Doctors, Birthdays, preschool and Cooking...

I'll start out by saying that the St. Louis trip didn't go well. Brian and I could tell right away that the doctor I saw didn't really have much experience with Hypereosinophilic disorders. So, we decided to call it quits with him and look for other options.
There is a place in Cincinnati that specializes in this disorder and they have agreed to view my records and look at all the slides of any of my scopes I've had. After they look at all of that they'll call me and let me know if they'd like to see me. From the conversation I had with the head of their Eosinophilic department it sounds like they would most likely want to see me. I will be at least a month before I know anything.

Jacob's bday party went well. We had 9 boys over for a slumber party. We roasted marshmallows and made smores in a homemade fire pit in the back yard, they played outside a lot, we took them to McD's for breakfast and then to Ritter Springs Park for a hike. I think they all had a lot of fun and it was nice for us to get aquainted with Jacob's friends.

Emalee also turned 3 years old this past Monday. We didn't do a big party, just had the grandparents and Uncle Corey over for cake and ice cream. She got some clothes, puzzles, and other various toys. She also started preschool this week. She'll go 1/2 days Tuesdays and Thursday mornings.

Today I've made 4 lbs. of taco meat, 4 lbs. of shredded chicken and a crock pot full of applesauce.

Here's the applesauce recipe:

10 apples, peeled, cored, cut
1/2 C. water
1/2 C. white sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Put in crock pot on low 8-10 hours, or high 4-5 hours.
When cooked take out, puree in the blender. Let cool and eat up. You can freeze this too.

My friend, Ruth let me know that she cooks up chicken in advance in her crockpot. Here's her recipe for lots of shredded chicken:

Put chicken (can be frozen or thawed) in crockpot up to the top. Put in one can chicken broth and cook on low until chicken is done. Take out, shred or chop and freeze for future dinners in freezer bags. This should make cooking dinner a bit faster on one of those busy nights!