Oh....I got the Standard ones. Did I mess up? Should I have gotten U.S.?

Do you have any problem with freezer burn when you freeze things in glass? I have terrible freezer burn problems, so I got a Food Saver, which has helped. But, that's plastic!

I do. I can't imagine why not.

I, too, prefer to have everyone on the same floor. We have two bedrooms up and one down. The downstairs one is twice the size of my boys' room upstairs, but I'd never sleep if they were downstairs. I'd worry about someone breaking in, a fire, etc. (of course, my kids are only 4 and 5 right now) But if there were a fire and we were separated by stairs that would just be awful. Or the nights they wake up sick...I like them right there. We use the downstairs bedroom as the playroom and it will be our schoolroom. Our house is 70 years old, but our last house was brand new....I wouldn't really want anyone sleeping in either basement. Just the dampness, the darkness, the dirt that falls from the above floors....I don't think basements are very healthy. However, dh is turning our basement into a great hangout place right now. So even if the boys always share a bedroom, they will have plenty of place to go to alone. They can have their own space, but for sleeping (where a good amount of their time is spent and therefore I feel should be a very physically healthy environment) I see no problem with them sharing.

Great movie, but definitely not for kids! I started reading the book, but never finished it. Apparently the book is quite a bit different than the movie.

We've used Skype and now Magic Jack. Once dh got a taste of the cheap (Skype) he wanted cheaper (Magic Jack.) :) The only problem we've had is w/Magic Jack we get this beep sound....like someone pushed a button....sometimes during a call and it's aggravating. But other than that, we've had no problems.

We tried to get pregnant for 5 years. That was 5 years of me PLEADING with God for a baby. Laying flat on my face on the floor sobbing, begging. I can't say I ever thought God wasn't listening. I did want to know WHY He wasn't answering. I told Him I was very angry with Him. Finally, at Mother's Day of 2005 I gave up. Not on God, but on trying to get what I wanted. I told God "I am finished with this. I can't do it any more. I am tired, I am sad, I'm sick of the whole thing. It's YOURS, God. Take it from me. I want whatever it is YOU want for me. If that means never to be a mommy, fine. I just don't want to deal with it any more. Do what You want." I found instant peace. I enjoyed my husband for the first time in years. I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders because I'd given the weight to God. Truly given it to Him this time....not said I wanted Him to take it and then kept trying to make things happen my way. I truly felt that I wanted whatever God had for me. Less than 2 months later I was having lunch with a new friend and she said "Have you guys considered adoption?" I said "Well, we've talked about it, but not looked into it." She proceeded to tell me about a situation she knew of. I blew her off. Stupid me...blind to the fact that God was trying to hand me a baby! My friend kept bugging me and I finally mentioned it to dh and he wanted to go for it. Less than 4 months after that our first son was born. Less than a year later his brother came along. (same birth mom) I truly believe once I truly asked God for HIS WILL to be done, He said "That's what I've been waiting for. This is where I wanted you." It wasn't about my pleading and begging. It was about wanting God's will to be done. I am NOT saying that's easy. I had to be completely broken to get to that point. But it will be a lifelong reminder to me that it's not about what I want, it's about what God wants. And that sometimes He wants something even better than I could have dreamed of.

WOW!!!! We seem to have some sort of "sex scandal" at our National School of Excellence every year. Middle school kids walked into a classroom where two teachers were having sex, one of the band directors was sleeping with a student, one of the soccer coaches was sleeping with a student.....it's seriously something every year. It's disgusting. And I'm in a small town (less than 5,000 people) in a very conservative area. You can't get away from it. It's sick.

That's why I sent my oldest to preschool, because of speech. I know being in a classroom all day with other kids would help his speech, but it would be learning a lot of words he shouldn't know! My boys (4 and 5) play with neighborhood kids. Just two days ago I had to scold a six year old because my 4 year old said something about a bed and the 6 year old started screaming "That's disgusting! I'm not going to bed with you! I'm not having sex with you!" Those are the kinds of words the neighborhood kindergarteners are teaching my preschoolers. :glare:

Sure, they're out there. Just like "christians" who protest military funerals. It doesn't mean that's what the Bible teaches, though.

