I go by the "Treat other people the way you want them to treat you." rule.

We do Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton every night as part of the routine. Thankfully no one has complained about my singing yet.

Today I went to a swim meet and watched my older kids swim their events. It is always interesting because some kids and some parents are very very concerned about winning. My kids are... not likely to win their events. They are often last and sometimes last by a a lot. Between two kids and several swim meets, combined they have *one* not last finish, and that she earned today. My daughter swam 50 yards of freestyle in 1:11:19. She came in last. But that time is almost 8 seconds better than her previous best of 1:19:15. She made her goal time for the next eight meets and then some. I was so happy for her. She skipped all the way back to wait for her next event. She swam backstroke today too, 50 yards in 1:17:81. She came in fourth of five which means she wasn't last and she improved her time by almost 11 seconds. Her previous best was 1:38:44. She met every goal time on her sheet. She is so happy! My daughter went to bed tonight grinning because she did better than she thought she could. She is having a great time swimming and is actually seeing progress. Now, if only her coach says the right things on Friday when she sees him again. He probably will, he has been coaching beginners for a long time. My son also improved his time in 25 yard Freestyle from 1:13:75 to 1:08:75. That is five seconds and he hasn't even made rookie team yet. He just passed his butterfly test on Friday. He needs to learn breast stroke and then back stroke before he can do rookie team. He doesn't like competing very much but her loves cheering for his big sister. I think I heard him cheering for her during backstroke from across the pool. (He was at the 25 yard turn around end and I was at the 50 yard finish end.) I am just so proud of them. The academic subjects come so easy but the athletic ones are just so hard. And some days it is nice to see that the hard work actually works!

When we were doing counter service I would usually stake out a table with the kids and let my husband order all the meals. The kids didn't go up. Maybe that made a difference... At least we didn't have any issues.

Just so you know all counter service meals are counted the same, so the kids could have adult meals if they would rather. The adult meals can be very large so that might help your food issues. We had one counter service meal that we ordered 5 of the adult meals and no kid meals and it wasn't a problem. We had 2 adults and 3 kids on the meal plan.

That looks fantastic! It is perfect for us. Yipppeee! Thank you.

I am looking for something like the Usborne Book of World History but for United States history instead. Does something like this exist? Or if not, do you have any ideas about an illustrated book for US history? I am not wanting to get the Hakim series, too much detail and too expensive. The Story of the USA by Escher is out of print. I would really like something with pictures. Thank you.

I am very very sorry for your loss. It is a very hard thing to deal with. I don't know which pill you might be talking about but I do know that if there are other options then the people at Family Planning Associates will know all of the options. This is the place where I ended up having the D and E with my miscarriages (all three of them). They do voluntary termination if that is a problem, but they are extremely knowledgeable and would not pressure you into anything you don't want. Not to mention, they are in Arizona and you are not. You can google Family Planning Associates if you would like the phone number or message me and I will look it up. I hope that this helps.

I just want to encourage you. My youngest son potty trained the week after he turned 4. And it was a very messy month. I set a timer, at the beginning for every 45 minutes and he pottied every 45 minutes. After about a week I extended it to 60 minutes and by the end of the week it was 2 hours. He never ever told me he needed to potty. He did go in the toilet but only when I told him to. And this is all for pee. He pooped in he pants everyday for a solid month. And every time he did he got a shower and cleaned himself up and had to pick out different clothes. Which meant that he couldn't wear his favorite shorts all day unless he pooped in the potty. So he didn't get to wear his favorite shorts much. It did work but it really did take a month and he still has accidents. But we are diaper free now and he is very proud of wearing his shorts all day.

Gigantic + Enormous = Ginormous At least I think that's how it happened.

We live near Phoenix, AZ. I do not make my kids go outside. It is beyond miserably hot out there.

Alphabetical because then I could remember that there are so many A states and so many B states and so on. I think I would be less likely to forget one in the middle this way.

