That is great news! Wonderful! We'll keep you in our prayers for the radiation. :grouphug: Denise

We try to eat a lot of beans, rice, pasta, and homemade cornbread. It gets old eating it, and I hate beans, but it significantly cuts the grocery bill. Denise

My dd is only 4. I don't want to think about how fast she will grow up. My oldest has 3 yrs. of hs left and then he'll be off to college. One by one they will grow up and leave. It's good but it's sad too. I'm always delighted by their new thoughts/accomplishments/antics but sad to tuck the old ones away in my memory. Hugs to you NanceXToo. Denise

We're praying for your dh and you. I hope it all resolves on it's own soon. Otherwise, I hope he gets some good therapy sessions to help him w/ a full recovery. :grouphug: Denise

I do exactly what Hopscotch67 and FloridaLisa do - line the seat w/paper and then hold her. She's 4 now and still afraid of falling in the toilet. I wouldn't put diapers on her because it would insult her. I have carried an extra set of clothes in a ziplock bag though. Denise

My dh and both ds run in the mornings. The older ds wasn't complaining but stopping to walk too much. We talked to him about running through the discomfort and setting small goals for himself each run. We also talked about playing mind games with yourself - I'll make it to the next stop sign and so on. We look for 5ks and run those. He, oldest ds, is training for a big hike this summer so that is the big goal. Finding and setting goals, both small and large, have worked for our ds. We also added weight lifting to give him strenght. He's not "buffed" but he feels stronger so he runs better. Our younger ds is motivated by competing w/big brother. Once she's older, dd will begin running too. She's looking like the athlete in the family so she'll likely enjoy it the most. Denise

I forgot to say, I went through school in the 70's/very early 80's. At that time, my grandparents education was far superior to mine. Imagine the difference now. Denise

No, it's not a valid comparison. Both the culture and education have been on a downhill slide for the last several decades, imho. If I was feeling very cranky and fiesty, I might say, "It wasn't good enough for me and it's certainly not good enough for my kids," and walk away. Most likely though, I too would just pass the bean dip. Honestly, I was in college when I discovered that my grandparents had a better education than I was receiving at the university. They were very well read and understood economics, latin, science, and math on a fairly deep level. Pretty good for farmers who only had a high school education. They went through school in the 20's and 30's. I'm sorry the man was behaving so rudely to you. People think they can say whatever they want these days. :grouphug: Denise

My mom buys those very large plastic tubs and drills holes in the bottom for drainage. She puts in screen (yes, window screen material), then lines with newspaper, adds the soil, then plants. It's worked well for her. She grows lots of things in these boxes. She says it's too expensive to use wood. Denise

Wow! I didn't know a landlord could ignore such problems. We have a house that we rent and we installed a whole new ac/heater system when it went out, to the tune of $5,500. Gosh, we've been called to fix all kinds of things - and we fix them. One renter authorized a whole new faucet for a simple leak and stuck us with the bill. We ended up paying it but told them not to do anything like that again. They didn't, thank heavens! We also hire companies to do routine maint. on things like the ac/heater. I am sorry you're going through this. Is there some state or local agency that regulates landlords? Or advocates on behalf of renters? I hope you find the problem and it is a quick and easy fix. Then I hope you find a better landlord. :grouphug: Denise

I don't know if I should vote because our situation is so different. We've been married 20 yrs. In that time, I've been pregnant 7 times. We had 2 live births (middle dc is adopted). We went through periods of infertility and then periods of time when I was pregnant every 1 1/2 - 2 years but had miscarriage or stillbirths. Since my dd was born, 4 yrs. ago, no pregnancies. We aren't trying to conceive but we're not using anything, including NFP, to prevent. I'm also now 47, so that is a factor. My cycles are like clockwork and returned about 2 months after each pregnancy. My kids are 15 yrs. old, 10 yrs. (adopted) and 4 yrs. Denise

My ds and dh went through the Ordeal and it was all fine. They had to work in silence, camp out under the stars and have a lighter meal for breakfast and lunch. The lighter meal was what they normally eat anyway so it wasn't so light to them. At the end was a big feast and bonfire. They had a blast! It's really not such an ordeal. The OA is fun. Denise

My original reply post is gone?. Thanks for posting this info. For those of us who can't go, I live in FL, will there be tapes or dvds available for purchase on the websites? Denise

Oh, I loved that show. It's so funny! Dharma appeals to my hippie side! Denise

will there be tapes or dvds available for sale on the websites? Thanks for posting this info. It's good to know about it. Denise

I believe the earth is old and that God created everything. I voted for the utterly stupid category though because I think it is a useless argument. No one's salvation rides on how old they believe the earth is or isn't. I think it's a complete waste of time to argue it when we could be using our energy and time to do what God really wants us to do - taking care of each other, taking better care of the earth and so forth. What a complete waste of time in my opinion. Wow, I'm not usually so forceful with my words. I guess this whole thing bugs me more than I realized. Denise

pw23kids - now that is interesting. Horizons teaches topics sooner than MM then? Good to know. Thanks! Denise

Great idea WendyK - thanks! Denise

Breann- Thank you for sharing. Is there a lot of writing required for this program? I guess I didn't realize there was a writing component for the early levels. Hmm. Well, if it's easy to skip, then maybe that's what we'll do too. :) Thanks again. Denise

Thank you Katnorman and Sahamamama. This is helpful information. Does anyone reverse this and use MM as the spine and Horizons as the supplement? Denise

Do any of you use MM and Horizons together for early elementary (K-3)? If so, will you please share your experiences, both good and bad? Thanks. Denise

Does anyone or has anyone used Noeo Science for a Kindergartener? Will you please share your experiences, likes and dislikes? Thank you. Denise

Thank you for all your replies. Those costumes look great! I will definately start searching for the toys. I had never seen this cartoon. It was on either during or after college for me and I didn't watch TV then. When my dd fell in love w/it on the first watch, I was surprised. Honestly, I thought it was hokey (sorry, not meaning to offend anyone). But she loves it. You all have been a great help. Thanks! Denise

Does anyone know where I can get She-Ra toys and a costume for a 4- year old? Besides e-bay? My dd got this cartoon series from my brother for Christmas and just loves it. She rarely asks for toys but has asked for the toy horse, some action figures and a costume. I may be able to make the costume. My sewing skills are sorely lacking but sometimes I do ok. Thanks for your help. Denise

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head - can't remember the singer Can you tell I'm way older than all of you? Denise