We have a cricut that we bought about 8/9 yrs ago. We have used it for vinyl more than any of its other functions. In fact, my dh is in the process of having smiles and eyes cut to put onto post-light globes to turn them into giant smiley faces for dd's birthday party at church this week. So, when a project comes along, it's great to have. However, I must say that in all these years we might have used it a dozen or so times overall. I really thought that we would use it more often than we have. The cricut brand seems to be well supported. Our walmart carries various supplies for it. We have not bought the vinyl that they specifically sell for the machine. Dh gets vinyl elsewhere for cheaper and it doesn't make any difference in the quality of the cut.

I'm letting my brother handle it since he totally agreed with me and doesn't want to deal under those circumstances either. Apparently she called him right after she left here this morning, but I didn't ask how upset she was. He only commented that she'll be fine.

I'm on a laptop, not a phone, and am not having that problem, but the forum does log me out randomly.

Once I make it, can it sit in a crock pot for at least 2 hours?

My brother just left with nephew and I told him that he did not tell me about the shower even though sil thinks he did. He said it had to be pregnancy brain because he says he never told her that, and he knows that he didn't tell me about it. He was totally chill about the whole thing. I got the idea that she wasn't, but like you said pregnant woman and emotions. My brother said if I was stupid enough to have his toddler around a chocolate fountain that he wouldn't even try to keep him out of it, he'd just sit back and laugh. Gee thanks brother! He said he understood completely. So I do feel better. I sent the new baby's present with him today, hoping it might cheer up sil.

Thank you. He is sitting with me on the couch now looking at everyone's avatar. Sometimes he will touch the ones that he likes (like your cat pic) before I can stop him and unfortunately my screen is touch sensitive, so he ends up moving my screen/sending me places. He thinks it hysterical...gotta love this age. But, yes, he gets a ton of aunt and cousin time. And by end of summer his little brother will be here too!

Thank you all so much!!!! I really mean it. My dh jokes that he wants me to get meaner. Um, no thanks. I want to be reasonable not a jerk.

It costs money to order whatever you're eating and the place is not the cheapest. Just me would be cheaper of course. This is not the usual ladies-only type shower. It's the type where husband and wife or whole families are supposed to attend. ETA: its at a restaraunt

She didn't say anything mean or upset. Her body language was quite vocal, but I 'm sure she needed time to process. She was dropping off nephew for the day and it was only 7am. So, she may be totally fine or it will come out later. I just had a hard time saying no, and needed to know that I was being reasonable. I am bad at boundaries and can be a pushover sometimes. It's hard to know if I'm doing it right. In the past, I would have made things harder on myself, sucked it up, and bent over backwards to make it work so nephew could come. I'm more tired these days!

