Yes, that is the picture that inspired me. But I knew if I needed to get dh to build it, it would never happen. SO...I took one of those cheaper bookshelves (like from walmart or target), carefully took the back of the shelf off--because you are right, the shelves are not deep enough for a laundry basket. Taking off the back made it wobbly and far from sturdy, so dh screwed the shelves in place and attached it to the side wall. Then we took wire to place in the back so the laundry baskets do not slide off. I will try to get a picture on here if you'd like. It didn't cost me anything, because I already had the bookshelf and the baskets. But it has really made such a difference in my tiny laundry room!

If you are going to the Moab, Utah area to see the arches, there is also an area close by that my family LOVES...Goblin Valley. There are amazing rock formations that you can climb and play on....it's almost like nature's playground. Here is a link: http://www.utah.com/stateparks/goblin_valley.htm I'm assuming you will stop at Temple Square in SLC....love it there! (I served my mission there....) Sounds like a fun trip! Three weeks...you can see a lot in that time! Tons of national parks out here. We went to Yellowstone last year and loved it. This year we are thinking of going to the Redwoods in CA, seeing Crater Lake and the caves in Oregon. But we only have a week to cram things in! Happy Planning!

It seems like the rolls of toilet paper have gotten shorter, too!

I completely changed my life by making the laundry basket shelf to go in my laundry room. Seriously, it has made such a huge difference for me! I'm on my iPad and can't figure out how to put in a link, but on Pinterest it is a blue shelf from Ana White's website. I don't know how to build anything...but I was inspired to use a bookshelf we already had, take the back off, attach it securely to a wall and now we have a beautiful storage tower for five laundry bins...one for each child and M&D for clean laundry. Now the laundry isn't piled all over the couch or the dryer or unfolded in a basket, etc. It is SO awesome! I go into my laundry room just to look at it sometimes! :D

I have been sick to my stomach over this all afternoon. We live in Utah, so this case has been all over the news since Susan disappeared. My heart just breaks for Susan's family. And poor sweet Braden and Charlie...personally I believe they are finally with their sweet mama again though, but I still feel so sad for all they had to go through. Apparently, Josh sent several emails before he did it, so I can only hope he told someone where Susan is and what he did...so there can be some closure here. I can't imagine never knowing what happened to your loved one. (and yes, I realize there was not evidence to prove Josh was guilty of killing Susan, but for me, this just kinda cinched the case against him).

What are the differences between steel cut oats and old fashioned oats? Is there a nutritional benefit to one over the other? I've never tried steel cut, but this thread has me interested...

It's a hill I'd die on, too. I think it is worth talking to the instructor about...and if she won't allow changes, I'd keep my dd out of that one dance. Even if she's mad...even if everyone thinks I'm nuts...even if its going to ruin any chance of future roles (she's 7, right?)....no way would I let my dd dance in hootchie clothes. Maybe the instructor will be more careful about dances and costumes in the future if someone speaks up about it now.

I think it was more the issue of 'timing' and the fact that mil went ahead and told dd about the gift *after* she had been told they were waiting to open it that is the issue here...at least that's what I'd be frustrated with. I'm sure the op's daughter would have called grandma after opening card and thanked her for the gift and/or sent a thank you note. Rainbow Sprinkles...I get it. :grouphug:

I would have been a little frustrated with that, too! If your dd said she was waiting until later, grandma should have been able to wait, too! Goodness gracious.... Your MIL sounds similar to mine...and it's not always easy to deal with!

Great explanation! I am an "idea gatherer"....always have been. I have tons of notebook pages or index cards with little nuggets of info written on them. Might be a blog I want to remember, maybe a fun breakfast idea for st Patrick's day, something I see in July that I want to give dh for Christmas, a great way to practice multiplication later this year, etc. Except with pinterest it's on the computer, organized visually, and I can always find it! I can't tell you how many times I've written something down and thought I'd remember right where I put it...only to never find it again.

Aww, that's hard to watch isn't it? What a guy to be able to bounce back so quickly! Our pack usually has a leader car that is made to go as slow as possible and it always takes the place of dead last. Not that I think kids need to be sheltered from ever losing, but it's just hard to put so much effort in and then have a boy have to lose race after race.

So sorry to hear of your loss. :grouphug: Praying for you... I am close enough in distance that if you need me to help with dinner or anything, I will do it in a heartbeat!

I think it sounds like a fun party theme for that age! A few ideas from brainstorming.... You could have the kids try to break several different kinds of codes or write messages to each other. You could do some kind of a treasure hunt where they needed to figure out the secret codes to find the next clue. Maybe some kind of obstacle course that they need to make it through...in the dark or within a time limit. A relay race where they have to put on spy clothes (???) or different disguises and race to the target and back. Maybe something blindfolded... they have to open a locked box with a key or something. You could watch one of the Spy Kid movies or Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (rated pg, had lots of action, but I don't remember anything bad in it...and we are pretty conservative). The invitations could be about a Secret Mission. You could give a pair of sunglasses or a flashlight as a favor at the end.

