Foodie Wannabees and Rabbit Trails

Here is some of the spoils from the Farmers Market yesterday. The sugarsnap peas steamed up nicely and I tried a new "German style" potato salad. (Vinegar, salt & pepper only....the receipes on line called for more ingredients and I wasn't prepared for them. I had a potato salad like this at a catering and have always wanted to try it. It tasted different and not bad, but I am not sure that I would ever make it again. It's just not potato salad unless there is mustard/miracle whip/boiled eggs/pickle relish and onion! MASHED) You will also notice the upside down stuffed grilled pepper. We fired up Uncle Joe's new birthday grill and grilled the peppers. We had to make them upside down because when we tried to put them in a pan they would only stand up if they were upside down. We rubbed the outside of them with EVOO, wrapped them in foil and put them in the grill. They turned out pretty tasty.


Here is what CassiJo had for lunch. She didn't like the idea of all that new food. See even a sammwich looks good on those new plates! (Note the summery lady bug placemats Joe found for me!)

How old do kids get before they eat the crust on the their bread?











CassiJo was in charge of dessert. She made (all by her little self) strawberry shortcake, her daddy's favorite. :o)

I bet you are wondering where CarlyJo is....she is at a friends house for the day.








Rabbit Trails:

Last night at CassiJo's dance recital I teared up and just was so thankful for that child of ours. God has been so good to us where she is concerned. We had a scare with her when I was pg with her. Our alphafetaprotein test came back elevated and indicated there was a chance she had Down's Syndrome. After much prayer (more than we ever prayed in our lives) and an amniocentesis she got a clean bill of health. Then, when she was about 5 1/2 months old she developed a seizure syndrome called Infantile Spasms. It is a rare type of epileptic seizure that has on onset in infancy. She had onset on Memorial Day, so a Monday.....we took her to the ER and of course they had never or seen or heard of what we were describing. She had them as she woke up....like her brain got caught in a loop and she had to fight to get back on track. Well we were camped out on the front steps of our pediatrician Dr. Kevin Wade and he was so awesome. He didn't poo-poo us and believed us when we told him of what had been going on. He called (here is the God part) Dr. John Kevill a new local pediatric neurologist who he knew was involved in a study with UCLA on Infantile Spasms. We had an EEG done lickety split and thank God, the technician got to witness a seizure and by her description Dr. Kevill was on the right track and sent us to another ped. neuro in Dallas: Dr. Roy Elterman Dr. Elterman was in charge of a drug study for the treatment of Infantile Spasms and we were prime candidates. We went down to Dallas on Friday of the same week...less than 7 days from onset and got a medicine called Vigabitrin and after her 2nd dose CASSIDY NEVER HAD ANOTHER SEIZURE. She was off the medication in 6 months....and one of only two children to respond so well to it. The medication didn't cost us a dime. The visits to Dr. Elterman didn't cost us a dime. The tests she had didn't cost us a dime. The only expense we had was our travel costs, which were off set by Love Offerings from our family and church. At our last visit Dr. Elterman gave credit to prayer for her healing and he said, "I really don't expect to hear back from you unless it is to tell me how well she is doing in school." This was such good news because there are so many kids who didn't get proper and timely treatment for their IS and they had brain damage or had permanent seizure disorder. Cassi has no memory of these seizures and we have not seen any side effects. So, when I was watching her dance last night all those memories came back to me and I was just thankful that she was healed and was able to get up there and dance her heart out. God is so good to us.


Cassi and Uncle Joe are watching Willow in the other room so I think I will join them and hope that a nap comes sneaking by so I can catch it.