It would be nice if some could chime in here and legitimately tell me that I'm not a monster. Of course if you do think I'm wrong, you can post too...but I'm hoping you'll be outnumbered! ? I have another post about my dd's 16th birthday party and her rocks (in case I seem familiar) so, still referencing the same party. We don't do friend/social parties every year, but this is a milestone year. Her birthday is midweek this week and the party is Friday night. Her main present, aside from the party, is that we are driving about 3.5 hrs (7 hrs total on Thursday) to pick up her friend from another part of the state and bring her back here to stay until Sunday. The party will consist of about 14 teens, a chocolate fountain with all sorts of dippables, queso (i have to learn how to make it!), pizza, and fresh fruit/veggies..oh and cake. We are decorating in a smiley face theme. They will play all sorts of games, listen to music, etc. The reason we are getting friend Thurs, is because that day is supposed to be my flexible nephew-sitting day. My sil usually has that day off, but I have been watching my nephew 5 days a week anyways because she's pregnant and just for whatever reason. I told her that I made other arrangements for nephew on thurs because we have to leave at noon to get friend. This led to questions about other plans. First...I had to tell Sil that I can't attend the new baby's shower (this Sat). She thought my brother had told me of the shower. He didn't. I did find out about it recently, though, because I said something to my mom wondering if shes having one. Again, I see brother and sil 5 days a week! And they know that dd is having a milestone birthday this week. So, I figured that they weren't too worried about whether dh, dd, and I attended because they chose this date and never said a word to us. SHe knew I already had a present for the baby. I got him some things months ago. Plus, it would cost about 50 bucks for us to attend between food, tax, and tip and June/july are tight months for us...We have dd's b-day, dh's b-day, nephew's b-day, and our anniversary! Anyway, the reason I told her No is because part of dd's b-day present is hosting her friend, and we had planned to take them to the waterpark on Sat. As part of our pass program, we get a free ticket which dd's friend will use. So this is free for us to do. We are returning the friend on Sunday afternoon, therefore Sat is the only option for the waterpark. This was planned pre-knowledge of the baby shower. 3 yrs ago I went to nephews shower and made the 75 cupcakes for the event,but I assured sil that new baby boy will be just as loved; especially since I will also be watching him after he's born! Second... There will be a family dinner/party where we will recognize both dh and dd's b-day at my mom's house with cake next week. But Sil asked about her and my brother coming by the teen party on friday, and I said that with balloons, decorations, and a chocolate fountain etc that I thought it would be a set-up for disaster with my almost 3 yr old nephew. Nephew is a good toddler, but we won't be set-up for toddler type play. Dd is making balloon sculptures that will look fun to play with but are for decoration, kwim? Yes, we could hand him a regular balloon but there is that very tempting choc. fountain that the "big" kids will be using. I would be happy to give him choc covered fruit but I'm not going to let him do the dipping for safety (pointy skewers) and sanitary reasons. Nephew rarely throws tantrums with me or my mom, but within 2 min of my brother walking through the door he manages to find something to have a tantrum over. He is that typical kid who acts very different for mom and dad. I just don't think that dd's party is the atmosphere for him. Dd is home with me (and therefore him) 10+ hrs a day X 5 days a week (at minimum 4 days). It's not against him. He's a good kid. I just don't want to be in aunt/sitter mode (because sil is very pregnant and this just tends to fall on me even in "off" hours), I don't want to hear my darling brother try to talk a screaming 3 yr old out of having a tantrum, and I don't want to police the fountain, decorations and monitor him trying to follow the invitees. So there it all is...in the span of 10 min I had to tell Sil that I can't attend the shower AND that they should forgo the Friday night party and wait for the family only event. Sigh. I feel like a monster. Can anyone tell me they would /have made similar choices. Dd doesn't get a lot of these parties, and I'm trying to give her a good night given that there are other far more complicated issues running in the background that I couldn't possibly try to go into here.

Thank you! I will be sure to tell me my dh that, once again, I was right. ? ...to the sneaky shape shifting ivy: "I'm on to your games!" ? Hope you feel better soon.

i hate itchy plants! The last time we had to walk through a wooded area,i told dh to stay away from a plant i saw with 3 leaves. I told him it was poison ivy. Then a few minutes later i told him to stay away from a different plant that i also said was poison ivy. He then calls out my plant id-ing abilities because they were totally different plants. I told him I don't care, assume they are ALL poison ivy! That is my method and it has served me well. Neither of us got a rash, but I did get 2 different ticks!! It seems like nature is always out to get us.

EEK! We are not in NoVa, but we are in the tidewater/coastal area. So, we will be on the look out in coming seasons for spreading. It doesn't help that I'm plant blind. I can't tell one plant from another hardly.

I will be sure to let her know that someone else appreciates her sense of creativity!

The sizes are vastly different, but layout can make a world of difference. How do they flow? Intelligently designed storage is important to me. Like bambam suggested I would score each house (like on a scale of 1-5 points) in each category of location, design, indoor size, outdoor size, privacy, amt of improvement needed, ease of maintenance, and whatever else

Amazon has a 12 pack of mini smiley face playing cards for $12.97! They come in a little clear case, travel size.

Move in ready sounds great, but I have heard many complaints about slab foundations depending on where you live - temperature issues, harder on the feet and body when you walk around or if you fall, and depending on the set-up it could be more costly for certain types of repairs. This is just what I have heard as I have never lived on a slab personally. What about their locations? Are they all equal or is there some benefit of one over the others? This should probably rank near the top of priorities since you can change just about all else. Mostly woods sounds like a lovely setting. ETA: I was thinking about stuff like transit to work times, crime rates etc.

