I'm so sorry! Burns are so painful. I'm glad the medicine you have is helping with the pain. If you do need to contact a doctor, I second the PP's recommendation for Silvadene. It's practically a miracle medication for burns. I wish you a very speedy recovery!

Homeschool my boys - we're only at about half of what we'll end up with √ Go over plans to add math and science next week Figure out new schedule as I'm adding in caring for dgd this week - dd is returning to school √ Prepare and clean up dinner - it's prepared...won't clean up til after swim; so, half a check? :) Call swim center √ Swim class for 7 yo Attempt to contact rugby for 3rd time :-/ √ Grocery shop. √ Get materials ready for school tomorrow Grade today's lessons √ ETA: I meant to say that I'm so sorry about your weekend, Jean! I hope you will take it easy. Exhaustion can be so hard to recover from, and with health challenges, it's even more difficult. Please be kind to yourself!

We have not, and I don't expect one whit of Grandparents' Day acknowledgment now that we're grandparents. I think all of those things are silly and something marketers dream up to try to entice us to part with our money. I'm not buying it. Literally.

Both dh and I are college drop outs. I had a full academic scholarship too. Getting married just seemed more pressing at the time, and I still do not regret my decision. I've been a stay at home mommy since we conceived our first child. I did in home daycare to supplement our poor years, but i was still at home, where we both wanted me to be. Dh worked himself up to a very nice position in the two long term employers he has had. At some point, I would like to return to college, but on my terms. I just want to take the classes that I'm interested in. If it ends up turning into a degree, that's great, but it wouldn't be my reason for returning. I'm a weirdo. It's ok. I already know. ;)

Yay!! That's so great! I would add the celebration smiley, but I'm on the iPad, and I'm techno stupid. So, pretend like it's there, okay? Because that's seriously worth celebrating!

Lol....quite clever! Who *is* the king now? I was just telling my husband that the Crusaders look ridiculously youthful. Oh no...it appears that I am Middle Aged. I should have guessed as much. I'm going to go weep into my mead.

I haven't been invited into either, but I want to be a member of both! :D

Yes! I've had that question asked of me too. Also, my 7 year old ds wants to know, "What do deer say? Anything? Or do they just communicate by flicking their tails or something? You know, like how bees dance?" Lol.

Hysterical! I loved it. I'm weird and proud of it. :D My kids and I have conversations about things like that all the time. What does the fox say, anyway? It was quite well done, too. Thanks for sharing it!

Happy belated birthday! I hope you take the advice of the others and celebrate all weekend!!

I've used it a few times, but dh uses it often. We're both from the Midwest, but currently live in the South. ETA: Like a PP, neither of us know the origin of the term. We've only known it to mean "a long time."

Happy birthday! I hope it's wonderful! :)

Disclaimer: I am not a food expert, but I've always been told that unopened pickle relish is fine for 2 years if kept,out of,direct sunlight. Unopened applesauce is good for 9-12 months after "best by" date as long as kept out of the sun. Discard any jarred or canned foods that are bulging or leaking. Also, some quality may be lost if eaten after best by date. Don't take my wordmfor it, though. Please use your very best judgment as food borne illness can be extremely serious.

Not even close to a staple here. I'm probably too cheap! Well, that, and I would need them maybe once a year, so the remainder would go bad. Which brings me right back to being cheap. :D

Lifted you in prayer. I'm sorry for whatever it is that is happening. Hugs!

