Lynn, your annual vacation is always Heaven to me! Such a huge group of you, so much fun, and the place looks like paradise for sure. I can imagine how hard it is to come home and get back into the old routine after that. :o( I'd probably turn into a witch and no one would want to get near me for a good while. LOL. Hey O.A., I was thinking about you....did you know that July 10th is Teddy Bear Picnic Day! a popular children's holiday in Canada, Europe, and Australia --- is held every year on July 10. On this day children and parents have tea parties with their teddy bears. ;o) And then coming up is July 17th Cow Appreciation Day July 24th National Day of the Cowboy Anybody want to play? LOL hugs, Karen

My boys had RSV when they were 3 and 3 months. It's very scary. The 3 y/o was much worse, he got it first, was misdiagnosed and so worsed for several days before it was diagnosed right. So we were on the lookout for the symptoms in the baby, and caught it right away. But the 3 y/o was horrible. About as scared as I've ever been. He would not move, he didn't even cry anymore, he just laid there with quiet tears seeping from his eyes. Getting him to be still was not a problem, which is scary for a child. He just could not breathe. We got a nebulizer and had to do breathing treatments at home every couple hours. He had chest x-rays, but was not hospitalized, but it was close. He required constant care for a few days at home by me, and doctor visits every other day for a couple weeks. Even after he got over it, his lungs were weakened. Every little cold went straight to his chest with a cough that would last for weeks after other symptoms were gone. In fact, the doctor wrote us a prescription for the breathing treatment meds (name won't come to me right now) good for a year at a time. For a couple years after that bout, we continued to use the nebulizer with most colds. It was almost like asthma, his lungs were so weakened by that illness. So I'm sending good thoughts for your boys. And for you. Ya know, honestly, some of your posts lately have been... off. Your "voice" doesn't sound like you. But this one sounds better. Please take care of yourself, Stacie. Your kids need you healthy, so it's not selfish to put your well-being before dishes and laundry and other chores. I think the package from me should be there now. Hope they like it! My DD helped me fill the package, she enjoyed that even though she has no idea who we were sending it to! LOL!

thanks to both of you for the reply. bestyears - how do I tell how large those checks are? When it says 9" repeat, what does that mean exactly? Does that mean the checks are 3"? Also, is that $66 a YARD? gulp. that's a *little* more than I'd like to spend. but thanks! lukkiirish - thanks for the link. I've looked at them before, but am not finding a basic neutral large check. Maybe they have more in store? I'm unfortunately in the middle of no where so no store here. anyone else have any ideas? Thanks so much for the help!

Fishies - yes, that helps quite a bit. Our banquette seating won't be nearly as beautiful as yours - we're going a bit more utilitarian and having storage drawers under the seating and we won't have the lovely curve that you do - ours will be L-shaped. I've been struggling with how much the high-density foam (HDF) will wind up compacting down when we sit on it, so it's hard to decide how many inches is enough. I've read that the dacron overwrap doesn't really add to the overall height when sitting - it's purpose is to make everything fit smoothly around the HDF. Hard to decide if 3" or 4" foam is the best bet...but if you think you have 3" and it's comfortable, I'm thinking that I'll go that way. Good warning about the table. With the curve you have, it probably would be very difficult to get a standard table to work. Although we won't have the curve challenge, we're leaning toward having a table made anyway...we're hoping to do a live edge slab table - we fell in love with some that we saw at the resort we vacationed at and I've been just slightly obsessed with them ever since. Thank you for the help. Every time I see pictures of your kitchen, it just makes me smile - your kitchen is something that I'd never have the foresight to put together, but it really is lovely and inviting. Looking forward to seeing your table when it gets finished.