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MaMa2005

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Everything posted by MaMa2005

  1. For school, HST+ to keep me organized and accountable. For home, once a month cooking/freezer meals has made a tremendous impact. I no longer dread dinnertime, we don't eat out anymore, and the savings in time and money have been awesome. Healthy, wholesome, home cooked food!
  2. :iagree:DS takes TKD at a studio which deeply discounts additional siblings and the parents take classes for free. As Dobela said, it makes for a wonderful bonding experience for everyone. You can take unlimited classes. You just work your schedule around those of the studio. Very financially and time friendly. ETA: Since it is indoors, it doesn't matter what the weather is outside. Said from someone who is experiencing 104 degree heat index today :).
  3. Check out Zappos.com. They have a really wide array of shoes/sizes and a generous return policy (365 days). They also have free shipping BOTH WAYS so you can order several shoes to try on and if they don't work, easily send them back.
  4. I've had all three memberships. I didn't particularly like BJ's and it has since closed. Sam's is the closest to me, but I drive a longer way to go to Costco. I like their house brands, their return policy is excellent, and the stores are bright and clean. They make a wonderful sheet cake for parties that is inexpensive compared to anywhere else around here. We've been members since it opened in our part of town - close to 16 years.
  5. Cruise junkie here - we have 23 under our belt and number 24 sets sail on July 23 :D. DS has been cruising with us since he was adopted at 28 months. He loves to cruise and we have never had any problems. Carnival has a Kids Club (as do all the cruise lines). Check it out here - http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/obx/youth_experience/campcarnival.aspx. The Kids Clubs are run very well - excellent adult/child ratio and they really keep the children busy. In all our years of cruising, especially with children, the one piece of advice is to try to keep the children on a somewhat modified schedule of the one they are on at home. For instance, DS goes to bed at 7PM. We stick pretty closely to that even on the ship. Yes, I wind up missing some shows, but it is worth it as DS is finished by 7 (just due to the sheer amount of things that he has done during the day) and really needs to go to sleep. Makes for a happier family all the way around. Also, make sure you are scheduled for early dining. Late dining is just too much for children. Our upcoming cruise includes all of our family - 13 in all - 5 of them children ranging in age from 6-11. Relax and have a great time. To check out other things about cruising, go to cruisecritic.com. It has a wealth of information.
  6. If you have a handy DH, he can make these easily out of wood. Lowe's will even show you how to do it :). My DH made mine a couple of years ago and I am so thankful. For my entire kitchen, he probably spent $200. The estimates we were getting from companies were running upwards from $3000.
  7. No cons here. We are re-financing our home this summer to lower the interest rate to just above 2%, thus we need a house appraisal. Needless to say, the appraisal was gut wrenching. It came in $23,000 below our tax assessment. We marched right up to the tax assessor with appraisal in hand/tax assessment in hand and were told it would be about 6 weeks before our taxes were lowered.
  8. Calphalon fan here. I've had mine for over 15 years and it is still going strong. Don't know if it is made in America, though.
  9. We hear it all the time, too. I received a number of half off coupons for Cafe Press and have ordered DS several shirts with cute homeschool sayings on them. I swear when we are out and about when school resumes he is going to have to wear one of those shirts. Instead of 'talk to the hand', it's going to be 'read the shirt'!:lol:
  10. No advice about the buyer and his things, but we are re-financing our house because we can get a lower interest rate. Our credit scores are fantastic and we thought it would be a breeze - just like your were saying. We started the first of June and our closing is set for July 28. I have NEVER in all the years of buying and selling houses had something be such a headache. So many pieces of 'stray' paper that have to be signed. Finally, DH asked about it and was told because of the mortgage debacle/collapse, things have really changed and thus, soooooooooo much more paperwork and time. :grouphug::grouphug: I really feel your pain.
  11. Here is a link to a top 10 tahini recipes - http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/tp/recipes_with_tahini.htm
  12. Another Zenni fan here, too. We have ordered many times and have been very pleased. A friend has ordered from EyeBuyDirect.com and was very pleased, too.
