We did! It was actually our first REAL day of schooling. We had some trial days about 2 months ago so I could try and figure out what I was doing, how to handle schooling my oldest with my toddler running around. Just plain practice for me. Today was our first real day though! How did it go? Well, we are having a bit of a late lunch and we aren't finished...we started late because the extermintor came by last minute after I had to call him for a spot check this morning (saw a rat outside--ew!) But, my daughter was THRILLED about starting school. She ran to the shelf right after breakfast and grabbed the Spelling Workout workbook and ran to our little art table to start. It was so cute! She was so so excited. Hurray for kindy/first grade!

We are another long hours family, with frequent overnight trips. When he IS home, he is always engaging with the kids when they are awake, doing educational games, phonics with my youngest, and most importantly he is the nighttime, familytime read aloud person. We all gather round and Daddy reads a chapter from our latest book. When he isn't home, I fill in, but this job is usually reserved for him. Once the kids are in bed, he will help with some of the chores that didn't get accomplished during the day--just like how it was when we BOTH worked full time. We were both working all day and would come home and we both shared the housework because it needed to get done. He will help fold the laundry while we watch some TV or chat, help with the dishes, and more of those everyday type tasks. I still do the moping, sweeping, dusting, type things, but he is such a huge help with the everyday things that get backed up.

We are big readers too, but I always try to remember in the back of my mind that I am not reading the original Hebrew, therfore I am already reading a translation, re: man's attempt to rewrite the words in a way which someone else can understand. If you are interested in sharing the stories with your children, I would put forth that it is okay to have a "child's" translation of adult themes, because in essence you are doing the same thing that someone did for you to be able to read the Bible in the first place (and boy am I grateful for it! One day I would love to learn Hebrew so that I might read the original text, but that will have to wait until the kids are off in college and I have some mommy school time!)

Just as an aside, so you know, there are many scholarship opprotunities through the military for your son to go to college and then join the service upon graduation from school. It isn't the best choice for everyone, but the option is there and is a way to both serve your country and have a financially debt free college degree. It also opens many doors for jobs that are not available to those without a college degree (and closes some doors for jobs that he could do if he didn't have the degree) Just wanted you to know that college doesn't have to be out of the question if he wants to join the military.

Going to SOS or another ACSC? The schools do a lot of really fun things for the families that attend, so be sure to hook up with the moms group of your husbands class. Montgomery also has Shakespeare in the Park, which is WAY fun. There is also a very lovely walk/jogging path on base that winds through the golf course, through the woods, up and down hills, across a lake (bridge sort of thing) that is really quite enjoyable. Would be worth going to check out in the evenings after it has cooled off a bit. Enjoy!

Is the conclusion a true causation or is it a correlation? Do ALL foods, even homemade, chemical free, healthy foods causing the same effect as frozen dinners? Perhaps this finding is something that seems to occur with people who eat mostly pre-packaged foods, designed to be heated and cooked by the microwave, not just heating up last nights freshly made dinner.

Yay! I was induced with pit with both of my previous kids (hoping this upcoming one will come on his own, but who knows) and it was actually QUITE fabulous. I would do it again in a heartbeat (and I was an all natural bradly method mommy when I checked into the hospital--you will do great!) Sending baby vibes!

I think it ALL depends on where you live. I pay my babysitter, who is a teen, 6 dollars an hour, rounded to the nearest $5 or $10 that we have on hand, for watching my 3 year old and 2 year old, who are usually sleeping most of the time. I live in Las Vegas, so this is a cheap rate, but the kids are sleeping and she is happy with it. I know lots of other babysitters expect at least $10 an hour around here. If it is a special occassion (military ball, christmas party) where the babysitter will be in high demand, I pay her the more usual going rate so that she doesn't feel underpaid (I book her way in advance, but don't want to deny her the bucks she could be making) and it works out well.

I wouldn't either. I don't even think I would put it into the FAQs. You can list the curriculum you use in your ad in the FAQ, and they are welcome to research those if they care enough. My thought is that if religion is a driving force behind their choices (pro or con), they will certainly ask you. If they don't care, then they won't ask and there is no need to mention it one way or another.

