:iagree: Gifts are gifts, but if the kids want to give part of it to their siblings, they're free to give gifts, too. :) I just wouldn't make them do it, or even suggest it in the least, other than to casually let them know they're allowed to. If it's in their hearts, they will. If you take it away or divide it among them all, it sends the message that 'what people give me isn't really mine' (this is separate from the issue that all is God's) and, depending on the kid, it may cause them not tell you about it next time. Redistribution of wealth isn't any healthier in families than it is in society. Yep - this is a problem ... really the bigger one, IMHO. I'd do what Nathan the prophet did with David ... come up with a story to tell your husband that shows the injustice ... let him get his hackles up ... then tell him what happened. It'll be more effective if you keep your emotions at bay, though. Just saying, cause I know that can be difficult.

Unfortunately, magnesium isn't absorbed well though the gut in any form - it's much more readily absorbed through the skin. The best would be for him to use what's called 'magnesium oil' which is simply magnesium chloride dissolved in water until the water can't hold any more. Bathing in epsom salts daily would also be good, but we're talking 1-2 cups of salts per bath and that adds up. The 'oil' is simply sprayed on the skin, and the skin absorbs it well. Iron in pill form is bad news all around. Constipating (he really needs that!) and bad for the heart. 1 T. of blackstrap molasses a day and you're good to go. Just 15 days of it for a major change in iron levels. As for the constipation, a lot of that depends on what he eats and how much water he drinks. No amount of supplements or medications can help that. Water and fats lubricate the body - not enough can cause constipation. Not enough fiber - same thing. Cooked veggies are fine - the cooking may destroy the vitamins, but not the minerals, and not the fiber, and you can eat more cooked veggies than raw veggies. From what you've said, I'd drop out wheat products. Period.

If I don't figure out something a little more toned down, I think I'll use it. :)

Ha ha! That's good! It would be kind of daring to put that one on the list, wouldn't it? lol Reeeeeeealy don't know if I should, though. :)

Sure. But what I've found is that God doesn't want us to have blind faith. Blind faith is foolish faith. Our faith is supposed to be build on what God said, including his promises, which we find in the scriptures. If our faith in things is based on 'how we feel' about something, rather than what scripture actually says, we have blind faith. That's why scripture says things like "come, let us reason together, saith the Lord" and "my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge". Usually I find if my faith wavers on something, I need to study and see what God actually has told us on whatever topic that may be. When I discover the 'rock' to build my faith on, it doesn't waver because it's foundation is no longer 'shifting sand.'

Doing a Mystery Dinner for our local homeschool group and I need help coming up with a name for one menu item. Veggie Dip What to call it so it can fit in my menu category of "Great Fun"? Other items in that menu category are: Smiles Galore Yellow Surfboard Rolling Stones Ace of Spades Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Originally was looking to buy "Times Tales," but recently was made aware of the books "Teach Your Child the Multiplication Tables: Fast, Fun & Easy with Dazzling Patterns, Grids & Tricks!" and "Times Tables the Fun Way". All three seem to follow the same principals. Can anyone comment on them - maybe what you liked or didn't like about each one? Right now I seem to be leaning towards "Times Tables the Fun Way."

What board/card games does your family play to reinforce learning or that are 'educational'? Ours include: Spelling Scrabble (board game) Boggle (board game) Word for Word (card game) Vocabulary Blurt (board game) Grammar Mad Libs (card game) Math Muggins (board game) Geography Snapshots Across America (board game) Take Off (board game) Ticket to Ride (board game) History Made for Trade (board game) Thinking and/or Strategy Chess (board game) SET (card game) Outwit (board game) Guess Who? (board game) Point Blank (board game) Scotland Yard (board game) Some of these (like Outwit, Point Blank, and Scotland Yard) are 'older' games I've picked up at garage sales and thrift stores but end up being favorites.

Yep, me too. My mom had a cow when I first asked about wanting to shave my legs, so when it came to plucking (yep, unibrower here) I didn't ask, just did. ;)

If we were to take antibiotics every time one of us had a tick bite, we'd all be on antibiotics all summer long, every year. That would be silly. We've lived in the Ozarks for 12 yrs. now - everybody gets tick bites every summer - no problems at all. And no, it's not just luck. Like the other poster said, the tick needs to be on you, actively biting, for at least 36 hours before the disease can be transmitted. So just check for ticks every day. Everywhere. They like tight areas best along with the hairline around the neck and ears, but can decide to latch on anywhere. Tweezers aren't a very good thing to remove ticks with. You're more likely to squeeze the tick body when you try and remove it - that's bad - you can squeeze fluids from the tick into your body. It took us a few months of removing ticks to get used to it, but it's really very simple. Grab the tick gently and get your fingernail past the body and right next to your skin. Then give a quick pull in the direction of the tick's body - always in the direction of the tick's body. It'll come right off. Frankly, the diseases mosquitoes carry bother me more.

