Sandra Lee from the Food Network has a slew of different cookbooks that are so easy to use. Her show is called "Semi-Homemade" and I think it is great for people who need to cook yummy food for their families but don't have the time or the skill to spend two hours preparing dinner very night. Her 20-minute-meals book is full of my family's favorite dishes.

Yes and no. I do read pretty fast. If it is a simple work of fiction then I can breeze through it in 2 or 3 days. If it is tougher it might take the whole week. If it is non-fiction it might take more than a week. I always read the whole book or I don't count it. But I may read 3 books in one week then take two weeks to read another book.

:smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: I don't really care about the bag debacle either way, but this almost made diet coke come out my nose! FWIW (which I acknowledge is not much), Penang has been charging for plastic bags everywhere (not just grocery stores... the mall, too) for several years now. It is the equivalent of about 7 cents (in USD) per bag. But it wasn't a litter issue so much as "no room on the island for a landfill" issue.

Praying...

More often than not, honestly. My worst ever was teaching the preschool Sunday school class. Worst. Mistake. Ever.

I am nearly finished with Nothing to Envy. I find my self having to take breaks from this book and walk away because it is so heart-wrenching. This week I am starting two new books: A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World The Spirit Catches and You Fall Down

My dd had a little pink pillow that was in the basket she was in when the hospital gave her to us. She never let it out of her sight for almost 3 years. But its mate was her binkie. When we finally took the binkie away, she no longer wanted the pink pillow either and that was that. My middle child is also attached to a pillow and when he is home the pillow is still always with him, but he has never taken it out of the house (except for long trips). My oldest never attached to a lovey.

i just bought it on sale on amazon but I haven't read it yet. It was also recommended on the Challies website. What a great title!

I read that for our small group a few months ago and I really liked it! I have read all of DeYoung's books. I think he is a good author and very solid doctrinally. This month we are reading "A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World" which was recommended by Challies. What are you all reading?

I think it is sad and indicative of low self-esteem.

My ds cannot get a driver's license here at all until he is 18yo. I will let him at that point. However, I think the driving age should be raised to 18yo in the States, too.

I have a cell phone and dh has a cell phone. We also have a very cheap, pay as you go cell phone that is an "extra" in the house. Either of my boys may use it if they are going somewhere without us and need it to contact us. Other than that, it stays in the desk drawer. So at this point, none of my children need or have their own cell phone. Considering that my ds will not get a driver's license until he is 18, I don't see this changing any time soon.

Our sermon this past Sunday was "contending for the faith" and "having a sound mind" and "study to show thyself approved." We talked about the false teachings that crept into the churches in the New Testament and how we now have the complete revelation of Scripture and hundreds of years of church teachings and theologians to draw from. But instead, we are just as easily swept away by false teaching! Many Christians do not do the hard work of studying Scripture, searching it, memorizing it, and just KNOWING it. We leave all that for the "theologians" because all we need to know is that God loves us, right? All we need to do is love each other, right? You know the old saying: “No one will care how much you know, until they know how much you care.†Well, here is a twist on that by a pastor I follow on twitter: “No one will care how much you care, if you don't also know something worth knowing.†Something to think about...

BTDT... Never again. I think it is a travesty.

Do you think this book is ok for an almost 15yo boy? I have not read it but everyone talks about how good it is and my ds actually asked about it (which is rare for him!).

Started Reading: Nothing new. :( I was so slammed at work last week that I didn't get much chance to read. My goal is to finish at least one of the books on my still reading list. Still Reading: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300) The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300) The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200) Finished: 8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100) 7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600) 3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800) 1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800) So far I have hit 4 continents and 5 Dewey Decimal classes (but I seem to be stuck in the 800's... I'm on a fiction kick lately!).

My ds watched it at 13yo.

I also love hymns because the words are so powerful and God-focused. It seems like so many contemporary songs these days are man-focused. It's all me, me, me. If you could play the song on a secular music station and no one would be able to tell that it is actually a song about God... That's a problem, in my opinion.

Totally agree. We recently started attending a new church that sings hymns only, in an actual hymn book, to the music of one pianist. It is reverent, worshipful and beautiful. My ds came back from his youth group at our old church recently complaining about the music. He knows as soon as the pastor closes the sermon the musicians will start playing in the background. He calls it "emotionally manipulative music". Just for fun (it made me laugh):

We do not see school and home as things to be kept completely separate and we do not exclude parents from information about their child's day, good or bad. We see this as a partnership between the school and the parents. If my child was acting like that at school I would want to know and I would be upset if the school hid it from me. Especially since this is a small community and one child's misbehavior is known throughout the community by the end of the day. Gossip is a big problem among our parents, unfortunately. Also, I didn't discipline him after the second offense. I called his mom. So he wasn't disciplined twice.

That is awesome!!! My oldest just did a catapult experiment for the science fair at school so I have catapult on the brain right now!!

Thank you ladies for your kind words. :grouphug:

She's wrong. I had horrific seasonal allergies and I eventually started getting shots once a week. They helped immensely. I didn't have to do them forever. I got shots for about 3 years.

Oh my word, I agree with this and I am not quoting the PP as requested but I just want to say that I am so very sorry you had to go through that and live with the memory of it.

That must be very difficult. I am so sorry you all have to go through this.