decent jelly roll pan + ice cream scoop to scoop cookie dough. I use mine all the time from baking cookies to roasting veggies to baking fries... jumper cables for each car decent silicon rubber spatula for mixing to cooking eggs (Wilton has a good one) power hand drill w/bits batteries electric hand mixer small hair scissors or hair clippers gardening hand clippers or gardening shears eta: with gardening gloves eta2: extension cords (for outside Christmas lights?) eta3: hammer

I have a bunch of girls, and the youngest is 7. DD7 loves to go to Once Upon A Child and pick her own complete outfits. Then I get to see what she really likes and what brands fit. Carter's is good quality, fit for a tall thinner body. Love, love their pajamas. I've found Target designs for a thinner body--Walmart and Children's Place for huskier. HA is super comfie and holds up well. DD10 has a HA dress that still looks new that we got used when DD15 was around 7. DD7 also prefers leggings or footless tights over footed tights. If you are looking for additional ideas especially for the older 3: - half day out with Grandma where you do a fun brunch or lunch out and shopping for an outfit. - experiences: zoo passes, science museum passes, trampoline park/climbing walls, pool passes for nice aquatic center, stage theater production, movie theater tickets+concessions (Frozen II is coming up!!) - sunglasses - fun ankle boots - backpacks (Lands End) - ballet shoes + leotard - Claire's visit or GC: my girls love to pick out their favorite hair accessory or stuffed animal - bathing suits (Lands End) DD7 is a serious stuffed animal-aholic, affectionately referred to as our resident stuffie-aholic. 🤣 MIL got her (with our permission) a giant, 6ft long, stuffed caterpillar. She LOVES it so much, and its permanent spot is in her bed. All the cousins were super jealous that she got this. The next year MIL got 1 cousin a caterpillar, another cousin the following year. It's become something fun for the kids. MIL has the original "Catty", DD7 has Catty Jr., cousin has Catty the 3rd, etc. The gifts I appreciated the most from my MIL were quality coats, snow pants, snow boots, gloves. (We live where it snows.) These are expensive items that they grow out of quickly. Also, fun patterned rain boots they can easily wash and pull on to run outside. My mom gets the kids name personalized song CDs, Looney Tunes DVD collections, slippers, and various other items that I tell her they'd like. She doesn't buy clothing or toys much.

My twins DD/DS13, 8th grade, do about 5ish hours per day, plus an extra 30ish minutes of lessons/practicing an instrument. DS also has about an extra hour+ per day because he takes a Computer Programming class (he LOVES!!) and a low key LoTR weekly Lit class with his buddies. Together they do: Math, Language Arts, History, Science, and Speech. I will be adding a quick Geography to their line-up and a grammar unit. They get the basics like math, LA, and history done in the mornings. Science, speech, LoTR Lit, and computer programming are outside classes that are done in the early afternoons with "homework" any other time they like, just as long as it's done. Most of the time it ends up being after dinner or a weekend--their choice. We school year round if we have nothing else going on and only the core subjects in the summertime for about 1.5hrs/day. Some weeks the twins take a day to volunteer for a 6 hr block of time and don't do much school those day.

I'd never heard of them before I met my then boyfriend soon to be DH. He's from the state referenced in the article above, and it's definitely a real thing. When I first found out about them I sorta chuckled as it's an odd thing, but after giving me a sideways look, they thought it was odd I'd never heard of one before. Last place I'd think to go to get/win meat.

Adding, one of the reasons i push to open a savings account in addition to the checking is so that she sees how much she can actually spend vs. strictly savings. If she saw the whole lump sum in checking, she'd feel like it was available to spend. I'm very similar---maybe most people are?

