Thanks so much for posting. I googled the PING Project and it looks awesome.

Crocs slides, year round (I live in the desert).

Bridget, but I am a big nicknamer and would probably call her GiGi all the time. Lol

Haha! Yes, I imagine it’s similar to Arizona, the only place I know of that has flip-flops and dress flip-flops, sandals and dress sandals, crocs and...ok, not dress crocs but put on your dress flip-flops or dress sandals. Crocs are my house shoes.

Also, the Bad Kitty books are hilarious. They are mostly highly graphic chapter books (the series also has some picture books for younger kids).

Jenny and the Cat Club! Someone here recommended it to me years ago and DD loved it. Very sweet stories. Start here: https://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Cat-Club-Collection-Favorite/dp/1590170474/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543388412&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=jenny+and+the+cat+club&dpPl=1&dpID=51QNh6ERqjL&ref=plSrch I would wait on Warriors. My cat loving DD loved them, but she is not sensitive, LOL, and the cats fight, descriptions are graphic, cats die, etc.

This is where I am personally leaning at the moment. Buying another vacuum for the second floor would be way less expensive...or giving the kids the old one for the second floor and buying a super nice vacuum like a Miele for the first floor would even cost less!

Interesting turn the poll has taken! Very helpful! I wish our builder did offer the pre-install for adding it later. We are doing that with home theater wiring and a soft water system to save money up front, but they don’t offer it for this option. So that means we have to weigh it fully against other nice-to-haves on our already long list. Thanks again for all the help!

Thanks for all the replies. I have made all of the design decisions so easily, I'm a little flummoxed about why this is a hard choice for me. I can see myself doing a mom2scouts and tripping over it. I am notorious for leaving the vacuum cord out, so I can't promise I will do much better with hoses. We have to decide by Monday, and I think my decision may partially hinge on what other amenities we might have to give up price-wise.

We are having a new house built, and our builder offers the option of a central vacuum. DH really loves this idea. I am not opposed to it at all, but we are a big pet loving family (with fur tumbleweeds everywhere...you pet people know what I mean, LOL). I think about how our vacuum smells like our pets and worry that the smell will get stuck in the system and make our house smell. Is the vacuum system cleanable? It seems like it would be quite inaccessible. Anyway, I am interested in knowing if people who have had them love them in general. I am specifically wondering if those with pets found them to be problematic or awesome. I mean, from a strict perspective of helpfulness because we need to vacuum so frequently, it sounds awesome. The smell and maybe upkeep are what worry me. Thoughts?

Man’s Best-Behaved Friend?

Lidia's Escarole and White Bean Soup is amazing. http://stage.tlntv.com/Recipes/Lidias-Family-Table-Escarole-and-White-Bean-Soup

I've wanted to post something supportive all day, but words fail except for apparently every single curse word I know in all kinds of new combinations. I'm so sorry you have to fight this fight. Kick its ass! That is about the cleanest of the curses...

This is it exactly for me. I don’t want different. Also, DH and I share our story, so much of the backstory of who I am now, who our kids are... Someone coming in after all those years seems like starting a book in the middle. Just not interested. I would definitely join a book club and a quilting bee though. And get (even) more cats. LOL

I can’t be properly self-deprecating without the little dude playing the violin. This one is just not the same...? (And now I need the tiny violin emoji to properly express my petty, pathetic excuse for a real problem.) ?

This was my DS at the beginning of the year! We started Tuesday after Labor Day, and the first weeks were tough, but this week has been much more manageable!

DS15 in 10th has some intense coursework this year and is working 8-12 and 1-4 or 5ish, so 7-8 hours a day. That is a mix of desk work and relational/1-on-1 time with DD14 and me for the subjects they do together/I teach. It is our common goal to have his lunch hour, afternoons, and weekends completely free, although we don't mind some literature overflow. That is this week though, after three weeks in. LOL The load took some adjustment, and we gave short shrift to our at-home subjects while he adjusted to his two outsourced lab sciences and one outsourced math. (I am OUT on STEM subjects in high school.)

Taxi drivers should wait outside. ?

Our favorites for those ages, which I'm keeping for grandkids... wooden unit blocks from Barclay Woods (the largest set you can afford) Haba Ball Track with many add-ons play figures and animals from Schleich, Papo, Safari play silks of all sizes (I also had the playstands with the arches and a long silk over those which was wonderful for pretend play. They could rearrange them to be anything.) art supplies, art supplies, and more art supplies... puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles... Fort Magic is amazing. It was a later purchase for us that I wish had been available when they were little. My kids (15, 14, and 12) still use them to make forts for the cats. (Cats love forts. LOL) I can't keep it for grandkids, but the huge sandbox DH built in the backyard was amazing. He'll definitely build a new one for grandkids if they live close by. They also had a geodesic dome in the backyard that I got a perfectly sized parachute toy to go over, and that was a great outdoor fort. Their wooden playset with a fort, swings/rings, and a slide was well loved as well. Lots of dress-up clothes and puppets, although I donated those to charity instead of saving them. They did love DUPLO as well, but by the age of your older kids were well into LEGO. I'd rather spend the money on wooden blocks than DUPLO, knowing that they will eventually age into the LEGO anyway. I'm sure I'm forgetting things... Good memories. ?

I have the complete course (the 12th grade book) and its teacher guide, and they will go to the grave with me, I love them so. LOL With good teacher instruction and a student strong in English, I think your plan would work well. https://www.amazon.com/English-Composition-Grammar-Complete-Benchmark/dp/0153117362/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=oh_aui_i_sh_in_o1_img https://www.amazon.com/English-Composition-Grammar-Complete-Teachers/dp/0153117435/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=oh_aui_i_sh_in_o0_img

TheVirtualInstructor.com? https://thevirtualinstructor.com/ This was my old thread about it. https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/583970-people-im-going-to-gush-about-the-art-instruction-at-the-virtual-instructor/?tab=comments#comment-6784405

Thanks for the feedback. That's terrible about the scores. Hopefully soon!

I am interested in feedback about the course. I am NOT interested in discussing the merits of this course as an AP or whether or not colleges will give credit for it or...LOL Just looking for a review of the online class.

Ha! The bolded describes me perfectly! During the past two months I have been culling shelves and contemplating selling some of the more pricey items online vs just taking it all to Half-Price books or donating it.

Amazing in that it is like the clown car of pantries. How much stuff is actually in there?! Not including the empty boxes the kids leave in there... It is a smallish pantry, but it was a huge mess. Congratulations on the new wee one! We are probably starting to have a new house built in the winter or spring, so, yeah. It is what it is. Today we are going to a water park. I plan to spend the day on the lazy river. Symbolic? ?