My iPad has worked with both of the WiFi routers we've had here at our house. (The first worked okay but kept cutting out and was very slow; we determined that that was because it was eight years old. Bought a new one, and it doesn't cut the internet out randomly and is very fast.)

DD (almost 11) likes her brown leather boots, slightly higher than ankle. They look great with jeans. She also has black ankle boots and taller black boots. She wears ballet flats sometimes with skirts. She has sandals for summer. She also has a couple of Mary Jane style shoes that she wears with skirts or with jeans.

I made pumpkin custard by basically making pumpkin pie without the crust. I think I googled something like "paleo pumpkin custard" and found a recipe.

It's so much easier to homeschool in PA than everyone thinks; I would not let that stop me at all, if otherwise PA was the better choice. DE is probably the easiest, especially since (at least a few years ago) they allow umbrella support groups to function as private schools, and those are allowed to set their own rules. (PA has some other good laws, though -- if you care about guns, midwifery, or raw milk, you might want PA.) Unfortunately, that area is just expensive, period. There are a lot of good private schools in the northern DE/Philly area, but it's also crowded and expensive. If you don't need to be *right* near Philly or Newark, you might look into parts of Montgomery County, PA (Pottstown area), maybe even Berks County. You might also go south a bit from Newark, into the center of DE, Kent County, and maybe that would be cheaper. As Quill said, you might look toward the Taneytown area, Carroll County, MD; yes, it's a bit cheaper over the line into Adams or York County, PA. We live in that area and love it, but also, we have relatives who live near Newark, and there's just not a good route to their house; it takes a good three hours to get there. So the Taneytown area might be a bit too far for your liking (two hours from Newark?).

Yellow squash or zucchini fried in butter would make a nice savory accompaniment to breakfast. I like to saute slices of zucchini, maybe with some mushrooms and/or tomatoes, and top them with goat cheese. Sweet potatoes (either mashed or shredded and turned into fritters -- I also want to try zucchini fritters -- would be a nice winter breakfast item). Pumpkin custard too, yum. Sometimes I make a casserole with cauliflower, cheese, and eggs. It's not the most interesting dish, but it does get the protein and veggies in.

We have really hard water; it's killed multiple appliances and is about to kill our water heater. Before we replace the water heater, we want to do something about the water. I'm not terribly wild about the idea of a salt-based system; aside from the expense of salt, I've read some not-so-great things about the amount of sodium that it puts into our drinking water. It might be possible to run two separate lines so that the kitchen sink is on its own line for drinking water (the dishwasher is completely separate from the sink anyway, thanks to retrofitting an 1830s house), with everything else that uses water on a separate line that runs through the softener, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any other suggestions for treating hard water? The usual additives, like lemon juice and vinegar for dishwasher, etc., really aren't effective; if we want it softened, it needs to be done where it comes into the house, before it hits the water heater and everything.

What a darling!

Reported spam post.

Oh, that is priceless!

Praise God, and then just hand your DH the stick. If he's drunk TeA at all, even with protection, there's always a chance that there will be a souvenir from the TeA. Congrats!

A nap. My DD grabs her cat and heads to her room for a while. The cat purrs when DD pets her, and it calms DD down. I love that she does this. :)

Qui-Gon Jinn (or Aslan if you prefer) as John Paul Jones! LOL! Seriously, though, we loved the Liberty's Kids DVDs as well. We thought the computer game was fun too, though not super challenging.

I did not know the answer to this question, but I asked my 10yo DD. She knew what the second one said without me finishing, and she says that since Han says, "I know" to Leia, you should keep the one that says "I know," as if it's your DH's answer. Leia says, "I love you" first, so she says that your DH should get that one, as if it's a reminder that you said it to him. (Also, DD says that they both say both things at some point, so she says it really doesn't matter.)

