Hi, My dd11 is interested in having a penpal. I emailed you with more info.

I have this problem. It happens outside of pregnancy as well though. I think it is worsened by changing hormones. It seems to be worst during early pregnancy, after giving birth [or discontinuing breastfeeding], and now I've noticed it flares up right before my time of the month. I've seen cardiologists, worn holter monitors, had echocardiograms, ekg's and stress tests (which are not fun when you're 6 months pregnant!). During my last pregnancy it was really bad. At one point my heart rate suddenly jumped and stayed elevated. By the time we reached the hospital 1/2 hour after it started, my heart rate was still 220 beats per minute. I cannot begin to explain what that feels like. They had two nurses trying to stick an iv into me. They then injected me with something that they said basically stopped my heart for a split second, and when it restarted it resumed a normal rhythm. As scary and awful as that was, they just kept me in the ER for a couple hours and then released me. That was it. It continued to happen throughout the next few months [it was very unpleasant and I was exhausted though and could barely stand up] but thankfully it always corrected itself. My ob had suggested an ablation after the pregnancy, but it has eased off post pregnancy. Nobody seemed to be too concerned. They just did some tests to rule out anything serious. They did change my blood pressure medication. There are certain types that can help control those irregularities. If you continue to be bothered ask your ob for a referral to a cardiologist. And, if you have a really bad episode which does not correct itself as I did, go to the ER. Also, keep a log of symptoms and regular heart rates, etc. Nobody took me seriously for the longest time [i started having problems immediately after baby number 3 was born and I was pretty much dismissed until I ended up with a hospital stay with baby number 5] ... it was all in my head, I was depressed, or better yet was "having a panic attack" -- to which my response was "Of course I am, you would be too if your heart was suddenly about to jump out of your chest!" :D

We have a family of 9. We have an extra large capacity front loader and I do: 5 darks 4 whites 4 "beige" 2 red 3 towels 2 bedding 1 dance clothes 2 sports clothing + any "special" loads [coats, snowpants, sleeping bags, robes, curtains, etc] I used to do laundry throughout the school day, but I can't seem to find the time any more, so now I try to do one in the morning and one in the evening every day, and then I attempt to catch up on Saturday.

I have heard not to serve peanut butter to a child until they are one. Then I heard age two. I have also heard age three mentioned on occasion. Recently I have heard that it doesn't matter. :confused::confused::confused: What do you do [and why :D] ? {My 14 mo REALLY gets upset when she doesn't get to eat what the rest of the family is having!} Thanks.

Food items: msg nitrates raw onion too much caffeine [go figure, a little when I feel one coming on can prevent it from getting full-blown] dyes Other things: bright lights cold neck or breeze on my neck [i almost always wear a turtleneck now, and it makes a huge difference] That's all I can think of right now, but I know there are more.

:grouphug: Praying that they quickly find out what is wrong with your dh. My dh was in ER and hospital a couple weeks ago and it was a tough, scary time for me, so I am praying for you as well :grouphug:.

At my last optometrist appointment, my dr mentioned that if that ever happened I should see someone immediately!

I don't think you need to defend it. Just as your choice is best for you, ours is best for us. We used to have tv and unlimited computer and internet, but it became a problem for my boys ... they were unable to exercise any self-control and it started interfering with real life. If the boys were able to handle themselves as my daughter does, we would probably still have free access to all of the electronics.

:lol::lol: Great idea! I just put one up - 5 x 5. I'm betting it's full by day's end :D !

We, and our children, have tvs in our bedrooms. However, we do not have cable anymore, so they are used only to watch Netflix dvds. No computers are in the children's bedrooms (I rarely take my laptop in). I had to put passwords on all the computers (which are in public areas) because the boys would wake up in the middle of the night and use them - for the longest time I couldn't figure out why they were always so tired :glare:. They must turn in their Nintendos before bed (, and do not have cell phones or ipods. I keep the Wii controls locked in my bedroom. Unfortunately my boys don't have enough self-control, so I remove the temptations from them :D. [side note: I really wanted to use apostrophes to pluralize tvs and dvds, but was afraid of killing innocent kittens! Does that "rule" apply to these situations as well?]

