I'm replying to this so I will remember to reply to you later tonight. :) I'm about to go watch the Sugar Bowl in the other room - but do have a few suggestions that might help you! :)

ita. The poor man - the picture of him just about broke my heart. What a horrible decision to have to live with. So sad. Poor little girl. And her brother. :( *sigh* I think maybe he didn't realize just how FAR they were from their mother's house. Maybe he really thought they were a lot closer, not paying attention to landmarks due to the snow, etc. :confused:

My parents are coming over. we'll probably play charades or some other game. We went to the grocery store and the kids each picked out one item - whatever they wanted (things I don't normally buy, lol). So, we wound up with mozzarella sticks, individual sized deep-pan pizzas, and pizza rolls. Plus some baklava and ice cream. lol This is the first year we're home and letting the kids stay up til midnight. I doubt my parents will stay til midnight, so we'll probably wind up watching movies and eating popcorn past 10 pm. :D We'll toast with sparkling grape juice. :)

Here is our room, the pictures were taken a couple of years ago, though. We now have a 6ft table in the room instead of the 4ft table, and a much larger bookshelf. Other than different posters on the walls, and no more child-locks on the cabinets (lol), and larger bulletin boards, it's pretty much the same. :001_smile: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g211/mattndes/girl%20scouts%20homeschool/school002.jpg http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g211/mattndes/girl%20scouts%20homeschool/school001.jpg http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g211/mattndes/girl%20scouts%20homeschool/school003.jpg http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g211/mattndes/girl%20scouts%20homeschool/school007-1.jpg

They are cute!

I have a frame that takes a card - but both of my grandmothers have this frame, or something similar to it: http://estarling.com/ Your mom just plugs the frame in to her phone line - and you email her pictures. The pictures show up nearly instantly on her frame and you can email pictures (for free) every single day if you like! My grandmas, who are ANTI technology, LOVE these because they don't have to do anything. And my parents like them because they don't have to mail memory cards back and forth and send pictures that are weeks old - they can send pictures instantly. :D

OK, when I first read this post, I thought WoW was the Wheel of Wow on Webkinz. :p I was confused, wondering why your dh was obsessed with getting his spin on the WoW for the day. lol No advice, but I'll wish you good luck. I've heard of several families in similarly frustrating situations with this game (now that I know what game you're discussing!).

What a timely post! lol We just started looking into a digital piano or keyboard for my oldest daughter. She's been practicing for a few months now with a little, cheapie keyboard while I've been searching for pianos and trying to decide where, exactly, we will put one. We saw a digital keyboard tonight at Sam's Club for around $800 - it's probably not the top-of-the-line anything (it's a Yamaha something or another) but I LOVE that it has the metronome built in, she can use headphones to practice (yay for my ears!!), and that we can put it up in her room or move it into the front room if we choose to do so. Truthfully, the mere issue of having to hire movers to move a piano into the house and then find a place where it can sit forever was just too daunting for me. lol (We rearrange furniture every couple of months around here) So, I'm now searching for reviews on the digital piano, but so far haven't found anything too terrible. I know it's not quite like playing on a "real" piano, but it has graded (or is it graduated?) weighted keys and that should be plenty good enough for her to determine if she reeeeally loves playing piano... :) .

lol, I would've just said a virgin was someone who'd not tried something before, since the word can be applied to many different situations in life. lol But - how funny that he meant version! ROFLOL He got more than his money's worth for that question, huh? :D

I am sending cards to CLOSE family members and friends/other family who usually send us cards. I used to send cards to everyone (most family members and all friends) - but became a little Grinch-ish over the past 3 or 4 years. So, now I just send to those who sent us cards last year (plus a few family members who I know would love to see the kids' picture every year, but I know aren't going to send out cards themselves). :) It's a much shorter list now, so I'm able to send out a few pictures with each card. :)

