We're meat eaters, too. I do fix meatless/vegetarian meals once or twice a week, but we are definitely a meat-eating family. I'm blood type A (my husband is A-) and we'd have meat at every meal, if it were practical.

We moved in 6 months ago and haven't repainted. We wanted to have time to consider new colors and see the amount of light each room got before repainting. We have a very open floor plan, so the sunroom, dining room and living room are a sage green with a darker, complimentery green below the chair rails. The kitchen is an off white. Our bedroom, the master bath and downstairs hall bath are yellow with yellow trim (there must have been a sale, lol). One upstairs bedroom is yellow and the other is wallpapered in an off-white with thin chocolate and rose stripes. The upstairs bath is peach. We'll be repainting the bathrooms this spring - a big job since we'll need to paint the walls, the trim (the previous owner painted the trim to match the walls), the vanity and the permanent wood shelves. I like the green in the downstairs, but the upstairs bedrooms will be redone, too.

I really needed a laugh tonight. Thank you!

We studied Latin last year, but didn't care for this year's program. I'm looking for another one that will suit us and I plan on having it on the schedule next fall.

We were poor and I knew it. My parents were struggling before they split up and we were poor afterwards. From age 12 on, the only new clothing we got was a new pair of tennis shoes at the beginning of the year for gym class. Everything else was second hand. Grocery shopping consisted of buying what was on the Food Stamps list and going down to the local school to pick up free cheese, peanut butter and powdered milk. I hated having to hand over the tickets for the free lunches at school and carrying around the battered textbooks we got for free. Losing the house and having to move into the Salvation Army shelter and then with relatives was the worst. Depending on the generousity of friends got us into a house of our own - a house that was later condemmed as unlivable. The kids my age never let me forget how bad off we were. I really think that our poverty led me to dig myself into a hole of debt that followed us for 22 years. I was so worried about people thinking we weren't well-off that I ignored the fact I was putting us in the poor house.

That sounds just like our rules for our kids. I'm mean. We have one computer and one tv with cable service. Both are downstairs in the "public" areas of the house. We have an older tv upstairs in the playroom with a dvd player for when they want to watch Harry Potter for the bazillionth time.

I don't tell my mother because that would open us up to criticism on how we handle our finances. She would also start bombarding us with requests for money. She sees money as something to be spent, not a thing to be put aside for future use. It's better for family peace to keep that information to ourselves.

My son said "dada" at 7 months and didn't say another thing until he was 15 months old. He learned to sign and could communicate well, but just wasn't interested in talking. He has two older sisters who are always chattering away, so maybe he just couldn't get a word in, lol. One of the first words he started saying around 15 months was "Odo". My husband said I needed to turn off Star Trek and let him watch Sesame Street, lol.

No. My husband and BIL are both in the military, so we have an idea what the other makes, but it's not discussed. My sister and I often discuss financial planning, but we don't share specific information. My mother drops frequently drops hints about our financial situation, hoping we'll tell her what N makes.

I did, I do and so do my kids. That's the best part of baking!

I've almost always worn my fine, straight hair in a short bob with a few layers around my face. It's easy to take care of and I've gotten more compliments on it short than when I've let it grow out.

My husband was halfway on board until this year (our second year). He saw the trouble our oldest had in school (she's 20 and in college now) and was seeing the frustration I was having with the school and our middle child (10). We talked about homeschooling before our move to VA and, while he was fine with it, he had his doubts. After seeing our daughter excel in the first year, he was completely on board. This year, he's excited to see our son learning to read.

I finished The Help and I am the Messanger last week. Both were very good. I gave up trying to read The Historian. I'd heard good reviews, but I just couldn't get into it. I'm now reading The Once and Future King. With the kids, we're reading the Percy Jackson series (we're on book 4).

We fell for a hard sell 21 years ago and bought a Kirby vacuum from door-to-door salesman. We still have it and it works well, but we paid way too much for it. The kids and I talk about the commericals we see on tv, whether it's for a toy or a kitchen product. I ended a friendship with a woman because she was always trying to sell me her products. Every conversation turned into a sales pitch. I tried to be polite, then I was not-so-polite and she just wouldn't stop, so I stopped taking her calls.

Emeril has a recipe we've used and liked. It's easy to put together and bakes in 30 minutes. You could make two 9x13 pans of it if you think one wouldn't be enough. Then you wouldn't have to adjust your cooking time. And it's not too bad as leftovers. :)

I usually use this slowcooker recipe for thick chops. They come out fork tender and moist. I usually make some mashed sweet potatoes or acorn squash to go with them.

Our insurance pays for two check-ups and cleanings per year, so they go every six months. We did go a year without a visit to the dentist when we came back from Okinawa.

I get between 6.5 and 7 hours of sleep a night. I do my best on 8 hours of sleep, though.

I keep anything over 1 yard to use in other projects. I've used scraps to make bean bags for my niece and nephews or in funky striped hats. I put the scraps in a ziploc bag so they don't get tangled in the big (unused) balls of yarn.

We're a Marine Corps family (and I was a Marine before I married my husband) so we've got a long list. Cedar Rapids, IA (born there) South Milwaukee, WI St. Charles/St. Peters/Bridgeton, MO Milwaukee, WI Parris Island, SC (boot camp) Millington, TN Lemoore, CA Irvine, CA Merrillville/Portage, IN Spring Valley, MN Ft. Wayne, IN Virginia Beach/Newport News, VA Okinawa, Japan Stafford, VA Jacksonville, NC Chester/Midlothian, VA My husband is retiring in two years, so we're done moving!

I'll recommend the Knit Picks circs as well. I have Addis and they're quite slippery - not something I'd recommend for a beginner. My daughter (10)finds my KP Harmony needles much less frustrating to work with. And she thinks the colors are cool. :) I learned to crochet before I learned to knit and continental knitting was much easier for me to learn than English. The yarn and working needle is held in the same hands as crochet.

We have cold cereal, oatmeal, eggs, waffles or pancakes, or bagels for breakfast. If it's a cereal morning (no sugared or weirdly colored cereals) then the kids get it themselves. They help with the other options - breaking eggs, making toast, chopping apples for oatmeal. I also offer melon, different berries, bananas and apples for breakfast.

MCT and a guitar teacher for my daughter.

I have an non-enameled Lodge cast iron dutch oven and it makes great roasts. I picked it up at Ace Hardware years ago. Our favorite is a recipe from Food Network.

I use our kids' real names in my blog, but I have my privacy settings so that one would need the link to get to the blog.