As a country, yes, I am optimistic. As a country, we are going to need to get our priorities in order and then actually do something. But it isn't going to be easy and it isn't going to be fun. I think it will happen and after it is over we will be better off. As a person, I am having a harder time being optimistic. I am working on getting our personal priorities in order and then actually doing something. But it isn't easy and it isn't fun. And I am discouraged by how much work it is going to take. I want an easier path and an easier solution. Unfortunately there isn't one and the only way to success is through hard work. And hard work is well... hard. So yes, I am optimistic that it will get better, but I am dreading the hard work and sacrifice that it is going to take to get there.

Well, we pet sat for the neighbor a week ago... does that count? Her cats are Xena and Seles and the dog is Prada. The cats are long haired somethings and the dog is a chihuahua. The kids' webkinz cats are: Kitty, a charcoal cat, belongs to ds4 Fuzzball, a himalayan cat, belongs to ds7 Wishing Star and Penny, a tiger and alley cat, belongs to dd9

My daughter does Girl Scouts. She just finished her first year as a Junior. Her troop is largely a social group that happens to do a few badges, occasionally. We tend to do them at home as mini unit studies. It works for us. I would comment on the Chaordic Commons, but I don't know what it is! I was not a Girl Scout when I was younger so I don't have any experience with the way it used to be to compare. For our troop, things are okay.

Butterfly (I think officially they are bow ties.)

Ours is set to keep the house at 82 degrees, day or night. We have tried slightly higher but then it feels really hot. This temp just feels warm. It is over 100 outside in the sun. And it is going to get hotter. The heat will break in October, when we hope we can turn off the ac again.

If she really really wants it then she should go for it. BUT she needs to know that she would be facing an incredible amount of work. At a guess probably 3 to 4 hours a day just to keep up. If she is ready to put in that much effort then I would give her the chance.

From a math geek point of view: Trigonometry is the study of angles and the relationships between the angles and their sides. Pre-Calculus is a review of all math. It is usually taken right before starting Calculus. It should cover all the things learned in Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry and Trigonometry. If any of that isn't solid, pre-calc is going to be a nightmare. It moves way too fast to learn new concepts. It is meant as a review. I would think that unless your student is going into some sort of engineering that would involve angles, like aero, mechanical or civil engineering, or physics that the amount of trig in Pre-Calculus would be enough. But if your student is looking at mechanical engineering then truly understanding the relationships with in those angles becomes much more critical. Personally, I loved trig. It was pretty in a way that spoke to me. My classmates thought it was an instrument of torture. I wish I could explain just how much I enjoyed it. Good luck with your choices.

We almost didn't renew our membership. It expired in the middle of May and we we waffling about it. Ds4 is finally out of diapers and I thought we could do close to as well shopping the ads at the grocery store. And then last week the tread on one of the tires partially separated on my husband's way hope from work. The auto mechanic was closed for the day. Costco was open and sold him four tires and installation. The savings on those tires paid for the membership for the year. And the car was on the road again in about an hour. Great service! So if you need tires definitely consider the membership, for other stuff. Maybe.

I don't remember if my parents co-signed the loans. It was a long time ago. I know the school had no issues with giving me the loans.

To answer the question: Yes. Or at least I did many years ago. I was 17 almost 18 when I started college and it wasn't a problem them.

I just can't find it. I am looking in the Spark Teams list. The alphabetical list seems to skip from Weightloss of Warcraft to West Georgia Spark Ladies. Can you help?

A very very long time ago I remember that a bunch of WTM people got together to do a spark group. Does it still exist? Can I play too?

I don't know either. I was 17 almost 18 when I started college, my birthday is in October. It was absolutely the best thing I could have done. The dorm was wonderful and there were guys on my floor. But they didn't cause problems. It was finally, finally a place that I could fit in. I am currently dealing with a child that may end up going to college early. I am frantically trying to stay ahead of her needs. If college is the best place for her at a younger than normal age, then that is what we will do. And if it isn't then we will find something else.