:iagree: And you can't hide them from me, either, no matter how hard you try! I also don't care much for beans (the dry kind, when cooked). I can eat them a little now, but never when I was younger. There was this time we visited another family for lunch during the height of summer, and she had made chili. Well, I politely declined to eat b/c at the time, I didn't touch beans - at all. (They're the ultimate mush - ick.) She felt so bad that she told me she'd get me something else, even though I told her I was fine and she needn't go through the trouble. She brought me back a big plate of sliced garden-fresh tomatoes!!!!! :glare: Nope - didn't eat them, either. I felt so badly for her, but I think she just thought I was weird.

Spankings work with little ones if you're consistent and start little swats when they begin to throw their very first fits. If you start with a zero tolerance level for fits from when they're small, you won't end up with this problem later down the road. If you feel guilty about it, fear to spank in public, or slack off for whatever else reason, it won't work. I personally know a couple with a young boy who throws fits, which morph into tantrums, then into meltdowns. They spank but are not consistent even though they think they are - I've seen it first hand more than once. So if you *think* you're consistent but aren't getting results (no matter what method you use - spankings or consequences), you need to take an honest, hard look at yourself to see if you truly are consistent. If you're not sure you can be objective with yourself, ask a close friend or your dh what they think - but be prepared for an honest answer that you may not like. Some ideas: If you're in a place where you need to leave and the child doesn't want to go ... simply tell the child matter-of-factly that it's time to leave. Pack your things, take the other kids if you have them, and leave. Act like you're ignoring the stubborn one. Walk off and leave him/her. At first they probably won't believe you that you're really leaving. Head to an area where they loose sight of you, but is still somewhat close. (Two parents working together on this one is easier.) Then you double back, or stop and wait out of sight of the child but close enough to 'keep an eye' on them. Let them panic - this is the very natural consequence because they didn't come. It won't work unless they think you really did leave. When they 'catch up' to you (allow them to), just matter-of-factly tell them that when it's time to leave, you're going, with or without them. With mine, they always knew I meant it, and we only ever had to do this once. (With each, of course.) Whenever they would have their first stomping fit (it always happened at home), I'd make them stand next to me and stomp until I told them to stop. (And each stomp must be just as hard as the stomps they did during their fit - not just marching in place - but hard stomps.) If they stopped before I said to stop, they got a simple swat for direct disobedience. As a mom, you have to be tougher than they are, even if it tears you up inside. I always made them stomp until they were crying - and you know your own kids - if they're quick to cry, don't stop right when they start up the water works. You have to make them hate the stomping. Never had to do this more than twice with any of my 5 boys. This can be done with other behaviors also - my mom made me do this once when I stuck my tongue out at her when I was about 7 or so - not nice - boy, can your tongue get dry! And yes, that's where my inspiration for this came from. What can I say - be tough, be consistent, and it'll work.

Our society doesn't often focus on the difference between 'love' and 'being in love'. If this is a 'decent man' that you would be 'content with' you will come to love him - especially if you 'perform your wifely duties in the bedroom' and are satisfied. Women are wired that way - during the big 'O', oxytocin is released in the body. Oxytocin is a 'bonding hormone'. That's why it's in the body in such large amounts during childbirth - it ensures the mother will bond with the baby. On the other hand, if his personality grates on yours, you could be miserable the rest of your life - but this doesn't sound like the case. As for the ooy, gooy feeling of being 'in love' - couples that have been married for years upon years will sometimes tell you that over the course of their marriage, they've fallen in and out of love a few times. I think that's perfectly normal, and probably one of the reasons the divorce rate in our country is now so high. The couple decides they're no longer 'in love', so they separate.

Yes, yes, and yes!!!!!! I've read that those who read fast (I hesitate to use 'speed read' - that means something different to me) are actually processing words on the next line or two down as they're reading. This makes sense to me because when I 'slow down' to read out loud, occasionally my brain will pick up a word in the line below and stick it in where I'm reading - and it doesn't have to be directly below where it got stuck in, it can be a little to either side. I hate when that happens, because then when I 'hear' what I was reading, it doesn't make sense and I have to stop, backtrack and 'fix' the sentence. This never ever happens when I read to myself, and I read very fast ... I truly think the poster above was right on ... I absorb it.

I'm a self-admitted socially-awkward introvert and dread large group functions unless they're made of friends. In addition, regardless of whether the group is made of friends or not, I still find them exhausting. If we have a few days in a row of lots of people interaction, a lot of times I won't want to see anyone outside my family for a good week. :glare: :iagree: except for the presenting part. ;)