Cooking Camp....starring the "fancy pizza cutters"

• Apple Berry Salsa with Homemade Cinnamon Chips

This is one of THE BEST refreshing summer dishes e.v.e.r.!! And how fortunate that we get to use our fancy schmancy pizza cutters---a gift from the ever thoughtful Cousin C.

So, the homemade cinnamon chips are made from flour tortillas. Start out by finding you 3 cooking camp kids and 3 pizza cutters. Vital ingredients.

• First things first....add in a touch of art class by letting them "paint" their tortilla with water. Which creates an instant invisible Picasso!!

• And of course you will be needing some of this. How clever they are for producing this hot commodity. Certainly you can make your own, which is what we do when this bottle runs out, then we fill'er back up and shake some more!

• This act of shaking or sprinkling the cinnamon/sugar mixture onto your freshly "painted" tortillas will need some good hand-eye coordination.....and for some folks, they must also use their tongue to get things "just right".

• Here's one of the few times in life where I encourage the kids to "be liberal". Shake a lot on! Go crazy with it. But after this edition of cooking camp is over, it's back to the conservative side of life. :)

• Then it's time to break out the cutters. Remember 3 kids and 3 cutters. Oh, if parenting and cooking camp and life in general could be this easy all the time.

• Once again, you will notice that the tongue must be utilized right alongside with the hand-eye coordination stunt. He cracks me up with this habit.

• Cousin C...I included this photo just for you. Look at the excitement and joy one little wheel of (very durable) plastic has created for broken leg boy!!

• Oh, the cutting could go on for what seems like forever....in fact, it did. They were all so thrilled to use those darn things. Seriously, flour tortillas are cheap entertainment if you ask me. I may start buying those mexican jewels in bulk! At any rate, they kept cutting tortilla after tortilla until our table looked like this everywhere.

• Throw those bad boys on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven for just a few minute and let the magic happen!! YUM-O. Crispy Cinnamon Chips! Which are a great snack alone....but so yummy with the fruit salsa.

• Now it's time to make the Apple Berry Salsa. All I have to report is that's it is a crying shame we only had one food chopper. And it's even cracked on one side so we have to hold it steady with one hand and slam away with the other!!

• Great for POUNDING out the frustrations of life. Which might be a good indication of how it received it's crack. A little character mark, so to speak. :)

• For some lovers of life, there is yet to be enough frustrations and stress in this horrid world for them to feel the need to attack a plastic contraption with the deadly force of a single hand. Therefore, they have to have help knocking it out, and a holder had to be called in to assist. However, that face captures the fierceness of a champion.

• And then the helping smile shows brightly once again. After we put the metal blades away. My head can only stand so much chopping and banging. And in an instant, I was ever so glad we only had 1 food chopper to our name. Because, can you imagine, 3 kids, 3 choppers?

• And eventually, once you have chopped a few pieces of every fruit you can rummage around and find in the fridge....you wind up with this beauty. And it is ever. so. tasty!! Y'all I just can't tell you how divine this fruit salsa is.....wonder in a bowl.

• Cooking Camp was a success again. You know some say, "the family that prays together, stays together."

And we firmly believe in that too.

However, I'd also like to add in the fact that "the family that chops together, and who manages to not cut the fingers off from anyone, well, they have a high rate of staying together too."

Now, I'm serious. You go right on over to our Recipe Blog....a summer afternoon can't get any sweeter until you taste a little of this.

Raise your hand if....

.......you think the summer is absolutely FLYING by?????

Seriously.

Someone make it stop. And soon.

I thought May was such a fast paced month with SO many activities, meetings, field trips, ceremonies, parties, etc. crammed into it. I even had discussions with several friends who felt the same way as I did....

• May was way more stressful than the month of December.
  

And now, it seems, we hopped right off that roller coaster onto another. Do y'all realize it is June 24th?

In my best valley girl accent : "You know, like, the month of June, is like, almost, like, over, TOTALLY."

