Hello and welcome! I've never heard of your website before - but after a little perusing I can tell it'll be one of our new favorites. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with!

Thanks for all the comments! After stewing over it a bit, we've decided to just let her go for a few hours, but pick her up before bedtime. Everything would probably be fine and fun, but I've just got one of those mommy feelings that I've learned not to ignore.

:iagree: with what everyone else has already said. I just want to add that there is no hurry to pick a speciality yet. Most of the people who went to med school with dh changed their minds about their speciality half-way through. You don't have to pick until you start applying for residency. DH's favorite saying for a while was, "Friends don't let friends go to medical school." That being said - it really is the only profession dh would be happy in - so for him and us, it's worth it.

dd(7) was just invited to her first sleepover party. dh and I have mixed feelings about letting her go. We know the family a little - the girls are friends from our co-op and they seem like good people with strong values. There's probably nothing to worry about. But I remember going to sleepover parties at homes of good people, only to be exposed to some less-than-good stuff. Nothing terribly bad - but some movies I know I shouldn't have seen, or some games that were not appropriate. I know others who were exposed to MUCH worse - even at church sleepovers. But I know I can't, and shouldn't, shelter our kids their entire lives. They will eventually be in situations where they need make tough decisions. But 7 years old might be too young. Since this is the first invitation for our oldest child - this seems like a precedent setting moment. It seems like it would be easiest to either say "yes", or "Sorry honey, but we don't allow sleepover parties at all. You can go for a while, but I'll pick you up at 8:00." We really don't know what to do, but we promised dd a decision today. So do you let your kids go to sleepover parties?

Doesn't sound like things are too bad right now for you - which is great! To get my kids to eat more fruits and veggies I do a few things. They each get a piece of fruit with lunch. But the fruit comes before the rest of the food. I used to require that they eat at least a couple bites of fruit before they would get anything else, but after a while they started eating the whole piece without any problems. Now that they're used to it I don't worry about if they've eaten their fruit before serving the rest. Fruits and veggies are left out in a bowl in plain sight for snacks they can have anytime. They have to ask for other snacks. They follow my example. If they "catch" me eating a pear, they're going to ask for one too. They don't want to be left out :001_smile: Good luck! And I'll be watching this thread to get more good ideas.

We're a family of six and have never had trouble booking just one room. One time we got two rooms since the people paying offered - dh stayed in one room with the boys while I stayed in the other with the girls. We'd all hang out in one room together until bedtime.

When I was seven I used to walk half a mile to 7-11 to get a slurpee - but we always had to use the buddy system. Last month I let DD (7) go into pizza hut all by herself to get her book-it pizza. BUT I parked right in front and I could see her the whole time. If there was a small grocery store where I could see most of it from the car I would let her go. But I wouldn't send her into a big store by herself yet, especially if I couldn't get a parking spot right next to the door. If she had a friend or an older sibling with her I wouldn't be as cautious.

My mom has fibro - and it did hit all of a sudden. There are also plenty of other things that could cause your symptoms. If you're concerned, a doctor could give a better diagnosis than me. ;)

don't have a 3rd grader yet - but we plan to learn these when we get there. I learned them through songs in the 5th grade. They're one of the few things I can remember from elementary school, and I've found the knowledge useful. I hope to find some great songs to help the memorization.

We've had great luck at play-it-again sports.

MIL just sent us some divinity. It came through fine.

:iagree:

So those of you saying not to buy sugar - do you mean sugary products (like syrup, cookies, candy, etc.) or no sugar at all? If you mean no sugar at all - how do you manage things like homemade bread? Or those pancakes without syrup that were mentioned - how do you make the pancakes themselves without sugar? I realize some recipes call for honey or another sweet ingredient - but it's still a type of sugar. Does anyone manage to keep ALL sugar out of their house? I'd like to know how to do it!

Once, after ds (4) used the bathroom I noticed the TP (all rolled up again nicely) was covered in smelly brown spots :glare: dh said ds was taking reduce REUSE recycle a bit too far.

:iagree: except I use an excel spreadsheet I made up for the purpose. each row is like its own envelope

:lol:

Thanks for all the ideas. It really does help!

I’ve got a criticism problem. Especially with dh. I always thought I was just giving good (unsolicited) advice, but this past year I realized I was being a nag and not very fun to be around. So I’ve been working very hard at just letting people (especially dh) be who they are without putting my two cents in. I’m not perfect, but things have been much better since I learned to keep my mouth shut. But – what do I do if I see someone is truly frustrated and I know a simple way to fix it? How do I (or do I) convey this without sounding like I’m attacking them? Here’s the situation. We expect our kids to obey us. I noticed a while back that their acceptable timeframe for obedience was very different from ours. So to put us on the same page, when I ask a child to do something and they don’t at least acknowledge that I asked, I start counting backwards from five. I do this calmly – about one number per second. If I get to one with no response there will be a consequence. The kids know this. They obey me at least 9 times out of 10 with no yelling or anger involved. Dh used to do this to. But he seems to have forgotten how. Now when he asks a child to do something he’ll start yelling numbers. Each number is louder than the last. He slows down between numbers to give them more time. And when he gets to 2, he stops, yells at them about what they are supposed to be doing, then starts over. He becomes angrier and angrier, and louder and louder, while the kids have learned that they can ignore him for a very long time before there are any consequences. He is frustrated that they don’t listen to him. Nobody likes the yelling. I don’t want to become a critical wife again – but if he knew why the kids ignored him and fixed it our home could become a much happier place. He has not asked for my opinion. Can I help him out here without being a nag? Or do I just step back and hope he figures it out?

I've got an aunt who forwards emails like this all the time. I used to try to read some, but it got too annoying so now I just delete them. I wonder if your cousin just printed an email forward she found inspiring? Or maybe your cousin is the source of the annoying forwards and now I've got someone to shake my virtual fist at?

The frustrating thing is we find dead mice (and various other creatures) all over the yard. Just not in the house. :glare: Hopefully it'll run into one of the traps dh set out this morning (in places where kitty can't reach, and mice tend to run to for safety). I think we'll head off to the children's museum for the day and hope things take care of themselves. That dog option is looking more appealing.

That would make ds very happy - but I don't think we're ready for a dog yet. Sigh.

Second mouse in a month. Had to get the first one with a trap. Kitty is a wonderful hunter. But she knows if she kills her new toy it won't play with her anymore. Can you teach a cat that it needs to KILL any mice found in our house? Or is it just a lost cause?

I got mine a digital frame keychain so she can show her grandkids to everyone :) Don't know if that helps.

I do believe tithing is a commandment - so we pay our 10% whether it's hard to do or not. We always manage somehow. God gave us everything - we like to remember Him and give some back. BUT - not paying tithing should NOT keep someone from attending church. It's just like all the other commandments. Nobody is perfect. If only perfect people can attend church then what's the point of it?

when you know where you're moving - shop around. different locations can make all the difference. Sometimes Uhaul is the cheapest, sometimes it's budget. For one of our moves ABF U pack was cheaper than any of the uhaul type rentals, and so much nicer to have someone else drive the stuff. A friend of ours found that for one of their moves a full service company gave them the best deal - better than uhaul or abf. Make sure you get quotes that include tax and insurance.