Mine took about 6 weeks. And, it's AWESOME!!!!!!! LOVE IT! I will never go back to store bought. So easy and so yummy in recipes.

No, it doesn't bother me one bit.

I had to revive this thread today because dd came up with two crazy aspirations in one morning. When she grows up she now wants to be either: 1) a homeless man who wanders the streets with a capybara she plans to steal from the zoo or 2) the owner of a restaurant from which take out orders are delivered via broomstick; she wants to make the deliveries, of course

Prayers and :grouphug:.

Dd will turn 7 in two weeks, and I just started letting her do this about 2 weeks ago. I was nervous about it at first, but she has done fine with following my expectations. I definitely prefer it when she and the neighbor kids play in our backyard, but so far the front has worked out, too. Now, though, she would like us to let her walk 6 houses down to play other kids in the neighborhood, and I'm not yet comfortable with that. Oh, I should mention that she does not play in the front yard alone, though. That would definitely bother me.

My dd wants to be a "friendly" werewolf for Halloween. So I thought, okay, I can do this. She has a plain gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, so I bought gray gloves and some black fake fur. I put the fake fur on the gloves and at the shoulders of the sweatshirt. My dh walked in and asked if she decided to be a skunk. Dd likens the costume to a hairball. I just wanted her to be a butterfly - black leggings, black shirt, wings, and glitter on the face - done! I am so not the mom who can pull together whatever her child decides she wants to be for Halloween and make it look good!!!! Ugh! :ack2:

:iagree:What is happening to us could happen to anyone. The rule of thumb is to have 6 months of income saved up in case of a lost job. We had enough saved up to get us to the three year point. My dh got a part time job to help defray (it doesn't come close to covering that loss but decent paying jobs are hard to come by here right now) the loss of income from his business. Having a large savings does not make one immune to the effects of the current economy. When the jobs aren't there, the money doesn't last forever. I talked to my husband about this today to get a feel for what our actual situation was when we bought our house. Our mtg payment was one tenth of our monthly take home (TAKE HOME) income. But a year after moving in, the economy crashed, my husband's business tanked, and our income took a hit that we could have never foreseen. Thank goodness we had the savings we had to allow us to hold on as long as we have, or our house would be just like a few of the houses near here - abandoned, walked away from - - and these are older, not flashy, small for the area homes in a very mature, established neighborhood. We chose to not go the McMansion route, but in the end, even that didn't matter. We don't believe it's the govt's obligation to bail us out, but if our lender will agree to modify, you bet we're going to go through with that if it looks like it's on the up and up. I guarantee you the people in our neighborhood would much rather a family keep their house by whatever means rather than walk away from it and have yet another foreclosed home on the market making the neighborhood look bad and further bringing down everyone else's property values in the long run. This is a polarizing topic, and had we not had this happen to us, I could see us feeling the way many of you do. Perhaps it was good that it did happen to us. We are much more compassionate and empathetic people for going through this - and certainly less judgmental.

Absolutely. For shorter books, multiple stories. For chapter books, one chapter if it's really long (i.e. Harry Potter) and one picture book. If the chapters are short (like House at Pooh Corner, Box Car Children, etc), then multiple chapters. Between school read-alouds and our own choices at night, I read out loud at least 3 hours a day. I will continue to read to her at night until she asks me to stop. It's something I love doing.

We do fit the description of the responsible borrower, and referencing another poster's response, we are directly affected by the housing market. When we bought, we qualified for more than twice the amt of what we ended up purchasing. We were extremely conservative in our home choice. We had a huge chunk of savings built up and lived way below our means. Fast forward to now, and my dh's income has dropped 80% and the savings is gone. We are barely scraping by and have been trying to hang on for the past three years as things get progressively worse. We are about to request a mortgage modification to see if we can keep the house. If not, we will be starting over in a new-to-us-city and renting a teeny tiny place from a family member . I know there are more people out there like us - people who tried to do the right thing, who followed the rules, who didn't spend stupidly, buy more house than they could afford at the time. Families who are out of reach of the economic horrors this country is facing are incredibly lucky. Yes, there were some people out there who made stupid decisions, but don't punish the many of us whose lives have been turned upside down due to extraordinary economic circumstances. Please don't just assume everyone you hear about in bankruptcy, foreclosure, or seeking other assistance is stupid or irresponsible. This area has been hurt badly, and the housing market is dead here - - absolutely DEAD. I imagine much of the country is the same. And now we have a vote coming up regarding city/county consolidation. If it passes, not only will we still be struggling to pay our note, our home will most likely become "under water" and taxes will increase tremendously to cover the exorbitant amt of unfunded pension plans the city holds.

Poe's stories. Love them, but I do find them spooky.

Ah! I pull this up ready to vent about my day gone horrid and this is the first post that came up. : ) Thank you, Pamela! Yes, I need something, too, after this day. There must be something in the air.

