“My daughter Madison has just been diagnosed with Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return.  I’m so glad I found your story.  Please keep Madison and our family in your prayers!”

I will.  Nathan had cardiac catheterization at two, and it was determined that his PAPVR needed to be addressed surgically.  A good illustration and explanation of PAPVR can be found on the Cove Point Foundation website.  I hope you will be encouraged to read:  “Recovery from this operation is usually straightforward, requiring a hospital stay of 3 to 4 days.”  Also, note that PAPVR might not be severe enough to require surgery.  Blessings to Madison and your family.

Nook will store several 9th grade textbooks at Gulfport High School this fall 2011.

Have you lifted your kid’s backpack lately? Ugh!  When I first got my Nook, I commented to friends that I hoped schools went to eReaders one day.  My son, Nathan, had back surgery to correct Congenital Kyphosis a few years ago.  He’s doing well, but I’ve worried about the toll heavy books might take on him in years to come.

Well–guess what! Backpacks will get lighter at Gulfport High School this fall according to a report from WLOX.  The school district has purchased 570 Nooks for the upcoming 9th grade class.

I purchased my Nook last year, and I love it. There are so many advantages to eReaders:

• Save gas–no need to drive to the bookstore.
• Order a book at home; arrives in seconds.
• Carry your library of hundreds of books anywhere.
• Save space–no need for bookshelves.
• Change font size to make reading easy on the eyes.
• Save money–ebooks are cheaper than hardcover and/or paperback books.

It made sense to me that schools of the future might place textbooks on eReaders–but, wow! I didn’t imagine our local high school (Gulfport, Mississippi) would embrace the new technology this fast.

I hope this proves to be a successful experiment so that other grades (and other schools) will enjoy the convenience of Nook books.

There are hundreds of different cake pop design possibilities; we chose to make mostly Honey Bees.  The basic recipe is fairly simple:

• One box of cake mix
• One container of prepared frosting
• 50 6-inch lollipop sticks
• One and a half lbs. of yellow candy melts
• 1/2 lb. of vanilla candy melts
• almond slivers (if making honey bees)

1. Bake the cake mix according to package directions (we chose Betty Crocker Butter Pecan).
2. Cool cake completely – about one hour.
3. Crumble cooled cake into a large mixing bowl.
4. Mix container of prepared frosting (cream cheese frosting paired well with the Butter Pecan cake mix) with crumbled cake.
5. Chill cake/frosting mixture for a half hour in refrigerator.
6. While mixture chills, make bee wings by dipping almond slivers in white candy melts (see step 8 for melting instructions).  Place wings on wax paper to dry.
7. Roll chilled dough into balls and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Chill in fridge for 2 hours (or freeze for 15 minutes; refrigerate 15 more minutes).
8. Place candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl.  We used yellow candy melts for our bees.  Microwave at half power for 30 seconds. Remove, stir, and continue to microwave in 30 second intervals until thoroughly melted.
9. Dip end of lollipop sticks in candy melts; then insert into cake balls.  Allow to harden.
10. Dip cake balls into candy melts.  Coat well; drain excess by tapping stick on side of bowl.  Careful–tapping too hard may cause cake ball to fall off stick.
11. Press almond wings into bee bodies while still wet.  Insert into styrofoam to dry.
12. Use black frosting to add bee details:  stripes, stingers, and smiley faces.

We made our Honey Bee Cake Pops for fun, but they would be cute at a party or shower displayed in a basket or decorative bucket.  Place styrofoam in your container and cover with “grass” or curling ribbon.

The butter pecan/cream cheese frosting combination was delicious. Delicious! I’m sure there are other yummy combinations, too, but I loved this one so much, I don’t know if I’ll ever try a different one. The only thing I might do differently — I might try pecan halves for the wings.  The almond slivers were great but it was difficult to find enough large, unbroken pieces in the bag.  Besides, pecan halves seem like a better match for the butter pecan cake mix.

This makes a fun project to do with children. Nathan enjoyed experimenting with chocolate melts and assorted candy sprinkles.  If you take the time to make some, be sure to take a picture as soon as you’re finished.  These little creations are sooo good–they won’t last long!

I made good on my promise today and boy, did Nathan get creative! He made some rolled in sugar glitter, some tri-color, rolled some in Reese’s peanut butter chips, and the last ones were “marbleized.”

Check out his fancy work! I’ll try to post the recipe soon.

