GRASSHOPPERS DON'T SAY CHEESE!!!

Today when we were coming out of church Ryan exclaims, " There is a giant bug that jumped on my SHOE!!"I looked around, saw nothing and started walking again. "NO MAWM!" "LOOK!!"

I looked and saw!!! OH MY that is the biggest grasshopper I have ever seen! It is like the grasshopper worthy of a national geographic shot! I was only armed with the photo capabilities of thee iPHONE.

Ryan and Ethan say, "TAKE A PICTURE OF IT!" ok I will OBEY!! I whip out the iPhone and get squash down to take the shot, getting as close as I dare!

Ethan yells out in the little green guy's direction, " SAY CHEESE!!"

Ryan screws up his face and says, " GRASSHOPPERS DON"T SAY CHEESE!!"

Teehee, I love the darn things these lil monsters say!

Cheese is almost like my favorite food

Ryan is my son! He loves cheese! Ethan is my son! He can eat a bag of Dove chocolates in one sitting.(you don't want to know how I know that).... Tonight Ryan comes downstairs from bed and says he is hungry. I throw a box of crackers at him WHY? BECAUSE!!!(teenager roll eyes and huff) b/c I'm off duty you see. Then he asks for cheese. CHEESE! I'm kinda like "ughhh"
but then he does this without prompting....we'll least to say he got his cheese.....and kisses :) And if you want to see the comic genius behind this watch "Wallace and Gromit"

Well nothing is ever done DONE, but.....

To be honest, it's been a transformation, a very gradual transformation. So doing this and looking at the before pictures for myself was shocking. Especially my first room I'm going to feature...the KITCHEN....


Here is the before, complete with white countertops and greenish blue tile: Here is Ethan walking on that blue green tile:








I like the island in this kitchen and the extra tall cabinets with crown molding and then I did the unthinkable to them.....I painted the oak an antique white color and then antiqued them with a glaze. We replaced the green tile with this porcelain tile I found at Home Depot for $1 a sq. ft.!! I did a matching backsplash with accent tiles. Instead of purchasing a new stove I found a replacement part warehouse in Austin that had black knobs for my make and model for $3 each! We replaced the countertops and appliances and new hardware completed this kitchen remodel!



Moving upstairs to our Master Bedroom. Finally in 9 years of marriage we bought bedroom furniture. Our old room was kinda catch all for any random items in the house that didn't have a home with a great big bed in the middle of it all. Here is the before..I was watching the movie Bedroom Story with Adam Sandler and I loved how the hotel was decorated and that was my inspiration.

I found this wall art collage at Big Lots :)

These black and white damask chairs from Pier 1 were my favorite find.

I found this Manhattan chair on craigslist for $200!!

This Leather sofa again on craigslist for $500!! It was barely used too!

In the opening are painted shells on string I found at the Pottery Barn outlet for 70%off!!

Here is the boy's bathroom. In here we stripped pastel pink and blue wallpaper, painted green and added crown molding around the mirrors. Also new faucets and hardware.In our MasterBath there was new paint and deco.

Love this patent leather black cube I found at Marshalls!

This is the office that used to be the living room. We had it walled in and added french doors. Then painted in a silver blue color and used my red photo albums as decoration :) So without further ado...here is Seth's old office:

And the new one:

My mom sewed these panels to match the space. Thanks MOM!

Image a room lined with little tykes toys and cheap toy bins was the old toy room. We sold many of our toys in a garage sale and put the rest on shelves in the closet which made room for this new redo. All from IKEA! These shelves were $19 each and the bins were about $20 for all! The pictures on wall above are actually cork board covered with matching fabric from the window treatment then I super glued the ribbon.

One good thing when we bought the house was that she had not really painted hardly anything, so we could start from scratch. The great room was a white never ending space:
In this space we tore out the carpet, replaced with faux hand scrapped hardwood. Then I took some subway tiles the same tile of the kitchen and re-tiled the fireplace surround. Then I designed and had a carpenter help me nail new "legs" to the fireplace mantle.

I gave Ryan crayons that matched the room and told him to draw me some pictures. He did and I loved them so I framed them!

