KJB
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Posts posted by KJB
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I second Harry and David's but I'd go with the classic Christmas tower. In fact, I just sent this to my brother. The pears are delicious.
For couple #2 I'd send the classifieds. :001_huh:
Just kiddin'
I'd probably think something big enough for a crowd, so I might go with a Omaha steaks assortment or maybe a Honey Baked Ham brunch package which usually includes a ham, pancake mix, real maple syrup, and other brunchie goodies.
Have fun shopping!
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I chop up ingredients, including a variety of kid pleasers like cheese cubes, chicken breasts cut-up or thinly sliced grilled steak, black olives, mandarin oranges, diced apples, grapes, baby carrots etc. as well as normal salad staples (for us this might include spinach, tomato, peppers, lettuces, cukes, red onion, etc.). For my dh, I reserve an entire chicken breast or piece of steak to top his salad or to eat on the side.
The kids usually don't want dressing for their salad, however one son likes to dip his salad fixings in some kind of dressing once in awhile.
We also make a version of the weight watchers soup which has a V-8 juice and chicken broth base. You add chopped cabbage, green beans, carrots, zucchini, celery, and whatever veggies float your boat. It's quite tasty alone or with left-over roast. I've seen this recipe float around the board occasionally. I just wing it with whatever veggies I have.
We don't eat bread at meals unless it's part of the meal like for a sandwich.
Hope you find some good ideas!
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by then the dough gets too warm. Did you chill the dough before you started? If I don't chill it overnight, I find it really tough to work with.
Hope your trees turn out. You can make up a lot of ground with a good frosting job. Not that I'm suggesting a cover-up or anything.:D
Good Luck!
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A couple of hints:
1. Roll the dough and cut it out on the cookie sheet so you don't have to move the cut cookie. After you press in the cookie cutter, move the dough surrounding the cookie away from the shape.
2. Flour your cookie cutters generously.
3. Keep the dough cold when you're not using it and only have out what you are working with at the very moment you need it.
4. If you are lucky enough to have a rolling pin made of ceramic or something that will chill, stick it in the freezer. Otherwise, flour your wooden pin generously.
5. Flour your hands and add more flour to the dough if it gets too sticky.
6. If you have to move a cookie with a spatula, use a cold metal spatula.
Hope some of these help! Do you have horsey cookie cutters? I'd love to find some for my aunt.
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"These were not simply comments about other countries. They were comparisons that implied that Americans lack family values and, I don't know, decorating skills?"
If this is the impression my posts are giving, then I am not communicating well. I do not believe Americans lack family values OR decorating skills. lol
I'd rather be an American any day of the week, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a well-stenciled wall. :D
Anyway, I genuinely enjoy your posts, Zelda. I hope if you marry Stacy you won't get complacent and change. Never change, Zelda. :lol:
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First, you post two articles which (admittedly I only skimmed) point out the birth rates of Europe are low.
Yep, I agree. In fact, I agreed above. My pro-USA agenda is served by the fact that our population remains vital and healthy unlike that of Europe. Not sure what you gain in this discussion by pointing out something I've agreed with?
Next, you mention that well manicured suburbs are bad-mouthed as much as ones decorated with trash.
Well, yeah. Suburbs in general just aren't as cute as the villages here. Even really nice suburbs don't compare, imo. Have you seen German villages? They really are that charming. I'd just rather live someplace clean and cute. That's literally all I've seen here (admittedly, I'm not referring to any larger cities which I'm sure yield their own share of poverty).
Conversely, I've lived all over the US. Really. And there just are places where people don't care. There are cars up on blocks and junkyard lawns. Sorry. It's true.
Last, you point out all Americans have criticisms of the US and that I have somehow painted American values with an over-broad brush.
I don't recall discussing American values. If you want to have that discussion you'll have to define what American values to which you are referring and I'm happy to discuss.
I am saying that Europe ain't that bad and that they aren't as culturally and technologically stagnant as was espoused by the original post to which I responded. Also, I find some things about European culture enviable.
My husband has been in the USAF for almost 20 years and has deployed to many a scary location to allow us to have this conversation. So, when I say I'm a patriot, I say that as someone who has put her money where her mouth is.
