Oh yay! I didn't even know they were making the movie, but I LOVE the books... I wonder if they will make all of the George Smiley novels??? And, wow, what a great cast!

Dr. Who... yes definitely, but I do love Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares as well :D

Your idea sounds good to me! Plus, you can close them up at night or when it gets extremely windy. We have one in the garage for the dogs to go in and out of and it has worked really well. A friend had one in her back door (which faced away from the usual winter winds, which helps a lot), and during the winter or inclement weather they would close it up. If her dogs wanted out, they would scratch at the plastic on the dog door as opposed to the real door, so that was nice. ETA: We have never had any critters come in, but our dogs tend to guard the doggie door so that they can go out and bark at the UPS guy if he comes. (Friend's dogs did the same - plus they had a fenced in yard. However, my mother has had a raccoon come in her kitty door - plus all of the live "presents" her cat brings her....

3 kids for Sprite and 1 for Root beer

We bought a small set of all white dishes,etc from Crate and Barrel when we first got married (so - 14 years now...), and I still love them! They still look as good as new. When we started expanding the family we bought a set of all black that were similar in style - Love these too! :iagree: Food does seem to just look better on white or black!

Remember that Barbie fashion plate thing where you can switch up the plates and "design" new outfits? Maybe I'm dating myself, but even as a tomboy kid I loved that toy. When DD was younger, I was always looking for something like that for her but never found anything.... until now! Next Betsy Fashion Designer :D Ok, I am in no way related to this company or anything... just love the clothes!! But I ran across this and just thought I'd share since Christmas is looming on the horizon.

Well.... besides the most addicting games in the world...Smurf town and Angry Birds... I use it for home organization (Menu Planner, To Do list, Teacher Pal, iBookshelf, and that ChorePad looks great!), and other things: iheartradio, pandora, itunes, Skype.. For homeschool, we use it like many others - as a filler or time killer in between lessons or for the little guys to do something educational while I am working with the older ones: ShowMe whiteboard, BOB books (just got this and it is a huge hit!!! Finding the 3 year old spelling words is wonderful!), Rocket Math, Stack the States, Stack the Countries, Presidents vs. Aliens, Young Music Genius, Khan Academy, science 360, ArtHD, NASA, SAT Vocab, Art Museum, HD Aviation History, and logic puzzles like Get Out, and Gravity HD. Podcasts: Coffee Break French and One Minute Gaelic. Plus iBooks for many of the classics... DS read Count of Monte Cristo this summer ONLY because it was on the iPad And... Lego Harry Potter was on sale for $2.99 for a while... that was a great find!

Ok, since I can't seem to figure out how to muti-quote, I will just have to say THANK YOU for all of the great ideas! I just knew you would come up with the most creative, fun and hilarious ideas, and you definitely didn't let me down! Now, I just have to narrow down the list into what I can manage to find/make. My worst problem is that Dh is the sewing/Halloween costume making master in this house. When it is left up to me, I end up having to buy costumes:glare:. ++ Loved the pics too! Those are great costumes!

I am 2 classes away from my English degree.... mainly just so that I can finish something that I started in 1990. But I also want to get my degree in case we move somewhere that requires a parent to have a degree to homeschool or if I want to go on to something after my HSing years :001_smile:.

I don't know why, but I'm already stressing out about this... We are hosting a large Halloween party for Dh's troop this year (kids included). The guys will have been home only for a few weeks, and I will be about 8 months pregnant. So I want something really cute - not creepy, etc! :D We usually try have costumes that go together - - I am just drawing a blank! Plus, we have some super creative people in the group, so we don't want to be boring... :glare: Anyone have a great idea???????

Yes, this is essential! And don't forget to add a plan for the pets. This actually happened to one of the wives in our troop. Once she went into the hospital, we all knew the plan... kids were picked up from school by someone, dogs were picked up by someone else, appropriate relatives were called and picked up from the airport, and Red Crossed was called. Husband was home from A-stan within 3 days... The plan worked like clockwork, and thankfully everything turned out alright. Yeah, not something anyone wants to think about, but we are all so glad they planned! It was a big wake-up call for the rest of us! The only other thing I can think of is to really talk with your Dh about what your communication expectations are for the deployment. Some of the couples we know are having a really hard time because wife expected him to call/Skype every waking/non-working moment, and he thought calling once every few days was sufficient. Feelings get hurt, but really it all could have been avoided had they talked about it beforehand. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: And definitely take time for yourself!

No, you are not alone... we are hearing this quite a bit up here, and yes, it is annoying. I just have to add: - "That's FABULOUS!" - apparently everything is fabulous lately:glare: - and I have started hearing the word "BUFF" again... as in, "That guy is totally buff!" or, "He works out all the time. That's why he is so buff and hot." (actual sentence out of a teen's mouth). ewwww.... I thought we got rid of that word a long time ago. Now my kids have started saying it - WHY????????? It is so annoying!!!! - "On account of the fact that......" again, ewwww... Seriously :tongue_smilie:

It is such a relief when they get good teachers! Especially for math!!!! I had a great Algebra and Geometry teacher in high school... people still go back to visit him all the time. He was excited about teaching and that really has an impact on the kids! :party:

I know.. it looks so fun, but I have the sets in book form too... yet, the kids really like them, and if I can let them mess with the game while I do something with the older ones..... really, I'm just trying to justify the purchase :D It looks like it has apps for iPhone and ITouch as well..