I'm usually ready for it to be over at two hours...

I had one a year ago (age 39)...I would say that it has changed my life for the better for sure. No more periods so heavy that I couldn't leave my house! I will say that I have struggled with knowing I can't have any more babies. These feelings come and go for me--dh and I hadn't entirely felt 100% sure we were done...but my hysterectomy came after I almost bled to death one weekend and that trauma kind of changed my mind. But there has been a little bit of an emotional 'healing' that I'm still going through. The recovery will depend on the kind of surgery you are having. I had laporascopic (sp?@?) and they didn't take out my ovaries--so I only had three small incisions and not so much of a hormonal change to deal with. My recovery was actually not so bad at all--I did stay in bed for a few days and then had to take things really easy for awhile--mostly my hardest part was overcoming the anemia due to so much blood loss. I'd recommend this website: www.hystersisters.com Fabulous site! It really helped to answer a lot of questions and help me know what to expect, before surgery and during recovery. :grouphug: Best of luck to you as you make decisions!

I was confused about the farmer, too...I was hoping that was his sister not his wife. I love Anna...and I hope Mrs. Bates meets a dismal end fairly quickly! Dh sat down to see what it was about--it was the scenes at the front that drew him in....y'know, war & fighting & explosions--and he ended up watching the whole thing. I was surprised but it was fun to have someone to talk to about it all!!! As soon as it ended, we both found ourselves wanting to speak formally and with an English accent. :D I'm so glad I read about it here!

I'm not an exercise lover either. What helps me is having a friend to walk with. We go at 6:45 am, and it's hard to get up...especially with winter...but I love having 45 minutes of uninterrupted adult conversation! And I do find that on days when we don't go, I miss it! I also saw this idea on pinterest...pay yourself a dollar every time you exercise...keep it in a jar. When you save a certain amount you get to go shopping for a new outfit or new book or whatever it is that you would like. That sounds motivating to me! Good luck...

Ok, I'm fairly new to the iPad world, but one thing that I've been a little frustrated about is that I couldn't use websites that need Flash in order to run. Starfall, an iTextbook for my ds14, this cool website I found with books online (Wegivebooks.org). Well, last night I came upon a recommendation for an app, Rover, that is a free educational browser that allows you to run flash on the iPad. So logically, I thought I would post it here in case any of you are interested. It's free and you can find it in the app store.

I've actually heard that it is so much cheaper to make your own...partly because you use so much less of it. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I did purchase the soda, borax and fels naptha soap--I was surprised at how inexpensive each of these were. And my friend says the boxes of soda and borax can last you a year...it's just the bar soap you need to buy more of. I think she says she spends $10-15 a year on laundry deteregent now...that's a lot less than I spend (even with coupons and/or generic brands)

Here are a few places to check out: http://www.Pbskids.org/Zoom/printables/Index.html http://Www.pbs.org/parents/zoom/index.html http://www.pbs.org/parents/fetch/activities/activities.HTML http://www.pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/index.HTML

I have taught an after school science club several times at our charter school. I use resources from pbskids.org--you may have to do a little searching, but they have handouts from the show Zoom and Fetch that you can print off. They are written for 3-5th graders to read, follow directions, and complete the science experiment or project. I did this with another mom and we rotated weeks we would be in charge. It did take time buying the materials, and then I'd assemble them in gallon ziplocs so that each child had a bag ready to go and could just dig right in. Materials were common household items and easy enough to find. I will try to find the link and come back with it. We did things like a soda bottle rocket, built bridges, made a marble roller coaster, etc. The thing I loved about it is the directions were written plainly for the kids but they also provided more info so I could teach the concepts and answer questions. Often I'd get a library book or two to go along w the subject and it worked great.

My guess is someone who goes to pay off another person's layaway balance?!?

Last night our family delivered several gifts to a family in our church who is struggling right now. We had a few gifts for each child from 'Santa's Helper' and then had a bag full of toiletries/cleaning supplies, a box of diapers, a huge package of toilet paper, and a present for the parents. We put all the presents on the porch, rang the doorbell and ran to hide. I expected them to be a little surprised...and I expected them to be grateful...but I didn't expect this sweet friend to burst out in tears and repeat thank you, thank you, thank you as she carried the gifts inside. I am SO thankful my children were able to hear her words...and I know their hearts were truly touched with the spirit of giving. (I know this family's hearts were touched, too). I just keep thinking today how it was such a blessing for our family to do this...and how we need to do things like this more often.

So exciting! I wonder where he will end up going...where they might not know who he is? :D I love how humble he still is...cute boy!

And our Easter Bunny never thought of doing that! What a great idea! :D