When my current youngest is 20, I will be 54, but I am hoping to have one more baby. Wow, that makes me feel old. I was one of the youngest first-time moms I knew; I was 24 when DD was born, and they're all about three years apart. It's funny not to be the young mom now with my fourth child (my first ped was a few years older than me, an experienced mom herself; our current doc is younger than me and fresh out of school).

I have never actually run out of gas, but I've barely made it a few times. One time, I got seriously lost in the middle of nowhere and ended up driving something like 20 miles -- after my Expedition had already been on completely empty for several miles. (I was trying to get somewhere before closing; it should have taken me 20 minutes, and I left with 90. I ended up getting there 5 minutes before closing, which was indeed sufficient.) I absolutely have no doubt that there was divine intervention that day.

We are more of a primal type, since we do dairy. We'd be more of a full primal type if we could afford it, but we need to eat legumes to keep grocery costs down. Basically, we're low-sugar, low-grains, or at least we try to be. :)

Thank you both! Those links do seem to be what I wanted -- thanks so much!

Haven't read the rest of the thread yet, but this seems to vary terribly. We lived in one place where they couldn't schedule a sick visit for three days, and well checks took months. Another place, well checks took a while to get, but they kept a few spaces open every day for sick visits, so we could get one that day, maybe the next. The wait times were terrible too, once we got to the office; even if I was on time or early, I'd have at least a 45-minute wait. Around here, the response time is amazing. When I call for a checkup, they can get us in within a week. It takes longer if I want an evening appointment (because the exam rooms are tiny, and I don't like bringing all four children to a well check for the baby), but that's understandable. When they had a concern about the baby's heart, we were able to get an echocardiogram done within a week, and when I wanted some ENT and allergy evaluations done for my 7yo, again, it was really fast. Wait times have been very reasonable here too, no more than a few minutes, even for our doctor, who is part of a group practice (5 or 6 docs, plus a NP) that takes a lot of insurances (including CHIP/Medicaid/Medicare). And we have a pretty basic health insurance program, certainly not a fancy plan or anything. The ERs are excellent too, whereas we've lived in one area where the ER was terrible. (I waited for nine hours with searing abdominal pain, trying to rule out an ectopic pregnancy or kidney stone or something, for them to eventually shrug their shoulders and not find anything, but they charged me a ton for it. My family doc diagnosed a pulled muscle a couple of days later. Another time, DD got a fishbone stuck in her throat, at age 2, and she was throwing up blood, so we went to the ER. They did nothing, and we ended up taking her home and seeing her ped the next day, who got it out with no problem.) We also have very good walk-in clinics here, which have been very helpful on weekends. Also, I suppose it depends on the doctor. Ours is great; if we ask for a specialist referral, she is happy to do it. But I know not all docs are. The children's dentist is the only place where we have a hard time getting a well check; it is hard to get them every 6 months. But they're a really excellent pediatric dental practice, and when we've had a concern (like, my then 6yo came to me and thought one of his adult teeth felt loose -- turned out not to be an issue), they are able to get us in right away. I have no feeling one way or the other about UHC. In theory, I don't like the idea of government intervention, but I also think the system as it is now, is broken terribly. I think it's ridiculous that a lot of doctors won't see someone without insurance, so they can't get treatment for minor things until they become major -- thus needing ER care and costing a lot more money. And I think prescription meds are horrible. This summer, I needed a steroid inhaler to treat my asthma, and it was so expensive. I can definitely see why people might put off buying the meds, and then they end up in the ER (which is where mine was heading). I think we need to make it easier to get preventative care and minor treatment, but I also don't want unnecessary tests done. I think we need a better model, whereby individual needs are considered more.

Is there some list, somewhere, that coordinates the SOTW1 timeline with a Biblical timeline, preferably with a YE slant? Like, we're reading the first chapter of SOTW1 today, and I'd like to give my kids an idea of how it fits into the Biblical timeline. (Yes, I know it's all the first chapters of Genesis, but beyond that. . .) I know she mentions Abraham, but that's not for a few chapters, so I'd like to give them some reference for just who *are* those people mentioned in the first few chapters of SOTW1. Does that make any sense? And then I'd like to be able to show them where the other people and places in SOTW1 match up with the Bible stories we know/what else was going on in the world at the time of Biblical events. SOTW only hits those in a few key spots.

