:sad: There aren't even adequate words... .... ... just, what even is wrong with people? Reading how many *serious* reports were made, and nothing - nothing - was done in over ten years? We considered foster care, but our children were youngish, and I didn't want to subject them to the scrutiny and questions from DHS (I'd heard the preliminary questioning sessions can be quite intense and we really didn't want to invite that intrusion into our home/family at that time) - but stories like this just rip your heart right out of your chest, don't they? If that article is accurate - I hope they lock them away and throw away the key. Disgusting, vile creatures.

:D I bet that'd go over well! I hate their search function. I often want to see the "best selling" of something - and that's not (always) an option! So, I'll choose "best rated"- and things with 5-stars (but only ONE rating) will clog the first dozen pages! So frustrating!

AGREED!! I used to always drop money in the pails, but that sometimes gets a BIG, loud, (happy) reaction from the bell-ringer, which sends me scurrying away in a hurry. So now I just put my head down and charge through the front door like a bul, without acknowledging the bell-ringers. My kids usually follow behind me and put money in the pail. :p They aren't quite the introverts their mother is! I'm not opposed to the bell-ringers having fun with it at all. I just wish I could enter through the back door and avoid all the chaos. :ph34r:

Is Mike ever mentioned any more? I loved the Mike stories. :lol: I stopped reading the blog after it became uuuuber popular. The fawning comments sections were addictive - a sort of trainwreck... I couldn't NOT read the comments! - so I had to stop visiting to gain back hours of my day, lol.

Just thought of another favorite thing we did that would be fun - especially with the new movie coming out soon. It's more of an activity, though... I gave each kiddo (and myself!) a dragon described in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book and they had to draw a very detailed dragon according to the description in the book. Sort of following the style of the Dragonology books (we labeled things, wrote little descriptions in the corners, wrote fancy-lettered titles at the top of each page w the name of the dragon...): http://static.srcdn.com/slir/w570-h337-q90-c570:337/wp-content/uploads/Interior-Page-from-Dragonology-Book.jpg http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/ology/images/c/c2/076362814X_int_1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080723145633 We spent about 30 minutes per dragon/beast assigned and sat down a few times a week to draw. The rules were: If the book described something in detail, we HAD To include it in the drawing-exactly as described. If it didn't give specific details (ie. color, size, etc) we were allowed artistic liberties. My youngest was probably your kids' age when we did this. We did them on blank sheets of paper, and when we'd completed all of them we found interesting, I bound them together. It's one of my favorite things to stumble across when I go through the shelves. :)

nm

Oh my gosh - I WISH I could go back in time and do all the Harry Potter crafty stuff again!! That was my favorite chapter of homeschooling/parenting hands-down! Here is a link with some ideas: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/ At that age, they'd probably love their own Pygmy Puffs: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/crochet/pygmypuff/ You could also make letters to them (from Hogwarts) inviting them to a very merry Hogwarts Christmas celebration. Then have chocolate frogs, Berties beans, and some of the other foods described in the books as a main course.

I'll be a differing opinion. I'd tell them. They're an adult and they can choose to do with the information what they will. There are way too many half-truths running through my extended family. Uncle SO-and-So did such-and-such to his ex-wife, which explains why 90% of the family is still friendly with the ex-wife. One aunt decided to not tell her children the story. We're all grown up now and some cousins are still in the dark and get rather testy when Aunt Ex-Wife is brought up in conversation. Just one of many examples in my own family - it gets so tedious keeping up with who knows what. And I've been on the other side - my parents not telling me something about a relative and I found out as an adult from someone else. I was SO not happy to find out something that was considered "common knowledge" by most of my family. My own kids know the basics about every family drama that's come up (granted, none of our extended family drama is the 'bad stuff'... just why Cousin A can't be in the same room with Cousin B... or that Uncle C has a child he never gets to see...). My youngest is 12. I feel that them knowing the ins-and-outs helps them connect with their family (and they don't take it personally anymore when Cousin A walks out of a room mid-conversation when Cousin B walks in... and when Uncle C looks at my middle child and gets teary eyed - they know he's thinking of his own daughter, who is around her age... not that seeing dd makes him cry... lol)