Thank you all again for your candid answers! My hubbie agrees with you all and pointed out that the teacher will probably incorporate some Disney princess songs and story books during story time, so generic with Disney princess stickers to put in the loot bags is our answer! I have to admit, I am sad about not getting those super cute plates, just because I think they are so darn cute! But, I do think you all have recommended such great alternatives and it will be equally as wonderful in the end with the excessive expense.

Thank you all for your replies! I am actually going to leave my post up and give my husband a note for him to read when he gets up in a few hours (yay for pregnant insomnia!) and see what he thinks. I figured there was no difference between ordering at midnight or midmorning the next day. I will let you know what we end up doing, as irrelevent as it is, haha.

To accept and love does NOT mean to put yourself in a dangerous position or befriend everyone you meet. I do believe that as Christian, we are not only asked to accept and love and should want to accept and love everyone, but we should strive to be like Jesus who DID accept and love everyone without hesitation. Understanding that we have our human faults, this becomes one of the shortcomings we as humans have regularly and is a continual challenge for most. As an example, and one that is a bit personal, I had a crummy relationship with person X in my family. A person that is supposed to be a huge part of my life. But it was bad. Even with trying to befriend and change and persue a relationship with this person as an adult, it is still an unhealthy situation for me to be in. I have really finally begun to find peace by learning to accept this person for who he/she is, love them in my heart despite their faults, yet I REFUSE to be in contact with this person or allow them near my family. Loving and accepting people for who they are does not mean that you are required to be best friends with them, or even be in contact with them. You forgive, love, accept them, and then press forward with no ill will. I think that Paul, when he is talking about banishing people from the church among other things, is not saying that you are excising them like a cancer so that you are not to be surrounded by them. I think that what he is discussing is the importance of being held accountable for your actions (not you, but the person being banished--and typically I think this is only for a short period of time). For example, very recently, a very well known local church had a wonderful pastor who has really been a leader to his congregation, bringing many people to the Lord. Out of no where, he came forward and confessed that he was guilty of something and that he was stepping down as pastor to get his life back on track. Even if he didn't make the choice to step down, the bi-laws of the overarching church have a system established in which the church leader, upon confession or discovery of something unethical or sinful in nature, will be asked to leave the leadership position for 2 years time. They are asked to spend 6 weeks of it in retreat, preferably as a family or at least husband and wife if married. After this time to reflect, repent, and self discover, along with a "rehabilition" time of the 2 years, the pastor is welcome back as a leader. He is allowed to attend the church at all times, and is always allowed the support of the congretation, but in a sense, he is "banished" for the 6 weeks to really reflect on his life. This is what I think Paul means. I can talk more about it, and I didn't proofread so apologizes for confusion or mistakes. But, those are my thoughts.

and it is too late to wake up my husband. My oldest is turning 4 and we are having a birthday party for her NEXT Saturday, so August 1st. We are inviting 4 other little girls over to do a little princess dance party with her ballet teacher who will lead them in dancing and flitting about the house with wands and scarves to wave around (Kindermusik teacher). It is our first birthday party for any of our kids and it should be fun! Now, silly me thought that I wasn't waiting until the last minute to buy party supplies, but it turns out that the stuff I like, I can only find on the computer. http://www.1stbirthdayparty.com/fairytail-princess.html. I a-la-carted the things I liked into my cart, and then needed to tack on 3 day shipping to be sure it gets here in time, bringing my total to just around 75 dollars! YIKES! That is way more than we are paying the fun teacher to come over! Without the 3 day shipping, the cost would be around 57 bucks, so it is still a bit expensive to buy these party supplies. I went all around town today to see if I could find these particular supplies or a good substitute, and I didn't find much of anything. Everything is Disney, not cute generic. Either way, it seems as though I might fare better going to the $1 store and getting pink and purple plates and napkins and such, without the matching cutsie little stickers and things I was going to get with the previously mentioned set. Sigh. So, what would you do? Order this fairytale princess thing, what the heck, you only turn 4 once and she will love it? ORRRR There is no reason what-so-ever to spend the money on the party decorations. Plain plates and napkins will be equally as perfect. If I place the order, I would like to do it soon (shoot! Should have talked to hubbie before he went to bed!) so that it can be shipped tomorrow to ensure it will be here on time. Sigh again. Such silly things I stress about. TIA!