Thank you! This gives me a bit more to work with.

I jumped on this thread as soon as I saw it hoping for a good update! Don't keep us waiting...?

Dd is turning 16, and we are having a party. We don't do friend type parties every year, but we are for this one. There are 14 teens invited, and it looks like at least 13 (maybe all?) are coming. The party is structured around a smiley face theme. My dilemma: dd wanted those party favor type cellophane bags (with smileys) to give to each friend as a parting gift. I didn't think too much at the time I got them about what we would put in them. Last night dd had 14 rocks on the table that she had washed and dried and was matching googly eyes to each rock. Each also had a name tag under it. This is what she wanted the bags for. ? Each friend is getting a customized rock that "matches" them (i tried to ask how one is matched to a rock but, honestly, still didn't understand ). So, I am trying to figure out what to add to these bags to go along with a rock! Do I just do a little candy? I feel like pencils and bouncy balls etc are too young. Dd only thought about the rock. Any suggestions? ...and yes, my dd is weird ?.

What about making a baking soda paste and smearing it on there to sit for a bit? I have done this for plastic items. I don't know about smoke smells,but cleaners with a high tea tree oil concentration remove smells well.

We get t-shirts sometimes. I most like picture frames though. I can see 4 different OBX frames from where I sit right now. Each one from a different trip with a picture from that trip in it. It is tradition now. They are all slightly different in theme: turtles, lighthouse, shells,and drift wood. I like to support places like aquariums, so I got a t-shirt from the Boston Aquarium when we went last yr. Dd got a stuffed animal. Stuffed animals are definitely her thing. One of Dh's favorite (for comfort) shirts is his NC aquarium shirt. We also have magnets. For us, it is all about the memories.

Here is a real world example that necessitated the use of the term for us: The people of my church have known dd since birth. As a 4-5 yr old,dd prided herself on using the most advanced vocabulary she could. She loved "big" words. In elementary yrs she showed incredible creativity, could problem solve well, and engage math, conceptually, above her grade level etc. At 8 she correctly diagnosed a man in our church with malaria.Weird but true story. We all know that these things don't necessarily mean a kid is gifted or whatever, but she developed the reputation of being bright/smart/precocious nonetheless. ...What also shoots dd in the foot is that she can draw really well including words/lettering and logos. So after seeing this done, no one is quick to believe that she can draw words but not write them. What most don't see is that she cannot spell, write legibly, or recall rote facts (math tables) among other things. So, when the occasion arises that someone asks her to write something down for them this is generally how the conversation goes: person: I asked your dd to write ______. She did a bad/messy job or she didn't even try, and misspelled half the words. Even my 2nd grader can spell____! I thought homeschoolers were good spellers? Didn't you teach handwriting? She wrote some of the letters backward, why is she pretending to be dyslexic...blah blah...attention seeking...blah blah...she got attitudinal or shut down when I confronted her. She gave me some excuse about having a learning disability. We all know how smart she is... I saw her draw the Chick-fil-a logo like it had been xeroxed! me: Yes, dd is quite bright and artistic, BUT she does have a learning disability. Cue the person's "that's BS" face and add in a comment about parents making excuses for kids or laziness or whatever. Sometimes there is the added benefit of an anecdote from their friend or family. me: I explain what dysgraphia is (because no one seems to have ever heard of it.) Then I explain that dd has a slightly higher IQ but also has a lot lower processing speed and working memory than most. Both can exist at the same time.There is even a term for it. Somehow that magical term makes it sink in.I don't know why, but it does. I'm glad it exists. I bet many here could explain very similar conversations.

Next time I suggest you thank people a little more promptly lest you offend the cats of the forum. ?

I have used the term before. Dd has a high IQ but has dysgraphia and mild ADD. Her lower processing speed has caused people who don't know her well to misjudge her abilities (in both directions). Some have gotten frustrated with her because they can tell she is "gifted," but then her written output or memory recall was lacking and caused them to think that she was not trying, being lazy, and disrespectful. Others have been tempted to baby her academically because they only saw the disability. It is frustrating.