HA! It's easy to save money in theory - right? LOL! Then reality/winter hits. Suddenly it's harder! You are the only other family I know that keeps their thermostat that low! We do that too - and wear lots of layers and blankets. We are hoping to hold off until November this year. This weekend will be hard though. If there is a warm up next week, I think we'll go for it!!!!

I've been buying my older kids' lounge pants at Plato's Closet or another thrift store in the area. They wear a t-shirt with it. My dd has a bunch of hand-me-downs and I don't think I've ever bought her pajamas. The softest ones are from Hanna Andersson with Gymboree coming in a close second.

We've had something similar. Cramps and diarrhea. No vomiting or fever. But, we've had a HORRIBLE chest cold we keep passing around in addition. Not sure if it's the same thing or two separate issues. I feel for you! I've gotten BOTH of these things in the last week. I'm exhausted!!! All four kids have had it too.

Yup. I agree with the others. She'll be fine. If it's an exercise she has been doing a while, she'll be fine! My sis is running a half marathon in October, when she'll be 16 weeks pregnant. She ran 9 miles today and babe is fine! She ran well over a 5K before she even realized she was pregnant!

No. This does not work. They protested at our church one Sunday. It was horrible - all the pictures they were holding up that were just not appropriate for my then-small children. Ugh. Anyway, my husband tried to talk with them. He was VERY calm and tried hard. They yelled at him. I mean, SCREAMED at him. It was horrible. The best thing that day was when one of our parishoners stood at the top of the steps to the church and LAUGHED at them. They didn't know what to do with that!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: There is nothing wrong with your dh making the call and doing most of the talking. :grouphug::grouphug: I'm so sorry.

Yup. It happened today. Seriously? Dh's day off. He spent the day defending himself. His salary (he hasn't had a pay increase in more than five years). Everything. He's spent his day off (his ONLY day off, I might add - a day where he spends a lot of his time volunteering at his kids' activities) making calls . . . I'll PM you.; OP - Don't do this to your pastor. Seriously. They will want to leave your church. They will want to reduce the hours they work. It is HORRIBLE for morale.

:iagree::iagree: My dh has had to miss our Christmas dinner numerous times. It's tough. But, if it's an emergency, he'll be there and I don't begrudge him that. But, family time on a daily basis needs to be respected.

Thank you for asking!!!! Really. This means a lot (said from a priest's wife who has had a REALLY tough day OFF as a parishoner has made a day incredibly difficult). To do: Pray for your pastor/priest and his family. Ask them what their prayer needs are. Let them know how much you appreciate them. Often. I can't tell you how much those prayers/words are needed and appreciated. Pray for your church. Continue to support your church. Things we appreciate: Surprise them with a dinner. Gift certificate. Offer to babysit their kids so they can go out. Invite them over for something not religious. They are normal people. They like normal things. Baseball. Football. They like being invited to parties that revolve around "normal" things! Don't do: Please don't buy religious nicknacks. We have enough. Don't gossip. If you have an issue, go to the pastor/priest. Please. Don't threaten to cut their pay by a percentage that would debilitate them. Ask me how I know that this can totally an utterly destroy their day. . . .

I use the White Noise App when we travel. At home, I use a fan.

You do know you have to move? Right? Right?????? And you have to burn your house and all foliage? Right? Right???????? Personally. I think they were sister wives.

Ohhhhhh. Zebra domes. Yum. Go there.

There. Go there.

Port Orleans Riverside does! Pasta bar (choose your meat and sauce and toppings - YUM!!!), Pizza bar, Salad station (steak, chicken and choose whatever else you want on your salad), Sandwich station, burger/fry station. The desserts there are amazing!!!

Well, when my dd had something similar in her legs (she had started limping!), my usually very calm doctor sent us for xrays of her joint. I didn't google, so I don't know what they were looking for, but I knew it must have been bad if my doc sent us for xrays that fast! It ended up being nothing and it went away in a week or so. In your case, I'd definitely be be asking for some more testing - bloodwork and an ultrasound just to rule anything out. :grouphug:

My parents had an exchange student from Korea for a year. She was anorexic and bulimic. It was horrible for my parents trying to get her help. Keep an eye on her.

Your poor dd! And, you sound like you feel caught in the middle here - between your dd and dh. :grouphug: That's a tough place to be. I have an extremely anxious daughter. If she doesn't get her sleep, she has worse anxiety. I agree with the PP who mentioned sleeping with her. Can lie down with her until she falls asleep? In her room. This works for my dd. If someone isn't with her, she is too scared to fall asleep. I've learned with anxiety, you need to be very gentle. It's not giving in. It's giving them what they need at that time so that they can deal with whatever issues they have. FWIW - I've come to love the time I have with dd in my arms as she falls asleep. She's my youngest, so I have to indulge her - right? :001_smile: Seriously - I am much more relaxed with her. I'm not going to spoil her by helping her go to sleep at night. Eventually she'll want to do it all on her own. :grouphug: I really do feel for all of you!

