Happy Father"s Day (belated)

To the Daddy in our home,

We love you and are grateful for all that you do.
Thank you for working to provide for us.
Thank you for putting the Lord first and for being worthy to hold his Priesthood!
Thank you for putting up with a hormonal Mommy and taking over when needed.
Thank you for helping around the house, changing diapers and just being there when you are needed.
Thank you for loving us!
And Thank you for being such an amazing Daddy to Cameron, have you noticed how his face lights up when you enter the room or the way he giggles when you play with him. When you leave the room he watches to see where you have gone. And his first decipherable word was Dada!
We love you!
Happy Father's day!


Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.



“Good fathers make good sons”



It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.


Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.


Noble fathers have noble children.


There isn't any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection


It doesn't matter how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.

And let us not forget the "Daddies" that raised us. We love you Dad(Grandpa) and Papa (Opa), and hope you felt loved and appreciated on your day.
Thank you for loving us, providing for us, teaching us right from wrong, raising us in the Gospel, for being worthy men of God and for just being you!
Happy Father's Day!

Money, Money, Money

Truth: I like to shop
Truth: I like to spend
Truth: I like things
Truth: I don't have a lot of restraint

I find shopping therapeutic, getting something new excites me! My weaknesses? What are they? Pre- Cameron:Clothes, Home Decor, Books and Disney. Post- Cameron: Clothes (for him, there are just too many cute outfits out there!), Home Decor (Pictures of my little man and frames to put them in. My house looks like a shrine to my little man), Books ( instead of novels it's now board books and parenting books), and still Disney (It's great no matter how old you are!).

So what do you do when you can't afford therapy?
Since moving down to Nobleford, we have had difficulties in finding Michael a job. Lethbridge closes their sidewalks at 6:00p.m. And until just recently Michael was in school until 4:30, who's going to hire you when your availability is an hour and a half? What about Fast food? The joke is this, they didn't want him because he was a student and wasn't willing to be permanent! Is anybody?
I had a job, and then got the news that I was expecting. I thought how perfect is this, I had been working 3 months, pregnancy is 9 months, just enough to qualify for Maternity leave. That is until I was put on bed rest. No pay during pregnancy also equals no maternity pay. Yikes!
Michael then found a job for the summer in which we would relocate to Calgary live with my parents for 4 months while Michael installed alarm systems. Thanks to the recession it was a slow season and Michael was layed off. What now. Back home, devastated. He found a couple of other jobs which turned out to be serious busts. Any of you who have children know Babies aren't cheap. Worth it but very expensive. Despite our decreasing income I still had to buy necessities. I will admit I probably bought some wants instead of needs but who can blame me I was a new mom to be, I waited 4 years for this.
After Cameron was born I was struck with Postpartum Anxiety and I needed Michael at home. No money is made when you don't leave the home.

So here we are. I ask again what do you do when you can't afford therapy?
You become very Creative!
There were a few months in there that we couldn't afford groceries, I became very innovative in the kitchen. One night I found flour, shortening, a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of tuna and canned veggies and made a tuna pot pie. To be honest it tasted pretty good.
What about when you want a treat? I scoured the pantry and found raisins, chocolate chunks, coconut, walnut pieces, peanut butter chips and oats. I combined them all and made cookies which were really hard to leave alone! Stale doesn't taste stale in cookies or maybe we were just aren't picky anymore.
What about Entertainment?
There was a movie we wanted to see, it had already come out on DVD but was still in the cheap theater. Going to the theatre would have been cheaper than renting but still cost more than we had. I then remembered that Michael's brother bought it, so we called them up and borrowed it. All cost free! We popped some corn and had a nice little date night while Cameron slept in his crib.
I am finding all sorts of ways to save money. Even though I like things I for awhile will have to hold off owning them for awhile. The Library is a great resource for books, tapes, movies, shows. And if you look hard enough you can find free programs for children. Or free events throughout the city. Concerts at churches, Museum events, Parks and recreation. You just have to look.
There are also services that would normally cost that you can find that are government funded.

Thanks to my sister we have switched to cloth diapers. That saves a bit. Diapers aren't cheap. And now that is has warmed up, the heat has been turned off,we are hanging are Laundry on our line and are growing our own vegetables

We are not starving and to tell the truth I feel proud of myself when I can say I didn't spend it even though I REALLY, REALLY wanted to.

I hope that this learning sticks and that I can pass it on to my children. Working for what you need and working with what you got.

After two and a half years and not finding any suitable work, Michael has started his own business. He has only been at it for 2 months and has made more in those two months than all his other jobs combined. What's he doing? He helps people like you prepare for the future. Life insurance, debt consolidation, mortgage loans, RESP's, RRSP's and other investments. He'll show you how to get a better return on your dollar and how to become financially free.
It has made a world of a difference in our Family and he would love to help it do the same for yours!

And last but definitely not least I need to thank my Heavenly Father for His hand in our lives. Tithing is a real blessing. Our money has been meager but He has never let us go without the things we really need. We do have food, clothes, heat and shelter. And somehow the mortgage is paid every month.

Adventures in Gardening

Mel Bartholomew where have you been all my life?

We moved into our home two and a half years ago, the previous two years we lived in a basement suite, which as far as living went suited our needs but as spring rolled along I craved gardening, Which in and of itself is a mystery because I had never gardened before. Maybe it stemmed from my childhood, I loved to play in the mud.

Anyways, when we were looking at houses besides having a decent sized kitchen a big yard was part of my criteria, one so that my children could play and two because I wanted a garden. And a garden I got! It measures 24 by 38 feet plus has a huge raspberry bush.

The first year I did what has been done for thousands of years; single row gardening. I planted everything from seed except tomatoes those I bought the seedlings. I planted Celery, Peppers, Watermelon, Potatoes, Beans, Peas, Strawberries, Corn, Carrots, Pumpkin and Spaghetti Squash. I didn't really know what I was doing, I didn't know some plants needed to be planted 5-12 weeks earlier. Needless to say those didn't make it. I also didn't know that you only need to plant of of each kind of squash. I ended up with a half of a garden looking like a pumpkin patch. I also didn't know about companion planting, some plants are friends and some are foes.
Despite my lack of knowledge my garden thrived. I became the talk of the town. My carrots were over a foot long and an inch thick. My cucumbers were monsters, I had beans coming out of my ears, so many raspberries and tomatoes I couldn't keep up. And over 5 dozen corn cobs. I was loving it. This was awesome. Fresh veggies, nothing compares to them! And after Canning and blanching our veggies lasted almost until the next season.
The only thing I didn't like was the weeding!



Then the second year gardening wasn't an option, well for me at least I was on strict bed rest growing my Cameron! We decided Michael would plant Carrots, Corn and potatoes. So what does he do he digs a trench and scatters the seeds. No weeding as done. Our harvest was pitiful!

Enter year three, Enter square foot gardening.



We had a relief society meeting on this type of gardening. All I have to say is it's genius! Mel Bartholomew a retired engineer created it. You grow more in less space, and NO WEEDING! The gist of it is you build 4x4 foot boxes, create a grid that divides the 4 foot boxes into 1 foot squares and depending on the size of plant you plant 1-16 seeds in each box.



And each box has a special soil mix. Due to a tight budget we did not build raised boxed nor did we buy the ingredients for the "Mel's special blend". We did however map out boxes and grids right into our garden and used our Mushroom compost and topsoil. The goal is to do it completely Mel's way next year. Let the saving begin.

We have 15 4 foot boxes and one 18x 1 foot box. I've layed down newspapers and grass for my rows to prevent weeds and a more comfortable place to kneel/sit but mostly to prevent weeds!
Now would you like to know what I've planted? I am so excited! Are you ready for this?
48 Potatoes, 4 each of Pumpkin, Zuchinni, Spaghetti and Butternut Squash, 48 corn stalks. I had planted 7 Cantaloupe but they died after the transplant. Stupid cold weather. Other plants I started early were, celery, it died, peppers, watermelon (they died thanks to our kitties making a meal of the leaves, neeless to say for the next 11 week kitties were banished to the basement), cilantro, basil, tomatoes, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Most of my seedling died after transplanting. The ones I could replace I did and others I just planted something else in their spot and will try again next year. I do have to put this plug in, of all department store garden Centers Canadian Tire beats them all!
Anyways back to my seeds. I planted 8 celeries (from seedling) and 3 sunflowers (from seed) where the cantaloupes had been. 72 pea plants, 32 cucumber plants, 544 Carrots, 4 watermelons, 32 lettuce, 36 spinach, 54 bush beans, 3 broccoli and 3 cauliflower, 4 strawberries, 3 blueberries, too many tomatoes to count (I'm also trying the Topsy Turvy this year), 5 peppers four of them green and one yellow and the previously existing Raspberries......WHEW!