And it's also H.O.T. !! Raise your hand if you noticed that little fact as well. Unless of course you live in Alaska, wherein, our local weatherman announced it was a cool 48 degrees there today.

a summer accessory we are happy to be rid of....

Well, broken leg boy went to see his surgeon near the end of last week. Why? Because he felt compelled to spend a hot summer afternoon, chatting away with the man who sliced into his leg and placed rods into his bone marrow.

Okay, not really. We had an appointment. Because you know, the people who do surgery like to check on their "art-work", every now and again. And our time had arrived.

He received a great report. I was concerned when they took xrays, because, having not been formally educated in the school of radiology, I cannot read xrays. I can tell you this, what I saw was two very long rods inside my child's leg. I thought when the surgeon would hold his fingers up and show us how they would criss-cross inside his leg, that they were small rods.

I was wrong. They actually go the length of his femur, from the knee to the hip. Oh, and they do "criss-cross" just like the surgeon said. Go figure. He was right. I guess that's why we pay him the big bucks.

I did have a small panic attack in the x-ray room when I first laid eyes on the pictures. It looked to me like there was another broken piece of bone in his leg. And while that would be a problem in and of itself, I felt worse about it because of a certain recent event.

You see, I felt as though I was "hovering" a bit too much for my sweet boy. So, a couple of days before his check-up, I took him outside in his wheelchair to get some fresh air and sunshine. His siblings were out with him, so I came inside to do laundry. Inside, but I could see him through the window, and the back door was right beside me to leap out if necessary.

However, I didn't leap soon enough. TB came running in to tell me he had fallen out of his wheelchair. Yep. You heard that right, he fell out of his wheelchair. I rushed out to him and found his wheelchair laying on the ground, him laying out beside it, on his broken leg.

Did I mention I had told him it was also okay for him to go outside WITHOUT his brace on?

Seriously....can a mother feel any more sorrowful? So, I've already ridden the guilt roller coaster a million times in my mind, therefore, while we all enjoy feedback, I don't need any negligent comments. Thanks, but no thanks.

I inquired to the surgeon about the long rods, stating "I had no idea they were going to go the entire length of his femur, that was quite a shock to see in your son's leg". ......and I also threw in the fact that it looked like a new chunk of his bone was broken. And in the end, I did mention his wheelchair accident.

He smiled and replied that I didn't need to worry about the length of the rods, they were fine, and doing their job marvelously. And no, he didn't appear to have hurt himself during the fall from the wheelchair, but yes, if it looked like his leg was broke, that was because it was, in fact still broken.

But he's mending well. Doing outstanding. Lose the wheelchair, but keep the crutches, put a little weight on the leg, do exercises to help regain use of the quadricep muscle, come back again in 6 weeks, etc.etc.etc.

We also had a family wedding to go to in South Carolina. Packed and ready to leave from Children's Hospital. The surgeon said he was fine to travel, even for that distance. He even added that when broken leg boy arrived, if there were pretty girls at the pool, or restaurant, or wedding reception, and they happened to notice his leg, he should sit around, give them his best smile and say ...."I shattered my femur, and MAY be able to walk again, but I'm not looking for any sympathy".

Apparently, Dr. Doyle, not only specilaizes in orthopedic surgery, but also relationship therapy.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my sweet Daddy, my sweet Father-in-Law, and of course to the dearest & sweetest, the father of my children.

I found this quote, it made me smile, remembering my thoughts as a young teen compared to now. And I am sure it may spark the same in some of you. Plus, we have a son who is on the cusp of thinking these same inclinations, I'm certain. So, I wanted to share:

• "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned." ~~Mark Twain

Cousins are not only awesome, they are pretty clever and cool, too.

Well, well, well, would you look at this....another package came in the mail. We just love mail. And it's from my sweet cousin C, again. Only this time, the elements inside the bubble wrap, should not bring about any undue SEC affiliated arguments. :) You people were cracking me up last time with all the iron bowl drama.

