ok ok ok I'm in even though my 17 thinks shes smarter, & wiser then me and my boys are annoying and my 5 yr dd is a whinner this week.... (wink, ment with a tint of a joke... :glare:) but yes, agreed. hugs instead of slugs got it.

hahaha.. I have scrap stuff. I call myself a scrapper. I tell myself its my hobby. THEN.. I realized its been a few years.. (like maybe 7?) since I scrapped. My 12 ds asked why I was saving a few paper scraps from vacation and I told him it was for his scrapbook! He looked at me all innocent and completely unware and said "you scrapbook?"... obviously its been a while. and no i'm not ready to sell anything on ebay! I WILL use my stuff. I WILL use my stuff. I WILL use my stuff. There .. see owning supplies is half the battle--

I vote PAINT IT! My boys room is 3 walls tan, one wall dark blue. We used metalic primer so magnets stick to the wall. Certificates & pictures can be stuck with cool boy magnets. We painted the door and window trims white and the bedding is blue to match the odd wall. The 3 tan walls make the pictures they've hung stand out better. My girls have a BRIGHT PINK and brown cowgirl room. Its way to pink for me, but they both love it. Now.. if only I could figure out a color for MY room!??!

I could have written the above paragraph! Yes carbs really mess me up.. and I didn't realize that until I went a month without them, then started eating them again! However, the brain fog & COMPLETE lack of energy for me was an iron problem. Once I started my daily iron, I was better overnight! Go get your blood workdone... it will tell you ALOT!

I can only tell you what we do here. Each child has a list of chores that is THEIR responsibility (and it changes weekly & with age). For these, they do NOT get paid. They are part of our family, and our family works together. HOWEVER, on my fridge I have listed chores they can earn money for. Examples are: washing the car, weeding the flower bed, wash the dog, clean out fridge (yes remove everything, wash down, return all items to fridge). If I happen to pull all the kids outside with me one Saturday and its clean the yard day, I don't pay for that weeding. I only pay for the extras the kids pull of the fridge and do themselves without prompting. Basically we pay for the kids activities (church, movies w/ friends we invite along, ice cream with the youth group) until the child has a job or is in high school whichever is first. Spending money (for renting video games, to purchase ANOTHER skateboard or for social activities they plan themselves), for those, they are on their own. My oldest is 17 and currently looking for a job. My husband is paying her car insurance and gas until she gets a job, then we will ween her off our pocketbook. I'm sure you will get other advice, but this is what has worked for us!

um... Whats this check?:confused:

ME TOO!! I use to eat those sour belts and burn my tongue! DH would go to different local baseball park snack shacks to get me more, then we discovered you could buy them in bulk at Sam's Club.

I have swam a few times with the creatures and been fine. One bite of shellfish and I already feel the reaction. Considering I'm rarely the norm, take that with a grain of salt. :tongue_smilie:

Yes and Az also BUT.... they are more like 5 tiny closets in a row w/ the sinks on another wall. Think like family bathrooms at the malls It is one big open room so the teacher can stand by the sinks. I've seen it work and it was fine.

I've read the other post and found them interesting and yet.. I'm not sure I agree with them. My 12 yr old son is experiencing new emotions daily-- and sometimes he can't ID them. He likes this one girl and when he saw a friend talking to her, he got "mad"-- I told him that was jealousy. He also describes feeling "mad" insituations when his feelings were actually hurt. Instead of saying.. he was hurt-- mad is all that comes to mind. Interesting study done a few years back. They showed 4 yr old boys and girls pictures of women showing different emotions. The girls picked up on happy, surprised, mad, sad etc-- while the boys couldn't identify the different emotions.

I'm with you. We use the medical terms without batting an eye. I don't understand the line of thinking of making cutesy names for things either. My friend and her hubby call them "carrots & onions" -- to each his own I guess.

:grouphug: Obviously you are raising your son right by the things you've described. I do want to :grouphug: you though and mention one thing. As a young child I was sexual abused. As a teen, I did drugs. I snuck out. I got prego right out of high school. I was raised in a Christian home & I was stupid. HOWEVER.. I have been able to, MORE THEN ONCE, use my teen life as part of my testimoney to my dd, & her friends. Don't be embarrassed by your past, you were young, didn't know better-- and the worst of what you described WASN'T YOUR FAULT. People that knew me then & know me know have told my kids they'd never recongize the then me. I take that as a compliment.

