We have a Nissan Quest and the trunk space is AMAZING. It dips down back there and we have no issues with luggage, groceries, shopping, or even very large strollers. I can hold our double stroller and LOTS of groceries just fine. We can even fit like 4 or 5 large suitcases along with backpacks and stuff back there.

We love our Phil and Teds sport buggy with the doubles kit. Here's why: 1. It pushes like a dream. It glides. Sometimes so much so that it rolls away from you so you have to hang onto it. 2. Love the roominess and configurations. If you have a newborn there's a configuration where you slip baby, completely reclined, in the back. You can see them and keep an eye. Plus strangers aren't trying to touch baby cause they can't see her. We just got back from Disney and my 3 and 6 year olds rode all the time. They both love the back and sit back there throughout the day. If you only have one child with you, the double seat is great for a shopping basket. We've never had any issues with ours and we've had it for nearly 4 years. Oh and there's also a strap coming from the handle of the stroller and it's perfect for my 6 year old to hold onto while walking through crowds so that she's not separated. My only wish for this stroller is cup holders.

Hmm...I'm not really sure. I've told my kids about God since they were small babies. To them, God just IS. He's there, always has been, always will be. I guess if they ever posed that question to me, I'd just tell them to look around them. They can see God's hand in every sunset, every newborn baby, every blooming flower. I'd tell them God is like the wind. We can't see the wind but we do not doubt that it's there. We see the effects of the wind. God is just like that.

My mom or husband usually attends with me and watches the kids.

Gosh, this life long Florida girl is reading this thread and I'd be terrified to be up there where y'all are. There's so many things that I'd never have even considered since I've never even seen snow. I complain about our 98 degree days down here during the summer but I don't think I could tolerate all the precautions and dangers related to so much snow.

Oh my goodness! Your poor son! I'm so glad that none of the kids were injured.

We have a Nissan Quest. It's one of the roomiest I've seen. I try to think about how much stuff I can fit in there WITHOUT folding down seats. Our trunk is really large because it is not level with the rest of the van...the floor of the trunk actually dips down. We can fit like 6 suitcases back there. We can fit our double stroller, single stroller, and a lot of groceries too. I have fit a Little Tykes kitchen. Lots of shopping packages can fit back there. It's very roomy. We've never had any issues with our van. We got it new in January of 2007, so we've had it for four years.

Ewww! LOL! That is too funny!

I love this!! I think I'll try this with my girls!

We're dealing with something similar over here. DD6 likes to pray, but she rushes through this exact same, word-for-word prayer each time she prays. I try to gently explain to her that she should talk to God as though she's talking to a friend. I don't want her prayer to be a habitual thing that she just absent mindedly recites without even thinking about it. I want her to actually learn to talk with God, share her desires, fears, needs...worship him, thank him, etc. I just keep gently talking to her about it. I never correct her prayers or anything. I just model it for her when I pray and I try to discuss it with her at other times.

I've seen them at teacher supply stores, as well as Ikea.

I have Just Dance 2 and use it every morning for exercise. I'm not a fan of most of the music, but I'm just using it for the exercise. There's a few "oldies" type music on there that's okay, but not any of the others. It's great exercise though!

I use a combination of Photobucket and Flickr. I resize them for my blog and them upload them to one of those sites.

I really don't think it matters how much info you post on the net. I looked up my 70 year old grandmother and they had just as much info listed on her as they did on me....she does basically nothing on the internet. I'm in all sorts of forums, a blog, etc.

Never heard of it but I just looked it up. It looks like it got good reviews from people and companies. I think I'll download it to our old laptop for the kids.

Thanks so much for the info! I just looked up our local Girl Scouts and I emailed them. I asked them if there were any Christian or homeschool groups in the area....I didn't know those were possibly available! Thanks for letting me know!

I know nothing about Girl Scouts. I was never a Girl Scout. I'm wondering if it is something that my 6 (almost 7) year old would like. She's very very shy, creative, loves doing activities, etc. What I'm wondering is.... What do they do during each meeting? Do they have activities outside the weekly meetings? Can you be as much involved or as least involved as what you want? Do you have to sell the cookies? Can parents stay for the meetings? What about her younger sister? Is there any values that I will disagree with (we are very conservative Christians who shelter their children)? What age group would my 6 year old be with? Thanks for any info you can give me!

Our dining room has never been a school room. That would be a major waste of space for us....we would absolutely never use it for dining. It was previously used as a playroom. Now we have a bedroom as the playroom and the dining room houses our computers, as well as a sitting area.

Yes!!! My doctor just laughs and tells me that instead of making an appointment, I should just bring my kid into the waiting room and sit for a few minutes....their symptoms will magically disappear LOL!

I love this. My girls do this too. Each morning they run to each other and hug.

For the most part my girls get along great. There are those days where they fight and argue about every single thing and I nearly pull out every hair on my head, but they really are best friends. For one, I don't push them to have outside friends. They are both very shy and quiet, so that helps. They don't have neighborhood friends....there's really no kids around here. Their only friends are their cousins, whom they see several times a month and both kids play equally with. And their friend who is the same age as my youngest daughter....and again, they all play equally together. I really think that peer friendships can hinder sibling friendships. You get some of the kids who think the younger kids are babies and refuse to play with them. You get kids whose main drive is to be with their friends, which leaves them forming bonds with their friends and not their sibinlings. I think that the young years should be reserved more for family time and not constant time with friends. It's easier for me since there's no kids in our neighborhood and my girls are shy. I don't allow name calling. I know this may sound crazy, but my kids have never called each other a mean name. I don't think they know how LOL. I don't allow TV shows that have name calling....which a lot of kids shows do, so they do not hear it from there. DH and I don't call names. They really don't hear name calling so they don't know that it's really something that happens. I give lots of together time in between school time during the day for them to play together and strengthen their friendship. During a fight, I always have them apologize to each other. If I do catch fights happening often, I remind them that their sister is the best friend they will ever have and that sisters should always support each other and be nice to each other. I've told them this since my youngest was a baby. My girls love each other to death. Sometimes they fight....sometimes they do hit....but they do get along for the most part.

I think I'd die LOL. I use it for everything....researching homeschool curriculum, printing things out for schooling, getting our Netflix DVD's and instant queue's, uploading client's photo sessions, looking up new recipes, shopping online when I don't have time to leave the house (plus, it's usually cheaper), researching each medium sized or large purchase that we make, staying in touch with friends and family, blogging, etc. I can allow the internet to take up as much or as little of the day as I allow it to.

This year they are getting two Chuggington trains each, as well as a small box of chocolates.

Ooh, I like Amy's idea....I'd definitely flip that cubby shelf on it's side and have that as toy storage. Then you can line the bigger toys up on top of it. I'd try to have all the toys together on that one wall with the cubby shelf.

Not necessarily "causing trouble." I know that divorces can get ugly. If everything didn't pan out the way the father saw fit, then maybe he's just looking for anything he can do to retaliate at the mother. Not saying that's what happened....just wondering if it is really about religion.