:thumbup: Go for it!

I'm one of those people...with an "other" :001_cool: We are FL residents and have passes so going to WDW isn't a vacation for us. It's more like a field trip. I know I would feel much differently if it was our vacation. DH and I agree we'd probably hate going if we knew we spent $$$ and felt like we had to squeeze as much in as possible in a short period of time. There's much less pressure knowing that if we can't do or see something on one day, we can always come back and do it a different day. We went to Disneyland when the kids were younger. That time it was a vacation. But we got our DL passes for free so we didn't have any expectations for the park to live up to a certain financial output. We also didn't make DL the center of our trip. We went to a few other places in southern CA and had a great time overall. While we like amusement parks, we really enjoy vacations that allow more of a variety of activities. We like to see nature, museums, points of local interest. We know a family that only goes to resorts on their vacations. That would not work for our family, but they'd probably hate our geeked out trips. To each their own.

We all wear longer shorts in our family, but DD and DS1 prefer slimmer leg shorts. That seems to be more in fashion now. It's also much easier to be active when you don't have to worry about your shorts riding up or ballooning out. If you're not opposed to a slimmer fit, Justice has knit waist denim bermuda shorts that are cute and look comfy. http://www.shopjustice.com/knit-waist-denim-bermuda-short-/prd-2883896?ref_page=search#color/605 ETA: Ha, obviously I didn't read the replies before posting.

Lifting Jenna and your family up in prayer. :grouphug:

I just signed in to suggest crepes or these blender pancakes: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/rollup-blender-pancakes/ We usually double the recipe, which uses a dozen eggs. They are super tasty and light, have more protein than regular pancakes due to eggs and cottage cheese, and they freeze well if you have leftovers (never have that issue here). The hardest part is getting the hang of getting the pan at the correct temp and getting the right amount of batter in the pan and swirling it quickly. The first one or two might not look right until you figure out the technique but once you get it, they cook quickly.

I dress for comfort rather than style and wear mostly jeans / t-shirts / Vans. I buy almost all of my clothes at thrift stores and have found that certain brands are better for me (Gap, Loft, J Crew, etc.) and others are better for my 14yo DD (Forever 21, American Eagle, Hollister, etc). I try to dress in a more understated way, mostly because that's just my style, but that helps keep me on the mom side. Even though I love my DD's cat leggings, I'll let her wear them and stick with my skinny jeans.

My kids are finishing up Derek Owens' Pre-algebra course. Algebra Survival Guide seems to cover a lot of the same material they learned with DO Pre-algebra. There are a few things that are possibly more advanced or go a little deeper than DO, so I'll have them skip those if the concepts are too difficult. ASG is set up in very short 1 page lessons, Q & A style so it would be easy to skip portions as needed. The tone in ASG is conversational and concepts are broken down to be very easy to understand, though, so I was hoping to not need to skip anything and use anything they haven't covered yet as a quick intro to concepts they'll see in more depth during Algebra 1. These are the chapter headings in ASG: What is algebra? Properties Sets of Numbers Positive & Negative Numbers Order of Operations & Like Terms Absolute Value Exponents Radicals Factoring Cancelling Equations Coordinate Plane World Problems I'm not familiar with what's taught in Saxon 8/7 and I know scope and sequence can vary from program to program, so my apologies if this isn't a good fit.

We're going to go through the Algebra Survival Guide and use the accompanying workbook: https://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Mathematics/10&category=Algebra+Survival+Guide+%26+Workbook/8363

I'd have been inclined to make them squirm a bit by inserting myself into the conversation and saying something like, "Oh, wow, that's so cool that the teacher left that up. What a great message for her students to see! Can I see that picture? She did such a great job on that display! I can see why she'd want to leave it up for a little longer. I'm so thankful that we have teachers and principals who like to showcase diversity." But I'm a troublemaker like that. I also don't know if I would necessarily leave the group if it's a pretty diverse and inclusive group outside of a couple leaders. If it seemed like a group-wide attitude, I'd leave. Otherwise, though, I'd stick around and not let those ignorant ladies be the prevailing voice. I've found that a lot of times in groups comprised mostly of women (and especially Christian women), women are afraid to speak up even when they're uncomfortable by what someone is saying or doing. I think that's unfortunate that we are culturally influenced to be silent, passive, and "sweet" (not saying you are that way, OP, just saying that's what I've observed many times in group settings that are primarily women). Jesus was bold and impassioned, especially in favor of those being wronged, so that gives me courage sometimes to rock the boat a bit.

We have the Comfort Grande. We weren't sure if we wanted to go with a foam mattress. Our old spring mattress was dying, though, and this model was on sale so we went ahead and got it. I like it. I don't wake up stiff like I did with our old mattress. One person can move and it doesn't disturb the other person. My DH thinks it's a bit too firm. He travels a lot and so is used to the softer hotel mattresses, so he wishes we would have gone for a softer model. That said, the firmness doesn't really bother him and he sleeps just fine on it. This mattress is really thick. We have a padded mattress topper--the padding isn't necessary for this bed, just happens to be what we had from before and we're still using it. Anyway, this makes it so that our deep-pocket sheets barely fit. If your sheets and other bedding isn't made for a thicker mattress, you might need to get new ones. The thickness also makes the bed taller, so if you have any issues getting in or out of bed due to height take that into consideration. We've only had ours for about 9 months, so I can't speak of its longevity. Costco has a great return policy, though, and the mattress was fairly inexpensive so we felt it was worth trying. So far we've been pleased with it.

