On the 3rd Day of Giving...

On the 3rd Day of Giving, the kids decided to help make Christmas candy to give to the Neurology Department at Scottish Rite Hospital.

Well, let me rephrase that. Nandi wanted to make candy. Eli wanted to eat it. And we had to keep swatting Noah (aka: Candy Cane Stealer) away from the kitchen.

In the end, Nandi made a wonderful, but small, batch of White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Christmas Trees. Actually, it was a rather large batch, but, you know, we had to taste it, right?

And let me just tell you. Nandi is getting really good at making desserts. I swear she's just like Betty Crocker.

Well, you know, if Betty Crocker had RAD.

I'm sure Betty Crocker had full kitchen privileges which allowed her to handle knives, can openers, and rolling pins.

Anyway, this is the recipe we used. PEPPERMINT BARK Oooh! Oooh! And Dollar Tree has the Christmas tree molds in stock. Grab 'em up! (We also had enough leftover chocolate to make chocolate dipped candy canes to give to a friend's kids. That's why Nandi and Eli are holding candy canes in the bottom pic).

So, let me tell you why we chose Scottish Rite for the 3rd Day of Giving. Well, it just so happened that we had an appointment there today. BUT.... they are also the most fantastic group of people we've ever had the privilege to know. The hospital is amazing. The staff is amazing. The doctors and nurses are amazing.

It's all just so.... wonderful.

(Come on, you thought I'd say amazing, right?)

And, the best part is that it's all free. Nandi has had botox injections twice. Been casted about 6 times. Her eyes have been checked. She had an EEG. An overnight stay. Countless follow-ups. And it's all free. Oh, and they give the kids toys. And the food in the cafeteria rocks. And there's practically zero staff turn-over.

That says a lot right there.

They have completely taken Nandi in and treated her with the utmost care. I cannot say enough about Scottish Rite. AND... fingers crossed.... they think they might be able to accept Noah as a patient, too, because of his CP. They gave us the paperwork today.

Really good White Chocolate Peppermint Bark = Really good favors.

(kidding!)

We actually asked while we were leaving if they could recommend a good neurologist for Noah, as he didn't qualify for Scottish Rite, but then they talked it over and said to submit the paperwork because he toe walks and does have CP.

I swear we did not try to bribe them with White Chocolate Peppermint Bark. Honest to goodness.

And I'm not whipping up a huge batch for Simeon to take to his boss so that he can get two weeks off to watch the kids while I'm in India. Nope, not me.

But, no, seriously, we chose the Neurology Department at Scottish Rite because they give 110% of themselves to working with children with special needs. And they do it for free, which means every child with an orthopedic problem is able to get the best care in the field - regardless of how much money their parents make.

They are angels on earth. They really are.

Okay, regarding the scrapbook page. Ahhhh, I'm a lazy duck. Two pictures on wrapping paper background with gift tags telling us who the gifts were for... heee heeee.

You know you're a redneck scrapbooker if....

Happy 3rd Day of Giving! 9 more to go and then it's Christmas!

P.S. I want to buy one of those metallic or gel pens so that I can write "On the 3rd Day of Giving..." on the page. Any suggestions?

P.P.S. If you click on the picture you get a really good close-up of Nandi's face covered in chocolate bark and Eli's lips have about 6 candy canes' worth of red dye #40 on them. And Nandi's got a sad little dirty tear streaking down her face in the bottom picture because she broke a candy cane and thought she was in big trouble. Never a dull moment!