3 kids 3 grandparents Toys for Tots Music teacher who is giving dd lessons for free is getting 3 jars of jelly/jam/apple butter that she made Usually I made a nice dinner for our elementary school teachers for them to take home to their families the last day of school before vacation. Since I'm that teacher this year, I think we'll order carry-out pizza tonight. ;) Some years back I did away with exchanging with out of state relatives, as well as a SIL that we were exchanging gift cards with.

One year for an Advent craft project we made a little town of Bethlehem. I had them cut the buildings out of styrofoam (glue parts together if needed) and then paint them in drab craft paint colors, then when dry paint on windows and doors (could also be done with a Sharpie). When all was done we took a thin board, brushed it with tacky glue and then sprinkled it with sand for a base. It's very simple looking, but absolutely beautiful and we put it up every year. I wished I'd had more time to research period buildings to teach them more before we started but I dreamed it up at the last minute. Oh, I should mention that cutting styrofoam was a lot harder than I expected.

I had the same problem and was going to make some until I found the library was changing their heavy duty library tote bags and selling their old ones for $2. I nabbed some, washed some up, and they've worked great. It looks like they're made of a heavy duty canvas.

FIL was a printer and my MIL is famous for always being able to get out stains. She swears by Lestoil. Rub it on the spot and use something (ie fingernail) to rub in well. If you use it, wash the garmet alone the first time to get the odor out and then a second time with other clothes.

Some doughs turn out better than others when refrigerated, but it's always worth a try. Refrigerate it immediately before it starts to rise. Place dough in a greased bowl and then flip the dough so an oiled side is up. I cover loosely with two overlapping pieces of plastic wrap and then set a towel over the whole thing.

The Houghton Mifflin box set is the most readily available and affordable but it does have pretty small print. It's not miniscule but it's not what I'd call large either. These say illustrated by Alan Lee but it's cover stuff and not fully illustrated. http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260638406&sr=1-3'>http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260638406&sr=1-3'>http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260638406&sr=1-3'>http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260638406&sr=1-3 There's a 2002 full color illustrated edition that might possibly be better printwise--I think it's this one linked below. I'd probably go with this one as Alan Lee is a wonderful illustrator. http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260638406&sr=1-3

I don't like a super firm meat loaf-this one is tender but holds together. Turkey Meat Loaf 1 pound ground turkey ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper ¼ cup applesauce ¼ cup ketchup 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme 1/8 teaspoon sage 1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs 2 T finely chopped onion, or to taste Mix together well (it will be soft) and shape into oval loaf. Combine 1/3 cup catsup and 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and spoon over loaf. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until done.

Where I'm at is that I'd like to crawl in a den for a long winter nap!!! Tuesday I have a hysterectomy scheduled so I'll be done with all Christmas preparations when I leave home that morning. What's done-- I have a freezer full of freezer meals and I did my last cooking tonight (a spiral sliced ham we can eat off of this weekend). Typed up a schedule for my husband for the next two weeks so he can get kids to and from school, finals, ballet, jazz class, band, jazz band, youth group, Awana, flute choir, junior high band, worship band, 4-H and assorted Christmas parties. This ought to be good. :lol: All gifts bought and about half wrapped. Stocking stuffers ready to go. My daughter and I were going to sew a tote bag for my mom and I purposely saved the project for this week thinking it would be fun. I came down with a bad cold and it doesn't sound fun so it will wait until after. Enough baking that we'll at least have some homemade treats with our Christmas Eve spread. I have roast beef for sandwiches in the freezer and everything else will be appetizers that the kids either make or buy. Four days of independent work nearly planned for my daughter next week. I still need to put together a fraction review and will be hitting up the internet because what's in her book is too disjointed. What's left-- MAJOR cleaning--living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. If I had more money and less clutter, I'd seriously be calling in some cleaning help. Put away Christmas boxes Laundry lesson for my 13 year old Card and newsletters--not gonna happen before Christmas Poking/prodding/tutoring my oldest for finals preparation, especially in chemistry. It must be a mom thing, but I'm more worried about them oversleeping and not getting him to final exams on time than I am about the surgery. Buy more rabbit food and other errands

I hate most everything about our bathroom except that it has a skylight. I never would have thought to put one in a bathroom, but it was here when we moved in and having it flooded with light all day is very nice. My husband covered it when he was reshingling and I stopped him because I knew we'd miss it. I should mention we do live in a two-story house.

I'm really liking what I'm having my 5th grader do this year, it's modified from older sib's 6th grade ps class. She's involved in helping select the terms and she feels like she's learning a lot. I'm pulling vocabulary/spelling words from a few vocabulary-rich books that she's read or is reading and then pretesting about 60 for spelling. She also goes through the list and identifies which she isn't confident of meanings. I group them into 7 per week, trying to balance for difficulty and whether it's spelling, vocab or both she needs to work on. We've tried more words but since they're challenging it's too frustrating and fewer were too easy. Occasionally I'll throw in a term from the history or science unit we're working on or a common word that she misses often. Day 1--Using the thesaurus on Word, copy several synonyms for each term. Print out. Day 2-- Using a dictionary, look up each term and then write out the definition that best corresponds to the synonyms. I have a blank form to use each week. Day 3--Write a sentence using the term. It must have at least 6 words and let the reader know she understands the meaning of the term. I use a blank form for this also. Day 4-- (There are two activities on this day because I added the thesarus step, which has made the dictionary work far less frustrating) 1) Cover-Write-Check (C-W-C) writing terms 6 times or as many needed to get them down. She can opt to do them orally or make up flash cards--whatever she needs. 2) Vocab practice worksheet--I make up a worksheet that has a sentence using each spelling/vocab term. She has to fill in which term belongs with each sentence. Day 5--Spelling and vocab quizzes We've both been pleased with the results. :)

