Good Monday Morning to ya! I had a splendid weekend – hung out with my husband and the kids, went to a birthday party for a friend, went to Target for groceries all by myself…it was all good.

I wanted to remind you to enter the bracelet contest if you haven’t already! Lots of people have entered already, and that makes me so happy. Every time somebody tells me they knew nothing about autism until they met me or my son, it just makes my heart swell. I love that we’re educating people and raising awareness and hopefully putting the notion out there into the world that raising an autistic child isn’t any more of a burden than, say… being married to a completely anal engineer. It is what it is, y’know? You work with it and find things to appreciate about it and just move on with life.

Anyway! There are more fun contests coming up soon – the next one will be a copy of The Wonderpets Save The Beetles on DVD. It is SUCH a cute movie, especially if you’re a Beatles fan. So, stay tuned for that.

Have a super Monday!

Awhile back, (as in, uh, LAST SUMMER) someone contacted me from Beacon Street Girls, which is a series of books created to provide positive role models for preteen girls.

The Beacon Street Girls brand was specifically created to empower “tweens,” those girls between the ages of 8 and 13, who are “between toys and boys ™.” Shaped by leading experts in adolescent development and current research on how to positively impact girls’ self-esteem, the Beacon Street Girls offer a fresh media alternative to today’s MTV-style world. Super fans in 75 countries and their parents have embraced the Beacon Street Girls as role models who are “just like me.” The company provides great books, cool gifts, and a safe and interactive online world designed to celebrate the potential in every preteen girl.

They were kind enough to send a couple of books for Kayley to review: Lake Rescue, and Maeve On The Red Carpet. I happily passed them along to Kayley, and she promptly lost them in her black hole of a bedroom. And I forgot about them altogether. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that.

Recently, though, we went through a massive purge of Kayley’s closet and found the books! She was pretty excited by this discovery and read both of them within about a month. I’m pleased to report that she found both books to be engaging and entertaining. She is a pretty picky book reader and if she doesn’t like a book, she won’t even attempt to finish it on principle – she’ll just toss it aside and find something new to read.

If you have a middle school-aged daughter, check out this series of books, and check out the website too. Every book in the series has its own page on the site where you can read the first chapter, post your own book review, and print out a poster of the book’s cover. The website also has games, neat little printable flipbooks and locker posters, and fun contests and giveaways. I just noticed pictures of The World’s Messiest Room Contest! I’m pretty sure Kayley could have won this, hands down!

Anybody scrapbook? Need pictures of the kiddos for Mother’s Day presents? Have a brand new camera you’re dying to print photos from?? I just found out about this brand new site for printing your digital pictures called ArtsCow. They’re offering 400 free prints credits and 1 free 8×8 custom cover photo book for signing up! Check it out!

And you can also get coupon codes for these offers when you sign up:

• $15 off a $25 purchase for all non prints items.
• 50% off for all non prints items.
• Custom Mousepad $2.88/ea, free shipping.
• Custom Watch $6.88/ea, free shipping.
• $4.99 for 10pcs 8×10 prints, free shipping.
• $7.99 for 20pcs 8×10 prints, free shipping.
• $14.99 for 10pcs 12×18 prints, free shipping.
• $5.88 for a deck of photo playing card, free shipping.

FOUR HUNDRED free prints! Dude!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from IZEA!, originally uploaded by lalagirl.

I was surprised to get this bright green box in the mail yesterday. It had a bunch of little goodies inside, including a strand of chili pepper beads, miniature pinata and a maraca, and a shotglass and pen that look like a cactus.There was also a bunch of candy, but my rotten children got into the box and ate it before I even saw what it was. Hopefully it really was candy!

Anyway, thanks IZEA! And, Happy Cinco de Mayo to you, too!