Straight up.. I take water pills. They are available next to the midol at Target. Sometimes they are by the tampons. Midol helps but nothing like water pills. Be sure you're by a bathroom as you'll be going alot :tongue_smilie:

1) My gas stations DON"T sell mulch, although I wish one did as we are currently looking for some. 2) I think if it was titled celebration party, you wouldn't have a problem with it. I think the title PROM leads the mind to a high school prom. 3) Yes it is everywhere here in California and I don't like it. I'd say its a hispanic thing but I know people of other nationalities that have it as well. I can't explain it, matter of fact, when my mom passed I was asked if I wanted one. My thoughts were that I didn't want to look at her name and the "end" date everytime I got in my car.

Does anyone know why when I try to rep for good... and I"m signed in (I had to check that..) I get a message that says... you do NOT have permission to perform that action. please refresh and try again? I've gotten this message for the past few weeks-- :confused: I like to rep random acts and such but i can't do anything right now....? THanks!

My father is a mortician. Yes I've heard all the jokes. Yes dinner topics weren't normal. Yes caskets, urns, & toetag catalogs were around our house all the time. Fun stuff eh?

The hoover floor scrubber from the 50's I had FINALLY gave out. I love that thing for scrubbing the kitchen & bathroom floors. I can not seem to find anything similar to it. Besides the good old fashion way of scrubbing on your hands and knees what other ways do you clean your floors? I was looking at the Shark Steam Mop for $80 at Target yesterday. Steaming hot water onto the floor and mopping it up instantly seems like it would work if it was a weekly thing. Opinions??? :confused:

Oh totally adorable!! I'm still working up the courage. On a scale from 1-10, 10 being worst- how would you describe the pain level?

Julie. .what version of Fun Places book do you have? If you have the new version, check out the recommendations on the front page!! :tongue_smilie:, btw. Susan, the author, is a friend of mine. She is the most amazing sweetest organized homeschooling mom ever! And shes online. 99% of what is in the book, can be found at Funplaces.com :auto:

hold oh now-- back that truck up.. did you just call us Californians weird? hummmm...... personally we go protein style around here.. well I do, dh does animal fries with his animal burger... :tongue_smilie:

Yes we do now. Didn't always. We went through a HUGE rough patch (he fought depression & substance issues) Luckily his brain engaged a short while ago and now he's perfect.:hurray: haha.. kidding - kind-of. :001_tt2: BTW>. I just discovered the new smilies and I LOVE THEM!

Is she the only one on the bus at any time?:confused:

My husband travels all over for work and usually calls me throughout the day. He knows I'm all over the place with the kids so he only cares to know if we won't be home when he gets home. When inspecting, he eats with lawyers & paralegals for lunch. If you've followed my lastest postings you'd see he will be eating with me when he is in the office now.. :D We dont really have a discussed amount as far as spending goes but we ask each others opinions on things we are thinking of buying. As far as schedules go, dh checks our family schedule or calls to check dates w/ me before he adds anything to the calendar. Jen- we have similar dhs. When mine gets home, he talks about this or that lawyer or the case he is working. Sometimes, I want q u i e t but just smile and let him talk. It works b/c he shares with me and I love the way he sees things differently then I do. Its a great way to gain perspective in life.

Singer Jewel- sort of

I'm only a third option vote because I have a few questions. I live in Southern California and a waterpark season pass is $65 for the summer. My question is where do you live? Is there something else besides that pool; like an amusement park? Is the more expensive pool close enough to make a difference in gas? To me the not opening until 2 part is big- your day is half over! The $400 does give your family something to do so you may be less apt to spend money however, if you DON"T go to the park 4 days a week (family sick or tired, crabby toddler), the cost per visit goes up! Are you a big play in the pool family? Target carries the 5X10 4 foot deep pools for under $200- could you get one for your back yard just for this season? Then you'd have pool access all the time! I'm as torn as you are! :tongue_smilie: