St George and the Dragon Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff Daniel's Dinosaurs by Mary Carmine Sammy and the Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow The Dragons Are Singing Tonight by Prelutsky - a great collection of poems for little boys who love dragons! I'm not going to be much help with cars and trucks and firetrucks. My 4yo is more of a trains and tractors fellow for transportation. The only thing we have is Curious George at the Firestation or whatever the exact title is.

I'm sorry. I wonder why there were mostly hard over? I seem to run into mostly soft covers at Borders and Barnes & Noble here. :grouphug:

Biographies? I was fascinated by bios of historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Amelia Earhart at that age.

Praying. :grouphug:

All! Yum! :)

I'm not going to be any help because I have a weakness for dishes and flatware. I have no problem having nice dishes we only use for special occasions. But if you feel nervous about it, I agree with pp - buy one place setting for yourself, or two so you can have special dinners with your DH. I started my sterling pattern with only two place settings which DH and I use for anniversaries and Valentine's, etc. Then I added a couple of serving pieces. Last year a youth place setting for DS4. Maybe you could do something like that and ease into it as the kids get older/ more careful.

Thanks! Maybe a glass of wine while the kids are in the tub... Good ideas!

My DH works nights too, so we have the insanity twice a day - when he gets home in the morning, and again when he wakes up. Makes me crazy. I swear there is something about that 4:30-5:30 timeframe that makes my boys awful. It happens on DH's days off too. But trying to have him step in at the worst time is difficult. I think I'll try the dryer trick. :)

DS4 went to his first ever day of VBS today, and it was free. Free snacks too. And there will be a free ice cream social Thurs eve after the showcase for the parents. Each family gets a free CD of the songs the kids are learning so they can listen at home. This is a LCMS church. I should mention that there is an offering each day to buy New Testaments to send with backpacks for the session's mission project. But the NT's cost $2, so not much, and not required.

What a sweetheart! I love the piano pic! Thanks for the update.

There is also a b&n nook blog called unbound. It lists the free friday, as well as other specially priced offerings, reviews, author interviews, and a newer series of essays on the read forever campaign. Once in a while I just chance upon freebies. One week there was a list b&n classics for free. Yesterday I clicked on the enhanced books out of curiousity, and two of those are free right now. And there is a kids read to me title, Dixie, for free right now. I guess my point is that random shop browsing when bored sometimes yields a treasure. ;)

Toot-a-root! Gas has passed, tubes are out, things are much better! Thank you again!

Thank you all! Thank you. I am probably being a baby, but I'm a little undone by this when my mother is so far away.

My father is in the hospital after having his appendix out, and the doctors are concerned because a section of intestine hasn't started working yet. Sorry, I can't remember the medical term. I guess it is not uncommon, and they will just keep watching for a couple more days. This happened the day after my mother and sister left for Australia. There is volcanic ash over Australia, so getting home might not even be possible if my father's condition worsens. I am afraid of him needing additional surgery. Please pray for his speedy recovery. Thank you!

Great! Thank you!

Awww, he is cute. You must live near me. ;) Seems like every 3rd house or so has a window/yard barker. Or two. Or three. Mine does it too to some degree. She's also a beagle mix. My neighbors don't yell at my dog, but call to her and cutesy talk her, which gets her more wound up. :glare: At least with them it's friendly greeting barking. There is a small dog that gets walked across the street multiple times a day. That dog barks at mine if she's out, but oddly, my girl doesn't bark back.

Love them! How sweet!

Thanks so much everyone! I feel much better about having it fixed now. And my DH agreed. Here's hoping for another 100000 miles!

The transmission went out on my van today. :( It's a 2000 Ford Windstar with about 105000 miles. To fix it is going to very costly. If we buy something else, it will be used, but I think we could afford something about 5 years younger and with less than 80000 miles. We have never had car payments, and I hate to take one on. But I don't want to pour money into a dying vehicle either. Any advice or opinions?

Testimony by Anita Shreve The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman Bone Rattler by Eliot Pattison The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Clara & Mr Tiffany by Susan Vreeland Learning to Die in Miami by Carlos Eire

Huh. Glad you posted. I just realized I don't have any funny books on mine that aren't for children. Looks like Omens is a preorder, so maybe I'll get Whatever You Do, Don't Run.

:bigear:

Is the Sierra Club magazine something a kid would enjoy? Are there other membership benefits that a kid would enjoy?

I like all the seasons, but I really love sweater weather.