Only dealt with this when working in a child care center with infants and toddlers. The bleach is very very diluted and it doesn't really even have a smell and my nose is sensitive. But we'd toss anything that had been chewed on during the day in there and then the items would be rinsed and dried. Also seen it used in group camping for washing dishes as well. There is the bucket for rinsing and then a second diluted bleach solution for a second rinse. I don't wash my dishes using a rinse bucket so the entire process seemed strange to me - I have to use running water to rinse or I feel like I'm just dunking things in dirty germy soapy water.

We're in a more rural area and they're fairly common to see. I have a couple friends that wear them from time to time as well, no farming connection either. I wonder if I'd like wearing them... have no clue where to even buy them since I tend to shop thrift stores but I imagine Tractor Supply might carry something.

Use Milk Of Magnesia plain or add some lavender essential oil to it. Apply with fingers, cotton round or pour into a spray bottle and squirt on. It works very very well, much better than any natural stuff I tried and as good as the strong commercial stuff I used to use. Another big plus is no more yellow sweat stains on shirts too.

I highly highly suggest you pick up the book "Vegetables Every Day" by Jack Bishop - it is a great book and gives a few simple and yummy recipes for most common, and less common, vegetables. I bought it the year before we bought our house knowing we were going to be growing more of our own food and that meant I needed to increase my veggie repertoire. They're not complicated. We do a lot of roasted veggies for the most part and I've learned to love things I used to not like. I found that really reducing our sugar consumption (which I'm guessing you already do) also made a big difference in how good veggies tasted. I also learned to start putting veggies in everything. Making eggs for breakfast, add peppers, onions and spinach or maybe asparagus this time of year. For dinner, replaced rice with shredded cauiliflower cooked with coconut oil and seasonings, yum. Or we'll do sliced cabbage cooked in butter. We have out go-to veggies of broccoli, greens (cooked with some bacon drippings usually), carrots, peppers, and asparagus (in season). We also really like roasted parsnips too, they're like a carrot and potato combined. I really just chop up a lot and add them to whatever we're cooking too - so curries with get various veggies tossed in along with stirfries too.

I agree with giving the Nautilus a try - you can check walmart.com online to see which local stores carry it, not all of ours have it in stock. I agree the crotch strap is a little short and I find the buckles a little difficult to do, but based on the options available, it's still my preference compared to a much more expensive seat. So far my dd moved into it at 3.5 has been very comfortable in it the past two months, especially coming out of Scenera. My dd did still fit in her Cosco Scenera forward facing and it is cheaper than the Nautilus but then you're still going to need to buy a booster later. We handed that seat down to her little sister that grew to tall for another convertible seat we had.

I wondering if he'd be interested in wearing something like this: http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/ I had one of their teething necklaces for my infant but liked how it didn't really look like a chew toy and I am pretty sure black would be pretty gender neutral looking and they have bracelets too I believe. I can't speak to how well it stands up to stronger teeth but if looking for something with less of a young child appearance it might be a good option.

Uterus with a good memory perhaps. Do you always measure right on?

We live in Maryland and chose to not do the umbrella group option so we had to deal with the county reviews 2x a year. It really seems that experiences vary across the state and how friendly your reviewer is. My experience was with middle school for my dd and it was challenging every time. They always wanted me to bring more or extra and were often annoyed that I didn't bring my daughter in (it's not required by law, so I didn't). We also had a very loose unschooling approach and focused more on experiential learning than have written projects, so we didn't really have extras to bring in. We often did projects and assignments just to have portfolio materials, but those were never deemed enough. We were never marked deficient just always listed as needing more documentation versus acceptable, and that annoyed me. I think using a more classical approach or even starting at a younger grade would have been easier because all my friends with young children have a great time (but also seems the reviewers prefer talking to the kids and that is a big part of how well the evaluation goes). I am strongly considering an umbrella group for our next round of homeschooling whereas originally I was so opposed to the idea "because if the law states these are the requirements and I meet them, it shouldn't be a problem" -- at this point in life, I'd rather my life just be easier and not struggle with the county at all.

I started drinking green smoothies with my KA blender. It required adding items in order and sometimes blending the greens to mush before adding more frozen stuff. Then I got a Vitamix when it was a daily habit and haven't regretted the purchase once. Bierko family has some great smoothie resource on you tube and their website, google for links (on phone or I would link up).

I use the book Fix. Freeze. Feast. and have been happy with most of the results (not so much the red sauce for lasagnas, I use my own instead). I prefer the method of prepping freezer meals versus cooking and then freezing. If I had to cook and then freeze, it would never happen, but filling up freezer bags with all the ingredients prepped (things measures, sauces added, veggie and meat chopped) is easy and fast. Last time I did about 30 meals or so I think and it still took a fair amount of time. I'm making up a list now of just crock pot meals and marinated meats for the grill as opposed to the skillet meals I usually cook up.

When I make spaghetti noodles with the mandoline slicer, I cook it in a little oil and with some garlic. I like it very al-dente still, so I don't cook too far. I also find it's a much better texture when I don't slice up the seedy middles so I slice up the outer layers until I get to the seeds and then freeze the middles for green smoothies. Takes a lot more zuchinni to make a family sized serving but, if you grow it, you know that isn't a bad thing.

Agree 100%!!! The book is great and our family is looking to do the at home study program to help get DH on board a bit more as well. When I look at what my goal is for raising a child, PET is perfectly in line with raising that child.

Does anyone know if the spiral bindings will work with the holes from a traditional comb binder? We already own a comb binder machine but I've never liked the bindings so I never use it. I like the look of those spiral binders and there are many things we've not printed because I don't like filling up binders either.