Recovering Noah

It's been a few days, hasn't it? Well, that's because my kids surprised me and Sim and took us on a trip! No, don't get too excited. We've been there before - as, I'm sure, have you. It's a place called "The Land of Sick and Inconsolable Children" - and I hate it. Our kids take us to The Land of Sick and Inconsolable Children at least once a year. Normally, though, they give us a bit of warning. They usually drop a few hints - such as coughing or sneezing, but no, not this year. This year, they surprised us! How thoughtful of them. At least I can say it's truly a Family Trip. All of us are involved this year. And we're not too lonely. I seem to recognize some familiar faces. It's a popular destination for people with children. Some of you lucky dogs may not have visited this year. Not much has changed, but I'll go over all the travel specifics with you just to refresh your memory. The Land of Sick and Inconsolable Children is probab

Soooooooooooo... guess which member of our household just donated their hair to Locks of Love ? Hmmmm.... can't figure it out? Can't understand how it's possible since none of us have hair long enough to donate? Well, let me give you a hint: Oh, was that not a big enough hint? How about this one, then? Hey, why not give just one more for good measure. (oooh, helloooo stud!) Yep, that's my Sim - back in the Grunge Days. Well, actually, I don't think the whole slacker/grunge period was as big in England as it was in the States - so, technically, you could just say we were pretty sloppy back then. Although, I am typing this wearing a lightweight 1970's painter's shirt with embroidered doves and owls on it that I got at a thrift store back in '93... so maybe the whole sloppy thing is still happening over in GBC. We're bringing the sloppy back, baby! Anyway, if any of you ever thought that I was a major pack rat... then, honey, you ain't seen nothin

Okay, so I couldn't resist a play on words (you know, because Noah babbles. Get it? Plus, we just did a lesson on the Tower of Babel yesterday, so it was fresh on my mind). Anyway, Nandini and Eli are so sweet to Noah. One of his favorite things to do is to knock over towers that we build out of an old set of cardboard bricks that we bought at a garage sale for 3 bucks. Most kids would be itching to knock over a tower as high as the one we built, but not Eli and Nandini. Nope, they couldn't wait to watch Noah get all excited as he knocked it down. Here's the tower partially built. It goes all the way up to the ceiling fan. Here's the tower in all it's cardboard glory: And here comes Noah! And Eli clears off the table: Now, don't even think that I'm going to show you the mess they made in our utility room. Leslie

Hey, I just found out that my parents have been accessing my blog through Noah's old website - which does not take them to the new and improved blog that Nikki did through Blogs for a Cause. If any of you are reading our blog through Noah's old site, then you're missing out! :-) You can access the full thing through www.recoveringnoah.blogspot.com . Noah's website is completely out-of-date and I have no idea how to update it - except to pay someone and that's just not going to work right now. Just wanted to let everyone know. I had no idea my parents were still going to the old site to read all the updates and it made be think that maybe a few of you are still doing that, too. Leslie

I can't believe it. Well, I can believe it - but, still, I'm in total awe of the power of prayer. Saturday, I blogged and asked for prayer requests for Noah's abscess - which was the size of a walnut - and today, just two days later, it's completely gone! We've done nothing to treat it since Saturday. Noah suddenly refused to take his pyrogen remedy and we didn't put the antibiotic cream on, either. And it's gone. Completely gone. The only thing that remains is a scab from where we drained it a week ago. It needed to be drained again, but we didn't touch it. And it's gone! Thank you all so much for including Noah in your prayers. I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful we are and how much it means to us. And our God is a wonderful, awesome God. Leslie

We took Noah to Austin on Thursday so that he could get some more RPM therapy in at HALO . Sim took him for a session when I was in India two months ago (two months ago??? Can you believe it??) but, honestly, we haven't done anything since Nandini's been home. We've just been busy trying to figure out things and get a schedule down. Well, I did try a few times, but it was a disaster and I found myself getting frustrated - which does not help the situation. Anyway, we are flat broke and money around here is getting tighter than Joan Rivers' face, so we were afraid we'd have to quit going. Well, God answers prayers, doesn't he? HALO has hired an apprentice who is going to start working with the younger kids doing RPM. She was an ABA therapist up north and also has gone through all the rigorous RPM training and has been doing that for awhile. Anyway, they just hired her on a 3 year "apprentice" contract in Austin and Noah had his first session with her

