Ours was a dial/electronic. I hated it. I can see that a lot of people will have trouble selecting what they want, especially the elderly. It was finicky.

We are trying to eliminate GMOs too. It is hard, and more expensive, but I can't justify shoving that mess down my kids any longer. I buy organic, whole foods, and try to buy NON-GMO certified whenever I can. I stay away from soy as much as possible (the most insidiously GMO'd food out there) The killer is the cost of organic wheat flour :001_huh:

Costco opens here this week! :party: Our area has a bit of a lack of decent food and the stores that do carry natural/organics are usually pretty high or have little selection. I have MISSED Costco since we've moved back. (There are rumors of a Whole Foods coming, and Trader Joes just opened...so there is hope :lol:) Now if I could just convince Sprouts and Central Market to come to Knoxville, I'd be set!

I have the almost supernatural ability to procrastinate...:lol: I do tend to do well with artsy type things...drawing, crafty stuff. I worked hard and developed my colored pencil work...but it has been awhile since I've done much...this one was about 6 years ago:

Full beard :001_wub: He has shaved exactly once since the day we got married, and that was in the first year. I don't even know what he looks like under there anymore :lol: I joke with him that he needs to shave it off just once, to freak out the kids...but they are horrified at the thought. (so am I a little!) I love furry men though. Makes 'em look manly :D

If you are not in TN, or if you tend to stay put (i.e. not move around a lot) I think it wouldn't be worth your $$. That said, we've used HomeLife for over 4 years now and it HAS been worth it for us. But, we moved from TN to TX and back. I kept it up for my high schooler in TX because there was the chance of moving back into TN, and it just made things much easier for me. I did not keep it up for my younger two while in TX. In TN it is the tool I use to homeschool legally. That is really the only reason I use them.

:grouphug: I also want to jump in to defend HomeLife. While this is an unfortunate situation, it isn't the fault of HomeLife. They are only an umbrella. It is the parent's responsibility to make sure YOU are doing everything needed to educate your child and to be familiar with the HS laws of your state. HomeLife exists solely to give us the freedom to homeschool without interference from the DOE. It doesn't educate kids in any way. I hate to see them misrepresented when they have been a great tool for us, and other families. I hope things can get worked out for your daughter.

My kids have had most of the traditional vaccinations. They will not be getting the HPV vax at all. I wouldn't give it to a boy OR a girl.

His face. Does he get to tell you how to wear your hair, etc? I may be biased though. I love the beard my dh has worn for 20 years :D

Only if it gets infected. Also, keep an eye on it as it grows out, and there is a higher risk of it becoming ingrown. (ask me how I know :glare:)

I would snap it up ;) But we currently have a 10x11 bedroom with a king size bed. Yeah, it's snug...but the only time spent in there is when we are in bed! Our last house had a huge (to us) master bedroom, and we didn't live in it a bit differently than we do in this tiny one.

I think that there are many people out there that cannot be alone. Why should he be? My family was SO mean to my step-dad when he began dating not long after my mom died. But this man just didn't know how to function alone. He had ALWAYS had a woman by his side. It was hard for me to forgive my FAMILY for treating him so horribly. You have to remember: this is not about you. It is not about your family. It is about his grief and his life.

This is why I do have all my passwords written down, along with specific websites and user names for all of our online billing. Otherwise dh would be completely at a loss.

I handle all the finances, and I know exactly where we stand with insurance and such. I've also been through dealing with a messy estate with my step-father's death. I would be fine..at least on paper. (Mentally I would be a mess) My dh knows where our records ARE, but that is about it. He'll have a harder time, but I do try to keep things organized so that IF something happens, he can at least find it all. (Not like with my step-dad who had things crammed in shoe boxes all over the house!)

They are my nieces and nephew. They are the only ones I can claim! I love them like they were my own kids, so the blood-relation thing doesn't even occur to me.

Well, they have to brush their teeth and get ready for bed around 9PM. Then we usually read from the Bible for 20-30 minutes as a family. After that, they are free to read in their room until 10 or 10:30. I don't really enforce a sleep time unless we have to go somewhere in the AM. No electronics period after 10.

Yes, but only because of allergy issues. I would LOVE to just open up all the windows and let the cooler air in...but then two people in this house can't breathe :glare:

I'm 36 and have a LOT of gray "highlights". My temples have a lot of gray, with more and more gray showing up sprinkled throughout. Both my parents were almost completely gray by 40, so I don't have a fighting chance. I am too lazy to maintain coloring it, and I really dislike the skunk stripe of neglected coloring of gray haired women. So my only choice is to embrace it :) I tell myself that I've earned them ;) I kind of wish I would get a cool Rogue stripe or something.

Too much risk, not enough benefit. It's a crap shoot as to whether you'll even be vaccinated against the flu strains you MAY get exposed to. There has also been a lot of speculation on whether it actually lowers your ability to fight off the flu if you catch it anyway. Plus I'm one of those "rare" people that has had the flu ONCE in my life: the year I got a flu shot.

I go...whenever. I think it has been over 5 years since the last one. I floss/brush regularly, and haven't had a cavity since I was a teen. (and that was from a child hood of NEVER going to a single dentist appointment) I have sturdy teeth, and am not prone to dental issues, so it just isn't a big deal to me. My kids, they go every 6 months. They have their father's teeth, which are much more prone to issues.

I voted all of us. But dh doesn't go. I almost always have all or most of the kids with me. It is like a mini-vacation when I go by myself.

My 15, almost 16 year old still dresses that way. She IS a free spirit, and nothing I've tried to do has tamed it. My only caveat with her is that she has to look like a girl and that her parents actually care. (i.e. clean, non-ratty clothing) She does default to dressing like an old man, so her friends and I have to help her with the feminine side a bit. But her favorite wardrobe pieces are tie-died shirts (or the ugly promo tee-shirts that her grandmother keeps providing her with), a captain's hat, and bright blue crocs :glare: She also carries an owl backpack with her where ever she goes. She has no trouble making friends, in spite of the weirdness. She has public schooled AND homeschooled friends.

My norm is to eat them with lots of butter and salt, topped with a fried egg :) This recipe looks good too: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/creamy-cheese-grits-with-chilies/ I've not actually made it, but I have eaten something very simliar.

Just please don't do the one gift for both thing. They are two people. My girls often got very similar gifts (like a baby doll, but in different outfits) and that was fine. They really, really dislike being lumped together as a unit though.

Yeah...so did mine at that age. Then they hit an age in which that is no longer fun, and the re-training begins...and lasts until they move out :lol: My kids started out similarly. They KNOW how to pick up after themselves. They STILL have to be reminded constantly. Teen brain fuzz is debilitating apparently.