I just had to add an unforseen car issue. Ugh. And, I paid for our eggs for the month. We have them delivered by a local farmer. Yum! I think you are doing pretty well, given the circumstances. You are onoly over on two things. And, if you found deals that were too good to pass up and you needed those things, you'd have been silly NOT to have bought them. It would have cost you more in the long run! You're good!!!

Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $383/$700 Medical: $200/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $270/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: 0!!! Coffee: 0!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50 Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!)

http://bestcondostay.com/ We've stayed here three times. It's a third floor condo with three bedrooms. It's in Windsor Hills, so you get access to all their great stuff too. We love it there!!! VERY close to WDW. The last time we stayed, he only charged us $468 for the week!

Sort of? Our story is that we had the typical vaccines when our first and second were born. Oldest changed after his MMR. He was later diagnosed with Aspergers. We stopped vaccinating at that point. It wasn't that I was convinced that vaccines were the cause, but I was SO scared and leery. Fast forward to two summers ago. Three of my kids (including the vaccinated ones) got whooping cough. It was absolutely horrific. Whooping cough was the ONLY disease I was scared for my kids to get. Since then, we selectively vaccinate. We have a wonderful doctor who is willing to work with us on catching the kids up. We are still skipping certain ones, but so far, so good!!

When our kids got to those ages and we were cruising, we made the rule that they had to text us and let us know when they were leaving and where they were going. Then, we'd meet them there. Which ship will you be on? Do they have cell phones for everyone? (We made that rule when we cruised with Disney and they had cell phones for use on the ship. Then, this last cruise, we didn't have the cell phones. I just assumed all cruise lines had them!!! It was a HUGE pain in the butt not to be able to communicate with my kids!) Now that my kids are older, they have free reign on the ship. (But, they're 12, 15, and 16)

We were there last August. We did not need two days, but it was nice to have the option. That way there was no stress about getting to all the shows on the first day. I have no idea about the crowds in March. It is SO much fun!!!

I'm SOOOOO jealous!! I keep hanging out at the Disney website looking for and almost booking a trip. I love disney!!! Is this your first half marathon? I ran my first at Disney and it really is an amazing experience! Disney tips: Get a Dole Pineapple whip in Frontierland. Yum. Visit other hotels on property. It is so much fun to walk around them. We love Animal Kingdom! Eat at Boma. Man. I'm not thinking straight right now! I'll think about this and get back to you!!!

Could you be allergic to the dogs? ((hugs)) I know how hard being sick is!!

I agree!!! We surprised our kids with a vacation once! Here it is! Weird. It's only playing the first 45 seconds. Oh well. You get the idea!!!

She might surprise you! I love Disney because my older boys act like little kids. They willingly hop in pictures with the characters. They ride the little kid rides at the Magic Kingdom. My 12 yo wears his Goofy ears and trading pins everywhere at Disney. FUnny story - on our last Disney Cruise, I ordered the CD of all the professional photos. I was totally surprised at a bunch of them! My kids had gone around and had their photos taken with a bunch of characters!!!! They loved them.

I was spending that much too! I kept it up for a couple years and decided I needed to make a change. I found a wonderful, wonderful woman who encouraged me to let my hair grow out so I could wear it curly. She also colors my hair. Total for the wash, color, and style (and a little trim) was $55. And, that included tip!!!! And, I LOVE it. It looks totally natural. So, I'm encouraging you to look! And, have you ever tried cutting your kids' hair at home? I still cut my 15 and 12 yo hair. My 16 yo has a style I can't quite do. But, I trim the back and sides between cuts and it can go a couple weeks longer. I'm pretty good at it!!!

I just picked up filets. I think I'm going to do a mushroom sauce and grilled asparagus. The kids are having spaghetti. It's their favorite! I also picked up some bacon as a surprise.

Added more groceries. I did really, really well today again! I spent $88. I still have one more place to shop, but it should be small. And, I have to pay for our egg delivery tomorrow. But, I should get by with another $120 week. Of course, we are using up a bunch of stuff from our cabinets, so next month might cost a bit more. But, if I can keep it cheap a couple months out of the year, I can save a TON!!! And, that also includes a trip I made to CVS. I spent $3 there on four tubes of toothpaste and a bunch of dental floss. I had a HUGE number of coupons for dental stuff and I stacked them! Love that! Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $283/$700 Medical: $194/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $167/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: 0!!! Coffee: 0!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50. Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!)

More gas. And, I decided to go ahead and buy the professional photos from my dd's gymnastics meet. They were too good to pass up! Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $200/$700 Medical: $194/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $167/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: 0!!! Coffee: 0!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50. Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!)

Through tears . . . . that was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I'm so sorry your time with her was so short.

My kids think we have NOTHING in the house to eat. So, I proved them wrong. Tonight we are having roasted chicken, curried roasted cauliflower, cole slaw, and butternut squash soup!!! I can't wait for dinner!

Thank you SOOOO much! I did a quick google search and found a doctor that specializes in PANDAS about an hour away. We can do that. I'm hesitant to reduce her outside activities because those are the times she seems normal again. She acts like a little kid. Running and jumping and playing. And, she'll go a few days without a problem and then it hits as suddenly as it did before. I will look up those vitamins and supplements. And, luckily Meg does not like sugar. She won't eat candy, cake, ice cream, etc. (She doesn't even like many vitamins because they are too sweet!) She does like the occasional chocolate chip cookie, but even then she'll only have 1/2. Veggies are another story. She'll eat peas. That's it. And sometimes she won't eat them if the "shells" aren't the right texture. Now that I think about it, this pickiness all started last summer.

I would LOVE any links you can find. Thank you. And, yes - My daughter's symptoms developed overnight. We were on vacation and she got a stomach ache after eating in a particular room in a hotel. She had all out panic attacks the rest of the time we were there because she was afraid she was going to throw up. That started her eating issues. She is desperately afraid of germs now. She had a panic attack at the doctor's office yesterday because the "well" child room wasn't open and she had to be in the room with sick people. (She went running out of the room and nearly left the office outside!) She won't let me leave the house without her. I need to be with her at all her activities. If she even gets a twinge of a bellyache she has panic attacks. If she sees a tv show where someone is sick, she panics. She hasn't had the tics, yet. If this is it, it explains SOOOO much!! Does it make sense that she'll have a couple of good days before having another attack? How soon after the illness does PANDAS take to develop? Hers happened in the month or so after she was sick.

From this list, my dd is only missing two. Acute sudden onset of OCD Challenges with eating, and at the extreme end, anorexia Sensory issues such as sensitivity to clothes, sound, and light Handwriting noticeably deteriorates Urinary frequency or bedwetting Small motor skills deteriorate - a craft project from yesterday is now impossible to complete (see images below) Tics Inattentive, distractible, unable to focus and has difficulties with memory Overnight onset of anxiety or panic attacks over things that were no big deal a few days ago, such as thunderstorms or bugs Suddenly unable to separate from their caregiver, or to sleep alone Screaming for hours on end Fear of germs and other more traditional-looking OCD symptoms So, how do we find a doctor who can treat her? This just has to be it. She will get better for a couple days and then, WHAM, she's acting crazy again.

Can you share a little? I have a daughter who has some really, really weird anxieties. They came on VERY suddenly last summer. I was JUST thinking yesterday that I should ask about PANDAS!

Keep in mind that the $100/day is on the cheaper end and Disney is rarely on that end!!! $500 for the four day is pretty good! I don't know about actually booking through Disney as we drive. But, if you find a cheaper flight on your own and you have trip insurance, you should be covered. Go to insuremytrip.com and put in all your information. Ask about the flights to make sure. But, I believe they are covered. I agree with this 100%!!!! You definitely do NOT want to be rushed on the day of your cruise. My sister and her dh nearly missed their honeymoon cruise because of a missed connection. They were the last ones on the ship. It was SOOOOO stressful!!!

STAY!!!! Just report back. No biggie!!!

Updated below again! More medical expenses. After Ds' MRSA, dd had a ugly spot on her toe that was swelling up. Another dr. visit and a prescription! Good news on the groceries front though! I'm going to need to shop tomorrow though. But, I've been really proud of keeping that number so low!! Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $200/$700 Medical: $194/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $137/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: 0!!! Coffee: 0!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25 Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!)

How long a cruise is that? We've found the cheapest times of year to be January or September/October. Anytime you can find a cruise for $100/pp/day, you've got a really good deal. Disney tends to run a lot higher! But, we've found it worth the extra expense to stick with Disney (for SO many reasons!!).

:) Sorry about that! Our next cruise is on the Fantasy, so I'm glad to read you liked it so much. We have been on both the Magic and the Wonder and loved them. Then we tried Independence of the Seas on Royal Caribbean. It was SOOOOOO big! But, we never felt like there were 5000 other people on the ship! We really like the smaller ships better and we're hoping that the Fantasy feels smaller than it is. I have to share with other Disney fanatics - our rooms on this next cruise are amazing!!! We got two connecting balconies and one of them is an extended balcony (there's a utility room or something next to it). AND, the balconies are 9' deep!!! We totally lucked out on this one! I an't wait!!