Thanks John. looked at them already. I need a stock item. There seems to be a few up here that still has this stuff in their yard. I'll check with them if i can track them down. thanks for all your help.

Thanks! Your wood wrapped windows are beautiful. And your cat has it made! Your's do look straighter than mine even after tying to work with them. I had two others made for our french doors and they seem much straighter. I don't expect them to be perfect because of the nature of the shade but this one in particular seems too crooked and bunched on the left above the wood bar in back. I think shades with cords have a smoother glide. I'm afraid to pull too tight on these fearing they will snap. They will be up most of the time except at night (if I care to pull them down) and in the spring/beginning summer when the sun beats in. Thanks agian I can straighten them when up

The book "Ultimate Book of Kids Concoctions" (there are several issues) is a fantastic place to look for fun crafts and activities that use normal, household stuff. There are recipes for paint, clay, all kinds of crafts, etc. The sponge balls are fun to make (you cut sponges into strips, then attach together with electrical ties) and fun to play with. I let the kids make them, and give them assorted uses--if you leave the electrical tie long, they make great glass cleaners (I teach a children's cooking class). Or you can cut the ties off, so you have a fun ball to play with. We use them instead of water balloons for that game where you pair off, standing in 2 lines, and toss your balloon (or wet sponge ) back and forth, stepping back a step until you drop your balloon or sponge. Or how about making chocolate clay with them? You can google for the recipe. Fun to make, then they can play with it, modeling animals or whatever, and afterwards, eat it (it tastes a little like Tootsie Roll to me). You can make beads from magazine pages. The more colorful, the better. Cut long triangles--about an inch or 2 wide at the short side, and 4-5-6" long to the point. Put the most colorful side down, roll the strip up on a round toothpick, glueing the point. Let dry and string, alternating with purchased beads, if desired, on plastic laces. You can also color pasta--put a tablespoon or 2 of water in a plastic jar, add a few drops of food coloring. Add pasta with holes in the middle (elbows, etc), and shake the jar until evenly colored. Spread out on a cookie sheet to dry. String on plastic laces. A tip for stringing beads/pasta--TAPE one end of the lace to the desk, or tie one bead or piece of pasta on the string. Makes it easier to string without losing the beads/pasta, etc. If you read the book Strega Nona to them, you could have the students draw a picture of the town, then hand out white yarn for them go glue on to represent the run-away pasta. I've taught some 5 year olds (and many older kids to do straw weaving. It's fun and all you need is soda straws and scraps of yarn. Little too complicated to explain in a few sentences, but if you google "Straw weaving', you'll find directions. Have fun!

Everyone -- Let's not get confused here... the "version of" Family Tree Maker has little, if anything, to do with membership at Ancestry.com; and the membership at Ancestry.com is not contingent upon use of the Family Tree Maker software. Yes, Ancestry.com is now owned by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (I hope I got that right -- I'm Catholic), and Ancestry.com now owns the company that produces the Family Tree Maker software (it used to be owned by Genealogy.com, when they were separate companies). BUT, you don't have to have a membership at Ancestry.com to purchase and use the Family Tree Maker software; just as you don't have to have the Family Tree Maker software to have a membership to Ancestry.com. The software is used to enter all of the information that you gather during your hours/days/months/years of research. It organizes it and allows you to produce charts, reports, etc. Family Tree Maker is only one of several genealogical software programs. Everyone has their preference, but I will say that Family Tree Maker is my preference. It integrates beautifully with Ancestry.com, in that you can be working in the software and then activate a search on Ancestry.com for records pertaining to that person. You can have a membership at Ancestry.com without owning Family Tree Maker software. You could be using another genealogical software to enter the information that you find on Ancestry.com. OK, having said all that, there ARE differences in Ancestry.com memberships. There is a World Deluxe membership and there is also a U.S. Deluxe membership. If you opt to subscribe to the U.S. Deluxe membership, you will not have access to any records from outside the United States -- for example, you won't be able to see the Census records from England or Canada. You won't see any records from France, Australia, etc., etc. If you have the World Deluxe membership, you will have access to EVERYTHING. Also, once you determine whether you want to "stay domestic or go global," you'll need to decide on a subscription period. You can subscribe on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. Yes, if you subscribe to the World Deluxe on an annual basis, you will have to pay $299.40 in one lump sum (yay for credit cards). BUT, that's less than $1 per day (it's 82 cents per day), and it's less than if you paid for 12 months at the monthly rate ($359.40 total). So, start saving your pennies, and tell everyone you know that all you want for Christmas is money towards an Ancestry subscription! :-) I'm not sure when Ancestry changed it, but there used to be four different memberships -- U.S. Standard, U.S. Deluxe, World Standard, and World Deluxe. I think it's a lot easier now that they've narrowed it down to two. OH -- for those of you who live in Canada, Australia, Italy, France, etc. -- Ancestry does have websites "in" different countries, and I'm certain the pricing is different there -- for example, Canada would have a Canada-only membership as well as the World Deluxe; Italy has an Italy-only membership, etc. So, if that's all you need, check out those sites: When you have an Ancestry membership, you can also create a tree on the Ancestry.com web site. You can make it "public," so that anyone else with an Ancestry membership can see it, or you can make it "private," so only you can see it. Either way, you can send (through Ancestry) an e-mail invitation to anyone so that they can view your tree, regardless of whether or not they have a membership. Also, when you have a "public" tree, other folks with Ancestry memberships cannot see details on anyone who is, or may be, still living. All they will see is "Living LastName." They can tell if the person is male or female, but that's it. If you have genealogical software with information already entered, you export it to Gedcom format (don't worry - you'll see that choice when choosing to export), and then you can upload that Gedcom file to Ancestry.com to create your tree there. The really cool thing about having a tree on Ancestry.com is that the web site is always searching in the background, and when it thinks it has a match, you will see a little green leaf attached to the person's name, and then you can click on that to review the possible matches. If any of them are valid, you can attach them as a reference source to your tree. You'll also get e-mail notices when Ancestry. thinks it has found a match. I will say, though, that it can be a pain to keep the two trees (online and in the Family Tree Maker software on your computer) in synch! If you buy the Family Tree Maker software, always, always, always buy the most recent version. They are currently selling the 2011 edition (it was recently released). They come out with an upgrade nearly every year like clockwork, but you don't need to upgrade every year - you only need to upgrade if you think they've added enough new stuff to make it worthwhile. If you are an Ancestry.com member, you will receive a discount on future software upgrades, and possibly even receive a free copy. (I'm currently using the 2006 version, even though sitting here on the shelf are the CDs for every year's version since then, including 2011!) OH - if you buy the software, one of the "perks" is that you get a free 14-day trial membership at Ancestry.com. But, don't say I didn't warn you.... genealogy research is extremely addicting!