One of my kids wants to be a box. Not a box troll, just a box. I need to write fragile on his box and put some felt around the holes so he doesn't get paper cuts. My DD wants to be something scary. First it was a vampire bride, but we realized vampire teeth with braces on might not be great. Now we are going for bloody dress and zombie makeup I think. I have to easily first out how to bloody the dress. One wants to be a UPS guy to deliver his brother, but I can't find a brown shirt. He might be getting zombied like big sis. The last one is my easy one. He wants to be the same Darth Vader he has been the last 2 years. This will barely fit him, but I'm game.

I've cruised Disney, Carnival, and Norwegian. The Disney one was paid for by my MIL or we never could have afforded it. It was okay, but not break the bank to go again great (in their defense I was cruising with my MIL and kids for the first and will be only time). Carnival and Norwegian are the Walmart and Target of the cruising industry, but they are enough to keep my DH and I happy. We are the cruise lines worst guest though. We show up, eat their food, watch their shows, but we don't drink, we don't gamble, and we rarely take excursions (we explore the city). If you have someone with food allergies, I suggest you pick a line with assigned dining. Your waitstaff will learn your needs and you won't have to explain it over and over again. I like Carnival over Norwegian for this reason (my last Carnival waiter was awesome), but I can handle Norwegian as well because they flag my card and as I enter they fetch the crazy busy guy that handles special diets. I am a dairy free vegetarian and that often requires completely off menu meals because the meat free meals are typically cheese laden. I will choose cruising with my DH again and again. He is an IT person and any land based vacations always get interrupted by this crisis or that one. His work can't reach him on the boat. My kids cruise with their grandparents as those cruises are MY vacation days.

High bun was how I dealt with the long hair before I chopped it. Dd does a high ponytail.

So very well written. Although I have met the word count each time I participated, I've only reached the conclusion of a story once. I was on a roll with a second one and knew how it had to end, but I fell in love with my character and he was supposed to die (terminal brain tumor), and I didn't have the strength to kill him so he happily lives in that unfinished book. I also have to keep my wrist brace handy during NaNo attempts. One of these years I will remember not to open these NaNo threads. I haven't participated for the last two years (week long cruises in November made it not feasible), and now I have the itch building with zero ideas.

I'd ask her instructor. I know our helmets have an opening on top for ponytails to stick out during practice, but I'm not sure that is acceptable during a tournament. Or you could do what I did to get over this problem and convince her about how cute she would look in a pixie cut. No more painful tugging on my ponytail for me every time I shove that helmet on.

Morning and all the activities that come with it.

We just finished watching the movie with the kids. It is still a good movie.

I remember my first NaNo. I was all sorts of prepared with characters and a detailed story line all planned out and then my characters all rebelled. I thought everyone on the message boards were nuts when the mentioned characters that took over, but they were totally right. If she has a general idea of who she is writing about and the vaguest of plot ideas, don't stress too much over planning. She needs to learn to shut off her inner editor and realize that editing is for December.

Are you signing her up for the regular NaNo or the youth version? Let her have fun with it. My DD participated in youth NaNo from 9-12yo before school just got to much for her.

I know you said you couldn't mention this to the kids, but you might want to have a sit down with them and get their thoughts. Your dancing sons might appreciate having the large city for dancing opportunities, even if that means returning back to homeschooling for the 10th grader. That said, my parents were separated for a year as I finished out my senior year. As a military brat we moved around a lot. My dad always promised that we would have the opportunity to finish out high school wherever we started and I was the one in high school when he retired and got a new job 9 hours away. My sister was going into the 8th grade when they moved and it was a horrible move for her. They were going from a large area to a rural community where everyone knew everyone and had grandparents that went to school together (aka, hard to make friends as the outsider).

How has she been with figuring out word problems as she has come through the maths? A lot of kids can do a problem when given the numbers already set up, but have absolutely no clue when to apply them in "real life" situations like physics covers. Has she struggled since the beginning of the school year or has she hit a stumbling block chapter? I was great in mechanical problems in physics, but electrical problems (circuits and stuff) went straight over my head. I took both honors physics followed by advanced honors physics in high school and found that I struggled both years in that concept. I was thrilled my freshman year of college when I took calc based honors physics 1 (yes I got a lot of looks in that class) and found out we stopped before electrical concepts. The next semester I took physics of sound and music (sound waves were also second semester but I like those), which was like remedial physics that the music majors were required to take with the same instructor.

