I haven't figured it out yet, you are ahead of me. Following for ideas.

I've always wanted 4 and thought I was at peace with having 3 until I had an unexpected pregnancy and miscarriage last year. Another child isn't completely off the table for us, but my husband doesn't want me to go through another pregnancy. We have talked about pursuing adoption through foster care but we probably won't pursue that until our children are a bit older. It's tough. I frequently get comments asking when we will have another from people not realizing how painful that subject is for me.

That's great. Anything that can occupy a child for an afternoon is awesome. I hope he continues to find enjoyment with Legos.

Seconding all the above plus there is a free summer bowling program, but you may have to pay to rent shoes. Check with your local parks & rec, library, and visitor center.

I think the idea behind not using scored rods is to discourage counting.

It sounds like your child is doing very well for her age. My third child just turned 2, I wouldn't stress about a 2 year old not knowing her colors correctly. Just like children roll over and walk at different times, they learn their colors when they are ready and don't need to be drilled. Bring up the colors in natural conversation and she will learn them. My daughter used to call things the wrong color as her way of joking, at age 4 she knows them all well. I would suggest since your child is already attending a formal school program that you allow them lots of free play and spend lots of time reading to them. At the park, let them play with the equipment, dig in the dirt, or pick up sticks and use their imagination. At home play dough, blocks, dolls, costumes, and Legos are all good things. Let your child explore on their own. Kids don't need a ton of toys or activities to be entertained. A sink of water, a cup, and a ladle can provide hours of fun.

I just saw your comment that she is grouchy if she is woken. That happens to me, it's like I'm woken during the wrong part of my sleep cycle. Usually a 15 minute nap is better for me than a 2 hour nap. There is an app that is supposed to help wake you when you aren't in as deep of a sleep. I've never used it but if you decide to shorten her naps you may want to check into something like that.

I would keep her on her regular schedule until school starts. It sounds like she really needs her rest. Go cold turkey skipping naps at school, you could continue to allow her to nap on days she is at home if you need her to. I suspect after a week or so of no nap she will either begin to be ready for an earlier bedtime or sleep later in the mornings. One thing that I have taught my kids is that they aren't allowed to get out of bed until 7. There is an "OK to wake" clock but I teach my kids to look for the number 7 on their digital clock. If they wake early they can look at books or go back to sleep. It helps them (and me) get the rest they need. 7:00 may be unrealistic for your daughter but you could try 6:30 to help her sleep later than 5:30. It does sound like she needs more sleep than average.

My son made a trivet out of a tile with a photocopy of his picture mod podged onto it. It turned out really cute. You could do a trivet or coasters. You could also use scrapbook paper or art work instead of a picture.

My husband wears a 15, I always order from Zappos or Shoebuy and return shoes that he doesn't like or that didn't fit right. They both offer free shipping in both directions which is nice. You may have to pay for expedited shipping to get them on time though.

The Bippalo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr Suess, narrated by Neil Patrick Harris. The Cricket in Times Square. We listened to an audiobook narrated by EB White too, I think it was The Trumpet of the Swan but I'm not sure. I wouldn't think any of his books would be too long for younger kids.

I struggle with this. I find it helpful to commit to working on something for 20 minutes. Then I can quit. Often the overwhelming projects don't take as long as I expected. Sometimes the projects are just as bad as I expected but the little bit of progress is motivation to keep going.

If my last son had been a girl he would have been Eliza or Analeigh. Names that I think would fit well with your other kids' names are Clementine, Sierra, and Kiera.

If you like audiobooks you may want to listen to the Cricket in Times Square, it is really good. My kids are 6,4, and 2, we have listened to it twice, read it aloud once, and my son read it to himself, in the past year.

Many picture books really are written at a higher level, we check out 30-40 at a time. For some reason my son doesn't mind reading picture books multiple times either. Sometimes reading books at a lower level is fine because the books are fun. My 6 year old loves the animal books by Dick King-Smith, they are really easy for him but he loves the characters. In fact he taught himself how to use the library's online catalog to find more of them. Non-fiction really helps with the maturity issue but still challenges reading ability. Find a children's encyclopedia and then check out additional books on topics your child shows an interest in. You may want to check out Ambleside year 1 books too, the books are older but many of them can be found free for your Kindle. Make friends with your children's librarian, she/he can be a great resource. Good luck!

This is a really long list for one year so I don't think you can get through them all. Also, I'm not familiar with all of these titles. Keeping that in mind I would save the Ramona books, Freckle Juice, The Tale of Despereaux, and Because of Winn Dixie until she is a bit older. Those are books I think she would enjoy reading herself in a couple years. Narnia could be done as a read aloud later too. She MAY be able to read Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle series on her own now. I think she could read My Fathers Dragon on her own too. I really enjoy reading books by EB White though so I would pick Stuart Little or Charlotte's Web for a read aloud. If I remember correctly Honey I Love and Hundred Dresses are picture books so those would be good now. I hope that gives you a little direction.

Yes, I grated it myself. Very true about cheddar, maybe I'll try a different type of cheese next time.

It was starting to bubble as I added the milk, the temp is really hard to control on my stove. I'll try leaving it a touch cooler.

I'll definitely try it again. I did remove it from the heat, maybe I just need to experiment with the flour. The texture didn't bother anyone, but I'd prefer it to be smoother.

I made this today, it smelled and tasted great, but my texture was a bit off. It was creamy but also had a slightly grainy texture. Did I do something wrong? I used medium cheddar and just a touch of Parmesan since that's what I had in the fridge. My husband thinks it was the Parmesan but I wonder if it was too much flour.

I wash towels weekly. One swim towel and about 1.5 regular towels per person. We just hang them to dry between uses. If one gets dirty before I wash a load of towels, I throw it in another load.

Thanks!

Congratulations! I'm not a triple mom but one of my good friends is, they are 5 now. She carried them to 36 weeks and they all went home within a couple days of being born.

My kids are 6,4,& 2, bedtime is 7:30, they are asleep by 8. They wake up between 7 & 8. They go to bed that early because that's the amount of sleep they need, especially my oldest who frequently sleeps past 9. But he also took 2, 2 hour naps a day until he was almost 3. I had an 8:30 bedtime until I was in high school, mostly because we had a big family in a small house and my parents needed quiet time. Once I was in high school I went to bed when I wanted but it was usually 9 or 9:30. However I also require more sleep than the average person. My husband and I go to bed about the same time but he wakes up about 2 hours earlier than I do.