I usually find them in the Kool-Aid aisle. I like Special K and the South Beach Diet ones. I once tried the generic store brand and they were awful. :ack2:

I agree, drinking water really does help control hunger. I've been drinking several bottles of water each day since mid-May (instead of snacking) and I've lost 4 pounds. Sometimes I add one of those flavored protein & fiber powders, but I mostly drink plain water.

LOL! Where I live, people call the giant cockroaches "waterbugs".

LOL! Well, since my photo is not showing up, maybe I should change the title to Big Hug! :grouphug:

I saw this earlier outside my garage door! Can anyone identify it? I'm sorry the photo is kind of blurry. It looks like a giant beetle to me. After I took a few pictures, I put a glass over it and saved it for DH. Edited: Sorry, the photo is not showing up!

Thanks for posting this!

:lol:

I'm just wondering, how often do you treat yourself to a pedicure, manicure, massage, facial, or other spa services? I know several women who have a monthly "personal maintainence" budget and have standing appointments for these services. One woman I know has her teeth professionally whitened several times a year. Another has standing appts. for bikini and eyebrow waxing. The last time I got a massage was about a year ago and I got a mani/pedi about 2 years ago (both were gifts from DH). I balked at the $16.99 I paid for a generic teeth-whitening kit from Target! When I told one of my friends that I hadn't gotten my hair cut (professionally) in over 8 years, she was horrified. I guess I am just a beauty misfit!

Our toilets get really nasty too. I spray each toilet with bleach a few times each week. That is the only cleanser that cleans and gets rid of the odor as well.

Is it motivatedmoms.com? I just bought this calendar and it is great -- I highly recommend it!

I just went outside for 5 minutes, after spraying myself head-to-toe with Deep Woods Off -- I'm literally dripping with the stuff! I now have a nice little welt under my eye and huge one on my ankle. Last night we tried Avon's Skin-So-Soft bug spray and that didn't do a thing. Is there anything on the market that actually works?

Dd and I always wear boys' swim shorts over our one-piece bathing suits at water parks and it's never been a problem. Like the other posters suggested, I would give the park a call and see what their rules are. Have fun!!

Those scams are appalling! I really can't believe that people fall for them but, sadly, they do. Someone tried to scam me once via my cell phone. I could tell that the call was not coming from the US because there was a several-second delay whenever the caller spoke (plus, no number came up on the caller ID). Basically he said that I was the lucky recipient of a US Government grant. To claim the money, all I had to do was give him my SS# (to verify my identity) and my bank account number so they could directly deposit the money for me -- how convenient! I had not applied for any type of grant so I knew this was scam and I immediately hung up. The really scary part was that the caller asked for me by name!

I bought one about 3 weeks ago. It is a mediocre product; definitely not worth $80, in my opinion. I've found that it just kind of pushes spills/dirt around without really removing it.

I miss small-town living! We live the suburbs of a very large city. My mother still lives in the town where I grew up and she knows how much I detest big-city life. She always calls to tell me things like: "I just went to the bank, grocery store, dentist, got my oil changed, and filled up my gas tank all in less than 1.5 hours." [All of these errands would take me at least 4-5 hours.] or "My dryer stopped working, so Sam from the hardware store (you know, Janice & Bob's youngest) came by and fixed it for free." [Where we live, no one does anything for free (not to mention, we don't personally know the repair man)! Businesses charge an arm and a leg just to come out and take a look at the problem; the actual labor is a whole new set of charges!] The last time we went to visit her, I was amazed that they still have living, breathing people behind the meat counter in the grocery stores! You tell the butcher what you want and they cut it up and package it for you in brown paper wrapping! Where we live, there is no one to help you at the meat counter. Everything is pre-cut and packaged in plastic wrap - yuck! *Sigh* Well, it's time to get ready for our 20 minute drive to swimming lessons. Enjoy all of that wonderful, fresh fruit! :)

My wardrobe (if you can call it that) has become very frumpy over the years. My SIL bluntly told me that it was time to get some new clothes. I won't repeat everything she said, but she did mention burning the contents of my closet! At first I was offended, but then I realized that the colorful comments she made about my elastic-waist pants might be true; a little harsh maybe, but true! Anyway, I found a few great pieces on the clearance racks at Ann Taylor and Nordstrom Rack. In which other stores can I find cute, yet practical clothing? I tend to lean toward classic and/or traditional styles. Thanks so much for your help!

Any updates? I've been following this very interesting thread since the beginning.

Thanks so much, everyone! We are going to focus on copywork and narration. Ds goes to a private school and they didn't do a lot of writing in 2nd grade. They focused on spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. and now I understand why. Well, I'm off to look at copybooks! Thanks again! :)

Thanks, everyone! Ds7 just finished 2nd grade. I kind of thought I might have been asking too much of him. When he became upset, I calmed him down and told him he didn't have to finish the sentences. Before he started writing, I asked him to tell me about the book. His description was very cryptic so maybe we're dealing with a reading comprehension issue as well. OhElizabeth, what is WWE? Thanks!

My ds7 (almost 8) is struggling with writing. He can barely write a simple, complete sentence. Tonight I asked him to write 5 sentences about the chapter book he read today. The sentences he came up with were very poorly written; I honestly think my dd4 could have done a better job. It was very difficult for him to construct a sentence; he became very frustrated and started to cry. I comforted him and told him it was OK, we'd work on writing sentences another day. Here's an example of a sentence he wrote: "A to Z Mystery is about the kid name are Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose." I am completely baffled as to why writing is so challenging for him. He is a very good student and got all A's and one B+ (reading) on his report card. I wish I knew how to help him become a better writer. Any suggests and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I've sold a lot of books on Amazon. It's fast and easy to list your items.

I actually used both of the names I had picked out for a boy and a girl. For privacy reasons I won't list them here, but I can tell you they are Biblical names.

That is too funny! Thanks for sharing!

Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, and Jane Iredale all have excellent foundations. They are pretty expensive (over $40) but, in my opinion, well worth the money.

I heard that phrase recently when my dc were watching an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. I think it was Squidward who said it. The writers must have recycled it from SNL.