I actually liked the book quite a lot, but yes it IS dark (not Twilight-oh-look-it's-a-cute-vampire-and-I-think-he-likes-me dark, but you've-got-to-really-think-about-where-the-author-is-coming-from kind of dark ;)) and sort of icky/uncomfortable/disturbing/thought-provoking in several places. That's sort of the author's point, though - it's a very politically driven novel (the 2nd book, Son of a Witch, is even more so, just so you know!!). I, personally, didn't find it evil, though- just very... different. Though, that's not to say that there isn't evil IN the book, because there certainly is. It's just not always where you'd expect to see it. Definitely NOT for young teens, imesho. My oldest is 10 and she won't be reading this for at least 6 years. The musical, on the other hand, is wonderful, fabulous, amazing for pretty much any age. If it's still showing in Chicago (I think they have it there all the time?) when my kids are a little older - we're taking them. I LOVED it! My girls (10 and 8) LOVE the soundtrack and keep it on their mp3 players at all times. :D eta: Here's a great interview of the author I just found that can help shed some light on the very obvious political eye he writes with (again, especially in that second book - he practically hits you over the head with a political shovel, lol!! But, I really enjoyed that book too, in spite of the rather heavy handed approach, lol) . http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-10-12-gregory-maguire-interview_x.htm One quote from that article that would apply to this conversation:

Fits me to a "t"! DH is actually energized by going out socializing with friends/family/anyone. lol It has the direct opposite effect on me - leaves me 100% drained of any energy and sometimes takes days for me to be back to normal. lol

http://www.moretimemoms.com/products/fo.html the More Time Moms Family Organizer. Hands-down the BEST calendar we've ever used. It's spiral-bound, so it hangs flat when you hand it up, has a TON of space to write on, and a pocket/flap on the last page so you can put receipts/papers/warranties/etc back there so you don't misplace them. :) IIRc you can buy this also at Barnes and Noble or other bookstores online. I just went with the first link I found listing this calendar. :) hths!

My kids have seen many of the episodes, but I bought the set for them for Christmas from Amazon. :001_smile: I love that show! :)

Agreeing with this. If something isn't in stock, it can take a while for it to ship. But, otherwise, in my recent experience, they give very liberal expected ship dates, and ship much, much sooner. I've done a TON of my Christmas shopping through Amazon this year and only one thing shipped after the expected date (by 2 days) and they sent a letter of apology. Everything else has shipped nearly a full week earlier than the date they gave me at the time I ordered. I've been thrilled with the service so far this year! :)

If you can sew, you could make one yourself. :001_smile: Here are a few sites with kits you can buy. http://www.joyswaldorfdolls.com/doll_kits_and_patterns/index.htm http://dancingraindolls.com/doll_kits.html Joy's, I think, is still taking orders for the Heavy Baby: http://www.joyswaldorfdolls.com/waldorf_dolls/custom_waldorf_dolls/heavy_baby.htm

I didn't read through the other replies, but wanted to state what worked for me. I went through years of migraines, horrible ones. I tried several medicines - always found something that would work for a while, but eventually they lost their effectiveness. I started to get the (I forget exactly what it's called now) - I think it's called rebound pain? After taking the medicines, and after the migraine would subside a bit - it would come back, usually two or three times worse than what it was the first time. I would spend 3-4 days in BED and have to call my mom to come over and watch my kids. Anyway. I finally had enough of the meds and stopped taking anything. I wanted my system to be free of anything for a while, so I just endured the headaches. I learned a couple of things that have turned my life around. I now have an "I've got to go to bed" migraine maybe once every 2 or 3 months - and it barely lasts a day anymore. The rest of the time (when there's an air pressure shift, or a dramatic change in the weather, or if I'm overly tense about something...) I can fend it off with the protein boost. :D 1. When I FIRST feel a headache coming on - I FEED it. Protein, protein, protein. I can start with a spoonful of peanut butter while I make some chicken or something else. Cold cuts if I'm in a rush. I try to keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge (because frying an egg with a migraine coming on will make it come on even faster! LOL). It works so well, I still can't believe how effective this has been! 2. If I'm able to go to bed right away, and sleep for a few hours, I usually am able to avoid the headache entirely. It's easier now, because my kids are older, I can doze while they play together in the living room. 3. On the "bad" migraine days, I will usually take NyQuil at bedtime when I have a migraine. This just ensures that the normal, nighttime noises will not wake me up. DH keeps his ears open for the kids since he knows I am MIA. :) Other than that- I take zero meds for migraines anymore. And I feel a million times better than I have for the past 15 years. Thank goodness. :) Now, when I wake up the next morning, I truly feel like a million bucks.

