Kayakmom

Thanks! I used the 5450 to get the honeysuckle body butter. I ordered a Stelaka thing for my baby that was $7.95 and also got the free tote. The shipping was $7.00.

I'm a bit behind getting started this year. The kids had vacation and then the next week they were home sick. My first stop was Kohl's this morning. I found a bunny for dd1 for $5.99, 3 pairs of tights on clearance for $1.20 each, and a PlayDoh Easter set with cutouts for ds5 for $5.99. I don't do as much now with 3 kids as I did with one, but the littler ones don't know, lol. I also try to avoid a ton of candy because they just don't need it. I'm thinking a DS game for ds10 and maybe a leapster game for ds5. For the baby, I'll probably put in a couple of bags of the dried fruit that she likes anyway. I try to get stuff that I'd want to get them anyway and then stash it for their baskets. I really like the idea of the themed basket, like the gardening stuff. That's a very cute way to do it! I love giving them useful things. :) I'm sorry that ds5 knows about the baseball stuff we got him, because I'd put that stuff in his basket, lol.

I'm really starting to get the itch pretty bad. I asked ds5 if he'd like to go again and he said, "No, I want to go to Sea World to see everything that lives there." Ds10 wants to go to Universal. The tickets are very reasonable for both. Staying on site at Univeral is out of the question since we'll be a party of 6 after June. I'm debating something off site even though we'll lose the express line advantage. Hubby is already sold, but I need to find a GREAT deal to push me over the edge to do it. I'd probably like to check in on 11/23 and out on 11/30. I spent a bunch of time looking over the weekend, but haven't found anything great yet.

I just researched this a couple days ago because I'm thinking of new carpet for the boys' room. I found lots of complaints of "bait and switch". The accusations were that they'd come out and sell a certain grade of carpet. When it was install day after you'd already moved all your stuff from the room, they'd call and say that they were out of stock on that product and they'd give you something better. Something better was, in fact, bottom of the barrel. Other complaints stated that the installed item was not the same as the sample. After that I stopped considering them and I'll look around locally as soon as the kids are better. I bought carpet at Home Depot years ago and had good luck with it. I'm going to check some of the local discount carpet places, too.

I don't remember EVER seeing prices that low around here! I buy the boneless pork chops and get all excited if I find them for $2.49 or $2.99/lb. For ground sirloin, $1.99/lb is about the cheapest I've ever seen, but it's generally on sale for about $2.99/lb. I live in Connecticut and my mom says the prices are higher here than where she lives.

I always just call my mom and ask what the price should be, lol. I'm a vegetarian, but I come from a long line of butchers on one side, lol. Pretty ironic, huh? Anyway, the last time I bought Porterhouse I called her and she said it should be about $10/lb. It was on sale for $4.99 and she said snap up a bunch of it, so I did. It lasts us a long time here because only hubby really eats it. The kids might take a few bites, but they don't really like it too much. I checked Porterhouse on Omaha steaks and you get (2) 24oz cuts for $47.50. That's 3 lbs, so it comes out to about $16/lb. Even at 1/2 price, that's still expensive! Since I haven't eaten meat in over 20 years, I don't really know much about it. Is there some special difference between Omaha and what I can get from the local butcher?

I've had BJ's for years and I like it a lot. I go there an average of about once a week. I love Costco but it's about 1/2 hour in a direction I don't go very often. I had it last year and didn't renew because of the distance, but I miss it already. I was telling my uncle yesterday and he said he'd add me on his business account since I'll be doing some part time bookkeeping for him and wanted to look into the payroll service they offer. :) I love the organic field greens that they have at our Costco. No others can even come close to matching the quality for the price.

Ds5 and I went last year and we did not have a long wait. In fact, we were seated immediately and service seemed average to good for that type of establishment. Last year the charity was books, I think. I've only been to an IHOP once in the interim, but I plan to go tomorrow. Children's Miracle Network is a great cause. Ds5 is excited. :)

That is SOOOO cheating!!!

You might want to check ebay. I bought my hubby's North Face Nebula tent (~$400 tent) on ebay a couple years ago for Valentine's Day for about $150.

Addie is a 3.5 and I bought the 12-18 months but they are too large. They would probably be appropriate for your son. I suspect they'll fit her by mid-summer sometime, when she goes up at least another size. She definitely would need 6-12 now. She outgrew her 0-6 a while ago. My guess would be that your son would probably fit a 12-18 months. If his feet are really fat, you might want to go up a size, but then they might be too long.

Apparently he thinks it is, lol! He went out during the ice/freezing rain storm we had last Wednesday to sell hot chocolate to make some more $$ toward his Club Penguin, lol. He's been NAGGING incessantly for about a month now to sign up and I refused to do the $6/mo recurring on my card. I told him nothing that is recurring, only one time fees. He figured out that he could sign up for the 6 months and went on a mission to get the money, lol. He ended up paying me one $10 WalMart gift card, $17 (a 5 and the rest 1's), and $3 in quarters. He was BEGGING me because I said I would not take coin, lol. After he went to search all his drawers, emptied his wallet, sold the hot chocolate, and tried so hard, then I agreed. He just got the paid account on Friday and he was SOOOO excited. He left for his dad's around 8, but before he left he said, "You should see all the stuff I got in just 3 hours with the paid account!" He is enthralled, lol. The first thing he did was go and get more Puffles. To be honest, I think Club Penguin is better for him, but Webkinz is probably the better choice for ds5. Even that's a little hard for him still because he can't read. He loves Noggin.com.

The best months to buy camping gear are August and September, when it's near the end of the season. You can find some good deals in July, too. What, specifically, are you looking for? Campmor pretty much always has some good deals.