I suppose I'm of mixed feelings on this one. I do think having a big "second wedding" sort of thing, with bridesmaids and all of that hoopla is a little silly. Definitely not my thing. (We did have a very nice wedding, not too much hoopla, probably just enough, so it's not that I feel like I was missing the big fancy wedding.) Now, if you want to throw a big bash to celebrate a particular milestone anniversary, go for it! I remember my grandparents doing that for their fortieth anniversary, and it was nice, definitely not a gift grab, just a celebration with their friends and family. When we got married, we were all of 21 and 23, freshly out of college. We were babies, LOL! We pledged "for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better, for worse," and we believed it wholeheartedly -- but we didn't have a clue as to what that would actually mean. We've had our better times, and we've had some really, really tough times. We were married the second the pastor proclaimed us to be man and wife (I'm a traditionalist; I insisted upon those words), but now? Now I feel like almost fifteen years into it, we're really *married.* We've bought and sold (and renovated) houses together, we've worried about the budget together, we've job-hunted together, we've labored together, we've welcomed babies together, we've rolled our eyes over yet another vehicle mishap together, we've giggled about Christmas surprises for the kids together, we've shared the ups and downs and sorrows and joys, and we are still *us.* *That* is marriage, to me, not a piece of paper or a party. I could totally see a small ceremony with our children, and maybe our parents, maybe our siblings and a very few close friends, where we said our vows again (though I'm pretty sure I couldn't get through them again; I barely did the first time without crying, and yes, I do have them written down in our wedding scrapbook), as a public reaffirmation of our commitment to each other and to the institution of marriage. I think it could be a very meaningful thing for our children to witness as they start to think about marriage.

It's been several years since I have had a Sam's membership (there's not one near us at all), but one thing I noticed is that while I saved money per item/pound, because I had to buy such a large quantity of items, my grocery bill actually wasn't any lower. Like, I might have bought three jars of spaghetti sauce, when I'd only use one or two in that particular month's budget, so while I saved per jar, I never actually saw a reduction in my grocery spending. I might have meat/spaghetti sauce/butter/etc. for the next two or three months, but I'd still need to fill in the blanks at a regular grocery store. Does that make sense? It wouldn't have been helpful if I'd needed to cut down on the actual amount I spent per month. Then again, that was when I only had two children. With four, soon to be five, I probably would save money now, LOL. I looked into BJ's last summer, because they're the closest to us, and it would be worth the cost of membership. They were really nice about letting me come in and look around and take notes (I think they even gave me a free month of membership), so I would see if Sam's would let you do that as well.

If you opt for one of the plans that you have to renew periodically, if you are a gmail user, get the gmail calendar to email you when you need to renew. I LOVE this feature and use it for everything from dental appointments to "check about library books" to "clean out coffeepot with lemon juice." Gmail sends me a message on a particular day each month to do this, and it can do every three months or whatever. So much easier to remember periodic necessities this way!

Can't add much to these great tips, but I do try to keep an eye on what staples (food or otherwise) are getting low, and I'll add them to a running list that I keep with me at the store. I live too far from the grocery store to get any fliers, and I don't always remember to check the online flier, so I'll have a note: watch for sale on coffee, or chicken breast, or shampoo, etc. So if I get to the store and see that something like that is on sale, I'll buy at least a month's worth. Do you have a warehouse club near you? I don't know if it would help you or not, but I looked at a BJ's membership last summer. I definitely would have saved by buying one; things like butter were way cheaper, and DH's toothpaste was only $2 a container, instead of the $3.50 I pay at the regular grocery store. (The meat prices were comparable to the grocery store sale prices, but the nice thing is that they were consistent.) I ultimately decided not to get a membership because I don't have to go in that direction very often, and I do have to go in the opposite direction once a week, so it would add extra time and gas to get to BJ's (which negates the savings). But you might check into it.

