The day has not gone as planned. :/ Plans changed for DD5 to go to my moms to watch the MLP movie so I could go along with DH and DD9 to the movie. Then the sink took way longer than anticipated and involved full water shut-off for the duration so none of the rest of us could get ready while DH worked on it. Then my mom got word her friend died last night. Amidst all that we forgot to have lunch. So now it's 3:30, we're having a late lunch/early dinner. No errands have been run, no movies for today. Will still try to get some of the room project done, but without running the errand I can't complete it. Yay, 2018 is off to a great start

I'm always up until 1 or 2 am so it's not a big deal for me. We let the kids stay up this year and had our neighbors over for a game night. We stopped gaming for about 15 seconds to count down from 10 with the kids, yell "Happy new Year!" (again for the sake of the kids), and then went back to our game. In years past we would barely stop our game, if at all, when it reached midnight. Some years we would notice only because we started hearing fireworks. We say yay and keep playing! haha! NYE is just a great excuse for a late game night for us!!!

We're only a few years in and I think I am already better than when I started. I think every bit of experience along the way helps so naturally you will find ways to better yourself and what you do. I am better about making time for school. Since we started when DD was preschool age, we fell into a habit of working school in around our other plans. Friends had small kids and we would prioritize play dates and fun outings over school. So school happened when it worked. We had a hard time breaking away from this pattern at first as DD approached 2nd grade and we were still working school into our schedule rather than scheduling around school. We finally hit a stride this year where school is the priority and we make the time for it. I'm better about following a schedule. I never wanted to schedule before, I wanted to just keep doing the next thing. But I realized that doesn't work for us. We too easily skip the same thing too often or let things fall through the cracks. I'm using homeschool planet now and we are keeping up in everything much more easily. LESS researching curriculum haha. I hit the searching and sampling hard in the spring and summer for the following year, but this year I've done better about stopping that once we started school and focusing on what we'd chosen. When something didn't work I went back to looking, but otherwise, I stay focused so I don't get "grass is greener" syndrome and feel unsettled for no reason.

The only thing special about today is that it's an extra weekend day for us. We're treating it like we would any other saturday or sunday. We slept in (like way later than usual!), and now we will be running an errand, then DH is taking DD9 to star wars (I've already seen it and 5yo is terrified of theaters) and 5yo will be helping me with a project in their rooms. All stuff that was on the agenda for the weekend but didn't get done the last two days. Oh and the constant drip of the faucet reminds me that first up is fixing the kitchen sink. Exciting new years haha.

No, we let the kids stay up until midnight, there's no way I was getting them up to do school. And DH has the day off so we wouldn't anyway. I plan on starting back tomorrow, but I am so not ready. I guess that will be one of my projects for today, though I already have a few on my plate.

For play dates, we usually are the host home. DD5 has anxiety and can't handle someone else's house, so if we're playing with friends, it's here. This could be anywhere from once a week to 4/5 weeks between. We want to host a game night more often, but as is it only happens once or twice a year. We're doing a game night for NYE and having two other couples (and their kids) over. Our biggest hurdle to having people over is usually that the house is a mess :o

I got a fitbit for Christmas. So for starters I'm trying to meet the 10,000 steps a day. I am not even close :/ I'm going to cut back on sugar. Maybe I need to try one of those plans that cut out sugar entirely to break the habit/addiction, but I just don't think I'd have the willpower and motivation to follow it. I think it might be more doable for me to just buckle down on all the extras to start with. I need to find a way to start working out. I have never regularly worked out though in the past year I did try it a few times. It's just not something I've ever made a part of my life.

This year we got: Castle Panic: DH and I are really liking this one. For those that play this one: Our first game was with 5 players. On the very first monster draw I drew the goblin king (?) and had to draw 3 more, and one of those was a draw 4. So we got slammed right out of the gate and lost by the third player on the second round. But we've done better in subsequent plays! Splendor: We haven't played this one, yet. Rat-a-tat-cat: The kids like this one a lot! DD5 caught on quickly and totally kicked my butt last time. The Magic Labyrinth: They have really liked this one, too. DD5 has a hard time remembering where the walls are, but she still does pretty well. Evolution: The beginning: DD9 and I have only played this one once. We struggled through it at first but caught on by the end. I think it overwhelmed her a bit so I might have to convince her to give it another try. I think it will be better the second time now that we know what it's about. Prime Climb: We haven't tried this yet. Smallworld: This was a surprise one from MIL. We haven't had a chance to play this one, yet, either. We don't really get game time during the week. Hopefully we'll be able to give them all a go this weekend.

