We go camping at Disney's campground since we are there each year. There are TONS of trick or treaters that to through there. I have heard people saying they go through 30-50 pounds of candy. :001_huh: We don't buy any though because no one stays at the camper to hand it out. Both DH and I want to see our girls trick or treat.

How are you doing? How did the test go? Still praying for you!

I love Christmas! I have lots of Christmas traditions that I do with the kids. On the day that we put our decorations up, we usually watch a Christmas movie that evening. Hermie the Elf visits us during the month of December. Santa drops him off in the middle of the night leading up to December 1st. He stays until Christmas Eve night when Santa collects him during his rounds. Each morning we find Hermie in a different place.....usually getting into mischief. Sometimes he's wrapped the tree in toilet paper, sometimes he's gotten into the cookies and has broken cookies and crumbs everywhere, sometimes he sets the kids stuffed animals up and reads a book to them, etc. Occasionally, he even brings special surprises for the kids. I usually try to do various crafts throughout the month of December with the kids, all Christmas related. Seven days out from Christmas, we begin a story called "What Does God Want For Christmas?" Each day the kids open a small box containing a piece of the nativity. Each day we read the corresponding section of the book that tells about that person in the Christmas story. We make and decorate (and eat!) cookies one day. We go Christmas light looking one night....and usually stop for ice cream afterwards. On Christmas Eve, we always go to my grandmother's house. We've done this since I was a little kid...possibly since I was born! When I was little, my grandfather (who has now passed) made a wooden tree with 25 wooden hooks. And there's also 25 small wooden ornaments. Each day, starting at December 1st, the kids hang an ornament on the little tree in order to count down the days till Christmas. The girls have their own miniature tree that they decorate with small ornaments, garland, and lights.

While I don't like holding stranger's hands in church, I have no problem with shaking hands during the greeting time. I think that holding hands is more intimate because it is extended. I don't love the germ factor, but if I see that it's a big cold/flu season, sometimes I will discreetly use some hand sanitizer a few minutes after greeting time. That's not the norm though.

Dinner a few hours ago.....salad, pizza, garlic rolls, and water. Very healthy, huh?

Our previous church did this. I didn't like it. I just don't like touching people I don't know.

I've been praying for you this evening!! Please update us tomorrow.

I haven't the slightest clue.....but I feel kinda nauseous right now. :tongue_smilie:

I've always wanted to do the following..... Buy lots of land in the country. Have enough space to move my parents, sisters, and MIL there too. Also have enough space for when my children are grown, they can have room for a home too. Build ourselves a nice little log cabin. Nothing extravagant, just exactly what will work for our family. Adopt a child. Or five. Buy a Jeep Wrangler, just to drive when I want to. I've always wanted one for some reason. And I'll never get one till the kids are older since it is just not a family friendly vehicle. But I could drive it around our acreage if we hit this windfall. Help people. I love the idea of random acts of kindness in the name of Jesus. I'd love to be able to hear of someone in financial trouble and send them an anonymous envelope with several thousand dollars in it. Or pay someone's house payment when they are having trouble. Or buy gifts for kids who won't be receiving any. Just things like that. I could do so many random acts of kindness with that much money! Go to Disney. Okay, we spend a week there every year and then a few weekends as well, but still....I would take the Disney vacation to top all other Disney vacations LOL. Right now we do the budget friendly, value resort type vacation. We'd do the Deluxe vacation! Buy all the equipment to set up my own photography business. I have some of the things now, but I'd buy all the great lenses and stuff like that.....the ones that I'll never currently have LOL. And save for the future, of course.

We are having the same issue with our home. We recently had the floors redone.....went from carpet to wood laminate. We have furniture, an area rug, etc, and there's still a very prominent echo. I don't know how to get rid of it, or at least lessen it.

If I ever have to question "should I eat this?" then it's always a no from me LOL. Food poisoning is just not something that I want to experience.

Honestly, I would rather people NOT help clean up our playroom. We have different bins for different toys and DD6 is very meticulous that her toys go into their correct spots when we are putting them away.

Maybe you should sign him up....I wonder if they would catch his birthday when you fill out the paperwork LOL!

No, DH doesn't like shopping and doesn't care what I get them (unless I overspend LOL....then he cares). He wouldn't really know what to get them anyways.

Harmless things like Silly Bands are just fine around here. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted the slap bracelets, or the Trapper Keeper....stuff like that. No harm done.

When our first DD turned one, we got her the rollercoaster that someone else linked to. It was great! Not only did she ride down it, but she would send toys down it, walk on it like a balance beam, play on it, etc. We just recently sold it and DD#1 is now 6.

I'd keep it going as if nothing happened. I would wait until she approaches you with a question about it. I understand where you are coming from.....my kids are 6 and 3 and fully believe in the magic of all the holidays. We are very conservative Christians and believe it is okay for the kids to indulge in this fantasy world while they can. I would be devastated if they found out the truth so early!

I'd include maybe a 5x7 and a sheet of wallets in the package. Then of course you can add at the bottom to contact you if they want to look into purchasing other prints.

What type of group do you attend? Do you like it? Why or why not? We are currently members of a kids place called O2B Kids. They offer all sorts of classes, have after school care, a homeschool group, run a preschool, and have all sorts of fun kids activities. We only do the homeschool group. The monthly fee includes the group and as many classes as we want to take (things like karate, dance, bake shop, etc). However, my kids don't want to take classes.....and honestly, we don't really have the time either. So we are paying a ton of money for a weekly homeschool group. That being said, the homeschool group is awesome. It runs from 10 AM - 2 PM each Wednesday. The kids are divided into age groups. And they have the same teacher each week. They change classes every 30 minutes and get to participate in different things. They do a science class, book club, recess, lunch time, group game time, history, etc. Us parents get to do whatever we want....we can stay, we can leave, whatever. Every few months there's a parents meeting so we can discuss field trips, upcoming events, etc. Sometimes they bring in special speakers like a person and dogs from the humane society, a folk band, a science guy, etc. We do montly field trips as a group. We celebrate birthdays each month with a cake. It's a really great group. But it's expensive. Very expensive. We were thinking of changing to another type of group, but I just can't get excited about joining one. There's a group that goes on monthly field trips and such....but you don't get to see the same people every week or participate in classes, etc. Tell me about your group.....what do you like about it?

LOL!!! Oh my gosh, that is great!!

There's no way I would go.

I only run ours once a day....in the evenings after dinner. And I buy the Seventh Generation dishwashing packets.

Yes, Curious George is a great show. DD6 tells me all sorts of things that she learns on there! And DD3 is always spouting off amazing animal facts that she learned on Deigo. One time, when she was an early two year old, I was talking with older DD (then 5) about animals with hooves. I told her I think that llamas have hooves. DD2 says (very matter of factly) that llamas have padded feet. I think I must have blinked, just staring at her.....then I had to look it up. And you know what? Llamas really do have padded feet.

We do! We do Sign Language as one of our school subjects. I'd rather do Sign Language than a foreign language because I feel that it could be more useful. We use the Signing Times DVD series. I'm doing the subject with my 6 year old but my 3 year old sits in too. Tuesdays are Sign Language day around here. We watch the video and go over previous signs that we've learned. DD probably knows 75-100 signs since we began two months ago. It's really fun! I enjoy learning it too. While the kids are watching the DVD, I watch too and write down the signs they are learning in that episode so that we can review them later. For review I have her show me 10 signs and I have to tell her what they are. Then I show her 10 signs and she has to tell me what they are. Then I ask her 10 signs and she does them. Then she asks me 10 signs and I do them. We don't go over every sign that she knows every single week.....I try to rotate the ones I review each week.

I never do anything special with our bags during the day. I just leave them there on the bed. And yes, it is miserable to be lying there in the middle of the night, freezing cold. And I live in Florida! I can't imagine the feeling of cold in places further north!