Oh, hello me from 2 years ago. I knew DH's family would be thrilled about a #4; mine...not so much. It's not that they wouldn't love a baby. It's just that families of more than 3 in my family are rare in my generation. FWIW, now that #4 is 2 yo and of course, everyone loves him. As for the above quote from a pp, that's nice in theory. However, in many families that isn't possible due to time/distance constraints. OP, fwiw, DH and I realized we needed to have whatever size family we feel called to, regardless of how others may respond.

In general, the best value out there is 70's houses, IF you can live with it as it is or with minor cosmetic upgrades. If you're planning to do much more updating, then go with a new house. I think the premium you pay for 50's and older houses "charm" is too high, and the systems are inadequate for today's standards (insulation, windows, foundations, wiring, plumbing, pretty much everything, except you get better woodwork typically) I agree on new houses burning faster, new houses built out of mostly wood chips/OSB also rot faster. The 70's and 80's were the era with the best framing lumber from what I've seen, earlier and it was undersized and not dimensionally stable, there was plenty of nice framing lumber in the 90's as well, but OSB was becoming so much more common, and now OSB is common for floor joists. Of course if you're building, you can get what you want. How to tell quality? it depends on what you mean by that. Quality cabinets you can inspect. Quality wiring you should be able to infer from the breaker box and location of outlets and switches. Plumbing materials are visible in the basement. Framing materials are visible in the basement.

FWIW, DH's grandparents receive flowers and a card every year remembering one of their deceased children on the anniversary of the person's passing and her birthday. It means so much to them. They are so grateful for it. I think you've gotten some good suggestions on wording, so I just wanted to pass along the perspective I know of from someone who is on the receiving end.

It isn't solely about the Bible, but Dynamic Catholic has a series of (Catholic) videos for First Reconciliation prep and First Communion prep. They would certainly be appropriate for your younger kids. They can be found here. Other than the Story of the Bible already mentioned, I don't know of any that are Catholic, centered around the Bible, and video-based.

Yes, there are "tax advantaged" or "tax efficient" funds that would limit the "income" that gets reported. You'd have to check with the fund to see how much you could invest this way and stay under that investment income limit. A health savings account actually makes a great retirement account, IF you like the idea of a HSA and high deductible insurance. If you can find a way to declare self employment income, then that allows you to set up another account. Another idea, look at your situation and see what would be a good investment at this time. Has your car been nickle and diming you? Is your furnace and drafty house costing too much? (AC if you're in FL) I'm not talking about SS appliances and granite countertops obviously, but something like that could be the best investment you'll make.

Purchasing an annuity is usually a bad to terrible idea, did the person who suggested it stand to earn the commission? What did this person think was wrong with a targeted retirement fund from Vanguard? and what were the other options suggested? I couldn't disagree more strongly with that advice regarding annuities and seeking an alternative to Vanguard targeted retirement fund. Another question, are you looking to invest more than the Roth limit? that would change things slightly, but my understanding is you'd still probably wouldn't do much better than the that Vanguard fund outside the roth. Read enough until you can identify the authors "bent" and figure out which you like best, but don't go too far from the targeted retirement fund.

I'd check this site for advice, even down to the soil type and county. Around here I'd say hybrid poplar/willow for fast growth, hybrid spruce for evergreens, and arbor vitae (white cedar) for long term low maintenance and long life after the hybrids are dead and gone. Those are more than likely bad ideas for AL. https://www.aces.edu/blog/tag/landscaping/?c=lawn-garden&orderby=title&page=2

I've only had PPD with 1 of 4. And it was the summer baby. I have never considered weather when family planning. That's just never occurred to me. We just have kids when it seems right to us.

Toilet tank leaking? Filling up every nine minutes maybe? but not if it's nine minutes exactly, then I agree it has to be electric.

Is there any access panel on thebackside of the wall where the shower is to get at the valve? open that obviously if you find, or make, that access panel. If you have access to the back of that wall, cut an access in the drywall, make it square enough that you can put the piece right back with trim covering the cut. Use a fan blowing at whatever pipes are exposed in the basement. Turn the heat up a little in the house. If you have a cold air intake into the furnace, open that damper up all the way and leave your furnace blower running. Figure out where the water shut off is before you need it. There's no reason to have frozen pipes in a 40 year old house, somebody wasn't paying attention when they designed or installed the plumbing, or maybe insulation and air sealing.

If your itemized deductions don't exceed the standard deduction, you pay two years property taxes (and maybe all your charitable contributions) in order to itemize them in clumped in one year, then take the standard deduction the next year when you've already paid the property taxes. I haven't even looked at the taxes this year. I'd print off a paper copy of the return and print off a paper copy of last years return to compare the amounts.

I could be way out of date. Have used only electric for a long time now.

