What a wonderful idea, gardenmom5! I love your Peanut’s nativity!!

Yes, I think I will continue keeping my frozen berries & frozen greens in the freezer, but may try the soft-freeze option on the drawer when fridge arrives (Feb!) I have a deep freezer I keep stocked & just transfer to regular fridge freezer as needed. At 30 degrees, and for just a few weeks, IF the cycle temp variations are decent, it just may not decrease quality. I think I can do the same for frozen meat to be used in that week’s menu, allowing it to ‘almost’ thaw. I was a dietitian many years ago, so (avoiding) bacterial growth timing recommendations, as well as quality issues are things I overthink haha! From people I’ve known IRL, it seems the majority use it for kid snacks. I don’t have that need anymore, but freezer space in our current side by side annoys me. With it being fridge not freezer, it’s a little overkill. I’ll get used to it=)

When I speak of food safety issues...I do not think the drawer is inappropriate for fridge, it is just that I wanted it so badly to be a freezer drawer. I keep my smoothie ings in the freezer now & hope to store meat in there, which they say will ‘last longer’ with the soft-freeze temp of 30. I just can’t find info on how long that actually is.

My new fridge’s flex drawer has only down to soft-freeze, which is 30 degrees. I was a little disenchanted when I found that out at store, but DH really liked that fridge best (rather than another model with deep-freeze option). Does anyone have that soft-freeze option and use it? (Rather than the higher settings, which go up to 40 or so) I was hoping my smoothie ingredients could be stored in there (bags of greens and berries), as well as meats for use w/in the next week. I’m a little trepidatious though. With my background as a dietitian, all I can think of is how fast the bacteria may multiply at that temp w/the cycling of the refrigerator, forgetting to use the meat w/in the week and killing us all. Besides the food safety issues, which my change how I use that drawer, I would like to know how you use your flex drawer or if you would like that feature on a fridge. Thanks! *the flex drawer is a drawer between the pull out bottom freezer and the split refrigerator doors.

DH was completely puzzled about crispy and wondered why I asked. HIs memories are of his grandmother’s (actually stuffed) stuffing. IMO, that is a bit over the top moist (aka, kinda gross=). I went for a crispy by baking uncovered for last 15. Really turned out good - moist AND crispy!

Walmart closed?!?! I do not go there very often, but ds just tried the local one for sc milk & they were closed. Typical for Thanksgiving morning? I am surprised!

DH forming my crescent rolls for me, ds just ran to store to pick up forgotten sweetened condensed milk (which dd’s recipe uses...never evaporated milk to her), youngest dd is finishing yearly tradition of making placecards, I am trying to ignore sad-eyed puppy...she wonders why her play mates are ignoring her! Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!! Beautiful quote - thanks, Susan! I am so thankful for my WTM friends!

I have a question: y'all are talking about crispy crust...I always think of stuffing as a fairly moist dish, although I do not stuff the bird. I place my stuffing in a shallow baking dish (9x13), and bake about 30 mins covered. So, to get this crisp crust, with what I assuming to be a moist interior, please tell me your baking dish size/type and length of time baking it, and whether covered or not, etc. Thanks! Op, I have done everything from all ahead, as you are doing, prep the veggies in butter and mix that day, to complete prep right b/f baking. As you can see from my question above, I guess I am not a stuffing connoisseur.

My deepest condolences for you. All of you are in my prayers.

Your menu looks delish! Can you please expound upon the ‘green bean bundles’? @Ottakee, we do the appetizers-as-Christmas-Eve-meal, too. Fun & fairly easy.

We like to decorate the weekend before Christmas and keep inside decorations up until Candlemas, on February 2. I usually tire of everything but the tree (what little that is) a few weeks into January. I do not know when we will take down our new outdoor gate lights. Although we will light them near Christmas, most of our (country road) neighbors never turn their outdoor lights on again after Christmas evening. I imagine we will appear craz-y if we keep them lit through January!

I’m sorry you are going though this.

So, they are doing ok?

Yes, Happy Birthday, Jean!!