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And then the children pour into the streets to join hands with their voices raised in song. Oh wait, no they don't, no one in Europe is having children anymore. The enlightened family model is not having a family, which, I agree, does simplify that issue quite a lot.
Small town America is doing fine and never worried about what Europeans thought of them even back when they were all 1st generation Europeans. Its what makes small towns so ding danged refreshing.
1. The enlightened family model to which I refer is how the elderly are not shuffled off to nursing homes. Small children are still allowed to play everywhere. Life is family centered and slower. Yes, the birth rates are down. A normal German family has one or two children. I'm not sure that is the same as not having a family. I'm sure some of our families here on the board with one or two children would quibble with your definition.
2. Small town American can be a mess. I've seen it first hand. Mom and Pop stores are closed so people can flock to and trample Walmart employees for cheap Chinese junk. I've lived places where people had no problem having a lawn decorated with trash. I have not seen anything like that here. Not one time. I am sure there are people here who are poor; I'd just like to see where they are living.
In short, I love your post Zelda, and others, that are unapologetically pro-America. I am too. I just don't think we can rest on our laurels and on the notion that we have nothing to appreciate/learn from other cultures. Such arrogance is a bad idea politically and does nothing to help us grow as a nation. We need to take the good ideas and apply them.
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I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms.
Parenting is a tough gig.
Another hug for you.
((BMW))
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But please, name something technologically advanced, culturally advanced that any other country (other than the Asian countries) have done in that last 30 or so years.
In general, Europeans better utilize public transportation than the US. They drive smaller more fuel efficient cars. They recycle like mad. They use alternative energy. Wind mills and solar panels dot the hills and countryside of Germany. You can recycle while you walk down the street as bins are available for you to sort what you discard. Compost piles are common.
Also, Europeans have (imo) an enlightened model of caring for family. Where I live, often two and sometimes three or more generations share houses. And the houses are old, well maintained, and lovely. There are no cars up on blocks outside dilapidated trailer homes like you come across in small town USA. A lot of time is spent making villages look cozy. The summer time flowers are abundant. The smell of fresh bread wakes you up on a Saturday morning because the village baker has his windows open.
Mchousing doesn't happen. Houses built where I live are made to last, and they do. Few cookie cutter neighborhoods and an emphasis on charm and quality make up neighborhoods where I live. Houses are built out of concrete. People stencil and adorn their exterior walls with art. Windows are covered for efficiency.
I could go on and on about ways the US beats the pants off of Europeans for customer service, health care (I gave birth in a German hospital, I've experienced it first hand), and dear Lord the smoke.... but I won't. I'll just say that while I am wildly patriotic and pro-US, it's not because the Europeans are defunct. The US can still learn a few lessons from our buddies across the pond.
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It's the perfect time of the year to put out a bird house or bird feeder. You can usually buy kits for either.
Or, you could make a bird feeder by painting something with peanut butter (we've done tp rolls, pine cones, blocks of wood) and rolling it in bird seed. Add a ribbon/yarn as a hanger and you're set. You could get really fancy and find common birds in your area and print a small book for him to take home with him as birds to watch for out his window.
I do "make your own" with my kids a lot for fun dinners. We do make your own pizza or hot fudge sundaes or whatever. They get a huge kick out of this.
HTH!
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supposed to be babysitting her little brother. Frankly, she should be in trouble. If her parents were really as awful as you're being told, I bet she wouldn't have risked having your ds in the house alone.
I also would want to know how my ds ended up in her bedroom hiding, of all places. Why couldn't he go out the back door, for example.
I guess I would just be very uncomfortable with this whole story and I'm afraid I would doubt that my children were being 100% honest. Your daughter began talking with you by lying about ds's whereabouts ("He's walking home"), after all. Was she lying to you because you're so "abusive" she had no other choice or was it to stay out of trouble? Of course, the latter is the answer. Unless you have *first hand* knowledge of abuse, I'd assume the other parent was just strict and the kids don't like it.
The stories about the school "almost calling in a report" sound fishy since schools are mandatory reporters. They are supposed to call if abuse is suspected. IOW, if they're calling your dd into the office, I'd think they would also have called a social worker. I can't see the school interviewing anyone except the teen in question and even then social services would most likely be conducting the investigation.
