My family’s prayers are with you and yours.

In addition to the rocket center, we have enjoyed these sites: Cook Museum of Natural History - amazing place. Ave Maria Grotto - Holy Land sites in miniature/hard to describe; we loved it! This is what their site says about their universal appeal: Not Catholic? Don't let that stop you. The experience is universal. Brother Joseph's miniatures capture Western even some eastern images. The out door setting invites thought and meditation. Bells reminded me of a call for prayer in Cairo. The birds will gladden any nature lover's heart. Peaceful for those who yearn for it but no doubt punctuated by Catholic tradition and artifacts:December 2019 Have fun!

I am sorry to laugh, but, ”...look like snacks” ROFL! If you can keep them apart when not supervised, I say, indulge your wife. Always indulge your wife!

Not the most prolific gardeners here, but we ate as we went with lots of jalapeños and tomatoes. Next year...we can take the asparagus! ETA the best part of the end of summer is the Fried Green Tomatoe!

I have trained our dog to, at least, not maul the cat. She only butts him around. Hard! The cat sets no boundaries, so they are rarely unsupervised. If we are not looking, or the dog is in her puppy-crazy mood, she resorts back to ‘cat’s head in dog’s mouth’. Fortunately, cats are fast!

Goodness, as someone whose HS years are way in the rear view mirror, GO FOR IT! You will hardly be behind - think long term. So much love to share/so little time. You are having a great idea!

There are just no posts quite like yours @PeterPan for making one desire to travel! Thanks!!

We splurged on our 25th, paying a little at a time...the rental (beautiful full ocean view/so unlike us) cost was broken into two pieces and the flight was with points, the food, where we only splurged on one of the meals, was taken out of the normal food budget. On a more recent anniversary, we went to a revitalizing river town (sad to think how it may be doing now). Just exploring new destinations together is fun. We usually stay in Airbnbs, only staying with superhosts. IMO, they are cleaner than a hotel, the host's personal reputation being on the line, and we stay where we have the entire places to ourselves. Planning is half the fun, and I can find reasonable accommodations in smaller towns just about anywhere. Lodging is the greatest expense, usually, especially if you are taking a road trip. I recommend that you decide the approximate area of Canada that you would like to explore, and do a little searching on Airbnb to see what places cost. You can do a map search, so much fun! Then, with the cost approximated, you can think of what is reasonable for you to spend. Airbnb is paid upfront, sometimes in two bills, so I would figure my budget and begin saving each month right now. Congratulations on 19 years and counting!

My knee-jerk response to this question was, “...not very well!” Haha I was a scrubbing bubbles fan, but I get sick of buying it/being out, so I make a simple solution of about 10 squirts of dish soap in a spray bottle, fill sprayer a little over half with vinegar & gently mix. I spray on the tub, easily wipe with a rag about 15 mins later, rinse with the shower or just cups of water filled at tub. Our water is hard, so the soap scum is crazy-accumulating! This is more effective in our tubs than scrubbing bubbles, always on hand, and as little effort. I do it every week (or, hush, two) to make it easy to keep clean.

You have gotten great ideas. YNAB is overkill for some, I imagine. If you do go the more formal budget route, though, my opinion is that less categories are best. So, I do not break out paper goods or dog treats or toiletries from general groceries...for that matter, in our case, it is all under ‘Food: In or Out’, to simplify things. I think it is awesome that you are already asking yourself whether or not you need to spend on a particular purchase. Awareness is so important. ETA, DH & I got by fairly frugally our married life by watching purchases as we made them, without ever tracking purchases. Then, when eldest when to college, I really had to keep to an exact amount each month to pay our portion of his bill (room & board). YNAB was added a few years later as a help to pay off the house ASAP. What a difference it would have made using it sooner when exact amounts were needed. Well, at least for me. I love doing a budget on paper, but seeing the ‘envelopes’ (categories) of YNAB, pushed me over the edge to try it, and held me accountable.

Our ds is recommending that movie to us relentlessly, I need to watch. He said it completely changed his view of social media/technology - which, considering he is anti-social media already, I think says a lot. 'Making us less human' is how he worded what he believed social platforms are doing to us. He has become much less attached to his phone since he watched it, and is encouraging us to do the same. He recommends using Duckduckgo as a search engine, not downloading apps unless absolutely necessary, and connecting with people more often in person. Well, I am not sure how much I am willing to change - not a huge user IMO.

Congratulations! It sounds like everything you did was so much fun! I will keep Bristol in mind.

You will be so glad you at least worked on it. Self awareness, as you said you were attuned to, is so much of the battle. Best wishes!