Good morning, Issac!! Done...but will continue. Have a great day everyone, it is pretty here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Slache!!

Prong collar worked great on dog for walk around a public park lake nearby. Didn’t “use” it, but she knew it was there. I need to just get her out more around people/dogs!

He is precious, Slache!! Done for this morning - I need to develop the same habit, Purpleowl. That would be a good way to remember it.

Prayed, and continuing, for MIchelle @MissLemon

Good evening! Glad to hear you’re ok, @Slache, and, @purpleowlI really admire you keeping with arm work! Goodness, @Pam in CT what a few crazy days you’ve had - you deserve a turnaround! @OttakeeI have always wanted to cross country ski; neat that you have such nice parks close by, aren’t you in MI? MI has nice parks! I have been getting my walks in while traveling with DH on business. So nice to have continuous pavement to walk on...around a pretty lake, without having to contend with the gravel here!

Congratulations! 🎉

You are getting some great ideas in this thread - you will never regret the limits, but you may regret not limiting things. I can only imagine how much harder it would be to raise children now that we, as parents, have mobile devices...we had to contend with the computer, but not devices. As to games, I allowed 30 mins of junk, aka, not educational or useful computer time a week. I made it impersonal, with rules posted on fridge & loud to house timer. Any restrictions I placed, I made as distantly policed from me as possible. I know this is outdated, in that restrictions available are different/screen availability is different. But, I understand that 14 yo males need and want to not be policed by mom all the time...internal discipline is so important. (BTW, I allowed non-junky computer use...maya, adobe programs, movie editing, much more liberally. I tired of them, too, and had to call it quits some days, but he developed amazing skills through their use. Only allowed use of computer in kitchen for all to see.) It is completely normal for them to be moody and bored at this stage. Ignore the impulse to make him happy/occupied/not bored. You are shifting away from being able to do that. It is a hard stage to pass though. Love him, IMO set strict impersonal limits, and, yes, provide him with information about the science of why screen time is not good for him (perhaps a well written article from National Geo or other science mag). You are being a good mom! You are seeing a problem and thinking about how to help. Keep up the good work!

(((Susan’s mom))) May she get better soon, and your dad stay healthy.

I’m on my way over to enjoy your unit study, KrissiK. I have become so dumbed down without homeschooling, I miss having growing minds to feed!

When we moved to the country, I began eating out with dc as a matter of convenience during the ‘in the car all the time’ years...but that was subway or Chick fil A or other fast food. By the time we got home, I did not want to venture out, and our closest town did not have the wonderful restaurant choices of our former city. I learned to cook. Well, I always knew how to cook, but I learned to make things taste like good restaurant food. Now, although the food at a restaurant is not always as good to me as in the past (d/t liking my own cooking), they have more choices on hand, we have the money to eat out together/time to venture around. I travel with DH a lot on business, and that is the best aspect, the eating out. He enjoys it, too, surprisingly, even though he is a homebody. We like being around people & seeing them, although not really watching them eat, I guess, haha!

You are welcome. My son loved math, but I really frustrated him in eighth grade by leaving Saxon. You can read about that here: As to our sequence, (see below links)...I just did whatever Mr. Reed told me=). You do not need his book, because his newsletters, which go on & on, cover all the content. It was everything we needed to know, and then some, about how to sequence, the purpose of it, the history of Saxon, how to do a day’s work, when to grade the student’s work vs let them just practice, and so on. This should link to his 2018 newsletters. Let me know if not. On the linked page, scroll down to read ‘February’, ‘March’, and ‘April’, those are a series of articles that cover sequence: https://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2018.php#0518 Then, be sure to read ‘October’ of 2018, as well. It will describe how to grade/not grade the work. When I stopped grading homework and moved to only grading tests, both of us began to take the tests more seriously. It stopped me from forgetting to give them on a schedule, DS really took them seriously, and our daily work got easier. Remember, his DVD’s/streaming products are on that other site, linked in my last post. Not sure why he changed & this old site doesn’t reference it. The streaming sure would be nice - wish we had that technology then! Best wishes!