Then there is the guest room. It is painted a pearly white silver color. The window treatments are all target! :) The bedding I got at Linen and Things when they were having their going out of business sale :) The bedroom furniture we got on craigslist for $500! It was in their guest room too so It has hardly ever been touched. Love it!I had this huge wall to cover. I found these chargers at Target on clearance and decided to use them as wall art in a pattern.
The boys room furniture is the best and only we had for a long time thanks to great in-laws who gave it to us once they found out I was having my 2cd boy. I just hung some inexpensive wall art :)
Here is the old dining room :

We added a chair rail and paint ofcourse.

That's it! Putting together this documentary took about as long as the remodel! Geesh!

Busy Busy Bees

HEY!!!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my hardest, funnest, most gratifying day in a while! Why was it this way?

Well because of Busy Bee of course! What is busy bee you ask?

Well, let me introduce you to the Busy Bee Cast:

First, Busy Bee Wyatt

Second, Busy Bee Evan

Third, Busy Bee Ethan

And Finally, Busy Bee Ben!

We are four little Busy Bees that get together twice a week to sing, learn colors, numbers, stories about being good helpers, sharers, and friends.

It was so fun! Great job boys! If you want more info. this pre-school program click here.

First First Day of School Ever! Well for one of us...

Meet Kid One: Ethan Alexander Cochran aka Boo-KAH!

He has been asking everyday for 2 weeks if he can go to school today. The school SON not to be confused with SUN...SONSHINE SCHOOL, do I live in the Bible belt or what? Ya this is the same school that had Ryan coming home and saying, "RISE ME UP! RISE ME UP!" But they pray and sing gospel songs and teach them to be good people so what's not to love!

Yesterday we did many things to get ready for school! We made a super-size batch of Play-dough! HAVE ANY OF YOU HEARD OF ALUM? WHAT THE FREAK IS ALUM!!!! This is what the manager at Harry E. Butts Grocer said anyway....(HEB) Eventually was found and 1 gallon of play dough was delivered this morning.

Ethan also had an immunization, blah! Poor things! They are always so happy to go to the doctor and they don't know what is about to happen to them. So I am pinning Ethan to the table. All the while he thinks he is getting a great hug from mom and , "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!" Then he sits up and exclaims to the nurse, " DThank you, YOU SHOTSZZZZ ME!!!" LOL!

Another thing we did was buy new shoes!!! We went to Stride-right. Yes, they are sooooooooooo expensive, but seriously parents they are the only shoes that are not beggin for mercy after a month of kicking,sand,and general BOY usage! Ethan tried on a few and then I knew when he liked these because he started jumpin and saying, " I DIKE DEASE!" Because mommy was feeling gracious (and maybe when I was a kid there were no random fair rides taken) we also did this:



Good-bye my love, babby love. Mommy will miss you today and I will save you one Dove Chocolate to eat after school! :)



Meet Kid 2: My older and wiser Ryan John Cochran



(OK I got a little carried away with the hair spikage) BUT he did say that he got a lot of compliments of his mohawk-oops I wasn't going for the mohawk oh well! Ryan too was so excited for his first day of first grade! He was counting down the days all summer!

In his classroom he sits next to Savannah! I love this darling girl and think Ryan does too, because her mamma told me last year Ryan asked Savannah for a kiss on the playground! WHAT?????!!!!! Little Romeo. This is why in Summer school he got a award for being a Ladies Man! Oh, I hope that calms down for say TWENTY YEARS!!!

Here we go! Walking in for the first time!

But anyway, he was so excited because this year he has 1)his own desk and 2)own pencil box with his 3)own supplies that as he says, "I can organize!" He comes home every day and says he loves first grade!

Good-bye my sweet- Big Boy!

Now I am HOME ALONE! (hands on checks) "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

O-Hi-O

Every year growing up we would jump in our less than large automotive and drive for three days to Zion. Though I did not have it as tough as the pioneers of old.... I had a ornery big sis and a bratty lil sis to contest with...."MOM!! The sun is in my eyes, again! Why am I always on the sunny side?" "MOM!! sos and so is touching me!" Mom had had enough and pulled over and splurged. The place=KMart, The thing=3 generic walk-mans and cassette tapes. We were elated!! Our very own walk-mans!!!! This did the trick. One dirty dancing soundtrack later...I was in 12 year old bliss coasting down the dessert highway.

