I have the opposite problem, I can never find any writing instrument or my scissors or stapler because dd7 runs off with them and NOTHING gets her to stop it. Really ticks me off when I'm on the phone and need to write something down.

Yet another reason to grow as much of your own food as you can.

Sorry, was on my phone earlier http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/08/make-a-years-worth-of-laundry-soap.html she has a scaled down version on there as well. It works really well but I need to add 1/2 C Borax to each load since we have really really hard water and it was turning things yellow and icky. ETA because I just looked at the recipe, I used her recipe for the Downey crystals on her site, I think it was just Epsom salt and EO which I skipped.

Nope, drives me nuts, especially when I've driven 30-60 minutes to pick it up. I've had the issue with kmart, walmart, walgreens and the local mom and pop place about 30 min from here.

We make our own using the years supply recipe one good thing by jillie

It depends on what your being seen for

My oldest started wearing glasses at about 18months and we just used regular plastic frames since her script was pretty high and wire frames would give her pop bottle eyes. Never had a problem with them. Dd7 finally got glasses when she was 4 I think and the Dr reccomended the Miraflex ones but tbh I think they look terrible. She also started out with cute regular plastic frames and did fine. We didnt have any issues until she started public school and then we started having issues with broken glasses. I think shes broken 3 pairs in the past year at school. I say go with what looks good on your child and teach them to take care of them. I was worried about broken glasses and injuries with both kids but it was never an issue.

I tore mine at 18 in both knees in a bad fall and waited a year for surgery. Wish Id had it done right away but I was terrified of the surgery. By the time I had the repairs I had clearly visiable arthritis they saw while fixing my knees and it limits my mobility to some extent, I cant carry weight very far or stand for long periods without causing a flare. I can also predict rain a week before it happens now due to the pain it causes. The surgery was really no big deal, recovery time on the 2nd knee was almost nil. I walked out of the surgery center much to the irritation of the nurses but I was just so darn excitied I could finally walk! I was doped up on moraphine(sp?) So I didnt feel that mistake for a few hrs but I was off vicadin in a week and fully recovered in a month. Delaying treatment can cause further injury, I was almost at the point of needing a knee replacement but I tore a few other things too:)

For us the biggest, immediate crisis was shelter, we didn't have a good waterproof tent (rains a lot here) or money to pay for the campsite more then 3 days the day we became homeless and I was told repeatedly that where ever we slept don't let it be in the car! That one still baffles me because it wasn't to hot or cold and while not the best place to sleep I could lock the doors. Anyway, the basics are needed, safe shelter, sleeping bags, toiletries, those little $20 backpacker stoves that run on those $3 propane bottles and a pot so they can heat up a meal, bottled water (its amazing the amount of junk foods and sodas that have been offered to us instead of water and healthy foods that we need to stay healthy when staying outside), baby wipes are great for wiping down for a kind of sponge bath and for cleaning hands and faces when you dont have water around.