I haven't read through all of the posts, so maybe this has been referenced already. In case not, though, here is a statement made by the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters: The fire department's decision to let the home burn was "incredibly irresponsible," said the president of an association representing firefighters. "Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up," Harold Schaitberger, International Association of Fire Fighters president, said in a statement. "They get in their trucks and go." I agree with the IAFF. By the way, South Fulton is now supposedly reviewing their policy. Too little, too late for the Cranicks, though.

I strongly agree with the time away from home - - but with your spouse. Even if it's to a cabin in a state park. My dh and I have been so stressed the past 3 years so I understand what you're saying (btdt at times), but we are still making time to get away (as a family, so dd is with us) from the things that are stressing us. This makes a HUGE difference in how we respond to each other. We really need those few days every now and then away from reality. When we're away from the stress, I can easily see what I really like about him! :) And, I'm much nicer, too. :) :) It's keeping our relationship sane and keeping our family strong. Thoughts are with you and your family. :grouphug:

Of course, they're happy! They climbed a mountain. It's fun. Feels like a wild accomplishment in the realm of physical feats. Lots to do and see, too. My grandparents property contains half a mountain (one side all the way to the top), and my cousins and I would pack a lunch and spend the day on the mountain beginning much younger than your son. The only time my grandparents worried about us was during hunting season. Then, we either didn't go at all, or we had to wear nearly head to toe ugly, bright orange. Hunters aren't supposed to be on their property, but there's so much of it, chances are someone wanders on from time to time. And snakes in that area were just as much of a danger off the mountain as on, so that was nothing new. We probably had an innate sense of self-preservation given that we all pretty much grew up on that land. Most of us lived there at one time or another or at least stayed there during the summers and holidays. I'm glad your son had fun and arrived home safely. I'd give anything to live near a mountain again. Oh, he probably should pack a few safety items next time, though. A flashlight with working batteries would be good in case he's up there after dark again. We always started out early morning, but we did bring a flashlight just in case. That, of course, was back in the days of no cell phones, though, so maybe we were more cautious because we knew there would be no way to get in touch with someone.

I would bet that it's less a seizure issue and more of a flight or fight mechanism. The OP stated that he "checks out" when he is intimidated or under pressure. Flight/fight mode fits the situation. I know about that because it's common among previously institutionalized children, but it's certainly not unique to children with such backgrounds.

:grouphug:

Adding to my original list: another pair of Tom's Shoes - really love the burlap looking pair in the current line like others, a long-term (talking years and years, here!) housekeeper would be the most wonderful fantasy gift ever and a long-term live-in chef would be the best fantasy gift I could give my family! :lol:

Your dad is my new hero!!!! This is what I'm trying to teach my dd. I don't want her to grow up to fear or judge people for their race, s~xual identity, socio-economic status, etc. I want her to value the differences in people and to see how the world is a brighter and more interesting place because we are unique. I want her to know that she is okay no matter what others might think of her or say about her and to feel that those who don't value her for who she is rather than what she looks like, what she wears, etc. are the ones who lose out. I want her to champion those afraid to speak out for themselves. I don't want her to hate others because they are not like her. I've seen too many parents - whether unknowingly or not - impart hatred for others to their children. My own parents succeeded in this with my brothers but thank God my grandparents saved me from that path. Now my one brother is passing this along to his children. It's a horrid cycle and parents have the power to break it.

Exactly! One of our associate pastors has a beautiful diamond stud nose ring. I love that our church doesn't pass judgment on anyone (leaves that job where it belongs!). Unfortunately, where I live, there aren't many places of worship or homeschool groups like that, though. Thankfully, there are a few; maybe one day there will be more.

This is my goal, too. I'm just a year younger. Jean, I just wrapped up a play with a woman who just turned 50, and she has more energy and is way more fit than many people half her age. She is amazing and has inspired me to keep trying. It can be done. Like you, I'm just hoping to unlock the secret as to how!!! :)

I am pain and needle phobic. My husband signed up for the registry years ago. I didn't because of the rep for pain. A couple of months ago, though, my friend's little boy was diagnosed with leukemia. He needs a marrow transplant to live. I was heartbroken for the family. The son is the same age as dd and they have so much in common. Now that I'm a mom, my only thought is, yes, of course I'll sign up to see if I'm a match. I would want the same if it were my child. So I signed up. Fortunately for the little boy, the sister is a perfect match and will be the donor. But, I don't regret signing up. Saving someone's life - the life of someone's child, someone's parent, someone's spouse is so much greater than temporary pain. It took being a parent for me to understand this.

a rocking chair weekend trips I've been hoping to take yarn in natural fibers and yummy colors dark choc a new Tye Dye Mary tee shirt dress new yoga pants lush bath products

were they the peanut butter things wrapped in black or orange wax paper? if so, i think i was the only one in my family who liked them, too.

Sounds wonderful!!! I may pitch the idea to our church. I see you are in West MI? Anywhere near Union City? We're still entertaining the idea of moving there.

That's too funny!! And you really need to keep this forever and pull it out when she has kids!!!!!! : ) : )