We choose what we buy VERY carefully. We buy quality things, but we don't buy a lot. For example, we have a Vitamix, but it doubles as my grain grinder. We chose to buy a couple of really GOOD knives instead of a cheap set. (Taking from examples I saw talked about earlier in the thread.) We use things to death! I drive a 13 yo minivan right now. We will keep it until it dies. The ONE thing we do splurge on is vacation. Very early on in our marraige, dh and I decided we wanted to travel a lot with our family. We do a LOT in our house to save every penny we can so that we can afford to travel a couple times a year. (I'm thinking of starting a blog about it, actually! You'd be surprised how much you can save doing a few little things!)

I think you should buy them . . . . :leaving: But, I want a picture!

I bought the ingredients for an apple pie yesterday.

My kids are saying Xbox!!!

YEAH!!!! My ds said, "Khufu!!!!" Woohoo!!! I'm doing something right!!! Your photos and writing are SOOOO fun!!! Please keep writing!!! This makes me want to take a Med cruise even more!!!

Awesome!!! I'd love to know what your resources are. I LOVE birds. I look for new ones and then try to ID them when we travel. But, I've warned my husband that in our retirement that I'm going to want to travel to some remote location so that I can see some rare bird!!! He thinks I'm crazy. It's a passion!!!

WE love the UP of MI!!! Honestly? I'd summer in my current location. I love it. We're on a lake. We have access to parks with pools and clubs with dining and all. In the future, dh and I will winter in a warm location. Mexico? Central America? Maybe? FL? I don't know. But, somewhere warm with water nearby!!!

I love it!!! She will love it!! We bought McKenna for our gymnast dd. And, she looks like dd - blonde hair and blue eyes!!! I hope your surprise goes over as well as ours did!!! My dd now wants Caroline!!

I just placed an order today for my dd for Christmas before I saw this free shipping order!!! Darn it! We got her a bunch of stuff for McKenna. She got her for her birthday this year. Her next doll will be an historical doll. I don't like feeling like I have to buy it before it goes away!!!!

We have Dance Central 2 and love it. We might get another game for the 12 yo for Christmas this year. He's the one who loves it the most! He'll play it until he gets it!!! OP - do your kids have outside activities? My kids are involved in karate, rowing, baseball, soccer, and gymnastics. So, I never feel the need to have them exercise at home. But, a few years ago, I did Couch to 5K WITH them!! I had been running for a while. But, they hadn't. At the end, they all ran a 5K at Disney. I ran my first half the same weekend. Two of my three are still runners!!! Maybe try doing something with them with a goal at the end?

Given those circumstances, no. I would not let a child of mine go. I would need to know the parent first. I would allow the child to go and pick her up late, however. If I knew the parent, I'd be all over it!!! In fact, I'm considering having a party like this for one of my kids. Cheaper and easier than having a party at a local party place or my house! But, we'd only invite kids we knew and knew the parents.

If my family were miserable like this, I would not keep our house as low as we do. The thought of you having trouble sleeping at your in laws makes me so sad!!! I would never do that to my family or my house guests. Yes! We all dress for the 60 degrees. Well, I do. My kids aren't bothered by it at all! I'm chilly sometimes. I wear at least three layers on top - tank, long sleeved shirt, sweater (or fleece). Pants. Wool socks and shoes. I am comfortable in those if I'm moving around. If I sit at the computer, I'll often throw a blanket over my lap. No biggie. At night, I wear long pajama pants, socks, a long sleeved tee and sometimes a sweatshirt. I put a lot of blankets on. My kids sleep in sleeping bags and are quite comfy at 55. BUT, if my kids were cold and miserable, I'd turn it up in a heartbeat.

:001_smile: It's actually called KeyRing! I have EVERYTHING on there. one more thing I forgot about - SIRI!!!!! I LOVE being able to say, "I need directions to Anthony's Hair Salon," and it's right there with step by step directions for me. Nothing could be easier for me!!! No more printing out directions at home. I'm going to have to get that gas buddy app!!!

My iPhone has replaced my camera, my GPS, and and my video camera. I love it for texting. I have an app so that it holds all those keyring store cards. My keyring is smaller. I use it for white noise in hotels. I use it for a flashlight. I use kid apps to keep kids happy in the car or while waiting for siblings. I like that if I'm waiting for a child, I can check and answer email. I can pay my bills from it easily. It keeps track of my workouts. My daughter is here and she likes the Disney apps where you can check wait times on all the rides! I just love it!!!

60 during the day. Kids are in short sleeved shirts!!! At night lower. 56, I think. We use a lot of blankets. But we love cold sleeping rooms here.

My fourth was this way too. After three HUGE boys, she was a surprise! She started off at 8 pounds 10 ounces. She took FOREVER to re-gain birth weight and then slowly fell on the percentages. It was a little scary, but my doctor looked at her and not the charts. Now at nearly 7, she is barely 36 pounds. She's TINY!!! She's my gymnast. VERY strong and muscular.

YEAH!!! I'm glad to hear it. How did you like the new section???? It was almost done when we were there in September!

OP!!!!!! I totally would have flushed too!!!! That would have been my gut reaction - just to get rid of that thing!!! I love squirrels - OUTSIDE!!! Once outside animals are in my house, they are fair game. Sorry!!! And, we had a neighbor who had a squirrel in her house. That thing caused ALL sorts of damage. It was VERY scared and ran all over the place. It peed and pooped ALL over. And, but through wires, her couch, wood, etc. It was horrible!!!! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

:grouphug: I'm so sorry they kept you up! But, honestly, it wouldn't occur to me that the noise of the door could be heard by my neighbors. If it happens tonight, let them know that it's keeping you up. I'd want to know if I were keeping someone up. I hope you have a great last day! (Are you feeling better? We've had our share of sick littles on Disney vacations!)

I'm good with that!!!! I just finished my Yellow Tail. I have no more wine left. So, a decision must be made NOW!

Same here. I'm watching local news. No cable. To be safe, I think we should drink every 2 minutes.

That's what husbands are for!!!!!

Yellow Tail Merlot here.

Cheers!!!! I'll join you. My husband and three boys went to an election night party. I drew the short straw and got gymnastics with dd. I was hoping to go to the party after gym, but Meg was falling asleep in the car. And, to make matters worse? We got rid of cable a month ago. So, I'm glued to the computer tonight!!!! And, a wine glass!

One hour. Longest I've ever waited!!! We had some pretty important stuff on the ballot here in MI. My husband also waited an hour. He ran over later in the day to check on the lines. There were 10 people. The workers said it was the shortest it had been all day. Our city looks to have over a 60% voter turn out rate!!!!