Yes. In fact, my dd(15) was reading this, looked thoughtful...and said "You know, I think we've actually played that one." :lol: Then she said I should post about how she annoys me to no end pretending the colored tiles in the grocery store are lava! :glare:

Beaners...much better photos! (and FWIW, I love that house...but I have a thing for old farmhouses!) Our house closed on Monday :) Now to decide what we are doing next.

When it was 9:50 here, not much other than consuming a cup of coffee :lol: But since then (It is now 11:56) I have picked a gallon of green beans, and some squash, fed chickens and the cat, popped said green beans plus another gallon, and disposed of some rotten blackberries. Now I'm waiting for the ravenous crowd (i.e. my kids) to get out of the kitchen so I can have lunch and can the green beans.

Purely anecdotal, but I have a friend who kept a rather dirty house as her kids were/are growing up. Her kids have always been less sick than mine. We've joked it was because they had to build up stronger immune systems. In reality, there is probably some truth to that! That said, I've never been fanatical about germs. We bathe regularly, and wash hands with regular soap and water. I use vinegar to clean my kitchen, and only use bleach occasionally for laundry stains. The girls played in the dirt, and we've always had pets. My kids are pretty healthy. We did battle strep a lot, but it was when they were in public school. Our few health issues seem to be genetic rather than germ caused.

I'm honest with them about it, especially if they seem to be in an ungrateful mood. They would think I was on crack if I cheerfully went about my day every.day. :lol:

Sorry, but this is incorrect. My dh's aunt is currently dying of Alzheimers. Her brain has deteriorated to the point of seizure activity and a catatonic state. Her brain is shutting down. Alzheimers destroys brain cells, which eventually (even with proper care) leads to death. Dh's aunt has been very lovingly cared for by her husband with the aid of hospice. She will still die from Alzheimers. Just like her father did.

Our hen started out with 20 eggs under her, and tossed out all but 3. Two have hatched, and one is in progress :)

Egads! I hope the high waisted jeans never come back! Or at least not to the point that the mid/low-rise jeans go away. It wasn't until they came into fashion that I could find jeans that actually fit! High rise/long butt jeans make me uncomfortable to the extreme! (and if you wear your correct size, muffin tops shouldn't be an issue...)

I wanted to add...it runs in my dh's family so strongly, that it is almost assumed that it will show up. Knowing that has allowed preparations to be made, long before there are symptoms. Even as young as dh is, we have had the very serious discussions on how things will be handled IF he ends up with it. We've also talked about his father. His parents have taken steps to protect their estate financially because of the knowledge that long term care is very likely. Knowing for sure...that would just be one more step in being able to cope with it. Having seen family members die from it, it would have been priceless to be able to treat it in time to put off the onset.

Absolutely. There are medications that can slow the progression, especially if taken early.

Right now, it's kind of all over. I have bookshelves in the dining room and the laundry room (which is where my desk and computer are). There is also a shelf in the living room with a few school things on it. Science supplies and things like pencils are stuck in the built in buffet in the dining room. I have our white board hanging on the door in between the dining and laundry room.

My oldest dd choked on a peach when she was around 18 months. She was in her high chair, eating canned sliced peaches. She was gagging and turning purple..it was awful. I rushed over and was trying to snatch her out of the high chair, but her legs kept getting caught on the tray. All of my flailing around trying to get her out dislodged the peach. The poor thing had bruises all across her upper thighs from my efforts to remove her from the stupid high chair!

I have about 5 or 6 years, depending on how ambitious the twins get. I can't seem to make plans for any more than a few days out any more, so who knows what I'll do after we are done with school. I would LOVE to teach art and spoil grandchildren. With a dh in ministry, however, all plans are null and void if God points us somewhere else.

We used to go all the time when I was a kid/teen. It was cheap entertainment, and it was close to us. The first time I went was as a baby so my mom could see Star Wars. The last one was Toy Story 3 with the kids. My kids had never been until we went to one in Texas. There aren't any close by where we are now.

There are two places here that you can buy curriculum, that I know of. Cedar Springs Christian Book store has a branch in Knoxville that has a huge homeschooling section. Not only do they sell new curriculum, they sell used curriculum as well. (and they will buy your old stuff from you for store credit) The prices aren't bad. I do buy stuff from there. The other place is McKays used book store. It is HUGE, and has a homeschooling section. Since it is a used book store, the selection can be hit or miss. I have found some real deals there. They also have a free box out front that I have grabbed a lot of books from. One of the Lifeway's used to have a small homeschool section, but I haven't been there in about 3 years, so I don't know if they still do.

I wouldn't have done it, but I totally understand. Going out in public with my twins as infants was a nightmare sometimes. I felt like I needed a tape recording of "No, you can't hold/touch my babies." I had one woman nearly cry because I wouldn't let her hold them! (And it was my first outing with premie twins...uh no way are you getting your mitts on them!) I am not even a germaphone by any stretch. But I am not letting strangers off the street handle my infants. If we had lived in a small community at the time, it would have been different. It WAS different with my first and we lived in a small town. With the twins, I was smack in the middle of Minneapolis/St.Paul, so sorry but I'm being much more protective.

Yeah...I don't think I'm selling myself on them either! On a positive note, I made vinegar based sweet pickles today and they smell delish!

I finally realized what they smelled like: sulfur. After a little googling with that in mind, it may have just needed to ferment longer. Too late now though, the chickens enjoyed them :lol:

I did, and I think that is why I don't like them. It's like I can taste the whey.. Thanks for the link, I'll try those. I have a TON of cucumbers, so I can play around.

Well, I tried one this AM. I hate to say, I'm not a fan. They have an off taste to me. :blink: Sigh. I really wanted to like them too...lol. Just like I really wanted to like Kombucha, but just can't.

Thanks! I'll throw them in the fridge tonight. They were not tightly sealed, and yes, they were all under the liquid. There WAS a little shaking of the jar going on, because of some curious kids..lol. No ammonia or dead smell...just weird..lol.

So...I tried lacto-fermentation for the first time. I followed the Nourishing Traditions recipe. After the two days (for cucumber pickles), I have opened the jar and it smells...weird? I've never so much as sniffed something lacto-fermented. It doesn't really smell appetizing. Is a strange odor normal? Did they go bad? I'm afraid to try one.

I had a step-dad growing up, and to him I WAS his daughter. There was no distinction with him between me and my half-brother. He always, always introduced me as his daughter, even when I was a bratty teenager that didn't always appreciate him. I loved him for that. On the flip side of that, I have a step-mother that came into my life as an adult. It does rub me the wrong way if she refers to me as one of her kids. But she has never been a mother figure in my life. I think that is an issue I have to work out though...not a reflection on her.

We've had both, and I prefer the counter top version, even though it takes up more space. It is just dangerous to get hot dishes/liquids out of the microwave when it is that high, especially if you have children. It is right at face level for most adults. (That said, we had one perched on top of an upright freezer for a while..my dh's idea. That increased the danger exponentially :001_huh:)

It really depends on the reserve/park/state. I was at one in Texas where the ranger actually showed us where the good blackberries for picking were! Yet, you can face fines in the Smokies for picking anything.