:iagree: My parents did what they could to maintain a level of friendship, and if neither had a boyfriend/girlfriend for a holiday, my dad would come over for dinner at our house with us. It went a long way toward my feelings of maintaining "normal." I was later surprised to discover this wasn't typical behavior of other divorced parents. :grouphug: It's wonderful that you are making that extra effort and working to keep your kids close to him. THIS is what will stick with them as they grow older; this will be their normal.

I don't think it's just a boy game. How old are your kids? The pieces are very small, and it's difficult to count every single stud when moving your piece. I should clarify--the pieces are very small for ME to move, and I found it difficult to count every single stud. :glare: We bought the game two years ago, and ds had no such problems.

There have been a few years that I've selected and printed out photos from the year. I take hundreds of photos each year, but everything is online. Dh doesn't look at them much there, so I print out ones he'll like and put them in an album as a gift.

Our families live out of state and we see them infrequently. When my kids were little, it was typical for them to pull out their notebook and show their work for the year. We stopped it years ago though; as the kids grew older, it wasn't as exciting to sit on Grandma's lap and show her everything they'd done.;)

:grouphug::grouphug: Do you think, perhaps, that it might help her if you acknowledge how scary, awful, and sad it was, but also tell her that God might have used this situation to either prevent that dog from hurting a small child, or killing another innocent dog down the road. As a mom, it would also cross my mind that He might use it to remind dd at some point later in her life that unknown animals can't be trusted, thereby protecting her or one of her kids in the future, but I'd not voice that as it might cause dd to fear dogs. The dog's aggression could be something the previous owners knew about but, in a misguided interest to protect the dog, did not share when giving him up. I'm so sorry for your dd that, on top of everything else, she had to hear the employee also yelling about whose fault it was. ------------------- Rereading this, I feel like my imagination is on overactive. I guess I'm trying to find a reason for something that was so traumatizing to your poor dd.

Sounds better already. And you have chocolate. That you don't have to share. :grouphug:

:lol: :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

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:iagree: I would have bigger concerns about my 15yodd in an environment where people are drinking for free IF there were many people I did not know.

GREAT suggestions, thank you so much! Now I just have to choose which one!!:D

Where, oh where, can I find something like this online? Any Peruvian importers, or even South American importers? I'm not having luck googling; all I find is food and clothing.

Location, location, location. Dh wanted a larger house; I wanted the better location. The realtor advised the better location. The house was smaller, but the schools were better, the neighbors were better, people were more invested in the neighborhood, and it sold quickly. That's not to say that location is the *only* consideration, but I would concentrate on being sure I chose a good one. Have FUN!!! Don't fight over stupid things like what color of white paint. I'm just sayin'. :glare:

I looked at a blank part of the computer screen and visualized the numbers 40 X 6 = 240, + 7 x 6 = 42; add that to 240 = 282. I am by no means a math person, but I do very well with mental math. I used to sit on our preschool board, and I entertained myself by mentally multiply the figures more quickly than the director could use a calculator. I consider myself a puzzle person, nothing spectacular. I visualize everything. I'm terrible at remembering exactly what was said, but I'm great at remembering my interpretation of it. That doesn't always go over well with my family, lol.

I'd design it myself. Find clip art or an image that you like, paste it into your blank Word or Open Office (or . . .) document. Size it the way you want, and then position and copy it.

Yes, I wanted to choose two. I believe YE, micro, God, but I also believe it doesn't matter. It's just another tool satan uses to divide. It's quite successful . . .:glare: (and no, I'm not referring to this poll, lol!).

When my kids were younger, I would always buy them each a disposable camera and a "report" folder for December. On Dec.1, they would assemble the folder using notebook paper and numbering the pages from 1 to 25. Each day, they would take a photo of something Christmassy. After taking the photo, they would write about it on the notebook page with that date on it. Depending on their age, I would expect them to write just a caption (littlest!) up to a paragraph or two). When the film ran out, I'd get the pictures developed, and our first day back at school would be the day they got to glue all the photos into their appropriate pages. That would be our writing for the entire month of December. I have SUCH good memories of that, and I know they do too. Plus, we have the notebooks. :001_wub: I should pull them out for my kids to see this year.

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TWO years in a row I kept thinking, Ooh, I'll pick up that $.49/lb. turkey, except that both years, I went shopping on Wednesday--and they are frozen turkeys.:glare: I had to pay for the more expensive, thawed ones. I think I have finally learned this lesson though. This year, dh bought an 18 lb. turkey on Friday and keeps freaking me out by saying it won't defrost. It'd better thaw, or I'll be secretly bathing it all Wednesday night long.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I watched a video on youtube yesterday. I don't know enough about the whole situation to have an opinion, but what really impressed me was how calm the students remained. There was a lot of shouting. In an escalating situation like that, it's so easy to have that mob mentality, but the students didn't fall into that. That will stick with me for a long time.

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Oops, I thought it was Alton Brown's, but I think I was referring to my turkey in my notes. Here's the recipe. Make Ahead Turkey Gravy 1 T. oil reserved turkey neck and giblets, minus the liver (too strong!) 1 onion, chopped 4 c. low sodium chicken broth 2 c. water 4 sprigs fresh thyme (didn't have, so I skipped) 1 bay leaf (had, but I skipped) 4 T. butter 6 T. flour salt and pepper (forgot to use and didn't miss) Heat oil in large pot (that you'd use for spaghetti) over medium high heat and brown giblets and neck for five minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 mins. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 mins. Turn heat back to high, add chicken broth and water, scrape pan bottom, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, add herbs, simmer 30 mins., skimming if needed (what? skim what? there was nothing to skim). Pour broth through fine mesh strainer. Discard whatever is left in strainer. Broth can be made in advance and refrigerated for two days. Melt butter in large pot (I used the same pot) over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until honey-colored and fragrant, about 4 mins. Add broth to roux, a little at a time, whisking in each addition. Simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 mins. Set aside, covered, until turkey is done (or can refrigerate for an additional day). Directions say: Scrape up bits in roasting pan and pour drippings into fat separator. What I did: Pour drippings into big measuring cup and scooped off top layer as best I could. Reheat gravy and add drippings. Simmer for two mins. until thickened. (I was concerned that gravy might be thin, so I added only about 1 cup of drippings. The gravy was not super thick but also not runny.) Season with salt and pepper; serve with turkey.

I'd wait that extra day and make it Tuesday. :) I found a wonderful "make ahead" gravy last year that I'm planning to make earlier this week too. (Are you using Alton Brown's?)

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