We do the "iron only" option at the dry cleaner's... I take them the clean shirts, etc, and they press them. Small tangent: DS has had periodic allergy testing all of his life. When he was 5, he came home and performed "allergy testing" on DH and me. We were marked with markers, "pricked," and DS read the results. DH was allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. I, on the other hand, was allergic to vacuuming and ironing!!!! After we learned of my allergy to ironing, it was easy to retire the ironing board. :tongue_smilie: ETA: we do still have an ironing board, but it is DH's territory, not mine.

I have been checking Craiglist lately, to see how much to price our own massive collection of GeoTrax. I think Craigslist is the way to go, rather than a yard sale, if you want your kiddos to earn a bit more. I'll be interested to see how you end up pricing this. On the other hand, I sure wish we lived closer to you - I have a little one who is just ready for Little People, and we freecycled our collection years ago. :tongue_smilie: We would make a special trip to your yard sale!

Many will say that you could wait and see, but having lived with undiagnosed, then misdiagnosed Lyme Disease and co-infections for years - and ending up with life-long ramifications - I am in the don't-wait-for-symptoms camp. Not everyone gets a bullseye, not everyone shows obvious symptoms right away, and testing is not known to be reliable. Treating Lyme is a fairly simple thing, if it's caught quickly and treated adequately. Treating Lyme that was undiagnosed for a longer length of time... Not simple, not quick, and not cheap, either. I would ask for a minimum of 30 days antibiotics for each person bitten, at an adequate dose to be bactericidal. 6 weeks would be better. The longer treatment time is to cover the entire lifespan of the spirochete. And even after treatment, I would watch like a hawk for symptoms. Not only Lyme symptoms, but symptoms of co-infections that may not have been caught by the initial round of abx, because not all co-infections will be covered by abx. Just my thoughts. If you go another route, that's okay, too. :) ETA: a great trick you might try (to kill any hitchhikers on clothes/gear) ... toss your stuff in the dryer on high for a half hour to an hour.

My 30s were a wash. I spent the first half spiraling downhill, not knowing what was wrong. I went from specialist to specialist, and the only real answer I had was that I had MS. It was bad. By the time my kiddo was 15 mos, I could not hold a coffee cup or open the baby gates we had in the house. And... not holding a coffee cup, for me - in the state I was in - that was serious! :) ...DH and I were planning to put our house on the market, because we knew that I could not manage the stairs much longer, and we needed a ranch-style. And then... my family practice doc moved, and though I still had gobs of specialists, I needed a family practice doc. I saw a nurse practitioner, whose best friend was a vet. Yep, a vet. The two of them put their heads together about me, over dinner one night... And suddenly, the NP called me, out of the blue, and said, "Let's re-do all of your bloodwork, I want to re-check some things." ...So we did. The results were confusing, but it turned out that I'd had Lyme Disease and *13* other chronic infections for years. That NP helped me find a special doc, who was familiar with treating Lyme and co-infections. Treating all of that took 5 years. I spent years on high doses of meds, and feeling miserable as a result. But slowly, slowly, I got my life back. I'm not saying the OP has Lyme and co-infections, by any means. I don't know. But there is always the possibility that it's been missed. I was tested over and over, and it was missed. The other things I changed, with the help of a very thorough doctor have fine-tuned my body and I am now better, in my 40s, than ever. We found out my thyroid was off - addressing that made a huge difference. Then we found out that my adrenals don't function properly - another huge difference. Now I know that I tend toward having low Vit D, unless I am diligent about keeping it up. We check that level yearly, and I can usually tell when it's low. Genetically, we found that I lack the ability to detox well, so we address that with supplements, and it has helped tremendously. Oh! And I've *just* learned that I have an issue with hypercoagulation, and that is often at play in Chronic Fatigue, apparently. So we are addressing that as well now. All of those things have been huge steps forward for me. DH and I follow the suggestions in Crinnion's book, Clean, Green, and Lean: Get Rid of the Toxins That Make You Fat, and we have worked toward creating a greener home, and consuming less toxins. This has helped us, and our kiddo with allergies and asthma. Hope you get some good leads, and find your way to health... It can be a long road for some of us, but don't give up, and don't stop looking for *your* answers!

