I love Keens for my kids, they hold up great and get passed down to the next kid after a year or two. A couple times I've gotten other brands but always end up coming back to Keens.

I voted no, but that's "most likely no, but technically anything could happen". I have fond memories of living with my mom after she and my dad divorced, the happiest memories of my childhood (and through the teen years) were from that time period. All negative memories from when she remarried just a few years later. I only lived in their household for just under 2 years before being sent to live with my dad, but have so many negative memories that I still get a visceral negative reaction when I think about that time. So for the last 5 years before going to college, I essentially felt like I had no home. My mom had moved into her husband's place and my dad had moved into his new wife's place, I felt like I didn't belong at either. Good relationship with my stepmom, indescribably bad relationship with my mother's husband. So for me, if something happened to DH, I just wouldn't want to take a chance. After my kids were grown and out of the house? Maybe a long term relationship or companionship, but not marriage and I would want my own space. (Extreme introvert here also.)

We've done that a few times now, since we use Ting as our service provider and wanted to upgrade the phones. I believe we bought them from Swappa.

I started thinking about this after having a massive pulmonary embolism last year. Luckily I already had life insurance, which along with DH's military retirement would allow him to pay off the house, any other debts, and continue to homeschool the kids (longterm if he wished, or at least until things settled down). I realized that he doesn't really know what curriculum we are using, so I made a list of current items for each child along with tentative plans for down the road. It's not something set in stone, but enough to give him guidance as he got used to being the educator. I also put in doctor & dentist info, information for DS2's speech therapy, and life insurance policy info so he could find it easily. It's all in the big "if mommy dies" notebook in the safe, which also contains our marriage license, the kids' birth certificates and social security cards.

I hate the design of our gas range, the stuff gets baked on so much it's nearly impossible to get off. My girlfriend had the same range and she ended up scraping the stuff off with butter knives, but there was a lot of damage to the stove top. I may or may not have used oven cleaner (well ventilated with fans, windows open, and no kids inside) on the top of ours. Yes, I know it's bad, but it was sooooo far beyond warm soapy water or magic erasers. :leaving:

I was up until almost 2 am playing Minecraft, so I'm certainly not casting any stones. :leaving:

My pain was in the center, right under the ribcage. It was the worst pain I've ever felt, I was rocking back and forth in tears waiting for the attacks to pass. Finally it was so bad that I drove myself to the ER in the middle of the night (I just woke DH, told him I was taking his car and he would have to come and pick me up in the morning). I've given birth unmedicated 6 times and would rather do that every single day than go through another gallbladder attack.

DD1 and I both wear the titanium flat-back studs. I've bought some from the local piercing parlor where we got her ears pierced and others I bought online.

We use Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary Workshop also.

Is it still up there? OK, let me get the otoscope and check because I can't see it. (Yup, the Lego was still up the 4 year old's nose.) Don't lick the couch. (To the 10 year old. Seriously, dude?)

After FLL3 we switched to Easy Grammar. I let DS1 (10) try a week of Fix-It grammar but he wanted to stick with Easy Grammar (to my surprise). DD1 (8) also likes Easy Grammar.

My kids will get a soda if we are at a restaurant or drive-thru, so maybe about once a month. I was drinking several sodas a day by the time I was a teen (and still struggle with it), I don't want that to be the case for them. It's not something forbidden, it's just not a daily drink. At meals we drink water, sometimes I'll have iced tea.

I wish DH would get a V, I'm 39 and baby #6 (a birth control surprise) was just born in December. I had a massive pulmonary embolism in the first trimester and was lucky that we survived, I don't want to go through that again. I don't want to go through another pregnancy with 400+ injections of blood thinners and high risk OBs either. I elected for an IUD but something permanent would make me feel better, and to be honest it would be nice for DH to take one for the team, so to speak.

I'm in WA, I think they sell marinara plants here. :lol: I was wondering the same thing about the autocorrect!

Until #5 (The Destructor) became mobile, I would never have considered one. Even with Havoc, who was into/on top of/climbing everything but was still fine either in a stroller or holding a hand when needed. With #5 I'm definitely considering one. For normal outings he's fine walking through parking lots holding hands, I've always just said "littles in the middle" and the kids will form up holding hands around the youngest ones. When we go on hikes, though, I want him to be able to wander around with more freedom and I'm thinking a backpack with a harness would be a good option. So pre-kids/fewer kids me said "no way!". Current me is eating those words, they're delicious with jam.

My 4 year old has apraxia and I give him Nordic Naturals Pro EFA junior. All the kids (except for the baby) get the Lil' Critters Omega 3 Gummy Fish, I don't think they're that great but it was mainly just so the 4 year old wasn't singled out with taking fish oil.

My 3rd & 5th graders are using Easy Grammar but not really loving it. Today DS1 asked if there was another grammar program he could switch to.

We have both the paperback and the Kindle edition. (The paperback edition got lost in the house for a month or so :leaving: which is what prompted the purchase of the Kindle edition.) I prefer the Kindle edition, I typically use the Kindle app on my iPad and then use a whiteboard and the kids write the sentences in their notebooks and translate.

We have 6 kids in an 8 seater Toyota Sienna. In the 3rd row we have two high back boosters with a forward-facing Radian in between them. In the middle row (3 captain's chairs) we have two rear-facing Britax Boulevards (behind the driver and in the middle) and a backless booster behind the passenger, though DS1 is close to not needing it anymore. Loading is a bit of a pain - DS1 puts his booster on the floor and folds the seat forward, the back 3 kids climb in, then he helps my 2 year old get into his seat in the middle. Hopefully we'll be getting a Nissan NV in the next year or two, I would really like the extra room.

I tried it when my middle son was 2-3. His problem was staying asleep (he was still waking every 2 hours at night), not falling asleep, so it didn't help. We found out he had obstructive sleep apnea and his sleep drastically improved after having his adenoids removed.

I have daily migraines along with occipital neuralgia. Topamax wasn't the right preventive for me but I'm glad I tried. In fact, I tried it twice, 10 years apart, just to give it a second chance.

There's a reason my kids can't drink from my mug of hot cocoa. Prepositions require cocoa some days.

I haven't had a Mirena yet but plan on getting one next month. I had a pulmonary embolism toward the beginning of my last pregnancy and the Mirena is one of the few choices left available to me. (I've had the Paraguard before, but don't want the heavy periods combined with blood thinners.)

I would move the toddler bed in so she's has her familiar bed as she gets used to her new room, then let her help pick out a new larger bed in a few months. You can always make a pallet with blankets or a sleeping bag for her in your room for if she needs to come in during the night. This is what we did when transitioning my middle son out of our room. Maybe let her have a few days to get used to the room being finished before moving her bed in, so it doesn't seem so abrupt.

I always used Floradix during my pregnancies. During this last one we were concerned about my iron levels and platelets due to a medication I was on, so I tried a different (less expensive) iron supplement. The side effects were (OK, constipation mainly) were awful and I quickly realized that the Floradix was worth every penny!