At any rate, the kids had this in the mailbox waiting for them one day last week. What's inside??? The suspense is killing you, I bet. Me too, let's peek. :)





Hmmm....here it is...I bet the suspense is STILL killing you! Me, too. I had to read the note to clue my brain to shut back on again!

It's is none other than the most nifty, fancy, smancy, pizza cutters known to man. All ergonomically crafted and dishwasher safe. And guess what....she sent three of them. Because she reads the blog, I'm certain that latest cooking camp post for Funky Monkey Bread showing broken leg boys slow process of slicing his biscuits, made her think of these gadgets.

And the best news...they can be used for so much more than cutting pizza....they cut through just about anything. We will certainly be using them for pizzas, doughs, cookies, all sorts of foods, maybe even some play dough or clay sometime.....and with my bunch, they will probably try to cut each other's fingers off with them as well. You know, just to see how well they hold up against human cartilage.

And was she ever spot on in the kids' needs department. She sent THREE. People with multiple children understand the MAJOR significance in this small fact. That's 3 cutters, and 3 kids.... get it....one for each of them. To call their very own.

• Do you have any idea how much oxygen she saved me with just that one act of thoughtfulness? She completely took out the need for a referee at cooking camp when the cutters are invovled.

Ah, please allow me a moment to soak in the bliss of that thought.

Okay, so, all she wanted in return was to see some more good recipes on the blog from cooking camp sessions. Well, C....just hold on, we are getting geared back up to start cranking out some serious cooking adventures real soon. And those pizza cutters are gonna be the star of the show!

Thanks....yet again. You're so cool and clever!!

Nobody told me it was a different version of TWISTER....

So, a few weekends ago, all the cousins were at the house. The boys were taking turns entertaining broken leg boy....who had just returned home from surgery. I had not seen the girls in a while, and asked, in a state of ponder, what they might be doing. To which, one of the boys replied,

"oh, they're upstairs playing TWISTER."

Briefly, I reminisced about the good ol' days when my much younger body would allow me to have my right hand on green and my left foot on red, while spinning for an elbow to go on blue.....and then I realized that just thinking about it was beginning to give me a slight back ache.

Did you know, apparently, the brain can send out red alert warnings to the muscles to start acting like they are hurting already, so that you won't convince yourself to do something stupid. For instance, there were messages being sent fast and furiously through my central nervous system relaying the thought that it most definitely was not a good idea to try that silly little kids game. Ever again. Ever.

Anyway, turns out the girls may have been playing the milton bradley version before, but they had apparently come up with a new and improved 2009 edition. However, I don't think it's going to be the top seller in Sear's Christmas Wish Book this year.

Somehow, twisting your hair and tying it in knots with the person beside you doesn't sound like it will be winning "game of the year". Maybe it's just me.....but I'm thinking their might be some discrimination issues to deal with...... boys would feel very left out, as would girls with short cuts, and think the lawsuits for those with split ends and breakage issues, etc. etc.

I must say it was loads of fun watching them maneuver up and down the staircase, around the furniture and hallways. And I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them giggle.....just like a bunch of school girls, because, hello, they are. :)

Knotting your hair up with your cousins.....doesn't that sound like fun? Now, I think my hair is starting to hurt.......must be my brain acting up again.

Gymnastics Camp

Tyner Beth had a grand time at the University of Alabama's Gymnastics Camp. There were lots of great coaches, from all over the states, different gyms and Universities, collegiate gymnasts, etc. And she learned so much....new skills as well as improving her current skills. Here she is with some of her teammates who also attended camp.

Much of our money was apparently spent on her learning to climb Coach Raschilla (University of Alabama Gymnastics Assisitant Coach) like a monkey on a tree. He's 6'5"....so it was a tall tree for her!

Sorry for the blurry pic--I still haven't figured my camera out. :(

We were thrilled to have some "extra one on one training" with our team after camp was completed, with none other than Eddie Umphrey. Here she is working hard on the bar with Eddie helping out.