If you stay on property, the parking will be free - even if you drive to the parks from your resort. The third meal of the day, we eat in our room. We run to the grocery store our first day there and buy yogurt and granola or other cereal, bread and peanut butter and jelly. It's a simple, but filling meal (breakfast). And, cheaper than eating that third meal out. Gratuities, definitely. They really add up!! We budget around $50 - $60/sit down meal. That is for the really nice, expensive restaurants. Alcohol, if you drink. Don't underestimate how much you'll spend on souveniers. I'm not someone who usually buys "stuff." But, at Disney I get sucked in sometimes. I want to bring the magical feeling home! We have never needed extra food or drink on the dining plan. I do usually carry in a water bottle for each person and we re-fill as the day goes on. I know water is free at the restaurants, but I rarely want to go in and stand in the lines for water. At the end of our trips, we usually end up with a lot of extra snacks to take home with us! Are you going to book extras? We usually end up booking an appointment to the Boutique for my daughter and that is extra. Have fun!!!

Oh man! I would LOVE something like this. We have a few "issues" at our church right now and I would LOVE to talk with someone outside of our church who understands church issues. KWIM!? (I'm sure you do!) I'll be following this thread!

We chose our next cruise for the ship too. Have you ever been on the Independence of the Seas? Which ship are you on this time? I can't believe this is the first time you've sailed the same ship twice!! I'm nervous because this is the first time we're not taking the Disney Magic/Wonder!!!

Awesome! We also stay on the ships in Nassau. Now, watch. Nassau will be your kids' favorite port!!! :)

I love the idea of the scavenger hunt! Can you get smaller gifts to give them each time they find a clue - a stuffed dolphin, the movie Dolphin Tale, dolphin safe sunscreen, pool shoes, etc? I've also seen gifts like this end with a puzzle that the kids have to put together - so each clue would include a piece of the puzzle. Their gift is written on the puzzle. Our family gift is a cruise too! I never thought of giving them the excursions as a Christmas gift! We just picked a couple out last night (zip lining near Dunn's Falls in Jamaica!). I think I'll do this too. A couple "clues" I would use 1. (the one they open first) For your gift this year, you need to work for each clue. So, here is what you need to do: Go to my bedroom, look under the bed; Just be careful not to hit your head!!! Put a gift there with another clue tied to it. Throw in a puzzle piece (if you decide to go that way!). This could be really fun! I might need to steal some of these ideas!! Oh - and they'll absolutely LOVE the dolphins! Where are you doing that? We've done the swim in Cozumel and then again at Discovery Cove. Amazing. My 6 yo even went out into the deep water and swam with them! She now wants to be a marine biologist!! She is obsessed with dolphins.

I bet you will have the BEST memories of Christmas this year! I love the way you write about getting to know your kids on a different level. I love it! This year, my siblings all surprised my parents with an upgrade on their cruise vacation. We decided that it would be our gift not only to our parents, but also to each other. That simplifies a LOT as I have six siblings. I shop the Target toy section year-round and put those toys in bins to look through when we need a gift. I just did that and got all but three nephews/nieces done for Christmas. For our kids, we're calling our vacation in January our gift to everyone. Not cheap, but it keeps Christmas simpler. I'm hosting Christmas and I will have anywhere from 10 - 18 people here for three nights. I'm keeping the meals VERY simple this year. In years' past, I've tried to impress and I've killed myself trying. No more. Simple meals. Hopefully it'll save money too!

Store-brand organic milk - $5 - $7/gallon Organic roaster chicken - $12 - $15 total (3 - 5 pounds) Store-brand boneless chicken breast - I don't know. I never buy them. Organic mixed green salad - $3.59 for 3 organic romaine hearts Land O Lakes salted butter - 3.99/lb store brand peanut butter - $3.99 for organic (Trader Joes) grass-fed angus, ground - $6.49 organic (TJs), meat market $3.99/pound store brand dry beans - $.79-1.50/lb I'm in an interesting area. My city has very high prices. I've started venturing out a lot more and recently found I can save about $50 - $80/WEEK on food!! Definitely going to make that effort more often!!!

Yes. A person can get it more than once, unfortunately. Immunity wears off. So does the vaccine. And, for some kids, the vaccine doesn't work.