We do 12 week 'terms' and then a week off. I try to make it work so that week off is the same as the public schools. Like now, DD is on spring break like every other kid in town. It helps her somehow. Unfortunately, it's pouring out and should be most of the week! During the year, we don't hesitate to take trips. If it turns out we can get Cardinals tickets, we go to St. Louis. If we want to do an amusement park thing, we go. Or take part of our day and hit the Art Center or if it's suddenly a really nice day go out to the park. I've just never seen the logic behind 3 months off during summer now that we don't need the kids to help on the farm!!!! :) They get bored, they have to review etc etc. This year, with the price of gas, I have a feeling our trips may be fewer. We'll have to be more creative.

Thanks... I've got them in dryer sheets, closed up in a box. I didn't have enough baking soda on hand to that one. But it seems the dryer sheets win hands down anyway! :) I sure hope it works, I'd like to start these books on Monday but sure can't see subjecting DD to the smell. ugh. I always figured people would say up front - comes from a smoking home. I guess I'll make sure I ask from now on. thank you all

So hard when your little ones are so sick :( I feel for you, been there and done that. More than once. And have had it myself! You can also add yogurt - it's a little bit of protein and some 'good' bacteria that gets striped from the digestive system with vomiting and diarrhea. Probably after they have kept down a little bit of cracker and water. Just a little spoonful now and then. Little tiny bits.

I think the majority of men do experience lust. To varying degrees. We all have sinful thoughts about different things, some thoughts just fly through your head and you don't dwell on them. Some thoughts like to hang around and take root and that causes the struggle and the temptation. Men seem to have problems with lust more than women do, they are visually stimulated. As wives, we should always pray for our husbands in this area, even if it has never been an issue. I am now married to a Godly man who loves me dearly. My first husband had a bad habit - he never stopped dating. So, I do know a little bit about this area. If my first husband had come to me and said, "I'm really having a very difficult time in this area." I would have prayed with him and for him practically 24/7. I would have been honored to be taken into his confidence, to be trusted. I'd have been more than happy to work with him through this. But, he chose lying and cheating, so there we are! Satan uses this area to break up marriages cause it's so easy! We really need to pray for our husbands.

I received some used hs'ing books last week, I purchased from another hs'ing mom on another board (not here) :) and they just reek of cigarette smoke. Any wonderful ideas on how to get it out? At one point, I even let a little Febreze 'drift' down over the top... doesn't work so well. :glare: Thanks for any ideas... I"m willing to try just about anything.

FRIENDS!!!! I'll bet we could give each other a run for the money here. One year one of my kids gave me the Friends Trivia game. Yes, I always win. :)

I'm good at knitting and sewing. I believe it's in my genes. My grandmother came to this country from Norway and I never saw her without some knitting or sewing in her hands. She was a professional seamstress for years, as was her mother and her mother...etc. I'm good at writing. I'm getting better at organizing. I'm good at spending money. :) Getting better at saving it. I'm good at eating, but could leave the cooking to someone else. :lol:

I've been blogging for a couple years. It started as an offshoot of my business, and really it still is, but there's a lot of personal (not TOO personal) stuff. I try to post regular every day stuff on there, mostly for my family - although they never read it. Weird huh? I do a lot of giveaways and contests and designer conglomerations where each designer gives away a new pattern. I've also found it to be a great way to get others involved in charity projects. I'm currently hosting a Macuwita sni quilting challenge And just recently started Simple Hospitality - encouragement for stay at home women. And I agree with the 'rules'. I never say anything even remotely bad about my husband. Not that I have anything bad to say about him, I love him to pieces. And I also agree - the current trend toward man bashing just turns my stomach. I've found that I'm also a little more restrained when I put pictures of my family on there, especially the children and babies. You never know where those end up. Very sad situation. Blogging is a great way to communicate and connect. You just usually don't know who you're connecting to until later! :)

I've been blogging about my WIP... so this morning I posted Before pics. Oh, the humiliation.... Cotton Spice

You could get my mom to go to your church :) She is always volunteering in the nursery, cause she loves the babies. And this woman has 13 grandchildren (all grown up) and 11 great grandchildren. You'd think she had enough babies in the immediate family. Nope, she volunteers in the nursery.

I see in a couple different ways. Our church just built a larger sanctuary. I'm impressed that they did not go into debt to build it. The pastor was doing 5 services every Sunday. 2 at once. One service would sing first, the other service would have the sermon first and then switch. I was also impressed that the sanctuary they built was very basic. No grandiose ideas, no tapestries and stained glass. Just a larger building with more seats. I understand the need for volunteers, but I think people are volunteered out. They are realizing they are over committed and either cutting back or quiting to spend that time with their family. And I think that's where they should be. Parents can run themselves ragged getting kids to all their church activities and then getting themselves to their own Bible study or home group. It's exhausting. Having said 'our church' in the beginning of my post, we rarely go to church. For many reasons which I won't go into here. I think we ought to spend more time with our kids and husbands/wives. That's what's going to make the difference, not the number of or the quality of the church activities we participated in. just one woman's opinion....

The price of eggs and milk has gone up considerably. Overall, our grocery budget has increased. Add to that the increased price in gas, and we really feel the pinch. Seems that once things go up, they rarely ever come down.

Mostly just me. I'm draggin'. And dd is dragging too, but she spent the weekend at big brothers family's house, so that's expected. I hate adjusting to this time change. Especially so early in the year!

do errands on Thursday morning. My husband is off work that day, so we combine the grocery shopping and all errands that morning. Daughter gets the morning off of school, and schools during the afternoon. Since the gas has gotten so high, he's been taking my car to work instead of his truck, so we are without wheels during the day. This has turned out to be a good thing, because we get a lot more done if we're not running here and there most days.