When my twins were training (right at 3yo) they developed a lovely case of rotovirus (happy mother's day to me). That solved the pooping in the potty issue for them. Now getting them to wipe their own behind took forever and I finally had to put my foot down around 6.5 and listened to the older twin cry about how absolutely disgusting it was. Do you think she fears having her hiney splashed? Does the preschool help with wiping for those that are trained?

If neat writing was a requirement to get into K, only my 15 yo would qualify. Maybe mom isn't ready to let her baby grow up.

My kids all really like their baby teeth. Dd had 12 removed forcibly from her mouth over the years with 6 being the most done at once. At 11.5 yrs old, each of my twins have lost 8 teeth with no loose ones in sight. Same goes for the 9.5yo, but he is missing one adult tooth. I foresee forcible removal in the near future for at least one of them because of crowding. The other two have a good amount of space still in there that we hope will fill up with the adult teeth.

Sounds yummy! Now to get my kids to work on their dividing with decimals and fractions and cut it down to 1/6 of the original recipe.

First, try something super short. Tell a short fictional story based off of your favorite vacation. You will feel accomplished for getting to the end of a story without the thought that it has to be a grand novel. Don't be surprised when your characters take over the story and you wonder where they are taking you. I thought people on NaNo were nuts saying that until I participated the first time.

Is it sad that my prescription is beyond the limits of the simulator (at least the first one I can't get the second to load on my phone)

Does this mean that he likes Mythbusters, or is it just ritual? If he actually likes them, have you checked to see how close their live shows will come to your area?

I had prices on signage before I did this fair last year. Another requirement is everything must have a price on it. This is an outside at the park event with the booth fees going to charities in the community. Being outside might make the light less obnoxious to others. I am glad to hear that corner booths provide the biggest help in sales because that's what I have this year. Last year I registered with 6 days notice and was shoved into the nether reaches. This year I'm at a corner booth right up next to the food vendors. Maybe I'll modify my idea and use blue Christmas lights wrapped around my "sale" pedistool (aka the crystal cake display that someone thought I needed for my marriage).

Unfortunately I live in an area where people want handmade items at made in China prices. I picked on of the only 2 shows that require handmade only items and actually polices the policy. All the others around here allow resellers and the $50 handmade purse isn't going to sell next to the $5 knock offs. Even still competition is steep so prices have to reflect that. As I sell crocheted items, I have to figure out how much they are willing to spend and cross that with making something of a profit. If I lived in a higher end world, my pricing could reflect that. This is more of a "fund my hobby" business, then a "survive on my income" business.

cheesy, brilliant, or no one remembers the concept? I've signed up for my first craft fair of the season and yesterday I saw an idea at another type of fair that I thought was brilliant. The people had placed battery operated rotating blue lights on several items that they were selling. I was drawn to them like a moth to the fire (thank you Kmart for that Pavlovian response). Now I am thinking that I want to put an item on sale every hour, or every time it sells, using the blue light to draw attention. Does this sound like a good idea?

I'm glad it all turned out okay. I would express to DD that it would still be polite to let her grandparents know if she was going to be out super late, and to consider self curfewing on school nights unless something big is happening. I will never forget the first time I was home for a summer vacation and came slinking in as my dad was getting ready for work. I was restricted to being home before their alarm clocks were to go off (although I never tried to pull that stunt again). That still fell into the respecting others that worry about you when you are gone category.

They probably require someone to be there to drive him home. My DH was given a Valium and local for his surgery. I was nowhere near the procedure room. I don't recall how long it took (9.5 yrs ago). Make sure your DH follows doctor's orders regarding rest. He will prolong his own discomfort if he does too much in the beginning.

First off *hugs* for both you and her. There are way too many bones and tendons to even guess what is going on. My dd has a chiped bone deep in her ankle that will keep her out of high heels her whole life. It wasn't detectable until the MRI so hopefully that will give you more answers. You sound like you have a very proactive set of doctors so follow their lead for now, but don't hestitate to seek a second opinion if you feel you need it. DD's Doctor was an idiot and I waited too long to abandon ship.

Ditto.