Well, I don't have much of an organized schedule, but I set up Mary & Joseph and the other "stable" characters first (Mary and Joseph travel toward the stable til Christmas). The Wise Men go out as well, but they start out on the other side of the room. :p Each day, we inch the Wise Men (and Mary & Joseph) a little closer. December 25, Baby Jesus comes out - and the Wise Men make it there by that evening (so I can put the whole thing away Dec 26th). Now, the kids have a couple of their own Nativities (Fisher Price Little People and the Veggie Tales nativity). Those are set out all the time - and the kids play with them however they want. :D

Another vote for the Ergo! I loved that thing!!!! :001_smile:

Try these: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100527340 I believe this is the same brand we bought... either way, they're the DAYLIGHT bulbs from Lowe's or Home Depot. We bought them to replace the lights in our living and dining rooms. They are a bright WHITE light. White, white, white. It took us a few days to actually get used to them - it made the rest of our regular (supposedly "white") bulbs look dingy and yellow. The old bulbs also cast more shadows than these bright WHITe lights do. Now, when you look in our living/dining rooms, it looks like the light from the windows is just shining in - everywhere (which it doesn't - we have bad natural lighting issues in those two rooms). And not in an unpleasant/glaring way - just a nice, constant, bright, clear light. The indoor pictures I take look a million times better too! I used to get more migraines from our dull lights - plus I would get actually depressed from the dull/dark lighting if I spent too much time indoors. I haven't had any of those issues since we switched around 6 months ago (and the same bulbs are all still working). NO flickering either (we've had some of the old "new" flourescents that flickered something awful. I took those to the dump and went back to the old regular bulbs until my mom suggested these daylight lamps). hths! :)

My daughter is taking guitar lessons. Her teacher uses this book - so I bought the book/DVD/CD set for her here at home. DH is learning along with her - using these DVDs. They both are doing very well.... :) http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Guitar-Method-Grade-Expanded/dp/0786613696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227855006&sr=8-1

roflol! Well, all their presents are from us and their 4 grandparents. The Grandparents almost always run gifts by us first, so we haven't had too many shockers. :lol:

I did see that and I think it's AWESOME! I hope they get a huge response for it and more manufacturers start to do this!! Batteries in the stockings is a great idea. lol We have these huge remote control vehicles my mom bought for the kids last year and we've never bought enough of the huge batteries to run the things. I think enough batteries to run these will go into the stockings. The kids can start 'em up and play with those while the rest of us are getting things set up. :D

I'm getting ready to start wrapping some Christmas gifts and had this thought. We seem to spend a lot of our Christmas morning un-boxing presents. Un-doing those annoying twisty-ties, cutting apart those annoying plastic blister packages, finding screwdrivers and batteries during all the chaos of Christmas Day.... So. I'm thinking we should pre-open the kids' gifts. Put batteries in the few things that need batteries. Leave only enough twisty-ties to hold the item in place in its box reasonably. Unwrap the plastic off of the CDs & video games. Have the blister packages already pre-cut so the item can be simply removed and immediately enjoyed. :confused: Is this a good idea or a strange one? lol My kids won't miss that part of the "unwrapping experience," I don't think. It actually would probably be more enjoyable, because they won't have to wait on Mom, Dad or a grandparent to cut things open, or find the batteries... they could just open it up and start playing with no grown-up to wait for! lol Hmmmm... :bigear:

We will take Thanksgiving Day off, but be back to the books on Friday. :) For December, we will do school the first week or two. The rest of December, we'll spend finishing our Prairie Primer stuff for the book we're reading right now. Other than that - we will be doing some FUN stuff we never have time for! Crafts, reading several books out loud, etc. It's the first year we've been "ahead" enough to do this and I'm over the moon excited. We school year-round, though, so that we can take a couple weeks here - or there. :D