Guest Blog: Don't Bring Me Down by Scout

Remember when I told you that Curly broke his hand last week? That was Friday although we didn't know he had actually broken it until Sunday. So on Saturday, Scout had a volleyball tournament. We have had only one opportunity to watch her play since they have only allowed an extremely limited number of parents to attend (like 3 for the whole team). This is Scout's story...

My name is Scout and volleyball is my game. I'm in my third year of club ball with GSL. Today's tournament started like any other game, we lost the first set, but it was close. Our coach was a little upset and pulled us together in a huddle.     

We weren't actually on the floor while the other team was warming up, but we were huddled pretty tight in a circle listening to Liz ramble on. One of my friends made a joke, but it didn't go over very well. At least it made us shut up and listen. “You guys need to hustle more!” Liz fumed. “You guys are ridiculous!” 

That's when the ball came. One of the hitters warming up on the other side of the court smacked me right on the side of the head. The impact rang through my ears. I didn't even see it coming. I doubled over in pain. “Scout!” I heard through a fog. My best friend, Birdie, touched me lightly on the shoulder. Her words rang through my ears. Somewhere I managed to nod affirmatively, “Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok!” It took every ounce of strength I had to pull myself upright, but I'm a fighter and I wanted to play.

Liz put me in the front row.  My head was still ringing. I felt a little dizzy, maybe even a little nauseous. I fought every urge I had to just fall to the floor. I had to keep going. I had to fight. We needed this game. They served the ball. “Short!” I could hear my teammate yell and I saw the ball coming. I just stood there while my teammate made a beautiful pass right to the setter. I got ready to hit outside; I went up and swung my hardest, a beautiful kill. I came back down and almost dropped to the floor, but managed to signal to Liz to pull me out.

Now let me tell you about Liz. She has had multiple concussions, so she knew what she was seeing. She immediately got me ice for my neck, somebody brought me a pair of sunglasses and I made my way to the bench where I sat with my head in my hands. I was almost an hour away from home, but one of the moms called mine and she came to pick me up. I sat there motionless. I vaguely remember people asking questions, making sure I didn't fall asleep. After a while, my parents showed up. A quick trip to the Urgent Care confirmed Liz’s diagnosis of a mild concussion, but I'm not letting that bring me down either.

***NOTE FROM MOM*** We actually have video ofthis hit. It wasn't pretty and I didn't think it was appropriate to share, so I'm giving you some cute pics of Scout and her team. She is #14 in black and the cute girl in the Friends cap.

Baseball Tournment in St George

This was the 3rd and final pre-season tournament for our Blue Sox; all of them have been in St George. Remember 2 weeks ago when it was canceled after the first day because of weather? 

Our first game was cold, but at least it wasn't canceled. At 3:00, the winds were frigid and we were all bundled up and waiting. Curly was showing his coaches and teammates his perfect cast, but more importantly, he was showing them that he could still catch and throw and pound the ball to the wall. They lost bigtime to this team last year, so as parents, we had no idea what to expect. After two hours and time had expired, the game was tied. Sadly, our boys lost by one point in overtime.

After a brief rest, they played again at 7:00. Curly hit well in both games with several RBIs and points scored. It was a good day. His hand was tired and so was he. Double-header tomorrow. Sleep my (not so) little Curly.

Our New Hero

I left you in my last post with a very sad 12-year-old. My heart ached for him. Losing 4 weeks of play would definately strip him of his position and plunge him into depression. The temporary splint was uncomfortable and way too easy to take off.

All day Sunday, I prayed hard for an answer, for mercy and for a miracle. My sweetie tried several different ways of making a splint, but nothing seemed to work that would give by boy the support he needed. I resigned myself to the urgent care doctor's suggestion that ultimately a hard cast was the answer. He said an orthopedic doc, but you know how long you have to wait for one of those with such an unremarkable break.

Then like a bolt of lightning it hit me, we had an ace in the hole. 

Even though our pediatrician's office didn't do x-rays, they did have Steve, an amazing nurse-practitioner who did casts. Steve was once a 12-year-old boy and he would understand.

