My husband likes Zebra pens. I like Pentel RSVP RT retractable ball point pens. I'm going I try the Frixion pens for my kids.

Do these pens actually erase throughly? My son always wants to write in pen but I want him to be able to erase.

This happened to my husband. His brake drums actually broke (72 Chevy pickup, modern cars don't have drums). It was rush hour on a 7 lane road. He did manage to steer to the turn lane and slowed down enough that when he hit the car in front of him he only caused minor damage to their bumper. Sparkly- how do you drive on mountains or hilly roads without a lower gear?

Ketchup and mustard are frequently left on the table in restaurants. I like it better cold but I don't think it would make you sick.

I would keep it.

I only heard of these last week. My kids definitely haven't heard of them. Of course I've only been out of the country a couple times and my kids never have.

Tell me what this looks like in your home. Do you use the parent and child book? Just the parent book? I bought the parent book and have skimmed it. It isn't what I expected, I think I want the child book too, but don't want to spend more money just yet.

One kid hates tomatoes in any form. One hates eggs. My oldest will eat just about anything. I still eat those and will often find a substitute on days we have those. Overall they are decent eaters, my boys are very willing to try new things, my daughter not so much. She is getting better about trying new things, but still isn't great. We do "snack" plates regularly but you guys gave me a few new ideas. Breakfast is good, I haven't done pancakes in awhile and they are so easy. In cooler months we eat a lot of soup, I think I need to make another big pot, I just don't think about it when I'm hot. I'm going to try fried rice. I have never made it but I think my kids would really like it.

Black bean and corn salsa (some people call it cowboy caviar). I make mine with equal parts corn and black beans, a little cilantro, a red pepper (can easily be left out), a drizzle of basalmic vinegar and olive oil. Some people add chopped tomato or avocado but I like to make enough for leftovers and those don't keep as long.

I need some new lunch ideas for my kids. What do your kids eat for lunch in the summer? We get home from swim team close to lunch time so the two kids who have been swimming are ready to eat. I don't have as many leftovers in the summer which tends to be my go to for a quick lunch. One of my kids doesn't care for sandwiches of any type, so I try to limit those to once a week or days we take a picnic to the park.

Has it turned up yet? My brother's missing iguana once turned up on my sister's headboard. I was so glad it went in her room and not mine! Another time it got outside the house and then it got cold overnight. It sort of froze (I'm sure there is an actual term for this) and fell out of a tree when my dad walked under it. Scared my dad pretty good, but once it got warmed up it was fine.

Is she still in children's sizes or is she in adult sizes? You may be able to find something at Gap, Ann Taylor (check clearance racks), Kohls, Macy's, Dillard's, or even Amazon. I have better luck finding specific clothing items online. I recently found a black skirt at TJ Maxx.

Are you taking any medications? My husband's blood pressure medicine did that to him. He had been on it awhile but had it filled at a different pharmacy where they carried a different generic. I was certain he had something more serious wrong but he quit that bp med and the swelling went away.

Are you looking for casual type clothes or dressier clothes? Does she have certain brands she likes?

My son just finished 2nd grade: Monday-Thursday -Morning routine (Bible memory work, devotion, hymn sing, read aloud with picture books geared toward my younger kids) -Math -Penmanship -Writing -Spelling -Piano practice -Loop subjects (history, science, geography) We just do the next one on our loop, some days we do two but most days it is just one Friday -Morning routine -Math -Music -Art/projects -Poetry and Teatime Our days are relaxed. I try to do things in the same order and we try to start at 9. If my 3 year old was having an off day things got changed up. I would have my 8 year old do what he could on his own and we would scrap the rest for the day. He also read a lot on his own so he always has a pile of books to read from.

I see now you are asking about chapter books, I think my daughter is still a least a few months off from being ready. She will read 2-3 pages of the Ramona books with me, but she gets really tired. If we each read every other page we can make it through a chapter.

What do you mean by fluent? My first child went from his very first reading lessons shortly after he turned 5 to about a 2nd/3rd grade reading level in 6 months. A couple months later he was reading EVERYTHING, including the bible. I think he's a bit unusual though. He did know his letter sounds when we started. My daughter was 5.5 when we began in September. She knew many but not all of her letter sounds, she couldn't even consistently recognize certain letters. By January she was reading most of the Bob books. I feel like she is really taking off now, she reads random words on signs, cereal boxes, and over my shoulder. She is reading Annie and Snowball books and Mr. Putter books. She hasn't made the jump to more difficult books yet and she still doesn't read in her head. I'm not sure if that is considered fluent but I do consider her reading.

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I tend to send thank you notes and I have my kids write them. A will tell a very close friend thank you verbally but for the most part I write notes. When I take food to new moms or give a baby shower gift at church I tend to tell them they don't need to worry about sending a thank you. Most people around here seem to send thank yous unless told it's not necessary. My husband never had to write a thank you note until he married me and I "made" him write wedding thank yous to his family. Now anytime his dad's parents give us a gift, his dad wants to know if my husband sent a thank you. OP you are a very generous gift giver! I know you weren't posting to brag, but those are significant gifts in my mind. Unless everyone in those gift receivers' lives are that generous, they should be sending a thank you to stay in your good graces. They should at least acknowledge the gifts in some way even if they don't write notes.

In this case I would probably switch. There is something to be said for your time and for the ability to be seen when needed.

That sounds frustrating. Is there an employee handbook stating the policy for family dental care? In other businesses, full time employees do generally get more benefits (usually insurance or time off related) than part time employees, but this seems significantly different. I would ask him directly if you can receive the regular employee discount, if he says no, ask if you can pay what insurance reimburses.

I have recently started using these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FED594/ref=pd_aw_sim_121_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=31LPBO7I0hL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C44_&psc=1&refRID=55JXWQCQQY2HMKBW9406 I layer a regular waterproof mattress pad, one of these, a bottom sheet, then a quilt or blanket. My kids do sleep in pull ups but they link almost every night. Supposedly these will hold up to 300 washes, I'm at about 10 right now so I can't attest to the durability.

Fort Mitchell is what I meant when I said Fort Wright up above.

I just looked in Covington, the cheapest room is $149 and that's a Hilton Honors special rate. You may have better luck staying north of Cincinnati, close to Ikea (I can't remember the name of the suburb). It's about an hour between Cincinatti and Louisville. Louisville rooms may be cheaper but that might be state fair time causing room prices to be up. Simpsonville is on the other side of Louisville not quite all the way to E-town. It's probably further than you want to drive in one night but another option.

Try Fort Wright or Newport. They are across the river from Cincinnati but may have cheaper rates than Florence.