My then K'er did 4/5 hours of school work with k12. My then 3rd grader at least 6. Its part of the reason why we stopped... I'm lucky that my youngest genuinely enjoyed desk/learning time and reading or that would have been a year of misery...

Maybe 7%, not including eating out.

We went to the beach and watched fireworks go off at three different locations... they broke the world record for most fireworks! It was amazing, but it took us over 2 hours to get home so I think next year we will stay in! :) We've stayed in the last few years so this was a first for the girls.

My youngest is now 6 years old and in the past year and a half we've gone to Greece, Spain (Barcelona), Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Sri Lanka and Thailand were by far bigger hits with my girls than Europe. Greece (Athens, Meteora, Delphi) was my vacation of choice but it was very hard with the girls because the number of sites and museums I wanted to fit into our trip was beyond their attention span. And since there are so many places to see in this world, I felt like I wanted to pack as many into my vacation as possible since I may not return to Greece any time soon. The Greek food was a hit, but the trip itself lacked the freedom, adventure, and leisure time that my kids wanted. Barcelona was similar. I wanted to visit Cathedrals and drink beer, they didn't think that was much fun. ;) Don't get me wrong, we still really enjoyed the trips, but I can't help but think it would have been better to go to those places after the kids were a bit older and could really appreciate how amazing the history is there. Sri Lanka on the other hand was great for them. We went on a truck ride through the jungle and watched wild elephants, we went running through the jungle and saw fruits/spice plants. We played with puppies, visited temples that were overrun with enough monkeys to keep the kids interested. We stopped at random places along the road for tropical fruits and watched monkeys, peacocks, cows, and other animals wandering around. Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai) was very kid friendly as well, despite the former's seedy reputation. We went shopping at the markets and both kids were happy they could afford things. We ate lots of sweets from street vendors, saw elephants at a nature reserve, visited outdoor ruins, fed catfish and turtles, took boats rides, made paper out of elephant poop, took tuktuk rides.... It was a lot easier and cheaper to balance kid friendly activities with more "boring" adult pursuits like temples and museums in Sri Lanka and Thailand than it was in Europe. You can also come to Dubai and I'll show you around, though its better in March than January. ;)

Yes, I've gone a step further and considered boarding school for my oldest. I don't actually want to send her away, but puberty and the emotional rollercoaster that sometimes goes along with it make me occasionally fantasize.

Not counting socks/underwear/bras or workout clothing, I probably don't have much more than than anyway. I usually donate anything that doesn't fit me anymore or that I have not worn in a year so that keep things at a lower number.

I'd call her Aunt so as not to cause a scene or alienate your brother. Either they will still be together in a year or two and getting married and the Aunt title will be appropriate or they will have broken up and your young kids won't remember her and it won't matter. If they do break up, mention next time that you'd prefer not to call his partners "aunt" until the relationship is more formalized. My brother divorced his wife, and we still call her "Aunt firstname". My kids also have a few extra grandparents due to remarriages - so my mother's husband's stepmother is still Gramma firstname despite being a great grandmother two marriages away. So I think its as much about relationship and intentions as legal status...

I have autumn stuff up all year. Like pumpkin shaped scented candles that are pretty harvest/halloween in feel. I like the warm smells and they remind me of my favourite time at home... they aren't totally outrageous so why not.

We use credit cards because it gives us 2% cash back. We use the cash back to pay the annual credit card fee and then there is usually quite a bit left over. We pay it off every week or so to minimize interest. Our bank is pretty great with regards to security... every time we make a purchase on our debit card or credit card we get a sms informing us of what we spent and where. Sometimes if the spending is unusual they call us right away to make sure we authorized the purchase. We then take the info and immediately put it into toshl to keep track of spending. I tend to be bad with money - losing it in the washing machine or under things. It makes for happy surprises when I do laundry, but I'm still better off just using my cards.

A soup ladle made out of a coconut and a stick. I like it, but it doesn't fit in my utensils drawer.

