Thank you all. :grouphug: I know I can't protect him from everything, but I hate thinking about his sweet little feelings being hurt. He's such a wonderful little guy.

I just wanted to cry. Thankfully DS didn't see her. He's 4, will be 5 in a few months. He has a tummy. He's not big enough to wear husky sizes. Isn't it fairly common for kids his age to still have a tummy? Even though he didn't see, I felt so awful for him. And I felt like I'd let him down, like he has a tummy because I've done something wrong, failed him. I'm still upset, my mom and DH are out tonight (not together), so I'm posting here. For sympathy, advice, I don't know. Just upset. :(

Maybe I called them the wrong thing, but those twisty fluorescent bulbs that replace regular bulbs. I won't use them in lamps that could be knocked over by the boys or dog, but I do use them in ceiling fixtures. The ones in the bathroom haven't been replaced in over 5 years. And they use less energy, I believe.

Hang laundry to dry. Do all ironing at once, instead of turning the iron on each time something needs ironing. Switch to CFLs. Seal up all draft points. Raise the A/C temp or lower the heat temp a couple of degrees. And then there are tons of grocery ideas. Good luck! Lots of small changes will add up.

:iagree: What a great resource! I just lucked out at half price books and got a copy of DWC for $1 (woohoo!) and was going to try to figure it out tonight. Thanks to both of you for posting. :)

Your DD is not guaranteed a great experience because your DS had one. Even if the teacher is wonderful, the dynamics of the group of children are not necessarily going to be as positive. I agree with pp - keep her home.

And more thanks! What would I do without you ladies? :001_smile:

:tongue_smilie: They can't find the kahunas to get the turf under control, let alone deal with player issues. lol! But I love 'em anyway!

Woe to any person, man or child, who comes between mama and her coffee in the morning. But I love tea later in the day. And once in a blue moon, I actually wake up wanting tea. So both.

Da Bears!!!!!!!!!! DS and I were just singing Bear Down Chicago Bears in the car the other day. I can't wait for football season! The boys think it's so funny when Mommy goes crazy and starts jumping around and yelling. I love it when they imitate me.

Thank you both! :001_smile:

I may not be doing the search well, but I am not finding a simple weather chart to print out to use with DS4.5 this year. All I want is a way for him to note the weather each morning. What have you all used? Free is always nice. TIA!

Congrats! :D I had a truly superb vet in the city, but can't deal with the drive and 2 little kids. The vets at the Berwyn Animal Hospital are very good, and they have a number of specialists on staff. They're also a 24 hour emergency clinic, which hopefully you nevver need. It's on Harlem, north of Ogden a bit. I've been going to a clinic in Elmhhurst, mainly because it is associated with the rescue my pup is from. I've been satisfied with them, although my pup hasn't had anything interesting to get checked so far. They're just north of Oak Brook Center near Kingery, I think. LMK if you want the exact info, esp if you can't find someone else before the 2 weeks are up.

No such thing as video games or computer time when I was little, but one day the tv was removed from our home, out of the blue. We survived. Thrived, I would argue. This is an issue I struggle with myself re my sons. There are many days I would love to chuck all media sources out the window. Hope you find a solution.

I mix together a sliced onion, 1/4-1/2 C french dressing, and a can of cranberry sauce (or sometimes similar amount of homemade), then pour it over the pork in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. We like the sauce over rice.

My world is still pretty simple in this regard, as I am just dealing with DS4.5 & a toddler. DS4.5 has his own login on the laptop, and I have saved a handful of sites to a favorites so he can click them. Occasionally I delete or add something. As for worksheets, I have a box like a magazine holder by the boys' little table. It has 2 sides, and I rotate coloring books on one side and drawing paper, construction paper, and worksheets on the other side. There is also a small basket in the kitchen with lacing cards, alphabet flash cards, & pattern blocks. This probably doesn't help you much, but at least it's a bump. ;)

My first thought would be "oh geez where's the dog?!" Because picking up half a possum would be bad enough, but wrestling it out my dog's mouth would be way worse.

There's light at the end of the tunnel! :D On currclick, there are Dan's Doodles - I think that's what they're called anyway. Some of the Dover coloring books are pretty intricate, but we have the dinosaur alphabet and love it. And I keep the little Dover books in my purse for emergencies. We've liked sea creatures, alphabet, Spanish alphabet, dino alphabet,farm animals.

:bigear:

Me too.

I remember Ford being sworn in. My parents drove a Ford Falcon, and I thought it was really cool that the man who made our car was now our president. lol!

Interesting. The Lutheran school I went to as a child was not classical. Near me now, there is one classical and one not.

That's hard. I didn't have a yard with my first dog, but did have parks where she could run. With my current dog, even after a really long walk, she needs to be able to run top speed for a bit. And while you certainly can't just sit around waiting for him to grow up, all of my dogs and my siblings' dogs have hit a sweet spot at about 2yo. And to lighten the mood - only 2 pairs of shoes? What a good dog! ;) It's a hard decision. :grouphug:

Without the fenced in yard, does Bear have a place to run off leash? A dog park or similar?

How exciting! :iagree: