Thanks. I had my husband outline the border last night, I took a picture today. My regular doctor wasn't available but her partner had an opening this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up on the prednisone, I knew that it weakened the immune system but had forgotten.

I have a bullseye rash on my arm, going to the doctor in about an hour. No other symptoms have shown up yet. I live in a area with Lyme, I hike a lot and I was backpacking last weekend. I never saw a tick but a rash showed up yesterday, the border has changed since last night and it has taken on the bullseye appearance. Do I insist on testing for Lyme, antibiotics? Is there anything else I need to bring up with my doctor? If it makes a difference I also got poison ivy last weekend and have been on prednisone for the past 7 days. This is definitely not poison ivy. Update: Doctor says my symptoms are classic Lyme symptoms, I started antibiotics. Hopefully I went in soon enough that I won't have lingering issues.

You two have to have a WTM meetup!

I have some Keens that are similar to Chacos, I love them and have done quite a bit of site seeing wearing them. I also have a pair of dressier looking Teva sandals that are great for walking. One problem with sandals is that if you haven't broken them in and get a tiny piece of gravel or rock in them, if can be super annoying. With how hot it is going to be though I think sandals would be much cooler than anything closed toed.

I would buy the bed you can afford and think is appropriate for her. A treehouse bed is very neat, but what about when she's 16? I've given my kids choices between a couple pieces of furniture but I've never given them full say. I definitely wouldn't spend $2k on a bed for my child unless they had a medical need for a special bed.

My husband works in Charleston regularly but when we go with him we mostly stay at the hotel. Depending on the direction you are coming from Stonewall Jackson State Resort Park is really, really nice. We were there in the spring right before they opened all the activities for the season but quite a bit was open. You can camp, stay at the lodge, or rent a cabin. There are all kinds of outdoor activities from swimming, canoeing, kayaking, bike riding, golf, hiking. They have a small nature center. If you stay at the lodge they have s'mores on the patio every night. We were there for a work trip but have talked about going back as a family because we enjoyed it so much. ETA here's a link: http://www.stonewallresort.com

I use the recommendations in TWTM. I narrow the recommendations to 2-3 choices, read up on those and choose, then I stick to it. I'm really only choosing for my oldest as I then have my younger children do the same thing. If I discovered that something I chose doesn't work for my younger kids, I worry about it at that time. My oldest is only beginning 4th grade so we just do the next thing for the most part. I'm sure as my kids get older my method will change but this works now. You could spend every waking moment checking into everything, but I don't have that kind of time.

It looks fantastic!

Katy you have a pronoun a couple posts back. Sending you big virtual hugs this morning and saying a prayer.

I'm so sorry for your loss!

I want their rooms the way you describe. The reality is my room is downstairs and the kids is upstairs. My husband travels a lot. The 5 year old is a tornado and often gets out things that don't belong to him. I'm too tired at the end of the day to make them clean their rooms the way I want. So now the rule is I must be able to vacuum and about once a month we get it good and clean.

It depends on the med. My husband was once out of town and forgot his meds, his doctor was able to get him a weeks worth to get by but I think he paid out of pocket.

I want the same thing!

Your additional explaination makes sense. I knew plastics increased estrogen levels, I was under the understanding that was through ingestion, especially in utereo. It's been a long time since I've done any reading on it though. My youngest son had to have a minor surgery as an infant due to a birth defect that has been linked to certain types of PET. I hadn't thought about it in a long time even though I don't let my kids eat or drink from plastic dishes. Anyway, you have a legitimate medical concern. Just say no to these well meaning relatives. If your son had a severe nut allergy and they kept trying to give him nuts you would have no concerns being firm. I think you need to view this the same way. You don't have to explain the medical issue if you don't want to.

Are they just casually mentioning this stuff over the phone before they bring it over? I just can't imagine my inlaws telling me ahead of time they have a freebie tshirt for my kids. If they did, I'd just tell them we were all set for clothes. As far as the promo and garage sale items, either when they ask or hand it to you, just say "no thank you." Don't feel bad or feel like you have to explain. When your son loses something they might want to replace, I wouldn't mention it to them unless you are confident they would only replace it with an acceptable alternative. It sounds like they are trying to be helpful but it isn't the the help you want. I don't understand what you mean by not sleeping in plastic. Do you mean the shirts are made out of polyester?

OPGTR and Bob books are why I used with my first two kids. It's pretty simple and worked well for us.

I love that you aren't afraid to be different!

Best idea yet!

Me too! I'm trying to figure out piano and adding in soccer to an already full schedule. I don't like being busy every single day, but I can't figure out what to drop.

O totally didn't take it that way. 😊

Oh Katy! I have so much sympathy for you and I just am so sad that some kids become like this.

If I hadn't been struggling with insomnia when I posted the poll I could have come up with this better question.

Where I grew up everyone had basements. Where I live now it's about 50/50 because of the limestone and basements being expensive to dig and sometimes blast out. I prefer not having a basement, for us it would be a place for junk to collect. For what it's worth my grandparents live in the panhandle of Texas, they have a special storm shelter for tornado protection. My inlaws have also put one in although they live in an area where tornados are not terribly common.

Me!!!!!!!!

Thanks to this thread we got our first ever Japanese beetle infestation. In two days my roses have gone from beautiful to pitiful. There are way too many beetles to pick them off by hand. I went to Home Depot to look for options. I knew Sevin was bad, found a 3in 1 that looked promising until I read the fine print, it was harmful for bees and toads. We have a ton of toads! An employee recommended neem oil which is not harmful to bees and is only mildly harmful to toads, if they ingest the plants that have been treated. I'm giving it a shot and seeing if it works. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/neemgen.html