Well, times has passed. I won;t mention how much. Let's just say it's more than 10, less than 20. And the next generation has began another tradition of long tracks to the origination of family. We pack in our less then SMALL car for another 2-3 day long trek to the green, cooler,be-loved O-H-I-O.

I have been so blessed! I have amazing parents, and the best sisters, and spectacular friends. How can one person be on a 5 week vacay and not be bored for one single moment! Every day is a party with great company and I must say great food and great moves (Zumba!!!!)

I have a great life back home. I do, but I do love my home in Ohio. Home is not where you hang your hat. Home is where your heart is and a pieces of my heart will ALWAYS be here with these lovely people I love so much.

So thank you everyone in go bucks for welcoming me and putting up with my messiness an loving me and my boys. Ya'll ARE THE BEST!!!

PS Side note: I have no pictures to post because out of all the craziness my new love, my iDiddly iPhone decided to jump out of my back pocket and into a fresh warm bath of...yellow leakage....ewwww.....no worries.....I told the truth and a miracle occurred.....I got a new one, but alas I have no pictures to post :(

Last...

Lasts. They really are just the beginning of something else.

Something even better! SUMMER. OK well, this school year really did ROCK for Ryan. His elementary school is amazing and he loved every minute of it! I am so proud to be Ryan's mamma. Anyone who knows him, knows how special he is. He is such a HUGE blessing in my life. Let's see how he started this year:

Ryan at his new desk! First day of school! 8-24-08

Then 9 months later, a seasoned expert...who learned everything he needs to know!

All I Really Need To KnowI Learned In Kindergarten

by Robert Fulghum-
All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.

Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat. Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life - learn some and think someand draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

6-4-09

Super Boo-kah to the rescue

This is my little partner in crime...please meet him....Sooouper Boo-Kah!! I didn not create this character...he is 100% natural Boo-KAH!!

***PLease don't try this at home

Watching over us...

Ok pictures or no picture I'm back....I have a story tooo funny to pass..

My bright eyed bushy tailed Ryan, age 6...very precocious child has pink eye. He was naturally a miss from the halls of the short people and we spent the day together alone. You see my other little boy had school today. That left me and Ryan staring at each other all day....AND THIS has not happened since that OTHER little boy (Ethan) was born!

We played in the morning, making homemade clay, reading, watching cartoons. Then I decided I should get something accomplished. Our home office has not been organized for over a year! So naturally is looks like pigs in a trailer park. I started to tackle this....found some coins...Ryan LOVES coins! "hey Ryan here is some coins to look at" OH COOL!!! He then precedes to tell me how much he LOVES money, and now he is rich. "Well, no, these are daddies, we have to give them back." Later I find him filling up his new wallet to the brink. The wallet zipper looked like a chubby girl on prom night(me!) "Um Ryan, what did I say?? Take it out, put back in the zip lock and put it back in the office." Later I pass the his room and the money is STILL there. "Ryan you have to give that money back!!" He says, "well, I really want it, BAD! This time I don't think I'm going to choose the right!" "Ah hah" I say calmly. "sometimes it is REALLY hard to choose the right, but the harder the challenge, the greater the blessing and you will be REALLY REALLY happy!" "Plus Jesus is always watching!!!" Ryan then says, "Well Jesus is not ALWAYS watching..." "Yes HE IS! He is always watching everything you do, and Heavenly Father!" Then he proclaims, "Well, I'll take the money while he is watching me like you!" OK so now I'm totally confused and want to blurt out again, NO he is always watching, but then I said,"Ryan what do you mean?" He shrugged and said, "you know like how YOU watch me." OK, this is one of those moments when you feel dumber than a kindergartner, which happens to me quite often since he is practically a genius, anyway.....I started to think....

...and then I asked, "Ryan do you mean, like mommy watches you sometimes and other time I walk away and do something else?" "YES!" "Just like that, so Jesus is not always watching me either!"
DUH DUH DUH DUH ok now this was hilarious and I wanted to laugh so bad but I couldn't stop myself from having the conversation with him where I get to explain that Jesus and Heavenly Father have this really cool super power where they can watch, with out interruption,everyone on earth.....

