Wiped Out

Today being Friday, means Kean skipped Kindergarten

and went back to his old therapy school for three sessions:

OT, PT and Speech.

But before we went, we stopped by to see Motorcycle Jeff

at work.

His architecture firm is literally across the street from Kean's therapy.

 Seeing Motorcycle Jeff also means seeing Motorcycle Bill

(his boss).

 And it means going through the ritual of the ol' fist bump-- (the secret 

handshake of real motorcycle men).

Kean took the opportunity to show off to the entire office.

 Nothing like a few somersaults

to dazzle the crowd.

 Guess all that dazzling, all that working at therapy and

a long week of Kindergarten and big changes will wear

anyone out.

Look who didn't even make it ten minutes in the car.

We welcome the weekend!

Eleven and in Heaven

I must love my kids or something like that.

'Cause tonight we let Greer invite half the female population 

over to the house for her birthday party.

Okay, so maybe not quite half but it was sure girl world here this evening.

I think they went through about half a bottle of dish soap

to make the slip and slide extra slippery.

The girls gobbled up dinner...

 and opened presents...

 before heading down to Grandpa Bodily's for a long swim.

I don't know what we did to deserve getting the best neighbors around...

but we sure scored in that department.

Motorcycle Jeff came by to rescue the token boy

and take him for a ride on the Harley.

 They always greet each other with a fist bump.

So love that.

 And ladies, if you haven't already joined the Motorcycle Jeff fan club...

look who brought a surprise present for the birthday girl.

I'm telling you, this guy is golden.

 Greer opted to replace the traditional birthday cake

with s'mores and ice cream.

As I write this, they are all up in the barn playing games,

talking about boys and watching movies.

Ah, to be eleven again!

The Favorite Gift

Yuk.

Today was Chemo day.

Kean did remarkably well--

he screamed, bucked and fought like an alley cat

when I numbed him up this morning but was fine once we got to the hospital.

Just look at our big boy getting his vitals all by himself.

 Amy Heidemann was our Chemo date for the day

and thank goodness.

Kean, while happy for most of the day, was a bucking bronco

when it came time for Doctor Camilo to check his body

over for any swollen lymph nodes.

Let me just say, Amy is very talented at helping to hold Kean down,

keep him distracted and lead in the singing of all kinds of kid's music.

 One other highlight... a middle school's bell choir

serenaded in the hospital lobby today.

 That bonus entertainment sure made the waiting for Kean's

weekly meds go by much faster.

For all of his trouble today, Kean was rewarded

with, yup, you guessed it, a wonderful motorcycle ride.

 Jeff even stayed after for dinner which was a treat for all of us.

 Especially since today was Greer's 11th birthday.

 This wacky but wonderful girl keeps us singing, laughing

and smiling pretty much around the clock.

 She is almost always pure joy.

(Of course, I say that now before she hits those teen years).

Her favorite birthday gift of the night?

Dad's homemade slip 'n slide.

 We've all gotten tired of the slides from the store

that only last a handful of runs before they are ripped.

 So Byron bought a hundred foot, thick piece of plastic

and voila'  (with some dish soap) the girls rocket down the hill.

This is gonna be a popular fixture in our yard for the next few months.

Wild Kingdom

Kean started off his morning with a ride on Romeo

for horse therapy.

Our boy has really turned a corner-- he now

loves to ride.

Today, we tried trotting for the first time

and he was all smiles-- big ones.

(my camera skills, however, won't make you smile.

I haven't quite mastered holding the phone up and out,

holding onto Kean's britches

and running alongside a horse).

After therapy, we took a short walk through the neighborhood.

We were stalled out for a while after we came across

a big ol' snake slowly making his way across

Grandpa Bodily's driveway.

I was too freaked out to get a picture.

But we did get a picture of this wild little bunny in the neighbor's yard.

That wasn't the end to Kean's day of wildlife...

we saved the most ferocious one for last...

the untamed, wild Harley.

If you won't count that, the boys

did see a dead snake on the road.

Today, Jeff had us grab one of Kean's 

favorite C.D.'s to jam to as they rode...

These two guys are about as cool as they come.

Holy Cow!!!!

I continue to be amazed by the goodness and kindness of the people in our lives.

Today, both of our Motorcycle Men showed up-- bearing a very special gift 

for the Keanut man.

 They brought him his very own big boy motorcycle helmet.

Evidently, one of the women who works in their office 

has a husband who is an artist-- together, they all came up with the design.

If you remember from past blogs, Bill (on the left above) has the big

8 ball on his helmet, while Jeff has the flaming skulls on his.

I love everything about it-- especially since it represents both of

these great men.

 It is too big for the boy-- we plan on hanging it in his room 

until he grows into it--

to remind him how loved he is and how much we love

the Motorcycle Men!