The company has to pay FUTA (federal unemployment tax - 6.2%) based on the first $7,000 of an employees wages. Also the company has to pay SUTA (state unemployment tax - % varies by state, but could be as high as 10% or more depending on the employers history with unemployment) on the first "X" of each employees wages for the year (again varies by state). It sounds as if the company may be trying to avoid paying taxes, which would definitely be illegal. I'm sorry about your friend. That's a bad situation to be in.

He had a routine screening colonoscopy done this summer [we're old folks!] and the doctor said everything was fine.

They say he had a tiny ulcer in his stomach. He was given a prescription. Questions for those familiar with ulcers: Can they really bleed enough to need a blood transfusion (especially just a "tiny" ulcer)? Dh received 2 units of blood on Saturday and 2 more units on Sunday. To me that seems like a huge amount of blood. The ER doctor told us it he didn't think it was his stomach - they stuck this huge tube down his nose into his stomach while he drank a bunch of water; they then sucked all of the water back out; the ER dr said that if the bleeding was from the stomach there would be some sign of blood in the stuff they took out - it was COMPLETELY clear. Dh was told he did not need to modify his diet at all :confused: ? Do they cause weight loss? They weighed Dh at hospital - he was 185 this summer and now is down to 171 (no dieting or increase in activity levels). I compared the weights to our scale at home and they were off only 2 pounds. While I'm thrilled with their diagnosis, I want to be certain that there isn't something else wrong as well. We sort of like him, and want to keep him around :D. Any thoughts/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Dh hadn't been feeling well last week and finally agreed to go to ER Saturday. He thought he was having heart problems, but it turns out it was internal bleeding [he had been having black stools, but didn't tell me] that was causing the heart problems. They have given him several units of blood and he is feeling better, but they are putting a camera down his throat to check out his stomach today. We're hoping they find something in his stomach causing the bleed that has a nice, easy fix because if they don't it may mean something much worse. There is a family history of colon cancer; his mom had stage 4 about 10 years ago. If you're so inclined, your prayers and thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

I'm hoping they get here before I have to worry about this, but it's definitely something to remember. When we were in the process of moving to this house a few years ago [we hadn't sold our other house yet, so weren't in any hurry], the pipes froze in our old house even though it was heated. We figure the water was running for about two weeks [it was over the holidays] before it was discovered. The entire house had to be gutted down to the framing, which had to be blasted and coated with something, all remaining contents were destroyed, and the house had to be rebuilt. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE UP TO DATE WITH REPLACEMENT VALUE COVERAGE!!!! We do and were covered, but oh my, what a mess it was to deal with. Oh my, I hope it doesn't come to this!

It probably loses heat faster than many. We have a LOT of windows, cathedral type ceilings, are on top of a hill in the middle of an open field, and it's very windy [windchill of -12 this morning]. We also normally keep the heat set at 60, so we started out colder than a lot of people! They said they would be out today, so that's good. If not, we'll all have to cuddle up tonight with lots of blankets :D.

I already have the little ones in socks and three pairs of footie pajamas. They look sooo cute and round and are oh so soft :001_wub: ! Yes, kind of. We have a built in heater in the master bath. However, while your suggestion is great, OMG :lol:, I about fell over laughing as I pictured it. Imagine this: A nice cozy 7x7 room, 1 child on the toilet, 2 sitting on the bench in the shower with their school books, the 2 babies playing quietly on a rug on the floor with 2 of the older children, and me of course sitting on the counter teaching, using the mirror as my dry erase board. Sounds rather pleasant and quaint doesn't it? Now imagine this: Ds9 moved constantly in the womb and still hasn't stopped:willy_nilly:bouncing off the walls, babies crying :crying:, ds7 and ds6 "looking" at each other :glare:, ds 12 who talks nonstop at only one volume: LEVEL 1675 - EXTRA LOUD, dd11 who has serious sensory integration problems and is prone to panic attacks :eek:, and me lying on the floor in a puddle of my own tears :smilielol5:! I think I'll have the children put on some more clothes :tongue_smilie:!!