SO Seth's piggy bank was saved by yet another....DUH DUH DUHDUH!!!! SUPER MOM, here to save the day,clean up poop,load the dishwasher,chauffeur the kids,bake the cookies, and go visiting teaching....AND fill our children with as much SUPER GOSPEL TALK as possible.

Oh one other quick funny. The kids has pink eye, oozing grossy stuff and a slight fever, but no he barges into the pigs-sti office and says, "I need exercise!" "Where is the turbo jam dvd?" (OK side note, have not done turbo jam in 2 years, 2,TWO, tutu years! But alas, it is his soul mate ofan excersise. "It's in the car dvd case" I yell out. He is back in 30 sec. and I hear the entry music roll, "It's time to party...come on and move you body!!" He is in a full karate squat with a look on his face like he's about to take on al kiuda. I'm thinking there is no way! But he does the entire 20 min. workout!! His little arms flaling all over my living room, his large sweat bombs tundering down his little legs onto my living room carpet! Rambo was prepaing for war here people. He needed his exercise!!!" As I sat and watched him with my imaginary popcorn and coke, I smiled and giggled quitly. Now this is why we have kids my people!"

Ethan, yah! No more terrible Two's!!

My Ethan is 3!! I can NOT believe it, is the catch phrase, but sooo true! As I was gathering pictures for this post I have realized that I have a LOT of silly pictures of my lil Angel! I never knew how silly he really was.

Let's take a trip through Shapoopie land, starting with this weekend and a new haircut....


His favorite...papa's Moat-mill!!

He's my sunshine!

He's always so happy!

...and silly!

...and he loves, LOVES putting on mommies make-up!! Just mad when I stop the party

Loves all things bouncy

Has a love for designer handbags

And cars, fast fast cars!

Happy Happy Third B-day!!!!

His Zach Effron hottie boy hair-cut!!

We love our ears!

Fall time 08

He loves doing everything big bro does

He loves bath time and squeals like a pig!!

Best grandma in the whole world!!!

He made sure he put his make-up on before taking of on his bike!

Every man needs reading material when on the pot...

Just like brother...

Baby Vadar...

Good Morning sunshines!

First trip to Sea World, now he calls anything moving in the water...SHAMU...even pool cleaners

Oop this is his One yr. pixs

Eating his 2cd b-day cake!

He loves to ride his bike around and around in the buck!

This is Ethan, bank-key and thumb!! THis is how I will remember his childhood!

Silly bedtime kisses- I luv this boy!

Very serious race car driving!!!

He was always and still is always into everything!!! His specialty...CANDY!! See the knifes behind him...yah this was the day I started putting them in our highest cabinet in the kitchen!!

He has developed a love of vacuuming like his daddy! He still pulls it out once a day and does a few swipes...more than me!!

Sweet cuddly wuddly cheeks at a little over a yr.

Me and Big-broder

I like cake, yes, I do, gimme me more MORE MORE!!

9 months old and standing!!

Little itty bitty delight

Blessing Day with G'pa Adams, best daddy ever!

First day on Earth!

Still in the abyss....this was 6 days before he was born...

I am so blessed to have little Ethan, he is so obedient. He is full of life!He has to take his shoes of and put them away. He has to shut the door on the min-van by himself. He has to put stuff away! I love you Ethan!!! Happy Third!

Ethan is my organized, polite,energetic,sweet child! He loves to sing and say,"please and thank you". A LOT of people compliment on how good and sweet and polite he is. I can not take credit for this as mothering at all! He just came from Heaven that way and I am just trying to teach him to stay out of the dishwasher and my make-up!

My three yr. old vs. of Ethan loves to go "bye-bye"! He knows every store we go to and screams out the name when we arrive! His favorites are Target(I know he is related to AMY!) HEB (grocery short for Harry E Butts).

Translations:
Obe-Der: Over There
Pamp-pakes: Pancakes
Bane-key: Blanket
Moat-mill: Oatmeal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, can't wait for more!

A lil Faux Paux can go a LONG way....

Some people say "never paint oak!" Well I kinda did a faux paux and oops, they are painted! How did I do it?

