Thank you for the responses. I feel I do need to clarify that DS's "Bullying" is not much more than sitting too close, following SD around the house all the time, and a little of rough housing that goes a little too far for SD - like being traped in a corner. I don't over look it and I do stand up for SD when I feel she needs the support. But I also feel she needs to stand up for her self and tell anyone who is annoying her to stop, instead of just standing there waiting for an adult to come to her rescue - there will not always be an adult around. SO and I discussed this and he agrees that it would be best to encourage her to be more firm. Her temperment is very sweet and we can't expect her to always be firm but providing her with the tools to be firm in a time of need could help her in the future. When I hear her quiet sweet voice telling DS to stop, I always peak to make sure he does and if he doesn't I demand it myself. In the future we decided that we would encourage SD to speak loader and more firm to get it across - having her try herself at that time as well. We also agreed that DS temperment is stubborn, and we need to be firm with him to play nicely - intervien when we feel things are starting to get out of hand. But we also need to remember to be compassionate and instead of yelling at him to leave be, we need to use it as a teaching experience to show him how he SHOULD play with others. As for the meals.... DS does not know how to eat so he is not a problem when it comes time to cook, but we did compromise on if SD asks for a snack an hour after meals she can have fruits or veggies, if it is two hours or more, then she can have junk food. sylviatexas... I do feel she instigates and I have seen it first hand, but that is a whole new post. When I bring it up to SO he get upset like I am making it up or something. I feel in his eyes SD is an Angel and DS is the Devil - she never does anything wrong and he is always in the wrong. He difinately has his blinders on. It is something that we talked about last night and needs to be worked on to provide a fair enviroment for all the children. I am not too sure that he actually heard me though.... What I did get out of the discussion was that he feels DS thinks SD is there for him and he has a bit of resentment that he doesn't get to spend time with her. He himself offered that maybe he needs to get down on the floor with her and play more. I agreed and told him I could do something DS to keep him busy - and that maybe once in a while we could switch it up - SD with me, DS with him. There is a sense of urgentcy here and the issue needs to be addressed immediately. Every third weekend we have the children, DS will go to my mom's which will provide me with a bit of a break and give SO one on one time with SD -not to mention how much DS would love to see his Papa for the weekend. It's a compromise that we both are happy with. Once things have improved we can then reassess and decide if it is something we want to continue with.

2many, I actually am pretty good at mudding drywall. I'm slow and meticulous, but it looks good when I'm done! As for that chili dog, well, at least once every summer I go to the local A&W. They still have the carhops that come out to the car and put a tray on your window. I get a chili cheese dog and a frosty mug full of root beer. Then I'm done for a year, but that one chili dog is sure good. As for Zaxby's, we don't have them up here so I'm not familiar, but Elery had their chicken when he went to Tennessee for Aunt Etta's funeral, and he said it was actually pretty good. He had chicken every day he was there, though, and was pretty tired of it by the time he got home. It's one of those foods that you can pretty much figure isn't too unhealthy, a grilled chicken breast, LOL, so he got it every time he had to eat out. Then his sister made chicken and dumplings, and his sister in law fried chicken and there was chicken salad and, well, he came home and wanted chili! Artemis, the best advice I have is to just do it. Don't watch, be sure you get in there and do it yourself. You can watch YouTube and watch someone else and read every instruction in the world, but you really just have to do it. The first one is slow, the second one is better. By the time you're on three or four, it'll take you a couple of minutes and you'll be done. I'm assuming you are plucking by hand, I have that handy-dandy chicken plucker that Elery bought me for my birthday and it is an amazing time saver, but with seven birds, probably not worth the price. Plucking by hand takes me about 10 minutes per bird, and cleaning another 2 minutes. Scalding is a minute or so, so about 4 birds an hour. The plucker will pluck 2 chickens in less than a minute, so that's very helpful. We did 28 birds in 2 hours, packed on ice and "resting" overnight. It took longer than that to break them down and package them. I always let them sit on ice for 24 hours or so, it seems to make the birds less stringy and more tender. And don't forget to save the backs/necks for stock. Feet too, if you can get past the thought and trim the nails! Like you, I'm offended by the life animals have in the commercial food chain, and so I have to raise my own in a humane and sustainable manner. It's not for everyone, but it works for me. Annie

Here is my orange vegan cake, from Allrecipes originally. I discovered it when we were having vegan friends for dinner but now I use it all the time. Ingredients 1 large orange, peeled (or sub 1 cup orange juice) 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I have used corn oil or also melted butter but then it's not vegan) 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt Directions Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan. Blend orange in the blender until liquified, measuring 1 cup orange juice (or just use 1 cup orange juice) Whisk orange juice, flour, sugar, vegetable oil, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (I usually add a little dash of nutmeg and cinnamon to the batter, and then sprinkle a bit of cinnamon-sugar on the top before baking.)

Shambo, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I know he had some health issues and you were cooking low salt and healthy meals for him. I'm sending hugs and strong thoughts and prayers to your and your family. Jack, we are kindred spirits, I swear. When I make twice baked potatoes I'll make a whole sheet pan full of them, mine usually just has cheese, butter and sour cream, occasionally I'll add bacon. I freeze them and then package them usually two per package, Mother loves them and they're easy to heat up. Of course someone is always digging through my freezer to see if I have any, all of the grandkids and the kids love them and they make a fast and easy supper. Jasdip, as you know, I love potatoes in just about any form, so being able to grab a package quickly is a luxury. They are quite durable too, LOL. Neely, I have a pile of butternut squash in storage, if only I had a pile of prawns too! sleevendog, that looks pretty to me! Delicious too. No pictures here, today we had hamburgers! Tomorrow we're making sandwiches and having cake and ice cream for Madison's 9th birthday. No party this year, of course, but we bought her a hoverboard, so she'll be happy, even with just her folks and Elery and I. I baked a strawberry cake too, with sea turtles on top, her choice. I'll try to remember to take pictures, and hopefully she won't break an arm or a leg, riding the thing around the kitchen island or something... Annie