First I'd probably ask around and see if any friends/family want them. If not, I'd probably let them go in a lake.....and pretend they have a fighting chance. I'm not sure I could flush them.

Yes, I've done it once with my oldest. As she gets older, I will do it more....and add reports to that as well.

An experience maybe? Concert? Day at the amusement park? Classes or lesson? Horseback riding lessons? An iPod? Or other MP3 player? Is she totally past dolls? What about an American Girl doll? A nice series of books?

LOL! I totally wouldn't disturb that either! I do the same thing.

I'm not sure the age of the child that would be using the phone, but if I got one for a younger child who would be dropped off somewhere without me, I'd consider this one: http://www.fireflymobile.com/ There's no keypad, only pre-programmed numbers that you put on there.

Ahh, you are right....I didn't realize that it said flash was used.

And about getting a copyright release....if the photos are not very good then no one is going to think they are professional. So you wouldn't have to worry about a release. But if they do look decent, you should get one. Even WalGreens has stopped me from printing MY OWN photos there because they said I needed a copyright release. I said I AM the photographer! LOL

The resolution and image size are good....you can make large prints with that. The shutter speed is a little slow for shooting people. Is that particular photo blurry at all? I try to stay near 90 or 100 for shooting people....definitely not below 80. It gets a little hard to hand hold with a shutter speed that slow. Unless she was using a tripod....which would be difficult at a wedding with all the moving around a photographer needs to do. Maybe she's not really a professional and the photos didn't turn out as well as what she would have liked, therefore she was hoping you guys would just "forget" about them? Crazy, yes, but I wonder if the shots weren't up to par. I CANNOT BELIEVE that she gave you UN-EDITED proofs! How tacky!!! A photographer should NEVER give unedited proofs. Yeah, definitely wouldn't be recommending her to anyone!

I love vacations. I don't mind the packing (what I hate is the unpacking when we get back). And I don't really like driving there (cause I get carsick and can't really do anything in the car....so I'm bored). But I do look forward to them and really enjoy them. We have two vacations coming in May and I can't wait!

Do it! Nope, not mean at all.

I keep gift bags and tissue paper on the top shelf of my walk in closet. I keep a few rolls of gift wrap in the corner of the same closet.

I'd call and tell him. Chances are, he wants no part of whatever you have.

I've been reading about families packing up their homeschooling families and hitting the road and doing all sorts of fun and educational things. What an experience that would be! I'm curious as to how it all works though. What about jobs? Finances? Where do you stay? Do you take an RV? Stay in hotels? Other possibilities? I'd love to hit National Parks and have my kids do the Junior Ranger program, attend all sorts of festivals, see things we've never seen before. As much as I hate road trips, I think this would be fun. Of course, this would all be in the future since I'm in my first trimester of pregnancy and I'm not about to hit the road now or with an infant either. It's just something to think about, I guess. Anyone ever do this? And by extended I mean like two weeks....probbably more like a month or more.

In the mornings I allow them to choose one show each (the shows are about 20 minutes long, so that's 40 minutes of TV) while they drink their chocolate milk. If I choose to add in an educational television program, that's extra. But we don't even do that once a week, so it's not usually much. However, since having morning sickness for the past month, they've watched a LOT more TV than that. It's temporary though.

Can you rent some place? We don't have the greatest backyard either, and if I were to do a big shebang, I'd try to find somewhere to rent. Some places have relatively cheap rooms that you can rent. Maybe a Moose lodge? A civic center? That way you won't have the stress of keeping your house to a higher standard while trying to plan a big party.

Definitely.

You mean just educational? I have Jeff Corwin, Beakman's World, Liberty's Kids, and some Leapfrog shows. I still have very young kids so not too many in depth things. As for other shows, we have tons of things from kids shows like Angelina Ballerina, Pink Panther, Dora the Explorer to shows for DH like Psych and Bones. I haven't found anything for me here lately. I tried out both Psych and Bones and didn't care for them. I tried out the Secret Life of the American Teenager and didn't care for it. We finished up all of Lie To Me. So I'm stuck with no Netflix right now. But that's okay because I have quite a few shows on regular TV that I'm hooked on right now.

Our church does not have dues either. I had never heard of that! We pay for the vest, book, and bag at the beginning of the year, but that's all.

My reason for stopping at Sonic is the strawberry limeade....Mmmm!! DD6 does like their footlong hotdogs (and can eat the entire thing by herself!) but has only had those like twice.

I like the one to the very right as well. You just reminded me that I have to go and take my almost 7 year old's birthday photos. I can't stand taking pics of my own kids LOL. Clients cooperate....my kids don't. :D

Stickers tissue paper wooden craft sticks (Popsicle sticks)

I've never, ever done any of those things.

We use Positive Action and LOVE it. We are actually using the Kindergarten curriculum this year because I found it for cheap (my daughter is actually in first grade). But it has been AWESOME for both my 6 year old and 3 (now 4) year old. They both love it and have learned so much about the Bible from using it. Plus, they love the hands on activities that come with it. I usually set them up with the activity and then read the story, talk with them about it, while they have something to busy their hands.

LOVE Tim Hawkins. I love watching comedians but find it very difficult to find "clean" ones. Does anyone know if some of the ones mentioned in this thread are clean? I'm not familiar with most of them.

Actually, I know two girls who sucked their thumbs well into their teenage years....like 15 years old. Thumb sucking is a very hard habit to break. These girls are now in their early 20's. I'm 30 and still sleep with a stuffed animal LOL.