Recent content by Sampson

3 kids ages 10-14, I think acting up is there job. Just kidding, my opinion is, who cares what others might think, the question is are you all enjoying this time together. There's always the movies if you don't want them squabbling so much.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, you are there for your kids and give them the love they need. Is there someone, a female relative, that might help with fill the void of not having a mom around?

I haven't looked into it, but a buddy of mine has the family membership and loves it. He too uses it for the gym, but during the Winter, they go to the pool at least once a week with the kids.

This has been one of the worst years for me with my allergies. I have been sneezing like crazy lately. I am seriously considering going for testing and trying the allergy shots. Has anyone here gone this route and found relief?

The last little kids show that was big with my kids were The Wiggles. Ok, a bit strange seeing these 4 guys singing and dancing pre-school songs, but most of their music was tolerable. The other day a co-worker was talking about GabbaGabba and Wonderpets? It got me to thinking, what...

My wife takes care of the costume thing and lets the kids decide. My daughter has been everything from a fairy to a baseball player. It's just whatever she's into at the time.

My 6 year old still needs a nap if any activity for that evening requires his full attention. He's had some fall sports going on, on it's hard to bring him home from school and get him settled into a nap. But if he doesn't take one, getting him to focus and listen that evening is even more...

No cookies, but I did put together some treat bags. We put in a pencil, some mini playing cards, some pretzels, mini cookies and a couple mini-candies. We try not to put alot of candy as all the kids will be bringing in treats.

We are getting close to time to replace my wife's car and someone mentioned using her 401K to take a loan to pay. Have you ever used your 401K for a loan? Do you think this is better than using a bank loan or a loan from a dealer?

The turkey is the easy part, now if you start to talk about stuffing/dressing there could be some debate. The one turkey tip that I learned is that if you cut the tendons on the legs and squish the meat up it help keep them form drying out.

I remember seeing these commercials all the time, but not so much anymore. It's nice to hear that they actually work. I'm always a bit skeptical when a product makes anything look too easy.

Well, I don't think anyone looks at having children as being their doorway to financial sucurity, I think considering your finances before you have children is wise. In the end, though, I don't know too many people really figure out how much it will cost to raise a kid(let alone 2 or 3 or more).

We used to video tape all the time. Special and not so special occassions, school events and regular days. Now, we find ourselves doing mostly still photos. Do you video tape your kids? What kind of occassions do you break out the recorder? Do you ever watch your recordings?

I definitely think that chores are worth some cash. I think kids need that reinforcement. We bulk it into their "allowance". But if they don't do their chores, then they don't get their allowance.

As our kids have gotten older, sitting down all together is something that we do less and less. It's hard with our work schedules, school and activities schedules, to coordinate a set dinner time. I do miss that time to just sit down, talk and relax with the whole family.