I'm 4 years younger than my DH, but he has a babyface. :001_wub: I've had grey hairs (many!) since high school. Walgreens had my kind on sale last week and I bought 2 boxes. Yay. :D

Excellent, practical advice. Thank you! :001_smile:

Now I have to check out CATO's *and* watch Lord of the Rings. :lol:

Sorry you had a bad experience. :grouphug: Perhaps she was shy and just out of her comfort zone.

Yup, I was in the baggy jeans/holey shirt camp for the past few years. That is what is causing them to say it. I used to be a complete 180 from that, and then life got in the way and I forgot to care. I think. :lol:

Yep, I asked for and recieved a bare minerals gift card for Christmas and I got what I needed. I just don't wanna run out. ;) Your second paragraph here made me tear up. So true. Thanks! I agree. I think I was missing something or misunderstood what that woman was saying. Well said. Thanks so much!:001_smile:

Thanks. You're right. :) I've wondered about that verse, also. What you said makes sense. I need to PM you a cake question, also. :001_smile:

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:Thank you! Such good points all the way through.

:lol: I thought that also. I looked at it in a sense of there were better ways of spending my time/brain cells/money until it was called to my attention that others would be blessed by a bit of effort on my part. I had the Amish on a pedestal because they could dress very plainly, forget about it, and move on with their day... :iagree:10 years ago, I was that woman. Now, notsomuch. :tongue_smilie: Another piece of the puzzle! :001_smile:

Completely agree...I feel convicted to do something -- what that is, I'm not sure of! :001_smile: Thanks for the kind words. I didn't know what reactions I may get to this. :001_smile: I just wondered if I was missing something with what she was saying. Perhaps she spoke without experience or I misunderstood what she was getting at.

I'll respond more in a bit, but I think I need to clarify that I'm not necessarily leaning towards all-long-dresses-all-the-time. That'd be a huge shock. Especially in the frost of winter. *shiver* For the past few weeks I have been wearing the few non-hubby-tshirt-shirts that I have and I've been wearing a touch of makeup. There has been a difference -- the way DH has been towards me and the way I've felt. I hate shopping because the choices are either A) so low cut that I'm not modest, 2) more than the rediulous price cap per item I have in my head, 3) I love the feminine polos (they cover the Big Girls) but Dh does not. And since I'm mostly doing this for him, I may as well get something he will like. Shoes are killing me. I've been wearing heavy boots that are a size too big all day every day since November because my dog ate my last tennis shoes (see avatar)....I'm trying to get something cute and comfy, but won't until I find a good price. I had some awesome ones in my cart at Lands End and then it turned out they were sold out. Went to a bunch of shops yesterday trying to find shoes and nothing fits the criteria...I was so glad to see that shoe thread pop up yesterday! I'm going to check out some of those places. Thanks for listening. :001_smile:

YES! I was thinking of that too..."When Queens Ride By"....wait a minute, I'm the OP! :lol:

ATM?

Gasp! Faint! :w00t: Kiddos and I were watching the Disney Little House on the Prairie movie a few weekends ago and all I could think - through the entire 4 hours! - was WHERE CAN I GET A SKIRT LIKE MA'S!!!!!!! :lol: (so.....anyone know? I have a sewing machine but don't know even how to turn it on. seriously.)

My Veritas Press catalog remained tattered, stained, and crumpled on my nightstand for a year...until I replaced it when the new one came. It was my security blanket/stress reliever. :D