For stink in clothing and shoes = Borax. (eta: Super cheap!) I add it routinely to our wash, even soaking athletic shoes in a water/borax mix before washing. GL

DD15 has had teen/child, no fee, checking and savings accounts for a few years now for when she started babysitting. It is through the bank we use so we are able to transfer funds back and forth between hers and our accounts. I believe we are also on her account, but she primarily deals with it, even getting her own paper monthly bank statement in the mail. When she gets a regular paycheck, we'll recommend she deposit it in her savings. She has a debit card that she uses attached to her checking. She's also able to transfer funds back and forth online btwn. savings/checking. I think this makes her feel very mature with a strong sense of pride and ownership. She's super reliable and honest with her funds, and we both agree it's fun to see money "grow." More than you asked for, but we expect her to put at least 30% towards savings, 10% giving/tithe, 60% spending. In reality, she saves so much more since she has very little in expenses. These are her baselines allowing for the "freedom" to give to causes she's interested in. We have a (eta: Vanguard) targeted 30(?) yr mutual fund in our name that we add to for all our kids for them to use for major adult purchases, ie. education, housing, cars, something like that. So whenever the grandparents give a bit of cash for savings, it goes there. Not sure what we'll advise once she's gotten enough in savings for an IRA or the like--must investigate our options... DD13 is soon to get her checking/savings accounts. She's accumulated enough cash through babysitting that I don't want it sitting around the house. Her twin DS13 doesn't have enough of a steady income yet so he'll have to wait.

That's interesting about the numbers. I agree that it's encouraging to see young people accomplishing so much through volunteering. After reading some of the applicants achievements, I wonder if she's even in their league. We'll see... She's also considered the Congressional Award but doesn't feel drawn to apply for it at this time.

DD15's school counseling office told the student body about the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. After inquiring, DD decided she would try for it and submitted her application. Does anyone have experience with this award? It looks like it includes a scholarship if selected.

Paracord kit Wetbrush - all my girls have and love these

Yes, at least in our neck of the woods. DD15 and DD13 both have rose gold velvety scrunchies they wear frequently, as do their friends, due to, in part, the velvety texture.

Name brand gym sack.

Definitely fuzzy blankets, rose-gold scrunchies, fine tipped pens like these, bullet journals, water bottles, EOS chapstick, any big name brand socks (UA, Nike, Adidas), Adidas track pants, make-up, nail kits and/or polish, string fairy lights w/clips for pictures, grown-up fuzzy house slippers, nice robes, games, gum, face paint kits, nerf basketball and hoop that attaches to door, nerf gun, big name brand slides, mini drones (this one worked well for a beginner). Rose gold is a huge color now with the teen girls. Name brand is most appreciated.

I tend towards regular fabric that can be spot washed w/water. We've had suede-like microfiber, and after a few short years, the fabric looks worn (shiny in a worn way) and shows any slobber (think little kids or pets) or liquid very easily. It cleans fine, but shows quickly. Maybe they have newer, better kinds now... I've never had leather, but I agree with your husband that it's not very comfy.

40's and sunny all day. Now that the kids are TOTing, it's right around the freezing mark in an upper plains state. Layers anybody!! Didn't slow the kids down...lol

If you have bigger crockpots with a wider bottom, you could do upside-down biscuit quiches. Something like, loose frozen spinach, cottage cheese, chunked cheese, salt, pepper, onion powder, a couple eggs. Mix together, top with biscuit dough. Prep at home w/meats already cooked and finish off in the shop. Any combo of fun quiches, pot pie, etc. recipes would work with this. It's hot and homemade. Paired with a piece of pie would be yummy! Another idea, cheesy hashbrowns in one crockpot, pulled bbq pork in the other. If you could get a 3rd, a hot veggie in that one. You could use the bbq pork in a sandwich or platter or panini style sandwich. I'd keep it simple, too. A soup, a specialty (loaded) salad, a basic salad, a pasta or chicken/tuna salad, two panini style sandwich choices, and something hot and homemade. And then rotate a predictable weekly menu. If I'm a customer, I want good quality over quantity. They sell pulled, cooked rotisserie chicken in refrigerated packages at Costco that could be used in a hot panini or chicken salad. Super easy and pre-cooked. 20 years ago when I was working F/T, there was this little mom and pop grocery done the road from where I worked that had 1 homemade meal per day. It would be something like pulled pork, cheesy hashbrowns, green beans, warm blackberry cobbler for around $5. They always had a long line around the lunch hour since people like really good, basic, homemade food. Something comforting about it, just like a hot cup of coffee or tea. I agree w/unsinkable, yogurt parfaits are a fabulous option, even for lunch.

