WC8- Thanks for the welcome! Since I was coming in late, i figured I'd try and fit something for each of the thread topics in, to get caught up, and it all started with a phal...I've already gotten some great ideas on how to change my setups (from the on-topic forum), can't wait to try. I love hanging out with the kids at school, it's so interesting to watch the little wheels turning in their heads and see what they'll come up with next. Logic in motion! Computers and I don't really get along, I'm a pharmacist, working in long term care. I make sure everybody's meds are playing well with others and that the Rules (big book o' stuff here) are being followed. My IT Dept probably has me on the list of serial computer abusers, they're always having to bail me out of some electronic disaster while in the field. Ah, the fun of politics. I wind up staring, fascinated, by the talking heads, usually while shaking my own. But, I keep listening, at least with half an ear. We've been listening to Nim's island in the car on the way home, has anybody seen it, would lit be good for a 6 yr old? Speaking of cars, time to spring the kiddo, thanks again for the welcome, looking forward to lots of topics. Liz

I have an online friend (you know someone I met face to face a few times-we have kids in common) Anyhoo...she belongs to the same church as the family. According to Susie (yes we are both Susie's LOL) they are both incredibly kind and loving people who are all about their kids. In my opinion I do think Kate is a little rough with her way of speaking but I look at like this...I have NO idea what it must be like to walk in her shoes so I cannot pass judgement. There are many blogs out there ripping her a new one so to speak...in fact I read a blog about TLC buying them a home in North Carolina which as we now know is totally false. Susie said they moved closer to their church and in fact closer to her. To me it seems like Kate is a perfectionist. Everything has to be her way or the highway. Jon seems like a happy go lucky kinda guy who just rolls with the punches...so perhaps its a match made in heaven. It took her 4 hours to clean the moldy fridge?? Heck I would have sprayed the whole thing with tilex and came back later to wipe it down and called it a day...it would have been good enough for me LOL!! The kids are very cute! How lucky they didn't have any problems being high order multiples. They all seem happy and well adjusted albeit small for their age. The older kids seem like brats but my kids were kinda bratty at that age too and they turned out pretty cool. AS for the new house, well they bought it, not tlc and it was a forecloser. They got a great deal on it says my friend who also added the kids are finacially set and the family is living off the book deals. They travel in exchange for publicity but most of the product donations have stopped. My guess is they know they can't ride this gravy train much longer so they are getting the most bang for their buck while they still can. I hope they have a show or special in about 10 years or so when all the little ones will be driving and the older ones go off to college...that one I will be taping!! Cheers! Susie

I've been working on a similar project for the past 1 1/2 years. In my case, I don't have children, I'm 52 & my siblings are all older. IOW, most of us do NOT want more stuff!!!! LOL! So I've been scanning all the photos & either tossing them or sending them to someone who may want it & let them toss it if they want. I do save some of the more precious ones for my self. But let's face it, alot of them are dups or similar to each other & you just don't need those. I've got a personal website where I've uploaded alot of the photos & have used a few programs I'm happy with to make & burn DVDs to distribute to people who may be interested in watching them on their TV or their computer. One program even allows you to specify the original images should be stored on the DVD so if anyone wants a reprint, they can easily pull it from the DVD, after playing it. Currently, I've got ~12,000 images on my computer. One program I've found invaluable in keeping them organized is ACDSee Photo Manager. It took a while to get all the photos organized in it and it's not an inexpensive program. But I can typically find any image I'm looking for in a minute or two. Another project I've been doing is recording my 91 y/o Mother talking about her life. I even bought a pocket camcorder (Flip Ultra) that I pretty much take with me everywhere...so if she starts talking about something, I can whip it out & record her. I also post these on our family website and have even included them the past couple of years on DVDs I include with Christmas cards. My father died 26 years ago. I do have some old audio tapes with his voice that I've uploaded to the computer & it's fun to hear his voice. But the tapes are very old & the recording quality was not that good. I wish I had video of him...it would be nice to see that.

I think the paper cutter is a great idea. Just make sure you get one that you can measure, not just a "cropper. I just stopped at a Dollar Tree (the dollar store where everything is $1) and they had a big variety of stuff. Also check out Hobby Lobby when they have 1/2 price sales on stickers or paper. The paper packs they have with a variety of colors would be great. If she already has the basics of cutter, paper, scissors, etc., then get her some punches; decorative corner punches would be good if she is actually scapbooking pictures. Maybe she has a pet she would like to make a scrapbook of--there are lots of stickers for that. You will have fun shopping for her and might just get hooked yourself if you haven't been doing it.