We put pergo in our first house's kitchen/dining room. We only lived there for 23 months, and that was pre-kids, so it still looked very nice when we sold it. We did have one problem where something leaked while we were moving, so when we came back to the house, it had caused a bit of warping in a couple of boards. Not too terrible, but it would not be my first choice for a kitchen area because of the potential for water damage (and it's not easy to fix a small part of the floor either because of the way it all locks together.) It was a solid, cost-effective choice for that house, though, and when it's freshly cleaned, it gleams really nicely. When we redid the kitchen in our second house, we put in DIY hardwood -- a little more upscale than pergo and a little more expensive. You might look into that. We only had it for about two years before we sold the house, but it looked good still and was easy to clean. This house came with pergo in the dining half of the kitchen (not the sink/stove/fridge/meal prep area -- that has linoleum that I detest but which is good for that space) and the room that we use for the schoolroom. I would prefer real hardwood (this is an 1830s house, which has true old hardwood in some rooms, which I like, even though it needs refinishing), but I can't justify ripping out perfectly good pergo, especially when the hardwood under it is likely not in great shape. We are HARD on our pergo, which is in a very high traffic area. We stomp wet boots over it (because that's our main entrance into the house, and DH needs to walk over to the table and chairs to sit down to remove his boots), we spill stuff on it, we have four children (who are hard on things), and we have two cats. We've been here six years, and honestly, the pergo still looks really, really good. I vacuum it, because a lot of dirt gets tracked over it, and it still hasn't scratched. It cleans up so beautifully and looks gorgeous when freshly washed. (It cleans up much nicer than the lino in the kitchen area.) Even with the various liquids that end up on it from time to time, no warping. If hardwood is the norm for your area, I would not go with pergo, because of resale value, but if it's not, the pergo has served us very well. (And really, I'm not exaggerating; we are really hard on stuff. Furniture -- sigh. Even the wide hardwood flooring in my living room has scratches in it, but not the pergo.) Edit: Re: noise/echo. IDK. We're just loud. I don't think it echoes any more than the lino or hardwood in the other room. It IS cold, and it does tend to be a little slippery, but again, no moreso than the lino or hardwood.

Also, yes, I agree with the recommendation for the Lang fairy book -- that slipped my mind! DD (actually, the boys too) really likes those, and for girls who are into fairies and princesses, they're a higher quality choice than the rainbow fairies. :)

LOL! Never have been to a hockey game, but I can picture it. I like the site that has the "how to tell if you're dressed" list. "If your pants have kittens or ice cream cones on them, they're pajamas -- try again."

Well, shoot, now *my* little baby wants that too! That sounds delicious! I hope whatever you did have was yummy, though.

Other, I guess. I eat with an eye to protein and veggies and not too many grain-based carbs, but that's pretty much how I eat when not pregnant as well. At the same time, I don't worry about the occasional indulgence of sugar or even more processed food (or even french fries, LOL). I do avoid a few things, though. All of my babies have been very healthy. I tend not to gain much weight, no matter what I eat, but my smallest baby (#4, with whom I only gained about 10 pounds total) was 8 pounds at 38.5 weeks, and my largest was almost 10 pounds. The biggest thing I do watch is my water intake; I tend not to feel very thirsty, but especially when I'm pregnant, I REALLY need plenty of water, and early in the day, or I feel woozy and dizzy later. I also do have to watch that I eat a big chunk of protein in the morning; I can eat some grains later in the day, but not so much at breakfast, or I feel icky later. I don't tend to be sick, though, which is nice. Sometimes I get aversions to meat (it happened with my first pregnancy and has happened some with this one; I don't remember that much with the other three, so part of me thinks there's a good chance that this baby is a girl, hehe), and sometimes, if I don't eat, I'll get way too hungry and won't want to eat anything, and then I feel lousy. So sometimes I have to go make myself eat some cheese or something. I probably ate the absolute best with my third pregnancy -- everything was local, or organic, free-range, pastured, etc. No appreciable difference in him vs. the others.

Hurray!!!!

Okay, after reading comments, I think I should change my vote. I must have been distracted when I looked at the pictures, because I missed the feces. I just saw a LOT of clutter, which suggests that the parents need some help, but not CPS. Your comments make me think that something more than "just help" is in order.

Prayer sent!