  13. Another Fels-Naptha person here. The stuff gets out everything. I like that it is inexpensive (I pay $1 a bar) and it lasts forever. Just today, the chihuahua, had a very upset stomach. Left me a present of almost tar like BM on our stairs. A little Fels-Naptha, a toothbrush, and good scrub with a rag and the carpet is good as new. It also gets out GA red clay. Ask me how I know ;).
  14. They weren't bad until the past couple of weeks. We have been getting nightly thunderstorms and now the little biters are EVERYWHERE. DS walked from the front door to the van the other day and got 8 bites on his FACE. They look horrible. We are on a no playing outside time right now because even mosquitoes are just laughing at the repellent. Looking forward to a cruise next week to just get away from the critters.
  15. Feed them, water them, whatever I think they need. I am like a mother hen. We just had two new HVAC units installed yesterday - one of them being in the attic. Talk about HOT! I left out a tray of all types of drinks and bowls with some chocolates and other goodies on the kitchen counter. I showed the four men working where things were and to please help themselves. They were astonished that I was doing that for them. They had never had anyone do that for them. I was astonished at that statement! These guys put in a 10 hour day and did a fantastic job. I must have been thanked 20 times for my kindness. To me, it is just what I do.
  16. When DH taught DD to drive a stick shift, she did really well. We have a very hilly neighborhood and she handled the hills and clutch quite deftly. When they came home from their little driving lesson, DD parks at the top of the driveway (steeeeeeeeeeeep driveway) and they both get out of the car. About 10 minutes later, oldest DS screams from the bedroom window that DD's car is rolling down the driveway :w00t: - headed right toward the creek at the bottom of our property. The car hit a large apple tree and stopped there - thank goodness. :hurray: Lesson to be learned from this story - be sure to instruct the driver of a stick shift to not only put on the parking brake, but also put the car in gear when parking so that it cannot move.
  17. I've worn glasses for distance since the age of 5. Bi-focals appeared at age 42. From what my doctor said, after 40 is when people start seeing a difference and needing reading glasses. At age 45, DH had to have reading glasses and now at age 53, needs them both for reading and distance.
  18. If you will, please specify your child's age/grade_____ 6/1st teacher's qualifications (degree, etc.)________Master's Degree - she has been teaching for 25 years Lesson length _30____ (30 minutes, 45, 60?) Lesson frequency(once/week?)______ once a week Monthly cost $ ______ (per child) $60 :001_smile::001_smile: - I am very fortunate as I barter my services. I tutor her son in reading and she teaches my son piano. Win-win on both ends Region where you live______ Deep South (metro ATL) I need to add that before I found this teacher, I was paying $85/month for 30 minutes/once a week with a teacher that also had a Master's degree. DS's new teacher is also a homeschool mom and is all about teaching the children. DS loves her and she is an outstanding teacher.
  19. DH is the oldest of 3. I am an only. Thirty years married coming up in May:001_smile:.
  20. DS is learning Mandarin and Spanish at the same time. No problems.
  21. Another Mucinex fan here. My doc said to always use it with the clogged sinuses as the mucus needs to be thinned out in order to get moving. I also use the high volume/low pressure sinus rinse (http://www.neilmed.com/usa/adword_sr.php)
  22. DS has just discovered The Hardy Boys and is hooked! We are using them as our read-aloud before bed. I am reading from the old versions and love that I do not have to skim ahead in order to determine if I need to edit as I read. I have yet to run into anything offensive. DS is a newly turned 6 and we are quite conservative in what he reads/watches. I have had NO issues with The Hardy Boys. In fact, because the originals were written in the 1920s and 30s, DS has learned a lot of 'new' vocabulary - words that just aren't in our lexicon today. For example, the boys had to find a phone booth. DS was totally perplexed, but it lead to a wonderful discussion. Am@zon sells them for $6.99. We have found all of ours at Goodwill for $1.50 :hurray:
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