PRAYER REQUESTS

I have several prayer requests this evening. I would like to ask that you keep the following people in your prayers. My cousin's son, Bryce, is 5 years old and suffering from cancer. He is currently a patient at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis and he is receiving intensive treatment there but it is so hard on his body and this has been going on for over a year. Please pray for full recovery and strength for his family as they are living in two different cities. My friend, Jen , is recovering from major surgery and needs our prayers for a full recovery as she is the mother of three young children that need her to make a full and quick recovery. Please keep her husband in mind as well as he "fills in" for her until she is 100 percent again. My cousin, Jhonna, is continuing her treatment for breast cancer and needs prayers for full recovery. Thanks so much!

WEEKEND

On Friday I went with Jenny Bates to Tinsel and Treasures and we loved it! Jenny brought her baby and she was a perfect angel but I can't say I wasn't tempted to ditch that kid and fill her Baby Bjorn up with treats and goodies and smocked dresses. We were drooling over EVERYTHING!! Afterwards we went to La Pizzeria and had good food and a great time just sitting at a table with no kids (except the baby but she was still being good). Today we went to Baton Rouge to get Andrew's hair cut and make a stop at Whole Foods. I LOVE Whole Foods!! You think it's like a health store but it's got so many delicious bakery items and deli items and I always have to get a slice of their Chocolate Decadence Cake (it's flourless so it is rich and dense like cheesecake and it will put you in the hospital!). I also indulged in a Cannolli. We also took the kids to The Mall of Louisiana because when we are in Baton Rouge Andrew has started saying "ride the carousel" so we want to reinforce it and he loves to ride in the glass elevator as well. It was a fun weekend!

GO, JENNY!!!

I hope you all had a chance to watch Jenny McCarthy on Oprah. She was great!! I was in tears as she showed pictures of her son and we could see how he transformed in them from an alert baby and toddler to a vacant little boy. I have posted a picture of Andrew right before his first birthday. Look at the joy and light in his eyes! By the time he was 15 months old he was a different boy. I have read alot of Jenny's book and it is so wonderful. I think every parent (especially mother) can relate to it. If you get a chance to buy it, borrow it, or check it out of the library, do it! We had a 6 hour training session for Andrew's ABA program yesterday (we do that about every 4-6 weeks) and I am so exhausted! I am tired of learning new components of the program. I am tired of managing 4 therapists. I am tired of juggling Andrew's therapy from 9am to 7 pm every day of the week along with Sophie's schoolwork and violin and I am tired of AUTISM!! But I am not tired of my sweet little boy so I will continue to do this every day until he is recovered. Please keep us in your prayers!

School Picture

Sophie's school picture came in today and it was just as I had feared. When I sent her to school that morning her hair was in lovely curls. Apparently, the teacher handed out combs to the students before the pictures were taken and Sophie decided to comb out her hair. Everyone knows that if you brush out curls they turn to frizz--everyone except Sophie. Even though she has a frizzy halo she is quite impressed with this picture. Her Dad asked her why she tilted her head in the picture and she replied, "So it would be cute!" Silly girl....I guess I have to buy them now.

I Can't Hear Anything!!

So remember when Duane installed the Webcam a few days ago? Well, it messed up the sound on my computer and now I can't hear anything on it. It is sooo frustrating. How am I supposed to watch funny YouTube clips?? What about catching up with all my favorite network shows on the internet because I'm too busy at night to watch them on TV?? He is too busy to fix it right now and I am going nuts. I watch my favorite comedy clip "Nail Salon" at least 3 times a week and now I can't watch that either but I will post it so you can enjoy it. It seriously brightens my day whenever I see it. I hope everyone is enjoying their computers with sound!! Boo Hoo!

WEIRD KID

So Sophie comes home from school today and she is very excited about checking out a new book from the library. I am thinking that it is something really fun and cool like a new Nancy Drew or American Girl novel and she hands it to me and it is a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Who is this kid and where did she come from? What first grader reads presidential biographies??? When she was 4 she used to ask her Dad to print off double helix DNA strands from the internet so she could color in all the different parts but I thought that was just a phase. She was bored last weekend so i told her to go play with her Barbies and instead she memorized her times tables up to 8. I am really worried that this kid is weird and headed for nerdville but at least this afternoon she said she wanted to be Hannah Montana for Halloween so maybe there is some hope for her! Weird kid!!

WEBCAM

We got a Webcam this week so I can watch Andrew's therapists while I am in the other room and we are using it so the kids and Duane can visit with his parents in New Zealand. It's really neat because the picture is really clear and it's like you are talking to them on the cell phone (I guess you can tell that I don't keep up with fancy gadgets very much as I am very impressed with this). The last time they saw the kids was when we went for a month last December. I have posted a couple of pics of the kids with their New Zealand family.

CUPCAKES

ok..so I have been completely obsessed with cupcakes lately (and Archer Farms Peanut Butter Fudge Ice Cream). I think anyone who doesn't like cupcakes has a serious problem. Cupcakes are sweet and cute and you can eat them in two bites and they make you feel fantastic. You can also eat five of them and they equal the same amount of calories as one slice of cake (of, course, that is math according to Vicki). I have made a hobby of finding the best cupcake recipes and websites. I will share some with you but you have to make me some cupcakes in return!!

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

http://www.babycakesnyc.com/

http://www.cupcakerecipes.com/

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.e28a2ad6d3341f8836eb9e2bd373a0a0?vgnextoid=42cacf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=search_home&autonomy_kw=cupcakes

BLOGGING!

I can't believe I'm blogging. I SWORE I'd never blog. I guess it was just a matter of time as everyone I know is doing it. My friend Jenny has been doing it for well over a year and my friend Heidi just started doing it so I can't be the only one NOT doing it. My husband is constantly telling me that I should get my own blog because he is tired of hearing the ranting, complaining, pontificating, and just plain old running at the mouth that I do all the time. I hope to keep our friends and family aware of the things we are up to. Get ready for lots of bragging about my kids. I hope to post lots of pictures as well so maybe that will be an incentive to actually take more pictures of the kids for their memory books. Please feel free to leave comments and let me know if YOU have a blog. Don't forget to bookmark this address in your favorites so you can check on us from time to time!