You already have great suggestions, but here's one more - probably not useful now, but maybe down the road a bit... I grew up riding, and one of my first jobs was giving lessons to the littles in exchange for my own lessons during the summers. Obviously, I'd been riding a long time at that point, and could handle giving lessons. But it definitely helped offset the summer cost of lessons. You might keep that idea under your hat, for the future. :) Once we had our own horses, we also boarded others' - and those fees helped finance my lessons, too. Another idea to keep tucked away for some time in the future, if you end up with horses.

These are excellent suggestions! ...I am going to remember these for the next family gathering. Thank you, Remudamom.

BrainPop here, too. We love BrainPop. Like the above poster, we have it through G3, but we rarely use the Discovery - in fact, I forget about it. We also have a subscription to the Happy Scientist (through the Homeschool Buyer's Coop - great deal) and we love that, too. In years past, we used HeadSprout, but finished that and moved on.

We play this game, too. It's actually a lot of fun. One small note... Last year we played it before the holidays, just before a party. At the party, DS received a gift he already owned... He behaved perfectly - the game paid off. *Until* he ran up to me, and announced that he'd done it "just right!" and, look, he got this Lego kit he already has at home! It got a lot of laughs, and he still got kudos for great manners. :)

I've had these three times, due to hormone treatments combined with sun exposure. The first time I used Obagi products to get rid of them. Obagi's price tag is a bit steep though, and there's some peeling for quite a while - but, wow, did my skin look great! I would love to use it again, actually. Later, a dermatologist Rx'd a cream - I used it, and it worked. It was not covered by insurance though, and ran around $120. Better cost than Obagi, and no peeling. And it worked, but had a black box label that scared me. In recent years, my family practice doctor has Rx'd a cream... I cannot recall the name, but can look it up probably... It works beautifully, though slowly. Most importantly - use sunscreen and wear a hat!

We have this: http://www.dodocase.com/?siteID=9VrheVGSTZM-T5w_DKa4eVBU1CFlXXnvwQ (Sorry, don't know how to make the cute little links.) I love, love, love our case. It looks like a hand bound book. :001_wub: DS is 8, and he is not a gentle kid re: electronics. He totes it all over the house, props it up to make films, uses it while eating sun butter and apples [cringe!] ... But the case and iPad have been fine. There are much more techy options out there... even one that turns your iPad into a mini-laptop, have you seen that? ...But our DoDoCase is perfect! (No, I don't work for them!)

Yes - try make sure the doc gives your kiddo at least 30 days (6 weeks being better) of a sufficient dose of abx for his weight, to cover the entire life cycle of the spirochete. Plus, have your doc check for co-infections of Lyme. Rarely does one contract Lyme only, there are many other infections as well - some treatable with the same abx that treat Lyme, some need different meds. With swollen lymph nodes as the primary symptom, my immediate thought is bartonella or a bartonella-like organism (BLO)... You might read Dr Burrascano's Guidelines for more info on that - they can be downloaded from the ILADS site. The trouble with bartonella (you want to be checked for at least bartonella henselae and bartonella quintana) is that it *does* require different treatment from Lyme. Can you tell I've had bartonella? And a kiddo with it, to boot. Not fun. Like Jackie's kiddo, my Lyme and co-infections went undiagnosed for years, and that complicates and prolongs treatment. Keep us posted!

We use this version of Jamie Oliver's mac and cheese. Super easy and yummy: Grate 8 oz cheddar cheese, 4 oz parmesan and put in metal bowl. While boiling the macaroni (he suggests adding a half head of cauliflower, too, but my kiddo rebels at that healthy extra), put a metal bowl with the grated cheese on top of the pan. Add 1 cup of creme fraiche or sour cream (we like both, just depends what we have in the house). Stir the cheese till it's smooth and the mac is finished cooking. Drain mac, mix with cheese. Finish under the broiler.

