Hello Michelle,
In regards to your second question. Do you load your data in the INIT or LOAD of the form? I load all of my data in the LOAD of the form, that way when the objects are created in the INIT of the form, the data already exists. ControlSources don't like it if the data doesn't exist.
I rarely use a special "ControlSource" property on containers, but when I do, the container object handles everything from there.