:lurk5: Wondering that here as well.

Tula carriers are supposed to be great. I'm way past the baby carrying stage, but if I had a need for a carrier this is the one I'd save up for. They make a mesh version that is good for hot conditions: https://babytula.com/collections/coast-mesh-carriers

I love 2-piece swimsuits because it's so much easier to customize the sizes. What percentage of women have proportionally the same size top and bottom? I think that number can't be awfully high. I have a tankini top from Love Your Assets by Sara Blakely / Spanx. It is slim fitting and less drape-y so it doesn't float up in the water. It's a lot like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOVE-YOUR-ASSETS-BY-SARA-BLAKELY-SPANX-PaisleyTankini-SWIM-L-NWT-Padded-Wire-Bra-/252942453687

I'm so, so sorry. Keeping you and your family in my prayers :grouphug:

"What's in the Bible" is a great series from the creator of Veggie Tales. It might be a little above a newly 3 year old, but it has lots of fun and catchy elements (songs, puppets, animation, etc) that appeal to younger ages. Volume 10 specifically focuses on the Gospels and life of Jesus. If she likes that one, the series covers the entire Bible. My kids have loved it.

So stinkin' cute!

The Darling Dahlias series by Susan Wittig Albert came to mind when your friend mentioned characters making the best out of bad times. The series is set in 1930s Alabama, so the community is dealing with issues such as societal roles for women and African-Americans, Depression-era economics, and Prohibition. These books are considered "cozy mystery" and is mostly clean in language and subject.

It's a sort of subset of the Quest trope. This site explains it well: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheSevenBasicPlots Scroll down and click on the folder that says "The Quest". Relevant excerpt: "...it's the search for an object, a location or some information that requires our Hero to leave their (usually) everyday life to find. It's the basic plot most likely to include a party instead of a lone hero. Booker allows for four basic party types: * A close friend who is loyal but little else (Samwise Gamgee); * A companion who is the hero's very opposite and usually displays opposite emotions, for good or ill (Sancho Panza); * A large group of faceless minions who die right and left as the story goes on (a la The Odyssey - and often not a single one makes it to the end); * or a balanced party distinguished by skills, generally Brains, Brawn, and "Soul" (which might be represented by courage, intuition, charisma, compassion, or spiritual power). Here, The Hero may be counted among them, or may be less specialized and merely rely on them."

One of my children truly benefits from having an object that is designed specifically for fidgeting. This child will handle pens, pencils, papers, plastic cups, etc to the point that child inadvertently destroys the object. So what starts out as just messing with a normal office supply ends up as a mess that is way more distracting than the use of a fidget device. I bought spinners for this child and another of mine who just thought it seems cool. They are both allowed to take them in public but have to watch to make sure they're not used in a manner that distracts others. One child brought the spinner to church but was only allowed to hold it and turn it slowly (not spin it) that wouldn't make noise or visually draw attention. They also know that if anyone asks them to stop or put it away, they are to do so immediately. For some kids, they have spinners because everyone else does. They'll grow out of the fad and devices like this won't follow them to higher levels of school or work. For those kids who do truly need to keep their hands busy, they will possibly grow into adults that have physical coping mechanisms. I think the key is they'll have to train themselves to (1) notice when they are in fidget mode, (2) fidget in a way that is not distracting and is socially acceptable, (3) have multiple modes of fidgeting, and/or (4) pursue interests/careers that channel their physical needs in a productive manner. We are working with all of those points with our child who compulsively fidgets.

"Shackles" by Mary Mary is older but one of my favorites when I need my spirits lifted.

I like the Big Joe chairs that have more of a chair shape (with arms and back) vs. the regular blob bean bag. I've seen them at Walmart and Target. Papasan chairs are also super comfy but take up quite a bit of space.

I'm not sure if the video code would transfer, but I'm sure if you emailed Circe they would give you the most accurate answer. It's possible to buy access to the new videos separately: https://www.circeinstitute.org/store/lost-tools-writing-level-one/lost-tools-writing-online-instructional-videos-subscription. If you could get the other items used for a great price, this might be a viable option. I'm also looking into using LToW 5th ed. for a co-op class. I really wanted to preview it first, but it's definitely hard to come by secondhand.

Well, I guess if a person can keep it to name-calling and not resort to threats, that person could avoid arrest. Flight crew maybe don't legally have special protection from verbal attacks, but as is the theme of this thread, just because it's legal doesn't make it right or advisable.

If you verbally assault a flight crew? How is it advisable to call them festering a-holes, get them upset and stressed out over company policy that they don't write but have to follow, only for them to turn around and have to still run the flight and keep everyone safe? There's a reason why that type of behavior has a zero-tolerance policy. Editing to say: I'm not at all implying the man in this situation said that, just in case that wasn't clear.

And if you do this while on an airplane, you'll find yourself deplaned and probably arrested very quickly.