I don't think Saxon Phonics was mentioned in this thread either and it is O-G.

I always get dressed each day unless I am sick. If am working out that morning I may be in my workout/pajamas longer but I still get dressed and shower afterwards. (When I'm not working out I shower every other day usually.) It is a habit for me and I feel odd wearing my pajamas all day, but I don't think it actually makes me any more productive. It's just something I do, like making my bed every day. I pretty much always wear jeans, either shorts or pants and a t-shirt at home. Even when I go out this is what I wear, although my shirt might be a nicer looking/newer one. I do not wear makeup aside from mascara maybe once a week and no jewelry except earrings and unless I'm going out I just always wear the same Pearl studs.

I will for sure compare ticket prices to the membership and I've always wanted to try some beignets. Thank you for the tips!

Thanks everyone, you've all given me so much to think about and resarch! I'm looking forward to exploring New Orleans! I would love to see the Laura plantation, I love a good tour and the French culture in New Orleans is fascinating! Thank you for the tips! The San Francisco plantation looks lovely and I'll put it on our list! Thank you so much for all your tips, but especially the information about the light festival, that sounds really neat and we'll definitely make an effort to see that! Thank you for sharing the blog post! The class looks really neat! Thank you for that input we will forget about Natchez for now then and focus on New Orleans!

Yes, I completely agree. The person you are describing sounds like my sister in law. We had a conversation on this topic years ago and had very differing opinions. At the time she had never closely walked through someone dying whereas I had on two occasions and that made a huge difference in how I viewed the situations.

We have the opportunity to go on a road trip the last two weeks of December from California to Tyler, TX. Because we'll be out there and there isn't much DH and I want to see between here and Tyler (we've been that route enough times already, although I want to take him to San Antonio, since I loved it and he has never been) we are considering going to Louisiana and/or possibly Natchez, MS. I have never been to either location and have always wanted to see some plantations and the bayou. Our kids are small (the older two would have their birthdays during the trip and would be turning 7 & 5, the younger would be 1), so we wouldn't be able to tour more than a couple plantations and any fun ideas for younger children would be welcome too! So what are the best plantations and what is a must-do in Louisiana/New Orleans?

I also had high hopes having seen all the trailers and thought it was cute and good, but not great. I think Pixar could have done better. DH liked it though and so did our 6 and 4 yo.

Thermos brand... They have a couple of different styles but I've used the straw style and the baby sippy cup and I liked them both. Pretty easy to clean and more leakproof than most of the other brands I tried.

My nephew had one that looked similar to your sons and it healed on its own. He is two now and his belly button looks normal.

Oh I can't imagine, my prayers will be with you all!

Mothers Day usually means a get together with family for us. Sometimes it is DH's Mom but this year we are doing a BBQ at my Grandmas house. We are taking MIL out to dinner on Monday. My kids are still young so they don't really do anything for me and DH is a hit and miss when it comes to Hallmark holidays so I don't expect anything. He asked what I wanted and I told him I wanted him to not show any houses (he is a realtor) on Sunday and to finish painting our bathroom cabinets so they can get installed!

I would pick 2... The floor plan is the most important part of the house, in my opinion.

I like my name, although it's definitely one of the popular ones for my age. I love the way my first and middle names flow and I continued the tradition of my eldest daughter sharing the middle name (it is my Mom's as well). My name doesn't fit in the "theme" my parents did for my younger siblings though so when I was about 12 they asked me if I would like to change my name. I said no.

I grew up in a family of five and I have very fond memories of the times we would pack up our tent trailer and go on trips to national parks and visit out of the way museums! Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Glacier would be an awesome trip, those are gorgeous places! If you do do that make sure to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum in Cody, WY! Another option if you want to combine beach/national parks would be to fly to California and do a trip just in California. You could do LA, Disneyland if you want, rent an RV or just do hotels and visit Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, Yosemite, Gold Country, San Francisco and the central coast. Maybe find out what your kids would like. There really are so many options I hope you figure out what is right for your family!

Executive members receive 2% of all purchases back as a check. We spend enough money at Costco that this pays for our membership with usually a little extra. Executive members can also receive extra "perks" on traveling deals, early entry, etc. General prices are the same though.

I've bought a refurbished iPhone from AT&T and was very happy with my purchase. My husband also bought one off Craislist once.

Anything that skips Yosemite isn't the perfect road trip!

We live in California and my husband has gone hunting once (for quail). My Dad and brother go occasionally. According to DH you aren't supposed to use lead bullets here at all.

I always thought, even when I was young, that it is a weird book, but having had my second son stillborn I can completely understand the mentality behind it. I definitely think the illustrations are creepy and could have been done better!

I've heard of people making a little garden decoration or something by mixing the ashes into the cement. I hope you can figure something out! I'm not into urns for ashes either... For my stillborn we put them into a box and buried it underneath a tree we planted in his memory, there is no marker aside from the tree though. I'm not sure you would be able to find your siblings name through a death certificate, a lot of states do not grant death certificates for stillborn babies.

Exactly what MaeFlowers and Happy said! My DH has been an agent for almost two years now and honestly it is about your reputation and not how much money you are making. SO many sales never pan out that we never even assume he will be making anything until the day escrow closes. DH has had a couple situations where he represented both and that was enough for us to see it isn't necessarily worth it to be making the whole commission when you're walking on eggshells the whole time and trying to help everyone. If you can inform yourselves and stay on top of things though you'll probably be fine!

My midwife could tell by palpating. My OB never bothered to touch my stomach without the US wand, so I doubt he can.

I am looking forward to this change, it means I can consolidate to one credit card (because AMEX isn't accepted other places we have had two and the new card is a Visa). And while I'm curious what the new rewards program and I would normally be irritated Costco is one of the few companies I trust.

I have an Ektorp sectional. It is almost 3 or 4 years old, I can't remember. We have the solid medium brown cover and it's been washed probably close to 7 times. It has held up fairly well, the frame is in good condition. The cushions next to the arms are kind of "saggy" from being sat in so often. I do wish I had a printed cover, it shows every spot (and I currently have a spitting up baby). If you do not have a very large front loader you probably won't be able to fit the slipcover that goes over the frame in your washer and we have to hang it up to dry so it hangs right. Overall I do like it for the price though, it's held up pretty well.

I'm waiting for my copy from Amazon, I ordered in late November. I read that they are doing a large printing mid March and that should cover the rest of the orders. I also read that an e-book is in discussion but probably won't come out for quite a while.