Well I've seen recipes using bourbon and other liquors, but for me Vokda is cheap and relatively tasteless, and because it's used in such small amounts I don't worry about the alcohol content. If you're wanting non-alcolohic options, I'd have to look into that.

I have no idea what Boxing Day is, but good for you for getting it started early! Sorry about your bottle--I would not be happy. :glare:

It's very simple--just buy bottles of vodka, any will do, doesn't need to be expensive. I buy them when they go on sale and use coupons & rebates to get it as cheap as possible. Then order the beans, cut them into 1" or less size pieces and put them in the vodka for six months or so. Shake or turn the bottles every so often and keep in a dark place. That's it. You can then strain out the beans, or leave them in if you like, and put into small bottles. There are a variety of different choices, depending on how big of a bottle you want to give. I can try to look up some links tomorrow (heading to bed now). hth!

Here's your friendly reminder to get your batches going if you want to give homemade vanilla for Christmas. Six months is the optimal time for letting the vanilla beans soak for a really delicious batch. This is my third year making it and I can't ever go back to buying in the stores. I just finished putting up five bottles, made with Vodka and about 8-10 cut up beans in each bottle. For the last two years I've been buying my beans here and getting the half pound because I share them with my sister. I've been very pleased with the quality and they qualify for Prime shipping. :hurray:

DS did the same thing when he was very young, maybe 2 years old. It was scary! Don't beat yourself up--just learn from it. Kids do things we can't always predict and most of the time they're (we're) okay. :grouphug:

Oh goodness, praying for your sweet boy! Stay strong mama! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I find a brand new Lodge pan (can't remember if it's a 12" or 14") at a thrift store in town for about $4. You never know what you might find.

:iagree: My sister is a family law attorney and she says that the vast majority of her business comes from networking. She sits on boards of all kinds of organizations, is active at her alma mater, and just generally rubs elbows about 3 days a week, sometimes more. She also has a professional website and gets a surprising amount of business from that. Her idea is that the more people you know and like you, the more people will refer you. On the flip side, her business partner does almost no networking and has been struggling to get new clients. My sister can barely keep up with all the work she has.

:iagree: :drool: China Town is so interesting and I've been there several times with absolutely no problems. You must stop and have Dim Sum somewhere--so fun! Love Brookfield Zoo, but it's pricey so you may want to go to Lincoln Park Zoo. If it's a nice day I wouldn't rule out hanging out and seeing Millenium Park as well. My kids really love all the different stuff to see there.

I hear you. It doesn't call me either, but I'd still rather stay there than at Pop Century. But no matter where we stay, we're planning on having an amazing time. :D

Funny, we've used MUS for 5 years and loved it. Tried to supplement with RS with games and basic abacus skills and while kind of fun and different, I couldn't get past the visual clutter on the pages.

Did you decide to stay at the swan? I so wish we could!

I forgot about that. Dh is a sports freak and owns an umpire/referee business and D's loves football so they're hoping for that one. I'll have to win him over with the prospect of less time on the bus.

Yeah! Where are you staying?

Wow, that sounds like an amazing trip! We toyed with the idea of staying off property at a condo but decided we didn't want to rent a car or think about shopping for food. It s not a vacation for ME if I've got to think about buying/preparing food.

It's this December, 8th-15th. Just curious if anyone else was planning on going then. We decided we're going the 5th-15th, staying at either Pop Century or All Star Sports. We went for 7 days in Oct. 2010 and stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort but this trip it would be cheaper to stay at the Swan (than any of the moderates), which is the hotel she's booked a group rate for. Since we're staying 10 days this time, we decided against the Swan, as much as I'd love to stay there, and going for the value hotels instead. Any opinions on which would be better? I know that there new value hotel will be open by then but I think we'll like Pop Century and All Star Sports better. Because she was able to get such good group pricing, we'll have park-hopper tickets instead of regular ones for 5 days. This time around we're also going to Sea World, Universal's Islands of Adventure, and Cirque du Soleil. Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone else was going, and share my excitement!

That was great! Really enjoyed it. :001_smile:

We're using MOH volume I, Ancients this year, and loving it. We do the mapping activities, review cards (we make our own and put them on a ring), timelines on both a three fold poster board display and in a timeline book. We also have a lot of supplemental reading and do some of the suggested activities in the book. I also love that it is written with Bible history intertwined with secular history. We'll be continuing on with the series.

We had a gap semester and have been using Killgallon Sentence Composing for Elementary School. We finished WWE 4 in Dec. And will be starting WWS in the fall. Killgallon has been interesting and challenging and a nice break from WWE, which they didn't care for.

That's fine if you want to make that rule for your kid(s), but for there to be a rule, imposed by the base, that 12 year olds can't leave their own yards??? That's crazy where I come from. :tongue_smilie:

That's fine if you want to make that rule for your kid(s), but for there to be a rule, imposed by the base I assume (?), that 12 year olds can't leave their own yards??? That's crazy where I come from. :tongue_smilie:

Your 12 year old isn't allowed out of your yard?! What kind of craziness is this? My 11 and 12 year olds go all around our neighborhood, and all over town for that matter. At 12 years old I was babysitting and teaching swimming lessons to little kids at the public pool every morning, and we rode our bikes 2-3 miles to get there, unsupervised! DH & I met while we were both in the Army and we lived on a cul de sac on base after we got married and there were kids all over the place. I never heard of a rule that required kids to be in their own yards. What happened to that little girl is tragic but the rules sound absolutely crazy! :confused1:

I think you'll really enjoy it! I buy my supplies, usually a little at a time with coupons from Hobby Lobby.

Just got an email that we hit 151 orders! 40% off baby!!!:party:

:lurk5: :tongue_smilie: