I agree, I may back out too out of watching anymore. I'm glad I had it recorded and could fast forward through several of the scenes. It was way to much for me and DH. Why do they have to make everything so sexual? so violent? ug...

I don't know either, but it sounds like a brilliant idea. I am going to rebuild a chicken coop and I'm considering lighting options. I wonder about a solar panel on top, as Harbor Freight has them and they aren't to terribly expensive. However, you don't want them in light all night so some type of timer would have to be installed. I will ask dh about this. Years ago he rigged up some type of timer like this for our chickens... I will try and remember to ask him!

I got 110 so I'm Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!

I would let her start shaving if it bothers her. My oldest is 12 and you can not see the hair on her legs, but oh my, my youngest is really hairy at 9. Her legs are getting dark, her arms are dark with hair....she has not mentioned wanting to shave. At park day another girl mentioned to her how much hair she had on her legs, and dd shrugged it off. I know there is no way this kid could handle a regular razor, so the minute she wants to shave, I'm buying her an electric razor. My bigger worry is when she notices she has it on her back? What then? Can that be lasered off? :confused: And no I'm not kidding, I'm serious.

I'm trying to wade through this huge thread and it is so interesting! I find it is taking me a long time because there is alot to absorb here. It is just not the fact that some are greenier than me, it is the hard work that many of these families do to use less, that is amazing me. So many things I use are convenience items that I never knew were convenience items (rags vs tp, etc). I have tried to live pretty simply the past 23 years, dh and I decided that when we got married. We went vegetarian,organic gardened, decided against chemicals, perfumes, drank filtered water, bought only 100% cotton items, bought used every time we could, stayed out of debt, paid of the mortgage and the cars. I always thought I was frugal, but wow, I'm not at all compared to you ladies. My hat is off to you! I am however, going to look for ways to improve and have some good ideas to think about.

Just an update for humor side of this. I went and looked on my pantry shelf of my OPENED Hersheys Coco powder. It expired Jun 09...LOL It still smells great and we made awesome brownies with it 2 weeks ago so I quess it is still okay. :D

I would say use it, but that is me. I can remember the unsweetened box of cocoa powder at my house growing up and I'm sure it sat around a few years before it was replaced....lol I don't see how it would spoil in that short a time from Feb to Oct when it was not even opened.

We have never had any gaming system until a year ago when we bought dd a DS. Then 6 months ago we bought a Wii after her neurologist mentioned that some of the games were good for her balance, etc. My kids love it, but usually play it when it is raining outside or they are done with school for a break or something. I'm guessing it gets turned on a couple of times a week here, usually for 30 or 45 minutes. When they do use it they love it, but definitely they are not addicted at all, and that was my biggest worry.

We have assimilated another fan :lol:

Well you were right that Lloyd is neck deep in the Flash Forward group of bad guys, after he got that call from Simon. So I guess we will have to see if he is indeed D. Gibbons.... (you are good at picking bad guys) Man and he seemed so nice :confused:

6 years with my LE Front Loader that I just love! It has never had a stinky day in its life. I have used both liquid and powder. I have switched to Liquid Tide Free HE and I use about 1/2 the amount it calls for. Seriously, about 1 or 2 tablespoons is enough for most huge loads. Mine holds a seriously large load and I have found that the more detergent, the less clean my whites appear. I know the seal area can get gunky as others have told you. Check the drain and have a towel handy as you get a fair amount of water that way. You can also put hot boiling water from your teapot down the soap dispensor to get out any crud. If you don't want to do that, you can run a hot cycle with either vinegar or bleach. I've never done the bleach but I know that some do. I took apart my LG this weekend as the front boot (the seal when you open door) had a tear and I decided to fix it myself. This is not a job for the weak, this was a hard job, but I was surprised how spotless my whole washer was on the inside, given that it is now over 6 years old. It had no mold or yucky stuff anywhere in it. I do know the LG Repair man told me that less detergent, either tiny bit of fabric softener or none at all, and leaving the door open at night would prolong the life of front loaders. I think others have given your great advice on what to look for. One last thing would be to look at the top of your seal, there is most likely a water valve there, you might make sure it has not gotten plugged up with gunk.

Hi Amy, I hope he gets better soon! The way your son's temp did is exactly what my own daughters did 3 weeks ago. My husband ended up taking Relenza (he has MS) but it was a strange ride, so to speak, in how this virus behaved. My husbands Dr. said that his own son spiked a 104 fever and it was gone within 6 hours,back, then gone for one day and back. I hope he feels better soon! Out of the 4 of us, it hit my oldest daughter hard, my youngest was hardly sick at all (just for one day) and my husband went on the Relenza but ached terribly. Me, not to much, just sore throat and fever for 2 hours..lol I hope you all are feeling better soon!

They do have great sales, and I only shop the clearance racks. I went in this past week and spent $75 on summer clothes for me for next year. It said at checkout I had saved $385 as most of the clothes were on clearance for anywhere from 60 to 80% off plus I had a $5.00 off coupon. I bought 7 new shirts (dressy and nice), 2 pairs of shorts (nice knee length), 2 capris and a pair of new Levi's for $75....pretty good deal. :D Two weeks ago I bought at Kohls on clearance: I bought dd a gorgeous dress, marked $75.00 for $8.00 (Vera Wang) and another daughter a dressy dress marked $56.00 for $10.00. So yes they have good deals but you have to dig and look through the clearance.