Eddie was a great collegiate gymnast at the University of Michigan. He is actually a volunteer coach for Women's Gymnastics at University of Michigan right now, as he is training for the Olympics in 2012. His brother, Chainey Umphrey, was an olympic gymnast in 1996. Keep an eye out for his future and you know who we'll be yelling for in a few years.....Go Eddie!!

They just don't get any cuter.

To the man I love...13 is a lucky number after all.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

13 years of life alongside my best friend. I can't think of anything better....except a future of 13 more, and then 13 more, and 13 more, and then 13 more, and oh, wait, I know.....13 more after that!!

• Because every day with you is a "piece of cake" to me! :)
  
  

  I love you, T-5.

  
  

Yet another reason that lifelong family friends are FANTASTIC...they let you use their pool.

• Look who not only got out of bed, but gave up his wheelchair for a little summer fun......

Amazing, I know. Yep. It's official, modern medicine has advanced far beyond my realm of thinking. Not that it had a very hard time surpassing that point. But swimming? Less than two weeks after surgery for a broken femur? Seriously?

When we were discharged two weeks ago from the hospital, the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Doyle, stated that our little broke leg boy could go swimming within a week or two. I doubted him.

Even when he further explained that the rods inside his leg are what causes the stabilization, therefore no cast is necessary, and the immobolizer brace can be removed during the day. Necessary still to sleep in at night, for safety, but the brace can come off.

He could only get in chest high water, but obviously, the water provides the buoyancy, so he still won't be putting weight on his leg, a win-win situation. So, I set out to try this theory out.

Broke leg boy was a bit nervous about me carrying him into the water....but mama is strong....inside and out. And he was impressed we were able to pull it off, just the two of us. We are ever so thankful to be allowed to use the pool of some good friends. And we may be needing it even more for therapy this summer. Thanks again y'all!!

You can see in the photos it was a bit of a struggle for him. He did well. I think. It was yet another small step in the right direction. It got him out of the house. It made him feel somewhat "normal". It's summer, he's in a pool, that's "normal". He was able to swim underwater a couple of feet. He didn't feel comfortable enough to kick with his good leg, so he mostly just used his arms.

You can see in this photo below, his "broke leg" just kind of floated along behind him, like a dead log. Bless his heart.


He wasn't able to stay in too long. His energy levels just aren't very high yet. He only lasted about 20 minutes in the pool, and asked for me to get him out. Just that little bit of exertion was enough to really tire him and his little body out. He's weak, but getting stronger every day. So, we dried off, braced back up, and headed home.
I was very proud of his efforts. And maybe we'll try it again soon. Just wait til the end of the summer.....he may be doing half gainers off the high dive....but don't hold your breath.

We survived another season of baseball....

Last night was the last time I was "scheduled" to be at the ball park....and I couldn't be happier about that fact. This has been a long season....and with the wake of recent weeks events, the logistics of everything involved has made it even harder.

I still L.O.V.E. to watch my boys play ball, but everyone needs a break now and then from yelling at the umpires. I was able to snap this nice shot of my sweet boy, the one without a broken leg, who has had an OUTSTANDING batting average this season. He has been lead off batter and played 3rd base all year. I haven't checked the books, but I'm pretty sure he's batting close to .700 this season. He was robbed of a great shot last night....but I must give kudos to the awesome diving catch the opposing team's shortstop made....although I wanted him to drop it, badly. :)

But I did get this pic of him right when he was contemplating stealing home....and moments later, a pass ball got by the catcher, and he no longer stood on the baseline contemplating.....he slide safely into home. Yahoo.

And that my friends is what I'm contemplating doing right this very minute, myself....sliding safely into home. This week has been hard. There have been too many factors in my equation and math is not my strong suit anyway!! Gymnastics camp, Football camp, Temple's projects, and keeping up with broke leg boy.....

....but it's Friday, and that means I survived. And that means we are finished with a plethora of outside activities, and thus, home is the place to be. Oh sure, I'll have pictures up sometime to show you all these outings....eventually.

