COMPLETELY BRILLIANT!!

So in the midst of enjoying immensely the political developments for VP, we had a little incident.

I got up at 7AM to check intrade - I woke up to Romney being at 70% - a good sign. I put in my contacts and checked again - he had plummeted to 5. I looked at Pawlenty - he was also at 5. I thought - who the heck stole the thunder? It was Palin.

I was not excited....at first.

At 9 my sister TAmi and I left to go on the 4 hour drive down to my parents house in Jacksonville, IL with the 5 kids between the two of us.

I was very intrigued with the situation and the more I thought about Sarah Palin the more I REALLY saw the brilliance of the move.

*Timing - right after Obamas big speech/democrat convention = minimal bump for "JOBAMA"
*Gender factor - either way you vote - your vote is still making history
*No place to go - any argument Obama could make against her, would be shooting himself in the foot.
*Son in the military
*Conservative - she is
*Drilling factor - she is FOR it - in her state "Alaska"
*Big family - had a 5th baby a few months ago - incidentally with downs
*Small town feel - parents were school teachers, husband a fisherman
*Babe factor - she was a beauty queen - strong women do not HAVE to be nasty looking
*Religous - she is
*Nickname strength - you can't beat "BARACUDA" as a nickname

So much was I enjoying the speech by VP Palin, with side commentary by Rush Limbaugh, I found that I was seeing towns I never knew existed. One was an Amish town, one was called Niaga - all these places that I never noticed...or was it that I had somehow not merged onto the other freeway?

Well, it was the latter - I had driven 59 miles too far on the wrong freeway...WHOOPS.
I tried to get my GPS to cooperate with me to find a new route. Our 3 1/2 - 4 hour ride turned into a 6 1/2 hour drive with TWO nursing babies - and 3 hungry and thirsty kids.

So as long as they make Romney chief of staff ( a rumor I have heard floating around) or a cabinet member (finance, energy - whatever) then I will be a truly happy political follower.

CHECK IT OUT!!!!

The market predicts as of right now, a 75% chance of it happening:

www.intrade.com


Lots of action going on. Tomorrow we will find out vp - Romney's stock is WAY WAY WAY up. Crossing my fingers!

borderline IBS at age TWO???

Well, Tyler’s lab results came back. He was borderline IBD /IBS – irritable bowel disorder/Irritable bowel syndrome….at the age of 2!!!!

How did this happen - well apparently just eating like most kids – lots of cereal, bread, hot dogs, fruit, treats, and some occasional good whole food that I make (we don’t have any sugar in our house – but the kid find lots of ways of getting stuff) was not cutting it for him. Out of the four strains of good bacteria you are supposed to have in your body, TWO of them did not even EXIST in his body. When a good strain is absent from the body, a bad strain takes its place…and the downward spiral perpetuates itself.

So he is on customized probiotics. He does not complain now when we tell him he cannot have something. He understands “that will hurt your tummy” and accepts it.

So far, he has gotten rid of his egg, vitamin C mix (ascorbic acid, citric acid, etc.), yeast, and (hopefully) corn allergies with NAET (www.naet.com). He has more to go.

But here is the absolutely AWESOME part – he has been off ALL of his asthma and allergy meds for 4 weeks WITHOUT ANY SYMPTOMS!! This coming from the kid who would have symptoms every THREE days with the entire GAMUT of all his meds (adult dosage, many of them).

I can’t even express the RELIEF I feel everyday seeing him without any symptoms that were disturbingly common – shortness of breath, wheezing, fever, runny nose, fatigue. And to have those completely disappear is totally amazing…not to mention I have been told he is a TOTALLY different little boy in nursery – much longer attention span, much happier, participates more. This is great news – I feel like he is becoming whole again.

I feel like I have my little Tyler back.

Veep-stakes - looking interesting...

So I really didn't think I was going to post about the whole political-sphere since McCain became the presumptive Repub nominee.

Well, I was wrong.

Since Obama picked Biden for VP - who is strong the the national security/foreign policy area (where Obama is extremely weak), the feeling is that McCain likewise should pick someone in his abysmally weak area - the ECONOMY.

I did not realize how high Romney's stock is rising. One of the best predictor's of who wins elections, states, etc. has been http://www.intrade.com/.

Intrade is basically the stock market for the politcosphere. They are right about 99% of the time. Right now Romney is trading at $65 a share to be the likely VP, whereas the next likely candidate is Tim Pawlenty at about $25 a share. The trend is similar - Romney's stock keeps on rising.

So while I thought I was going to be forced to vote for someone I did NOT believe in, and in whose politics I cared little for to avoid someone in whose politics I despise, I am blissfully mistaken...or so it seems.

While a McCain/Romney ticket has some weaknesses of its own, it will definitely patch up the bitterness toward McCain from many of the conservatives - ME for one.

Fingers are crossed. For some real action check back on intrade throughout the week and see what happens. These people who trade there get the really good inside info.

Is it worth it????

So - I ALWAYS seem to spend more on picture than I intend to. THIS TIME - I think I really went overboard. WE did family pictures and I spent *gulp* $250 WITH the coupons and the specials!!! I am trying to convince myself that this is money well spent.


HERE THEY ARE:



HERE THEY ARE:







:

HOW COULD I LIVE WITHOUT IKEA?!?!?

I COULDN'T!!!


You can't totally appreciate how UTTERLY and PUTRIDLY UGLY this space was initially - the entrance to our laundry room which leads into our family room.....Or maybe you can and I actually did it justice by these photos.

Try to also imagine a dark ugly dinged up door leading to this space...where the recycle bin falls on y ou everytime you open the door...or something falls on you...like a broom. Yeah - it was straight from your HGTV nightmare!





So we turned our project into a massive work day that lasted seemingly forever. WE got started on one thing and thought, " Well , while we're at it, we might as well do ______" Fill in the blank with any possible house project and you would be right.

My youngest sister Sarah is the one cleaning out the fridge - you rock!

Then the last 3 pictures are where you gasp delightedly at the "AFTER."

(The first picture I must explain - there is now NO DOOR from the kitchen to the laundry room, and it is looking INTO the laundry room which was formerly impossible and impassable as well.)

I SERIOUSLY LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Utah, BYU, Wyveiw, Mark and Allisons Wedding, Independance, Adam Ondi Ahman: Pics from the past month!!!

These pics include: right before trip to Utah (here in Chicago)
Trip to Utah: Yellowstone, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Mark Allison's Wedding, BYU visiting friends and family, Adam Ohndi Ahman, Independence MO