This is really pretty. Can you adjust font size and/or are there zoom options? I have bad vision...

For a modern fantasy with a fairy tale feel, Daughter of the Forest and sequels. There is a non-graphic rape scene near the beginning of book 1, fyi.

I have a very small waist compared to hip/thigh, and since the skinny jean became popular ten years ago, I have been miserable. This summer, I found Lucky Brand in the High Rise 90s Loose fit, and I am in love. They have a button fly, they are loose in the thighs, and so, so comfortable. They are not super flattering. They aren't ugly, they are just there in a neutral way on my legs, IYKWIM, but I love them.

To the new poster having twins, I pray for their health, but I know also that life with a disability can be a happy and beautiful life.

Yes, this is a super old thread of mine and the child in question will celebrate his 7th birthday soon!

Yeah... that's going to vary by person.... wildly. I'm with @ktgrok. I DO epilate my pits every 2 weeks and have for over 2 years, I love the result, but it hurts like a badword each and every time. My legs have adapted much better, pain wise.

I'm seconding NO EPILATOR unless it's for a teen who is super motivated and willing to deal with pain. I love my epilator, but NO WAY would I let my girls use one unless they had already been shaving for a while, knew they liked the look, and had spot tested with an epilator to know what they were getting into... For a girl on the fence, I would actually get a women's electric shaver. No chance of nicks or ingrowns, no shaving cream, easy to quickly shave without a shower if, in the moment, she decides she'd like to. Yes, the hair grows back a tiny bit faster than a razor, but that makes it even less of a long-term commitment.

I was an innocent bystander for this one... One friend says to another, I saw a squid at the wharf that someone caught. It was this long. (demonstrates with hands) Other friend responds, "Whoa, that's really long! Was that with or without the testicles?" I fell over laughing. We were all about 13 at the time.

Congrats! I love hearing stories like these!

I'd see if an osteopath or chiropractor could take a look.

Sorry, just saw your kids won't do beans. Eeeek! Many of the recipes above can be batch made and frozen in individual portions, so DH can have a nice bowl of chili while everyone else is eating mac and cheese for example.

I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's health problems. I have gone through the major diet change process and I know it's really overwhelming at first. Two of my kids have Celiac, and my DH has severe food allergies, and I'm trying to eat Whole Food Plant Based, though I give myself a lot of wiggle room, just like you. Here are some of our standard, regular meals: GF spaghetti or other noodles with a lentil-mushroom Bolognese sauce. I finely chop a bunch of mushrooms and sauté them in a very scant bit of olive oil until they have reduced significantly in volume, the more, the better IMO. I add a can of drained, rinsed lentils (I prefer the flavor/texture of beluga lentils, also called black lentils. You can also start from dry and cook them separately). Add to your favorite jarred sauce. You can make this even healthier by adding vegetables and/or using GF pasta that is bean or chickpea based, or whole wheat. Vegan Chili. I use this recipe more-or-less, and I add a can of corn because yummy corn and about 1/4-1/2 cup red quinoa, which helps to absorb some of the juice and adds a meaty texture to compliment the beans. This became my favorite chili recipe instantly, the flavor is so good. You do NOT need an instant pot, the recipe is made from canned beans, I have no idea why you'd drag out the instant pot rather than simmering another 4-10 minutes on the stove. Indian Red Lentil Dahl. I use this recipe. Beyond Burgers or other vegan burgers- a once a week staple for us. Yes, they are very salty. I think if they are your only indulgence, there are not too bad! Mexican Black Bean Bowls. These are a huge hit. I cook black beans from soaked in the IP, then drain and add stock (chicken or veg), sautéed onion, a chopped chipotle pepper or two from a can, and juice of 2 limes. Serve with rice and corn, plus any toppings you might like. I use sour cream, but you can get a vegan substitute easily in the USA! Red bean tacos- Prepare everything as you would for normal tacos, but instead of meat, drain and rinse as many cans of red beans as your family needs and add a packet of taco seasoning and some water and simmer them a few mninutes until the water is mostly cooked off. Black beans are also fine for this. As are lentils. It's also really easy to make meat for kids and beans for adults. Refried bean burritos. Open can, heat beans, put in tortillas, add salsa! PBJ on toast or crackers, gf as necessary. Falafel wraps or pitas. I buy store-bought falafels and heat in oven, then spread (store bought) hummus onto a pita or tortilla, add salad leaves, red onion slices, cucumber slices, falafel balls, and a good squirt of sriracha. A bit of soy sour cream or plain yogurt is also excellent. Every week, I make a couple of big salads that we eat at lunch or to fill in the cracks around a meal of leftovers. These include: - Lentil-Mango-Pomegranate Salad - Quinoa salad with cucumbers and raisins, lemon vinaigrette - Chickpea Waldorf Salad - Green salad with all the fixings you might like. For me that means having sliced red onion on hand, raisins or an apple to chop up, and a half can of lentils (drained/rinsed). I make homemade dressing and always have some ready, so this is a quick lunch. A seeds and nut mix for salads adds a good crunch on the top. ----------- This is personal, but I disagree with the advice to transition slowly. A quick change gives you some momentum to work with and leads to feeling better and seeing better lab numbers rapidly, which is motivating, creating a good cycle. I would suggest looking at what you already eat, and seeing how easy it is to veganize it. Using vegan "meat" can help while you are trying to get the kids on board.

