Sharon, We will keep you and your housing contract in prayer. It would be nice if you did not lose money on the deal. I hope that they see that they are already getting a good deal. Mary

Be thankful that you can fix all the hurts with a bandaid. When the kids get older, you will look back and wish that you could put a bandaid over their hurts and it would make everything better. It is a phase and is quickly gone. I have been there through all five kids. Hang in there!

My husband is a pastor on loan to the US Army as a Chaplain. He has been a pastor for 9 years. My involvement is minimal. I help with VBS, occassional women's bible studies, preparing meals when there has been an illness, new baby, etc., and participating in prayer groups. During deployments, I have been asked to speak to FRG (family readiness groups) to give encouragement. Most of my time is spent teaching the three children, maintaining the home front, preparing for a new military move or unpacking from the latest move, and being a support to my husband. No website to take care of. But, I do love to sew, all my extra time goes to this hobby.

I had tea with a Countess in Germany. She invited a group of American military wives over to have tea. It was her way to show that she supported the Americans. The children were allowed to attend. While we had tea and baked goods, the children were taken to the outdoors area for play and snacks. Memorable. Now I have tea with my daughter, complete with cookies. Very nice!

I highly recommend the 30 Day Gourmet cookbook. If you go to their website, you will be able to download plenty of free recipes to see if this system would work out for you. I own the Once a Month cookbook, but only use two recipes from it. Your money will be well spent if you buy the 30 day Gourmet. I do not prepare 30 different dishes for a month. Instead, I prepare 3 or 4 times one recipe. I use one of them for dinner that night and freeze the others. A couple of evenings later, I prepare 3 or 4 times one other recipe, serve one for dinner that night and freeze the others. By doing this, I am slowly accumulating the food by concentrating my efforts on just one recipe at a time. This system works best for me and my family. After I have 7-10 different recipes in the freezer (3 or 4 of each), my concentration turns to baking. I will defrost one of my "dinners" and then bake a triple batch of crescent rolls. Serve some with dinner and freeze the rest. The next night, I may make cheesy biscuits. Serve some with dinner that night (another frozen delight!) and freeze the remaining. I continue this method until I have a good supply of rolls, biscuits, scones, muffins and cookies in the freezer. Then I turn my attention to side dishes. I repeat the same order as mentioned above. I have a friend who uses two days to fully prepare 30 different recipes of 1 dinner each. That process works best for her. I encourage you to give it a try. Start out with one recipe and double it. Serve one, and freeze the other. I have been doing this since 1996, so I have the system down. But, I remember being overwhelmed, thinking that I needed a freezer FULL of food. It will happen, but give yourself plenty of time!:) You will be surprised at how often you will be eating at home! Best of luck! Joyfully, Mary

I bought the ones from the Rod and Staff catalog. They are durable and contain all the division problems.

When we were stationed in Germany, I became part of the German Women's Group (Frauen). Anyway, mostly German women, with a couple of Army wives. They would get together in an old bakehouse from the 1200's (but remodeled to include electric ovens) and bake cookies at Christmas time. I learned how to make their recipes. At Thanksgiving, we made our traditional feast and they joined in the prepartions. I learned about the different grapes and wines in the area, we put up a community Christmas tree, I helped with their Christmas Market, etc. It was a wonderful way to reach out and learn about the area I lived. It was way different from anything I've ever done. I decided that I could catch up on my reading and crafts when I came back to the states. And I have ---- sorta :001_smile:

I used to live in Princeton until June of this year - feeling bummed about missing out on the SWB get together - you betcha.

We closed today. Praise be to God! Yes, we lost money in this deal, but it will unload a burden that we have had with this house. Thank you for all your prayers.

I agree with the 1000's book. Such a simple idea, but very necessary for the little ones to grasp the numbers up to 1000. They even used it for more than writing to 1000. When the TM would ask for the children to count by 2's to 200, they would get their 1000 book out and use it as a reference. Just one example of how it is used once it is completed.

I still have the posters (I actually cut them down and made them smaller). I used the blacklines, the workbooks and the speed drillls. I used the posters frequently. In fact in the 3rd grade, you will need to use the posters for the first few lessons. The teacher's manual will ask you to borrow the posters from the 2nd grade teacher. Good thing I KNEW my 2nd grade teacher - funny!

:auto: Guess I need to drive a couple of hours! We will see how the month of October plays out!

I would like to come! By the way, ignore my user name. The Army moved us in June. I will need to look on the map to see if I am close enough to attend! Still too new to the state to have everything figured out!

Thanks everyone for the speedy replies! I came so close today to giving it a try. I certainly do not want to mess with the warranty. It can be so difficult to find the HE detergent. Next time I see it, I need to buy two bottles!

I thought it was because we can sleep late in the mornings, or so says my public school friend.

We have a new HE washer from a few months ago. I have faithfully always used the HE detergent. But, I keep looking at my large bottle of regular Tide sitting on the shelf, being unused. Has anyone successfully used regular detergent in the HE washers? Would I just use less? Thanks,

I have been making this spaghetti sauce for years. It is so easy and it cooks in the crockpot. After it cools, I bag it up and freeze it. Plenty of fresh sauce for a couple of weeks. 1 pound bulk Italian Sausage 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion 1 12 ounce can tomato paste 3 28 ounce cans Italian-sytle or plain crushed tomatoes in puree 2 cups water 4 teaspoons minced garlic (I buy the jarred minced garlic - much easier) 4 bay leaves 2 tablespoons sugar 4 teaspoons dried basil leaves 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons of salt Cook the Italian Sausage with the onion until the meat is brown; drain fat. Add sausage and remaining ingredients into the crockpot. I cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. Makes 12 cups of sauce. This recipe is from Once a Month Cooking. Enjoy!

Sharon, thanks for the encouraging words. My husband and I are commiting this to the Lord's hands, and know that whatever happens will be in accordance to His will.

Our agent's manager and the buyer's agent manager have been trying to figure out a way to make this work with the buyer's agent not in the picture. She said that she will work around him. Thanks Anj! I needed a few kind words about right now! I appreciate it!

An update on our house situation: We were due to close today, but things did not go well. Evidently, the way the contract was written, a particular amount of closing fees can be discerned two different ways. It deals with approximately $3,600. Our agent and her legal team state that we do not pay this amount, of course the buyer's agent and his manager state that the buyers do not need to pay this amount. There have been numerous scenarios pulled together where it is split up between everyone. In the meantime, the buyer's agent has stopped communicating with the buyer, lender, our agent and his manager. The closing has been postponed until the 6th, to see if anything can be worked out. I would appreciate everyone's prayers. We were so close to having this house sold. Thanks, Mary

I wish I could attend. I used to live a couple miles from the library. But in June, the Army could stand it no longer and uprooted us again. Now we are in the South. Best of luck!

Heather, I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but next week when we close, we have to bring money to the closing. No lie. We knew in advance that it would be this way, but it doesn't make it any easier. It does sting when we have put so much money out, and then the buyers ask if we will leave the washer and dryer, and the wooden playset out back, etc. My husband was about to ask, "Do you want us to stock the refrigerator too?" But he didn't.

Update on our property: Well, the family did accept our counteroffer. Currently, I am in the Midwest, overseeing the repairs, inspections, etc. The closing is scheduled for the first part of October. Please pray that the contract goes through. We had the housing inspector go through the house on Saturday. We are still waiting for his list, and then for the buyer's to put their "wish list" of repairs together. Then back to the negotiating table. I have just viewed everyone's updates. I commit to pray for showings, contracts and repairs! Until my next library visit (to check email and borrow school books!). Joyfully, Mary