First thing Monday morning and I was on the phone. Yes, Steve did casts, but he refused to do a "boxer's break." I assured him the bone hadn't moved and I had x-rays to prove it; finally, he agreed to take a look.

After we explained how the injury happened and our baseball dilemma, he wanted to help. He measured and stewed and worried. Then he set about making the perfect cast.

It is unlike any cast I have ever seen before. It potects his hand, yet keeps his thumb and first two fingers free, allowing him to squeeze his glove and grip a bat. Thank goodness his 1st baseman's glove is big enough to go over it. The cast goes barely above his wrist, just like a mitt. Perfect for baseball.

Meet our hero, Steve. Curly is only pretending to be sad, hamming it up for the pic. At that moment, we were believing we had actually been given our miracle.

Give Me a Break

Remember a couple of weeks ago when our baseball tournament in St. George was rained out? Well, when all of the teams got back to the Wasatch Front, the coaches got together and decided our boys still needed to play. So the following weekend, they set up some games. 

Curly played well! He hit a nice double with an RBI. He did great at 1st, but the 3rd time he came up to bat, the pitcher threw one a little off center and it hit Curly's left hand as it gripped the bat. We worried about him, but he assured us he was fine and he finished the game.

On Saturday morning, the teams showed up early; trying to beat the rain. Curly acted mostly normal and with his first at-bat, he smacked one nearly to the left field wall that bounced once before making its way over. He caught 3 pop flies and only bobbled one ball at first. It was a great couple of games for him before the 3rd one was rained out.

Sunday morning during church, he complained to his dad that his hand was still hurting, so right after church was over, I ran him across town to an urgent care and they confirmed that the bone below his pinkie finger was broken. He was devastated!

"I wish we had never come!" he mumbled. More that anything, all my boy wants to do is play baseball. 

Little Squire is Turning Two

It's hard to believe that it has been almost two years since this little guy was born. Time seems to just be flying by!

Last year about this time we were struggling with COVID-19. Everything was shut down and Beauty and The Beast kept their little family locked away from the world. 

Little Squire never cared for me much then and after being away from us for several months, he liked me even less. I was pretty devastated with his tears, but hoped that eventually that would change.

Beauty and The Beast were sent home to work and for a time, they tried doing it with the boys. But it was hard to be productive, so they started hiring my kids to watch theirs, sometimes over there and sometimes here. 

That is when Little Squire and I finally became friends. I was happy to have him sit by me to open his gifts and thrilled to pieces when he asked me to read Pokey Little Puppy (one of his daddy's favorites at that age) a second time.

Happy Birthday, Buddy! I hope all your wishes come true.💕

Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

If you remember, I had Covid-19 way back in October 2020. Since I believe that having the virus builds up a certain amount of immunity, I have not been fighting and clawing my way to the front of the vaccine line. Then our governor announced that all adults will be eligible starting next week. 

My sweetie was still unconvinced when I made us appointments at Revere Health, but when the time came, he climbed in the car with me.

We couldn't find anywhere close by that could help us this week, so we drove over an hour to get a shot.

I was nervous as we walked into the building, but I wasn't going to tell my sweetie that. We signed in and then each of us was taken to a different nurse. My sweetie didn't even need a bandaid!

We got Moderna, so that means another "shot date" next month. So glad these vaccines will finally bring the pandemic to its knees.

Since We Got Home

We have beens home for a few days now and we have been so busy! Scout has been busy learning to drive although since I am her teacher, I haven't taken any pics. She and Baby Doll have also been working on a Girl Scout Journey so that Baby Doll can earn her Bronze Award. Thank goodness we are finished selling cookies.

Scout and I have been trying out some new recipes; check out this chicken and dill sauce. And of course the homework...there is always the homework.

Curly has been playing tons of baseball, learning to play the piano, and choosing something he wants to earn from Scheels. Sounds like the Personal Management merit badge to me.

Baby Doll is working on her cooking skills as well. She made these yummy cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day.

Sport has other things on his mind...    

So busy.

Almost makes me wish I were back on the beach.

