I buy organic because we drink so little (i.e. my kids drink one gallon every 1-2 weeks). If I were in your shoes with the high milk consumption, I would check the label for hormone free or ask your grocer which milks if any are hormone free. One of our local chains requires farmers that provide their milk pledge to not use hormones on their cows. I got the following passage about organic milk vs. regular milk from here: "Organic milk is obtained from cows that feed on grass that is not sprayed with fertilizers or other harmful chemicals. Organic milk is also gained from cows who are not injected with hormones to increase their production of milk. On the other hand, the cows producing organic milk are left in the pastures to feed themselves in the natural environment. Contrary to organic milk, regular milk is obtained from cows that are fed on grass sprayed with fertilizers or chemicals. These cows are also treated with hormones to increase production of milk. Regular milk is obtained from cows that are kept in sheds and are fed on grain. Regular milk contains antibiotics and synthetic hormones and it has a lower shelf life as compared to organic milk."

You are being completely reasonable, but be prepared for some backlash. I must admit that when I came home from college on my first semester break as a freshman and found that my room had been taken over by my baby sister I was a little taken a back. I was shipped off to the basement guest room. You might want to at least give him fair warning.

I grew up drinking milk twice a day and eating cheese, ice cream, etc. and loving it. My dh discovered this year that he is dairy sensitive so he eliminated it except for an occasional ice cream cheat. Because of his issue, I have eliminated dairy from all my cooking and have discovered the joy of rice and almond milk. I myself have become dairy sensitive this year (I wonder if it's because we've reduced our dairy intake so much?) so I avoid it most of the time too. Eating anything that's really cheesy or drinking egg nog now makes me ill.:( My kids still love "cow milk" and cheese so our fridge is like a milk extravaganza --- organic cow milk, vanilla almond milk, and plain rice milk. When I make pizza, I use mozzarella on half and make the other half cheese free with nutritional yeast sprinkled on it. I can't get used to the taste and texture of soy cheese so I eliminate cheese from all my other recipes.

I have leopard print ones and black ones. I wear black trouser socks with both, but you must understand that living in Michigan I wear boots whenever outside this time of year and switch to shoes upon arrival at my destination.

I see you live in Wisconsin so it may be just that time of year. I'm seasonal affective and find that taking a giant D3 supplement (like 5000 IUs) daily along with sitting in front of my full spectrum light for 15 minutes in the morning is just what it takes to get me back feeling even again. Don't be hard on yourself. It's winter. We've all got the blahs in the north.

We have WAY TOO MANY clothes here. We are the recipients of hand me downs --- lots of beautiful hand me downs from neighbors and friends who have older children--- so I might be a bad person to ask. Shoes - Each child has a pair of snow boots, a pair of rain boots, a pair of sandals, and a pair of sneakers. My dd also has a pair of dress shoes. I keep meaning to get ds some too, but always forget. Dresses - We could definitely get away with way less than what we have. She has 4 or 5 church/special occasion dresses and probably 4 or 5 casual dresses. She likes to wear dresses so I'd probably keep the same amount of casual dresses, but cut back the dressy dresses to 3 if I needed the space. Pants/Shirts/Socks - I like having at least 10 --- one for every day of the week plus a couple spares in case of tardy laundry or accidents. Plus a couple of pairs of tights for my daughter for church. Outerwear - one spring jacket, one winter jacket, one snowsuit or bibs, 2 pairs of identical waterproof mittens (in case one gets lost), hat, scarf What I listed is what I think we need. In reality, we have far more than this in terms of regular clothes (not outerwear). Anything that's too big is in bins in our hall closet for my daughter (1 Rubbermaid tub) and in my son's closet (6 Rubbermaid tubs---no I am not joking. He has inherited stuff that is up to size 7. He's 3 years old.). Anything that's outgrown except for outfits with very special memories attached (I think I have 4 or 5 outfits saved between the two of them) go to my niece and nephew or are donated immediately.

At our previous church, there was always a message in the newsletter saying if you would like to contribute to a cash gift for the pastor see person X. We always contributed what we were able. At our current church, we've never given our pastor a gift (eek!), but have had the pastor and spouse for Christmas dinner a couple of times over the years.

Today - Pad Thai Monday - black bean burgers, sweet potato fries, green beans Tuesday -chicken pot pie Wednesday -crispy eggplant with spaghetti and sauce Thursday -broccoli pizza for the kids (hubby and I have a date---yay!) Friday - split pea soup with bread Saturday - turkey with stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli souffle, glazed carrots, cranberry spinach salad, pumpkin pie, figgy pudding (I'm pretty excited about that one. It's gets lit on fire twice!:svengo:) Every foreseeable day post Saturday - something with turkey in it

I have to vote for the MacLaren Triumph too. It seems like a standard umbrella, but it has a net underneath to throw stuff in. Usually I hang my diaper bag by the shoulder strap over the handles and it stays just fine (unless I don't have the kiddo strapped in and he jumps out :tongue_smilie:). Ours has been over grass, gravel, dirt, through airports (lots of airports), and it has survived. It is now 4 years old (I bought it when dd was 18 months old) and has been through 2 kids and still looks pretty great. Granted, it doesn't run as smoothly over terrain as our jogger (have one of those too), but you can't beat the portability, the durability, or the overall value. I think I bought ours for $110 at a TJMaxx.