Most 6-7yo boys probably would not be able to access them. Your DH sounds quite special in that regard. :) The normal obstacles -- keys, location, loading, chambering, etc. -- should have been deterrents, and I think they would be for most kids. That's a lot of steps to conquer. Many gun owners choose to demystify guns for their children, by showing them the guns and talking about them with their children, answering their questions as they come up. Regular and frequent instruction in the proper use of guns goes a very long way, IMO. But yes, if you won't store your guns responsibly, you shouldn't have them.

I still have several of the ones I bought to take to college, back in 1995. One holds recycling outside. Two others hold random hats and stuff in the closet. They do make nice shelves. I like to keep at least one in the car to hold stuff too. When all else fails, I grab one to use as an overflow bin. I can't imagine getting rid of them!

I love Seth and Ruth/Ruthie with your other kids' names! (And it would be cute but not too twin-matchy to have the "th" in both names.) I think Julia would go well with your other kids' names too.

Never. Occasionally, one of us goes out to socialize with friends (though we're not bar/club types), but together, sans kids? Never. We've been out once in the past 4 years, to see a movie (and then we took the baby).

What about outside time? When do you fit that in around schoolwork, particularly in the summer, when between 10 and 3, it's too hot and sunny for them go out? Do you try to get in a bit of outside time before starting schoolwork (maybe with a mid-morning snack before starting schoolwork), or do you just save it for the late afternoon/evening?

I shared DD's with her, because I felt it was her right to know. I also thought it would be a confidence booster for her, because she was concerned that she didn't know a lot of the math. It helped her to see that she did just fine for her age. Her scores weren't surprises, though; she scored exactly as we expected she'd score. My older two do tend to be competitive, but they also have very different strengths and weaknesses, so we point out their personal skills often.

:lol: I love it! Actually, we found it to be the opposite. My very hands-on child (the one who could defeat most any kind of lock or latch at a scarily young age) hated Miquon. No idea why, but she really didn't like it. She doesn't particularly like Saxon either, but its approach works better for her. I think she wasn't terribly interested in the "why" and exploration sort of thing that Miquon does a lot of; she didn't naturally see the patterns and all. The one of my four children for whom I did not have to do any child-proofing, because he was not into exploring, does well with Miquon. He doesn't always want to use the rods, but he likes the "what happens if you do X" sort of thing, and he sees the patterns and goes, "oh, it's Y because this one was X," and such all the time. He's very mathy and just seems to think mathematically. I think Saxon would probably bore him with the repetition, but he likes Miquon, and he liked the one lesson of Singapore we've done too (we're doing both Miquon and Singapore for him this year).

Our grocery store has a couple of products, both similar, one maybe called Lime Away or something like that -- they're with the toilet bowl products and have the bent nozzle for squirting into the toilet bowl. They worked like a charm on the hard water stains on our toilets. Vinegar wasn't touching them at all. I squirted that stuff on, watched it fizz and bubble, and presto, stains were GONE.

This really sounds a lot like the CMA church where I grew up, though you'd have to find one whose worship style meshed with you. Their stances on social issues seem to match yours, and so does their interpretation of the Bible. There was a lot of attention given to an attitude of personal (as well as collective) worship, allowing God to speak to the individual person, and the other side is their strong stance toward world missions and serious undertaking of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Yes, absolutely! My CMA church growing up was largely traditional, but they have grown more contemporary over the years. The one we attend here is blended, I suppose; they do a mix of contemporary music and traditional hymns.

A roast chicken can be stretched pretty far too. Add some potatoes/sweet potatoes/bread, and a green veggie, and it's a complete meal. (Or do sauteed spinach as one side, and cauliflower or carrots as the other, if you don't do grains. We lean toward the paleo/primal side of things, so we don't do a lot of bread/grains, but we do stock up on frozen veggies when they're on sale and will add as many of those as needed to round out a meal. We usually have a fair amount of breast meat left, so that could be used in soup or stir-fry the next day, or for chicken salad for lunch.