Supplies: Mix of glaze and desired paint color 2:1 ratio, water bowl, dry rag,wet rag,rub rag

Step 2: Open cabinet doors ( no you can't have my Mr. Incredibles cup)


Step Three: Take pre-moistened rag and drizzle glaze, about this much...

Step Four: Rub, pop tylenol, rub till desired shade!

Step Five: Once you the outer and inner area evenly coated, take paint brush and apply glaze on edging as shown

Step 6: Wrap dry rag around finger as shown and crook finger and start at top or bottom and Step 7: rub and straight line all the way down the side of the cabinet

Step 7: rub in a straight line all the way down the side of the cabinet

Step 8: You basically want the dark to stick to any recessed areas: wipe and clean up everywear else :) till looks something like this...

So when we bought this house I had a vision...I could picture this kitchen in my head! Well a couple gallons of paint, a bottle of tylenol, and the "Dirty Dancing,Mamma Mia,Taylor Swift" sing a long music LATER....we had this.....

I love these boys!

Are you serious! Life could not be more full of JOY!!! when you have these two boys around!!!

We started out the day with Ryan's first EVER soccor GAME!! Woohoo! I told Ryan a couple days ago that he needed to ask his daddy how to play soccor, since he has never done it! Then Ryan said, "HEY, don't worry my cousin Bekah can teach me!" Just call her and she will tell me! I wish it were that simple! (But I'm sure sweet Bekah would attempt to teach him over the phone! )

So then we get to the game and the coach is out of town and we have 4 players there. I volunteer Seth because HELLO he is a SOCCOR STUD!!! He like played all throughout middle and HS and he even refereed, so he was all too excited to get out there and strut his 6 year old coaching mad soccor skills!!Then we headed to this little known place we love called Chick-fil-A!! Woohoo! Ryan scored some ice-dream and Ethan scored some germs on the playground! YES!!

Then we got an email from our tax guy and found out what our return was going to be...so Seth had a hole burning in his pocket and he was itching to go spend some money...so we headed to his favorite shop, another little known shack called Wal-MART. We did stock up for the millennium though so it was good!

So while we were meandering though those fabulous isles, I stop to check out some healthy protein bars...ok fine.....CANDY and I am ignoring my children and the oldest and wisest says,

"HEY LISA!!! LOOK AT ME!!!"
OK I nearly peed my pants, fell over laughing...."attention, attention....clean needed in isle 10!!!"

Then sweet little Ethan had to get it on the fun! He's the smart one in the family!

Thank goodness for good camera days. Thank you Heavenly Father!!

Oh what do you do in the SPING-ING TIME???

Give your yard a Hair-CUT!!! It did not get one last year, so It was a little over-grown! There were 50, count them FIFTY bags of de-bree!!!!

Before:
After:

As of last week our turtle sand box was collecting leaves: but here is the new improved sandy version! Yah he is soooo excited, I feel a little guilty!

And I bought a couple house plants too....what a difference they make! Lovin my new green spaces!! GO GREEN!!!

I used to eat blog slackers for dinner!

So I guess I'm full and I'm ready to blog again! The truth is that working ate up all my time!!!! So about 2 months ago I decided I wanted to stay home with my kiddos as a "SAHM" and rock the day away with the usual....blogging, facebooking, cartoons, poopy diapers, laundry, lunches, play dates and more facebooking..... yesterday was my last day! SMILE!

Rewind to Ohio by car for Christmas. Whew- my kids I have to brag are amazing travelers thanks goodness. As usual someone puked, we all cried, and we came home a little heavier than we went!!!

I came home and hit the office, well not "the office" just some orthodontic office. I began the life of a working mom, shuffling kids to and from school and home. This took some adjusting and just when I was getting used to it, we decided it was not "worth it" for me to work. By the time I paid for child care and taxes and such I made about $300/month working 4 days a week. This was not that exciting to figure out to say the least!

Let's see, my biggest accomplishment house wise during this time was we finally got the garage cleaned out and organized and we have two cars in our garage!!! WOOHOO!!! Hail storms are kinda popular in Texas and I was scared every time it rained we were going to end up with a car that resembled a pitted golf ball.