She sounds a lot like my 9yo and with her it has all come around to be serious anxiety. We have learned a lot of things that make cleaning go better. It's by no means good yet, and we all have a long way to go, but we don't have a 2 hour meltdown with screaming, slamming, and kicking anymore. * Warning. We give her a head's up before we start cleaning time or giving a big instruction. As much notice as I'm able to give, really. "Hey, tomorrow we're going to take some time to clean the playroom and school room". or "after lunch we're going to spend 15 minutes cleaning up the main level" Today we made a new "after dinner" chart with expected jobs. In writing is great for her. She can easily see exactly what is expected of her and when. This one is not a full chore system spelled out, it is only the few things that need done every night after dinner (dishes, table, sweeping...) * Spell out every step. I give her one step at a time. Clean up all the stuffed animals. Put away all the books. Legos. Doll clothes. and so on. Today we made a list like this for her bedroom so she can start taking control over this step-by-step that I usually guide her through. If the living room has gotten out of control, I'll use a jump rope or something similar and section of a bit at a time. So she is only responsible for what is enclosed. It's much less overwhelming than the whole room at once. This also gives her small accomplishments along the way, and natural spots to give her a quick jump around the room sensory break. * Scaffolding. Suddenly having to unload the dishwasher can be overwhelming. But we start doing things together so the first time she did utensils, then the next time I asked her to do cups. Then the next time plates and bowls.... Slowly until she'd done every aspect of the job. So that the first time I asked her if she could unload the whole dishwasher she was eager to take it on as a challenge, knowing she'd done all the parts of it before. * Bigger jobs. Surprisingly, she has done better if I trust her with more. If I tell her to gather all the dirty dishes from the table, she whines and drags her feet. If I ask her "Would you like to gather dishes while mommy loads the dishwasher, or would you rather work in here while I do that job?" She will often jump at the kitchen job. She will proudly (poorly, but proudly!) load the dishwasher while I gather up the dishes. Also if I word it so that it's less of a command and more of a gentle request for assistance, along with choices. "Okay, the bathroom needs cleaned today. P, would you like to help me in there, or do you think you can do it by yourself?" I'll sometimes get "OH I can do it! Watch!" I give consequence for behavior (if she screams at her sister, hits, throws...), but not for the reluctance, crying, or melting down. That stems from anxiety and needs to be resolved, not punished. I'm so going to adopt your DD's song! It is so much better than the original!

That would be very disappointing. I agree with others that the food issue at least should be addressed. DH and I usually don't exchange gifts. Money is tight and we LOVE going to comic con, which is spendy. So we pretty much just say that Comic Con is our gift to each other for Christmas, Valentine's, birthdays, and our Anniversary. It usually occurs within a week or so of our anniversary so that part fits well. However we do each help the kids choose something for the other parent. That's been hit or miss over the years. We like to follow the kids lead as much as we can. I do heavy guiding but still give them control. DH often just lets them loose so it can vary. If they don't know what they want to get me then he gives them ideas, but if they don't ask, he doesn't guide. Amazon wish lists have been a big hit around here to help with no duplicates and getting precisely what people want. DH and I each keep one going throughout the year. I start one for each of the kids sometime around Halloween. Grandma and Nana can order straight from the list and it automatically removes it so the other doesn't see it as an option anymore. I have sometimes used DH's list to guide the kids. It would definitely come in handy if we were getting each other gifts.

My mom used to have stockings for everyone in the family (herself, step-dad, all kids, and all grandkids) and she filled, yes FILLED, all of them with candy. I thought it was nuts and way too much candy for my liking. As the family grew it thankfully became too expensive for her to buy that much candy and she stopped doing stockings. It would be odd to me if she had filled everyone's but her own. If hers was left empty I'd feel bad but it would be a little late at that point for me to do anything about it. I guess I'd plan ahead and bring something the next year? But to me that's kind of like asking for someone to give you something but without actually asking, only implying, and that's just awkward. But if I was placed in that position, I might say something to the sibling and just casually point out that parent's stockings were empty and it would be a nice joint effort if we fill them together, how about we each contribute 3 things to each?

Another vote for REAL Science Odyssey from Pandia Press. Very simple to implement. I go through the materials list before starting and either order the kit from Home Science Tools or spend a week gathering and building my own. They have a try before you buy option on their site that will allow you to access everything for the first several weeks.

