Sno Ball Cupcakes and a James Update

Just two days ago I found out that my husband had signed me up to do a dessert. Thanks Alan. (To give him credit he did say it was okay not to do it.) Maybe it was a good thing because it got me out of a funk. Y'all know why I am stressed/worried/upset/nervous/sad. More on James in a moment. I really didn't know what to do. It's my husband's personal ritual to get the girls a little treat on his way home. Madeline LOVES....when I say LOVES I really mean LOVES Hostess SnoBall Cakes. Her sister Natalie is a Raspberry Zinger kind of girl lol. So while the crumbly mess went everywhere I decided to make my own version in cupcakes style....for Adult Taste Buds.

A dark chocolate cream cheese (mega whipped) frosting. A devils food cupcake with dark chocolate ganache center. Topped off with coconut and marzipan holly leaves with Sixlet holly berries. So far from what I hear they were a big hit! And you know what was funny? There were 5 other desserts there.

Things have been busy here. Snow. Ice. Rain. Sleet. More Snow. More Rain. More Sleet. Our dog Buster is having a ball in the snow. He loves being out in the country (he's a town raised dog) Finally got half of the Christmas lights up outside yesterday. Tonight we are going to finish. We went out and chopped down our Christmas tree. (Who am I kidding I stayed in the car...husband made me boo.) We decorated it and tinselized it. Wrapped the presents. Put them under the tree. Then my children proceeded to dismantle it :). This year I swore I was getting a smaller tree. When I picked it out from the car mind you it looked small... Yeah its 10 feet tall. The last two feet of it are devoid of decorations and tinsel thanks to Madeline and Natalie. But hey...its fun!

Now onto the crappy portion of the show. The day before James left for Cleveland (again), which was supposed to be the day he was leaving, he was urinating blood. So they had to get him tested. We don't know what the results are yet. As we speak he is now on his way home. My husband called me to tell me that the company won't sell the sleeve to the U.S. and there is a pretty good chance that the FDA won't even approve it anyway. Right now his doctor is prepping for a heart and lung transplant (which mean they are seeing if it is even viable...there is a 90% chance that it isn't) and talking with 3 different hospitals. As you probably know his chance of survival is less than 10% for that. Basically its either let him slowly die or he dies in surgery. My husband and I are frustrated

as to why they are not looking to send him over to England to have this done if it can't be done in the U.S. It's almost like they are giving up. Alan will be talking with them tomorrow to nail done what gives. Next month is the meeting for out in Cleveland when a bunch of doctors, patient advocates and the family discuss the options or lack there of. Alan has already put the paperwork in for Federal Family Leave. They are saying even if they put the sleeve in the conduit there isn't anything after that. This whole thing is crazy because he doesn't have TIME. The conduit is leaking really bad. I can see the difference in him. His O stats are shit. Even though all the odds are stacked against him...I still believe that all things are possible with God. What better hands could he possibly be in but His? Please, please, please pray your hearts out for him.

Thank you so much!!!

As you all know I have been in crisis mode since we found about James' prognosis.

The last time I had checked the polls there was someone who was beating me by over 50 votes. I had campaigned hard....some of you may know why I campaigned so hard and I thank you for your votes. It really touched my heart that you cared. If you don't..I still appreciate the votes! AND ALL THE WONDERFUL COMPLIMENTS!

Suffice it to say I was okay with not winning..I had so many more important things to think and talk about.

Your outpouring of love, prayers, and thought about James really lifted my spirits.

I cannot tell you how much it means to me that we have never met and yet you treat this situation as if it were your own family member!

The future may be unknown to me but it this unfortunate situation has already brought about many small miracles which I could not have foreseen. I am speaking to one of my brothers now. My mother in law is coming up for Christmas. And other things that are more personal. Your prayers have been heard. We need to keep them going. James goes for testing next week. I more than likely will be out there with him along with my husband. Please pray really hard that he qualifies for the non FDA approved sleeve. We still have huge hurdles after that but this first step is so crucial. It looks like James will be able to spend Christmas with us. It's hard to glance at the clock because every minute that goes by is one minute less. I don't know why James is sick...all I know is that there is a reason for it even though I may not be able to fathom why.

I might not be around much this month but I want you all to know that you are in my heart....and that of my family.

Much love,

Christine

I need some prayers for James urgently

Just 5 minutes ago I received a phone call from my husband. The conduit in James' heart is leaking severely.

There are only two options.

1. There is a device that is only approved in Europe. Its sort of a sleeve. They have to test James to see if he qualifies. If he does the patient advocates from Cleveland Clinic will be going to Washington to talk to FDA surgeons and convince them to let James have this. If he doesn't qualify there is no point to in going to Washington.

2. He has to have open heart surgery to replace the conduit. For him his life expectancy is less than 10 percent. He will either have to go to Boston or California for the surgery.

We need to get James this sleeve but more importantly he needs to qualify for it. We only have a month to work with here because of the leakage...its pretty severe.