... on the bright side, it happened on Friday morning rather than at 5:05 Friday evening :D. Now I just have to hope it's something that is easily fixed and that they have the parts on hand! [it seems like whenever something of ours breaks, it is some weird part that no one has ever heard of breaking before :glare: ]. I'm just going to keep thinking happy [and warm] thoughts and view the timing of the breakdown as a good sign!

I put hamburger in the crockpot on high at 9:30 p.m. and forgot about it until 2:30 a.m. I was too tired to wait for it to cool off enough to put in the frig, so I just set the crockpot on warm. I remembered it at 7:30 a.m. Is it safe to eat it after being out so long? Is the warm setting warm enough? [i don't know if it makes a difference, but I broke it up into small pieces at 2:30, and it was steaming when I stirred it this morning at 7:30.]

Ds9 received Chutes & Ladders and Ds12 received - get this - Candyland from their aunt! [ds7 & ds6 gifts were ok...Sorry & Twister...but even they don't play Candyland or Chutes & Ladders anymore...as in not for several years!] On the bright side, while dd11's gift was not something she would ever be interested in, for the first time in years there was no awful clothing for her. Usually they give her tight, short t-shirts with inappropriate sayings and pants either so low cut they couldn't be worn with underwear or else with words written across the behind! Every year the boys would get toys [better than this year's] and she would have to fight back the tears because all she ever got was clothing she would be too embarrased to wear [not that she would be allowed to even if she did like it]! The boys smiled and said thank you. When we got home, ds12 and ds9 promptly put their in the donation box we keep in the closet, saying with a smile and a laugh "At least "dd11's" was better this year." [she is regifting hers tomorrow to a cousin who will enjoy it.] I know that people give gifts out of the kindness of the hearts and we should be thankful, and we are - even if it is that we are thankful to be able to give them to someone else who will enjoy them. I just find it incredibly sad though that these relatives, who live within 10 minutes of us, know so little about our children. I realize that they are our children and the world doesn't revolve around them, but when their children were younger, we spent time with them; we knew who they were, what they were interested in, and their likes and dislikes. After all, they are family, and that is what family does.

For dd 11, a book: Aesop's Fables in Latin :D

Thanks. I just checked it, and unfortunately it says it has shipped already. Oh well, we'll just have to play it more to get our money's worth :D!!

I ordered this yesterday evening - from Amazon - and paid 19.99 ... grrrr

We have three zones: main living area [family room/dining/kitchen/living] = 65 master suite = 60 upstairs [children's bedrooms and playroom] = 62 I would love to keep it set cooler, but my dh wears a coat, hat, and frequently gloves as it is. I tease him (lovingly of course) and tell him to stop being such a "little old lady" :D . [i hope the above remark doesn't offend anyone. It just reminds me of when I was waitressing to pay my way through college. When female seniors came in, they always complained that the air conditioning was on too high or the heat was on too low. We'd adjust it to make them comfortable and then the non-seniors would complain it was too warm. It was a battle you couldn't win. :001_smile:]

I'm sure this will sound really strange, but here goes. My ds had an awful problem - we'd send him to take a shower several times a day on occassion because we couldn't stand to be in the same room as him. We'd have "pit checks" for him after showers to make sure he'd washed [with SOAP :D - he "forgets" sometimes:glare:] and had deodorant on, but he still would stink a short time later. It's my understanding that the odor comes from bacteria primarily, not the body or sweat itself. What seems to help my him [and myself on occasion :blush:] is to rub the armpits down with rubbing alcohol on a washcloth. This doesn't need to be done every day. Once or twice seems to clear up the problem [he does continue to wear deodorant though], and then he is good for a few weeks before we start noticing his odor again. Sounds strange, but it really does help.