Yes, me. I snored, had a sleep study at home, did not have apnea. Turns out I had a severely deviated septum. Getting that repaired was a huge game changer for me across the board. Better sleep, no longer a mouth breather, seasonal allergies dropped from maybe a 5-6 in severity to a 0-1. And sinus infections dropped from 2-3 a year requiring abx to 0 since surgery a few years ago.

Have you tried the brand Altra for running shoes? They have a super wide natural toe box. I could walk all day in Keen sandals. If you want some more extreme options, you can look into Skinners or Xero sandals. Both are essentially a minimal protection in order to go bare footed. I've run in both, but you need to start very gradually or you'll end up injured.

😆 Well, I think cocaine is derived from a plant, so I guess all cocaine is vegan? 🤣

Hey, @BaseballandHockey, I've got another filling vegan salad for you! I just made it last night and LOVED it and remembered you were into salads and had a vegetarian to feed form time to time. Chickpea Waldorf Salad (I ate it as a sandwich actually...) - 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed drained, dried (I put the drained beans in a bowl on top of a couple paper towels while I did everything else) - 1 lemon, juiced - 1 granny smith, diced, then let it sit in the lemon juice for a few minutes while you prep the rest - 2 green onions, finely sliced - 3-4 stalks celery finely diced - red grapes, halved (maybe a cup?) - some craisins (couple handfuls?) - optional toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped In a bowl, combine all the solid ingredients, reserving lemon juice. Mix about half cup vegan mayo (or regular if it doesn't matter) with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pour over everything, mix it up, let it sit 15 minutes, eat. For the best texture, you want all your ingredients to be around the same size- so split the celery down the center before cutting it into pieces, etc. Only the onions should be sliced really thin, no one wants a chickpea-sized hunk of onion in there!

Oh, I'm so glad!!! I make that salad (double batch) EVERY SINGLE WEEK! It is what is keeping my 14 year old from eating us out of house and home!

I made this today and it was delicious! Thank you.

Speaking of, do you have a recipe for your corn salad?

I've made that mango salad, and it's very yummy. I think a lot of pickiness is related to familiarity. Familiar salads for most kids might be: - carrot-apple salad (grated carrots, apple chunks, some kind of sweet mayo dressing) - cole slaw - Potato salad - green salad - fruit salad As a previous commenter said, I would LOVE for someone to bring me a NEW salad to try. I get tired of the old recipes! But I tend to go with simple for kids. Maybe one simple/traditional plus one new? Or, stash a couple bags of potato chips in the car. When food comes out, if the hosts haven't put out chips and people are giving the salads a stink-eye, suddenly remember "Oh, ds, we left the bag with chips in the car! Will you run out and get it?" And I cannot imagine anyone saying no to grandpa coming along, especially since he lives with you! I would just inform them nicely.

There were a couple things that made this easier this year: DH started working form home, so I shifted our hot meal to noon. Evenings are leftovers and sandwich type things, and often we aren't all together due to sports for the kids, so it was actually a great change to move our big meal to lunch. I started invisalign braces. The first few months were HARD, and by the time I'd brushed my teeth, brushed my invisalign trays, put them back in, etc, I had NO DESIRE to go through it again an hour or two later because I wanted a snack. Last year, I probably managed my eating window 5 out of 7 days, with a few holiday related week's off. I like fasting because if you break your fasting window... nothing bad really happens. You'll have a high day on the scale the following day, but that's it. So no issues if friends wanted to go out for a burger. I had dabbled in keto the year or two before, and found it very aggravating, because a "cheat" typically led to 2-3 days of working your carbs off to get back into ketosis. Fasting is much easier to work with while still maintaining a social life. 🙂

I do an early eating window- I eat from 7am-1pm or so. Doing this last year, I lost 15ish pounds. The biggest effect I noticed is with sleep, I sleep like a rock if I have an empty stomach. Now, when I do eat in the evenings, I usually feel yucky.

These would be my two top picks as well. Holes has some sadness in it, but it is so, so, so good. I would rate it as one of the most satisfying books I've read in my life. And the Willoughbys is hilarious, especially for children who are slightly familiar with children's classics, though that's not truly necessary.

On a related note: My oldest loves battle machines, mostly planes and tanks. He builds plastic models and paints them. He has also done one wooden boat cross section, which is easier than a full wooden boat. Most kits come with a short historical information sheet, and he then goes on to google that particular machine and learn more about it. The model building has turned into a nice hobby and he eventually branched out to constructing his own RC model airplane and now also owns several other RC airplanes as well. This was never part of any official history studies, it's just his hobby, but it carried right into our modern history studies this year.

Gregor the Overlander. My kids liked this series more than Harry Potter. it is fantasy, however. You'd have to preview, but my son is enjoying one of the Killing ____ books by O'Reilly right now. He's reading Killing Kennedy, which is probably the "worst" in terms of content due to a lot of Kennedy's womanizing while in the White House. Absolutely nothing graphic sex-wise, just constant mention of the women trooping in and out. The assassination scene is quite graphic. You didn't mention science fiction, but my son just finished the Linesman series by Dunstall. He really enjoyed it. There are some vaguely adult situations, but again, not even mildly graphic. The other big classic sci-fi that could appeal is Ender's Game and its sequels. Some intense but not-too-graphic violence. For more survival type stories, we really liked Mutiny on the Bounty.