I am so overwhelmed.

He is at a cross roads.

14 years old. This isn't fair!

It's Time To Have A Chat- Momma Bear is Pissed

I have lost a lot of sleep over this.

Point Blank: I am PISSED.

I know I am overly sensitive.

I know that I am passionate.

I know that I have these faults.

I have learned to let that go sometimes and reassess how I feel when I am calmed down.

Three days later...I AM ANGRY, HURT, and above all SAD.

I think I have established myself as an honest. When I do wrong...I try to make it right. Even though I may not like you I treat you with fairness and respect. UP TILL A POINT.

You know of Bloggers and Tiara's Right...that it is run by Momdot.com? I was involved with it. I know that Trisha Haas has been controversial in the past. But because I wasn't around for it. I stayed out of it.

And then one unsuspecting day...reading her blog before I checked in to seeing the latest for Bloggers and Tiaras she had a post up called

Airport People

1st Picture

A member of the Hadistic Jewish Sect. Its rather obvious.

She titles it Men In Uniform

2nd Picture

A little girl in the airport in age appropriate clothes.

She has some fringy boots.

Trisha Haas calls her a Miley Wannabee.

3rd Picture.

An older gentleman who has a short mohawk with tattoos and a leather vest.

She titles it Possible Mid Life Crisis

And last but certainly NOT LEAST:

A picture of a 14 year old girl holding her cellphone. Dressed appropriately..maybe a bit ill fitting but appropriate.

This is what she writes:

"She has braces, chubby face, blah blah, but she is FAT. Why are kids this overweight? It’s not like she has birthed four kids. WTF is the excuse for this? If someone responds and tells me she has a thyroid problem, Im going to hurl on myself. This girl needs to lay off the ho-ho’s before she ends up on someones blog… oh… too late."

My blood is boiling.

I was one of the people that was outraged...not explicate...not derogatory..but one of the people who stood up and said it wasn't right. I even suggested that she black out the face. She said in the Momdot forum that was ridiculous, its not like she is naked! I said that all major publications do it and then she referenced Perez Hilton and showing Demi Moore's little girls boobs on his site...saying that not all major publications do it. She then erased the forum before I could respond.

I deleted my account with Momdot and I dropped out of the competition.

You must understand that there were quite a few who support her. Why? Who knows. They stated quite clearly this was okay. Trisha is trying to spin this like she cares about overweight teens. Yeah.

She has had huge backlash....then she says we are projecting ourselves into this. Trying to say this is about overweight America not Cyberbullying.

AND THEN...and this really pissed me off boys and girls.

She says that she is being bullied. *shifts eyes*

Oh that she has had death threats and people saying mean things about her.

And yet I happen to remember a particular post in the Momdot forum where she was saying how people were calling her daughter ugly and fat...hmmm. I supported her in this...I don't like mean people or cruelty.

But then she does it. ???????????

I pointed this out to her...she said that she got over it. Right. I am sure you are hunky dory about someone using abusive language about your child.

So now she has made these particularly offensive posts and her personal family posts private to protect her family.

In fact she says that you get to pay to see her posts so that if you want to stalk her she can pay for her home security. Apparently her families safety equals about five bucks (for membership).

Okay so lets recap here.

You get death threats about your blog.....about your family. How long will it take you to shut down your blog?

Would you have your families pictures emblazoned on your blog still if you are trying to protect them?

NOW she is spin doctoring this to say that she is the victim.

While I don't personally know of any threats or mean spirited comments directed towards her family I will take it for what it is worth and so ok.

Death Threats are wrong.

Tit for Tat is wrong.

Posting a picture of a minor and calling her fat is wrong.

I signed a petition last night...no I didn't create it but I signed it. To stop cyber bullying.


The thing that really gets me is that she touts that she is an Ethical Blogger. You might have seen a button on my sidebar that said Ethical Blogger. I have since taken it down. She is the creator of Momdot and PR collection. FTC compliance badges...the works.

She complains about a PR person talking about ethics and but then tweeting under his own name about dildos and such.

What about her sponsors? Sam's Club? Just one of the many she has supporting her. (Oh I have a list for you if you want it..) I wonder what they would think about this post. Well they can't see it now because they would have to pay for it. Not to worry screen shots were taken (not by me).

How hard as a blogger do you work for your readership, sponsors, your ethics? Pretty hard huh?

Moms and Dads? How would feel if someone posted your son's or daughter's picture up on the Internet and say those above words. But then claim that it was to bring attention to child obesity. (This girl had some extra pounds but not obese by any means).

Human Beings?

People with at least half a brain?

People with a heart?

Wanna help stop Cyber Bullying? Here is the link to the petition.

Wanna to read a blog dedicated to stopping this? Click here. (While I don't condone everything that is written I agree with a lot. I publicly follow this blog) This blog does have the screen shots of the original post so you can think for yourself.

I want to make this very clear. I am not condemning those who are part of momdot still. I understand not everyone holds the opinions of Trisha.