I just remember being a teenager and I remember my brothers as teens. We were good people, but what our parents didn't know might have killed them.:lol:
On a lighter note, it is a funny story. Your kids put you in a tough spot. I'm sure they appreciate you beyond words and maybe what you might have lost in honesty lessons you made up for in relationship. Just be careful not to sacrifice being the respected mom for being the popular mom, kwim?
I'm playing devil's advocate here, btw. I hope this reads as friendly and not critical. You had to make a tough call.
(((BMW)))
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My brothers hopping my sandwich across the table. Me, refusing to eat. Good times.:D
(Not meant as a discouragement, btw. Just a funny memory!)
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Where did I do that or even imply it? :confused::confused:
Tara
And I didn't read pqr as suggesting that you did. I think pqr's post used yours as a springboard for his/her own thoughts. I could be wrong.
:lurk5:
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"I can, without equivocation, say that there is no place like the US. Our freedoms exceed those found just about anywhere else, our standard of living is better, opportunities are greater. I will accept that some in Europe may dispute this but please please please do not insult the intelligence of readers on this board by comparing the quality of life in some of the world's hell holes with the US.
What I find problematical is the attempt to dismiss those who loudly and proudly wave the US flag as somehow ill-informed. I would argue the exact opposite, those who do not are either misinformed or willfully blind."
I have traveled quite a bit and I currently live overseas. I totally agree with your entire post.
I will only add that for all the negative attitudes espoused by Americans about Americans, I rarely hear that sentiment about us from foreigners. Many other countries in the world *love* Americans, believe it or not. At least, this is IME as a traveler of all over Europe, Africa, and South America.
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This was emailed to me. I don't know the source. I thought some of you might enjoy the message.
I'm Invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the
lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room
while I'm on the
phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm
thinking, 'Can't you
see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can
see if I'm on the phone,
or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my
head in the
corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm
invisible. The invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?
Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a
pair of hands; I'm
not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What
time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is
the Disney Channel?' I'm
a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum
laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's
going, she's going, and she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return
of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a
fabulous trip, and
she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I
was sitting
there, looking around at the others all put together so
well. It was hard
not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down
at my
out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that
was clean. My
unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid
I could
actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty
pathetic, when
Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and
said, 'I
brought you this.' It was a book on the great
cathedrals of Europe. I
wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until
I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of
what you are building
when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing
truths, after which
I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great
cathedrals -
we have no record of their names. These builders gave their
whole lives
for a work they would never see finished. They made great
sacrifices and
expected no credit. The passion of their building was
fueled by their
faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit
the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman
carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the
man, 'Why are
you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam
that will be
covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the
workman replied,
'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It
was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you,
Charlotte. I see
the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around
you does. No
act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn
on, no cupcake you've
baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You
are building a
great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it
will become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a
disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the
disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong,
stubborn pride. I keep
the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.
As one of the
people who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on
something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals
could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people
willing to
sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my kids to
tell the friends they may be
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom
gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey
for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want them to
want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to their
friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the
world will
marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty
that has been
added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
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I'm going all out and getting the architectural pieces, too. I know my older kids will build along with the little ones. They all love Kapla blocks too, but traditional blocks are nice for younger kids.
(We have lots of other building toys but my three year old gravitates towards the very small set of blocks we already own.)
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If you defrost, it means you planned ahead. It means you bought more than you needed *right now*. It means you may have caught a sale and were concerned about the price. It may mean you have more than yourself to feed.
Yep, defrosting was the turning point for me. Defrosting epitomizes adulthood. Sigh....
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My thoughts for you:
1. Anticipate and remove the victim before it takes flight.
2. When the launch occurs, have dd sit on your lap until she agrees to retrieve the object and apologize. If she gets up, it must be to return her victim to its resting place. If she says she will and doesn't, back to your lap she goes until she complies. Every. single. time.
3. Wait until she's four.
4. Oh, and one more. It sounds like (maybe) you are entering into silly little power struggles with her (the I'm going to throw away your chips thing). For what? If she's saying something somewhat reasonable, like "I don't have to use the facilities at this time", then why threaten her? Why push her buttons?