Calories in equals calories out, so watch what you are eating in addition to watching the amount of exercise you do. Lost 30lbs in 6 months this way! :) YAY!

I had an Accord and LOVED it!!! But, our growing family needed a bigger vehicle and after months of research, we too learned that our beloved Honda brand (re: Odyssey) had major transmission problems, and when the company splits the cost with you to fix it, they are giving you a rebuilt (they don't replace with new) transmission for roughly 3k out of your pocket. Many reviews have said that the replaced transmission also junked out and they had to fork over another chunk of money to get ANOTHER transmission. Consumer Reports also discussed this in a very recent issue (I don't remember which one..sorry!) and we ended up going with a Toyota Sienna. It wasn't my first choice, but in the end seems to have been the better choice of the two.

Exactly. He spelled peers wrong, which in my opinion makes the article less official. He makes good points, but as someone in a position of authority, he should have edited his work better.

For me it is a combination of pregnancy and things that I have either seen on television or in real life that freak me out. So, hormones and subconscious fears that are surfaced during sleep would be my vote.

This is a pretty standard thing to do in colleges and it won't be for very long into the school year. It happenes every year because they need the overflow space until they can sort out who will actually be attending and who will actually stay in the dorms. It happened to me every year in college and was a part of living in the dorms. Within the next month, everyone should be resettled back into a normal dorm room.

Jockey sells these fabulous seamless panties called the No Panty Line Promise Model Bikini (you can get this in other styles, like high cut and boy cut I think, but the bikini is best for helping us look our best with our muffin tops!) The elastic doesn't pull in, so there are no bulges on the side, there is no pull in to then make the top puff out more. It sits wonderfully, feels great, no riding up, and I love them to bits. These are the only panties that I have found to do the trick AND feel comfortable, and I have been in granny panties for over 15 years. My next suggestion is to see if you can find these on clearance at an outlet store because they are MUCH cheaper to buy them that way.

I don't have an answer for you, but here is hoping someone does!

I am in desperate need of some good veggie ideas. We will sometimes roast asparagus, or make glazed carrots, but for the most part I end up throwing frozen cut mixed vegetables into the microwave. This is SUPPOSED to be our backup method, but it has become more and more of the norm. And they are gross! I would really love to hear how you incorporate vegetables into your (and your kids) diet everyday. We could really use some ideas. TIA!

Bump

I was in a bit of a situation like this with some people I knew and I found it much easier to just be unavailable. I accepted the first time and then realized that it was slowly becoming abused. After a few rounds of me not being able to help out, the situation dissolved on its own. I don't know if this was the right way to do it either, but I thought it much better then trying to openly discuss it. I didn't expect the person to learn anything from me, just get upset if I spoke frankly. If the person ever called in advance, then I was more happy to help because it was a planned thing. I was hoping that they would learn that on their own, but they never seemed to put 2 and 2 together. Ah well. That is okay I guess.

I have been in and out of shape my whole life, from highschool onward. 18 months after my 2nd baby was born, I was still carting around all of the extra weight I gained. I decided to do this program and ended up stopping about half way through and instead just used it is a way to plan a workout. I found that doing the interval training that the middle of the program requires (more than just running a straight 3 miles towards the end) was much better for my fitness. I ended up losing close to 30 lbs in 6 months. Wahoo! Now I am pregnant again, gaining the weight right back again, and plan on doing weeks 1-8ish and then stopping around week 8 (but then doing variations of such for extended periods of time) as my normal workout. I am thrilled that it worked before and I am quite sure that it will work again this time. YAY!

I grew up in the Low Country! :) Beaufort, to be exact! So, I am quite familiar with your fun summer weather (and great afternoon thunderstorms. I miss them very much!)