They gave me a DVD to check out before we signed up. I saw imperfections (the lack of sync and other inconsistencies) but thought perhaps I was being overly critical. Hind sight is 20/20. I know some of the older girls get scholarships and do different summer things. But even when the company dancers dance I was surprised by some of the girls in company. There were only two (out of like 40 or 50) that I thought were very good. I understand finding a place for everyone to have a part, but I don't think this was our situation. They didn't do Nutcracker in whole, just excerpts. The company dancers danced to the Nutcracker music and the "regular" girls mostly did other songs. (My daughter was a China doll and danced after the Chinese to a song from King and I.) At our last studio (in a place a fraction the size of here) they partner with an out of state professional company for Nutcracker. There were auditions, and they were strict. She really grew during that time and loved the experience. They didn't even have dress rehearsal here, the first time they were on stage and not in the studio was the actual performance. Really, I known I need to look for somewhere new, especially after typing things out. How many are typically in a company? What is the cost associated with that?

Wow, these are great things to consider! Yes, they teach the French ballet terms. It seems that there are professional instructors that teach her one night and a sort of student teacher/apprentice that reinforces the other night. Right now our 9 year old takes 2 1.5 hour lessons a week, so we're not living there yet. :-) I know of a fantastic studio closer into Atlanta (we're about 45 minutes away with no traffic - when we're lucky enough to not have any). I don't really want to drive that multiple times a week, but we'll see what we find. I only know of 1 boy who attends the school. They offer tap and jazz in addition to ballet, but we're not interested in those. :-) Yes, we're interested in company. FWIW when dd came in to show the teacher what she knows in order to be assigned a class, the teacher was quite impressed and put her in a class with some older girls. She has natural talent (and no, I don't have 'snowflake syndrome'). Dd has been challenged in some areas (good) but not in others (not good). I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!

We moved to the Atlanta area this past spring and enrolled 2 of our daughters in a ballet school. We chose it because of location, staff and the fact that the recital outfits were respectable. After watching winter recital I'm doubting our choice. The girls movements weren't crisp and they were not in sync(even the older company girls). Our previous studio was way way better in those terms. Our oldest is talking about her desire to teach ballet when she's older and I really don't think this is the place to begin the journey. I'm thinking we move them both after the year is finished. Don't you think? Anyone in the Atlanta area have a suggestion?

I was struggling with severe exhaustion so I went to see a doctor. It was horrible. He made it seem like I was only lazy. I told him I was so tired that it reminded me of when I had mono in college. He told me that I never had mono. ?? So I went to another doctor who said, "You have 4 young children, of course you're tired." Then she tried to give me a prescription for an anti-depressant. I told her I wasn't depressed, but she was quite pushy. I told her I wondered if it was my thyroid. She said it wasn't. She checked my TSH and told me I was fine. I knew I wasn't. So my friend recommended that I see her doctor. I read her a list of my symptoms, she listened, and ran a bunch of tests. I had extremely low B vitamins, D vitamins, hypothyroid, and adrenal fatigue. She said I had the internal makeup of an 80 year old. I was so mad at those other doctors. What if I hadn't been persistent or had just thought of myself as depressed and lazy? A doctor that is trustworthy is worth his weight in gold.

Anyone else think adding "patty" to a food's description (ie - chicken patty, meatloaf patty, fish patty) makes it automatically less appetizing?

We just made a purchase from the American Girl store and on the way home realized one of the dolls was wrong (they had to pull a few things from the back and sadly I did not check). Grr. I will say, the phone rep was very kind and helpful, but now I have to watch for the box to be delivered so that my readers don't see it. Plus, make sure they don't see the return label on the way to ship back the wrong doll. It's not a super big deal, just something I thought I was avoiding by going to the store (which is an hour away, or I would swap it out in person). I have 5 adults to purchase for, one nephew and my 4 children. Other than that I'm waiting for purchases to arrive (and then mail to recipients). Woo hoo! :-)

My sweet sewing professor made her wedding dress out of fabric her husband (then fiance) brought her from his military tour overseas. She cut it up to make baptismal gowns for her children. Her grandchildren also used them. I always thought that was a neat way of passing on an heirloom.

Thanks for the recommendations! Not to sound all "keep your hands off my stuff", but I really really like my machine and I don't want to be upset with dd if she were to mess it up somehow. I was just figuring for how much I would want to spend on a machine I could get more bang for my buck with a child size. I could be wrong though. Janomes are on Zulily right now, which is what got me thinking.

My oldest (9) loves the idea of sewing and has always loved watching me sew. I'd like to give her her own sewing machine for Christmas. What child sewing machines (not interested in a full size) are the most reliable? I don't want it to be too $$$ but I know how frustrating a poorly working sewing machine can be.

Totally putting that on the bottom of our Christmas card this year. Genius! :-)

I have a friend who removed gluten from her daughter's diet and she no longer struggled with digestion. The test said she didn't need to eliminate. Tests can be fickle, but you know what you see and experience.

Allergy Free Alaska is good. So is Sarah Bakes Gfree.