A few artists our family likes: Matt Maher, Matthew West, Zach Williams, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Big Daddy Weave, Hawk Nelson (Diamonds), News Boys

A few meals that are easy for me or can be made ahead: chicken enchiladas w/salad, sauteed cabbage & sausage over mashed potatoes, hot meatball or sausage (in marinara) subs w/veggies, italian subs w/sides, salsa chicken in crockpot, ham & hashbrown casserole w/salad, chicken & gravy over mashed potatoes w/veggies, chx breast baked over broccoli & cauliflower, smorgasbord (whatever is handy=crackers, sliced cheese, olives, fruit, salami w/cream cheese, sliced peppers (finger foods that add up to a meal), bean rice (chx thighs baked over rice and beans) w/salad, pan seared chx breast, tator tots or fries w/veggie, bbq meatballs w/slaw and baked beans, pork roast w/gravy over mashed potatoes and veggies. Hope this helps give you some ideas. I feel like we get in ruts, too, and it's hard to think of anything new so I always appreciate these type of threads. GL!!

I gave her your suggestion of using different colors since she likes multi-colored organization. She's almost through the chapter now and has a section quiz on Monday and chapter test later in the week. Just with the practice between when she came to me all concerned and now, she's gained much more confidence with transformations. So, we'll see...

I think she has the basic idea now after our "transformation throwdown"😉 (working through several problems slowly) , but I was curious if it's early to see them in algebra. Kinda like introducing functions and quickly talk transformations vs. talk functions, and then after developed understanding, drill down to transformations. Maybe I'm misunderstanding transformations and the curriculum, but that's what it seemed to me. Like giving the cheat-sheet before better function understanding...I don't know. All that to say, I posted because it seems out of place to me and wondered if it was me or the curriculum...lol

This is DD15's first year at our local Catholic HS as a sophomore. In her Adv. Algebra II class, transformations to functions are being introduced (Pearson text-Common Core), and she's having a hard time understanding this concept, maybe because she's new to functions in general. Is the first month into an advanced algebra II class a normal time to see transformations? I understand sequences are different between curriculum, but it seems early for it. She came to me last night upset that she had no clue what was going on in the unit. I was able to talk her down and figure it out with her, although, I don't remember these from back-in-the-day. For reference, last year we covered over half of AoPS's Intro to Algebra and Jurgensen's Geometry, going through basic quadratics (we never made it to graphing quadratics).

My nephew and his electrical truck crew arrived (from OH) in the Daytona area yesterday and then moved to Vero Beach today as a staging area for the big electrical recovery efforts after the storm. The videos he's sending to the family showing the sheer number of trucks there to set things back to right is truly amazing--truly humbling seeing the enormous efforts involved.

DD15 is shaped with a curvy behind/thighs and skinny waist, 5'11", and loves soft, stretchy jeans/jeggings. American Eagle is her go-to brand primarily for their talls. For her the darker the wash, the less skin-tight they look. She has to go a size larger in the khaki styles so it doesn't look like she's wearing a second skin or going naked from far away 😲 but then they are looser in the waist.

So of these brands, which ones fit a less curvy figure? I'm shaped w/a larger waist and slimmer hips, no butt but a gut (ughh...the gut makes skinny jeans tricky), medium thighs, regular height. Do we get points for at least trying to stay fashionably up-to-date?....lol

Although it wouldn't include a flight, you could go closer to home and combine it w/the fall foliage by going to The Greenbriar in WV. It looks like an interesting place to visit in Appalachia, and the resort of past presidents. Maybe take in the mineral springs...