It's stunning, isn't it? My blog was feeling a bit neglected so I treated her to a facelift. Ahhhh, if only they all cost just $20. So. This really cool girl, Nikki, created the blog for me. She is the most awesome thing ever. I am so hoping that my boys end up marrying a girl like her. (Nikki, you don't have any little sisters in the - oh, I don't know - say, kindergarten age range, do you?). Okay, so Nikki is a college student in Canada. She went on a humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic last year through Hero Holiday and is raising money to go back in July. She needs $3400 to spend a month in the Dominican Republic and has come up with a fantastic way to raise money... by giving blogs a facelift. She's super fast, super nice, and just does an all around fantastic job. Also, $5 of the $20 for the blog design goes towards a charity of the month. This month, the money is going to a special needs orphanage called Santiago Orphanage. It's a cause that is

See, Computer? I couldn't stay away from you for more than an hour. I finally realized how to make The New One in My Life love you... by making it all about her. You see, toddlers are very narcissistic and love looking at pictures of themself. But... moms are smart. I can post a photo essay chockful of pictures of The New One, but print words underneath. So, I'm actually blogging in a very sneaky way and spending time with you - and she thinks it's all about her. Aren't I clever? This is a picture of Nandini and Eli with their container of squirrel and bird feed. Most if it gets thrown within a range of about 6 inches - which means we have to frequently wash off all the bird droppings from our front porch. Eli with his 'coon skin hat. Don't you think he's channeling Davy Crockett in this photo? Who needs to hire a maid when you've got a 3 year old ready and willing to help?? The only one of my kids (actually, entire family) who enjoys cleaning. We lov

Dear Computer, I know it's been a while since I last sat down and visited you. It's just... wait, no, don't cry, Computer. Come on, now. It's okay. Really. No, no. It's not you. It's me. It's just... well, I don't really know how to say this. Okay, I'm just going to say it. I've found someone new. There. It's out there. It's done. Now you know. But I know you already know. You've met her quite a few times. And, yes, she doesn't really like you. Okay, she actually can't stand you. And, yes, it's true. She starts whining and screaming everytime I come near you. But I love her. I do. I'm crazy about her. Wait. No, of course not! This has nothing to do with your age. Yeah, so. She is quite a few years younger than you - but you know better than that. So what if your monitor is dusty and your keyboard is faded. You know I don't care. You know me better than that. Okay, well, yeah, you also thought I'd never leave yo

Okay, so a few weeks ago I posted about how little fairies snuck into my room at night and abracadabra'ed me into a neat freak. Then, right after Christmas, I woke up with a wild hair up my you-know-what and announced to the family that we were getting rid of the TV. And this was a week before the newest season of The Biggest Loser came on - so I know that I was not acting of my own accord. Well... those fairies must've been at it again and came and sprinkled magic fairie dust on me or something because about a week ago I went to bed as Leslie and woke up as Martha Stewart. Or Rachael Ray. Or Betty Crocker. Maybe even June Cleaver. All I know, is that the baking-cooking-let's-turn-these-old-milk-cartons-into-pretty-little-bird-houses woman that has since taken over my body has not been me. I woke up with the wonderful idea of "Let's not buy store-bought bread for a whole year. Let's make it!!!" And since then, I've made 3 loaves of bread. One good, one

Pee, Poop, and Potty. I had no idea how much space those three occupied in my little brain until I sat down and tried to decide on my goals for 2008. And they all begin with P. What a change from New Year goals from the past. 10 years ago... heck, even 5 years ago.. maybe even 3 years ago... my goals were much different. Now, however, they all have to do with elimination, excrement, and making it into the sparkling white throne that sits next to our bathtub. Oh, who am I kidding? There's nothing sparkling about it all. So, first up is Noah. Now, there is a very legitimate reason as to why he's not potty-trained. We're not only dealing with autism, but cerebral palsy, as well - so there are a few factors playing into it. Plus, he is the only one of my kids who can't stand to be naked. Not to divulge too much information, but he absolutely can't stand the feel of his "bits" dangling against him. Hmmm... that's going to present a problem, isn't it? We

Happy New Year!!! I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. I had to double-check the date of my last post - December 21st. Can you believe it? Wanna know what I've been doing with my time???? Playing with my kids. Wanna know why? We got rid of the TV. Yay for us!! Okay, actually we still have the physical TV, but we cancelled Direc TV, which is the same thing because we don't pick up a single channel without a satellite. Well, okay, if I stand on one leg, crook my arm up to my left ear and bend slightly forward to the right then I might be able to pick up ABC. But if I sneeze or get an itch then we'd be in big trouble. Hmmmm....maybe I shouldn't have dropped out of yoga all those years ago, eh? Probably would've been able to stand on one foot for a lot longer than 15 seconds. (Actually, I lasted all of 5 minutes with yoga. All that silence and deep breathing stuff got on my nerves). Anyway, the point is that we are now TV-free - for the most p