Love mine. It was last year's Christmas present and worth every penny!!

Get a Mighty Bright Booklight for nighttime reading. Easy to change batteries that last forever and two levels of lighting. I got mine at Barnes and Noble - about $10.

Here is our funny Elf on the Shelf story. Thought it was a great idea for then 2 year old son. Really made a big deal out of the whole thing. After we had read the book, etc., we hid the Elf. The next morning, DS finds the Elf, informs us that his Dad put him on the shelf and ...then informs us "why should I behave differently when an Elf is watching me than I normally do? Inappropriate behavior is not tolerated!" and then proceeds to tell us that Santa is make-believe. :eek: At least I was able to sell Elf to a friend in FL.

All the ones you have listed are used in our family. The only new I have is what my FIL is called - Grampy.

The Children's Place has fleece pajamas that are very warm. DS won't sleep under the covers and while visiting DD in MN, he has been quite warm (and DD doesn't turn the heat above 63 :001_huh:)

Aquaphor.

Oh, what a pretty girl! I've had chihuahuas my whole life. The one we have now, named Rainbow, was gotten at a garage sale!!! She is the product of a divorce and has been one of the sweetest chis we have ever had. She is 11.5 now and starting to slow down, but oh, how we love her.

I use an old fashioned calendar - one month at a time showing. It works great for me - drives my techno-geek husband crazy. He has bought me just about every electronic calendar device made and I always go back to my old fashioned calendar.

Instead of reading the whole word, just guess whatever happens to be on his mind :confused:. Then when I ask if that is really a word, I get a whole diatribe on the definition of the nonsense word he just 'guessed' at. Makes me batty:willy_nilly:

Oh, I love white rice, too! I, too, tried to like brown rice but never could acquire the taste. UNTIL - I found sweet brown rice at the Asian Market. Cooks in my rice cooker just like sweet white rice and it has a wonderful flavor. DH even eats it and he is the world's pickiest eater. Considering we eat rice every day, at least now it is a little healthier.

I got my clothes steamer at Costco about 9 months ago and haven't used the iron since :D. For dress shirts, I lay the shirt on top of a towel on the bed and press the collar/placket/sleeve crease. Then I hang it up for the rest of the shirt. Since getting my steamer, I haven't gotten behind on ironing. I can be a little anal retentive about wrinkles :tongue_smilie: and the steamer has really been a blessing. (I'm not at home right now but if you want the brand I bought, I'll ask DH when I talk to him tonight.)

Oh, I followed her last year and she had some great recipes!!!!

Love our front loader. Don't get behind on laundry because the dryer can actually keep up with the washer. Ease of use :D. I'm in MN visiting DD and DH is having to be a bachelor for 3.5 weeks. We've been married 28 years and I've always done the laundry. I was actually able to give him instructions over the phone on how to use the washer and he did it. He called me when he was done and was so proud of himself. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it would have been just about impossible to mess the laundry up. Even our 4 year old knows how to use it!

Only time mine isn't talking is when he is sleeping!

I'm in if a 4 year old boy can participate. A funny story about Flat Stanley: Several years ago our Goddaughter was doing this project. We were off on a cruise so FS came with us. Lots of great pics UNTIL we got to the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman. DH set FS up on a railing next to the turtle enclosure. Along came a gust of wind and well, FS became turtle food. Let's just say that when we were supposed to send FS back, we said that he was having so much fun in Grand Cayman that he just didn't want to leave!:lol:

At 46 (and DH 49), we adopted a 2 year old boy from China. Talk about keeping us young in our retirement! No hardening of the arteries here!

:iagree:DH won't eat cream of mushroom so it is always replaced with cream of chicken.

Made these last night. Crushed corn flakes Some evaporated milk A little butter Dip pork chops in evaporated milk and then pat crushed corn flakes on chops. Arrange in baking dish. Drizzle with a little melted butter. Cook at 375 for 45 minutes.

Oh, I feel your pain. We traveled to MN on Nov 22 to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter and new granddaughter. DH flew back to GA on the 27th as he is a teacher and has to go back to work (he'll come back up on Dec. 21). DS and I are staying to help with the baby. I thought we would just have a relaxed month of Dec :chillpill:. Apparently, DS had other ideas. He was so out of sorts that DH had to FedEx a package with our homeschoool materials in it to MN. I've never seen a happier 4 year old as when that package arrived!!!! So we are doing school as usual - just with the addition of a three month old:D.

I asked for one last Christmas and it finally arrived in March due to backorders. I LOVE MY KINDLE!!! I have spent very little on purchasing books as there are lots of things that are free. We travel a lot and it was one of the primary reasons for getting the Kindle. I just load it up with books and am only carrying one thing. Even DS loves MaMas's Kindle as I always have some sort of book on there that I can read to him when we are having to wait somewhere. DH loves the fact that I'm not coming home from Costco with a box of books once a month that then wind up everywhere. This summer I cleaned out all my old books and we actually sold 4 bookshelves that had been overrun with books. Yes, occasionally I still by a regular book. However, it is usually one I need for some research and I like to be able to flip back and forth with lots of post-its and notes. I can do that on the Kindle, but am still old-fashioned with those type of books.:tongue_smilie:

We just keep moving ahead here, too.

:iagree:. DH has to have the TV on for background noise! Drives me nuts as DS and I don't watch TV.

:grouphug:

:grouphug: to you both. You might also look into Bio-Oil for the scarring. It has worked great on the scars in our family.

:grouphug: