Ditto that about ceiling fans in every room except the bathrooms and closets. Our house is 4200 sf, and when we moved in, we had only 2 ceiling fans: one in the master (in which my parents sleep, because my dad can't do the stairs) and one in the living room (which has a massively high ceiling, so you almost can't even feel the circulation from the fan way up there.) Hubby installed 8 ceiling fans as soon as we moved in, and he ended up replacing my parents' fan because it squeaked and wobbled so badly. But seriously...a house in Texas without a ceiling fan in every bedroom? What were the builders thinking? (I know, I know.... money) Well, I think I'm leaning toward going ahead and doing it. I'll definitely get one with plenty of lighting on it. The current "chandelier", if it can even be called that, is hideous. Hubby will be glad to know that the hive didn't give his idea an overwhelming thumbs down.

For those of you that have them, how high are your ceilings?

We have a large eat-in area next to our kitchen, and we want to replace our chandelier. Hubby insists we should get a ceiling fan/light fixture combination. (We live in Texas, so the kitchen gets pretty hot in the summers.) Would you do this? I'm imagining napkins blowing, homework papers swirling around the room, food growing cool too quickly. Maybe we don't have to use it when actually sitting at the table to eat. Maybe it will just help with air circulation during the rest of the day. Any thoughts or strong leanings?

These are all great suggestions! I also found some online at Lowe's and Home Depot. Might have to go shopping tonight at both and check out Hobby Lobby,too.

I love this look for a wall in my kitchen, near the table: http://www.bhg.com/decorating/home-accessories/wall-art/art-for-walls/#page=14 and I found some similar mirrors on sale at Pottery Barn online: http://www.potterybarn.com/products/eleanor-frameless-mirrors/?pkey=cbath-mirrors ....but this is still to pricey for me. Any suggestions for where to buy a nice assortment of sizes/shapes without breaking the bank? I'm not a decorator at all, so I don't notice such things when I'm shopping out and about. Thanks! Lisa

I believe Wheelocks has the most and best supporting materials. There's also an online answer key for homeschoolers. Amazon has tons of extras. I highly recommend Dale Grote's companion to Wheelock's. Flashcards, etc...are also available. My son downloaded all Wheelock's flashcards from ipodius (for a small fee.) Search the web. You'll find everything you need for Wheelocks. It's the best. http://sites.google.com/site/spezadams/wheelocks1

Wow, this is sounding even better than I thought! I had no idea you could change sizes and colors!

Oh, this is so great to know! Thanks, guys!

For example, if I buy a digital sticker pack or some other supply like this: http://www.jessicasprague.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.tabs.tpl&product_id=1261&category_id=74&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=337 Would I only be able to use each of the strands of twine once? Is it still considered to be "consumable" even though it's digital, or can it be used over and over again without limits?

So I just downloaded Picasa, and I'm finally seeing pictures I haven't seen in years that were buried on my computer. I'm loving this already!

I had my last one at age 34 (knock on wood...I intend for him to be my last.) My first 4 boys were about 2 years apart, then we had a big gap between #4 and #5. Almost 6 years, to be exact. He was definitely a sweet surprise. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way.....BUT....the reason I had planned to *stop* having kids after #4 was that I wanted my "baby" years and my "school" years to be as separate as possible...as in "never the twain shall meet." I wanted to be able to fully focus on my older school-age kids without the distractions of a baby, and especially a toddler. God had other plans, which again...I don't second guess at all. I am thrilled with our precious ds #5. Period. But my fears that the arrival of a baby would severely crimp my style in the homeschool arena were well founded. He's wonderful and a complete blessing....AND the biggest source of distraction in every way. ETA: I also had 4 miscarriages sprinkled in between the first four live births. Another reason that I'm ready to be done with childbearing is that I'm in no way one of those "glowing" pregnant ladies. I have friends who never feel so great as when they're pregnant. Um...that's not me. The possibility of never being pregnant again thrills me.

Kiddos ate Hoppin' John with Brown Rice at home. Hubby and I went out to eat at Chili's with a gift card. We both had Cobb Salad since we're low-carbing right now

Just curious, before I start entering all this info. Lisa

Unfortunately, no. I have no idea what a mask or layer is at all. Really absolutely no working knowledge of anything to do with digital photos or editing. Period. I'll check out the Everyday Elements workship to see if that's going to be up my alley. Thanks!

