Depends on the finishes of the finishes. ;) A "flipped" house is different than a craftsman custom... Is the basement included in 3,000 sq ft? That alone could range from $350-700k. But most are on a .5ish acre lot. I don't know how you'd get 8-10 acres right around me unless you bought 16 houses and tore 15 down! :)

DH is not "watching the kids while you work." He's co-parenting his own children. If he isn't an active parent, that's an entirely separate issue to tackle. I'd be super pissed if DH micromanaged my time with the kids, and I'd never do it to him. I would brainstorm with him, ok, let's plan out the family schedule together... Mine definitely watches TV with the kids, but they're not plopped in front of the TV and ignored. They watch movies together, read the comics, watch sports, do sports, etc. It's a mix and they're engaged with each other. Are you qualified to teach any classes at a co-op? You don't have to have a daycare license to babysit. What do babysitters make per hour around you? Here it's $15/hr usually. The weeks around school holidays/transitions are really hard for WOHPs. House cleaning could easily get you $100/wk here with only one house a week. One of DH's assistants started cleaning offices on weekends when she went through a divorce because she could bring her kids with her to clean. She now runs a business on the side and her ex-MIL and SIL do the cleaning. Some PP suggested elder care. Our neighbor's DD hired someone in the neighborhood to come bring a hot meal to her dad every day. He's 86 and still does most everything else but never learned to cook. Elder care would not be my forte, but I could rock food delivery. :) Does your state offer tax credits to homeschoolers? A friend in Indiana was surprised her state did, and I think it was around $1K per kid. On the same tax line, will the loss of your income qualify your family for additional tax credits? Combination of reducing expenses and working to come up with $5000 a year: -shop around for insurance rates. We saved about $600/yr by switching companies -dumping land line phone or switching to a service like Ooma or Vonage -Canceling cable/satellite would save $$ a month and solve the TV problem... ;)

Nope. Your contract is with the landlord and the landlord only. Tell handyman that if he wants notice, he needs to get it from the landlord, presumably the person with whom he has a contract. He has no privity for that information.

Please tell me there are pictures!

Target's dollar spot has mini silver buckets that you could personalize and hang from cup hooks or Command adhesive hooks. The tiny pails have little handles for hanging. They sometimes come in seasonal colors, but the silver you could put a colored initial on to match your color coded magnets. Michael's usually carries these too. I bet Hobby Lobby and JoAnn, but I haven't been to either lately.

My kids have never had it, and I'd tell them to get water instead. Maybe iced tea? It makes really fun, scented, brightly colored homemade Playdoh!

I would address her directly. K, are you ok? Your eyes are glassy and you seem off. Are you getting sick? Boy, this pollen really affects me... Then wait for her reaction. What a tough situation, and it's hard to gauge how off is off from the interwebs.

Maybe y'all could go in their kitchen, make some snacks, get comfy on the couch and watch movies. Then tell them to take a hike when they get come home.

I asked my dentist, a parent from school who works as a hygienist, parents with kids in braces, parents of kids with great teeth... Literally every single person I asked recommended this one orthodontist who is less than 2 miles from my house. His online reviews were all 5 star. We met with him and didn't bother meeting with any others. His office is newly built and gorgeous. All of the exam chairs are out in the open. The only room I wasn't allowed in was the x-ray room as I was pregnant at the time. Parents can stay in the waiting room (which is semi-open to the exam area) or sit on low bench-like stools near the foot of each exam chair. My DD had a wire pop out in the back on a Saturday, and we called to leave a message to get her seen ASAP on Monday. In about half an hour, I got a call on my cell from one of the assistants saying she could meet us in the office in 5 minutes because no one wants to be poked all weekend. So nice! :)

Sears contracts with different manufacturers for different products, but Kenmore is always another brand under private label. You can google and find out who made your particular model. Appliances just aren't made to last very long now. Sadly, 8 years sounds like a good run for a well-used washer. :( I was able to google the error code on our old dishwasher and replace the control panel with a part from repairclinic as someone mentioned above, and I'm not overly skilled. I hope googling turns up a quick, easy, cheap fix. I probably wouldn't spend over $50 on a gamble to repair an 8 year old washer.

I'm sorry you're stressed. If people IRL are criticizing you or minimizing your concerns, you could stop sharing information with them or tell them that right now you need support and if they continue to criticize, you'll stop talking to them. I desperately wanted a VBAC but wound up with another c/s with my 2nd. I'm still a little sad that I never got to experience labor. I'm not going to tell you that the the experience doesn't matter, but try not to let your worries be your focus. Power of positive thinking and all that. ;) What do you like best about the newborn period? I love the weird little squeaky noises and the way they smell. Skip over thinking about delivery for now and think about whatever you love most. And, to stay in the moment, what do you love about pregnancy? I love the kicking and feeling them move and stretch. There is a tiny little human! Inside me! Focus on that. Good luck!

