The Bible. Oh, and Dobson's 'Bringing Up Boys'.

You CAN do this. :001_smile: We just had a missionary family spend 3 1/2 weeks at our house. We had never met them in person. Husband, wife, and 4 children. We have a normal size home. You know, the size that comfortably fits OUR family. Not TWO families. And we had a routine. One that we like. No, wait. Not just one that we like. One that we NEED. They left 8 days ago. I'm still recovering. It was fun, but VERY exhausting. You CAN do this. :001_smile:

:iagree: I would think it tacky to say anthing to someone who didn't ask. Just as I think it's tacky to put those little registration cards into shower invites and wedding invites. But maybe that's just me. I dunno. If it's, say, your sister (who you're close with and you know she's going to buy your dd a gift anyway) then yeah, I would say it's probably not horrible to say 'Hey sis, how about some nice color pencils for dd, she's getting so into her art lately, I just know she'd love some 'fancy' art stuff'. But someone you're not really, really close to? I'd not say anything. Or else, you could put 'no gifts please' on the invitations. But, a word of warning; I tried that one year, when I had a combo-party for my older ds and my stepson. I didn't want anyone feeling obligated to buy two gifts, and they don't need anything anyway. Well, I'd never have thought I would get people calling just to ask if it was 'ok' that they brought a gift. I mean, what am I supposed to do now?! Everyone got an invitation saying 'no gifts', but then some people got 'special permission' to bring gifts?! I was a wreck over it. I think everyone just assumed I was 'just trying to be nice', or that the boys would be soooo disappointed if the didn't get gifts or something. Turns out, EVERYONE brought a gift for each boy. So, if I were ever to do that again (which I probably won't :)), I would put more explanation than 'No gifts please'. It'd probably say something like, 'DSS and DS both have so many things, we would all like to ask that you PLEASE not bring a gift. Your presence at the party is enough, and will make their day very special. PLEASE, no gifts. PLEASE!' :lol:

Denise, I've been keeping up with your posts about your mom. I just have to say, you sound like one amazing woman. I'm so sorry for your loss. But I'm glad for you, in a way. I know you wanted your mom's suffering to be over, and now it is. I pray strength, patience, love, energy, and support for you in the days to come. May our heavenly Father hold you in his arms, cradle you while you grieve, support you when you just don't have the strength to endure, and give you grace and peace abundantly. :grouphug:

So, I unexpectedly have five pounds of egg noodles that I need to use. Long story. :tongue_smilie: Anyway, I don't know what to make with them. I mean, I know I could use them in my homemade chicken noodle soup. But I'd like some other ideas. Hopefully ones that use a LOT of noodles. :001_smile: I was thinking of using some of them the way I would spaghetti, and just serving my homemade tomato meat sauce on them. Can I use them instead of elbow noodles in homemade mac and cheese, or would that be weird? Anyone have any great ideas? Either for main dish or side dish?

Whisper. For a Chihuahua. That dog was NEVER quiet.

Oh, man, I wish I could remember the name... I was at the local homeschool used book sale a few weeks ago, and there were some teenage girls that were selling the most beautiful neckalces. The girls told me they were made by some ladies in another country (can't remember which one). Each necklace had a picture of a lady with it. I assumed the pictures were of the actual woman who made it. The girls also told me they bought the neckalces up front from some organization, and were then selling them; I don't think the girls were attempting to make a profit, just being the 'middle man', so to speak. I wish I could remember more details. I do remember being very impressed with the grace, poise, intelligence, and beauty of those three homeschooled teenage girls. :001_smile:

My sister had peritoneal dialysis. She has lupus, which attacked her kidneys. I gave her one of my kidneys. Then she went through a clinical depression, stopped taking her anti-rejection meds, and killed the kidney I gave her. Well, then no one would give her another transplant right away, so she went on dialysis. Now, years later (and after therapy and a myriad of other ways she has proven to her doctors that she will take care of another kidney), she was on the donor list, and got a cadaver donor kidney, so she is off of dialysis now. Like priscilla said, get all the info on all her options; both for dialysis and for transplant. I know my sister was glad that she could take the type of dialysis that she had, because she could do it herself at home. She's young, just 32, and she managed to keep her full time career and go to school part time, all while on dialysis.

Hey, where's pink?! That's my favorite...

