Very similar to mine, also from allrecipes.com: Homesteader Cornbread

Forgot about that part, ours is doing the same thing. There won't be any childcare during the Christmas service. The message will be a bit shorter, there will be more music and such and a room will be provided for parents to take wiggly children for a break if needed. The idea is to make sure kids experience it with their families. I really, really wish we were actually going to be in town this weekend...

A screen is a screen, but if all it displays is text does it really count? A regular Nook only displays books in a very nice e-ink format. You can store a LOT of them on there and there are many that you can get for free. Depending on your library system you can even borrow books on it, which is incredibly convenient. It's really lightweight and I loved it when I tried it (got my brother one for his birthday earlier this year). Maybe for next year you could recommend getting a regular Nook rather than a color? It's less expensive and easier on the eyes. No games, apps, videos, just text. Maybe even just get one they can share, if for no other reason than the easy access to classics for school and such. Just my thoughts, but then I am a gadget freak.

Our Wendsday evening service is cancelled, but there will be both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas day service. It will be shorter than normal though (no second hour classes). Why would a church cancel? Don't most churches have a special Christmas service anyway?

http://edudemic.com/2011/12/mitx-courses/ Saw this very interesting and exciting news and figured here was a good place to pass it on. More interesting for those with older kids (late high school to college age), but could be interesting for any parents as who would like to take some themselves.

Very true as well, though OP's husband wants to run his own business, so I'm not sure if it applies as much. The suggestions I threw up are based on openings and salaries I've seen in my area as well as what the BLS says is growing greater than average. According to a NYT article about recent college grads, those who have had the most success finding careers in their field of study have been teachers and engineers (if memory serves).

Exactly. MBA's groom CEO's, not entrepreneurs for the most part. Have him look for a couple classes in starting and running a small business at your local community college. Some are for credit, some have non-credit ones for adult learners.

This isn't mine, it was given to me by someone else. I'm really bad about following it, but when I can make myself it works pretty well. If you PM me your email I can send the spreadsheet file to you as well, the screenshot is the best I could do because of formatting.

What degree does he have now? What would he want to do with his MBA? I'd lean more towards going back for either a short medical program (X-ray tech or surgical tech are only 2 years I believe) or a certificate program in an employable field (paralegal, HR, etc) Those are fields I've seen more jobs in that pay 50K+.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-library/why-we-get-fat/ Problems arise when this system goes off the rails, which most commonly happens when people develop insulin resistance, a problem of disordered insulin signaling. Insulin talks, but the cells don’t listen. So insulin keeps talking louder until the cells finally get the message. In other words, the pancreas keeps producing insulin and the blood levels continue to rise until the cells finally get the message. But it’s a message that has taken a lot of insulin force to deliver. If all the different types of cells developed resistance to insulin at the same rate, we wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But they don’t. Different cells develop insulin resistance at different rates. Typically the first cells to become insulin resistant are the liver cells. The liver cells are continuously producing sugar and dumping it into the blood. Insulin shuts this process down. If the insulin level drops to zero, as it does in type I diabetes, the liver dumps a huge load of sugar in the blood causing all the blood sugar problems associated with this disease. Under normal circumstances, just a little insulin stops the liver cells in their tracks. But if these cells are resistant to insulin, much more is required to get them the message to turn off the sugar spigot. In most people, the fat cells develop insulin resistance later, which creates the problem. If insulin levels are high to control the liver’s sugar factory output, then these elevated insulin levels are sending a strong message to the non-insulin-resistant fat cells. The message is take this fat and store it. High insulin not only drives fat into the fat cells, it prevents it from getting out. Fat is packed into the fat cells and kept there. Between meals when insulin levels would normally fall, allowing the liberation of fat to feed all the body’s tissues, insulin remains high in an effort to keep the liver in check. Fat can’t get out of the fat cells, and the tissues begin to starve. Even though there is plenty of stored fat, the body can’t get to it because elevated insulin is preventing its release. Starving tissues send a message to the brain, saying ‘we’re hungry.’ The brain responds by increasing the drive to feed. We eat, and the carbs we eat are consumed by the cells for immediate energy, and insulin stimulated by the dietary carbohydrate drives the fat into the fat cells where it is trapped with the rest of the fat already there. The fat cell mass gets larger and larger, and we become obese. The above scenario explains a lot. Why can some people eat like crazy and not get fat? Perhaps because they develop insulin resistance in their fat cells just as they do in their liver cells. They don’t get fat, but they typically have all the other insulin-driven problems of the obese: high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, increased risk for heart disease, etc. And all while staying skinny. The above is an excerpt from a book review, but it's one of the more summarized places I can find the idea. Right now if your body is used to having plenty of sugar and such your cells may be insulin resistant, which means that you're body will tell you it's starving when it's not. If you can push past that point in a week or two your body will start to normalize again and you won't feel as hungry. At least that's been my experience. Just a thought, do you feel you were addicted to sugar at all? Strait sweets or even simple carbs? My body was terribly addicted and my withdrawls were insane. Dr. Oz has a 28 day sugar detox plan if you want to try following it.

One bottle of red wine One container frozen lemonade one bag frozen berries throw it all in a pitcher, let it sit until the berries are thawed and enjoy!