Dried fruit, fresh fruit, yogurt, veggies, corn chips and salsa, string cheese, gf pretzels, potato/sweet potato chips, ice cream, nuts, cold cereal with milk, gf bread or muffins... I agree that 3 days will probably not be a good indicator. The majority of my family is gf for various reasons. When we removed gluten from our oldest daughter's diet for behavioral reasons we saw an improvement after 2 weeks. If you're trying to deal with digestive issues, my guess is that it would need to be longer.

I am by no means fashion forward :-) but what about a cropped sweater? http://www.modcloth.com/shop/cardigans/the-dream-of-the-crop-cardigan-in-ivory?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=G.SEM.US_NB.B_Dynamic-Search&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn7STiZhORa8-KI4jzEVX61GIDge06RSx31Yjs0HpzJAaAhxM8P8HAQ https://www.etsy.com/listing/200674794/free-shipping-knit-bolero-short-cardigan?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-clothing-womens_clothing-tops_and_tees&utm_custom1=1571026e-20a7-fb48-635e-00005806cbab&kpid=200674794&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn5RaGIniyFDYABiXP_ZgkHSFd8-2eMllEAESNaKzKkcaAj7z8P8HAQ

I buy these for my children every year. They're quite warm (our previous winters set below zero a decent amount of time). I used to buy the matching snow bibs, too, but they've gone from adjustable clip straps to Velcro straps - not as good for growing littles IMO.

I have a plain Jane glass one. But, fill it with cookies, tie a ribbon on it and you're ready for a potluck or picnic. I've never liked arranging cookies on a plate for potluck. :-)

We did not have children in the room for our ceremony. Our wedding was held in an old pre-Cival War plantation house and sound carried through the rooms like crazy. Had children cried, fussed or talked it would have totally drowned out the sound of the pastor, my husband and me. We hired a nanny for the ceremony so that parents could attend without having to arrange their own childcare. After the ceremony the children came and joined us for the reception where we thoroughly enjoyed their company. No awkwardness, no hurt feelings. Sending a bill places finance above relationship. Yes, it would have been polite to let someone in the wedding party know about the situation. However, like someone else mentioned, the headcount was probably set at that point.

See, we have a LOT of Goodwill and other thrift stores in our area, but I find our Goodwill pricing high. When I go to a thrift store I want to pay like $3 or something. Here the shirts are like $5.75 plus tax. Now, compared to retail, I understand it's inexpensive. But, when I go thrifting I want a crazy bargain. :-) I think I'd enjoy shopping at yours.

How do you plan for clothes? Do you budget for things every month? Per person or as a whole? How much? Or do you just purchase things as needed, not having it as a budgeted item? We used to budget monthly, but have moved away from that. It didn't make sense to have $100 (or whatever) sitting unused, us not needing it for clothes, but we could use it for something else. So, now when we get paid and allot money, I just bring up that I need $____ for shoes/pants/whatever (for the children as well as Dh and myself) and we put that much aside. There are pros and cons for each method.

Some sort of food of the month club?

We (6 people, one dog) budget $1150, but Dh says we overspend that consistently by $300. :-) Our children are still young, but they eat insane amounts of food. We have many food issues. Three of the children are gluten free (one is allergic to the ingredients in standard gf pasta - her box of pasta cost $10), 3 have issues with milk (in our fridge right now we have organic whole, lactose free, unsweetened almond and hemp milk), two cannot have eggs, and the 7 year old has so many allergies I'm not going to list them all now. The dog has food allergies (of course, we choose the only dog at the pound who has food allergies - no one told us that he threw up a lot) and has to have food that has no poultry ingredients. Dh is the only completely normal one in the house.:-) To sum up, a lot of what we buy is not normal or inexpensive. I try to buy organic and the like when I can. I buy most meat, some paper products, and some produce at Costco (high five Costco!). I spend the rest pretty equally at Publix, Kroger, Aldi, and Target. I cook many things from scratch. We eat out once in a blue moon or when traveling. I would love to be able to have easy, inexpensive meals, but that's not who we are. :-)

My youth group was very small (like maybe 7 or 8 of us). A large majority of us were military and used being the new kid as well as welcoming other new kids. A family joined our church and their daughter started attending activities with us. She was more reserved than we were, but we didn't think much of it. One day an adult sat us down and let us know that this girl felt left out and excluded. We were all surprised. After that we went out of our way to include her, not in an over-compensating sort of way, we just made more of a conscious effort. I think she started having more fun. I'm not saying your daughter is reserved or anything like that. My point is that the other youth might not be aware that they're excluding anyone. If the youth pastor brought it to their attention (perhaps not specifying with names) they might think about it more and get away from being clicky. But, if she wants to attend ladies' study I'd let her. My 7 year old does not have friends her age, but has several adults that she enjoys talking with. She's very happy like that. I hope you get it all worked out!

I have a pair now (I know you were on pins and needles)! They're super warm, but they are a bit snug in the ankle part. I think they'll be okay. I'm thinking about getting a pair for two of my girls (one already gas some bear paws). Now I need to find the suede protection stuff...

Look into Ruby's Pantry. Our church used to provide volunteers on distribution days and I've heard wonderful things. https://www.rubyspantry.org

I second the mother's helper idea! Congratulations on #3! #4 was our surprise blessing (#3 turned 1 about 3 weeks before he arrived).