We are not poor now by any stretch of the imagination; things seem "tight," but honestly, we are positively rich compared to so many. However, we have been very poor. Very poor in spite of dh working one full-time job and one nearly full time job plus I did in-home daycare. In those days, we had minimal money to work with for food, and it came on a weekly basis. We could afford meat only when it hit 79 cents a pound (this was 20 years ago), and we did not have the money to "stock up." It sounds disgusting and "lazy," but those weeks, I would buy one box of "scalloped potatoes" for 25 cents with coupon, add the ground beef, and we would make that last at least 3 nights. Our oldest was quite young, so she didn't eat much, and I tended to save splurge items (like a marked way down bunch of almost over ripe bananas) for her nutrition, sacrificing ours. It would have been better to purchase a bag of dried beans, yes, but often it was cheaper *for that week* to do what I described. I filled in the rest of the week with one batch of potato soup courtesy of homegrown or gifted potatoes and one loaf of homemade bread, which I made with my Mom's flour, etc. most regular produce came from a tiny garden I kept with seeds donated from family and friends. Add in the fact that we've almost always lived in towns that don't have public transportation and there are huge obstacles to overcome. Thankfully, we lived near my mom in those years, so if one of the kids needed a doctor, she took us. We could've never afforded a taxi. We had one rattle-trap truck that dh had to have for work. He kept it running because he's great with cars, but really most of it was on a wing and a prayer. He got a gas allowance from work, or we would've been sunk. No a/c, no tv, strictly rationed water usage, heat set at "cold" in the winter (like 50 some months...in Indiana at the time). I never stole, but I definitely begged and borrowed to keep a roof over our heads and edible food on our table. This was with family who helped. Without them? I really shudder to think what would've happened to us. It is not easy to live on a margin, especially in a town with almost no resources for very poor, but not homeless people. It's something I never can forget. I still shop used or super sales for clothing whenever possible, and I don't "have to" anymore. There are lots of things I do because I used to be poor. One thing I always do is give...financially and materially to everyone I know to be in need. It is such a difficult place to be. I absolutely will not judge the choices others make because I am not walking in their shoes. Not saying anyone here is doing that. I'm simply saying I cannot judge, so I don't. :)

I almost never, ever cry. It's mot that i dont want to; I physically can't. Anyway, this story made me cry. In a good way. It so beautifully shows the compassion that Jedi had for his fellow citizens of this earth and the lengths he went to express that compassion. It's true that it may not have been that much of an effort on the Jedi's part, but that is irrelevant. The fact is that what he did impacted that boy and his family so deeply. Would that we all live our lives looking for ways to positively affect others.

Dd17 is petite except for her bust, and should wear a 28D. That size would cost me a fortune. She ends up buying a larger band size out of desperation, but then her breasts are always trying to fall out of the bottom of the bra. It is so frustrating for her. I feel your pain in trying to locate an affordable bra in the correct size.

I would offer it to one of my girls since the boys don't use conditioner on their super short hair, but if there were no takers, I would throw it away guilt-free. I don't want clutter in my life, and if a product isn't working for me, out it goes.

Our pediatrician used the same formula, but didn't have a pharmacy that stocked it. I can still remember mixing it up. Thanks for bringing back an almost lost memory! :)

I couldn't vote because I don't know what constitutes newer vs. older. However, I've had only one instance of Pyrex shattering through no fault of my own. It was a casserole dish that was probably 15-20 years old. I cooking meatballs in the oven, as I have done countless times. After 30 minutes or so, I heard a loud bang. The dish had blown up inside the oven. We had grease, meat and glass all over the inside of the oven. What a mess! The only upside? We went out to eat that night, so my kitchen stayed clean...excluding the oven, of course. :D

Congratulations! So glad he's here, healthy, and came on his own!

I own all 3 editions of TWTM and have read them multiple times. I refer to them often, but I don't strictly follow the model because it isn't what I have found works best for our children in all areas. I do use the model in some areas of our homeschool, but even then, I usually add in other resources. I'm a customizer. It's a sickness.

I wouldn't change the age I was when we started having children. The four we have spanned a pretty long period of time. I wish we had our twins with us. We both always wanted a minimum of four and would have preferred six, so we got our four. Technically, we had our six, but I wish they were here. All in all, I'm happy...although I would welcome more. Since I'm 44, that doesn't seem likely. Not impossible, certainly. It's just not too likely.

Love Ikea! We have candles, dishes, utensils, flatware, decorative items, picture frames, a loft bed and corner table in one dd's room, a rug, chair, nightstand, lamps, and curtains in other dd's room, a couple,of lamps...probably more. I've eaten Swedish meatballs, Swedish pancakes (are those authentically Swedish, I wonder?), lingonberry jam. I think that's all. No, I've had some sort of Swedish bread. I collected shells when I was young, but none of them remain. Now, our youngest collects them for our nature table. I still love to walk the beach at night looking for shells with a flashlight. :)