Please contact a lawyer. The things he has done may be actionable (libel, slander...) on top of being considered "stalking." Depending on how large your police department is, there may be an officer who has special victims training regarding stalking, so I would also go there for assistance. Screenshot everything, save everything, document, document, document. If there's no physical record of the incident, still write it down back as far as she can remember. Keep an ongoing notebook of this. How disconcerting. I'm sorry someone you know is going through this. :(

Call your insurance company and see if it's covered. Then I'd call in a professional company (such as ServPro) to get it dried out. You don't want to mess with mold. What a nightmare!

I have never seen a rash guard with the bra top built in. I have a tankini and rash guard from Lands End, and their rash guards aren't clingy. I also have a very lightweight, zip up jacket made of SPF fabric. Athleta carries a few plus sized options. I think Old Navy does too. I would love to find one that's like a v-neck tee instead of a mock turtleneck! If I never planned to take the top off, I'd get an underwire bikini that supported the girls well or an exercise undergarment made from wicking fabric.

Yes, this. A friend called to ask advice because her policy said no trampolines. I told her not to get a trampoline. She did anyway, and her insurance company did drive by inspections. Her insurance was canceled. She lives in Florida and had a really hard time finding an insurance company who would accept them with a prior cancelation, and the new policy was 2-3 times as much. And she had to take down the trampoline.

I was going to suggest Boxcar as well. I think I bought a set of 25 on Kindle.

I assume it's pasteurized milk? I wouldn't eat it. Once pasteurized milk gets funky, it's bacteria-laden, not just "sour." Food poisoning is miserable. I'm sorry. :(

Do you live near a Nordstrom's? They periodically have shoe tying clinics. I haven't been, but many friends have RAVED about them.

Do you have hard water? The vinegar could be making it worse. I use cloth diapers, and although our water supposedly isn't hard, vinegar made the funky smell worse. http://www.diaperpincorner.com/2002/01/vinegar-in-your-cloth-diaper-wash/ Too much detergent can also cause the smells to linger. Something with it binding with the fibers? Try washing the stuff without any detergent on hot and see if there are bubbles at the end of the agitation. When diapers start getting smelly, I do a no detergent hot wash, a little detergent + tiny splash of bleach hot wash, and another no detergent hot wash. That works with my washer and water to "strip" the diaper fibers clean. Drying in the sun helps too. You have a front loader? You said HE detergent, so I'm assuming... You may want to take everything to a laundromat with old-fashioned top loaders to make sure you're getting it rinsed thoroughly. You can also add buckets of HOT water to your machine somehow, but I haven't tried it with mine.

Rain seems to make possums more disoriented, as evidenced by higher than usual road kill numbers. Last night my DH was walking our two dogs in the pouring rain. A possum got about 6 feet from them before DH turned the flashlight strobe on it. It jumped and ran. They have really bad vision and I think the noise of the rain throws them off somehow. Aimee, your dog is gorgeous! If anyone wants to trade for two exceedingly sweet but stoopid rescue Goldens, lmk... ;)

My older kids learned cursive first in Montessori primary. I'd look online for Montessori methods such as tracing sandpaper letters with 2 fingers, using a pencil-shaped stick in a little sandbox...

No, not normal. At all. Not that the situation seems normal in any way. I'd call a lawyer specializing in family law and ask for advice.

My husband (a lefty) was sad our DS is a righty because he had dreams of raising a left-handed baseball pitcher. He half-joked about tying his right hand behind his back... ;) My husband wishes that someone had encouraged him to learn to cut right handed because left handed scissors stink and aren't always readily available. He can do many things right-handed, but scissors baffle him.

Is she involved with your kids? That would push it into the yes, definitely category. Everyone loves mail. I think it's a sweet gesture. I make cards on tinyprints.com (or whatever it is called now) with a picture of the kids and they address and mail the cards. Lots of non-MOM choices. :) Edited: it's treat.com and you can edit just about any of the verbiage on the cards.

Candy dish idea is great! And good for her for having a nice job already! The market is terrible. I bought my group of fellow law school survivors a watercolor print of our school done by a local artist and a large bottle of booze. :) Briefcase--I would leave that for her to choose. My favorite is (was? it's dusty!) red patent but I wouldn't use that in a formal area of practice.