Old trigger, because I am long done with homeschooling, but I found it internally disconcerting when dc did not get what I was trying to communicate in lessons - lessons in which I was doing things differently or trying a new technique. I felt criticized. For example, at the beginning of narration or dictation or outlining, (any subject could be a problem) if dc wasn't getting it, I became very frustrated sometimes. Subconsciously it was at myself. Outwardly, I was only conscious of the child first not doing it 'right', then their escalating frustration. Hence, sometimes things got to a point where I saw a 'bad attitude' in them and blamed the child for that. If I had been more attuned to the real fact that I felt, irrationally/internally, criticized, I would have had more understanding and patience. Overall, things went well, so dc say, but if I could change anything about our homeschooling, it would have been to realize this was going on sooner. Instead of feeling criticized and questioning every method, I would have stepped back and asked myself what I was really trying to teach in a given circumstance, and, at times, abandon the 'method' for simply communicating the facts of what they were trying to learn. I don't think I am wording this well. Anyway, I wish I had been more patient and lighthearted more of the time, especially with eldest.

Although freezer space may be as limited for you @Carrie12345 as much as other storage space, milk is good to keep in the freezer for having on hand as a necessary item (around here) as well as being helpful as big blocks of ice in case of power outage. DD, who is very picky about her milk, says it tastes fine upon full thaw. ETA - I see - typing my post as you were explaining your milk situation=)

I will second @Soror that tracking for a few months is the way to see what your spending categories are. Although, the next two months are not representative of regular monthly habits here because of holidays, entertaining, and birthdays, but still important to have a history of. Also, YNAB is perfect for us, as DH and I can both have the app to track spending as we go. It is like having digital envelopes, clearly showing you how much left in each category every time you make a purchase - LOVE YNAB! Since I pay the bills and do most of the spending overall, I found it easier to simply give DH his own category with a set amount to spend each month. This has helped so much, as I could never track his spending very well/remember to get his receipts, etc. He picks up the occasional milk, etc, but I do not worry about that, as those are little expenses compared to his purchases for home improvement or car repair - basically, he just logs all of his spending under “His Name Category” to keep it simple for him and me.

Wow! Becoming more fit with the walking challenge, more pleasant with the no-complaint challenge, and, now, more organized b/c of less clutter! I’ll be just about perfect 😇 My public spaces are clutter free, because I am past the season of children around (miss that ‘books, puzzles, games around everywhere’ look, actually=), but I do need to work on closets, office, and basement. Thanks @mommyoffive for suggesting this! And, @hjffkj when I grow up, I want to be just like your auntie!

Well, the operations, covered in a more ‘old-fashioned’ way that our more creative pursuits didn’t allow for, along with grade appropriate instruction as they progressed through grammar school. What I mean, overall, is that students may get by without learning the basic four operations by rote, still doing well in grade appropriate instruction in grammar school. Then, at a later time, when more difficult concepts get introduced, the brainpower utilized to figure those basic facts ‘eats up’ the brainpower needed to focus on more complicated material.

What a beautiful boy! May all go smoothly for you and him!

Have we already begun the challenge? I am admittedly slow to read through this post...

Completely agree with you. Our children were gifted at math, so the operations, not covered with more creative means, were all that was needed to make math soar.

@Not_a_Number Puberty? Not certain, but, at that time, suddenly, the concepts were not being seen through creative means. Especially with our son, who went on to get BS in math & now pursuing PhD. He tutored at a national chain and saw the same shift in thinking. Students needed ONE thing, he observed, in order to succeed in algebra and beyond - rote memorization of the math facts - all four operations. He said that time and time again, students were failing at algebra b/c their brain power was being zapped on figuring the operations. Memorize the operations, the algebra was focused on and made sense. Whatever means you all use to teach lower level math, we wholeheartedly recommend that the students learn the facts of the four operations by rote. YMMV, but, it was successful here and at the center with many, many students...discovered later than I would have preferred. ETA, I say puberty, b/c, again especially in our DS, thinking methods changed. Not only did he think differently about math and want to work on the basically presented problem, but EVERYTHING...he suddenly forgot where the dishes went in the cabinet, he forgot basic family patterns. Odd, but true. Maybe the brain is being used in another way and needs more concrete information??

Math majors here, but almost messed that up being too creative with teaching early on. Our children liked more explorative math when younger, then something switched and went awry during/after pre-algebra. After several unexpected and uncharacteristic failures, we switched to Saxon w/Art Reed DVDs to get over the crisis, but Derek Owens was IT! I could confidently hand math over to him and know my children were getting direct teaching, grading, and help. Doing math in a more traditional way gave back confidence and left lots of time for the passion and exploration of math to take place during non-school hours.

((Scarlett)). Glad to hear that they are progressing, especially your mom being out of ICU. Many prayers as they heal, and you deal with the stressful details. Remember to take care of you as you can.

🏅 @Momto6inINyou earned it!