Chai, Just looked around on youtube at some Picasa tutorials. Looks like it wouldn't be too terribly confusing. I might go this route after all. Thanks for the recommendation! Lisa

And then this will be easy to use with PE 10?

So, will it do me any good before I buy Photoshop Elements to organize and name pictures or groups of pictures, or do I do all this directly in Photoshop after I buy it?

anyone???

After a 10 year hiatus from scrapbooking (Creative Memories), I'm jumping back in. This time, with Project Life. I love the *idea* of digital scrapping because of the fact that I can produce duplicate albums for my kiddos as they grow up and get married. I know absolutely nothing about Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I have a point and shoot digital camera. I've saved all these images on my computer for the last several years, but haven't even figured out how best to label and easily access all the hundreds of photos I've saved. Project Life offers 2 digital options: Shutterfly and Jessica Sprague. Shutterfly seems like the easiest option for a newcomer, but the layouts and options for journaling are really not anything like the *signature* Project Life layouts. The Jessica Sprague option is what I'm interested in, but I'm afraid of the learning curve. I know nothing of Photoshop jargon, actions, layers, zipping and unzipping, files, etc... How many hours am I looking at to get something like this up and running? Will I be spending many frustrating hours only to end up with $ out of pocket for photoshop, online tutorials, and digital scrapping supplies only to quit? I'm trying to begin with the end in mind, meaning I really do know that I want the finished product to be digital and "page by page" printable instead of in a shutterfly prebound book. But I'm also trying to be realistic about my time availability and effort involved in learning and maintaining a digital scrapbook. Any input would be fabulous, especially if you started from scratch at some point, too, and found it to be wonderful/overwhelming/fill in the blank.

Our family (and my hubby, especially) are all big Andy Griffith fans. Years ago, we labeled every one in the family the character that we thought they were most like. Somehow I was voted Thelmalou, which is funny, because "sweet" is not how I'd describe myself *at all*, but "sweet" is what I think of when I think of Thelma Lou. Anyhow, it stuck.

Yes, I'd love to hear what you think. Didn't think I'd be able to come on here and get someone to try a product out for me :). Seems like it got very good reviews, and the price sounds extremely reasonable. I have strips of color negatives from our first 10 years of marriage. I'm wanting to go back in time and do family scrapbooks (using shutterfly, or something of the sort), and need digital images. I'm not much of a photographer, and these pictures were all taken with a traditional point and shoot camera. I don't envision making many (if any) enlargements. I'm not even planning to get rid of all negatives, necessarily. Just want to cheaply get these in a format that I can use for digital scrapbooking. Please keep me posted on how you like it. It's on my Amazon wishlist, and I'm having to restrain myself from adding it to my cart just yet. I can afford to wait, though, because I really won't have time for at least a couple more weeks to start scanning anything. I'll hold tight and see what you think!

I bet I'm the only one married to a former Professional Football Player. And if I'm not, I'm sure I'm the only one married to the very first player ever to go through the NFL draft twice. (It's happened more times, since then.) He was a 5th round draft pick by the Cowboys, but didn't sign with them because they wanted him to sign a waiver stating that if he injured his back, they wouldn't cover any medical expenses. He refused to sign and the Cowboys badmouthed him and said his career was toast. He continued to train for the next year anyway, and ended up going one round higher in the draft. He was a 4th round pick for the Eagles, and he ended up playing 5 years in Philly. That was extremely satisfying for him after the way he was smeared by the Cowboys. Needless to say, even though we live in Dallas, we don't root for "Da Boys.":tongue_smilie:

Bump....and also, I found something called a photo scanner that says it scans negatives, too, on Amazon. It's by Epson and costs less than $100. Anyone have experience with something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Epson-B11B193081-Epson-Perfection-V300-Photo-Color-Scanner-Black/dp/B001GBKTGM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=IPV6PH5V6K8WD&colid=1MIRNZYIF63V9

Another vote for No Stress Chess!