That one will make you cry for sure. I don't know if you ever saw the movie "Mask" with Cher as the mom, but that was a really sad movie. I haven't thought of it in years, but it came to mind when I read your post. "Pay It Forward" is another sad one. I did not know that when I watched it. I cried when I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I don't know if you read HP but that one was so, so sad.

I am knitting two afghans, one for each of my sister's twins, and while the pattern is pathetically simple, they don't look as good as I was hoping they would. They knit up quickly though, and are nice and soft, so I think they will like them, and no one will care if they get dragged around, LOL. I have several cross-stitch pieces in progress, but I truly can't claim to be stitching on any of them right now. Heh. I can knit a little with the wee boy nursing, but cross stitch while nursing is beyond my capability. :D

They both feel like it's best if we don't come. My sister and her family have all been vaccinated, except for the newborn twins. The twins are the main concern. Apparently, children can spread germs from the flu for up to 7 days after they don't show any symptoms, so that's the main reason. I am supposed to go a week from Friday. I haven't canceled my ticket yet, but I've talked with both my mom and my sister, and my sister asked her pediatrician about it and researched it and all, and we all agree it's best not to risk it. If for some reason he's symptom-free by Friday, I think we could revisit it. I don't anticipate that though. I think we're just getting started. But, we'll see. Trust me, if I can find any way to go, I will! It will just depend on that sweet boy of mine.

It's so good to see you back here! I'm glad to hear things are going better.... at least I think they are. :) I have to go to bed now since I think the wee boy is finally asleep and I feel icky. It's great to see you here!!!

So, Schmooey and I went to the doctor yesterday and he has the flu - confirmed with the nose test and everything. Poor little guy. He's pretty miserable with a fever and lots of phlegm. He has gagged and yakked up on me twice now with Target-brand ibuprofen, but we've managed to keep down Infant's Tylenol and actual name-brand Infant's Motrin tonight, thankfully. I have no idea where he got it - Emma has it too, and I do, and dh has a teeny bit - Abbie is the only one still healthy at this point. We are all on Tamiflu, except Schmooey, who is too little. Truly, he's not too bad - I know it could be a lot worse. He's still nursing fine, and although he coughs and sneezes quite a bit, he can still breathe. I'm so thankful for that. And, he doesn't throw up except when his mean mama tries to make him take medicine he doesn't like. He froths at the mouth and everything. OK, now the whine. I was supposed to go see my sister in WI next week, and the new twins. They're going to be baptized next weekend. We were going to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday all together - even my brother and his wife, who can be a little snarky about family things, were going to come. And now I can't go. My sister wants me to come so much, she asked if I would stay in a hotel and leave Schmooey with my parents for short times so I could come and see her. I told her I would do whatever she wants me to do, but I don't see how exposing my parents to the flu (my dad will most certainly get it) and then having them come over to see the babies was going to be productive. I mean, are we all going to have sanitized clothing and shower before coming to her house? How are we really going to keep from spreading the germs? I am really, really, REALLY bummed about not being able to go. I was sad that I couldn't take the girlies, because they would love to see their cousins, and now I'm just heartbroken because I don't get to go play Favorite Aunt Beth and see my 3 nieces and 1 nephew and my other nephew, Christopher, whom I have not seen since he was 5 months old. I live so far away from my family, I miss them so much, I wanted to see them quite desperately. Anyhoo, that's really all. If you would pray for my tiny boy to get better quickly and not have complications, I would really appreciate it. Thanks ladies.

Woo hoo!! I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!

Also, I LOVE my Viking sewing machine. Love it. I would probably not sew without it. I don't sew much these days, but when I get to, I enjoy it because I have a good machine. Also, you can't beat an excellent pair of scissors like Ginghers, and a good rotary cutter & cutting mat. The other thing that I love is my magnetic pin cushion. What a dream come true. You can pretty much aim the pins in its direction and they land on it. No more pins all over the place. It's lovely. Oh yes, let's not forget the seam ripper!:D

That font is perfect, and the colors are beautiful. I liked the colors in the first one, too, although I'd have made the font black instead of red. And I like the new font WAY better. Great job!!

(((Kidshappen))), I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through. I am praying for you and yours that you will have safe travels and everything will go as smoothly as possible as you deal with all this stuff.

My girls are going to be 7 and 8 next month and I just can't believe it. Schmooey is already rolling around on the floor and trying very hard to keep getting bigger. I thought God and I had a deal that he would stay little longer than the other two but apparently that was all in my head. Drat. I love the people they're becoming.... but I sure do miss those itty bits sometimes.

