(((Cat))) That is a FABULOUS update!! I have been around sporadically the past 8ish months, but always am on the lookout for updates on your family when I log in. For us this year has been filled with a lot of work. We had to discontinue all of my youngest son's physical, occupational and speech therapies in late 2015 when insurance quit paying. (And even though we jumped through hoops and had the documents and doctors on our side, I had to let it go to focus on my son) Thankfully his play therapist operates on a sliding scale so we have been able to keep that going. But we definitely lost ground in a whole lot of areas. The bright spot is he is reading. That's right. My autistic, cannot retain the alphabet after four years of work, sweet, frustrated boy is reading!!! (Not quite as impressive, but very useful, he is also wearing blue jeans when requested. He isn't happy about it, but getting him into pants with a button is a serious win.)

Thank God no one was injured.

There are no words adequate for this. May the peace of God surround and sustain you all.

Rob Bell's Love Wins was a good step for me in separating cultural Christianity from scripture and what I had been told from what I believe.

Tremors was a huge hit here last week Others that have been well received: Sahara Clue Galaxy Quest Turner and Hooch The Italian Job Remember the Titans How to Steal a Million Father Goose Men in Black Secondhand Lions The Mummy Zombieland (I let the 14yo watch but not the younger sibs- everything else on this list was a family film for us)

That is a VERY cool find!

I always envisioned and shot for a laid back Christmas Eve. Then, when our oldest was 2 or 3, DH told him Santa liked freshly baked cookies best. Did I mention our oldest is autistic? So I spent the next decade baking fresh cookies on Christmas Eve. Usually after working 2-3 services at our church. Over the years I have been able to morph it into something more manageable (having all the kids in on the secret helps). Now we make cookie dough on the 23rd and carry it with us to the church where the kids bake and share with the staff and volunteers who spend up to 7 hours on the 24th making multiple services happen.

Also, human nature finds us minimizing risks that are closer to home. It is why people freak out about the possibile pedephile on the route to the park but ignore red flags in the behavior of the adult with regular access to the child. It is easier to rail against the abuses in a religion/culture we feel far removed from than admit the full scope of the abuses in a religion/culture we more closely identify with.

Quadrilla is a very high quality brand. We have several expansion sets in addition to the starter, and after 6+ years it still gets play time. One of the best additions we purchased was the music set. Even now the kids will set up the runs trying to make songs.

Everyone in our family has enjoyed the audiobooks of Hoot, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Incredible Journey, The Hobbit, and, all of the Hank the Cowdog audios.

My great grandmother had a somewhat unique old fashioned name. She was 97 when she was hospitalized with a woman who had the same name, and was also 97. My family was extra vigilant checking with the nurses about which "Gertrude" they wanted

A name I suggested, but was shot down on, was Louise. It is a good thing DS#2 was a DS because we could not agree on another female name at all.

I agree. Like I said, if I hadn't met them myself I would not ever have believed it. The next time I am at my mother's house I will see if I can find one of my sister's yearbooks. One of my friends in college went by Camille, but her birth certificate says Carmille Evidently her mom was still groggy when the nurse was filling out the paperwork and it wasn't until after the official birth certificate arrived her mother caught the error.

Y'all, if my sister hadn't spent 13 years in the class with the twins Lemonjello and Orangejello I would think it totally bs too One thing that is common-ish within the black community locally is taking the letters of the names of family members and rearranging them to form the name of the new child. It makes for some interesting names, but is very sweet.

So did anyone watch the second episode?