I stopped having children because it meant that I would be less likely to do the things I want to do in life. Travelling would be harder, housing more expensive, going back to university to get a masters one day would again be pushed back. Everything that I like to do would become more expensive. I am looking forward to being an empty nester, despite my current enjoyment of parenting. My youngest could be off to uni by the time I'm 40! Right now the kids are old enough that they can be reasoned with, that they can be left to their own devices for a few hours. I'm enjoying this stage in a way that I would not be able to do if I had to shift my priorities to a new baby/toddler. That's pretty much why we stopped - I'm not willing to reset the clock on that 18 year kid commitment.

I get where you are coming from. We moved to Dubai from Canada and while I think its easier here to keep with our own traditions because of the huge number of expats, its still different enough that we go out of our way to try and recreate a Canadian feel to our special holidays. And yeah, it gets stupid expensive to do so, we've been priced out of getting a ham! For christmas this year I've been invited to a bbq and I'm torn about going. On the one hand, spending it with friends I like while sitting out in the sun sounds great. On the other hand I have a turkey and all the fixings ready to go and going out to a bbq means not having our special xmas dinner.... I did this for thanksgiving! My friend has decided not to eat "anything with a face". So, she just baked her own tofurkey loaf to add to the dinner while we brought the bird. It was actually kinda fun to have tofurkey (which I had never tried before) in addition that those foods that make it feel traditional to me.

Dad died april 2012. I have no regrets about any of the things I did until I knew the cancer had come back. I think I was an okay daughter. I built an in law suite for him to live in attached to our home, and he basically lived rent free for 5 years. I bought his ostemy supplies after the first cancer diagnosis, I invited him over frequently. I spent every Christmas with him. I moved him to the city I was living in so he could be close to his grand daughters. But I wish I had spent more time in the hospital after his terminal diagnosis, I wish I had held his hand more, I wish I had been there everyday. I wish I had told him I loved him a few more times. I wish I had talked to him about what he wanted done. I wish I had been there when he passed. I wish I had understood that NOTHING was more important that spending every available second he had left, since it was only a couple weeks from diagnosis to his passing. But I froze. I went to the hospital but not as much as I should have - I didn't want to see him sick. It was a relief not to be there and I feel very guilty about feeling like that. I missed him very much and its still hard to believe he is gone. I regret not having many nice photos of him.

DD6 (technically grade 1) - Your test got a 3.6 . NRRF test she missed her first word on in the grade 4 paragraph, putting her in grade 3 I think. DD10 (grade 5) - Your test got a 4.3. NRRF test she missed her first word in the 5th grade passage. Actually in the 4th grade passage she inserted a word, but quickly corrected herself so I don't know if that counts.

lots and lots and lots. Every few weeks I invade everyone's privacy and scour drawers, behind dressers and under furniture and I usually end up finding a few dozen. At the beginning of the year I usually pick up 50/60.

We are doing a mug w/ hot coco, popcorn and pjs. Then we will watch a movie together wearing/eating all the new stuff. :)

Yes, going. We were going to go today but we would have had to sit right in front. Hopefully we will go tomorrow. I enjoyed the first and I'm looking forward to the second.

Unpopular opinion? I think Ricky Gervais is kinda handsome. I don't know why.

Kings of Tokyo is a favourite in this house.

Yes, I always answer the door. I live in a secure building though, so most people have to buzz me to be let in. Those that don't buzz are usually the kid's friends or water delivery people, or the guys who check the fire alarms every 2 months. My door was usually wide open (with screen closed) in my previous home, so obviously I'd answer then too. I have no fear at all that the person at the door is going to be a bad guy. I would hate to live with that kind of fear.

No, and like someone else said, I didn't when I believed in a higher power. I baffles me how someone could thank god for finding their car keys or having a short line in the drive through while there are millions of people in this world praying for basics - shelter, food, health, safety - and not getting it.

I fostered and found a home for a kitten I found on the streets a few weeks ago. I skated 22 laps in 5 minutes, only 4 more laps to go before I meet minimums.

Don't talk about your parrot the whole time. Don't include many photos of your parent. Don't mention your excitement at seeing me at the next national parrot convention when I don't even own a parrot.

Look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower. Can help reduce toilet paper use. You can get kits for like 15$.

I am also addicted. So much so that I spent dozens upon dozens of hours creating my own online planner...