We are called to serve where our gifts lie. There are countless ways you can serve the church that isn't with child care. Building care, garden care, baking, volunteer coordination, fundraising, special events, etc.

We LOVE our tent trailer, and have been across Canada in it twice. It is a really economical way for larger familes to travel. We use our trailer for sleeping and relaxing/playing board games and changing. Because we camp in the Rockies and Ontario where there are bears, we never prepare food or eat in our trailer. We have our "kitchen" set up outdoors. We store food in the car at night. It's a trailer, but essentially a soft sided tent, so not much protection from larger animals. Over the years, we've slowly built up the equipment we like to use. For the first few times camping we just walked around and looked to see what equipment other tent-trailer users had and what we thought we'd like.

I've been training Taekwon-Do for 13 years. I got back into it when my third child was a baby and it's been a life-saver for my health and sanity. My newest adventure is training for a marathon. A few weeks ago my dh and I got back into playing tennis again. It is so wonderful doing an activity together. The dc are learning to play, too. I also sing, play piano and percussion in our church music ministry group. It is my favourite part of the week playing at the Sunday 8:00pm mass! :001_smile:

LOVE Ikea!! I REALLY love their Christmas decorations.

As other moms have mentioned, you're in a very demanding season of parenting right now. Even if your weren't homeschooling, life would be crazy. Things WILL get better, though, but not right away. Pregnancy is tough, but having a baby will keep you even busier. You can do it!! So: - Pace yourself and don't try to do it all perfectly (cleaning, schooling, laundry). - Get out of the house w/o kids at least once a week to do physical activity. It will give you more energy, even if you think it won't it will. Insist on this time - dh is fully capable to be at home with the dc. If he can't or won't, put a very good babysitter into your budget. You need to be fit and healthy to survive these challenging years. - Make time for short alone breaks for you. This might be family nap time in the afternoon, TV break for dc and computer time for you, or something similar. - Stay at home to homeschool. Avoid bringing one child to an activity, unless there is child care for the others and YOU can have a break, too. The organization and stress of getting all the dc out of the house for a specific time can be exhausting. :grouphug: and lastly, try to relax and have fun with the darling children you have. Soak up every day of it, because those baby and toddlers years pass by far to quickly.

You're right. For some strange reason I just hadn't noticed I was watching CBC Olympic coverage in the early 2000s. Perhaps I was distracted by lots of little kids? :001_smile: In the 90s I was either living in Norway or in Canada but without a TV. Very strange - I was so sure I'd been watching CTV the entire time.

I don't think so. I challenge this. I'll do some more research and get back.

Yes, way too big a risk to try this, plus I don't think it's physically possible on one bike. Two options: 1. Tag-along on one adult bike, trailer on second adult bike. 2. Trailer on one adult bike, 5 year old cycles his own bike, and you bike shorter distances when it's just one adult available for a ride. Before you know it, they will be older and stronger. Be patient through this season.

Pretty sure it's been CTV since 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary at least. Now, CBC may be showing some highlights of certain events, but the major coverage has always been CTV. CBC does Hockey Night in Canada, but not the Olympics. Checking good ol' Wiki, Radio Canada (CBC French language) does offer some coverage of the games. CTV has 80% of the 200+ hours of coverage of the 2012 games.

My thoughts, too. What a disappointment to you and the dc. If you can't get out of town, could you camp in the backyard? Picnic somewhere? Do SOMETHING fun and different?

You're confusing me altogether. CBC doesn't cover the Olympic games - CTV does and has done for years and years. They hire announcers from other stations for specific sports, such as ice hockey.

:iagree: I've been on vacation in the US for the past 5 days and having to suffer with NBC's coverage of the Olympics. I agree with everything said. It totally stinks! You poor, poor people. Now I'm back in Canada and can watch some really fun and interesting coverage of the games! Come on up north y'all!! :001_smile: Or see if you can somehow link into CTV Olympic coverage on-line. They know athletes' names, training programs from other countries, and they show lots of different sports.

Yes, when she rides. She doesn't ride side saddle.

We had a Odyssey for 10 years, and put 313,000km on it. We loved it! We just bought a 2011 Sienna (8-seater) and LOVE it! Both are wonderful. I'm not crazy about the new design of the Honda, but it's still a great vehicle. Sorry about the collision, but best of luck with choosing your new van!

If he'd only used a British accent (even a fake one) it would have been ever better! It's very good, though.

You just made me want Chinese for dinner!!! These all sound delicious! Have a wonderful meal. Our family's other favourites include: Won ton soup Sweet and sour soup Sweet and sour chicken balls (deep fried) Lemon chicken Cantonese chow mein (comes with soft noodles, not the crunchy ones)

This was an "official" explanation, or a parody? Sounds like something Monty Python would write. :lol:

If they are both part-time, would it work out to do both? If not, I'd stick with the one you already have, which you enjoy.

Miracle Whip goes bad, and I'm not convinced it's "good" for me. I prefer mayo, and it's definitely not good for me!

Then what do you do with a "food processor" at home?

I love the dual sized pencil sharpener that came with my pack of Ticonderoga pencils. The pencils are oversized, so they need the larger opening. The sharpener is excellent! I've used electric and battery powered sharpeners in the past, but they eat up the pencils too quickly. I like the hand-crank ones, but you can't take them along when you school on the road.

Love it!! It's so true. We kid around at family gatherings sometimes and call our chips "potato salad," and the cheesies "cheese platter." You have to be reminded that chips are made from potatoes and cheesies might have some form of cheese in them.

Not quite an Airdale, but we have two Soft-Coated Wheaton terriers, and I LOVE Airedales as well. I chose the wheatons for their looks, non-shedding coat, and bouncy personality, and this would also be why I would get an Airdale. Of course, I only had 35 pounds of BOUNCE, and I'm not sure I could handle 60 pounds of it!

:iagree: Though thinking about specific items, would homemade strawberry jam be considered "processed" because I added pectin and sugar? How about homemade pickles, with vinegar and salt? Or homemade beef jerky, smoked and salted? I'm not sure I would say that these items were processed.

I didn't know that there was one specific way a Christian would act. How would this even be possible with so many personality types and differences in people? I've lost a baby, I experienced great pain that I wish hadn't happened, but my hope still lies in God. I don't expect God to remove all the painful situations from my life, just to be there with me and be there to help me through.