I am VERY thankful that I have a laptop. I was able to get a ton of work done today!!

John is still not able to put any weight on his legs, so he needs my help to get in and out of the wheelchair. Beth isn’t quite strong enough for our 5th grader.

Tomorrow looks to be another day like today – working from home.

He was first on the list to have surgery this morning, so we had to get up nice and early. And then the waiting began.

First, we had to wait in the waiting room. Then, we had to wait in the pre-op room. It seems they didn’t have the implant ready, so they had to get it, then sterilize it (40 minutes). In the mean-time, we had to find something to do, so Beth decided to spend some time with John.

Of course, our doctor had to wait too.

He’s a crazy guy and has a great rapport with kids – always joking and making them feel comfortable. Soon, it was time for the surgery.

The surgery took about 2 hours total. They worked on both his legs/feet. They extended his right tendon (cut it and sewed it back together). This is so he can have more flexibility in his foot and walk with a heel-toe strike.

In his left ankle, they placed a metal shim. His foot was turning and the bones were not aligned properly. This shim should hopefully help. It won’t allow his foot to get any worse.

So, John came home with a cast on both legs. He is not to put any weight on either leg for a few days and then only on his right leg. His left, he is not to use at all for many weeks while the tendon heals. We want to be super cautious that he doesn’t blow it out.

It was great when John started feeling better in the recovery room. here he is goofing around.

John did feel a little nauseous when we returned home. He is feeling much better now. our biggest challenge right now is getting him from the bed or couch into the wheelchair. And then from the wheelchair back to the bed/potty/sofa, etc… He’s not a light little kid anymore and he’s not supposed to put any weight on his feet. you can pray for my back the next few days!

Speaking of wheelchairs, we found out Friday that our insurance would not cover the left foot surgery with the implant. this also means they probably would not cover a wheelchair. Not a good thing to find out just a few days before the surgery. We had to take a check over to the doctors office for the implant and for the doctors. Can you say bye-bye emergency money! (Thanx Dave Ramsey for that tip!!) That also means they wouldn’t cover any ramps or things like that. It made for a busy few days of preparations and planning.

Beth went a got a wheelchair from United cerebral palsy yesterday – yeah! They were great and even gave us a folding ramp. Double – yeah! They were such a blessing to us.

Then, Beth’s cousin told us that he would get us a powered wheelchair (he works for a wheelchair company). He said their company takes care of family. Triple YEAH!!! Can you say WOW! They delivered it this afternoon.

Can you see how big John’s smile is in this picture of him in the powered wheelchair!

He is to rest. So it looks like lots of movies for us! The plan is to get the cast off his left leg (implant) in about 3 weeks, and the other off in about 6 weeks.

It was such a blessing to get many emails and facebook updates of people praying for us, remembering us, putting band-aids on themselves to remember to pray for us throughout the day, etc… We felt very covered in prayer and appreciate it all so much!!

Thanx!

We had some singing and moving:

And then Jack Hazard made his entrance as Individuality Man

Then some more singing and dancin’.

We also got to see Jack Hazard eat without his hands. He got a little help from an assistant.

Then grnadma …. ummmmm. I mean Vinny was on stage.

And it all worked out in the end.

It was a good night.

Side note – I just love the fact that I have “regular” customer’s. There are a handful of people who come in every Tuesday night that I am there. How do I know – I ask them!!! It’s great that these families come in on just the nights I’m there. That’s what I’m there for – to bring smiles to people’s faces which hopefully will bring them back for more Red Robin food!

Anyway, one of my “regulars” asked me to make her Red. Red is the mascot that is there on Kid’s Nights – Tuesday evenings. So I did!

Here’s what I made her.

It’s tough to tell in the picture, but Red is normally wearing a blue vest. Red was decked out for Fall in a hunting outfit last night, but I made my balloon Red in the normal fashion.

A fun night!

There’s lots to do to prepare for it. Be sure to invite your friends!!!

Way to go buddy!!!

I dont think these will work, but who knows

#1

http://balloonpastor.smugmug.com/Movies/McBIC-Videos/6923548_BpB27#698338517_uL2V8

#2
http://balloonpastor.smugmug.com/Movies/McBIC-Videos/Cooperation/698338517_uL2V8-Ti.jpg

#3
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#4
<a href=“http://balloonpastor.smugmug.com/Movies/McBIC-Videos/6923548_BpB27/1/#698338517_uL2V8-A-LB”><img src=“http://balloonpastor.smugmug.com/Movies/McBIC-Videos/Cooperation/698338517_uL2V8-M.jpg”></a>

youtube try

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There are many ways we can also teach this virtue at home. Just think of all the times you work with each other at home. It’s almost natural to help each other out and work together. Here is a video that I decided to shoot earlier today. I am so blessed because my boys are always helping me out!

Since I am still checking out different software, the first video was uploaded directly to MacJournal and the second one is an embedded link. I want to check which I like better.

MACJOURNAL

EMBEDDED

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