We paid off our mortgage early in our marriage, but we have always lived simply and below our means. When all of our friends moved to nice, new bigger homes we stayed put, and payed extra each month. We had a 30 year mortgage, we often made payments twice in a month. At the time we both were working full time, and we bought all our clothes at the Thrift Store, shopped using coupons, cut every corner known to man and we paid off the house. We then moved out of state, took on a mortgage, then moved back to Texas. This time we moved back to same older/but cheap neighborhood as house in Washington didn't sell. We had two mortgage payments, then sold house in WAshington and paid off mortgage in Texas. So we have not had a mortgage payment in 10 years. We still buy a majority of everything second hand, and save alot. We have helped many friends and strangers financially because we had reserve. I guess before Dave Ramsey came on the market, we were living his lifestyle. I often wanted bigger/better but just would freeze at thought of a mortgage again, the fear of "what if" kept us from buying a huge new home. Good thing that fear was there, because I don't have to work now and can homeschool the kids. Our home is modest, but pretty, and I'm busy trying to finish remodeling it. I go one room at a time and have to eventually remodel the kitchen. It is still 1949 kitchen intact except for the 1970 gold laminate countertop:D My point is we live below our means, in a safe but very uninspiring neighborhood. Our neighborhood actually made the news because the vast majority here are not affected by the down turn because there homes are paid off, there cars are older and non glamorous, but they are paid off. We live in your average blue collar working neighborhood, but we also live amongst lots of others who have paid off their mortgages. I know that 2 of my 3 closest neighbors have paid off their mortgages and they are in their 40's. No one has a glamorous job but we are a neighborhood of penny pinchers who have no desire to compete with the Joneses. I only know you have to start with a modest mortgage to pay it off, my cousins mortgage is for over $950,000 so I can't imagine how as a single mom she will ever pay it off. I wish you well, you can do it, but you have to change your whole idea of what is a need/want. You may need to buy a very small home and make do. Remember than in 1940 the average home was 800 sq feet and the average family had about 4 kids... times have changed. Make do with less and you can pay it down. Be tough and keep going.

Congratulations, he is truly beautiful!

Here are the only 3 brands I use. Now remember I have had mine 6 years and it has never, ever been moldy or left a bad smell. I use less detergent than is recommended and found that the clothes actually come out cleaner. For Powder: Sears HE unscented For Liquid: Tide Unscented HE (I use about 1/2 of what it says to use) Costco HE Liquid Unscented Sears HE Unscented For Fabric softener I use never more than a tablespoon, I was told by the service man at the beginning that to much laundry soap and to much fabric softener were responsible for many of the mold issues. Not sure if that is true, but it has held out true in my case since I have not had issues. Several years ago Consumer Reports rated the Sears and Costco HE detergents the best buy.

My daughter did this class for two years at a co-op and she loved chess using these books. She also got her books signed by Steve Schneider when he was in town, a really nice guy. You might check your cable tv, I have seen his classes show up every now and then on Direct TV. The books /dvd are worth their weight in gold to learn chess. Before that class she used Fritz and Chesster which are great. Chess is really alot of fun, and I think it is great he wants to learn.

My dd is 12, 5' 3" and weighs 82 pounds and wears size 14 jeans for length at Old Navy in Slim. She wears 00 and Sml in the Juniors Section.

Singapore Math is a top notch program, and besides the silly pictures I can not think of one bad thing about it. I love math, dh is a CPA and math fanatic and it is his favorite choice for the girls. It is a great program. Did I mention I love it?:D

I have a 12 year old daughter and she loves to dress like this. She could easily wear the outfits you mentioned but with a more girly twist versus a boy look. It would be hard to find anyone more conservative than my husband and he just kind of rolls his eyes at some of her very bright, checkered straight leg pants. Now she does not dress badly, nothing rude, nothing trampy, nothing skimpy or immodest, but just sort of likes 1960's look, not hippy 60's, but early Beatles look, straight leg pants,etc. By the way her best friends are boys, are they dress like your son, and they are straight A students in public school who are quite nice gentleman. My guess is maybe it is the age/fad, etc, because the skinny jeans, hats and Converse sneakers are big here. Chucks (converse nickname) are huge here. I think it is nice he likes to express himself but in a non threatening way (as in no gangsta like clothing, etc)... I'm not much help, but I can say he dresses like several young boys I know who are close to his age and they are nice kids with consertative parents too!

My girls love their DS's! My girls are 9 and 12. The 12 year old loves Animal Crossing, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and several of the Super Mario games. 9 year old said her favorites are: Super Mario Bros, Club Penguin Adventure Game, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart.

Oh, that is awful. The sickos just keep getting slicker and slicker, and spammers of vulgarity get more clever all the time. Sorry that happened to you.

Tonight at 8:00 , 7 central :D

:lol::lol:

I love to declutter, and if I weren't a curriculum junkie I would have a clutter free home. I will have to check out that book. By the way, when I'm bored, decluttering is something I enjoy. I also like straightening up my closet, but hey, I'm weird.