Traveling Together - St George

Our flight got in about 1:00 pm and we had to leave for St George the next day. My sweetie wanted morning, but I needed just a little more time. I had 3 pairs of baseball pants for a friend's boy that needed some major alterations before we left....and 12 hats that needed numbers...as well as laundry and packing and maybe just a little sleep.

With the storm, we got to St George about 8:30 pm, but Curly had an early baseball game so after getting settled, we decided to get some sleep. I know I definitely needed some.

We got up early so that we could be in Hurricane by 8:00 am. It was so cold! My sweetie was working in the hotel room, so I left Baby Doll with him since she was still sleeping anyway. The game got off to a rocky start although when Curly got up, he smacked one almost to the centerfield fence; a solid double and an RBI. Curly played well, but the team came up short, 8-7. The second game of the day was wetter, but came up with a better result, 3-0 for the Sox.

We drove back into St George and it wasn't long before we changed our clothes so we could spend an hour or so in the pool. It was outdoors, but warm, and the hot tub was even better.

Then we watched a couple of movies and acted silly together.

The next morning was cold and rainy with snow that melted when it hit the ground. Sadly, our tournament was over because the fields were too wet to play...so we found somewhere else to play.

My sweetie made us an awesome steak dinner in our room since we had a little kitchenette. The room was paid through Saturday, and there was no point in going home early. 

So we spent more time in the pool.

It wouldn't be long before it was time to go home, so we had to enjoy it while it lasted.

Traveling as Two - Heading for Home

The time had finally come for us to leave the Great Lakes and this beautiful state of Minnesota. I never really thought of it as beautiful before, but I have definitely changed my mind. Silver Bay, Duluth; I had no idea.

We gathered up early since we had way too many bags to take to the airport. Minneapolis has a little subway that takes you right from the rental cars to the terminals. That helped some.

After we got all 4 bags checked, we breathed a sigh of relief and still had a little time to wander before boarding.

Isn't it amazing what you can find in a vending machine? This one has all kinds of makeup and personal items. 

After an uneventful flight, we are finally home for a minute. We had a little time to catch up with the grandkids before heading out again tomorrow. Stay tuned for our next adventure. 

Traveling as Two - Minneapolis

We left this beautiful place reluctantly, but we still had some things we wanted to do before we got on the plane.

It has long been a tradition for us to take a pic in front of any of our temples that we can reasonably visit when we are on vacation. Fortunately for us, the St. Paul Minnesota Temple was right on our way.

If you remember from about 5 years ago, an old friend of Princess's served a 2-year mission for our church in Minnesota, so I texted him. He had some great suggestions for places to visit. We were limited for time, but we did get a chance to stop at his favorite eating place, Portillo's.

It was a fun and kitschy place, full of regional food. My sweetie picked the Italian Beef and I got the hot dog, but the main thing our returned missionary friend suggested was the Chocolate Cake Shake. 

Our tummies full, we left Portillo's to drive to the nearest Scheels. We had two reasons, first, a friend of mine is in charge of all Scheels aquariums and he was particularly proud of this new one. 

Second, my sweetie wanted to buy another duffle to carry home all of our goodies for the kids, but we kept getting distracted...

After Scheels, it was finally time to check into our hotel that just happened to be across the street from the Mall of America. Now that we had a new bag, it was time to go shopping!

That Mall is massive! My sweetie made me take a picture of the door we went in just in case we got lost.

The first thing we saw was the huge amusement park right in the middle of the Mall. Sadly, you can't really buy same-day tickets anymore, so we were stuck outside the makeshift gate. Darn Covid.

The Toy Store had tons of things on clearance for 75% off, so we filled a bag with jewelry and small toys before we walked through the Lego Store. It had some amazing sets, but the most amazing things were on the top of the store. Besides, our bag wasn't THAT big. 

After a quick hike and some escalators, we finally found a Minnesota store. I wanted to buy a hoodie, but they didn't have one in my size, so we got a couple of t-shirts and moved on. It was almost time for the mall to close when I finally found one that I liked. 

We hustled back to where we came in (my sweetie has an incredible sense of direction!). We wanted to get back to our hotel before it got very late. Unfortunately, we had heard a few stories about things that have happened there. Besides, I had a lot more things that I needed to stuff into my new bag.😅