. . .to include our stick bugs. (I can't even believe I've allowed insects to live inside my house!!) My adult niece gave my kids a couple baby stick bugs in March while we were visiting them on vacation. I had no problem agreeing becuase I figured those tiny critters wouldn't even make it home (1500 km trip) in the jar she housed them. Four months later and these things are 3 1/2 inches long! They're now considered pets. My kids even told me we had to set up an aquarium for them. Did I mention I have a huge distaste for creepy, crawlies?

This is the best method I have ever used (in all my cookie baking years). I have uniform size cookies and they're easy to remove from the pan. I love, love, love my parchment paper!:001_smile:

Having previously been the owner of three basset hounds, I can so relate to Charlie and his "expressions". He is definitely what keeps me going to that site . . . okay and all the yummy recipes too.

(And my friends think I'm easy-going!) When leaving town I check, double check, triple check to see if I have my bank cards and sun glasses. These are things I can't live without. Never mind my kid's asthma inhaler, as long as I have my sunglasses (oh, okay and lipstick). My poor husband. He's gone through this with me for twenty years (the going on vacation check the bank card thing). Once we've reached a certain marker on the highway out of town I give up thinking about what I might have forgotten and realize it's usually all replaceable at the local drug store.

And I've never been late in my life!

"Oh did I remember to check to see if the doors are locked?" "I wonder if I checked to see if the doors are locked?" You'd think I live in a crime ridden community -- (I think it's because I have casual work in the local police detachment). I live in a small community where everyone knows each other (maybe that's the problem :glare:) Besides the fact, even if I forgot to lock the door I've got two gianormous dogs (and nothing to steal)! lol!

I'm glad it's worked out the way it has. I'm glad that your dd's father is responsive to your requests. I was imagining my children's birth parents making an appearance now (my kids are adopted) and the disruption that would cause. Happy news.

It's some kind of strong, green fabric. I love, love, love my cloth bags. They definitely hold more and are more comfortable carrying them. I've worked out a system of storing them right by the door I exit to go to the car, that way I never forget them. I wasn't sure how successful I'd be using them because sometimes I have good intentions but poor follow through. But I do use these and I never forget.

I have a Creative Vision M (love it and listen to it everyday). It's two years old has never given me a stitch of trouble. My kids each of a Creative Nano Plus -- no troubles with theirs. I just bought myself a small Creative stone for running. Truthfully I bought it because it was small and on sale. We have had no trouble with our Creative products and would buy another one in an instant.

I will pray for you and the whole situation.

I turned fourty and just figured that was the end of life as I knew it. I was tired, dizzy, couldn't concentrate etc, etc. . . .at 41 I bit the bullet and talked to my doctor (about my 12 day cycles). Turns out I was so anemic the doctor told me he was amazed I could lift my head from the pillow -- I was at a transfusable level. Two months later, after pinpointing the problem, I had a hysterectomy and today, two years later, I feel ten years younger. I'm in better shape than I was my whole thirties. I got a knew lease on life!! Literally!

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We've had blips in between where I've toyed with the idea of doing something else but then I realized that nothing is perfect so we stuck with it. I found it important to stick with a program with math because they all have different philosophies. Now as we begin grade seven math, I'm happy with our decision. I have three very different learning styles amongst my children and Saxon is working for each of them.

She was doing her job. My son told me later he had no idea the bear was there until Watson started chasing it away. (I looked at that old bundle of bones last night and kind of chuckled to myself -- here's this almost 14 year old dog going after a bear! And she didn't even hesitate. I wonder what I'll be doing when I'm almost 100?) I was also very thankful my son came into the house. He is very impulsive and doesn't always think through a situation and this dog is his very best friend. She goes everywhere with him. We brought her home (as an older dog - she was five) the same month we adopted him (he was four) so the two have "grown up" together in our home. All around a very scary incident turned out okay.

Actually it was the call center operator who said to me "luckily the bears aren't too aggressive because they have a good food source (people's garbage)". That did not make me feel any better! Our problem is related to people's garbage. We do not leave our cans outside unsecured but I can't control what everyone else does so the bears do wonder the town. It's a big pain in the butt!

Thanks.

