that's what I was thinking. Is this your husband way of getting out of ever having to take the kids out alone ;)

But you do have some VIP's which the OP asked for.... such as Luther's wife, Katherine.. or Phillip Melanchthon, or Bach???

How about having a few names and then picking one after you see him. I did that with our 5th. We had a couple of names but none of them were *the* name... until I saw her.

I think this is a great idea when studying the Reformation and the time leading up to it! She could pick a tradition (Mormans, Quakers, Anglicans, Mennonites) and do a small study on their founder fathers/mothers.

Thank you Rose! I remember when you were doing your research. Aiden, in addition to saints on the calendar within the Eastern Christian Church (EO) there is also special Feast Days that we commemorate. These largely revolve around Christ's life and that of His Mother... since she is central to the Incarnation in our tradition. There is so much written on these, that I think if I name them off and then you do a google search and add "Orthodox" you'll find some good info. that you can share. So here are the dates... starting from the beginning of our Liturgical Calendar (Liturgical New Year begins Sept 1st in the EO church) Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church: September 8, the Nativity of the Theotokos September 14, the Exaltation of the Cross November 21, the Presentation of the Theotokos December 25, the Nativity of Christ/Christmas January 6, the Baptism of Christ — Theophany, also called Epiphany February 2, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple March 25, the Annunciation The Sunday before Pascha (Easter) — the Entry into Jerusalem or Flowery/Willow/Palm Sunday Forty Days after Pascha (Easter) — the Ascension of Christ Fifty Days after Pascha (Easter) — Pentecost August 6, the Transfiguration August 15, the Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Theotokos I just lifted them from a site here and it looks like the links came with it. Hopefully it worked, if not just go here to read about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Feasts_of_the_Orthodox_Church Of course, the Feast of Feasts, Pascha (Easter), is not listed because it stand above and beyond all other feasts. Good luck.. .sounds like a lovely idea.

Agreeing with Pawz and Chris. it should be fine if it's unplugged.... but why not pull it down now and take it outside? I'm thinking of the mess it will make if you wait to do it until after you get home.

just awful... So very sad for all the families.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I like Out of Milk.. it's simple and apparently does sync with other devices.. I haven't tried that feature.

oh no! Now awful. poor thing. praying for a full recovery.

Congratulations!! So glad everyone is doing well.. Can't wait to see pictures (hint, hint :) )

No I don't.

did anyone else hear this epic wrong phone number story today on NPR? http://storycorps.org/listen/terri-van-keuren-rick-shoup-and-pamela-farrell/ What a lovely story.

But Bush is not our sitting president. Obama is. But, it's an interesting thought. I'm not sure how I'd feel. On one hand I feel pretty strongly about showing respect to the person in the office (no matter how I feel about their politics), but OTOH American is pretty anti-social status - especially with our politicians. We have a long history of political satire against politicians (just look up anti-Lincoln cartoons). We tolerate a lot of things said against our leaders. Jon Stewart has made a boat load of money doing just that. It's so hard to know how I'd respond because our culture is so different from S. Korea or any other country with a dictator & no free speech. I'm sad we kowtowed to N.Korea and the hackers. But, I understand that Sony was in a no-win situation.

no, you are not the only one...agreeing with everyone else here --- this is a bad idea.

First we go to Church on Christmas morning. Kids have had learned patience ;) as that only started about 12yrs ago. After church and some food we open presents. I grew up doing the "crazy gift opening" thing, so I definitely wanted to change that too. What we have always done is everyone gets their turn... and we go round robin... first one opens, then another kid, then maybe me, then another kid, then hubby... and so forth. Now that we have 6 kids + 2 spouses + grandson...yeah, it takes a while. But, it also shows generosity towards the other person. Last night I even suggested to one of my kids that we maybe let 2-3people open at the same time so it doesn't take so long to open presents. She was like :eek: "Why would we do that?!? I like it the way we do it." Of course, we don't do a ton of gifts per person...but it does take time. Oh, and now that we have married kids, we wait for everyone to gather. So instead of right after church it's more like mid-afternoon. Like I said, they're learning patience.

this. My kids' grandparents were pretty hands-off. My dh and I always said we want to be the kind of grandparents we wished our kids had had. So....I babysit my grandson 3x per week. It's a bit more than even I was expecting :), but it's only until dd gets her PhD. And, I do enjoy being a part of his life too.

yes...hoping all is well.

A couple of audios that I have truly enjoyed recently. I don't have an audible account, so I don't know if they're available that way. We Were all Completely Beside Ourselves Cloud Atlas Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell All the Light We Cannot See (this one the narrator isn't the greatest, but the story/prose makes up for it). Life After Life True Grit

sorry - should have read all the messages before posting. If he suspects he's getting sick fill him up with Airborne or Emergen C. Also add some Elderberry syrup or the pill kind if you can find them. Airborne is sold in almost all the grocery and drug stores here locally. Seriously, it may just help keep the illness at bay.

Praying... can you dh go without you - at least for a long weekend?

we have tree recycling too, but they do curb pick up here. I'll have to look around and see where they take them and if local residents are allowed to go there.

So very sorry. :grouphug: Praying you can find a good solution to protect her.

Really? People start getting rid of their trees before Christmas? Who knew. How do you find a tree recycling place? My daughter doesn't celebrate Christmas until Dec. 7th and they're on a very tight budget... this may be something she'd consider.

We get a "cut your own" tree... this year it's about 10-11ft tall. I'm sure some day I'll get a fake one, but hopefully not anytime soon. It's decorated with white lights (not blinking!). I like white lights for inside because at night it looks like candle light. But I like colored lights outside (not blinking!) because it's so festive! The decorations are an assortment of bought by me, sentimental ones, and ones the kids made over the years (although I'm weeding those out a little at a time).