I had to duct tape up the cookie packages because they were disappearing too fast. They were pretty disgusted when they made the discovery.:lol:

I just asked my kids and went through a bookshelf and here are some more of our favorites: Going to Sleep on the Farm Is Your Mama a Llama? What Do You Do With a Kangaroo? (Mercer Mayer) John's Picture by Elizabeth MacDonald The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock My boys were both fascinated with clocks and both loved DK's My First Book of Time around that age http://www.amazon.com/My-First-Book-Time-Games/dp/1879431785/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260577456&sr=1-25 Mine also loved an Elmo lift the flap book but I'm not sure it was the same title as listed previously.

LOL--now that's thinking. I have a friend whose daughters put together a Power Point presentation on why they needed to start receiving allowances.

I think adding a nice prepackaged muffin and pancake mix would go well to give them something to do easily with the toppings. I like to sprinkle the gift baskets with those pretty little round Lindt truffles. Dried apricots or other fruits Homemade vanilla sugar

I use whatever I have on hand unless the recipe specifies one or the other.

I had strong B-H contractions with my first around 7 months but they started around 5 1/2 months with my second and third (who were very large babies). They increased in frequency to where the last weeks I was dealing with them most any time I was up and moving. If everything else seems the same to you I wouldn't be concerned about 1-2 contractions per hour. I would suggest stopping and resting if they seem stronger or to be continuing longer than usual.

We've loved the Focus on the Family radio theater of Chronicles of Narnia.

They would see school primarily happening in a super messy kitchen, with retreats to the living room for reading and any DVD's that might be happening that day. They would see a day that is generally planned and structured, but that is flexible enough to adjust to the needs of the day. The would see breaks in between 5th grade classes to practice flute, sometimes many times per day. They probably wouldn't see her get up early to go to play with the top junior high band, or go after school to the high school for lessons with the hs director who is letting her soar. They would see a student who absolutely hated school last year now eagar to learn. One who was assigned 5 novels in school last year read 15 this semester alone. One who the teacher insisted needed to stay with the class instruction in math, now work through the same math program independently and at a faster pace. Today they would see (or hear) a very non-schoolish day: flute Christmas carols, cookie making, holiday crafts, cleaning and whatnot because I'll be laid up with surgery next week so if it's gonna happen it has to be now. Maybe they could stay and help clean the bathroom. :lol:

We love this chicken recipe. Once it's cooked I shred the chicken and then put on the cream cheese. If time I make homemade corn tortillas to go with it. http://www.recipezaar.com/Crock-Pot-Chicken-W-Black-Beans-and-Cream-Cheeseyum-89204

For our elementary teachers, I used to make them a nice meal to take home to their families the last day before the holiday break. It was a lot of work but the most appreciated gift I ever gave.

I'd call the bank manager and raise a ruckus. This was totally inappropriate.

Sometimes the Amazon search engines go wacky and instead of seeing the regular amazon listing first, the vendors listings show up first and some of those prices are very inflated. When that happens see what you can do to surface the amazon listing or check other sites because you can sometimes find it cheaper. Vendors are in business to make money and they'll charge what they think they can get for a book. Oftentimes it will pay for them to wait it out a bit and see if they can get the higher price. They also encourage one another not to list lower than the lowest price which discourages lower pricing. If it's an out of print book they truly have the upper hand. I have an out of print book sitting on my shelf that I went to list and decided not to because the price is ridiculously unfair based on content. If I list it low, another vendor would likely scoop it up to resale at the higher price, so it just sits. \

I just made fruitcake for the first time and about choked when I read "15 eggs, well beaten". I would have expected it for homemade sponge cake or angel food cake (which are delicious, BTW, and a great way to use up fresh or frozen eggs) but never dreamed to find that many in fruit cake. Jelly roll, or variations Deviled eggs Pasta dishes with eggs-ie Spaghetti Carbonara...which I've never tried because I'm not a big plain egg fan. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/classic-spaghetti-carbonara-recipe/index.html I know it's off season, but my kids are game for coloring eggs any time of year. :)

When bedtime hit its worst peak around here I used to diffuse it by removing all the battle. Once the kid had done the essentials (teeth, potty) for bed I'd send them off to their room and tell them I was tired and going to sleep and they should read or play quietly and then put themselves to bed when they were ready. It usually only took a few nights of that to knock the wind out of their sails. Any chance your 5 year old has anxiety about being alone or being in the dark?

We'd never tried it before but I had coupons and it was waaay on sale and the kids were curious so I bought some. They made a cheeseburgery one last week and I could hear the "blecks:tongue_smilie:start the moment the cooking commenced. We don't eat a lot of processed entres to begin with, so it was traumatic. I opened up the other two boxes and salvaged out the noodles and Hamburger Helper is now history at our house.