I didn't know you were an artist, among all your other talents. :)

to pick up dog poop, you're preserving it for future generations. I believe it was in Good Housekeeping, and they recommended using the biodegradable ones that you can buy. I haven't yet convinced myself that I need to purchase bags to clean up after my dog, but it tickled me a bit when I read that sentence in the article. :D

I didn't like it as well as I thought I would, but the second book was a lot better. I can't wait to read the third one. I have yet to read Peter Pan aloud to my girls, but maybe we need to do that soon - it would be a nice change from Little House. :) I also read Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean, and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it.

It saved me when I had my first dd. I never refused to feed her when she was hungry, but if I hadn't taken the class, I would have had no idea what to do with a new baby! My first dd was a scheduling dream for the most part. I can remember times when she refused to nap, but her schedule changed exactly like the book said it would and she slept through the night from about 8 weeks on. (Actually, she started sleeping through because we let her sleep on her tummy - she would NOT sleep on her back. We did not tell the pediatrician and everything was fine.) With my 2nd dd, she rebelled against any kind of scheduling attempts on my part. I did finally get her on something like a schedule by 6 months but the first 5 were rough on me. With Schmooey, I'm doing more of a routine - feed him, let him play and then put him down when he's tired. I don't have time to pay attention to the clock as well as I did with the other two, so he's a little more flexible. I will say that he is not sleeping very well at night right now so I may have to get a little stricter with the schedule. He was sleeping through just fine, but now he wakes up at least 2 times per night and often 3 or 4. It's about to do me in. I'm really not sure what the deal is - it's been going on for a couple of weeks or longer. Anyway, I loved the plan laid out for me in Babywise. I never denied my kids food, and nursed my second a lot more than I was supposed to and always to sleep. But, just knowing that babies need routines and what to do with them was so helpful to me!

I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, but dh and I really enjoy "A Knight's Tale." He must have been feeling awful to take the drugs he did - I can envision a major panic attack. That's what made me feel sorry for him; how badly he must have felt to take all that stuff. I am not a celebrity watcher either but I have experienced anxiety and know how that feels. His poor family; his poor daughter.

We're taking today off because we're having our small group from church here tonight and I don't have time to do school, AND clean the house, AND have a nap. The nap is the critically important part since Schmooey is up 2, 3, sometimes 4 times per night right now. It's about to kill me. All this work I'm supposed to be doing? That's exactly why I'm here, typing this message. Bwa ha ha ha! Feeling a little punchy..... back to the dishwasher.:p

We went on our first one today - I thought we could just go out and observe things as we went. My younger dd told me it "wasn't much of a nature walk." I think it would have gone better if we'd had something to look for. Sigh. I do have the Comstock book, so I will get that out and take a look at it.

Spyro says he is "husband-safe." Is that safer than "kid-safe?"

New Hampshire is big enough to have differences in climate? I had no idea! :p

I was hoping people didn't really eat them and decided I was better off just wondering. Oh well, you learn something new every day!

I have to tell you that the idea of being a larva grosses me out. I am glad to be a worker be now. I have yet to figure out how to give reputation to anyone or how to tell what mine is, but I love you ALL and I would give everyone a gold star on the forehead if I could. Just thought you should know. :D

I cannot stand the waiting, LOL! I just needed to know who was in there. And it's a darn good thing we found out this last time, because I was assuming another girl. "Are you sure it's a boy? Do you see that I have girls? I have an attic full of pink clothes. I can't have a boy. We don't do boys." LOL! the poor child would have been welcomed into a world of pink and someone would have had to make an emergency shopping trip so he wouldn't have to come home in something girlie. I hate it when people I know don't find out. I NEED to know. If they would just have their doctors call me so *I* could know, I wouldn't tell, but I could start planning the gifts.:D

I know some of the spines are not your favorites, but the programs as a whole are outstanding. You could check out the MFW yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MFWFamilies/) and see what the folks there have to say about the spines you don't care for. They really did develop the curriculum for multiple age levels and I think you would like it.

We're using All About Spelling as a follow on to MFW and it's working really well, BTW.

The program itself is wonderful, perfect for K IMHO. The phonics is wonderful, and you do use some manipulatives - you get a textured alphabet puzzle which they use to trace letters with fingers and spell things out on a "blend ladder," and they have suggestions for making playdough letters or tracing in sand, etc. It's a wonderful multisensory program in all areas. http://www.mfwbooks.com