A fun day

Dallas is doing well.  Good days, bad days... as usual.
But more good than bad, it seems.

At the benefit held at the American Legion, my mother bought the two HUGE pumpkins.  She gave one of them to Dallas, as he had been wanting one ever since seeing them at Walmart a few weeks back.  So we lugged the thing home, put it in the front yard, and there it sat.
Well... a couple of days ago, we decided to gut it.
Dallas had such a great time doing that.  He laughed about the way it felt, the squishy feeling, and the way it smelled.  It was a good time.

We haven't carved it yet, leaving that for a future date, as I don't want it to rot too soon.
And we will be putting up the decorations this weekend.  He's definitely looking forward to that!


Also, this weekend, we will be celebrating Dallas' 6th birthday.  His actual birthday is the 27th, but due to some difficulties with schedules, we felt that this weekend would be much more convenient.
He's really looking forward to having a good time.  :)

Therapy has been going well.  His therapist, Jessica, is doing some different things that are causing him pain, but he knows it's going to help him out in the long run.

Also, he has his first round of steroids on November 8th.  Hopefully all will go well at that appointment.

Well, until next time, have a great day!
And keep thinking about Dallas!


PS:  I have sent out thank you cards to EVERYONE who has sent anything to Dallas.  I have received some back from the postmaster due to wrong addresses.  I have also found out many people have not received anything.  If you have not received a Thank You card and would like one, please do not hesitate to let me know. We truly appreciate everything that has been done for Dallas, and what continues to be done.  I do not want anyone to feel that we are ignoring them.
Please email me:  dyridings@aol.com

Have a wonderful day!!!

Benefit by The American Legion

This past Saturday, the American Legion in Waynesville, NC hosted a benefit for Dallas.  It was absolutely wonderful!  From the moment we arrived, everyone was so welcoming.
Dallas was super excited and had a really great time!

I wanted to post some pictures from the event so that you all could enjoy that day with us, once again... as well as for those of you who were unable to make it, and those who continue to follow Dallas' progress.

This is when we first arrived.  Dallas was overwhelmed.  With excitement, with happiness, perhaps with some fear and reservations.

Most of the time, he's really not a shy child, but since this has happened, he's been more guarded.

Thank you to everyone who talked to him, who played with him, and helped him to come out of his shell.  :)

Dallas was so excited to be able to get his face painted.  This is something he hasn't been able to do in a very long time.

What did he choose to get?  A Dallas Cowboys star, of course!

He really enjoyed doing this.

Dallas got to ride Madelyn's horse!  This is the first time he was able to go horseback riding, and he really, REALLY had a blast!

Just look at that smile!

This was something that surely brightened his day!!

Thank you!  :)

Another one of him riding.
I cannot tell you how much he truly loved doing this!

He wanted to keep riding.

Now we know something else he enjoys, and hopefully he'll get to do it again soon!

Dallas on Stage with the Hoss Howard Band!

As you can tell, he had some reservations holding him back.  But after he got off stage, all he talked about was how he was up there, playing the guitar.  "Did you see me?"  "Did you see me playing the guitar?"  "I did good, huh?"  It was adorable!

And a big thanks to these guys!  They were amazing.

We all really enjoyed the show and are very appreciative for you guys helping support Dallas through this time.

Dallas sitting in one of the race cars that was brought to the event!

He was so excited to sit in it and pretend like he was driving.

Every week Dallas watches the race with his Daddy, so this was a big thing, him getting the chance to sit in a race car.  :)

Dallas participated in a "cake walk", one of his favorite parts of the event, and won!  He was so excited.

And rather than keeping the cake, he gave it to the lady that "almost" won.

Looks like Nanna was a little more excited than Dallas to give the lady the cake.  LOL.  :)

Dallas playing with his "Bubba" (Tyler) before joining another cake walk.
He doesn't get to see him too often, so when he does, he tries to play with him as much as possible.

And here's Dallas participating in one of the cake walks.

He ended up winning this one too.  :)







"May I have your attention please?"  "May I have your attention please?"
These were the words that Dallas first spoke on stage.
Here he is with Daddy, thanking everyone for everything they did.  Telling everyone that he is getting better every day.

No more stage fright!  :)

The lady pictured here on stage with Dallas is Ginger.  There was a raffle for all of the Halloween decorations they had displayed.  Two inflatables and a skeleton for the yard.  Well, she won the raffle.  And rather than keeping the decorations, she decided to give them to Dallas.  She told me, that as soon as she saw him standing there, smiling and looking at the inflatables, she just had to give them to him.  How sweet is that?

Dallas can't wait to put them up!  He is so excited.  I'm thinking this next weekend, we will have them up!  :)


This little guy was given to Dallas at the Benefit.  Something that he didn't expect whatsoever.  When he was given to Dallas, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.  He absolutely adores animals, especially dogs.  Before this happened, we had a dog, Sarge.  He was going to get big, and was very active and playful with Dallas.  Once the accident happened, we had to give him away, in fear that he would hurt Dallas.  So this was a wonderful gift for him.