I grew up thinking that people who had cable or got their hair cut by someone other than their parents were rich, lol. It's funny though, because at that time I didn't think of us as poor. There was always plenty of food, even the occasional treat of ice cream. We could even rent one of the 99cent movies from the rental place once a week, though we stayed away from new releases. There was a point growing up where I felt poor, and that was when we had to go on WIC for a bit in order to have bread or peanut butter. My parents were unable to buy Christmas presents that year, though my brother did get a couple things simply because of the kindness of a stranger. During that winter my parents didn't think they were going to be able to afford to pay the oil for heat, so plans were being made for me and my brother to live with my grandma for awhile. Fortunately they were able to earn just enough to put a small amount in the tank and keep going, but it was really close. When putting food on the table is a struggle and you aren't sure if you can heat your house in winter, that's poor. Where I am now in my life I would feel poor at a different level. I've grown accustomed to having many more things (internet, computer, games, disposable income for movies or eating out). So a drop from my current level would leave me feeling poor for awhile, though I'm sure we'd adapt and our outlook would change accordingly. I'm sure there are also millionaire CEO's who would look at our life and think we're poor, because the feeling can be relative.

This. The tier you enlist under effects what jobs you're eligible to sign up for in combination with your asvab score.

She already does amaze me almost on a daily basis. With writing her name, that wasn't some thing I sat down and taught her to do. I showed her what her name looked like quite often, but I never sat down and showed her how to write letters or anything. But about a week ago she comes over to me really really excited saying, 'Mommy, I wrote my name!'. So I went over, and while it wasn't her whole name, it was really good. She had the Allion (her full name is Allison), all by herself! There have been many, many other times where you can just see the lightbulb go off in her head as she makes some type of connection, often without a whole lot of coaching or teaching right now. She is also has such a gentle spirit for a four year old. Not just her either, her younger sister (2 1/2) does as well. That's part of why I want to homeschool, I love being there when they make that connection, seeing them light up and truly enjoy learning. So both of my children do amaze me, I just need to make a conscious effort not to compare. I've already quit the group in question and I'm going to work trying to adjust my thinking patterns in the future.

I'm going to preface this by saying my oldest dd is only 4, so I know I shouldn't even be worrying at this point yet. But, how do you stop yourself from comparing your kid to other kids in the same age group? Especially if you frequent mommy forums and such? One site I belong to has a group comprised completely of parents with kids born the same month as my DD. At barely 4 years old they're already talking about my kid can read these words or my son has been writing his name since he was 3 1/2. My daughter can write about half of her name and while she knows all her letter sounds when we looked at the first BOB book she didn't show much interest and got frustrated so I put it away. Then I read about other kids her age reading, some possibly whole books, and I wonder if I'm failing her. So how do you keep yourself from comparing your kids to other kids? Even if I avoid the online stuff (which I plan on doing from now on) there's still playdates, talking with parents at co-ops or other activities as they get older. How do you reassure yourself that they're not 'behind' when you've taken their education onto your shoulders?

I've already got the grain grinder. That was last years christmas present. I've also got the bread machine to make that easier too. Both get used on quite a regular basis. :) Part of the idea of the soda stream would be to get away from traditional soda. It simply carbonates water and you can add whatever flavor you want , from syrups to juices. If I buy a concentrate I can further customize the syrup to have less sugar or experiment with alternative sweeteners. There are also some recipes out there to make your own syrup: http://www.formerchef.com/2009/09/13/homemade-ginger-syrup-and-the-sodastream-soda-maker/ She has a homemade ginger syrup and a key lime syrup that look yummy.

I'm thinking about possibly spending the birthday money my in-laws gave me. I've been holding onto it for a little while (my birthday was in October) and I'm not sure whether to spend it or not. If I do I'm looking at getting either a Soda Stream (beverage carbonator) or an ice cream maker. Either one I could have all sorts of fun experimenting with food wise. The soda maker I could use various syrups or fruit juices to make fun flavors that may or may not be healthier than the stuff found in a store. Ice cream makers would mean lots of ice cream flavor experiments. Which one would you get? Or would you just keep the money in the bank?

Not sure where you are, but I like http://www.footsforecast.org/

Thank you so much, you and everyone else who has been helping. In the video the extended family he talks about my in-laws helping is my mom. My stepfather died suddenly in September and they let her stay there several weeks after he died so that she didn't have to sleep in the same bed he just passed in. I stayed down there with her for two weeks. Now they are letting me and my children stay there while my husband stays up her in a free room. Our goal is to buy a larger house in a few months so that my mom and brother can move out of their section 8 housing and in with us. Before that their parents stayed there when they had no place to go and so on and so forth. My in-laws have used this house to help so many of us get back on our feet or improve our situations. It's also served just as a relaxing get-away for all of us for a weekend or so. I really believe that they deserve a shot at winning this to help pay them back for all the generosity they've shown us over the years.

http://my.hgtv.com/hgtvd/PatioDeck/Southern-Comfort---Patio-Project/detail.esi?oid=23330454&cObjId=23330569 I was hoping some of you could take a look at it and give us a rating. The project is for my in-laws house and they have done (and are still doing) so much to help us I'd love to give this to them.

crafty stuff: paints, glitter, markers, etc. puzzles board games: basic ones like Candyland and High Ho Cherrio 3/4 yo girl Ragedy Andy doll Also crafty stuff Little People barn set 2 yo girl

Yeah, the problem with that is you would have to get Congress to pass those laws. That's about as likely as them voting a paycut or even a pay freeze for themselves.

One thing I loved about Germany while I was there was their train system. I miss that so much here. Trains tend to be more expensive and take a lot longer than planes here. They're talking about doing high speed rail to some parts of the country, but that will be years. How long would it take to drive there? Is that completely out of the question? What if you rented a bigger vehicle or even a small RV for the trip?

I'll second Piers Anthony, but suggest the Incarnations series.

http://www.cptoy.com/cgi-bin/pf.sh/2.0/dept.htm?parent_id=Doll%20Play&dept_id=Todays%20Girl The doll itself is $50, but they have their super combo sets where you can get the doll and 12 outfits for $144. Still pricey, but not as bad as American Girl dolls.