Broady Doland

Broady Doland will have surgery to correct his congenital heart defect, Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR), on May 5, at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.  Like my son, Nathan, Broady has Scimitar Syndrome.

A nice article, “Benefit Aids Vandergrift Boy’s Family,” appeared today in  the Valley News Dispatch.   Family and friends have rallied to support Broady and his family.

Love and prayers to Broady, mom Traci, and the rest of the Doland family.

Abby shared with me a beautiful photo of Colin.  It reminds me of the fantasy book cover created for my story about my own son, Nathan.

Velvet Elvis Cake

A twist on Red Velvet Cake — think blue suede shoes!

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ sticks of softened butter
• ½ cup blueberry puree*
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons Wilton royal blue food coloring
• 2 ½ cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

*Blueberry Puree: 1 cup of blueberries + ¼ cup water. Boil blueberries and water in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until berries are very tender. Remove from heat, squish with a fork.  Cool.  Push through a sieve with a spoon to remove seeds and pulp.  Use ½ cup for this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour three 8-inch round pans.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar, butter, and blueberry puree.  Mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs.  Mix in cocoa and food coloring. Sift together flour and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.  Mix in vanilla. Combine baking soda and vinegar; add to mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cut rounded tops off layers so cake will stack evenly.

Icing:

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese (or half cream cheese, half mascarpone)
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 12 large marshmallows, (melt in microwave)
• 1 box confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut (optional)

In a mixing bowl, blend together cream cheese and butter.  Melt marshmallows in microwave; mix in while still warm. Mix in confectioners’ sugar.  Fold in coconut and nuts.  Spread on completely cooled cake.

Nathan’s favorite cake is Red Velvet.  I thought he might also like Blue Velvet Cake after seeing a few recipes on the Internet.  The “blue” comes strictly from food coloring, so I wondered if I could adjust the recipe to include some authentic blue coloring, thus the addition of blueberry puree.   The puree alone makes a purple batter, so food coloring is still necessary to create a deep blue cake.  My daughter Michelle and I tried it for the first time today and thought it looked and tasted great.  Nathan balked at the pecans and coconut in the frosting — maybe I’ll leave those out next time.

Nathan watches a Disney video during EKG testing at Children's Hospital in New Orleans.

Annual checkups are an important part of maintaining Nathan’s heart and back health.  Recently, Bryan, daughter Michelle, and I traveled with Nathan to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans to see how his heart looks four years after surgery to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR), a problem associated with his scimitar syndrome.

The echocardiogram seems to be a challenge for the technician each year.  His heart is positioned strangely in his chest (dextrocardia), so it takes a little patience to capture the desired images.  It doesn’t help that Nathan is extremely ticklish, especially when the transducer is placed at his neck.

During Nathan’s heart surgery, a baffle (tunnel) was created to redirect oxygenated blood from the right atrium to the correct chamber, the left atrium.  The last time the technician was able to capture an image showing the baffle was a few days after his surgery in 2006.  So it was a pleasant surprise when the cardiologist spotted it and reported that it appears to be unobstructed and working fine!

Nathan poses by a whimsical seahorse painting while he waits for one of his doctors.

In addition to his congenital heart defect, Nathan was born with a hemi-vertebra which was diagnosed as congenital kyphosis three months after his heart surgery.  We visited Nathan’s pediatric orthopedic surgeon on the same day.   I wish I had snapped a photo of the radiographs Dr. King presented to us.  One showed his spinal column right after spinal fusion surgery; a piece of cadaver bone replaced the hemi-vertebra and was easily discerned from his natural vertebrae.  The latest x-ray showed the cadaver-bone vertebra and the two vertebrae directly above and below had transformed into one solid piece, just as it was supposed to do.  There was concern, however, that the fusion was curving about 40 degrees.  If it continues to curve, reaching 50 degrees or more, it may be necessary to place rods in his back.

I hope, I hope, I hope… it will hold.

We pushed that thought out of our minds and went to Copeland’s after our day at Children’s.  We had their fabulous Spinach and Artichoke dip with fried bow-tie noodles for an appetizer (Nathan only eats the noodles).  Bryan had barbeque with cornbread.  Michelle and I had a delicious pecan encrusted fish.  Nathan had his usual–chicken tenders with fries.  Dessert:  Cheesecake Napoleon with praline sauce for us big kids, Big Al’s Chocolate Fudge Cake for Nathan.

Sometimes, you have to look at life’s challenges with the mindset of that famous philosopher, Scarlett O’Hara:  “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”