Exactly. My friends complain about their kindergarteners having 1-2 hours of homework a night and 3-4 hours for grades above that. If they get home by 4:00 and have 4 hours of homework, they are doing NOTHING else.

Trader Joe's is a life saver!

Ducky was my favorite. :lol:

For real?????

Medicine has been the only thing we couldn't avoid. Ds was on amoxicillin a year and a half ago and threw up every time I gave it to him. :( What products are you all having trouble finding without dye and I can probably tell you some alternatives. We eat NO dye.

It took my dh like a year to believe me. One day he went to ds's class at church because they were doing snow cones and dh had to just get some pop and make ds's snow cone so he wouldn't get dye. He saw the kids when he got there and then after the snow cones and was like "Wow. There really is something to this dye thing." For once it was all the other kids literally climbing the walls and not ours. Hehe. :)

We only do dyes. It takes about 2-3 days to notice a difference. And when they get a hold of something they shouldn't the affects seem to last about 2-3 days. My ds is 4-1/2 and off dyes since just before his 3rd birthday. He would actually vomit from red dye. The child vomited on a regular basis before we figured it out. :( So I was doing it to stop the vomitting and realized how his behavior changed. At Christmas this year someone gave him one of those tiny candy canes. I was stupid and let him eat it. The next day the old child was back and I was in tears trying to deal with him. I absolutely couldn't believe the difference. I mean, I knew it, but having the old kid back seriously smacked me in the face. Oh and last summer he ate like two yellow Nerds and vomited. He is VERY sensitive. One person I spoke with told me to look into heavy metal toxicity being the reason he can't tolerate dyes. I still need to look into it. It would make sense because he was exposed to drugs and cigarettes before birth, which contain heavy metals and toxins.

I don't have any links, but wanted to ask if she has done anything dietary with him. My 4 year old reacts TERRIBLY to artificial food dyes. Does those things you mentioned and it lasts about 2 days after he's eaten them. He is a COMPLETELY different child when he eats dye. I know there are other things that affect kids, too.

As an "evangelical," I'm not sure I agree. We don't believe our actions will "get people saved." We don't do it of our own accord and as a side note, ask God to help. We do it because God commands it and like someone else quoted, faith comes by hearing.

Mine just came in the mail this week and it starts in July, so I haven't actually used it yet, but I do like how it's set up. It looks like it will be very easy to use.

I've got a dog like that, too. She's lab/pekingese. (no, I have no idea how that happens) She thinks she owns the world. Doesn't make a peep if she's out walking and other dogs bark at her, but if she can see anyone from her own yard she won't shut up. I remember reading years ago to tell them "good boy/girl" when they do it and then change their mind. They are barking because they're guarding you, so let them know you heard them, they did a good job and then they'll move it. It actually works amazingly well! Yeah, you sit out here and watch the kids and adults who yell at my dog (I do make her come in the second she starts barking) and it's a great motivation to homeschool. I've even had people bark back at her. Some smart cookies in my town, let me tell ya!

Marking my spot for when the full explanation comes. :) I'm learning a lot from this thread. I have some friends who are apparently Reformed (didn't know that's what they were), but they are definitely not evangelical. Which made sense to me since they (from what I understood) believe God chooses you. I figured "yeah, why would they evangelize if a person can't choose God on their own anyway?", but maybe I'm misunderstanding something! Can't wait to hear more!

I think I read to make sure you don't take them together. I'm taking Prilosec right now and I'm on iron and B-12. I know you also have to make sure to take your iron 2 hours apart from milk or calcium.

I probably wouldn't. I'd hope someone might say something, but unless I was VERY close to them I wouldn't say anything.

Oh yeah....a chiro should also be able to show you how to massage his ear and neck to get that to drain inside there...what's behind the ear drum. I know someone mentioned it's not going to drain out his ear, which is true. But you can get things opened up behind there and get it to drain the way it's supposed to with massage. And I wouldn't totally rule out tubes. I understand your hesitation....I was the same with my son's tonsils....but when all else fails, it might be for the best.