So I have not taken that many pictures either during this time! This is why I have a new testimony of blogging! It makes you stay on top of life events! How many pictures did I take during my fabulous cruise? FIVE! What, I'm a looser! I stole some from Mammy, thanks girlie for being on the ball with the ol CAME-RAH RAH RAH!!!

The case of the missing posts....

Want to hear something funny...My broken camera... Shapoopie was playing with it the other day, opened the door to the battery....I noticed it was not pushed in! So it was never broken, so now I have 2 camera's...cool beans. I will always keep one in my purs

Anyway, My beautiful, wonderful, thoughtful sista Amy thankfully was in town during this time and she captured these really great moments that I am eternally grateful for so.... clear

Amy and Lilli/ My parents ....a trip to the

During this time we had two trips to the ER, Lilli had pink eye and Ryan fell of the play scape and busted his eye open!! Humpty Dumpty is all put back together and is doing great now

We had a great Halloween. The boys were Star Wars, Seth was a punk rocker and I was myself...j/k as Seth would say, "a naughty kitty"

We also celebrated Seth's Birthday...he is going Rocker!

Lego Lover!!

Ryan loves LEGOS LEGOS LEGOS!!! Today he got a package in the mail from his Auntie Amy for his birfthday....when is his birfthday? J/K

So here is the reaction...I love kid reactions....they ARE THE BEST!!!

He had it together before you can say Super-cali-frag-is-listic-expeiali-doseous

Tis the Season...to be Thankful!!!

We had a lovely Turkey dinner at my house! Good friends were near and we ate till the cows came home! In audience was our good friends the Smedleys and the Bakles and co. We had this really good PRE-COOKED SMOKED TURKEY! OK no offense mom, but this is all I will make anymore. It was the most tender, tastiest turkey I ever ate!Then we had all the fixins of course and then a COSTCO pumpkin pie. I had sampled it many times and deiced it was better than I could have made so that was that. Then we hung out and played Apples to Apples and laughed ourselves silly. I Won...of course!

Then yesterday I shopped all by my SELF!! And this is near and dear to my heart! It makes me wonder how many times I shopped without toddlers and how I NEVER appreciated this time!

This is the first time since 2005 that we have put a tree up and decorated! So I choose to do a tree theme that matched my new LR furniture. Red and gold don't really match anymore. ;) SO some new blue, green, and brown balls did the trick! Then I found some evergreen that Seth had trimmed of our bushes and that looks smashing on the mantle!

I loved decorating the outside this year. Of course I pulled out all the wreaths and candle sticks and jimmy rigged them to the window somehow....then I bought a bunch of lawn ornaments from Garden Ridge....so fun! Seth doesn't DO lights so I feel like I have to make up for it with other stuff. Seth said with a look on his face like he was eating lima beans, "The outside looks good.....it looks like Santa's winterland." Hmmm are you serious? Yes, he said. Well, that was nice of you to say.

It has been nice to have these three days to ugh, work work work! (cook, clean, cook, clean, decorate, work, clean, cook....)The house is a MESS with storage bins and everything everywhere! Good thing I have tomorrow...the day of rest....ok I can DREAM!!!

Smart little Indian...Proud Indian mamma

So Ryan came home from school on monday and I was on my computer while he was eating a snack and drawing/coloring.

He come over to me and get my attention, "Look Lisa, these are Indian symbols!" and shows me about 20 symbols he had remembered from HEART from school earlier...I was so impressed and I told him that he should organize them into a story...well he did, and I loved it, so I told him to put it in his backpack and show his teacher....

I didn't hear anything till my phone rings, thurs. evening. It was his teacher, Mrs. O'Keefe...and she told me how impressed she was with his story she sent him to tell the principle, and she was so impressed that he had done this all from memory that she invited him to read it aloud in front of the whole school at the Thanksgiving assemble!!! YAH, GO RYAN!!!

Here's how it went....my little Indian!

This is his favorite new hobby right now.....I know I know, he has some pretty sweet moves...it runs in the family! LOL

Apparently....I had children for the Love Of

German Engineering of course!!!

At one time in my life, like many others around me, I SWORE I would never buy a mini-van! I would rather poke my eyes out than buy one. WHO needs one?

For some reason this has become like a rite of passage, coming to terms with this is the best car for my family and owning up to the fact that I am not a young chic anymore and never will be again!

