Someone chose the cat house but didn't say why! The land is enticing for the price. Those poor realtors are earning their commissions.

Lol!

His name is definitely unintelligible to other people. Its 2 syllables and not difficult for other children to pronounce. Other than that he can carry quite the conversation with strangers with them only occasionally missing a word here and there. Even with mispronounced words, he is mostly understood by others. His vocabulary is fine now, I have no worries at all. My older two kids were pretty advanced with language so now having a child that is more average or below average it's hard for me to gauge if that's just how he is, or if it's a concern. An OT evaluation is something I hadn't thought about. He hasn't been as interested in coloring or drawing like his brother and sister were so I've kind of chalked up his not writing well to lack of practice. I did in the last week find some activities for working on fine motor skills and we have been working on them. You all have given me some good things to think about. I'll talk with his pediatrician at his upcoming appointment.

I didn't put a stipulation on redecorating. I imagine it would considerably more expensive to redo the cat house unless you were opening a cat rescue.

You need a new house, these are the only two left in the world, there are no other options. Which one would you choose? Cat Dream House: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/648108-crazy-house/ https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/az/concho/669-county-road-8235-stanford/pid_18337473/ OR Mannequin Hotel http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/652684-so-on-house-selling-look-at-this-listing/page-1 http://www.har.com/4302-colony-west-dr/sale_78077894

Did anyone notice the stuffed coyote (or something) reaching into the fish tank? I can't remember which room it was, maybe the dining room. Whoever owned this house had a quirky sense of humor.

[quote name="Moonhawk" post="7703479" timestamp="1500497497 Im my family culture 4x a week is not unusual or excessive, at least for kids 10 and under. That wouldn't be unusual for my friend or her sisters either. In my family growing up we saw our grandparents daily. Not necessarily because they were watching us but grandma came over every day to help with lunch, grandpa would take us to run errands, us kids would stop by between the swimming pool and home, etc.

I'm so glad she is safe! I'm sorry that the aging process sucks though. Seeing people you love not be like them self is tough.

Thanks for your input. I think he struggles with more than just the /r/ sound but I can't pinpoint other letters. I need to pay better attention. For the longest time I just thought he sounded cute but he is starting to be frustrated when other people can't understand him. We get the comment on him sounding like he's from Boston a lot! I'm usually a wait and see person but if getting help early would be better, I'd go that route. I can't say that I'm worried, more just don't want to ignore it if I could do something for him.

That is helpful! Even if he didn't qualify for services through the school, would a few sessions of private therapy be beneficial so that I can help him work on that sound or would it be overkill? He does have a physical scheduled for August so I can talk to his pediatrician at that time.

We have a/c this summer but a couple years ago we were without from Memorial Day until mid August. We went swimming and to all the cheap summer movies as often as possible. It was a long, hot summer. My husband is a DIY guy too. He tried fixing a couple things and did manage to get the upstairs unit working but not the downstairs. It turned out a lightening strike actually did take out the a/c and insurance paid for it. We didn't think they would. A few days after they paid we had a new, better unit, and I almost kissed the installation guy.

I missed that one!

I'm so sorry! Saying a prayer for you and for her.

How do I know if my 5 year old needs speech therapy or if the way he speaks is something he will outgrow? He is very articulate and has a big vocabulary but he sounds like he's from Boston (no offense Bostonians!) and we don't live there. He especially struggles with r sounds at the middle or end of words, including his name. Car is caw, bird is bahd, hurt is well I can't even phonetically write how he says that. When we don't understand him he pronounces the word the same way with more emphasis but it sounds even less like the word he was trying to say than before. I don't think he is capable of saying certain words correctly or hearing that he says them differently than other people. When my older kids mispronounced words they could usually pronounce them correctly when I would say the right pronunciation and have them repeat it. Up until now I've assumed he too would outgrow the mispronounciations but he recently turned 5 and I've started wondering if maybe speech therapy would be appropriate. If we do go that route should we pursue it through the school system or privately? We do homeschool if that makes a difference. For added information, he kind of has a lazy personality. He has been months behind my other kids in terms of physical, fine motor, and speech development but about the time I start to get concerned, he suddenly catches up. For example my other kids took their first steps well before age 1, he was 15 months. My older kids were very talkative at age one (one had about 200 words), at his 15 or 18 month checkup (can't remember which) my youngest only said a couple words and that was including momma. He was about to be referred for speech and then suddenly started taking. My oldest was reading a few words and writing very short stories at the same age, this child can write the first two letters of his name but they aren't really recognizable. It's hard for me to see if this is just another example of how he develops more slowly than his siblings did and know if intervention is necessary. I'm not worried, but if speech therapy would be helpful, then I'd like to get started.

What is up with the mannequins? When I'm stepping out of the shower I don't want to encounter a mannequin. That is a nice house but it is so difficult to see past all the quirky stuff!

I agree with this.

Oh and I just realized your house has been on the market 3 months not 2 years like I first read. I definitely wouldn't give up yet and I probably wouldn't reduce the price anymore unless you are super desperate. What's the average days in the market for your price range? Houses under $250k in my area are selling within a couple weeks on the market. However if you go above that price point it's more like 2-3 months. Much above that is quite a bit longer.

I think your home is gorgeous! I wouldn't change anything in the bathroom or laundry. If you want to sell the house, I would find a new realtor that's more motivated.

Moonhawk-- thanks for the latest response. My opinion is that it is going to be hard but I would not discuss your children's education with your parents at all. The next time it comes up I would say something along the lines of, "I appreciate your opinion and your concerns but you had your chance to raise your children and now it's my chance. I will not discuss this with you further." Then anytime school comes up firmly say, "I will not discuss this topic with you." I've been there, done that, it's hard but it's the only way to get them to stop talking about it to you. No amount of explaining will help if it hasn't helped in the last 3-4 years.

That's great. Here if kids arrive at school early they have to go to the lunchroom or gym. In elementary walkers have to met by their parents. The playgrounds in this area are usually open to the public after school hours. Some schools have signs that say after 6:00pm, they usually have after school programs and are near apartments. Two of the three elementary schools and the private school in my current town are fenced off and only for school use. We do have nice city parks so it isn't a huge deal, but the school is walking distance and the park isn't really.

Are there life guards at the pool? That's how his wound address the pool problems.

What I have done is assign my child to get two or three items and then meet up with me in the next aisle. Then I have him get a couple more until the list is done. We also have a standing rule to meet up front near the registers if he can't find me and if he goofs around the privilege of helping is taken away. He enjoys helping so it works pretty well.

What a day! You can go to bed now.

We stay home on weekends as much as possible as my husband travels a lot for work. This year I have been going backpacking once a month and he visits his parents when I'm gone. This year we travelled more than normal too which encompassed three weekends in June. I usually go on a girls weekend and a retreat for church too. We attempt to run errands during the week so we can be home on the weekends.

We went through the dollar store and found fun stuff. I really wanted to include silly string but since I was mailing it, didn't. I put a pair of sunglasses, deck of cards, notebook, pen, pack of gum, and then a gallon sized ziplock that had small party type toys like whistles, glow sticks, and airplanes to share with his cabin. We couldn't send food or I would have sent candy and cookies.