Do you have any nice consignment shops? There are some people like me who have about 5 strollers, and now with 2 babies they'll all be worthless. If I was smart, I'd take them to a consignment shop!

It seems like you have pretty basic needs and could go with a decent budget laptop. My son's $399 laptop will do all that you're looking to do. I know Photoshop puts a huge strain, but I think PSP and Animation Shop are much tamer. Me, on the other hand -- uh, I think I need a Toughbook, lol. I am brutal on laptops. I use and abuse them until they're dead.

I bought them for my sons. They did like them, but my ds10 is so hung up on Club Penguin that it's all he wants to do! He saved up his money until he got $30 for me to sign him up for 6 months, lol. It's a similar sort of thing, but I think Club Penguin is a bit more detailed and his friends from school play Club Penguin. On Webkinz on Valentine's Day you got a Valentine's gift. I helped ds5 to make sure he got it. He can't read yet, so it's a bit hard for him, although he enjoys it. I think it's similar to Animal Crossing, which I happened to love! I bought a Game Cube a couple years back just so I could play that game, lol.

I'm curious what your son's shoe size is and which size Robeez you ordered. Addie takes a 3.5 in Stride Rite and I ordered 12-18 months because I wasn't sure. She had 0-6 Robeez, but never had 6-12 and recently had a big growth spurt. I figure if they're too big, I'll just save them. I should go try them out! They arrived TODAY! That is amazing! From order to arrival within 48 hours. My sons ran to tell me about the package and I told them that they can open it, lol. I think they looked at the label on the box and didn't bother.

Exactly. My sister was a manager at Stride Rite for years. She used to have to go to conferences around the country. I remember that ever since she went to one with Pediatric Podiatrists in Boston, she was very insistant about soles for babies that are no stiffer than something you'd wear as clothing. It can cause permanent and irreversible damage to their feet and leg bones. Looks aside, they are the perfect footwear for a baby. We've just gone to Stride Rites last month when Addie started walking, but I still want the Robeez for her for around the house and when it's dry outside.

Robeez are the bomb! To an adult, it would be equivalent to wearing a pair of softsole mocassins, somewhat Native American style. The leather is SOOOO soft and they stay on, which is key! Many babies like to pull off their shoes, but they can't get these off. These are the only shoes my daughter wore until she got her Stride Rite Rosie Stage 3's. I just ordered the Robeez in the kitty style. I wanted the dragonfly but they didn't have them in her size. (She had those in 0-6 and I LOVED them.) I'm debating another pair of SR Rosie's in the next size up. I'm also debating the Eliza's in black newbuck but I'm not sure how much use she'll get from black shoes and I'm debating going with a cheap pair from Payless to go with one particular outfit that is going to require black shoes. Decisions, decisions.

I have condo insurance through Safeco (my auto carrier), which covers all the content of renter's insurance (I think I have 65k replacement), $300k liability, and also provides for replacement of everything from the walls in (appliances, fixtures, flooring, etc.) and I pay $22/mo. I'm not sure if they do it, but you might want to try one of those online places like insurance.com that compares all of the prices for you.

You might want to read the reviews before you decide to definitely purchase one. The picture quality is pretty bad from what I've read. I had considered it as a Christmas gift.

Yet another issue... I called Blue Nile and the man was very nice. He told me truthfully that even some adult women have problems with the posts on these earrings because of the thickness. Apparently, they may be used to wearing cheaper earrings with thinner posts and the thicker posts on the diamonds bother them until they get used to them. Since Addie's only ever had the starter studs in, it may not be such a problem for her, as I think those are slightly on the thicker side. She's napping now, but I'll check them out when she gets up.

Excellent point! Perhaps I should just buy the ones from Blue Nile and see how long they are when they get here. There were some comments that the posts were long, but maybe buying them as is and having them cut down/rounded as needed would be the smartest option. I swung by a local custom jeweler this morning but they're closed on Mondays. Maybe I'll just order the darn earrings at Blue Nile, lol. I'm such a debater. They do have a nice return policy, so I guess I can always return them if they don't work and I will still have plenty of time if I need to replace them because her birthday is not for another month. I just want them to be as perfect for her as they can be. :)

Hubby is a maniac, lol. He was getting on my case to buy only certified stones. I said that I'm buying 12 points each, not a big jammin ring, lol. The grade of the stone is not actually one of my most important features as far as ranking of importances. I really want the princess cut and I really want the platinum for the hypoallergenic qualities. The screwbacks seem like a no-brainer, and having them the right length so they don't annoy her is an absolute. In the stores last night, hubby could readily guess the grade of the stones within one of the certifications for those that had them. He has a very particular eye for that sort of thing.

I had to go and read that Kohl's thread yesterday and get a bright idea to get my daughter diamond earrings for her birthday in lieu of a birthday party. Well, then I decided they had to be princess cut. Then I decided they should be platinum because it is totally hypoallergenic. (People develop nickel allergies because of the nickel mixed in with cheap gold.) Then hubby chimed in that they must be at least near colorless. Then .... oh, you get the idea, lol. We went to the mall last night and determined that 1/4 carat total weight is right for her ear size, giving her about 12 points in each ear. Right now we're looking at some on Blue Nile that meet all of the specifications, except they are screwbacks for adults rather than a baby. Now I have to check around with a local custom jeweler to try to fill this apparently bizarre request. I had no idea that it was going to be this diffcult to find them. Thanks for the post about the sale, lol. In all seriousness, I do love the idea of getting them for her and I'm quite excited. I really just don't want to go over about $325, so I'm going to have to work hard at this one.