I have an elderly relative who is a hoarder. She is in good health, for her age, but when the time comes ... It will fall to DH and me to take care of her house and possessions when she either moves out of her home or if the worst happens. I have been in denial about this for some time, but some recent events have me facing the facts, and it's frightening. The one positive about her home is that it is, at least, fairly clean. No food lying about, she keeps that part manageable. Just lots and lots of stuff. I know that going in and trying to help organize and sort is almost impossible. I spent several winter and spring breaks during my college years doing that... And it was back to the same mess (and worse) within months. That was almost 20 years ago, and things are much, much worse now. What can I do? Are there any tips? I worry about her alone in the mess, trying to dig out of it. And I worry that she won't dig herself out of it, and that DH and I will have to do it under emergency circumstances. She lives about 5 hours away, but a trip to visit and help (now) is not out of the question. I just need to have a plan. DS cannot even step foot in her house, due to his cat allergy, without his asthma flaring - so it will just be me going. (Oh, Joy!) She is overwhelmed by the idea of sorting everything, so my thought right now is to have her go through a room at a time and just pull out the items that are important to her. Everything else can be released. (And then I go in and purge it all - sorting into throw away or donate piles.) Would something like that work? Has anyone else dealt with a hoarder relative? How did you handle it? Any tips? (And, no, I've never watched a full episode of hoarders. It's too anxiety producing, given this situation!)

Thank you!

This. :D

Wow, great find! DS is making playmobil movies, and is completely engrossed. If I ever get my phone back, I am plotting to make some cleaning movies - great creative use of the app!

It's allergy season. I wonder if the little girl is on Singulair. That med caused violent tantrums in DS. Frightening tantrums, in which he had no control, and could not have stopped if he tried. Our pediatrician thinks that med should be blackboxed... Although she didn't mention that to us until after the allergist took him off of it. Zyrtec has a similar, though less dramatic, effect on him, but I've read that other kids get violent on that one as well.

Oooooh, how exciting!

Ours arrived Friday also.

Maybe you could make a sign reminding her to take her meds every day?! That is creepy and strange. We have a creepy and strange neighbor, too... She is agoraphobic, severely depressed, with a host of other issues. She was my "project" neighbor for a while (you know, kill her with kindness) but the issues just spiraled out of control - she is really out there, and is fairly hostile now. I wouldn't be surprised to see a video camera pointed at our house now! If she did it, I think we'd have to have some fun... :D

We used Born Free bottles. I like the venting system and found that gas was a rare issue with them, and they are easier to clean than the Dr. Brown bottles. ... Yes, formula feeder here, too - breastfeeding was not an option for us, but there are advantages to bottle feeding. DH and baby are very well bonded. :) We found the best price at albeebaby last year, but shop around. Oh, and the little formula dispensers are nice too - great to keep in the diaper bag with a pre-measured amount of formula and/or on the nightstand. We prep the bottles with water, and are good to go. Swaddling blankets, sleep sacks. I like the little night gowns when babies are tiny. Swing. We used a Co-Sleeper that attached to the bed... Not a necessity, but a nice to have item. A great diaper cream to have on hand, and various baby meds so you don't need to do late night runs. We still have the same tube of diaper cream that we bought prepping for our almost one year old... Didn't really need it, but nice to know it was there. We didn't go all out and purchase a lot this time around... just the basics. The most useful gadget we were given, by far, is the nifty little electronic nasal "vacuum"... So much easier to use than the bulb syringe! Other than that... we didn't have many gadgets. Oh! And we used a bath pillow. Baby just reclines on the pillow and it looks so comfy! Just hang the pillow up to dry after the bath.

It's bad here, too. DS can't walk outside without an asthma attack, and we are using his emergency inhaler way more often than I'd like. He's taking Nasonex, plus his usual asthma meds. (His asthma is allergy induced.) We have a great air purifier - it's really helping inside. Even my visiting mother notices a difference in her allergies with the filter. That was a good tip from the allergist. We also wipe down the dogs when they come inside. I just feel so cooped up! And oak hasn't even gotten bad here yet! Aaack!

We just recovered from the flu a few weeks ago. All of us had it. It was awful. The littles here were spiking 104 fevers. Pure misery. DH and I had it too. Are you opposed to Tamiflu? It might help lessen the duration. Lots of Vit C and D, and olive leaf extract helps also. Rest, liquids, soup, movies for the kids. Hugs!

I entered $1000 because we have littles in diapers and on formula. Seattle came up $817. I'm not sure exactly what we spend but it's close. Housing was listed at 46% less in Seattle. I'm thinking a move to Seattle looks pretty good!

Thinking of all of you, and hoping he's home safely soon.