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AndyJoy

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Everything posted by AndyJoy

  1. I recently met a lady named Evie (Evelyn) who is in her 70s. She thinks it is hilarious that her name is so popular again. She thinks it sounds too old-fashioned, but I told her better Evelyn than Mildred...
  2. John is declining but it still made #26 in 2015! John was at #48. Name voyager is fun: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=john&sw=both&exact=false My 8-year-old's middle name is John (for my dad).
  3. My kids are a boy (8) and girl (4) an neither the amount nor quantity of their gifts match. Mostly I just focus on there being 1-2 big, "special" gifts, and some smaller things to fill it out. If they were same gender, closer in age, teens, etc. I might try to make things match better, but their interests are different and they don't compare such things. Christmas Eve will match in quantity, just because we have a tradition of pajamas and a board game, but on Christmas morning I think DS will have a lot more items because he's collecting bits of a series. I spent more on him this year. Last year I spent more on DD. DD will have fewer, but bigger things and won't want what he has and will be perfectly happy with what she does.
  4. We're huge Playmobil fans here. My 8-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl get TONS of use out of them. We have a house, vintage castle (amazing thrift store find), preschool, school, farm, zoo, beach house, pool, playground, pirates, whew! We rotate what's out and they love it all. Amazon, Toys R Us, our local toy shop, and the Playmobil website are all places I shop. Our local Toys R Us often has 20% off vehicles, or buy one get one 40% off, or clearance sets.
  5. My kids love condiment-style squeeze bottles for drawing in the snow with water dyed with food coloring. My 4-year-old remembers from a year ago and asked if we could do it this year too :). I have a designated tutu, scarves, hats, buttons, etc. that they're allowed to use for snow people and leave outside.
  6. Yes, these are amazing! They are all that we use for school now with my 8-year-old and 4-year-old.
  7. My blonde, white 4-year-old wants an Elena birthday party next year (for now—mermaids or fairies may win). She has 3 Elena shirts/dresses, socks, and underwear and desperately wants a costume dress. She was Doc McStuffins for Halloween at 2.
  8. It might be regionally influenced as well. I didn't hear them until I was a college student in CA in 2000. But I went to a private school in another state that banned all euphemisms, such as "shoot" and "dang." But even amongst the public school kids I played sports with and took a couple classes with, I never heard them. When I taught jr. high at a private school in CA in 2008, many of my students used them frequently, but I didn't allow it in my classroom.
  9. $150 really doesn't sound unreasonable to me. My parents gave me $100 a month in 2000-2003. I had a 20 hour a week work-study job, but that went directly to tuition. My expenses were things like: Shampoo/conditioner Razors Soap Period supplies Laundry General consumable school supplies Photocopies Printer cartridges and paper Report covers for papers Gas money for friends who drove me A cup of coffee Clothes, shoes A book or magazine The occasional movie, meal, or snack, especially dorm events or celebrating a friend's birthday or a wedding shower Saving for gifts for family I also did odd jobs on campus (study lounge supervision, tutoring) that paid cash and probably added $50 a month.
  10. We have 4 of the Yvolution Flikers, including one that's mine :). So much fun! I have the C3, and while I don't use the wheelie feature, I like the larger size compared to my son's B3, which technically fits me but feels a bit short for 5'7" me.
  11. I was introduced to the phrase through a FB group for parents of gifted children. There is a linked article in the group explaining the concept, which gives Australia as the origin. I don't think we have our own concise phrase in the United States until we started borrowing it ;). Perhaps it will become commonly known.
  12. Me too. My younger sister, who dated extensively, thought I was insane. I explained I knew what I wanted, narrowed down options before actually dating, and would have ended the relationship if I decided we weren't headed to the marriage I wanted. We've been married 14 years.
  13. Yes: 1. I heared screaming, "No! No! No!" DH went to investigate. We found 19-year-old with 85-year-old grandma who was seizing. Granddaughter's father had just died, and she was so distraught she told grandma the news at the door instead of waiting for her uncle as planned. DH got grandma in a safe position while I called then held distraught teen. 2. Same elderly woman fell taking out her trash at 11:30 pm. She dragged herself to her car and honked the horn repeatedly until we came. Took us a while to realize it wasn't just a car alarm. 3. Domestic violence at the neighbors' house. 4. My mom broke her arm terribly tripping on a sidewalk crack. She wanted me to drive her but I argued, then she passed out so I called 911. 5. My mom passed out in the bathroom and hit her head on the wall when she was visiting when I had a newborn. I've been present for other calls, but those are the ones I've made. I've also called the non-emergency line a few times (including two days ago for a dog in a hot car).
  14. I've been to several McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles county that required $0.25 or a token to open the restroom door. It was so busy, however, that everyone held the door for the next person. In a CA desert town where I lived, the restroom at Del Taco required a token (approximately the size of a dime). It was an outside door, and this was intended to cut down on graffiti/trashing it as you had to ask the cashier for a token.
  15. I once dreamt that I wrote a movie script and was acting in/producing the movie. I played myself and my college best friend played herself. My husband, however, would never consent to act IRL, so in my dream movie he was played by Bruce Willis, LOL. Their similar coloring/receding hairline/baldness is about all I can think of that made him fit in my dream. The movie plot involved aliens and a a lot of glass shattering at a very fancy shopping mall, but I forgot most of it a few minutes after I awoke.