Seriously, we just watched this movie the other day. It's a favorite around here. :D

I'm thinking that would be a good way to teach ds6. You know, it would be easier to look things up if he know what order the books are in. Right now, he looks up the book in the front of his Bible to find what page number the book starts on. But I'd like to help him memorize them in order, and I thought that a song would be the best way to go. This has worked for him for other things that he's had trouble memorizing; once, we made up a little tune for helping him remember how many sides a pentagon and a hexagon have. :001_smile: But that was two lines long; I don't think I can write a song for 66 books of the Bible. :D So, anyone know of one?

What, no link?

So seriously, no one is gonna explain?!

Ok, so I hope this doesn't make me look like the stoopidest person on the earth, but I have NO IDEA what you all are talking about.

Oh Stacy, I'm so glad to hear she's doing ok now. :001_smile: Wow, what a bit of news, hunh? 4 more than you thought? Well, look at it this way, at least you've got it all taken care of. I hope the sealants work to prevent any more cavities.

Wow and amen.

:001_unsure: Ummmm, I have no idea how to freeze blackberries or raspberries, either. :blushing: Did I mention I grew up in the city? :D So, how DOES one freeze berries?

Not offended, but we're not drinkers. :001_smile: Anyone have any yummy recipies? Anyone?

So, we have just discovered that we have a few mulberry trees on our property. Don't ask me how we lived here four years and didn't know. :D Hey, dh and I grew up in the city, and know next-to-nuttin about nature. But, we're learning. Anyway, one tree has almost ripe berries, and another tree has (I'm guessing) a week or so at least until they're ripe. What can I do with them? Except, of course, eat them straight off the tree, which we've been doing. :) Can I freeze them? If so, how exactly does one go about freezing mulberries? What can I make with them? Anyone have any good mulberry recipies? Can i just substitute them for any recipie that calls for, say, raspberries? There's just soooo many, I hate the thought of wasting them... And no, I don't know how to can, or make jelly. I'd love to learn, but I'm thinking I don't really have time to do that before all these berries go bad. :001_smile: So, help me out, hive!

You can put the destination address as the return address as well. Same address in both places. That way, if it gets returned to 'sender', it still gets where it's supposed to be. I think. :D At least, that's what I've done before.

Cottage cheese with canned peaches. YUM. My go-to lunch. Not fresh peaches, unfortunately. Those have a entirely different taste and texture. It's gotta be canned (in juice) peaches. SOOOOOO good. :001_smile:

That's a tough one, and something I think many kids go through. My boys are 6 and 3 1/2. Here's what I've started doing. (I do this with ds6, since I feel ds 3 1/2 is still too young to fully grasp the concepts.) We're Christians, so we talk and study a lot about how Christ would have us treat others. Then, we put it into practice. If I have, say, one piece of candy left, I'll ask ds6 'Son, who do you think I should give this too, you, or you're brother?'. Of course, he knows the right answer is to put others first, so he'll say 'brother'. And, well, sometimes I split the candy (or whatever it is), and sometimes I'll give it to brother. And sometimes, I give it to him. It really is good to let kids see that giving to others is ok. They're not gonna starve/die/implode if someone has something that they don't. It's hard, but I think it's important to not try to always be 'fair', in a way. :tongue_smilie:(If that makes sense.) Sometimes you get something special, sometimes brother gets something special, sometimes you both get it, sometimes no one gets anything special. It's not 'playing favorites', or being mean. It's the way things are. I just bought ds 3 1/2 his first two-wheel bike. At the thrift store. Now, ds6 already has a bike. And he is VERY happy for his little brother. Does he still take a turn on little brother's bike, even though it's too small? Sure he does. But he was almost as excited for little brother as little brother was for himself when he got it. :001_smile: It's all about heart attitude, training, practicing, and making lots of opportunities for them to be happy for each other, instead of just for themselves. Hope my rambling made at least a bit of sense. :) ETA: I wanted to add, we do a lot of talking about how some children have nothing. Literally. Nothing. No parents, or no toys, or no food. We (dh and I) feel it's important for our children (and ourselves!) to not take even 'basic' things for granted. We want to live a life of gratitude to the Lord for ALL things he provides for us; salvation, love, food, clothing, toys, health, family, joy. It's just an underlying 'theme', if you will, for our family. Gratitude.

When I read your title, I said to myself, 'Um, no.' Then I read your post. I've changed my answer to 'that is really, REALLY strange'. Really. Strange.

Ok, that is FUNNY. :D