Would an expedition work for a family of bigger people, too? We will drive our van until it dies, but it is getting a little tight now. Dh is 6'3". Dd15 is 5'10". Ds14 is starting to grow and is about 5'7" now; I think he'll be 6' or more a year from now. Both Ds12 and Dd9 will probably grow significantly in the next 2-3 years. The could both easily be close to 6' a year or two into our next vehicle (which I hope we don't have to buy for at least a year), if Dd9 starts her main growth spurt when Dd15 does. Then we will have Dd4 to fit in somewhere. So I'll need something that can basically seat 6 adults and a child comfortably and have enough cargo space for when we travel to TKD tournaments with luggage and 6 gear bags.

Depending on where you are, I think a heavy duty spray that works on animals would be a good idea. My brother and his wife are in a pretty isolated area. She carries spray to go to the mailbox. I don't know if she always did, but at least since a mountain lion got their pigs.

There is a nice audio book for Madeline Takes Command.

How kind of you to take the time to answer my question. I hope your Mom is doing well.

I ate peas two days ago. I completely forgot they were verboten as it has been a long time since I read the book. Oops. I'm not concerned. I think I'll be on a restrictive diet for a good while, so it doesn't matter what day I'm on.

As my dad tells it, during drills the kids would say, "Put you head between your knees and kiss your * good-bye."

I'm doing (kind of) Whole 30. I'm mostly trying to reset my eating patterns and not doing it as an elimination diet. So this afternoon when I got home at 1:00 and couldn't eat the meal that I had prepped for the family (ham and potatoes in a cheese sauce), I ate a salad. A head of romaine lettuce, a cucumber, a pepper, and a third of an avocado. I didn't have a protein source and didn't want to wait until I hard-boiled some eggs, so I got out some precooked grilled chicken that I purchased for just such an occasion. I noticed that it had one gram per serving of some kind of sugar. I had to decide at that moment whether I was going to worry about that kind of thing. I decided to eat it. I am better off with one gram of added sugar than eating ham and cheesy potatoes, so I'm going to compromise if it means eating better overall. I will try to meal plan better, though. This morning for breakfast I had ground turkey with peppers, onion, and spinach. Supper will be something simple like eggs, since I can't eat what I want to make for my family for supper and I don't want to cook two meals that take prep.

My teens rarely speak on the phone with their grandparents. We see my parents (6 hours away) about 10 times per year for at least 3 days at a time. We see my in-laws a couple of times per year. Phone conversations tend to resemble real life interactions, nice with my parents and awkward with my in-laws. So I think there needs to be some kind of happy relationship before the phone calls will be easy and fun.

@tuesdayschild We just played Escape From Colditz. One of my kids tried to move another player's pawn using a Move Fast card. I assumed the card could only be used for a player's own pawns. I couldn't find a definitive answer anywhere, and I was hoping you could tell us.

We made it down to my family's Christmas. I told my sister this morning about the rest of my Christmas. By the time I got down here, she had a large gift bag full of stuff for me. It did not occur to me when I was talking to her that she would do that, but once she did I realized that it should have occurred to me. If that makes sense. It is very like her. And my parents gave us money, which will mean a gift for me eventually. And Dh and the kids are trying. Just being with my FOO has been really nice. I think I am mostly over my funk.

I got an old chicken box and a fake egg to put under a chicken to encourage brooding from my in-law gift exchange. MIL knows I like chickens and these were family pieces from each side of my husband's family. But they aren't display pieces and I can't ha e chickens where we live. Dh and the kids got me nothing. This is typical, and I usually don't mind. This year I did. My family decided to spend a day together doing something instead of exchanging gifts. It was my idea actually, so it is definitely okay. But overall, I am feeling unappreciated this year.

This year it will be fruit salad, bacon, french toast (for everybody else), and funny cake (for me). If I am hungry, will make myself scrambled eggs. I think everyone else will be happy with the other stuff.

We finished Friday and spent yesterday not doing much of anything. We played board games, and I let kids play on screens, too. I did some laundry and sewed more gift bags, by that is it. Today, we have church and friends coming over. I want to get some gifts wrapped and baking done, but that is it. No lesson planning. No working on kids' activities.

I'm really disturbed by how many people are willing to steal from others.

This. We got Dd8's clipped this year, but I wish we'd done it sooner. We'll do Dd4's before she loses baby teeth.