Here is my story:

Key remote in hand, the salesmen pushed one button and the doors opened. He pushed another and the trunk opened. Now I was drooling. There is a compartment to put backpacks, juiceboxs, legos, purses, diapers, 20 thousand cup holders, c.d.s, iPods, and hooks for my grocery bags. Without lifting a finger, both of my boys got really excited and jumped in and said, "wow there is so much room!" As if I were buying a minivan for them, well ok I kinda am...not for German Engineering! Well the Practical part of me kicked in and could no longer disregard the fact that this is the one car on the market with one objective....to make my life and my kids life easier. So I had to swallow my pride and make the JUMP!

What! When did these things become so desirable to me? Nonetheless I just couldn't fight it anymore....I WANTED A MINIVAN!!!

SO now I drive to the grocery store, get out, stranger next to me, "Haha, you had kids for the love of German engineering...." Yup hehe you got me. I drive Ethan to school, another dad dropping of his son..."Do you like it? haha, did you have your kids for the Love of German Engineering?" I'm at a jewelry party and all my new Texas girlfriends are busting me out for "crossing over to the dark side....hhaha nah you just bought it for the love of German Engineering."

What ever you want to call it...I do really LIKE my new mini-van. Though I'm not sure where the mini part come in. I'm still feeling like I'm driving a bus! It's my fun, groovy BUS!

Clarification

It seems I need to clarify a few things to make my purpose of posting on Autism clear....

My heart goes out to all those families, whose lives are touched with someone whom has a disability. I have always had a special place in my heart for people with these special needs.

Anyway....... the "guy" in my ward that is a Autism specialist. He was board certified as a E.R. doc in 1999, but once his son was diagnosed with Autism in 2001, he found the Pediatricians had very limited knowledge of the disease. He was frustrated by this and decided to research, study, and evaluate cases of his own. He started working at a Autism clinic in Utah in 2002. In 2006 he moved to another Autism clinic in Austin,TX.

During this time he has studied and treated a thousand patients, written a book about all the different research and latest treatments for Autism, and become known by the Autism and medical community alike as a "specialist". Actually according to some, "one of the leading Autism specialist in the country". He is the biological father of one and adoptive father of two Autistic children.

If you watch one of his interviews on t.v., when asked if he believes if there is a connection between vaccinations and the rise in Autism, he will reply, " No one knows." or "We don't know for sure." This is true.

In a private conversation , he said he did believe there was a connection, that he has seen too many cases that lead him to believe that SOME forms of Autism may be "Triggered" from vaccinations. My favorite quote, "How many 40 yr. olds do you see walking around with Autism."

For me, coming from a man with this much knowledge, background, and experience. This is enough of a reason for me to walk on the side of caution and decide for myself personally if I am blessed with a third child, I will ask for his advice on which vaccinations he thinks are critical and on what schedule he thinks I should get them taken. This is for myself personally. But the reason I posted my comment about Autism in "Gut Feelings" was because I was trying to pass on some "insider information" from a extremely reliable source on the subject that I feel is critical knowledge for all mothers and in this circumstance my friends and family so they can take my information and research it for themselves and make the best possible decision for their family.

There are very smart people who have Autistic children, who look at all the research, study all the books and come to the conclusion that there is NO connection between vaccinations and Autism. (ex.mom of five)

There are very smart people who have Autistic children, who look at that same research, study the same books, and come to the conclusion that there IS A CONNECTION between vaccinations and Autism. (ex.Jenni McCarthy, The doctor I know)

Is one better than the other? Is one smarter than the other? Or are we all human being with our own path and own experiances.

Everyday mothers choose to do things for their children to be "on the safe side." Well, having a M.D. Autism specialist that I know personally and has all the experience and expertise to back it up that says there "could be a connection" is enough for me to be "on the safe side" and choose to vaccinate my children on a different schedule than the medical community dictates.

I am not here to debate whether or not Autism is caused or triggered by vaccinations. I care very much for my friends and family and I was merely trying to pass on some information I found very enlightening and knowledge is power. Everyone has a choice of how they interpret it. For all those women still in thier child bearing years I hope you will take this information and continue to educate yourselves and make a decision you feel is best for you and your children. God Bless!