We live in a high bear traffic town. It's a fact of life here. We see them all the time. They're in our carport at night. They're in our trees at night. I don't love it but we're accustomed to seeing them. Generally they're black, sometimes grizzlies. Tonight, while I was talking to my mom on the telephone, my 12 yr ds came running into the house screaming blue murder from the top of his lungs -- I have never heard such wailing and crying (even when he broke his collar bone). My blood literally ran cold (I'm a huge wimp when it comes to injuries or blood and this was what I was imagining.) From the amount of wailing I was guessing he had lopped off a limb. I dropped the phone and ran to him and finally could hear the words "a bear is attacking Watson" (our 13yr old golden retriever). In my mind I thought "you've got to be kidding" but I knew from the screaming that he wasn't. I didn't really know what to do. I told the remaining kids (and dog) to stay inside while I went out to I guess see what was happening. I'm still not sure how true this could be. I'm yelling out the back door "where's the bear"? A guy across the streets says "right over there". In the mean time, my collected 12 yr dd was calling our dogs name and our dog responded to her calling. She came through our hedge and I scooped her up and brought her inside. And we all ran inside. My legs were shaking like crazy (and I was thinking "why is it these things always happen when dh's at work?). My dog is perfectly fine. She must have chased the bear, who hopped over a fence into a yard across the street. My son is physically fine and sleeping with his dog tonight. I told him he did the absolute right thing coming into the house for help (he sometimes scares me and I wouldn't put it past him to try and help the dog directly). I cannot believe this all happened and am so relieved our dog did not die protecting our son, although I'm very relieved to know she was willing to protect him. What a night!!

One of my regular running times is at 4:30. I meet my friend who works until four. We usually do 5 - 6 kms. I love 4:30 because I have dinner all set, I go out for my run, come home. Have a quick shower. Eat dinner. And my evening is free. We sometimes go in the morning but that's not as easy for my legs -- they feel like they're 900 pounds in morning!:001_smile:

My words of comfort were "the harder you cry, the more it will hurt". I had no clue it was broken and only decided to take him to the doctor that same afternoon (2 hours after he fell) because it was New Years eve and I just wanted to check. I felt like such a failure when the doctor INSTANTLY said "broken clavicle" the second he saw my son. Six weeks in a sling, strapped to his body. Even required orthopedic surgeon care. And I thought he was over reacting! I had a hard time trusting my judgment after that and felt quite inadequate as a parent. (I'm over it now. :) And so is he!

It really hit home for me and some of my own issues as well as those dealing with my kids. We do not have significant anger issues but I was able to see how I contribute to conflict. (Sometimes the obvious needs to be pointed out!):) We also used the Young Peacemaker and thought it was worthwhile. In fact we did it twice. Once when the kids were quite young and again maybe a year or two ago.

May you feel God's peace during this difficult time.

We'll keep watching.

My dh and I have been watching the first season of 24 and love it. Are the next seasons as good (worthwhile watching)? Thanks.

They came to us after living in foster care for the first four years of their lives. I know our stories are not completely the same as my boys did not come from a foreign country which completely adds another dimension to your situation but I can relate to some of the attachment issues. One of our boys made the transition fairly easily and I think this was a result of both his personality and the home he lived in prior to coming to us. They had done a great job of preparing him. Our other son, however, had a more difficult time transitioning and even still, almost 7 years later, we still deal with some of the after math. There are many, many days and nights were I am praying for God's wisdom and intervention in situations that are difficult and draining but like you I know that the family God has assembled is not a mistake. Practically speaking I would do as much together with your new daughter as possible to encourage attachment. I think the sense of security and the sense of belonging to you forever is critical. I know there's a language barrier so much of your attachment in the beginning will be physical. While I recognize some children are resistant to physical hugging etc this is what we concentrated on in the early years. I would make an effort to stroke my child's arm, I would hug him as much as I could, I would sit with him in close proximity and of course I would continuously tell them how much we loved him. (This love of course wasn't the same in the beginning as it is now but more of an intentional love.) We also told our boys many, many times that they are with their forever family and that we would love them through the good times and the bad (we emphasized that doing something naughty would not make us "give them away"). It's always a tug on my heart strings to think of some of the conversations we have had with our boys regarding their situations but we make an effort to be open and honest. I guess the best thing I can do is encourage you to "run the race set before you". It's not always easy. I agree with you that most of the stories we hear are horror stories but I would say 7 and 8 years later, I am proud of my children and proud of the people they are.

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