Where do I start? Yes I am very busy. The weekend was a HUGE success. We have to have one girls! I cannot wait to have one with all of us. I have just been friends with these ladies since Aug. & have met 4 of them. I have only met 2 of you IRL. Yes, I've talked to many more over the phone & seen many pics but then I've seen many pics of my other friends too. Especially since it is scrapbooking. LOL We did some shopping, went out to eat, let the kiddos swim at the waterpark, took lots of pics, did a little sleeping, and generally enjoyed each other's company. Dave came & spent a little time on Sunday too. He already knew 2 of the women so he met the 3rd one. This is a busy month of birthdays for us. So I've been busy doing birthday cards, pages about our adventures, sympathy cards, Mother's Day cards, and such. We've had trips to the commissary, VA, & tomorrow the Renaissance Fair on top of visiting the friend who had his cancer surgery & is in the hospital. We had the resident's association meeting, quilting show, shopping with the girls, & I'm organizing still. So that's been my week. Milkdud~[[[[Larry]]]] Hope you get good news. Glad you are staying so busy & that you are enjoying TOPS so much. My Mom's sis did that with great success for a while. NH Suzanne~Love hearing about the BB. We have had so many birds here this winter. I thought perhaps it was b/c we are so much colder than normal. Many, many more nests it has seemed to us. This would be the ______ in particular that I'm speaking of. If I don't think of it, I'll have to ask Dave what I'm trying to think of. He is off doing clothes right now. BJ~I hope you enjoy your time off the island & that you have better luck with the house this time. Can't wait to hear about Baby V. Little Sweetie Pie deserves to have a good home. Raeanne~The art show sounds divine. I can't wait to see the pics. I know Dave will be interested too especially since it is the Adironack chairs. Wodka~I'm thrilled you are going to Chicago. I've only been in the airport. It was cold. LOL I had to do a 4 hour layover from Orlando to Dallas. IDK, doesn't make sense to me? I know it is a little late but I always take out the honey, lemon, & tea when my throat is hurting. That seems to take care of it right away. Besh~Glad Zoe is doing well. Shopping, yes!! Fun, fun, fun. Well, I hope you have a great weekend. My friend is supposed to take pics of her friend having a baby & she is being checked by the dr so we may have to wait until Sunday to go to the Ren Fest but whenever we go, it will be a great time. Have a good one! Patti :-) Gretchen~I never did hear back from you so should I gather that you decided not to be part of the un-birthday group?

I have refrained from commenting because I do not have children, (1 stepdaughter) but I think what he did deserves a little praise. I read the link that Wildchild provided above and he sounds to me like a pretty great dad. His methods may not suit all, but he obviously knows his kid and what works with her. He has repeatedly made his comments and replies strictly through his facebook page. He has turned down many, many requests for interviews because he 1. does not want him or his daughter to profit in any way from this. And 2. Wants his words to remain his...not be edited to say something twisted. I clearly remember some pretty harsh punishment when I was a belligerent teen. I was never physically disciplined, but I remember as if it was yesterday how mad my father was and I never wanted to cross that line again...and never did. I love my father dearly as I know he loves me. I survived and grew to have a much deeper respect for parenting. (he and Mom raised 6 girls!) I think this man may have acted a little irrational, shooting her computer but certainly turned it into a teachable moment. I dont care if it could have been donated or not...it was their property, their punishment. I applaud him for the act of following through with his discipline. ( I think this is where many drop the ball and kids know it) He and his daughter I believe have bonded over this experience. As he mentioned...she will never again doubt his commitment to following through on doing what he says he will do. (good or bad)

BM told the courts we (meaning I) don't allow her to talk to her children ... so after that we granted free access to a phone to call mom don't care what time it is ... she pays for their cell phones ... she bought one for SD for christmas. So here we have a cycle of phones ringing if mom wants to talk to her children ... house phone, 3 kids cell phones, and hubby's cell phone ... she calls them in a circle until someone answers one time.... I was sick as a dog and the last thing on my mind was taking a phone with me into the bathroom .... she called the house, hubby's cell, and 2 kids phones consecutively for almost a half hour hubby was outside with the 2 of the kids doing stuff in the yard.. i yelled for them to answer the phone mom's calling ... no one heard a phone ringing ... finally it stopped .... 15 minutes later the ringing started again ... at this point i picked up the phone and said unless ss14 is on fire stop calling here! She said he's not on fire but I want to talk to my babies!!!! I hung up the phone. The police showed up, had to explain to the officer that I was spewing liquid out of every orafice of my body and that hubby and the children were not in the home to answer her calls ... showed him how many times she had called EACH phone. She called again while he was here this time the house phone. He answered the phone and told her everything was fine and the children were fine did she need anything else ... she needed to talk to her children he told her your children are outside playing they will call you when they come in. SS14 broke his cell phone on purpose .... 2 months ago .... he doesn't want another one ... what 14 yr old wouldn't want a cell phone he has had it since he was 11 mind you ..... he can't stand how his mom bugs him all the time calling him constantly so he told her he doesn't want a new phone ... i gave him an old one of mine which he really likes he refuses to bring it to mom's to have it turned on .... this way she can't bug him .... So LH until SS gets tired of the phone calls you just have to deal.... he needs to tell her i'll call you and your hubby needs to set her straight ... no clue how my hubby never could .... I totally agree it interupts his time with the kids and undermines anything you are doing with them and its a distraction ... but see your hubby is not the one getting the phone calls .... When SD was seeing a counselor who told me she can't really talk to her mom that much on the phone .... told her ok I will leave a message on your phone everytime she calls mom and another when she gets off the phone .... did it for a week .... the counselor told mom there has to be a better way to deal with this than being on the phone constantly. So thinking your hubby needs a call everytime mom's calls just to interupt his day .... When the house phone rings now ... unless one of the kids answers it it goes to voicemail.... I do not even look at hubby's phone to see who is calling.... kids phone are on vibrate while here and if they are talking to mom they have to go in their rooms. SD isn't allowed to bring her cell phone to school ... so mom drops it off here when SD is here so SD can have it if she needs it. she's 11. I see it as a control issue ... mom gets to control the kids and dad's relationship even when they are here.

DS gave me some free weights to use at home, but they were lower in weight than what I am used to. Just bragging! Told him 8 or 10 lb weights and he thought that was total. I meant each weight was 8 lb. He gave me two 4 lb weights total 8 lb. No receipt, but he thinks Academy will let me exchange them.