We had three kids across the back of a Ford Focus for a while (and still do that when DH takes the three older kids somewhere, because it gets 30 mpg). It was tight, but we made do. It was better than when I had all three of them in our F150 pickup truck, because they actually had more leg room in the Focus, and the Focus has a trunk. (In the truck, I'd have to load bags and groceries under the kids' feet and all; it was a huge pain.) Baby #4 meant that neither the truck nor the Focus would work as a primary vehicle for me, so I now drive a 2001 Ford Windstar. It's been heavenly. So much room, and it's a pleasure to drive. I nearly cried the first time I loaded it up with a day's worth of stuff plus a big grocery shop, and my children still had plenty of room for comfort and safety. It gets pretty close to 20 mpg, which is better than our truck and not too shabby considering its age and the good deal we got on it. I did have a Ford Expedition for a while, and I LOVED it so much. We had all three big kids in the middle row, where they had plenty of space because it was so wide, but we had the option to use the third row if need be. (However, with the third row in use, the cargo space was terrible, way worse than the Windstar's.) Unfortunately, its gas mileage was terrible, 12-13 mpg on the highway.

I vote Annabelle. I like the two double letters, and I think having the 'e' on the end gives it a bit of softness. (DD's middle name is Anne.) Also, I'd pronounce it "On-uh" instead of "Anne-uh" if it had just one 'n.'

Curried chickpeas and vegetables -- chickpeas, curry, cauliflower or broccoli, diced sweet potatoes, all cooked together, with a bit of yogurt or coconut milk. Very filling and makes a lot. White beans, spinach, diced tomatoes, a bit of crushed red pepper, some sort of pasta optional. Black bean burrito bowls -- black beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, tortillas if you like them.

That, and "Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large" totally did me in.

If I felt that nutritionally, the children were suffering, I'd opt for the food stamps. If I felt that they were fine nutritionally, even if they didn't like it, I'd try the beans and rice for a while, but like a PP said, maybe for about 6 months. My concern about doing the beans and rice, pasta, high carb, etc. diet is the possible impact on sugar levels and implications for diabetes and such down the road. I notice a huge difference in my children's behavior and ability to focus and learn when they eat a lot of white carbs, and if food stamps let me avoid that, I'd figure that we'd paid in plenty in the past (and would eventually again), and I'd use the food stamps and not worry about it. I'd also do whatever I could to make money stretch as far as possible. Food stamps in our area actually mean bonuses at the farmer's market -- if you use food stamps to buy, I think it is, $10 worth of food, they'll give you $20 worth.

Sounds like some churches in the Christian & Missionary Alliance -- cmalliance.org, I think. For a while, we attended a church that was part of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, and we liked it a lot, though tbh, we didn't look into its wider beliefs too deeply, as we were sporadic attenders and were only temporarily living in that city. We also attended a church that was part of the Evangelical Congregational denomination, and we liked it as well. IIRC, it wasn't terribly different from the CMA, which is what I grew up attending. And thanks for starting this thread; we attend a CMA church around here sometimes and really like it, but it's a bit of a hike, especially for activities during the week. I've been half-heartedly church-shopping, but I am going to see if either of those denominations have churches near us.

A large part of being a real estate agent is reading what your clients aren't saying, and determining how much what they say actually means. Some people would say, "Oh, I MUST have X," and then they'd end up buying something that defnitely did not have X. Or they'd say, "no Y," and then they'd fall for a house that definitely had Y. Agents hear stuff like that often enough that they don't necessarily believe it. It's possible that people are saying, "no cats," and agents are hearing, "I'd rather not have to deal with animals but no big deal for the right house." It's also possible that your agent did not list the cats on the listing, which would be helpful all around, so ask if the agent can do that. But yes, it's aggravating.

Kleen Kanteens!