This past week has probably been the most difficult of my life, a week ago we found ourselves homeless since I haven't worked since Dec due to dd13's needs and just living on her SSI wasn't paying the bills even though we hadn't splurged on anything in months, I couldn't even meet our basic needs for rent and electric much less anything else. I reached out to organizations I was told might be able to help but everyone was tapped out. I did the only thing I could so we didn't lose it all, I put everything but what we needed daily in storage (clothes, food, toiletries) and tried making a plan. When your homeless simple things are no longer simple, the 1 place in the city (an hour from here) that offers free showers and laundry is not all that safe a place and you need to keep your children next to you at all times for safety, plan to spend $5 for a 10 min shower at a campground. Cooking a simple meal on a camp stove requires planning since it needs time to cool down and then you need to find a place you can wash your dishes. I discovered being homeless costs even more because your literally paying for everything piecemeal. Laundry, showers, a camp site (you can't sleep in your car with children or CPS will remove them), propane fuel for cooking. It adds up fast! I learned it means having a conversation with CPS right off the bat to explain how you will meet all your children's needs so they don't show up unexpected when your already stressed out. (I was actually relieved after that conversation because both my kids are special needs and one had a freshly broken collar bone at that point but I addressed every concern and showed I had a plan and that I was taking steps to make sure this truly was temporary. They said I was doing great and they had no concerns) I learned you can't count on shelters, they won't even accept us between severe foods allergies and a child with a autism dx. The noise and chaos causes to many issues in their experience and dd13's (she has autism) electronics would most likely get stolen and taking them away is going to cause major issues. The fact that I don't drink or do drugs was also a strike against us since apparently most people end up homeless due to drugs or alcohol so I wouldn't need to participate in a rehab program. I also technically have a job since my boss is holding my position for when I can come back. So while these are all positive things we don't fit the profile of who the shelters help. I was surprised to learn how often this actually happens to SN families, we don't waste money, we do what we should but when the bottom falls out we fall though the cracks. I thought this area didn't really have a homeless population until we became homeless ourselves and realized that the homeless are often invisible. I see them now when I go to the various agencies looking for help and I can easily see them on the streets now where as before I would not have pegged them as homeless. I'm one of those crazy coupon ladies and I've donated my freebie hauls a lot to the shelters over the years and thought I was doing my part but it wasn't until now that I realized I only helped a few since most homeless don't go to the shelters for a number of reasons. When your donating actually go inside, talk to the homeless themselves, find out which agencies are actually helping the most and give to them and not just the shelters. I've been amazed at the amount of places out there for help but most are so strapped you have to go to several just to get very basic needs met (you wouldn't believe how excited I was to get 2 rolls of TP the other day!) and that means getting around which can be very difficult when your homeless. I'm thankful I have a working car, its 15 years old but it works well so I've been able to get around, I can't imagine being on foot and dragging around kids no less, especially when there isn't really public transportation available, there is one bus that runs in a square around the city every 2 hours which leaves several miles of walking. I only wish there was an agency that gives gas vouchers because of all the running around we need to do. Its insane I have to attend a church service and discuss it with the church to get help, its 100 miles round trip which they are aware of but it would get us money for our first months rent so I will need to donate plasma twice to have the gas money to go not once but twice because of course I can't discuss my thoughts on the same day as the service. This has been a humiliating and difficult week and made me realize where the needs are not being met for many. For us this is thankfully short term, were getting into an income based apt hopefully by the end of next week, its not in the city we wanted but at least its an actual city with about 2k people (our current one has under 300 people) with our Dr's, a hospital and 2 grocery stores and its only 15 minutes longer drive into the city then we make now. Because we got housing coming up my mom has decided we can sleep on her floor until we get in next week instead of the campground which while safer is more stressful I think since I have a strained relationship with my parents as they do not understand or accept my kids SN's. Anyway, the big city (40k people is big here) has a homeless out reach person and with her help we were able to get St Vincent De Paul (this agency is amazing, I had no idea they did so much!) to cover our security deposit and the church will cover our first months rent (rent we can actually afford since its 30% of our income when combined with utilities) I realize though that we are very very lucky to find permanent shelter so quickly, most places the waiting list is 1-3+ years but since I'm willing to go rural it was easier and I have to admit the area is beautiful with a stream nearby that you can hear from the apt and they are in good shape. It meets our basic needs so we will be fine. I've stayed in our little town so dd7 can stay in school which she loves and maintain some normalcy for her and when we move to the town 30 min from here the schools are working out how to get her over here since its a protected right to stay at your school when you become homeless even if you relocate, plus its to late to transfer with only 3 weeks left of the year and I want her to finish it out. She can transfer next year to the new school. I haven't been able to do my couponing thing since we got here a year ago but this experience has renewed my interest and I will be making sure to give to organizations that help everyone instead of just those lucky enough to get into the shelter and without strings. I will be making and giving out toiletry bags with basics like bottled water, soap, razor, shaving cream, toilet paper rolls, baby wipes ect. I didn't realize how much they were needed until I was living it and this is stuff I can often get for free or pennies with coupons but it takes planning, time and resources the homeless often don't have access to. It never occurred to me how the little things I take for granted were such a big deal to those who don't have them. Yesterday I needed to print out copies of all my bills and in the back of my head I'm thinking "no biggie, I'll print them out at home" then reality hit, I don't have a home, my mom doesn't have a printer and the library is closed for 3 more days (its only open 3 days a week here for a few hours) so I needed to call around and find a place I could do that which made me grateful I have a cell phone then trek out there. I'm out of time and need to go do chores but just wanted to tell people to please be aware of where your donations actually go and think about whats actually needed. Clothes and old stuff are great but there is an even greater need for the very basics for sleeping (sleeping bags), shelter (tent) and hygiene.

