After reading this, I"m starting to become suspicious of our piano teacher. A wonderful lady who loves my girls. We scheduled our lessons this year so we could go out to lunch, once a month, before lessons. She is going with us to see 3 musical/operas this year (school field trips). But now, all of a sudden, I'm feeling suspicious. She has never done anything to make me suspicious, except love my girls. The only red flag is reading this article. The door to the piano studio is full glass. I can see every single thing. But now, I am suspicious just because she likes my girls. So Sad.

They need to sell benadryl/Dramamine on those flights. For the babies. And THEN for the parents.;)

That's what I'm thinking. the appealing thing to me is that I can do grains in the Blendtec without a second container. Maybe I could in the Vitamix, but they are saying no, and that extra container adds quite a bit to the cost. I can do it ALL with the Blendtec, with no extra container. (Maybe buy the bigger one IF I use it as planned!) More input appreciated!

Went to hit the 'like' button but there isn't one.

Is there a big difference, besides price? Can I do wet and dry with the blendtec? Do I need a separate thing for it? Are the smoothies smooth with both? Pros and Cons? Likes and Dislikes? All info/feedback/opinions welcome!

Adoption=No Labor :lol: Try flying 18 hours with a 12 mo old who Would. Not. Sleep. I just didn't have stitches. At All. So far no morning sickness, but the paper cuts are terrible.

My daughter takes from a place that really wants her on 'The Team'. I told them no way. She takes 1 2 hour class a week. Fortunately, the gym is about 5 minutes from my house, so I drop and run. If not, I would go to the nearest coffee shop with the other dd and do some school, reading, and angry birds.;)

I love my Creuset. I bought it at TJ Maxx and Home Goods and Amazon. Amazon had an amazing deal on a set that was a discontinued color. :001_huh: I have that and then I have 2 non-stick pans for eggs and pancakes. I had revereware for a few years before I started REALLY cooking. It was OK, but I couldn't do any serious cooking in it.

Thinking the same thing. We are approaching 25 yrs, with an 8 & 11 yr old. I guess for me it will be year 35. I can see how it happens though. I sometimes think that if we didn't have the kids, we would be living separate lives. Like ships passing in the night. I do love him and can't imagine life without him, but if we didn't have kids, we'd have to put some effort into connecting again.

Drop school for a while. That is one of the great benefits of homeschooling. If your kids are stressed, give them some down time. When MIL was dying we took about a month off.

So, I let my kids play outside and someone hits them, and *I* get in trouble? :confused: Or....I let my kids play outside and someone calls the police LYING about something to get the police to do something in their best interest. And again, *I* get in trouble? WTH :confused: There has to be more to this story. Even if it is just that the kids trampled the woman's garden and made her angry. But even then, the police. It almost sounds like she has encountered them before too. The way they treated her.

And it still needs to be mowed.

So now I wonder if it is even possible to get rid of the arsenic and previous pesticides in the ground and water? How can we clean it up? Or can we. Do we just need to leave the fields empty for a couple hundred years until they are safe again? What is the half-life of arsenic, anyway?

Could you IM me about your Mom's Next group? I'm a MOPS mentor, because I loved the 2 hours away :D And the MOPS group I'm mentoring does a pretty good job keeping the topics on children and mommy friendships, in general. But I would love to be able to connect with moms of kids my age. In fact, I was just thinking about this....I have friends, but I don't have FRIENDS. I don't have anything near a BFF, not that I want a BFF, but something close would be nice. I Most of my friends from my MOPS years are still in the baby stages. Plus, like a PP mentioned, I had my first when I was 38, so I was MUCH older than most of the others.

I want a standard poodle, myself, as we have allergies. Either that or a female pit bull. In the past 3 mos I have been exposed to 3, all females, and they have been the most lovable, playful creatures! I'd take them over a golden any day. Please don't start an argument over that breed and derail the OP's thread. This is just my opinion. :leaving:

Check the carp that is in tap water. Rice and Water. Just give me a gun.

One of the comments on the article: :D

If I'm going to take in all those calories, it is NOT going to taste like a low fat, healthy food! It's gonna taste like Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and/or Caramel!

It's not quite that simple. It DOES affect the in/out, BUT there are other issues. For instance, with lapband, there are physical things that factor in to what you put in. You can NOT eat carbs. It can cause a blockage which can be extremely painful and can lead to an endocscopy procedure. Also, if you eat too much it can lead to vomiting. With gastric bypass, eating high sugar or high fat foods can cause a miserable reaction known as dumping syndrome. From what I have heard, once is MORE than enough to keep you from doing that again. ETA: Exercise may be important, but if your knees and feet hurt, it ain't gonna happen. Once I lost some weight, I exercised a lot more. As the weight came back on, the pain came back, and the exercise stopped. I am trying to get back to walking. The procedures do cause a person to limit their calories in. But they also cause some VERY uncomfortable side effects, if one eats certain types of foods. Having said all that, I had a lapband 5 years ago. I lost 80 lbs in a year. I caught a stomach bug, had severe, repeated vomiting, and the vomiting resulted in the band slipping, and then I had to have it removed. I gained all the weight back, and am now trying to get gastric bypass. Lapband is ideal. There are minimal side effects, no mal-absorption issues, but, if it slips, it can be a BIG problem. I had no emotional issues, except for happiness ;) I have a great support system, I guess. I thought it was great to be able to participate in more family activities, have less pain, be able to have decent, fashionable clothes! What was not to love? For me, the emotional issues happened when the band had to come out.

Honestly, I'm not so sure. The woman seems blunt to the point of rude and critical. The children are sick but there is no physical cause. It makes me wonder if they are living with extreme stress. Headaches can be stress related. And exaggerating them a bit might keep mom out of the way, and out of earshot. (I'm not saying she is exaggerating, nor am I saying her headaches don't exist!). Same with stomach problems. You know, now that I think a bit more about that, the daughters both have stress related symptoms that are debilitating. I'd steer clear of her!

I set out some apple cider vinegar. I rarely see fruit flies in it, but they seem to disappear, and that's all that matters to me!

:iagree: DD11 is a gifted pianist and she enjoys playing...OLD songs that she knows and can play well. She is a little twit when it comes to new challenging songs. We (teacher and I) try to balance it out so she doesn't start hating it.

I was thinking maybe I shouldn't post, but this is my husband. As soon as DD could eat solids, he took her Breakfast almost EVERY Saturday. And I slept. Just today, he took the girls fishing. He takes them grocery shopping, to the park, when he runs errands (Hardware store stuff), and sometimes out to dinner. And I am not require to go. If I want to, that's fine. But it is not a requirement. He realizes that with homeschooling, I get PLENTY of 'family' time. DD1 can be challenging, (Aspie, Depression, Sensory Integration, Anxiety...) so he is always good about me having my time. Even as a toddler, there would be days when I would pretty much meet him in the driveway; He's coming home, and I'm LEAVING. We do do family things together, don't get me wrong. But even on family vacations, he makes sure that I have some down time. That man is just Way too good for me! ETA: DH has never felt he was babysitting. He is their dad, and he is doing what is needed to keep the family unit running smoothly.

That's probably from the view that the kids know right from wrong and won't screw up the car, and can sit for a few minutes. I'm guessing they didn't take into account the creeps that troll for little kids. At 7, my daughter could have been trusted to sit in the car alone for a few minutes. But I wouldn't trust the OTHER people.

Buy some cheap rugs that can be washed in the washer, from Walmart or something. When they wear out, you won't feel bad about throwing them away.