My first response was going to be shavings. :D All my suggestions are already mentioned. Back In the Saddle has some good stuff but it can be pricey. My aunt made my daughter a fleece quilt out of some fleece with a horse pattern, just tied together with a backing but it is her favorite blanket now.

squirt guns can be fun too. :)

Oh my, after your mentioning that he might have a tendency to repeat the story where you least want him to and THEN you were at Hobby Lobby I thought "oh no!" LOL Sounds like he's been processing it all day even though he keeps saying he wants to be done with it! Goofy kid, it sounds like he just about is done with it and ready to move on. I think he's enjoying having a little secret with you and is mightily intrigued with this new revelation. I agree with the husband that said it's no big deal and they react to it with the intensity that you do. Like going to the bathroom or any other private thing, yeah it would be best if you had your privacy but it's all natural and normal. Privacy is to protect the observer as much as the observee! :D

We would softly press the cat's paw to make the claws come out and apply the cover, done! It's about as easy as you can picture it-the most difficult part can be holding onto the cat! They can still retract their claws, it's as if there isn't anything on them functionally though some cats do the foot shake dance for a while after application. Some would chew on them until they got used to them also. Here's a list of faq's http://www.softpaws.com/faqs.html and I think there are some youtubes of how to apply them. good luck! :)

:lol:

I was bullied a LOT and had no help, from anyone, ever. Teachers, parents, friends, mutual friends, nobody ever spoke up for me over the years it was going on and it was pretty bad. From one person, a guy. He apologized sincerely when we were in college and I forgave him but I still have the behavioral scars. I'm very reactive to slights or hurts, overly sensitive. If someone really does confront me or behave rudely/meanly/disrespectfully toward me I'm a freaking grizzly bear. I protect myself now with all the aggression and yes, immaturity, that I needed way back then but didn't have. I'm mad that nobody helped me out then so if anyone that is still in my life (friends, family) doesn't take up for me I get sideways. I am my own advocate now but when I first found my voice it was WAY too loud! I've had to try to temper myself, slow myself down, think about things, tell people that I get too mad too fast, give me a minute. I know that I went too far the other way and now I'm trying to come back to center. I'm also extremely protective of others-I watch out for the underdog and take up for them in a minute. You can imagine how internet message boards feed into that! It helps me to see myself and those kids as young-the ages of my kids now. It helps me to really know that someone should have helped me out and my anger is valid-I was told it wasn't for a long time. Then it really helped me to have a Dr Phil Tell It Like It Is friend that would keep me on the in-between behavior instead of the extremes. I used to sit and fume and take it silently then all of a sudden FREAK OUT and scare everyone with my overreaction, gads. She was able to keep me behaving reasonably and teach me to talk myself through it. Dr Phil (speaking of) always says you can give yourself what you don't get from others; I learned I can provide validation, respect and protection for myself, I didn't need someone else to step in and do it. That was huge for me.

They are good dogs but your youngest child might get knocked around a lot until the dog is trained. I was fostering one for a while that was poorly trained and he was in the way all the time. My kids were young and they were constantly getting knocked over or losing their food to him. lol They're nice dogs, they need a little special care to watch for bloating and leg problems. You can't run them a lot until they're older, they aren't "jogging" dogs, more walking dogs. Their big old legs need plenty of time to mature and too much exercise/weight at a young age will cause them to break down.

Soft Paws are wonderful-well worth it!

We have had a lock on our door forever but sometimes the door wouldn't shut right and the kids could walk right through it. I've always told them if the door is shut stay out but they didn't respect it. Until my daughter walked in a couple years ago when she was about nine. She didn't see anything except that we were extremely close in the bed but we heard her say "ooooooohhhhhKAY!" turn and walk out... She must have told her brother b/c neither one of them have opened our shut door again! We probably don't even need the lock. my husband has been out of town for a month and was home over Thanksgiving-very happy to see each other and one night right as the whole T party was ending we heard a loud "WOOF!?!" right outside our window-we both turn to look and our huge Great Pyrenees dog was looking in the window at us like :confused:. It was worse than my daughter, I felt like I had to explain to the dog that I was ok! LOL

I don't think lard, tallow, pork or chicken skins are bad for you either. I think highly processed and GMO food is bad for you.