*hugs* I totally understand. Ive having a bad mothers day too:(

Yep, from the monkey bars fall.

dd7 has a complete break on her right side and today we went in for the 10 day xray and check up and the bone is even further dislocated. They are sending us to ortho and it sounds like we may need surgery. What should we expect? I thought the bone was healing since her pain is way down but the Dr said she's just getting used to it is all:(

Thats what I started doing, whats making it extra hard and messing with my head is we will be homeless come Thursday, all our stuff is going into storage tomorrow. I never thought I would be in this position and the kids don't really understand whats going on. dd7 is just freaking out about my throwing out anything and can't grasp we need to take the important stuff. I lost yesterday trying to find out homeless resources, each agency sends you to another and another which is time consuming all to find out I'm missing this, or so and so only handles this and btw she's only here for 2 hours on X day and its an hour drive away. Shelters won't take us since I have 2 SN kids and they know with dd13 having an Autism dx it would be a disaster with all the noise and chaos. Best we could come up with is tent camping at the local campground 2 blocks from here to keep some normalcy for the kids and dd7 could stay in school which she loves. Checking with churches to see if we can get a decent tent donated/loaned to us and help paying the nightly fee. The only positive is they insisted I have a proactive chat with CPS (which was scary to do) to give them info upfront how each need will be met and why this is the best option for us. Thankfully the worker got it and said we shouldn't have any issues and its clear I'm doing whats best for my kids and not planning on staying homeless. It was a relief to hear that, I've been terrified I would lose the kids for being homeless.

Movers will be here tomorrow and I still have half the house to pack! I have been so far behind with everything going on between dd7 breaking her clavicle and needing me nonstop last week to trying to find us a new place to live and just one thing after another happening. I'm overwhelmed and exhausted and wishing I had help:(

Thanks! Our membership expired last month and dd7 was almost done with it and I couldn't see paying for another year. Now she can finish it:)

Ditto what Erin said! I cannot imagine parenting a child without the magical boos.

Nice to see so many who did full term BF'ing! Both my girls were weaned on their 5th birthdays. They were not happy about it but I was done.

I'm thinking of this tent http://www.amazon.com/Slumberjack-4-Person-Trail-Tent/dp/B003YFXJOC/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t its got good reviews and is in my price range. I just need something big enough for me, and dd13 and dd7 to sleep in.

Looking for a 4-5 person, we need a good rain fly because we get tons of rain here. Needs to be something I can buy from a big box store around $100 or less because were on a very tight budget.

This is only the 2nd day I have seen blue sky since like, October! Its always so gray and cloudy here. Temp is 73F and rising but tomorrow temps drop back down and we have thunderstorms coming again. I'm stuck inside packing which sucks:(

Talk to me about camping with kids, especially if your going alone with them and have no DH to help:)

http://spokane.craigslist.org/etc/4435454573.html Never thought I would see an ad like that! I mean is there such a thing as a master outdoor cannabis grower? I would think they would all be sitting in jail since its pretty recent its legal.

Turns out another 1st grader pushed her off the money bars making her fall. This is not his first offense and I will be having a chat with the school tomorrow. I feel terrible I made her ride the bus home, how the heck did the school miss this!? She's stuck in an 8 brace thingy for 4-6 weeks and is very unhappy about it. All I can say is OUCH! when I look at the xray:( They printed her a copy to show off at school which she's happy about.

She was in pretty severe pain when she got off the bus, more then ive ever seen her in. Were at the ER right now waiting for xray to come get us.