Harvest should be fun and Crazy!

Our plan is to enjoy fresh throughout the summer, can and freeze for the winter and have some to share with loved ones. I'd also like to donate to the Bishop's food storehouse or the foodbank.

I'll keep you posted with the progress.

(Just so I don't have a post without my Cameron, I really look forward to the days, where he and my other kids can each have their own box and plant what they want and learn and grow and have as much fun as I'm having!)

Cilantro and Basil


One of our many Tomatoes


Corn(back left), Peas and cucumbers (back right)
Blueberries(up front)


Carrots, bush beans, broccoli and cauliflower


Potatoes

Progress report

Ever since he was born, Cameron has preferred one side to the other. He preferred to nurse on my right side, when he started to roll, it was always over his left side and around 3 months I noticed that he had a head tilt toward the left. He couldn't quite lift his head up straight. We went to the Chiropractor a couple of times and it would help for a week or two and then the tilt would be back. I really believe in Chiropractic care but it was not in our budget to take Cameron back every couple of weeks. I learned about the C.A.R.E Centre through our Baby Steps class and decided to check it out. We were hooked up with a great physio therapist. She had us do strength exercises such as sidelying play with his left side down with supporting his hip or propping him up against the couch, pick up and set down through sidelying, and encourage head turns towards the right with toys and other distractions. Well we did such a good job at the exercises that next time we went Cameron was showing weakness towards his other side. So we switched the exercises to the other side and started working on more tummy time and encourage grasping while on his front. When we started Physio Cameron was in the 25% with his gross motor skills. About two months in he had progressed to 50-75%. His neck seemed to be improving especially since Tummy time made him use his muscles equally. Although he still favoured his left over right, whether it was rolling over or grasping at toys or the way he preferred to nurse or even the way he slept at night. The exercises continued to promote balance. We started to see real progress until one day ( I'm not blaming him I'm just citing the events) Michael was playing rather rambunctiously with Cameron, throwing him in the air and such. I'm guessing something got tweaked and Cameron's head tilt was worse than ever. Back to the drawing board. When we were at Physio he could do everything "asked" of him, he had/has great range of motion but for some reason was not holding his head up. Could it be an ear infection? Nope. What about his vision or hearing? At Cameron's sixth month check up the Doctor couldn't find anything so we were referred to a pediatrician specializing in Child development. And isn't it Murphy's law that when we finally get to the pediatrician Cameron holds his head up perfectly. Obviously they did the check up anyway and couldn't find anything, hearing is great, vision is fine. She said it's probably muscular and laziness. To keep doing what were doing and check back in a couple of months. Since then Cameron's neck has been fine, it does tilt when he gets really tired. But it is now a rarity. Today we "graduated" from Physio. She was amazed at Cameron's progress, climbing, crawling, rolling, moving, bouncing, grabbing and grasping, twisting and turning. No problems here. He is capable of doing everything both sides but still prefers the one which is probably because it's what he's used to. Cameron is now in the 80th percentile as far as his motor skills are concerned. It's a relief to know that everything is great and on track and that the problem was solvable.

Cameron is crawling!

And what do you think it is that finally made it happen? The Vacuum cleaner. Sadly I didn't get to see his first "steps", Michael had that privilege. Michael was vacumming the living room, when I hear " um, Barb Cameron is crawling". He's finally figured it out. He's a bit wobbly still, but still faster than just sitting in one spot. One week before Cameron turns 8 months: Crawling. Let the games begin!