We usually start around 9:30-10:00 and go until 12:00. Then we start again around 1:00-1:30 and go to about 3:30. A 4th grader and a K. K is usually just playing near us or tagging along with history and science. Her specific K stuff that we sit down and do is probably 20-30 min. So 30 min for K, ~4 hours for 4th.

We had a couple rough years when oldest was a baby. Before kids DH and I had left after just a short time at home and gone to one parent's house, then gone to the other later in the day. So we of course kept doing this once DD arrived, but that quickly became way too much. We wanted her to have time to play with her toys that we got her not immediately abandon them to go get more just to abandon those quickly too. After that we alternated, one parent's house on Christmas Eve, one in the afternoon on Christmas day. The next year we switched who was on which day. My side of the family grew quickly one summer, going from just my one girl as the only grandkid to 5 grandkids. It became much easier to get everyone coordinated for Christmas Eve. So now we do my mom's on Christmas Eve, from about 2-6. She makes a big Christmas dinner and we do presents. We get home with enough time to do our own Christmas Eve stuff. On Christmas day we take it easy and have a simple lunch then go to MIL's around 2. SIL still lives with MIL and DH is the only other child, so it's only our family coming. I could not handle going to MIL's any earlier than 2. The kids need that time Christmas morning to enjoy their new things and I need that time to relax after what has usually been a busy and stressful few days. By waiting until 2 we don't even have to make the kids get ready until after lunch.

I expect a day or two of lead-up that I can tell they (or I) are getting sick but we can still function same as always. Then anywhere from ~2-5 days of being miserable. I expect the cough and some lingering symptoms that don't interfere with going about our days to last for a couple more weeks. DH is inclined to take the kids to the doctor as soon as he knows they're sick. Every time I tell him that we'll be told "rest and fluids". Every time he agrees and we don't take them in. That day. We have the same discussion every day. I DO take them in if: It sounds like it's gone into their chest, croup that I'm having a hard time keeping under control (when they were younger, thankfully airways can handle croup now though youngest still gets it), or if we have some reason to want to be sure or speed up healing if possible (for example recently DD5 got sick and it went to croup 4 days before a trip to Disneyland.) I don't medicate a fever under 103, but I will medicate under that if the child is miserable and wants the help. Over 103 I do medicate for the fever. For DD9, I would take her in if her fever hit 103 because experience says that she does not get fevers that high unless something is really wrong. She has only gone that high 3 times in her life, twice involved a long ER stay and once 3 days in the hospital. For DD5 103 wouldn't worry me.

Mostly hits here. The only miss was for DD5. She loves Chewbacca and wants chewie everything. She loves the build a bear chewie she got from her aunt, her chewie pillow from nana, her chewie clothes from us, small misc chewie things.... but she did not like the chewie mask. It's the kind that when you open your mouth it opens his and makes his noise. She has some sensory issues and that's too much for her. We hoped with it being chewie she would like it, but she won't even try it on. DD9 was thrilled with her AG kitchen from grandma. I recorded her opening it and she literally just screamed for about 30 seconds. SIL got me and DH tickets to comic con. We were excited to hear that. The loyalty launch prices are only good until end of December and we were wondering how we would get them by that deadline after Christmas expenses.

Fitbit (will be my first of this kind of thing) The complete Catherine Tate Show on DVD. I know I'm getting it because DH didn't want to get the wrong thing (ya know, because navigating the uk amazon is so much different than the .com one) so he told me to order it for myself but address it to him. This was THREE MONTHS AGO. I've had to wait THREE MONTHS knowing that is in the house. I also told both parents I really want a tattoo, but I think both would find a visa card too boring for Christmas and there's no other easy way to gift that. So I'm not counting on that one!

The opposite. I was amazed while I was wrapping last night to realize that there will only be ONE book under the tree this year :ohmy: :confused1: I'm really not sure how this happened. Maybe we're still living off the great-overdoing that was last christmas's obsession with Usborne.....