This morning I was allowed the luxury of seeing the Lord bring about another beautiful sunrise. But not by my choosing, exactly. I didn't have my alarm set at 4:30am for it, I assure you of that. However, the Lord saw differently, and I was blessed. The "patient" has had several nights this week of very fitful sleep. He has been doing a little more activity each day, and with that has come many a night of discomfort. But he's still on the mend. We're on the up side of things, and for that, this mornings sunrise and so much else, I am grateful.

Maybe you've had a tough week, too. If so, I hope you can see the sunrise some morning, the beautiful sunrise made by our Creator, who loves us all so dearly.

And here's a Friday quote for you to take into the weekend:

• "Keep your face to the SUNSHINE and you cannot see the shadows." ~Helen Keller

Cooking Camp.....and now I know why I had double ovens installed.

• Something I'm certain you all know and love....FUNKY MONKEY BREAD

So, as it will soon be clearly evident, this "cooking camp" episode actually occurred a couple of weeks ago....I just haven't posted it. But in hopes that it will get us all back on the "cooking camp" train, and as a tribute to my little crippled man laid up in bed, I thought it might bring a smile to his face.

• Without further adieu......I give you Walt, flying solo at cooking camp, prior to his little end of the school year accident. Hence, it could have been cleverly titled, "cooking without crutches".
  

Do you have any idea how long it takes a novice monkey bread maker to perfectly cut a couple cans of biscuits into quarters? Too long for the mama.....so I had to begin helping by using my exact internal "pinch and pull apart" measurements, to get this party started.


Because we all know the real fun comes when you get to roll those pieces in cinnamon and sugar....and then lick your fingers clean. And repeat. About 73 more times.



Then you find your bundt pan and just start throwing them in, layering them up, tossing them about, whatever, you get the idea, just stack them in the pan. And after a few other minor additions (click HERE to go to the recipe blog for all the other info), you're ready to slide her in the oven.



Which is where there was a slight glitch in the plan. You see, while he has cooked in the upper oven before, usually his older, taller, brother is here to handle oven duties. This day, he was solo, and his arms are a wee bit too short to reach over the oven door and into the rack area. So, we were tickled, and I, of course, said I had to take a picture of it.....oven mitt ready and all.


I promptly preheated the lower oven.....and while waiting, explained to him that he actually didn't need the BIG BULKY THICK QUILT LINED oven mitt to hold a room temperature bundt pan. Maybe if he was about to take a role in BackDraft 2, but not to insert a bundt pan into the oven. However, keep it near and you can use it to pull that same bundt pan OUT of the 350 degree oven after a 30 minute layover. Metal is a good conductor of heat.....and 350 degrees will burn your fingerprints right off!



This was a two part victory at cooking camp......

1. some delicious monkey bread was made
2. while it's easy to get an inferior complex when you only get used once a year, due to the remarkable efforts of chef Walt, the lower oven gained a little self-esteem. And may actually become the oven of choice, especially for the infirmed....it is wheelchair accessible.

The moment my heart melted.....

It's summer. And you know what that means. Camp. Lots of camp. We've got various camps scheduled for the summer.....aside from our home based cooking camp.....we have a few "off campus" sporting camps, art camps, and such. You know, where they leave the safe confined space of their mother's loving arms......or to be more exact, the camps I hate.

The eldest signed up for Auburn University football camp again this year. And ironically, the sweet baby girl is also away at the University of Alabama gymnastics camp, but only as a day camper, thank goodness. My pacemaker can only take so much departure from the children at a time.

I'm sure they are both enjoying themselves greatly......me, not so much. Call me a mother hen, but I like to have all my little brood together. In one place. Under my wing, preferably. But, it just doesn't always work out that way. However, I have found a good way to make it happen, break all their femur bones.....

So, as you may remember, and if you don't, I'm sorry, I'd love to have your read the post from last summer of our first experience dropping off a child at camp, and leaving him. You know, out from under my wing. But, alas, that piece of literature would be lost somewhere in cyberspace with the rest of the whole first two years of my blogging adventure. My tech savvy self accidentally deleted our first blog. But just suffice it to say, that adventure was hard on the mama. And hard on whoever had to endure the mama's crying.