This has been on my mind for months (ok, truth be told, years), but here it is creeping up and bugging me again. :lol: Long story short, I'm feeling convicted about beauty and femininity. I'm feeling it from everywhere, and I feel like I really need to do something about it. Here are some random and disjointed thoughts in no particular order: I see families at the zoo where the girls/women are in skirts/dresses and I feel like that is what I should be doing. I can't explain it, other than that very strong "should" feeling. I enjoy a few blogs that discuss motherhood, womanhood, simple living, etc ...and all of the ladies that write these are OBVIOUSLY very feminine in dress and hairstyle. One of these ladies made a comment the other day about how no one needs to look shabby in thrift store clothes when there are so many great clearance sales on quality, name brand clothing right now. This is a woman who comes across as very Victorian-esque, and she is speaking of places I've NEVER shopped because they are so expensive (yup, I've been a tightwad from the womb!) I went clearance rack shopping last night, tried on at least 25 tops, and hated all of them. ALL.of.them. I was just a bit miffed that ok, it's not enough to look nice, now it has be be name brand??? I'm not putting this woman up on a pedestal, I'm just perplexed. Then I read somewhere else that it is interesting that even though we as a society dress sloppily/shabbily, women of influence have always dressed well (she is talking about Michelle Obama and Princess Diana specifically)...that to be taken seriously you MUST be well-dressed at all times. I kind of agree, first impressions count, etc, etc, but here we are again...the term "women of influence" jumped out at me -- who am I trying to influence? My family? Our employees? Neighbors? While I'm kind of a nonconformist that doesn't really care what others think, it would be great to be a positive influence, I'm gonna let my little light shine, kind of a gal. Which brings me to the fact that I was recently told I'm not living up to my potential. After and exasperated huff, it was determined that YES everyone knows I bust my bottom 24 hours a day, YES I'm doing my best to keep all balls in the air, YES I'm trying to be superwoman....except for how I present myself. THAT is the "not living up to potential" that this indvidual was talking about, and has been talking about for years...and it just finally clicked that that is what the person meant. Feelings would have been hurt if I wouldn't have all these other neon lights flashing at me telling me the same message. Here's another kicker. At church a few weeks ago we had some beautiful stained glass windows installed...there is a brochure that explains the designs (much of it is not in English, symbolism, etc), and in it we have this: "and so many people may conclude that art is not only highly subjective but something quite optional -- nice, but not necessary -- something for people with too much time and too mch money. But this misses the essence and significance of art. The Christian faith has always understood that art is not a diversion of the elite, merely optional, or a matter of whim or personal taste. St Paul made it explicit in his letter to the believers in Philipi" *insert Philipians 4:8 here* "Truth and beauty belong together. They must not be pulled apart. What is true is beautiful. What is beautiful is true." ACK! This hit me like a bolt of lightning. Especially the bolded part. I have a daughter. A beautiful, ringlet-haired, feminine wonder...I want to be a good example for her and I don't want either of my children remembering me looking like a wreck because I was too busy taking care of all kinds of other stuff. It takes time and money to look good. I'm short on both. Yes, you can thrift shop and clearance rack and get some great deals but it takes time. You can go get a haircut and color your hair yourself and that is time AND money. You can wear a bit of makeup each day, but then you are using it up and will ulimately run out when you really need it and can't afford to replace it. DH stated that he feels like a better provider when I am wearing something other than one of his T-shirts and jeans. I thought I was being awesome by not spending money on clothes!! Who knew! :lol: So I have his go-ahead to spend a bit of money; however, I just can't seem to do it. (Thinking of curriculum needs, upcoming costs, debt, etc, etc, etc) I was reading Anne of Green Gables a while back to my kiddos, and I was really struck with all kinds of messages about beauty. I can't even name specifics, but there were tons of instances in there that really got my goat. I know Jesus loves me regardless of if I'm wearing a hot pink mohawk or a denim jumper (I have neither, for the record :D), but for some reason I feel like He's calling me to do something about this...Why is that? And what am I supposed to do? I'm by no means legalistic about this, I just feel like He's hitting ME over the head with it. Off to get the kiddos showered and jammied. I'm terrified of the comments I'm going to get about this...:auto:

What exactly has been revised in the "revised edition"? Are there newer books listed? Or different activities? :lurk5: Thanks!

I had trouble at Christmas...I changed my address on the shipping, but it didn't "take" and the stuff went to our old house.:willy_nilly: I also changed my debit card to my NEW debit card (switched banks), but it didn't update that, either. It was a big, stressful mess. :confused:

I'm not familiar with most of the Maxwell's books, but we LOVE the children's books written by their daughter, Sarah. Very sweet, sweet reading with well-modeled behavior by the parents and siblings in the book. My kiddos BEG me to read them, and I have been guilty of tiptoe-ing into DS's room after he's asleep so I can read them myself! :D My son has gone so far as to asking me if he can please write a letter to the author asking her to hurry up and write more books! :lol: What? You're ASKING to WRITE something?!?! Go for it, Buddy!:thumbup:

We use CLE, and I don't feel the need to supplement. There is a lot of drill if you do the lessons as laid out in the TM....we DO play card games and such (you can watch how to play many RS math games on YouTube!) for fun ;) but there is a.lot.of.math in each CLE lesson. :D HTH!

Where are your favorite places to find clearance treasures? I'm looking for myself and both kiddos (dh just had a birthday, so he's all set!:001_smile:) I had some awesome finds at Lands End, but by the time I clicked "pay" everything was sold out. :glare: I was hitting thrift stores for a while, but I've seen some great clearance finds lately that are way less than thrift store prices. I have no preferance between online or brick and mortar stores. Thanks! :D

I did!! I painted our old pumpkin orange kitchen counter black with grey and white flecks. I primed it, painted it black, then used an old toothbrush to flick/spray/splatter the other colors. I sealed it with some heavy duty clear non yellowing sealer. I should have done two coats of sealer, but I was impatient. It looked absolutely amazing for about 2 years then started to peel and look horrid. Doing it to sell the house is a great idea and will make a big impact inexpensively. Have fun! :)

We are going to be having a Roman Feast/Movie night soon and I'm looking for good movie recs...What says the Hive?:001_smile: TIA!

I bet! :001_smile: All three of us are still humming it, an hour later. :lol:

We just finished doing "Chicken Fat" on YouTube and I have to reccommend it to you guys! Here is where you can watch the video to see what to do... Here is the version with better audio so you can listen while doing it... Both kiddos and myself got a quick workout and many giggles while doing this today. :001_smile: AND we are looking forward to doing it again tomorrow! :001_smile: YAY!