McDonald's Fried Chicken and PB&J Puree

Hi,

Some things are just plain odd. We had a session in food prep this week. We learned how to puree Ethan's foods. Do you know you actually make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, break it into small pieces, put them in a blender, add water and then blend into a puree? Why not just put the bread, peanut butter, jelly then water directly into the blender? Weird...but not quite as weird as what was going on in the RMH kitchen when we got back from KKI today.

McDonald's workers, in their uniforms, were cooking our dinner. From scratch. It was delicious, but very, very odd to see McDonald's workers frying chicken and mashing potatoes. They also made a delicious chocolate bundt cake. Yum! (Ethan got PB&J puree. He doesn't know what he is missing...or maybe he does, it was another spitfest!)

I cried at the dinner table tonight. Mark thinks I'm nuts. I probably am, but the presentation touched my heart. One of the RMH board members addressed the families tonight. She had with her, 3 University of Maryland police officers. We see these police officers every day. They are stationed on our block. There is the cutest police station in a very old and adorable building around the corner. Think quaint victorian. It really is adorable! There is also a one man police hut on the corner, an officer who rides up and down the block on a bicycle, and another who guards the crosswalk. That's alot of officers for one block. There are also a lot around the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. Baltimore has a lot of crime, so it is very nice to have the police presence. Well, back to my story...

The presentation was about these police officers and how they care so much about the kids and familes who stay at the Ronald McDonald House. They watch us when we leave to make sure we are safe outside. It was very touching...but that's not why I cried.

This is why I cried....The officers partnered with a local middle school to collect books for the RMH and families. They brought 4,000 books to the house tonight. I'm not exaggerating, they really collected 4,000 books...for families like US. I mean, really, who wouldn't cry about that?!?! The generosity of people is simply amazing. They put out the word and the students collected FOUR THOUSAND books. That's a lot of books!

Ethan LOVES books, all three of our kids do. I said, Hey Ethan, there are books downstairs. Do you want to read? He was off like a flash. He grabbed a few books, found a comfy seat and was in reader heaven this evening.

Ahhh, life is good. More fun tomorrow. Have a great one!
Mark, Molly & Ethan