I usually use the current literature as a family RA. I am sure some kids read them independently (or listen to an audio version). Some families probably buddy read them (parent reads a page, child reads a page). Whichever way you choose is just fine. Heck, you could choose to do it differently every day (or every book). In Level A there were some stories that were not our favorite. I just choose a different RA. We still did the copywork and exercises that were in ELTL, as I am too lazy to prepare that myself. Was it ideal? No, but it worked and I don't think it affected DS's retention. Yes, each lesson says what to read. Again, the flexibility and gentleness are two of the things I really like about ELTL.

New cast iron is bumpy, sand those bumps off with a random orbit sander, inside for making it easier to season, and on the bottom so they don't scratch your glass top stove. Gas is wonderful, unless you have propane and then the precision control is gone from the burners, there's a very narrow band between off and full on all the propane stoves I've used. Not like natural gas where you can adjust the burner without looking at the flame and using both hands to steady.

I am currently using ELTL level B. HomeAgain has described it well. FWIW, the author has colored versions of the art in a file on her website. At least, I think that's where I found them. SO I usually just pull them up there. My 8 yo is not a natural speller, so we also use Spelling Plus. As for doing your own reading, we I generally read the literature as a family RA. DS has to spend time reading something independently every day. Sometimes he chooses, sometimes I choose a book for him. He also reads aloud to me for 5-10 minutes every day. We recently added Wise Owl Polysyllables to this, as he needs more work on decoding longer words. (So he reads half a page or a whole page from there as part of his reading to me.) I like that ELTL is gentle. And fwiw, DS looks forward to hearing his poem and fable every day.

I hope you and your grandma have a fabulous time! (And also, that her partner's surgery and recovery goes well.)

My 3rd-ish grader is doing the following: ELTL level B (covers some grammar, copywork, and literature) Spelling Plus I am teaching him cursive, DIY style. Wise Owl Polysyllables (He reads 1/2 a page a day aloud to me) He also chooses a books to read to me from for 5 to 10 minutes. We are about to try out a Bravewrite project from Jot it Down.

I don't understand the OP. I mean, I do, but I don't. The part I don't understand is this: are there really people who wouldn't eat bacon leftovers? I can't understand why leftover bacon is a problem. As for the rest, I try to never believe anyone who normally eats bacon if they say they don't want any when it's being cooked.

Is the question " is raw cheese safe?". Fresh raw cheese is a little safer than raw milk. Hard cheese aged 60 days is considered equal to pasteurized.

Yes. I have (or thought I have) it set up so they only have access to the camera, photos, and books. then I want to choose individual websites. But despite everything saying blocked, they can watch videos.

My kids got Kindle Fire tablets for Christmas. Help me set them up please. I am technology illiterate. I have blocked everything except the camera, photos, and books. I have the parent controls on. I set daily limits. And...the very first things my kids did was pull up a website and watch a video. Where did I go wrong?

As part of my mother's Christmas gift this year, I plan to let her know that we are making some donations in memory of my dad (my mother is one of those people who need nothing). It occurred to me that it might be nice to donate to some organization that gives people bikes, as my dad started biking every day in retirement and easily rode 100 miles a week when the weather allowed. I have never investigated any such organization though. Has anyone here ever donated to one/know of one that used it's donations wisely? I will probably also be donating to at least one other charity in his name, so if this doesn't pan out for this year it's fine. Thanks!

Yes, they feel cold to most people because they have to move more air at a lower temperature compared to gas or oil furnaces. A hot water system doesn't have to move any air directly so it's even more comfortable. That should only apply when the unit is running, which can be all of the time in the coldest weather. Your addition was poorly designed, or you have air in the baseboard, or you could benefit from more baseboards in that addition and/or separate zone for the addition. Replacing baseboards on an oil boiler won't help, if you want better efficiency or comfort, insulate and seal the house better. Good idea to look for options other than oil, oil is the most expensive fuel in most areas, even more expensive than electric resistance heat in many winters. The installed cost of geothermal and the complexity are so high that it doesn't make sense over an air source heat pump in a lot of areas. The pacific northwest coast has such mild temps that ground source isn't needed, some other areas don't have a long enough heating season. But then again, they're popular in FL because of the long AC season. The other factors are if you have the acreage that you don't mind tearing up, or if you have to do boreholes/vertical loops for way more $$$. High groundwater can help. If you can use open loop (high water table, spring) then it's much cheaper in the short term.

Sounds like you know more than I do about most of the issues. You might look into the UCC lien seach, that's how stolen equipment is tracked that doesn't have titles. Or the state DMV might be able to check liens, or advise on replacement title.

I don't know the "right" answer. I only know that for our oldest (8 yo), his handwriting was doing okay on penmanship paper, but only okay. It was like he got to a certain point and just couldn't make it neater at that size. Then one day he brought me something he'd written in a wide-ruled notebook. And his handwriting was much, much better. I decided to be brave and start having him do copywork in a wide-ruled notebook. And wow, his handwriting in now so much nicer. He's learning cursive now and still just using a notebook. He does use two lines to learn the uppercase letters though. I'd say he made the switch right around when he turned 8. In your case, I wouldn't look back either.