I am way more excited about this than my kids are. Maybe I'll buy them for myself. :D

That sounds just like my kids! DD often stays in the same shoe size for 18 months at a stretch, and then gains 2 sizes in a 3 or 4 month span. Taking him in certainly cannot hurt, but I have a feeling he is just between growth spurts at the moment.

:grouphug:

Interesting -- especially some of those comments!

I have reread several this year, too. I never really liked Miss Marple when I was younger, but now I am really enjoying them.

:grouphug:

DH had this surprise when DD was born. Apparently my stepson was one of those really easy babies, and DH had no idea about the other sort.... the type I give birth to. :D

Congrats!

How wonderful!

:lurk5:

The Prydain Chronicles.

My DD also rereads a lot of books. She just seems to have trouble getting into new fiction, which is actually a problem that I understand. I make sure we have lots of nonfiction around, and she tends to alternate between the nonfiction and the rereads. DS is much more adventurous about trying new authors and nonseries fiction.

Only a 6% increase for groceries, but a 68% increase for housing. I knew the housing difference would be substantial, but I really expected the cost of groceries to be much higher. I could spend what I spent last month on groceries and toiletries for a family of four here, and still come in under $400 in Seattle.

:iagree:

Definitely doable here. It wouldn't be possible for a person starting out at minimum wage at Walmart or a fast food place, but the better paying blue collar work, especially for a couple who didn't start a family until they were up the pay scale a bit, would be fine. Drive 50 miles north (Pittsburgh), and I think it would be much more difficult.

:grouphug: She sounds like she would have had a nasty comment even if you had opted for the public school.

:lol::lol::lol:

FlashKids Spelling (workbooks on the shelves at Barnes and Noble) work like SWO. Each lesson is grouped by a rule/pattern, and has sorting/meaning/proofreading activities. The books cost less than SWO and DS has an easier time writing on the smooth, bright paper -- the SWO workbooks tear pretty easily in comparison.

Same here.

:iagree: I also really like Inspector Lewis.

Last week I finished: #47 The Dumbest Generation:How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. The trends described in the book are pretty worrying, and confirm a lot of what I have seen in the past few years. An interesting (albeit discouraging) read. #48 A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. This book had lots of suggested activities and ideas for further reading. Not a lot of neuroscience research that hasn't become mainstream knowledge by this point, but more practical suggestions than other books on the topic. This week I'll continue with Distracted:The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age and One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.

Cerave is amazing! I use the PM formula night and day on my very dry skin, and it makes my rosacea almost undetectable.

I saw it in the theater when it first came out -- I should watch it again!

I like so many of them, but I really adore Hagrid.

I am so sorry. :grouphug: