing. If you have a jaw of steel you may still enjoy them!

Another great fallism - Festivals!

At home in Hope, Indiana we have a great little weekend festival called Heritage Days. Don't ask me what the point was; I couldn't really tell you. Man did I love that weekend. Vendors with food, games, a parade! What more could a kid ask for? All of the clubs that you are in in high school do booths and sell things. I spent many a Heritage Day selling fried pies and painting kids faces to raise money for my clubs.

Thomas' cousin's family went to Lindon Days and had a great time, so why not recreate that fall festival atmosphere at home? That's just what they did. Cam and Amy and their 5 kids, along with Thomas, Macey, and I planned and participated in Robinson Days (their last name...)

Hand painted gourd craft.

Sailing boats they made.

Fire starting Extravaganza! So Cam and Kayden loaded boats with fireworks and set them alight in the "moat" to bring down the castle!

The boats succeeded in the end!

We roasted hot dogs in the rubble of the castle!

What a great idea... a festival in your own back yard. File that away for when you have 5 kids who would love every minute of it!

Whoa

So I thought it was finally time to jump on board and get a blog... I'm way behind times. Reasons for blogging: I like to ready about other peoples normal lifes, why not my own? 2) My family is super far away and I'm no good at calling 3) It's considered family history right?