  16. I coached 5-7-year-old-boys for three seasons and my end-of-season party was cupcakes, water to drink, and water to play in :). We used sponge balls or squirt guns, launched mini soccer balls with a water balloon slingshot, and played silly games. The parents much preferred this as it was during a regular practice slot so they didn't have to rearrange schedules, it cost them nothing, and was fun to watch. The boys thought it was the best thing ever. I always provided the after-game snack for the last game and included some trinket (soccer pencil, bracelet, bouncy ball), note, special food item in a goody bag for fun. I wouldn't ask the parents to pay for goody bags! Nice medals were provided by the league and rolled into the registration fees.
  17. I had a college classmate whose family was wealthy. Here are some of the wedding details I know about: Held at a fancy hotel in Los Angeles Over 200 guests, meal was $100 a plate Hired a 40-member choir from the college for $100 per person, plus served them the $100 per plate meal Cake was $3,000+ Dress was $5,000+ (I don't remember exact details, I think these figures are low) Wedding present from groom's parents was $50,000 house down-payment. Big contrast with my wedding: Dress $100 on clearance + $150 alterations Borrowed crinoline & veil I bought fabric and patterns for my bridesmaids, and they or their mothers sewed their dresses Groom/groomsman tuxes were rented for about $50 each. Spent a couple hundred on artificial flowers and plant stands which we donated to the church after. They still use my red/white flowers 14 years later in their memorial day/July 4 arrangements :) MIL made the cake, which looked very professional but simple. Decorations for the 1950s themed reception were mostly bought at thrift stores (roller skates, diner aprons, records) or DIY. My mom sewed checkered table runners. Around 200 guests. Food served was veggies, cheese and crackers, nuts, mints, cake, punch. Photographer was a prison guard who did photography as a hobby/side job for $200 :). No alcohol, no DJ, $50 cleaning fee for using the church. I made the invitations myself. Our "big splurge" was $250 for a plane ticket to fly our favorite professor/ pastor out to perform the ceremony. He stayed with a family from our church and they hit it off so well that they still exchange Christmas cards. I don't know the exact total, but it was under $4,000 for sure. So many people told me that my wedding was more fun than any other they'd attended. Our honeymoon was 2 nights at a B&B around $120 per night, 1 night camping outside Yosemite, 1 night at a Super 8 while we waited for the apartment rental office to open so we could sign a lease :). Our two weddings averaged to well over $25,000.
  18. When I was 16-18 I did the bulk of my family's grocery shopping, as my parents were both working, I enjoyed it, and it freed up time for us to be together. Sometimes I shopped during school hours when I had a free period. I also looked a bit young for my age. One clerk would give me the weirdest looks but never ask any questions. Then once I babysat 3 kids, aged 3, 4, and 6 for a weekend. I took them shopping, and the clerk exclaimed, "Oh, so these are your kids! I always see you in here shopping and I wondered." I laughed and said, "Oh no, I'm 18 and in high school. I'm just babysitting; they're not mine." She looked at me disbelievingly, then as she handed me my receipt she asked, "Are any of them yours?" It was so odd that she wouldn't believe me. She was apparently sure I was a young teen mom, but a single childless adult, let alone just a high school student didn't make sense? Then when I bought all the cake mixes for my graduation party (during school hours) she asked what they were for and I explained. Once again I got the weird disbelieving look. So odd.
  19. I knew twins in college who were 6'4" (boy) and 4'10" (girl). They were very close and had good fun surprising people with the fact that they were twins. We teased him about hogging all the nutrients in utero ;). Also they were both decent cross-country runners but the joke that went around was that she was much better because she had to take two or three strides to match his one.
  20. My daughter got/remembered that Mother Gothel was bad from age 2. Hans confused her for a bit, and she asked my why he was good then bad. Because she understood about pretending, I was able to explain that he was pretending to be nice so he could trick Anna and become king. She understood/remembered that as a young three-year-old. Flynn is a bit more nuanced. Just a few days ago she asked me, "Why was Flynn Rider hanging out with bad guys in the beginning if he's a good guy?" I explained about his thievery and double crossing and she seems to get it. She'll be 4 in two months. It does seem odd that a NT 7-year-old wouldn't notice/retain that they are "bad guys" or make some bad decisions after repeated viewings. My 7-year-old boy was not nearly socially savvy as his little sister is but he noticed/pointed out things like that at 4 for sure, and I would be really surprised if his peers couldn't.
  21. I went to Alistair Begg's website and found sermons for free download or $1.25 on CD. This is the one I clicked on: https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/dealing-temptation/ These days most car CD players will play computer-made CDs with audio files like downloaded sermons, so you might try making CDs yourself first.
  22. June, because it was the first weekend after college ended when we could book the pastor (our professor and friend) we wanted to officiate the ceremony. He had three weddings to officiate before ours, including his own son's, and was gracious enough to fly out on Father's Day weekend for us. If I'd chosen for more than convenience, October or November would have been my preferred month as I love fall and love the idea of a rustic, warm-colored wedding.
  23. Prime Climb is an excellent board game for the basic operations, prime numbers, visualizing decomposing numbers into prime factors, strategy, and logic. My son loves it, as do I.
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