Another point to consider that I realized last year.....deals. If you completely go by $ spent it can end up with one getting a lot more value, not even value according to a child but actual retail value. So if two kids each want a $50 item and you catch one of them on black friday for $35, how would you count that? If you go by actual money spent then you would spend $15 more on one kid just because their item happened to have a good deal. So would you instead track it's non-sale price? My parents do this for the grandkids. They have my 2 girls, and my 2 nephews. One nephew is older so they only track money not items for him. But across the other 3 they want it equal. This year my mom got my girls one big combined gift and said she had $50 more to spend on each of them. When I knew she'd spent about $40 each she asked for another idea around $30. I obliged and she said she was done with the girls now. Then yesterday she called me from the store needing another idea for each for ~$25. I know it's because whatever she ended up getting DN pushed the budget up for the girls, too. Not only exhausting, but doing it that way you could just keep spiraling round and round spending more and more! I tried hard to give her ideas that could be right at $25 so she wouldn't end up going $5 over and have to turn around and get DN something else. :/ Haha, I took another look at the list last night and pulled everything out to start wrapping. Two I had listed for DD5 were actually more like one gift, I'd put them down separate for budget tracking (Not to keep precisely equal but to not go over our overall budget!). Then I added in one for DD9 that was from a kickstarter so I'd forgotten all about it but it showed up yesterday! So in the end, they'll have the same number of gifts, completely by accident! But DD9's is still more $ wise. Especially if I add in whatever I spent on that kickstarter months ago. I shopped a lot of deals, I want to go back and see what the $ looks like if I add it up using regular price.

I'm trying more for equal worth to the child. DD9's big gift cost more than DD5's big gift, but they are of equal value to them. For each it is something big enough they can't get it easily with allowance, and something they really want and will appreciate. There was about a $40 difference in them. Then after finishing shopping, DD5 is still coming in at less money spent, but more items. This would be difficult to manage if I wanted either thing to be equal as it would in reality make it less equal (either getting DD9 more things to even out # even though I'd already spent more, or getting DD5 more to even out cost and then there would be an even greater difference in #). So I'm leaving it as is. I can see with older kids the $ amount being pretty large but it still being of equal worth to a kid. A 7yo may be just as excited about his amazing $100 lego set as his 15yo brother is with a $300 nintendo switch. And when 7yo is 15, he'll likely get that big electronic item while 15 yo also had smaller things at 7. It all comes out in the end.

I did get the feeling of superiority when I read it. Especially the part about with 12 kids one should have had allergies.....I read it as "but they didn't, gee, I wonder why...guess everyone else just isn't doing it right like us." But maybe I'm defensive about that because I have a child with SPD and a very limited list of foods. I see how this could actually just be "wow, we lucked out!", but in combination with some of the other things said I kind of doubt it. But my two main problems with this have to do with the title more than anything. "How I made sure all 12 of my kids could pay for college themselves" and then he goes on to 1- show all of the things that he very much DID provide them which go a long way to helping for college (forcing their way into AP classes against the school's standard, a car, a computer, business contacts.....) and 2-doesn't actually state how they paid for college themselves. I guess it could have changed a lot since their kids were little, but that is not my experience here and I've lived in Utah for 28 years. My kids have been in activities that run at all hours of the evening. My friend's daughter is in a sport and she is there from 5-8 at least 3 nights a week and she's only 8. I didn't get to do very many extra-curricular activities myself, but between what I did do and what I saw of my siblings, we were out at various times and days through the week then, too. I cannot see having 12 kids in a sport and club each and still maintaining 5:30 dinner, 6-8 study time, and 10 curfew for every one of them every weekday.

Umm, whenever the floor is clear enough to do so? When we're keeping up with pick-up on the main floor then probably once a week. That's not generally the case. Lately I just call it good if the living room isn't a mine field of legos. I really should be dusting and vacuuming a lot more regularly because DD9 is allergic to dust mites....but that's double edged because it's in the air a lot more *while* dusting or vacuuming, so she can't do it. Hoping the 5 year old is able to manage the vacuum soon haha.

In that case I kind of wish they had re-written bits of this one to give her a proper send off. There were enough critical moments with her that they could have had that be the end. Not that I *want* to see Leia die, but she deserves better than an off-screen death between movies.

We don't, but I would like to. We lived in an apartment for years and I didn't save anything like bows, plastic easter eggs....stuff like that. I didn't have the space to easily store them for once a year use. Now that we're in a house we should. I just haven't gotten holiday decor and stuff like that organized yet. Once I do, I can see saving any that survive the chaos of opening.

I thought I had read somewhere that they had received permission to cgi her for the next one, presumably just long enough to write her out, not a big role. I could be wrong on that, though, I don't recall where I heard it and can't get sucked into google right now! I felt the same when she was floating in space. It was an oddly beautiful moment, but also such a sudden, simple way for her to go. So I was happy when she came back, but confused as well. It will be interesting to see what they do with her. And I agree, I'm sure Luke will appear in the next one.