Summer Camp 2014 - #2

Vern was home for one night and then off to summer camp #2. This was a Boy Scout Camp near Medicine Mountain in South Dakota.

There were many hurdles for this trip. First his dad backed out at the last minute. This did not leave us any time to arrange for Superman to go. Coincidence? I think not.

Next Vern's second day there entailed a long trip to town to a doctor!~~!!!  Vern's allergies were acting up so badly he said that his throat was getting tight. So in addition to his normal allergy medication, he got additional nasal spray plus Benedryl. He was stuffy the entire trip. I heard from another mom that the pine trees were pollinating so I am guessing that is what made Vern so stuffy and miserable.

Then it was onto the bug bites. Camp number 1 left him with chiggers and bug bites on his legs so on camp #2 he scratched and scratched until they bled. He may have some scars with those horrible bites.  When he got home I had him use hydrocortizone and now he is doing better.

Rain, storms and more rain. There were thunderstorms every single day of his camp. Not fun but he managed. It was also cold.

Yes there is more!

Vern had a run in with some nails in a board in tall grass. He wasn't wearing his boots as they had given him some nasty blisters so he just had on his running shoes. Well you guessed it, Vern was walking through the tall grass and bam. He stepped on the board containing the nails and one punctured his foot. Thank goodness it didn't go all the way through his foot! He had a nasty hole in the bottom of his foot and a limp for a few days.

Next was the bad food. If Vern says the food is bad, it is BAD!  He said some of the food was expired for 3 years.  The Oreo cookies had green stuff in the middle instead of the normal white.  Thank goodness his tent mate had a lot of snacks and was willing to share.

Finally Vern was home but that is not the end of the story.


Vern had been away from mom for 2 weeks so he had none of her "Eat your vegetables." "Don't eat so much junk food."  or the infamous... "Eat that crap and you won't be able to poop!"  Yep I get home from work on Tuesday night and the tummy was hurting. Vern was also having issues going P. Finally we got tired of the screaming and took him to Children's ER. We arrived around 10:30 pm. You know how ER's are...wait-wait-wait.

Doc finally sees Vern and we take an x-ray. Vern is all backed up. He gets his first enema in his life and low and behold it does not work!!!! We get a prescription and head home. Finally climb into bed around 3:15 am. Talk about a short night... Zzz  Here is a photo of Vern in his hospital garb.

Happy Pooping!!!!

Summer Camp 2014 #1

Summer camp #1

Well Vern is back from his first camp of the summer. This was confirmation camp through the church. As you can see from the photos below it is a lot more than studying the Bible. It is fun together time with great counselors. 

I asked Vern so what did you learn?  His typical response, "Oh stuff I all ready knew like God loves you."

This year they got to stay in a new building - more of a dorm style. This was much nicer than the old sheds converted into sleeping quarters they had in prior years.  Vern did say he did not like his counselor and one time a counselor hit a boy. I don't know what was all up with that but plan on looking further into that.

This week Vern is off to Summer camp #2. I do not know if I will get any photos from that camp out but will be sure to update how it went.

Paddle boating -

Fishing - Vern said they only got to fish for a short time and the other kids kept catching his line. No fish either. :-(

Vern is the second kid on the high ropes. He ended up with a nasty scrape down the front of his leg from falling once.

Zipping down the line at the end - always fun!

 

Schools out for summer!

Well Vern is now finished with 7th grade and onto 8th grade. His final grades were similar to 3rd quarter with A's and B's. I was happy but the part that made me the happiest was there were no "N's" or needs improvements from any teacher!!!! Vern was using his time more wisely and trying harder. That is what we have been asking for and Vern finally pulled through. GREAT JOB VERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next year in 8th grade each student receives an Ipad to use for the year. We have to attend meetings in August on this. If it helps Vern with studying I am all for it. I just hope he doesn't sit in class playing games. This will be quite the test of his abilities to resist temptation. I am sure you will see blogs on the topic...

Vern has a lot of summer activities planned. There are camps and vacations and trips to see people. He will keep busy.

We are trying to push Vern to get off the electronics and get out and do different things. This is a huge challenge. Last weekend we "made" the teenagers go on a bike ride.  Vern actually had a good time and enjoyed it. His sister....let's just say she hates us and can't believe she had to be seen in public with a stupid helmet on. My God, we are trying to ruin her!  The drama was unbelievable.

For the summer we are hoping there is more of this:

And less of this!!!

We shall see how it turns out!!!

Just like all the others...

Vern is very much into puberty. Not so much yet on the outside but zowie on the inside. His emotions are all over the place. He is mouthy. He ignores you. He is disrespectful.  Yes, he is 13.

Now I as most parents probably try to curb this bad behavior. I believe those same parents have about as good of results as I do - NILL.

We talk about it. We inflict punishments for poor behavior. We talk about it some more. We dole out more privilege restrictions. Things get better until the restriction is released or the item returned. Then the poor behavior returns.  Can I say frustrating???

How do I know this is typical 13 year old behavior, because our nephew turns 13 this week and he acts the exact same way!!!! He hasn't seen his uncle in months and the first thing he tries to do to him is rack him in the balls!!! After that he is super mean to Uncle and wrestles and fights with him the entire time.  He is rude and mouthy and just like Vern. Hmmm, I see a pattern.

OH PLEASE let this phase pass quickly.  Soon it will be driving. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

April 2014 - Happy Easter!

I was looking at the blogs and thought CRAP, it had been a month since I have updated Vern's blog. There has not been a lot going on. I have been working, working, working so have not done any blogging, even reading blogs.

Vern is really starting to get into puberty. His attitude is typical teenager - BAD. Mouthy, not listening, and all he does is mess with his iPod, XBOX, or computer.

He is doing OK at school - Had one detention this past month.

Today was Easter. He looked so handsome all dressed up. We had to make a quick trip to get dress shoes as he didn't have any that fit. The weather was beautiful so we spent the rest of the day outside.

Vern and his sister helped me with leaves and they picked up stick and pine cones. Then they drove the garden tractor over to a giant burn pile with all the stuff we picked up.

It was a good day and our evening meal Vern loved. We had ham, potatoes, green beans and fruit salad! Vern has bowlfuls of fruit salad the way I make it.

They worked really hard and even got a bit sun burnt. Tonight we are getting a bit of rain. April showers.


Happy Easter to all. May God Bless you all.