So cool! It looks so vintage chic now :001_smile:

Not like I'm planning on trying this, but HOW IN THE WORLD do you sneak in a large pizza?!?!?!

I just forwarded your post to all my vegetarian and vegan friends. Thanks so much for sharing. I about died laughing.:lol:

I haven't read the whole thread, but here's what we do--- I bring a bunch of empty stacked plastic storage containers in my purse. Then we buy the biggest popcorn and drink they offer (usually together about $13). I ask them for some extra cups (they will give you cups slightly larger than a dixie cup for free). Go in the theatre and divide. You will be STUNNED with how many people can share this. Plus, at our theatre you get free refills on the biggest size. Problem solved --- less expensive snacks and not ripping off the theatre all rolled into one. *My edit--- just wanted to clarify--- we're not going back and getting a million refills and dividing them. Last time we went we got one refill and it was on the way out of the theatre (my sister thought her dh who didn't come might want some).

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I only get on the forum once a day so it was nice to laugh out loud at all the gems I missed. The one above made me smile :001_smile:

My friend is a piano and voice instructor. She charges $25 per 30 minute lesson. I think others in the area charge around $20 though. She's able to charge more because she's known for being able to get kids prepared for music camp auditions and thus camp scholarships.

I haven't, but my mom did. She kept the same stone (which originally was set in a plain band) and had it set into a thicker setting with lots of stones around it.

I actually still use the tube paints. I just water them down a bit and put them in baby food jars. For books, I would try Seven Times the Sun by Shea Darian. It's EXTREMELY helpful for setting up rhythm. I know it's a must read for the parents at our local Waldorf school. I don't bake everyday, but as part of our rhythm we try to have a designated baking day each week. When I was in more of a groove, we did Monday-painting, Tuesday-library, Wednesday-baking, Thursday-craft, Friday-games. A good resource too is Melisa Nielsen who owns A Little Garden Flower. She has a blog, a Yahoo group, and a lot of helpful resources.

I LOVE FLASH MOBS!!! Check out this one at a wedding that surprised the bride ---

My daughter loves hummus and pita, veggies and dip, pieces of fruit, cheese sticks, and soup or pasta in a Thermos. One book I would recommend to check out of the library to get some fresh and different ideas is Vegan Lunch Box. Even if you're not vegetarian or vegan, it gets you out of the mind set of a piece of lunch meat on a piece of bread for lunch.

Go to Salvation Army, another thrift store, or a kids consignment store to see what they have. You might find something that would be perfect with a little paint or some minor modifications. Trust me--- don't buy new if you don't have to. From the mom of one little artist to another, it will have crayon marks and paint residue on it the first day. Our set is just a little white wooden table with two chairs that was a hand me down from a friend's parents. We store all our supplies in an upper cabinet in the kitchen because prior to that we had art supplies everywhere too. At least now, she has to ask for it (unless she pushes a chair over, but that's another story :tongue_smilie:).

I hear where you're coming from. We were faced with a similar issue this summer and ended up choosing school for this year. You can read my blog entry about our decision here. Make sure you're using Internet Explorer as your browser if you link to read it. It's a mess if you try to read it using Google Chrome. Best of luck with your decision. And just remember--- if you choose to homeschool now or choose to send to school now, it's not set in stone. You can always change your mind later and go with what works best for your child and your family at that time.

My vote would be to check some vegetarian or vegan cookbooks out at the library and try a few recipes. We're eating a lot more vegetarian meals now and eating healthier all the time. Two books that have been helpful and that I've cooked a lot of recipes out of are The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee and Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello. Christina Pirello also has a great website at http://www.christinacooks.com that has lots of recipes on it.

How much do you want to spend? I'm in favor of gift cards if you don't think the BILS would squander them. Does he eat out? One year I got a Dunkin' Donuts card for someone on my list who was a coffee drinker. How about a gift certificate for house cleaning? I can't imagine 3 single guys in a house not liking that. A food gift basket? I'm big on the gifts that don't create clutter.

If a gift comes from anyone other than us, we let them open it so it's not so overwhelming on Christmas Day. If it's from us, we make them wait. Wait a sec---do you put all your gifts under the tree before Christmas Eve?

She sounds exactly like my 4 year old niece! Exactly! I should have you talk to my sister :001_smile: My five year dd went through a similar phase that gradually has mellowed out a bit (she's still high maintenance but now manageable). One thing that worked for me is if she was in one of her moods I required her to spend every single minute with me until she could behave. I know that sounds kind of counterintuitive and extreme, but trust me --- after an hour or so of being forced to go with you everywhere (i.e. stand in the laundry room and help you put in a load, stand right next to you while you're cooking in the kitchen, sit on the bathroom floor while you're taking a pee, etc.) she will be begging you to let her do something on her own. Other than that, just pick a discipline method and be consistent. I am notorious for getting tired after being worn down after a while and not sticking to my guns, but I find that if I just stay firm that it works. Be kind to yourself. There are a lot of us in the same boat with you...