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I used a mother's helper when I was pregnant with our second; I was told not to go up and down stairs for the last two months of my pregnancy (I was allowed to go down in the morning and up to go to bed), and we lived in a 3-story townhouse, so I needed a hand occasionally to get things done. Our mother's helper was a 13 yo girl who was the daughter of a friend of ours. She lived with us for three days and got our laundry caught up, ironed, cleaned the whole house, made lunches and dinners, and played with our oldest (who was 18 mo at the time) and took her to the park a block away every afternoon. She was amazing! After that long weekend, she would come occasionally to iron, change the sheets, and take oldest dd to the park. I couldn't have gotten along without her. My dd worked as a mother's helper when she was 9. She would go to a neighbor's house when the mom wanted to do outside chores or focus on getting bills paid. Dd would go over and just play with their 4yo and 2yo and get them snacks or lunch. Their mom was home the whole time and was available if needed.

None. I use the milovaný method.

Well, I was going to suggest fencing, but I guess I'd better not. :lol:

This. Definitely.

That the mundane tasks take up the majority of life. No wonder TV has so many commercial breaks... it hides the uninteresting, boring bits. :glare:

This was our tradition growing up as well. (Except all of our stocking gifts were wrapped in all the gift wrap scraps leftover from the tree gifts.) Dh's family tradition was to open stockings on Christmas Eve, sleep in late Christmas Day, have a HUGE breakfast, and open wrapped gifts after eating. We've tried to combine both traditions: adults open stockings Christmas Eve (some stocking gifts are wrapped, but most aren't), kids can open stockings as soon as we get up and we eat a light breakfast while we open stockings (biscotti, fruit, tassies, etc), then we open tree gifts after breakfast is all cleaned up.

Apparently, I have no flattering pictures of my boys, but here we go anyway: ds11 - Darth Maul (sleepy and sans light saber) dd14 - Vampire dd15 - Sherlock Holmes ds8 - Soldier (because, as he put it, "It's easy. I get to wear my regular clothes, but I get to carry a gun!"

We just moved into a HUGE apartment complex near lots of other HUGE apartment complexes and housing developments. It's the first time we've ever really lived in a neighborhood, so we ran and got two huge bags of candy on our way home today (since we'd already eaten most of the huge bag we'd gotten earlier in the week :blushing: ) so that we would be prepared... and NO ONE has come by. It looks like most people around here go to church or town sponsored events. Guess we'll be eating candy for awhile. :D

Bringing Up Baby is my favorite. Philadelphia Story and Arsenic And Old Lace are in a close run for second. "I'll be with you in a minute, Mr. Peabody!"

Done. :grouphug:

Congratulations! :party:

No Tuesdays here. Dh: Wednesday Me: Thursday dd15: Friday dd14: Friday ds11: Friday ds9: Monday

You could just go ahead and name him Rowan. Keeps the Faulkner link to the name.

Here. Hopefully this is the last day, though. The temperature is supposed to drop 20-30 degrees over the next 24-48 hours. Ahhh...

When I eat them at home (I prefer oatmeal, though) I eat them with brown sugar and milk. A friend of mine makes an amazing cheese grits casserole, and I could eat grits all day long if they were in that casserole.

Oops. Double post.

Thank you!

Twice a year: once around Thanksgiving or Christmas then again in August for the county fair. :001_smile: Now we live 20 hours away... we haven't been to see family in about 3 years. They try to get here once a year, though. Much easier for two people to travel than for 6 people and a dog.

My ds11 (soon to be 12) has been saving his money to buy my iPod Touch from me when I was able to replace it with an iPhone (thus not having to carry my iTouch and and phone). Well, I was just gifted a phone so he'll be getting the Touch, but we've decided to just give it to him for his birthday loaded with some games and music so he can play with it right away. We've got the music covered, but I'm looking for some good games to put on it for him. He likes to pay Angry Birds, anything Lego, Presidents Vs Aliens, and Stack The States & Countries. Any other ideas? Anything free or low cost would be great! Thanks!

Thank you for giving us the gift of praying for her and for updating us. I will continue praying for her, her family, and all those who care for her. :grouphug:

His medical practice is in the basement of the townhouse. Oh, and his patients only go into labor at night. :D

If you think the dog has been mistreated and would have kept the dog if no one had claimed him, I think I would call the shelter and let them know that someone put up a flier looking for the dog. I would take the dog and the info to the shelter, let them know that I would be interested in adopting the dog if the owner decides not to pay the fees to claim it (our shelter charged boarding and vet fees to owners of dogs who had been injured and/ or needed to be cleaned up to be safely put into the shelter's general population), and let the shelter contact the owners. It is my understanding that most owners who have mistreated their dogs will just surrender the dog for adoption rather than pay the recovery and care fees. However, if the dog has been missing for a while and its lack of care is due to its being loose for a long time, the owners will claim the animal, pay the fees, and happily bring the animal home. I have to admit, though, that if a dog appeared neglected to me I would have a hard time letting it go back to the owners. But it is their dog.

Yes. It's nasty, but fortunately (in my case) it was short-lived. Hope he feels better soon and that the rest of you remIn healthy.

Ditto here. I can access the calendars on my phone and my computer, share calendars with whoever I choose, and invite people to events I create. Love it!