Dallas decided to name him Legion.
Fitting, don't you think?

Dallas had a really great time at the event, and so did the rest of us!  It was wonderful to see him run, to play, to jump, and to have so much fun!  We have met some wonderful people, who I hope will be lifelong friends.  Dallas was shown so much support, and he enjoyed every minute of it!

This is Dallas with Chuck and Wendy.  We wanted to say thank you for helping to put this event together.  They also provided lunch for everyone, Blue Ridge BBQ (amazing food, by the way!).
They were also kind enough to allow us to stay with them.  Dallas loved it there!  Right on the river.  Beautiful.

Thank you guys again for everything you did for us.  You made us feel welcome and showed Dallas, as well as the rest of us, a really great time!

Hopefully in the near future, we can make it back out to Waynesville.  It was a great little town, with a down home feel.  Everything that we could ever ask for, and more!

Thank you all for your continued support, thoughts, and prayers!  It means a lot to know that so many people care, that so many people are still supporting Dallas.  So many times, once the "worst" is over, people tend to go back to their lives, to "forget" about what happened.  Well, Dallas has a LONG road ahead of him, many more surgeries, both for function and cosmetic reasons.  He has years worth of strange looks and having to explain what happened.  So this will be a hard journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and he needs all the support he can get.

Words cannot explain how appreciative we are for everything!  Thank you again.  :)

Quick Update

Saturday was unbelievable!  Dallas had such a great time, as did the rest of us.

This was the first time we have seen Dallas run, jump, and smile, like he did, in a very long time.  He didn't want it to end.

We want to sincerely thank everyone for everything that was done for him!

Thank you all for putting this together for Dallas and our family.

I will have a more in-depth update as soon as I get more than 5 minutes to spare, lol.

But until then, thank you again, for everything!

It is much appreciated.  :)

Homeschool: Unit 1- The Letter S

Today is the first day of Unit 1:  The Letter "S".

Dallas had a good day.  We learned about the letter "S".  The sounds "S" makes.  Different words that start with the letter "S".

He got to draw the letter "S" in the salt.

He also drew a smily face, since it starts with the letter "S".

We also did different math activities, as well as some others.


He is really enjoying homeschool so far!  I am so happy with this program!

Therapy is getting better

Dallas has been enjoying therapy more often than not.  There are times, each therapy session, that really puts a strain on all his scars, on his limitations and movements, sometimes tears are shed.  However, therapy is getting better.  He is getting stronger, doing more, and building his endurance.

I thought I'd share a video of a recent session.

This is what he calls "the water".  It's a blue mat, kind of like an oversized bean bag, and he loves to jump on it.

Dallas jumping in "the water"

Benefit for Dallas - Update

The American Legion in Waynesville, NC is hosting a Benefit for Dallas on Saturday, Sept. 29th. They will be selling BBQ, raffling a TV, having a band and other activities. Dallas is working hard towards recuperation, but there are lots of procedures and hurdles he will have to overcome. We hope you can join us for this event. Thank you so much.

Little Update

So, lots of people have been asking about how Dallas is doing.  And I haven't updated in a while.

Here we go.

Dallas is getting better one day at a time.

He is able to raise his right arm above 90 degrees now, albeit just barely, but that's still progress.

His infections are still there, getting bigger and worse.  So we are trying our best to keep them as clean as possible, though nothing is seeming to help.  Hopefully when he starts steroid injections, Dr. Molnar will take him in and "scrub them" like he said he would.  But who knows?

Still no word as to when his first round of steroid injections will be.  Still awaiting the approval from the insurance company.  Hoping and praying they WILL approve it.  Otherwise, he will have to have releases instead.

He's been wearing his mask more often, which is helping with the scarring on his face, though it gets stuck to the infection areas, so it's a catch 22.  Either he wears it, and it helps with the scarring, BUT the infected areas get no air, and therefore, more bacteria breeds.  Or, he doesn't wear it, he doesn't get the compression and good results from it, but, his infected areas have a chance to clear.  It's a no win situation either way.  And it's driving me crazy (and him as well).

Dallas started playing baseball outside.  He's getting really good at it, hitting almost every ball that is thrown to him.  He's enjoying it, and I believe it's helping with his range of motion as well.
On the other hand, there is a scar in his inner elbow that is getting worse, and has been getting worse since he's started playing baseball.  A result of playing, or just a coincidence?  I don't know.

School is going well.  There are days where he really enjoys it, and other days that he struggles to get through.  But overall, he is doing very well.

Also, the American Legion is setting up a banquet/benefit for Dallas.  I believe it's September 29th, but I don't know all the details.  More to follow.

If there is anything else that you all would like me to address, feel free to comment or send an email.  :)

Have a blessed day.