We made the decision that our kids would have a "big" birthday every four years. Every year we would have cake, ice cream, and favorite meal plus gifts. If relatives wanted to stop by thats fine, but no invites would be sent. As they get older a friend or two for a special treat (movie or putt putt etc). For the every fourth we would do a big party, pick a theme, decorate, have games, and invite a smorgousboard of friends and family.

too many... I have two primary one created when i was in middle school and one after i got married. contacts i met before marriage use my old one. new contacts the new one. pay pal is linked to old. most on line shopping goes to old, except baby and kid stores go to new. I have multiple gmail accounts because i have multiple google accounts ie i have a picasa account for each kid to share pictres of just them (family pics are tied to my new address). i have one for our home school which I use for accessing google docs. and a craft one for a rarely updated craft blog. It helps me mentally sort things and they are free. lol

I had an Ergo and wore my toddler when I was pregnant. Having the hip strap bellow my belly actually made things more comfortable.

We recently bought this twin over full with steps from Badcock. If you have a Badcock in your area I would highly highly recommend them. They have a twin over twin one as well. I really like how the bed are made, instead of needing a wooden bunkie boards it has metal rails.

:grouphug: Our Matthew was stillborn a few years ago, we let go balloons at the park each year to mark his birthday. :grouphug:

I wear mine. If my fingers gets to big or small for it I wear it on my necklace. Hubby wears his ring. Was very upset when he lost it, went and bought a new one within a week because he couldn't stand not having a ring.

My favorite celebrity library is the one George Lucas has at Skywalker Ranch. Two story library with glass dome, circular stair case and a mere 27,000 books. Pictures are few and far between but this site gives a good look inside.

Index cards with scotch tape. Most of our boxes a clear, I tape the card on the inside so the card can't be knocked off

rebrickable.com lets you type in the sets you have. And then it gives you a list of what other sets you can make with all pieces you already have.

Oh my! I merely skimmed the thread so far and my brain is going to explode. I found the Circe institute reading list http://circeinstitute.com/reading-lists/ it looks important but isn't easy to find on their site so I thought I'd share it.

I'll have to check which one we have. But we bought a band new top loading washer without agitator last fall and love it. We find it does a great job cleaning our laundry, however it doesn't destroy DH's uniforms like the top loading agitator washer we use to have did.

Thomas Benjamin Andrew William James

WOW! Thanks for all the replies. Keep the suggestions coming. Like I said I'll get a bee in my bonnet and try to force things. The bee normal arrives shortly after a long conversation with my mom. She is a hair dresser and the constant so and so kid can do this wears down on me.

As a military family with no "home," we plan to be cremated. Our second son was stillborn at 38 weeks, he was cremated. His ashes are in a little heart urn that fits inside a Teddy bear.

Ds1 is three and a half. He mastered the letters and their more than a year ago. But I can't seem to be able to convey blending and reading has come to a stand still. Every six weeks or so I'll get a bee in my bonnet and I pull out ordinary parents and work on the first five lessons after the constant sounds over the course of a week. But he wiggles and squirms and no magical click. I tried letting him play the games on starfall but the little wii gamer that he is finds the games boring. DH says not to worry about it. And while I'm not to concerned, I do get a little bored. Any suggestions on some other things I should try to help with the blending? Or to help me not focus on the plateau?

DH and I like the concept of history in three cycles of four years. So I started making a list of what I could find. -Tapestry of Grace -Story of the World -Mystery of History -History Odyssey Did I over look anything?

I was great at math in grade school. And then someone had this bright idea to put me on the math fast track and ever since my math has suffered greatly. All through college in between the red hash marks of nearly failed math exams would be little notes about making bad algebra mistakes. And so I want to reteach myself math starting with algebra, what would you recommend curriculum wise?