I am here to publicly support those who are too afraid to publicly say anything.

I am not afraid.

You all know I have fared far far worse in my life that this.

I was a chubby girl.

I was called fat.

My last name was Wake at the time.

They thought it would be funny to call me "EarthqWake"

I didn't turn in my homework because I was afraid to go into the front of room...I didn't want to get made fun of.

I can't imagine..with all that I have been through...(and you who have been reading this know...if you don't read my bio)...if someone had posted my picture up there and said those words. I am here to tell you I probably would have committed suicide.


I sat there in history class while my teacher mocked Catholics...crudely.

I was the one that got in his face. He pushed me. Yeah. I know what bullies are Trisha. Try incest sometime...it changes your views on life drastically. Oh...what's that? Yeah I am a victim.


Christine Mack not Wake

Please Vote For Me! (Iron Cupcake)

Please vote for me in Iron Cupcake!

My entry is a apple persimmon pudding cake with yogurt cream cheese frosting. Decorated with sliced almonds and a handmade-homemade marzipan pumpkin!

Here is the link to vote.

Just look for the donate button. The poll is right underneath that. Look for Maman and Gourmand and click submit!

Also look at all the other cupcake creations!

(I will put up the recipe for this tomorrow!)

UPDATED!

Apple Persimmon Pudding Cake Recipe by Maman and Gourmand

Ingredients

2 cups of persimmon pulp
2 cups of diced apples
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
3/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
1 cup chopped nuts - pecans

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, mix the persimmon pulp, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla.

2 In a separate bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

3 Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, a third at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add the chopped nuts & apples.

4 Bake in a lined cupcake pans at 400°F until done (about 30 minutes).

10 servings

Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting by Maman and Gourmand

3 cups of vanilla non fat greek yogurt

3 packages of cream cheese, softened

Just beat until smooth

HP Touchsmart 600 giveaway! (not from me lol)

I found this site that is giving away two computers. Some of you may know that I suffered a computer death about a month ago. I am now sharing my husband's rickity old computer lol. I would love to give him this new one because he never buys anything for himself. That and we don't have too much room for computer...this thing is sleek.

Not only can you win one for yourself you can nominate someone else. I nomintated James because his laptop died as well. You know James. He has to spend so much time at home because of his terminal illness. Not to make this a pity party or anything but its really hard for him to be 14 and not have a computer. We are going to try to scrape together the money to buy him one but we could never afford a computer of this quality right now.

The contest needs your help to create hype. The site (the one where the contest is being held) is competing with a few other sites. Who ever creates the most hype gets to give away the computers. Let me tell you why I chose this one. Because instead of them keeping the computer for themselves they decided to give the second one away. That is generous to say the least.

So if you help me create buzz for this contest...then maybe we all can get a computer for James this Christmas.

Just so you know some background on James he doesn't qualify for Make a Wish because when he was about3 he was very close to dying so my husband and his now ex wife decided to use it then. He got a playground set. Otherwise I would have ask them. Unfortunatly he was really never able to go on the swingset.

James is at the Cleveland Clinic for the next few days. We sent Josh with him to keep him company. This is why I really haven't posted. We should find out soon if his condition is worse...they are thinking it is right now. Please keep on praying for him. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving because of all your prayers. Lets keep them going!

Here is the link to help out!

In the Kitchen with James: Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I want to thank everyone who prayed for James. I was amazed by the well wishes and prayers that have come into my inbox on a daily basis. Right now he has minor congestive heart failure but he is feeling better every day. In fact he has been in the kitchen with me quite a bit. We made chocolate chip cookies, pepperoni pizza egg rolls, pomegranate pecan parfaits, cinnamon rolls with apples, pecans, cranberries, and white chocolate cream cheese frosting, last but not least southern fried pork chops! He is feeling so good that he is staying her till Thanksgiving (and he will be with us for that day too!). After that he has to go to Cleveland Clinic for a routine check. We should find out if the congestive heart failure is getting better. We are sending Josh (his brother who lives with us) with him to Cleveland Clinic so he has some company. James was dreading to go so we thought that might cheer him up. Josh has to miss a little bit of school for it but I think it is worth it. We are all trying to go back to normal but we still feel like we are walking on eggshells. This year will be the first time in four years James will be with us for Thanksgiving. I am so excited. My sous chef will be in the kitchen with me! No empty spots at the table! I wanted to show off what my 14 year old aspiring chef made by himself. Look at these chocolate chip cookies! The recipe is on the Nestle Tollhouse bag on the back. Woo hoo I know a SECRET recipe lol! We all enjoyed the cookies. I wanted to share the pictures of his sister's enjoying his cookies. I could only get one of Madeline. That was when she came over to see if I had anymore. When she figured out that I didn't she was running all around :( lol. Natalie was covered in cookie. Needless to say they had a bath afterwards. I am one happy (step)mama right now.

Thank you St. Jude.