Oh, your dogs are sooo cute, I just love their cute little brown noses! Yep, they would get lots of attention from me (of course I can't leave out my yorkie, Toby, he might get a little jealous)LOL Love the tole trays, they are beautiful, you have a great collection, they would fit in right purdy in my house! and your YARD, be still my heart, beautiful, and I know I would NEVER leave the back yard, I love water, for now on you shall be known as "the lady who has it ALL"!!!! Thanks for the beautiful tour!

Another GREAT Room! I'm struggling with paint color and have test paint BM Kingsport Grey and a Brown HC19 that I'm not as fond of. I was in the egg and i last week and their yellow top and black beadboard was very nice and got me thinking that might be good downstairs. Not sure. I was able to upload some pics onto picasa web -- I'll try to upload. Please excuse dog beds.

"NCP does not want to make any waves and does not want to upset their exes, then they make a choice to not pursue their rights." Yes, that can happen. That's not what is happening with Ashley's DH (from what I can tell) or my DH though. So why are you harping on that? My DH did make a choice not to pursue his rights. He is not going to FORCE his DD to spend time with him. Do you think it would be more healthy for DD to be told by her mother "you could be doing __________ but instead your dad doesn't care about what you want to do, he's going to make you ___________ instead". Do you think that would make their relationship better? Should Ashley's DH continue to drive and spend $400 a pop for 1.5 hours of face time? Should my DH go to court, get the visitation enforced and MAKE SD spend half time here? Their order is 50/50.... this is her homestate. Should SD be forced to quit her school and attend a school in her CS state? See, FD, I think what you don't comprehend is that you have been relatively "in charge" of your DD and have no understanding of any other way. My father NEVER told me anything bad about my mother when I was growing up. I DID think he didn't want me. But looking back I can see that so much conflict was because of BM. My dad just told me the other day that when he had me, my mom "forced" him to take my stepsister too, and that we fought all the time. So, if he didn't want to take her too, my mom would tell me "you can go to dads, or we're going to __________" and of course I would tell dad that I'd see him another time. Because a lot of my childhood when I went to dad's house, mom and family did the MOST FUN THINGS EVER. Like travel to a super fun location. Or do an activity with girl scouts that I couldn't make up, so everyone would have the badge but me. PO1, of COURSE NCP's can do alienation. ANYONE can. That's why DH tries really hard not to say anything to SD that could be construed as negative about her mom. It has nothing to do with not upsetting BM and everything to do with trying to make SD have a good childhood. My DH is trying his hardest. You may have another way of doing things. I may have another way of doing things. It doesn't mean any of them are right or wrong. Do you think the kid would suffer more or less if their parents were in an ugly custody battle? Do you think the CP would be more or less inclined to dump their BS on a kid? Do you think the kid would be more willing to see NCP if they were FORCED and they knew it was enforced, or if they choose to do it on their own? Just in general, kids prefer their mothers when they are young. They want to defend their mothers. They feel safer with their mothers. I don't think any of us know what it's like to be a father.

WHIMSEY! Yes Lavon, that is exactly the description for how I view Halloween. I have never viewed it as evil, or bloody ghoulish, although I know some do. But not for me. To me it is whimsical, and reminds me of the 50's when I was growing up. The excitment of choosing a costume, the anticipation of being out at night to visit all neighborhood grownups, stopping on the sidewalk with friends to compare who was giving out the best treats, the houses all decorated and being scared out of my wits when someone answered the door dressed as Frankenstein, and the anticipation of coming home to sift through the treats deciding which to eat, and which to savor for another day. Halloween for me is a memory of happier, innocent times, a smell of MacIntosh apples and that sweet yellow and orange candy corn, carving pumpkins, running through the fall leaves on the ground, the crisp evenings with winter and Christmas just a breath away. Wonderful childhood memories I still relive when I set out my decorations. I guess Halloween evokes different feelings to different people. To me it was always magical.