Fourcatmom, Glad your kitties are doing well and that the one who needs to diet is losing. We have tried the Nature's Balance limited ingredient food that you linked. Our 2 cats (indoor only) liked it but we still had occasional vomiting so we recently switched to Merrick Before Grain brand - Chicken (we get it from Amazon) and we haven't had any vomiting since. We switched about 2 months ago after being on the Nature's Balance for about a year. Now our vomiting issues may have been more from gulping the food than anything else. Anyway our cats liked the Nature's Balance well enough. They seem to be liking the Before Grain better right now but that may just be because it is different. One of the 10 pound bags of he Nature's Balance lasted our two about 4 to 5 weeks - they always have food available. The litter box smells much less than when using grocery store type of food and their fur is so shiny on both brands. Hope this helps. Cindy

Thanks. This looks great. Cindy

My dd who enjoys the Piano Guys also really likes Lindsey Stirling. She watches her videos on Youtube but she may have cds also. Hope this helps. I am not sure how to attach a video. Cindy My dd just walked through and said to check out David Garrett (sp) as well.

No experience, but I am interested in it also. Giving this a bump. Cindy

Not sure if it is what you are looking for but we purchased an Individuality bracelet at Kohl's for our soon to be 16 yr old dd. She had admired the Pandora charms but we weren't willing to spend that amount right now. I think she will be pleased and the employees said that between now and the holidays they will be running several sales on the beads and bracelets. We purchased her bracelet and charms at 60 % off just a week or two ago. I am not really a jewelry person but these seemed to be good quality and they had lots of beads and charms to choose - we did have to order a couple off their website that they didn't seem to carry in our local stores. Cindy

Voted! Wow, they are really talented. Cindy

We start back Monday Aug. 5th. I still have a lot to do.

So glad to hear it was amazing!! My dd 12 is going with my dh in September to a concert in NC. She is literally counting the days. She is sooooo excited. Glad your dd had a great time.

Just a little background: My dd age 12 has danced classical ballet for 6 years now but has only taken multiple classes per week for the last 2 years. She completed her first year on pointe in May and is working very hard preparing to audition for a more intense preparatory program. This summer she will be attending 2 week long ballet intensives in our local area - one of which will be at the school she plans to audition for in August. While she is not naturally flexible she continues to work hard at improving in that area. p However she struggles with learning combinations quickly. Does anyone have tips or techniques she could practice to help in this area? I have looked online but we haven't found anything practical for her situation ( ie. she doesn't have time during class to write down the steps in order and by the time she changes she is no longer sure about the correct order ). She tries hard to concentrate and pay attention but this is a struggle for her. She would love any tips from girls and moms who have found ways to improve in this area. Thanks a bunch.

Ketchup! I can't stand the smell of it, but I like tomatoes in most other things. My girls learned a long time ago to thoroughly rinse any dishes that had ketchup on them before putting them in the sink otherwise they would be called back to the sink by a gagging mother to do it again. When they were little the girls would try to tempt me to "just try it" but I finally convinced them that I had tried it as a child and that I thought it tasted as bad as it smelled. They couldn't believe it.

Thank you! This looks terrific. I am saving it for 11th grade for my girls.

This looks like a perfect addition to our high school history plans. Thanks so much for the links. Cindy

Glad to hear the update. My dd would have wanted to bring him home also.

:grouphug: Congrats!

She has a gift with description. Well done.

:lurk5: My tween would love this too.

Hugs. So sorry.

Some possibilities: All of a Kind Family Winnie the Pooh (I see others posters have mentioned this. It is a lot of fun.) Some of the older mystery series for kids such as The Happy Hollisters and The Bobbsey Twins. The mysteries are always tame (ie. helping figure out who is stealing from local business, etc.- no murder or anything like that but you may need to prescreen for ones involving orphans or animals the kids help. The Happy Hollisters is fun and my girls loved the few we did as read alouds. The siblings are so sweet to each other. My dd (12 now ) was sensitive when first reading chapter books on her own, and she really enjoyed the Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood. You might need to preread a couple but these are some that she remembers as sweet and fun. The author has written several and also some books about a boy named Eddie. When you mentioned gentle read alouds I thought of TumTum and Nutmeg, but after reading your criteria realized it may not fit. The 2 children are sort of neglected by their absent minded father - the mother is missing and I can't remember if she has died or what happened - and their is an aunt or some family member that the kids are afraid of that comes to stay for a while. Just trying to remember some of our favorites, I was a little surprised at how many classics involve orphans. Hope this helps, Cindy

Those pictures are so cute, especially the now photo. What an adorable little guy!!! He sounds like a fun boy. Cindy

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Good Grief!!! I want to bang my head against the wall just reading that. You have my sympathy. Now I am scared though because we just purchased a stove from Sears and I will worry until it is delivered. Hope it gets resolved asap. Cindy

My dd and I can't wait to try this for one of her dolls. Thanks for taking the time to do the tutorials. Cindy

My oldest dd is 14 now and has loved the Warriors, which like a previous poster, I am assuming your dd has read. A few other series she has enjoyed are: The Named ( about prehistoric cats ). http://www.amazon.com/Rathas-Creature-First-Book-Named/dp/1936917017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354747692&sr=8-1&keywords=ratha+series Wolves of the Beyond http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-Wolves-Beyond-Book/dp/0545093112/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354753008&sr=1-5&keywords=wolves+of+the+beyond The Cat Pack books (This is recommended by my 11dd as well.) http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Escape-Cat-Pack/dp/0689874073/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354753264&sr=1-1&keywords=the+grand+escape+by+phyllis+reynolds+naylor THese last two are not series books but are some books about cats that she has really liked. http://www.amazon.com/Tygrine-Cat-Inbali-Iserles/dp/076363798X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354753132&sr=1-1&keywords=the+tygrine+cat http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Master-Bonnie-Pemberton/dp/0761453407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354753385&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cat+master If you are considering adult books The Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson Braun might be enjoyable for her. My 11 year old dd has enjoyed some of these on audio and my oldest has read several. They are mostly cozy type mysteries in which a reporter and his two Siamese cats solve mysteries. Some are better than others for the kids and their are some adult themes and situations but most are handled delicately. His male cat, Koko, always manages to help out with the mysteries. I am not sure how to attach links properly so I hope these work. Amazon has all of the books mentioned if the links don't work. Hope this helps. My girls were eager to share some of their favorites. Cindy

It shows that they are already sold out when I click the link in the above message. Anybody else getting the same. My dd received Cecile last Christmas and she is beautiful - probably the most beatiful of all the AG dolls we have. I adore her hair but it probably wouldn't hold up well to lots of combing. Thanks for the info, Cindy

I hope you don't mind but I am very interested in doing something like this ( the hard drive you mentioned in another post ) for my husband for his stocking also. I am clueless as to what I am looking for though. Could you share which hard drive you used and also can this plug right into the vehicle or does it need to run off a laptop or netbook? My dh is so frustrated by scratched cds from the library and I am not having good luck burning cds from Audible. This would be a real surprise for him if I can figure out how to do it. Thanks so much, Cindy PS I didn't know if your dh might see this or not so I didn't want to be to specific in the title.