Speak for yourself there, Remuda Mom, again you seem to have a hair trigger to fight. Our family exchange student from Vietnam loved our family, town, state and culture and has yet to return to his home country. Guess he can't get enough of "ugly Americans". What a horrible attitude!

this is rather a mean-spirited post. It's annoying. "who eats this crap? they must be crazy??" Well who does much of anything. enjoy your holiday weekend. :001_huh:

Soup, baby! I have one of my own here, it was a side dish mostly, butchered this morning, but not what we wanted. It will be soup and stock.

it's frozen water-I let them come in and chew on their snowballs and it falls and melts and life goes on. My GP is so cold after a night out I let him come in and he sleeps on the couch while the other dogs eat the snowballs off his feet!

I have no idea! I would take this to the Chronicle of the Horse forums, I'm sure they would know a lot and be very helpful. There are professionals, instructors, and working students there... I can't think a better place to ask this question: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/ Congrats to her, I think that's wonderful!

This is all good info but especially Google Earth! I look up every listing on Google Earth and it's been a big eye-opener!

When my son was two he smeared a huge vat of Vaseline all over our dog. :blink: THAT was a huge mess that lasted a long time! I found him (my son) sitting on the kitchen floor once drinking the very last of a gallon of maple syrup... the rest of the NEW gallon was in a pool all around him. Seemed like I was always hauling him straight to the bathtub with all his clothes on to clean him up from something or another!

:D

Our turkey still has his head and feet attached-but he will lose them first thing in the morning. :) We use pliers on the pin feathers and I agree, black feathers on an eating bird are gross!

It's ok; I was mostly kidding around but you really do sound like you need that chocolate sooner and not later! :) Do ONE thing that works to brighten you up and then maybe that will help you do some of the other things!

I usually make it the way described above. But for a different chicken soup I do a white sauce and add in chicken stock/bullion, any vegies that I want (you could do the ones you mentioned) garlic, curry... cubed chicken. I think spinach or kale in soup is really good but I don't know about the zuchinni. Maybe bake some zuchinni chips to garnish on top. There's no reason you can't put it in, I'm just not sure how well it will "mesh" to my tastes.

You SOUND grumpy! :D Honestly, I don't know what makes you tick. What I do know is what will work for me, which is why I mentioned the things above. When I feel myself drifting off into grumpiness I will watch a youtube that makes me laugh, or read a blog that has a good attitude or sense of humor. That will sometimes let me lighten up enough to take my Vit D supplements and that will make me feel good enough to get outside and take a walk or play with the dog. Wash down your Vit D with that chocolate bar-go outside to eat that chocolate bar, eat it while watching a standup comic on youtube. Does your chocolate help? then eat it! are you grumpy b/c you aren't letting yourself do the thing that will help? A bar of chocolate isn't going to kill you and it might help get you going down the right road. enjoy it free and clear and use the boost that it gives you to do something else good for yourself.

Vitamin D? it makes a difference for me. Exercise too. Hormones. Stress. Sugar. All factors. Drink coffee and wine in moderation. :D They do seriously boost my mood. YMMV Consider your choices too-attitude, music, books, tv shows, movies, webpages: are you surrounding yourself with things that feed your mood? Edit that-you ARE surrounding yourself with things that feed your mood. Make sure they're the right things.

A water test is good to do too, if for some reason it's not required for your loan. I would get MUCH less house than you're approved for. Our initial mortgage was at the upper end of comfortable but our insurance and taxes have gone up significantly and now we're UNcomfortable! HOA's are the devil. I won't ever EVER live in one again. Even when they're good they're bad. Go and sit at the location at all hours of the day, listen for crazy neighbors or traffic. Consider different times of year, will that steep hill be a bobsled run in the winter? Consider what YOU need in a house. We choose to live in remote locations because when things get tough we can dig deep and garden and raise chickens and cows. Someone who is more urban wouldn't want to have to travel 20 miles for their eggs. Taxes, future growth potential, population changes, look to the future trend of the area.

My MIL and SIL's would be ticked off if I brought an alternate to a dish in a meal they prepared. If it's not a potluck they want it THEIR way. Granted, they are difficult people and that affects my answer but no way would I take that liberty of bringing my own version.