No, I won't rehash it all here again....just know that I think I may have been the one who gave the Lord those words to use in the bible......"weeping and gnashing of teeth".

Because that could certainly have described this mama when we drove away after depositing my baby on a college campus, to stay day and night, without me, at the tender age of 11.

I think it's also the main reason the father decided to do it by himself this year. Without all the mama drama. Hmph.

But luckily, and against my better judgement, we sent him away with one of his Dad's cell phones. We have stood firm against getting a child a cell phone when they are so young, because really, who are they gonna call? But that's a whole other post, for another day. He was informed that he could call us, anytime when he had a break, and especially at night, once he arrived back in his dorm room.

Well, tonight he called his mama......first. We chatted for a bit, and then a hot pizza delivery and a mean game of ping pong in the activity room were calling his name, so I let him go. But it was hard. Almost as hard as driving away last summer.

I didn't cry. I did what any sane person would do, with the proper phone plan......I texted him. Just to see if he'd text me back. And guess what.....he did. It was just 4 little words, which consisted of a total of 10 letters and 1 number.

But it was more than enough to make my heart melt, right then and there.

"night loveu2"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A tale of good lovin' during recovery

The patient was thrilled to have a small little visitor come spend a couple hours with him earlier last week. A visitor who was just his speed....as AK isn't mobile, yet.

And the small little visitor was equally excited to "give him love", as we all call it. Isn't that just the sweetest?

Here she is giving him more love and kisses....

And even MORE love and kisses.....

Until she had finally had enough....."oohh, you don't taste so good, afterall."

However, I still love you all the same, broken leg and all.

SATURDAY SHOWCASE......it's a Walt Update.

Because I have lots to say, here’s a list for your reading pleasure:

• Walt is having a field day with the DVR. Funniest thing is, he uses it mainly to rewind COMMERCIALS. Normally, people use it to skip forward to avoid those! Ha. He cracks me up.

• Upon arriving home, I couldn't find a bell for him to ring for me . So instead, I made the rookie mistake of improvising with his sister's plastic, yellow flute. I've been in the kitchen on several occasions and have heard it's varying non-melodious sounds. I have since hidden the flute. He can yell if he needs me....it's a broke leg, not a voicebox.

• He’s doing better with getting up for restroom and lunch breaks. While usually for breakfast and sometimes supper, I serve him in bed, I make him come to the table in his wheelchair for lunch . And then we usually stay at the table to play a round of CLUE or look at Family Fun magazine for ideas for the summer.

• It's been a week since his surgery, 8 days since his accident, and 9 days since he shampooed his hair. I am happy to report, that hair predicament has been rectified. We did another round in the tub using the stools....and this time we turned the water on. Works better that way, with the water on. You can actually do things, like, shampoo. :)

• Had school still been in session, his surgeon had orders that he was not to attend PE for 3 months. Wow. 3 months. That’s a long time with no recess, folks. It looks as though he will still have to miss the first month of PE once school resumes. This road to recovery appears to be several miles long. We are in hopes that he will be walking fairly well by the time the first day of school rolls around in August.

• However, that’s a few doctors appointments and therapy visits away. So, for now, he is still confined, for the most part, to the bed. But each day we are adding in more time up in the wheelchair. The problem is finding enough things to occupy his time. He has DVR’d all the episodes of “Unwrapped” from Food Network, and he has several new books, plenty of new art supplies, and other various toys, games, etc. that we keep in a basket close by. However, we are open to any fun ideas you can give us.

• We did take him outside one day to get some fresh air. His siblings thought it would be fun to draw off a hopscotch board with sidewalk chalk. Yep it was fun alright. Right up until they remembered he couldn’t play. And he couldn’t sit on the driveway to draw art with the chalk either…..

• Normal summer activities are not so normal anymore. As soon as my brain kicks back in, I’m going to tell it to start thinking outside the proverbial summer activity box. But just in case that takes too long…..I thought I’d solicit (or beg) a few ideas from you fine folks.

