photobucket stuff - good luck http://s1064.photobucket.com/albums/u370/greenfingeredsuzy/ These are a bunch of pics which my daughter took (so there are lots of baby ones) and stuff I definately would not have on public view (I know there is a pic of myself looking like a complete crazy woman) but.....gotta start somewhere. Sherry - wasn't even sure what a usb thingy was, and I dunno anything about memory cards - I just pointed my daughters camera and let her loose on the PC. Am determined to get the hang of this though as I fail to keep any sort of coherent notebooks and in those dark january days, what could be nicer than looking to see what is to come. However, I am relying on your help and encouragement. David, I have put your really helpful info in my bookmarks - thank you. Should have read it first before posting photbucket links but, we can but try.

I'll respond to a bunch of things at once here: The general consensus from you guys seems to be that we should have a wiping technique chat and have those flushable wipes. That was what I was leaning towards as well. Thank you to whoever it was that mentioned making sure they say "flushable". We don't have him enough to be on constant potty patrol, monitoring his progress for several weeks straight, so whatever we do about this has to fit the amount we have him and I think that approach is worth a shot. So, now the hard part of the problem: What do I do about getting BF to talk with him? BF is a good dad, but he's not comfortable with that sort of things and he's not all that patient. So I know he will feel pressured into giving this tutorial, that he will hate it, and I suspect he will come off as grouchy during it, rather than matter-of-fact. I was thinking of waiting to bring it up again until there is another pair of excessively poopy underwear, but I think I would rather be proactive and prevent future messes. Should I ask him what he will say to A__, and suggest he do a practice chat to me? (He'll think that's totally lame, but it might make him more comfortable with A__) Any suggestions? I have no clue how to encourage my BF on talking to his son about wiping properly and I need some ideas. Or should I just do it myself next time A__ is here? Tell BF that I'm buying wipes and ask if he wants to talk to A__ about it, or if I should (I'm nearly certain he will say he doesn't want to). Then tell A__ "Hey, I bought these for you, because you said that even though you try your best, you have trouble wiping well. [Insert calm and matter-of-fact wiping tutorial here] and then if the paper is still dirty when you do the 'check' at the end, use one of these, just like you did with the paper, but they're wet, so they'll help. Check again, and if it's still dirty, use one more. Flush the wipes with everything else and wash your hands with soap. If you're still dirty, you can have a quick shower - I know you prefer baths, but this would just be a quick shower so you can soap up your bum, and you wouldn't even have to get your face or hair wet. I'll ask you tomorrow night if the wipes made it easier for you, and if they did, Dad or I will tell Mom that you liked them and that you'd like them at her house too."

I agree with Jackie. In fact one our friends up in Canada also agrees to the point that he issued the following after he got tired of the USA being bad mouthed. FW: A response on today's horrid event from a Canadian This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing. America: The Good Neighbor. Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars! into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon -! not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those." Stand proud, America!

This is NOT a situation where a typical insurance adjustor/appraiser is of much use - this is beyond their area of expertise. You do need a landscape professional - either a consulting arborist or a certified horticulturist. Or even better, a member of the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA). With the exception of larger, established trees (and a few other exceptions), the value is that of replacement cost of the closest sized same species shrub (and the associated costs of removal and replanting). Other than trees, there is little value added to plantings based on age or degree of maturity, unfortunately, and one is seldom able to replace shrubs on a size-by-size direct replacement.......nurseries just do not sell 40 y.o. boxwoods or lilacs!! But there are recognized formulas available for calculating the value of mature, established trees that factor in species, size, condition and location. You need to hire someone properly versed in this sort of evaluation - it is quite a specific skill set and not one that your homeowner's insurance adjuster is likely to have under his/her belt.