Holland got to wear it today-- but only after Kean beat

on her head like a drum.

 Today was also the day we doctored up Kean's shoes

and sent him for his maiden voyage.

His legs are just the length that his tennis shoes sit just above

the exhaust pipe (or something that gets really hot).

The rubber on the bottom of his left shoe is just a melted mess-

and to make matters worse, the shoe was leaving little rubber reminders

on some very, very expensive Harley Davidson's (not good).

 So after searching all over town for some wooden or leather soled bottomed shoes

and failing... we took insulator wrap, cut it up and glued it to the bottom of his shoes.

The wrap can withstand heat of up to 2000 degrees-- and it worked like a charm.

For now he just looks like some Rasta boy from some beach community.

 Who cares!  Anyone they pass is gonna be looking at that cute boy

with the grin on his face or the ultra cool helmets they are all sporting!

Gimpy Gets The Green Light

Gimpy had his big six week check up with the Orthopedic Surgeon today.

So here's the scoop.

The X-rays look fabulous.  But the doc wasn't too excited to see how

red the wound looks.  So Byron will go on antibiotics just to be safe.

He also told Byron he could put 50% weight on his foot.

I was like... "What?  I thought you would only let him put 20%".

The Doc said, "I guess I'd better say 20 percent since he's going to put 50 percent anyway."

He's one pretty smart doctor.

 Kean has continued on in his "Pill Period".

That sweet angel boy has been pushing his sisters, pulling their hair

(okay, well mostly Reese's hair) but he's still on a tear.

Not wanting to work for his therapists, not wanting to eat much...

only wanting to ride with the wind.

 Thankfully, Motorcycle Jeff took him for a long ride in the perfect weather

this evening.  Don't know what we'd do with out our men riding

to the rescue on their black horse (power)!

Tongue Tied

Mom got a break today... when Pam Brown came over

and took Kean to his horse therapy.

 He did great with Romeo again... giving him lots of hugs.

And he must have worked hard, he came home absolutely exhausted.

Meanwhile, I got lots of bills paid-- all uninterrupted.

 After his nap, it was cycle time with "Motorcycle Jeff".

Look who climbed up on the bike all by his big boy self

(don't worry, we were right there).

 Kean and Motorcycle Jeff had a grand time-- lots of clapping

as usual.

 But what wasn't usual, was when he got back, he all of a sudden acted totally freaked out.

It wasn't until much later, when he was still acting so off

that we examined him and found that Kean had bitten his tongue.

Poor little guy-- wish once again, he could talk.

Just so you know, he's in bed and seems fine.

The Smile Contest

I'm not sure he knows it.... but I certainly do.

Kean is one spoiled or beloved boy.

For therapy this morning, I made him walk with me down to visit our

neighbors the Bodily's.

"Grandpa" Bodily was out cultivating his garden and poor Kean-

you could tell, thought the motor sounded like a motorcycle.

A few hugs made it clear to Grandpa what was wanted...

and it was only a matter of minutes before the ol' lawn mower

was out and the boys were loaded up.

 The two of them rode happily up and down that driveway

over and over again, with Kean clapping, waving and smiling

most of the way.

If you want to see something cute, just look at the boy's face

on this video.  I can't decide who was smiling more.

He's BAAAACK!

Today was a ten on the excitement meter for Keanut.

His original partner in ride... "Motorcycle Jeff" is back in the saddle

again (after having surgery two weeks ago).

If only Byron would heal as quickly.

If I am being completely honest, I'll have to admit, Kean

seemed more excited to see the big black beast than he

was to see Motorcycle Jeff.

 He couldn't wait to get into the saddle... was all business

 and all smiles.

Of course, the sad side to this story is we won't get

to see "Motorcycle Bill" as often. He is Jeff's boss

who was filling in.

But Bill has promised to fill in anytime and we're hoping he'll

just come over on those sunny days when he wants to go for a ride

with a clapping, singing, perfectly content little boy!

We adore our motorcycle men.

Super Saturday

Another beautiful day in Idaho.

After the girls got their chores done and while Kean took a nap,

Byron pulled out the old Mustang and went and picked my

dad up to have the girls take him to lunch.

 I think my dad enjoyed it.

He is sometimes hard to get out of the house when my mom is on a trip...

but who can turn down a date with three crazy girls?

Meanwhile, Kean  wasn't left totally out of the fun.

"Motorcycle Bill" drove all the way over from Middleton

where he lives to take Keanut for a ride.

And a ride on a cycle was enough of an incentive to get Kean

back walking on those feet-- albeit, gingerly.

 One of our favorite friends, Mary K brought over

Goodwood's BBQ for dinner tonight and then we 

played games until Reese and Kean could hardly keep their eyes open.

It was a good day and a great Saturday.