I'm with Abbey on the aquarium. :thumbdown: If your kiddos are interested in the Civil War and/or trains, Kennesaw Mountain and the Southern Museum of Locomotive and Civil War History are very cool! They are a short drive from the city. Downtown, you must eat at The Varsity.

Toys for Tots (donating, collecting, packing orders at Christmas) Disaster relief (donating, collecting, sorting, packing trucks) Game days at housing authority's elderly/disabled complex Nursing home visits Sponsoring a child through Compassion International Directly supporting children in Nicaragua through our church missions teams Meeting individual needs in our community. We have given away a car to a large family with one vehicle; given grocery and Target gift cards to a single mom whose teenage daughter has two tiny children; given monthly to a fund at my husband's work which supports employees in crisis (house fires, deaths, illnesses, etc.); given cash and an encouraging note toward a mission trip for an at-risk teen; donated items to a backpack program that feeds hungry schoolchildren on the weekends when no school meals are available, etc. Sometimes we're even more on-the-spot, buying lunch for a police officer or the guy who helps us unload our Goodwill donations, or passing along a couple of packets of dog food to a neighbor who adopted a puppy. We encourage the kiddos to offer help at the market by returning buggies, reaching or stooping to get items for older folks or helping someone find an item. We've found that as long as our hearts are open, the possibilities always present themselves. Bless you for caring! :)

I quit a full-time newspaper job to be at home with my babies 10 years ago. Learning to publish on impossible deadlines then actually makes it easier to write with distractions now. Fortunately, the children are old enough now to work fairly independently when I pick up freelance work, and they finally are learning not to interrupt me when I'm on the phone. I put a sticky note on the office door that says, "Quiet! Mama working!" I don't have the attention span to write a novel, so I stick with magazine and newspaper pieces I can fit into my schedule. I just finished four anchor pieces for an Earth Day special section and have several smaller pieces due Monday for the same publication. The actual writing took me two afternoons, about six hours (about 3500 words total). I admire you guys who are able to set aside a regular writing time. I just got way bent writing sports for 15 years and then designing/editing a five-star front section for a few years after that, and I can't bring myself to be that self-disciplined. It's like I do my best writing in panic mode. :rolleyes:

Andrea, your family is your first and most important ministry. Best of luck to you and your DH sorting this out, but please stay strong. :grouphug:

Good luck Jessica! :grouphug:

We like the prequels -- doesn't hurt that Ridley Pearson is co-author, so all is not sweetness and light and humor. We finished "Starcatchers" and are about halfway through "Shadow Thieves." We take turns reading chapters out loud as a family and have found it great fun to speak in different voices for Tubby Ted, Black Stache, Lord Ombre, Slank, etc. Don't know about the Pixie Hollow books. They look cute, but DD isn't really interested. I think she's kind of outgrown pixies and princesses. :(

Very descriptive but patently false. Caitlinsmom, if you really want to know what it's like in the South, come visit. You'll find the people here much like people anywhere else -- just peculiarly maligned and stereotyped.:mad:

Our current home was priced $13,000 below its appraisal because the owners were selling without an agent and didn't have to pay commission. Our lender and closing attorneys walked us through everything we needed to do. It really was very easy.

Kelly, this was the first route for us. We talked about how we never know what's going on with another person and how even small kindnesses that aren't reciprocated can change a person's attitude over time. DD put it into practice, complimented her at dance by saying how much fun it was to be the girl's do-si-do partner, at which point the girl "accidentally" slung her into the wall. When DD got pink streaks put into her hair, the girl told her pink was for sissies and if she ever got it done, she'd get blue. DD responded by ignoring the snark and telling her blue would be very pretty in her hair. I have been very proud of the way DD's responded, but she *is* only 9. Lots of grown folks wouldn't have done as well as she. It was time for me to step in. What I know of her home life is this: She has a younger sister who is in DD's ballet class who DD gets along with just fine; a teenage brother (seems nice) who usually brings the girls to dance and stays with them; a nurse mother; an accountant father; and close ties with one of the employees of the school, who I believe would not hesitate to speak to the girl if she knew this was going on (IOW, I don't think she would play favorites). Anyhoo, dance class is Tuesday and we shall see. I'm going to stay for both classes instead of dropping her off and running errands as I usually do, so that I make sure the situation is addressed.