If it were me, I'd let her hold it until the next stop. Or not. An hour or two uncomfortable might be the lesson she needs to see things your way. The chips thing has nothing to do with that lesson. As you can see, it just made her mad.:D
Same with the apple. You don't like the apple cut up? OK, sweetie. I guess Daddy and I will enjoy the apple. Don't apologize to her or validate her tantrum with fresh fruit.:lol:
You need to adopt the whole "We do not negotiate with terrorists" attitude.
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At our Base Exchange a polar arctic toy complete with sled dogs was 9.99 made by Soldier Bear. Did you ever find a reasonably priced one?
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I usually think 2x for dollars to pounds and 1.5x for dollars to euros when I don't know the exchange rate, even though neither calculation is exactly right ever.
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I'd like to buy a large set of hardwood building blocks of different shapes and sizes. I'd like to be able to expand the set with "architectural" blocks that have columns, domes, etc. If the original set came with these extra pieces I would be thrilled.
Does anyone have a large fairly reasonably priced set that they recommend? I've seen a million sets online, but I always worry that they look better in the picture than they will be in real life. I want enough blocks so two children can build together.
As a side note, we have Kapla blocks, K'Nex, Legos, etc. already. They are all well loved.
Thanks!
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I have a ds 5 also and they do say the greatest things. My little guy has the same sentiment as yours about staying a little boy and always living with me. Both of my sons at around 4-5 yo have had mild anxiety about death and having to live without me someday.
The other day my ds said he'll always sleep in my house no matter how old he gets because "What would I do without a Mom?"
My 12 year old began to chime in with the answer.:001_huh: I reminded her it was time to take the garbage out.:lol:
My ds can't say Barack Obama without calling him Broccoli Obama. It's so funny.
Enjoy your little guy.
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He was bullied. As a consequence, he had to leave school to come home. The bullies are still going to school and their world hasn't changed at all. If I were your son, I'd be confused and feel it was unfair that I was the victim and I was also the one who had to lose something (going to public school).
Even if he loves home school, he didn't get to come home because he *wanted* to, but rather because he was running away from the bullies. At least that's how I might see it if I were him. Feeling forced out by the bad kids would make me very very angry. Especially since the bad kids kind ended up getting their way and he has ended up looking like he ran away and couldn't handle the situation. His ego might be understandably bruised.
Now that he's home, you want him to forget *why* he's home. That's not easy to do. Especially, if (other than the bullies) he enjoyed going to school.
Instead of focusing on forgiveness, maybe you should support his notion that what's happened really isn't fair and that he has a right to feel like the bullies ought to be punished. His feeling might be that since no adult is willing to take care of it, it's all on him.
I have a puppy. I keep reading that in order for my puppy to feel like she doesn't need to bark like a nut and protect me, she must understand that it's *my* role to protect her. She must feel safe that I will take care of her and keep the scary mailman in his place. It's not her job to keep the scary guys at bay. This reminds me of your situation. It's an adult's job to make kids feel safe. You son shouldn't have to compromise his life (in this case attending school) for anyone.
If I were you, I'd call the administration of the school and set up a meeting. I'd take my son with me, and defend with adult assertiveness your son's right to come to the public school and feel safe. I'd let the school know why he left and that he won't be coming back because of their failure. I wouldn't let them say a word (interrogate, whatever) my son, I'd just show my son that I was on his side and that the school failed him. I would do it so your son didn't feel he left with his tail between his legs but instead because his parents won't tolerate him being treated with anything but respect.
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Some things they enjoy:
Reading
Building structures with K'Nex, Kapla blocks, Straws and Connectors, Legos, Snap Circuits, Erector Set
Building real things like birdhouse kits, book shelves, or whatever (if we didn't move so much I'd have a pile of scrap lumber along with appropriate real tools and let them have at it)
DS comes up with "secret codes" and writes messages
DS has a rock collection and every once in a while he'll get out his rocks and minerals field guide and try to identify them-he also has a rock tumbler
Bird Watching with binoculars and field guide
Playing with Sculpey clay
Drawing in their sketch books
Working on books they are each writing
Doing extra chores for cash
What are your favorite Jim Weiss cd's?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I would try Giants! He sings a funny song about how it might be fun to be a giant and my kids love it. Also, Famously Funny is very good.
My favorite is probably Arabian Nights. I also like the Sherlock Holmes.
They're all good. You can't go wrong, imo.