• And while you’re at it…..go ahead and send in suggestions for this other current dilemma as well: a picky eater with a broken femur who has already lost 4 pounds since his accident. And he did not even have 4 ounces to lose from his skinny frame.

I hope you enjoy a good Pinot Grigio.

How many times have I heard this phrase in the last 5 days?

• "Mmmmoooooommmmm......she's TOUCHING my wheelchair".

The first person to guess correctly wins a prize. I'm just not sure what it is yet....but it could possibly be a very large bottle of wine, to be shared with ME. ;)

I could really use a large fry right now...

A few weeks back, or it could have been months, with the way my memory is fashioned, 10 years seems like a blink of an eye, so who knows.

But anyway, TB and I were in the car driving home from gymnastics. We passed a very popular, I guess you could say the MOST popular, fast food restaurant known globally. And I'm sure you know it well yourself.

Especially if you've ever had small munchkins strapped in carseats who want a happy meal and then DEMAND they receive the proper toy. Not for the wonderful nutrition (HA) the meal provides but for the satisfaction of receiving some really cheap "prize".

You know that great, wonderful, plastic piece of junk that provides about 42 whole seconds of sheer exhilaration.....and then it gets lost somewhere in the car, along with a handful of fries and a half eaten mcnugget.

That little rant has nothing to do with this story, it was just in my head, and happened to escape out while I typed. So, back to present time. I said to TB,

• "You know what those are... those are called the "golden arches".

TB: "Why? We just call it McDonald's."

• "I know, but it's just a saying that is common all over the world, if you say golden arches, people automatically know what you are talking about. See, look at the "M" in the sky, the curved shapes are like arches and golden just refers to the color. Do you get it?"

TB: "Yea, I get it but...............it's just that, well, it looks like yellow backbends to me."

When the going gets tough...

...the tough hitch a ride to PawPaw's.

The time we almost didn't get the balloons loaded.....

Yea...try shoving all that in the back and closing the gate real fast. It ain't easy, but I think we had better gas mileage with the extra flotation. Plus, we can entertain Walt with squeaky voices for about a month with all that helium!! :)

And here's my little man departing Children's Hospital. He was glad to get home. A little scared of what lies ahead, but home is still home. And nothing, I mean nothing, beats it.

We were actually released on Saturday, and made it home shortly after lunch. Temple, Walt and myself were all exhausted.....and ever thankful for real beds. Our beds.

He's had lots of visitors and calls. And has made lots of requests, most of which have been granted by various family members and family friends. He's taken quite a liking to the whole, "ask and ye shall receive" policy that came with a broken femur. I'll have to post photos of all that entails later.

Sorry it has taken me a while to post even just this.....I've been a tad bit busy earning my RN and PT degree here at home. :)

Walt is still doing remarkably well, I think, for someone who had surgery just a few days ago. Today has probably been his worst day yet. The movement, for getting up for the bathroom or to be moved to his wheelchair and then back to the bed, is painful. And his little body is just wore out.

Tonight, we had planned to give him a shower, as the surgeon had instructed we could. But, we didn't make it that far. We were able to sit him in the tub on some stools Aunt Karisa purchased for him. (Thanks.) But, he was just too upset and very nervous when we removed his immobolizer brace and surgical wrap.

So, we opted to just wash him down as best we could, forget shampooing his head, and call it a night. I have been telling everyone his surgical site looked like --"two small holes on either side of his knee, he won't have any big incisions". Although, I had yet to see the site, as we weren't to unwrap it until today. But still, I thought that was how the surgical resident had explained it to me. Apparently, I wasn't listening well or I shouldn't have listened to what the resident said anyway! :)

I was wrong. There are no small holes. However, there are two incision sites on either side of his leg right above his knee area. With stitches. I was not prepared for those cuts to be on my sweet boy's legs. And I don't think he was either, thus we shortened the bath time regime.

• Hey, there's always tomorrow. Baby steps. It's a long road to recovery, and nobody said he had to have clean hair to get there! :)