Yes, go! I am not a city person, and never had any desire to go. I got the opportunity to spend the day there when I was in college. One stinkin day. I've been wanting to go back ever since. I agree with museums, A Broadway show, and I really enjoyed just wandering the streets. We went to the Statue of Liberty, made the climb to the crown (pre 9/11, obviously) and did Battery Park and went shopping at Pier 17. I'm not much for shopping, but there were street performers all over, and I loved watching them. Museums and Central Park are on my must do list on the next trip. And just for fun, a trip to Hello Deli.

Agree w/ pp to get a home monitor from Walgreens or Walmart or somewhere. Check it 3-4 times a day. 1st thing in the morning, it should be lower. I will tell you that the agitation, heart palpitations, and panic attacks may go away w/ bp meds. I had a lot of that, and when I discovered my high bp, it all went away after starting meds. Exercise as much as you can without causing more pain. And find things that de-stress you. Meditation, reading, long hot baths, etc. Mine was accidentally discovered during a stressful time like yours, and they had me monitor it for a while. When my external stressers went away, and it should have come down, it actually went up. That's when we decided to medicate. I have to say, the benefits were noticeable w/in an hour.

Poor Guy. I hope you get some answers soon, and that he improves quickly! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Laura, that's beyond exciting! Congrats to Calvin, and you!

That's great! I'm glad you took that step, and I hope it works for you. I would ask him to check your vitamin D levels, too. You don't have to live up north and it be winter for them to be an issue. I'm shocked at the number of people I know lately that have tested extremely low.

I would tell the sweet gossipy neighbor, that your ds loves the new porch color, and say something like "Thank goodness she didn't paint them____ (insert nice nuetral color that ds would be ok with). The she can let it slip to crazy neighbor, and I bet she repaints them. Make sure you complain about the new color a lot. :D

My kids never took vitamins on a reg. basis. They ate pretty healthy. They are teens now, and take C and zinc at the first signs of any illness, and for the duration. Google foods high in zinc, and find a good multi-vitamin. hth

Lots of Vitamin C and Zinc! Don't skip the zinc. Yogurt or probiotics couldn't hurt either.

Yes; heat makes a huge difference. Don't let them get too big, and make sure you pick them in the morning, when it's cool.

The one box per cat rule is hogwash. Every now and then you get a finicky cat that won't share, but the majority of the time, they learn to share. We have multiple cats, and they all share.

I wonder the same thing

Omg, they are HY-PER!!!! And have the attention span of a gnat. Or not that much. I think we will be spending a lot of time at the park the rest of the week! Luckily I found a couple of old toys that they did spend a lot of time playing with, but only in short bursts! I am so tired.

oh, I like the father's day card idea!

Mom- Always put on a clean pair of underwear before you leave the house. You'll never know when you might be in an accident. Dad- be prepared. Dh used to thing I was always thinking of the negative that could happen- he finally realized I just went through the "what could happen" questions, so I could be prepared for them if they did.

The Apple Dumpling Gang!

Dad will be dropping them off each morning and picking them up in the evenings. They are actually the grandchildren of a dear friend of mine who is losing her battle w/ cancer. I volunteered to babysit, so their mom could be w/ her mom as long as she needed. I guess that's why I'm in a slight panic- I want to keep them busier than I normally would, just to keep them from missing their mom and Nana. Ya, know.

I did set out the girls sketch pads- higher quality, that you can do watercolor on. They get a brand new one every year at art class, and never use more than 3 pages! So they can go to town w/ those. I might need to buy some more scissors though. My dozen pairs have disappeared.

I am planning on baking some cookies w/ them tomorrow. Actually, they might be no bake... found a neat recipe that I want to try that has no sugar, but uses bananas, and is like the chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies. I'm going through board games, and will go through movies later. I just recently got rid of all the "princess" movies, but we do have Frozen! The sad thing is, I have a ton of arts and crafts stuff, books, etc. that would be perfect, but I can't get to them right now. Thanks for the suggestions. I do think we can do putt-putt. Our local park has a little course that's $2 or $3 a person.

The only problem is, I don't know how to knit! But dd1 has the loom things, maybe she could teach them to do that one day.

I'm keeping a friend's two girls this week. Mine are teenagers, and all the toys are gone or packed away where I can't get to them. Sooo, ideas for keeping them from getting bored? We might get rain tomorrow, but I figured we would go to the park a few times, not sure yet about the pool, and I think the children's museum is really expensive. So..... help! TIA

Another boardie and I recognized each other. The funny thing is, we really didn't know each other that well. Our kids were in a class together, and neither of us at the time ever really posted anything personal. This was before board siggies.

It might not be a well known fact that some states get out earlier. I had no idea until I was in college, and only because i then took a trip up north, that some states didn't get out until june. I think my kids know only because they have cousins up north that don't get out til the end of June.

You could say "Because we're in the witness protection program, and now we either have to move, or i have to kill you. And I don't want to move :D " We always just said, "we homeschool". But i do think it's a strange question to ask in June.

Awww, :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: . I'm already teary-eyed as ds is officially a senior, and I know this next year will fly by! I hardly saw him this year (girlfriend), and know I will see him even less this year. I think it's really sweet that your ds is crying over missing his sister. Dd2 has already claimed ds's bedroom. :glare:

When he moves out! I have three teens. I'ts either silent (attached to electrronics/online) or louder than any dang concert. DD2 is the worst- extrovert-likes to hear herself talk about herself, or just talk about random, out of nowhere things. I feel your pain. I really, really do. Actually, the silence is usually short, as they always want to share the funny things they find on the interwebs... usually all at the same time!