Yeah, I was a quasi-Quasimodo. :tongue_smilie: Scarring is minimal, just thin silver lines. Completely, completely worth it. The first time I went clothes shopping and fit into a size medium shirt, I cried like a baby in the dressing room. I thought the lady next to me was going to call the police! I would be careful on public transportation, though. DH and I went to see Rush about three weeks after my surgery, and the first time someone bumped into me on MARTA I just about scratched his eyes out. Stick close to home if you think you're going to get b**b-bumped, is all I'm saying. :D

I had it done in 2003 and it was a good decision. Depending on your dimensions, it is a medically necessary surgery and covered by insurance. I am barely five feet tall and was a size 42 DD. My surgeon removed five pounds of br**** tissue, which he said is considered an extreme amount. I am now a full 38 C. If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them from my own experience. Feel free to pm.

Neither of my boys is dealing with it right now, but outright bullying was an issue for ODS when he was about 8. If we still were in the community/church/baseball league where this kid ruled, he might still be dealing with it. Three things happened in that case: We moved, ODS got bigger than bully boy, and to bully boy's "I'm the winner, you're the loser" ODS replied, "We'll see in 20 years, when I'm signing your paycheck." :rofl: Still, girls seem to be able to hit right where it hurts, you know?

Ain't that the truth! I did actually speak to the instructor yesterday, and she plans on talking to the girl and again to the entire class when it meets next week. I've been monitoring the situation since the beginning of the year, so it's no surprise that it has escalated to this point. The sneak attack, which bothered me, and the fact that DD said some things told me it was time to intervene: "Emily crossed a line with me today" and "I was scared to say anything." I do want her to practice loving others even when it's difficult (and she has done very well with this child) but I also want her to know that I have her back when it's too much for her to handle. Unsinkable, I agree about building up DD. We tell our children that our bodies are perfect, just the way God made them. We've also told DD other girls might target her because she pretty, sweet-spirited and makes friends easily and that she should always take the high road (she has in this situation). I hear from her small group leader at church that she is praying for this little girl and another who doesn't seem to like her very much, so I couldn't be prouder of the way she has handled it. Like I said, it was just time for me to intervene. Anyway, I was just blowing off steam but I surely appreciate all the support. :grouphug:

DD, 9.5, has started budding out a tiny bit, so we picked her up some "undershirts" (little sports bras) to wear under thinner clothing and at dance class. A girl in DD's dance class has been ugly to her all year, and DD has handled it well by continuing to talk to me about it and being kind to her, even when it's difficult. Today the girl leaned forward during jazz and hissed in DD's ear, "The only girls your age who have to wear undershirts are FAT girls!" Hateful! :rolleyes:

Not certain if this fits your criteria, but... Inch by Inch: The Garden Song Goodnight Moon My Great Aunt Arizona Roxaboxen Miss Rumphius When I Was Young in the Mountains The Bear Who Heard Crying Harry the Dirty Dog Anything by Eric Carle (I especially liked The Grouchy Ladybug) The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani Chrysanthemum Jolly Mon by Jimmy Buffet Bread and Jam for Frances The Little Engine that Could Scuppers the Sailor Dog and any of the original Little Golden Books (The Tawny Scrawny Lion, The Five Little Puppies, etc.) Guess How Much I Love You All Frog and Toad books All Dr. Seuss books Madeline Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Where the Wild Things Are Harry the Dirty Dog All original Pooh books Shel Silverstein poetry Robert Louis Stevenson poetry I Am a Bunny Books by Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day) Books by Robert McCloskey (Blueberries for Sal Hope this gets you started! Also, I recommend this collection, which contains many of our favorites in one book.