And when said daughter is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD? 70x70x7x7x7x7!!!! :lol:

In a towel, though? Can some things cancel out the power of sin? :D

A Psalm for the Coffee Lovers, with harps and tambourines: A thousand times may their sins be visited upon them that cause their brethren to wantonly waste needful things, including but not limited to coffee, Nutella, or roasted beets. Selah.

Pray, let us not forget the daughter who eats peanut butter straight out of the jar and drops the half-covered spoon into the sink without washing it. Yea verily, may her sins be visited upon her a hundredfold.

Definitely yummy! Thanks for sharing!

:iagree::iagree:

I have a teensy little addiction problem with stuffed grape leaves. Our Costco has started carrying a huge package of them. This is dangerous for me.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/99316371/thinking-of-you-card-friendship-card :lol:

Ooh, thanks! Just filed!

Personally, I'll eat beets under any conditions. You could leave them in there for a month and I'd probably still eat them. But don't listen to me. I'm just in love with beets.:001_wub: Seriously, though. I don't think you'll have a problem.

:iagree:Hear, hear! Now that DD1 is 18, we've increased this to 30 minutes, but it took a lot of discussion before we would allow it.

I have no experience as a step-parent or a step-child, but I wanted to comment on this. My dh and his brother were step-children. Their father was killed in the Vietnam War when dh was 6 and his brother 4. When dh was 10, his mother remarried. To hear dh tell it, he and his bro were terrible to their step-dad. In dh's mind, when his dad was killed (even before that, since he was gone so much in the military) HE was the man of the family (yes, at 6 years old) and didn't want to be replaced. They had a terrible time with each other for years. Now, over 40 years later, dh and his stepdad have a good relationship (it didn't take all those years, don't worry!) and dh fully acknowledges what a nightmare it must have been for his step-dad to walk into the situation he did and continue in it in spite of the antagonism of his two stepsons. So, take heart - appreciation could be in your future! It must be very, very hard now, though. :grouphug:

Just looking at Nancy's ice photo makes me want to get pregnant so I can crave chewing ice. :lol:

:iagree: Sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other. It's so hard. I've BTDT, and it's just plain hard. I am so sorry. :grouphug:

Sullivan Silas Thatcher

If your preschooler likes to draw or do art, you could make prints of one of those art pieces and frame them. Or, go really elaborate and do a whole 2013 "make your own" calendar with preschooler art pieces.

My dh tries to do what each daughter really enjoys doing. So, for dd1, it's mostly watching or going to movies, because they both love movies. Dd2 loves to build things and do technical stuff, so they'll often build models together (dh is a professional model builder so he can do some pretty elaborate stuff) or do tinkering sort of things, and he takes her along on trips to Home Depot and places like that. Dd3 is only 3, so he reads lots of stories to her and she loves it.

You're not too weak. Please, give yourself grace. I have BTDT to some degree and it's a horrible situation to be in. I am so sorry. Praying here.:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: ETA after reading your response: Even if it's true that you're more emotional and less logical, this is not a flaw. This is who you are. My experience with medical situations with my mom (including but not limited to extended intubation, dialysis, kidney failure, radiation treatment and chemo) is that some people treat the situation with "logic" in order to seem strong at the time, others do not. Because my brother lives out of the country, I was the one handling everything; therefore, I'm sure at times I seemed more "logical" than emotional, because that's what I had to do to be on top of the situation and deal reasonably with the people involved. But in private, I was very emotional, and in the case of my mom's extended intubation/ICU stay/recoivery afterwards, I basically went off the deep end once it was over, like a post-traumatic stress reaction. I visited my mom daily when she wsa intubated for three weeks. Each time, I had to gear myself up as I walked through the halls of the hospital, feeling sicker and sicker as I got closer to the door, having what I now know was like a mini-anxiety attack each time. Even though my mom was the one who was suffering, I felt like I was walking to my own execution each time. And I at least had the "comfort" of knowing that for most of the time she was intubated, she was unconscious and wasn't completely aware of her condition. But for you to see your dad like this and know that he is aware enough to "suction his own mouth," well, it's surreal and horrifying. It just is. Your family members may not see it that way, but you do, and I can identify. It's like watching your own dad be tortured and not being able to do anything to stop it. Please, give yourself grace and let yourself feel what you're feeling. :grouphug:

Well, I have girls, so I can't exactly give you advice, but if someone could help me understand the Three Stooges nature of *husbands*, now that would help me. :tongue_smilie:

Bwa ha ha! How funny. I'll tell him you remember that. Playing board games is another thing he does so I don't have to. Which reminds me: When I told him I was pregnant with #2, he said, "Do you know what this means?" Uhhhhhh...... He went on, "It means that in another four years we'll have to play Candyland again!" :lol: And yes, in German. Or....something. :tongue_smilie:

Oh my gracious. Not I. Three year old girls......:001_wub::001_wub::001_wub:

:iagree:I did that today. FWIW, my #2dd is almost 14 and she is NOT bawl-worthy. So, take heart!

My dh (whom the OP knows) reads our 3yo all the books I refuse to read her. The ones with speech bubbles. The ones that are best read with lots of weird voices that I just can't do. The ones that are just dumb but somehow got into our library basket anyway. Tonight he read her a children's cookbook in German. He doesn't speak German, but he did his best. He can actually do this for hours.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I get it. I SO do, and many others do, too. Here are some extras. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I adored Radar. :001_wub: