baked steak, mashed potatoes, and warm rolls homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade bread roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and my grandma's brocolli casserole chocolate chip cookies, brownies, chocolate cake

Lemondrops, really cold lemonade, gingersnap cookies.

I'm not exactly sure. I know we spend somewhere around $500-$700 in one big ordering spree, usually in late spring/early summer. This order usually includes most of our curriculum and major supplies for the year. Then, throughout the year we buy things as we need them: a cursive workbook when print becomes boring, the next spelling book when we fly through the first one, incidental art supplies and an item here or there for a science project, an interesting book that has been highly recommended, etc. So we probably do spend around $1,000 by the time the year is over. And it will probably increase as ds joins us in formal studies over the next year or two. This year purchases for him included Kumon Workbooks, Handwriting Without Tears books and supplies and a few other things to help him learn letters, and Singapore Earlybird Math 1A&B.

I am so sorry, Crissy. My thoughts are with you and your family.

And I'm wondering if we should just take today off, too. I'm really in the mood for spring cleaning and playing outside. I'm not sure what we'll do.

I used to use Dove, but I recently ran out and tried dd's Suave conditioner. It actually worked better for my hair, and it is *cheap*! I've also started using dc's Loreal Kids smoothie 2-in-1, and I'm amazed at how well it works, too. Funny, huh? I don't really stick with anything forever, but I had been using Dove for awhile.

A long time ago someone bought me a Monet stationery set as a gift, and I loved it. I would love to have some cards or stationery with fine art prints on it, but I can't find it anywhere. Any ideas?

By the time he's one, he might be wearing bigger sizes than my 4.5yo ds. He still wears size 24 month or 2T pants. He just started wearing some 3T pants that have the adjustable waist band, so I can cinch the waist in all the way. He finally outgrew his 12 months swimming trunks this year that he had worn for four summers and graduated to 2T.

How long do you wait after eating a meal before running? How do you deal with loose dogs? I sort of have a dog phobia, and I'm afraid to run in our neighborhood because of the dogs. There is a rule in our community that dogs must be restrained in some manner at all times. And, I believe they do enforce it with fines, but I often don't know whose dogs they are or what the people's names are to refer them. Does anyone run in the dark? If I want to run in the morning, I would have to do it in the dark before dh leaves for work at 6:00am. Thanks for any advice. I really don't like exercising indoors, although I have a nice elliptical machine. I like being outside in the fresh air and feeling as if I am really doing something/going somewhere. Thanks.

This is me, too. I want to be a runner. I think it's absolutely terrific that you ran a 10K and finished so close to your goal time! You make me feel inspired to try it.

She was by far my favorite teacher. I was fortunate enough to have her as a teacher in eighth grade, tenth grade, and twelfth grade. I attribute some of my love for grammar, and most of my knowledge of grammar to her. She was the only teacher that I really feel gave me a great education in high school, and because of her I was so prepared for college that my Freshman English Composition class which was required of all university freshman seemed so elementary it was almost insulting. I'd like to write to her and let her know that I appreciated her work. But I'm just afraid it will seem strange. Do you think she would appreciate it or think it was odd?

Upon reading Crissy's very sensible, practical reply, I have to change my vote from, "Maybe?" to "No, don't do it!" :001_smile:

If it were a puppy that needed to be house-trained, I would automatically say, "Clearly insane!" But *if* (and only if) your dh and dd are willing to accept responsibility for feeding and caring for the dog, my answer would be, "Maybe?"

:iagree:. When I got married I wouldn't even send out a notice with the invitations about where we were registered. And I only registered because my mom and my grandma insisted that the older ladies at church really would like to know what to buy for us. We registered for so few things that the store called us a few weeks prior to our wedding requesting that we add more items for the shoppers who kept coming to buy a gift and found that all the registry items had already been purchased. I really was trying to lead an intentionally simple life, and one of the most satisfying gifts we received were beautiful cards from a few college friends who shared their well wishes, without feeling the need to include money in their cards because they knew how I felt about it. Now that you think I'm very pious and simple, I will add that if I had to do it over again, I would probably register for a whole lot more and register at some nicer places. I have since come to believe that some people attending weddings really do want to give a gift; they aren't necessarily just doing it because of societal expectations. And it is a lot nicer to get useful things than to get crystal baskets that you eventually give away because no one knew what useful things you wanted. I do, however, find it appallingly rude to request money in the invitation.

But there are also many people in Southeastern Ohio who call it hamburger.

Mine is individual chocolate molten cakes. I made some last night and ate two with vanilla ice cream. That wasn't too great for my weight loss efforts, was it?

And I didn't want to take any chances. In hindsight, I probably could have just used our regular detergent, but it does have a wonderful baby scent, doesn't it?

I think it's because he has such a strong work ethic himself, that he has very low tolerance for others who don't. It works both ways, though. If he gets great customer service he makes sure to express thanks and/or put in a good word for the employee with a supervisor.

Thanks. We do have the Audiomemory Geography Songs Kit. I think I'll keep looking, though, as I'm not sure I could listen to that kind of music as often as dd would need to use the math songs cd:001_smile:. Thanks for the input.

I used to wear make-up, but I've never been particularly good at it. I remember when I was in Jr. high and I was first allowed to wear make-up. I was convinced that if I bought loose powder it would make my skin look flawless like the picture of the model in the advertisement. I came from a family of large-pored people and I wanted to hide my pores. When it didn't work, I was so let down. In high school and part of college I wore foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow, and mascara pretty much daily. The funny thing is that most people couldn't even tell. I remember a girl in my church youth group when I was a teenager used to ask me why I didn't wear makeup! When I was in college, I stopped wearing makeup, for a combination of reasons. Mostly dh's (then my boyfriend) telling me that he thought I was prettier without makeup, and my finding out more information about the beauty industry and marketing that turned me off to cosmetics. I did still wear a little bit sometimes for special occasions, but definitely not everyday. My twin sister convinced me to wear a little bit on my wedding day, but it was very natural looking. Since then, I have worn makeup on and off. Now, I hardly ever do. I don't even own foundation or powder anymore. I can't remember the last time I used blush or eyeshadow. If I feel like looking especially put together, I will curl my eyelashes and wear some lip gloss. Dh says that I don't need makeup because I'm already beautiful. What a sweet guy! He does like the Victoria's Secret lip gloss, though. He even bought me more and put it in my Christmas stocking so I wouldn't run out. I'm not sure about the future, though. I'm 29, and I still look young for my age, but I have noticed that my skin is starting to look older. I might change my mind in the future.

But my two children, ages 6.5 and 4.5, do help out a lot around the house. I am trying to teach them to clean up after themselves. So, when they are done with their dishes at a meal, they need to take them to the kitchen, dump any scraps in the trash, and put in the sink or dishwasher. If it is something really messy, I will help, especially the 4.5yo. When they take off dirty clothes, they need to put them in the hamper. When they are done with something, it needs to go back where it came from. After they brush their teeth, they should rinse out the sink, etc. We are not perfect at doing this yet, but we are working on it. :001_smile: Dd has always naturally enjoyed helping me. She likes to help put laundry in the washer. She likes to help fold laundry when I get it out of the dryer. When she turned five or six I started requiring her to put her own clothes away. She also likes to vaccuum and dust with me. She likes to clean windows, too. Usually about once a day I require them to pick up anything of theirs that is out in the living area and put it away in their rooms. Dd is in charge of feeding her pet chinchilla daily.

I'm looking for something with songs that help kids memorize addition and subtraction facts and help them with skip counting (by 2's, 5's, 10's). It would be wonderful if the music is not too annoying!

I must say that I am so excited to see how many moms on this board are supportive of extended nursing! When I had dd, almost seven years ago, she was the first grandchild on my side of the family. And some of my relatives were shocked at how long I let her nurse. When she was still nursing after twelve months, they began to make comments. And when I was expecting ds (I got pregnant when dd was about 19 months), many people found it appropriate to advise me to wean her before ds was born or she would be jealous of the new baby every time he nursed. :confused: That kind of logic never made any sense to me. How would taking away from her the one comforting activity in the world that she loved the most and still craved emotionally, and giving it exclusively to her new little sibling at a crazy transitional time of her life *not* make her jealous. So, I ignored them and continued giving dd what she needed. I nursed throughout my pregnancy and tandem nursed for seven months after ds was born. I didn't stop nursing dd until she was three, and dh and I felt she was ready. Looking back, I think a lot of my mom and grandma's concerns were for my sanity and energy level. And they both parented during a time when nursing was seen as either an activity to be replaced with formula or something to be measured in terms of weeks and months, not years. I nursed ds until he was almost 2.5 years. When dc were infants I nursed them on cue, but when they were old enough to eat other foods and nursing was more about comfort than nutrition, I did try to be more discreet in public. But if my toddler clearly needed to nurse, I did nurse in public.

A dear friend of mine just moved there to teach at Emmanuel School of Religion. I am contemplating coming to visit her there this summer. Maybe we could get together then?:001_smile: I wish I could make it tomorrow, but it's rather a long drive from Ohio! Maybe you could teach me to knit. I wanted to learn for awhile, but can't seem to find the time.