I was just browsing stuff for the little guys, and ran across the Bob Books! Looks like you not only read the books, but there are spelling games included... just wondering if it is worth the $3.99 price tag????

The only forum my DD participates in is the NaNoWrimo youth forum. There are a lot of homeschoolers on there and have definitely developed a kind of camaraderie. DD loves to write, and although there are some threads off-topic (endless debates about whether or not Luna and Neville should have gotten married, Harry & Ginny vs. Harry & Hermoine factions... etc. :lol:), most of the stuff she participates in is about character development for the next novel, on-going creative writing story lines like role-playing, and general chitchatting about school. I think the moderator does a good job. But, I still monitor on my own - just in case:D

My favorite dog ever was my cousin's Rottie/Black Lab mix. He had all of the wonderful qualities of both breeds without any stubbornness or rowdiness. All of the mixes like this I have seen were like that - plus they seemed to avoid some of the hip problems that some Rotties have. - - We have a full bred female Rottweiler and a female Golden Retriever/Rottweiler mix - plus we babysat a male Golden Retriever for almost a year. The Rottie is a wonderful dog. She is sweet and patient with the children. They literally climb all over her, jump up and down on her, and she does not care at all.. every once in a while she will get sleepy and start licking them until they leave her alone for a nap. She is a nice mix of lazy and fun (needs some activity daily, but not as much as some dogs). She is very trainable, yet you have to stay on a Rottie in the early years because they do get stubborn, but she obeys me with only a stern look now and will immediately stop barking at deer and such with a simple "shhhhhh!" The "RottenGoldie" is one of the smartest dogs we have ever had. She instantly obeys any training, but needs lots of activity. She mainly stays outside so that she can hunt moles and things. She is the kid's favorite outside dog b/c she will follow them anywhere and play all day. Inside she is a spaz (even at 2yo). The Golden is a good dog, loves the kids, follows them everywhere, but not as trainable as the other two...sometimes I just think it is a "boy" thing... the female goldens we had growing up were wonderful - but man, the shedding is awful!! Another note on Rotties: She does like to "herd" the children, but now that she is 3 and all grown up, she is really too lazy to bother. She does keep tabs on the little guys though. Also, they tend to be really stinky, as in "farty"... not fun when sleeping in the bedroom with you. :glare: Also, we had a male Rottie for a while - he was VERY stubborn and needed a lot of constant and very consistent training and exercise. He is now with my friend who has the time and loves to exercise and train her dogs, and he is absolutely wonderful. I just didn't have the time for him.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the advice - plus I think I just needed to realize that everyone goes through this ... thanks again

Ok, what are the tips for DDs who just started menstruating and dealing with swim team (practice every day M-F)? Are the diva cups small enough for a 12 year old? Are tampons the only answer at this age? I am panicking a bit for her because we don't have a lot of practice/adapting time before the season starts.

51 degrees this morning at 0645, sunny and beautiful! DD the grump actually woke up, said it smelled like Fall, and then smiled!!! :D I love it up here this time of year. I am definitely a sweater girl and I love the seasons! I loved being stationed in Hawaii when I was younger, but I missed the seasons desperately. Sometimes you just want to wear jeans without sweating! I hope this weather starts spreading down to all of y'all in the south!

I wish we could send some of ours to you! All of my and Dh's family are in Tx, and I feel like we are going through it with you all - just hang in there... at least August is almost over and fall/winter is on its way! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Ebbing and Flowing is a great description and something to always keep in mind even as the child gets older. DD12 was early with everything as well, wanted to be challenged all the time, but now as we are hitting puberty and the middle school years, she is just "done" with everything. So, we really had to slow down, rethink things, and just try to make school "fun" again. For all my little ones, who are all motivated from an early age, our goal is just to simply make them enjoy the process of learning things and making it fun to work hard for something if you want it bad enough. At this young age, you really can't fall behind - so FUN and JOY are the key words. If you can instill that in them early, it will make everything else flow so much more easily.

Thanks so much for posting this! I guess I haven't even been paying attention because I had no idea that these were even coming out - duh - we've used all the books from Fractions -Pre-Alg w/Economics with DD12, and now DS10 is working through them. The love the books! I am so glad there is something for my little guys now:D FYI: We do supplement with Singapore, using LOF as a reward on Fridays and over the summer. I think LoF is great because they really have to think things through, but they also really have to have a good grasp on the basics. I love the combination of Singapore and LoF -different techniques, but very thorough. DD will be attending public school for 7th grade this year, and I can't wait to see how all of this transitions.

:iagree: Plus, we have a list of plumbers, mechanics, etc. in which Dh feels confident, a Power of Attorney if you might need it, a plan in place in case you get sick or have to go to the hospital for some reason, and good expectations about how often you will chat/talk.

Apaches? Ack! Dh flies Kiowas. This could easily turn into a banned thread! :lol: I guess that at least we can agree that helicopters with guns are better than lame old Blackhawks and Chinooks. LOL!