Ours is the 4Bs. Bleeding, Barfing, Blue or Broken.

:thumbup: Thanks for the link, Denise! And thank you for the WONDERFUL update!!

Skipping over the discussion about pedophiles and normal men. I'm just explaining my answer. We have a pool in our backyard and swim in it daily. When we are swimming as a family, the girls can wear bikinis. When we have friends over, the girls wear their tankini. I grew up in a very uptight family and I was very uptight about my body after we got married. I want them to understand that when the time is right it's ok to show it off.

My only problem with prime is that I ordered the wrong thing and discovered it later in the day. The item had already been shipped. Not a real big deal, I can still use it. :001_smile:

2 girls mommy, thank you so much. My oldest is going into 6th, not 8th...not sure what I was thinking when I typed the title, but thank you for the information. I was wondering about those too, and if we could stay with MP for a few years or not. They girls like talking about animals and looking at pictures, but if they have to touch it, well, we go ALL GIRL. Our co-op offers a lot of great classes, but I would love to be able to give them enrichment there instead of academics, at least until I can no longer teach them confidently--another year or two, at the rate oldest is going! :bored: And your point about not flashy, thanks on that too! Oldest is easily distracted, so that too, can make a huge difference!

I've been looking at different science and history curriculums. I don't do very well with these two subjects, probably because most of them require parental involvement. Ok, that sounds a bit harsh and extreme, but that's the concise way to put it. So anyway, my soon-to-be 6th grader is a bookworm, loves to read history books, myths, science fiction, and anything but the assigned reading. She Enjoys bookish science but has sensory issues that cause her to freak if the word dissection is even mentioned. She might do okay with Chem and Phys. experiments, but biology/life science experiments are OUT. She won't even pet the starfish at the aquarium. BUT, she is VERY smart. My 3rd grader hates school. She has never been in a B&M school, but she is artsy and creative, still misspells words she should know, and rushes through everything except handwriting--but that comes in various artistic forms: block, bubble, swirlies, hearts, etc. She has been tested, and is NOT Dyslexic. There might be something else though, and we might do further testing in the near future. She too, is not a fan of life science. I think she might enjoy chemistry experiments that go POP and BOOM, but generally....not science oriented. She also does not like to read anything but her boxed set of Beverly Cleary. I give you that information as background so you know where I'm coming from. I don't think I need a STRONG hands on science curriculum for either girl. In doing my research I stumbled upon the Memoria Press science. In my cursory look last night, it appears to be more bookish. It looks like it covers the historical aspects--scientists, important dates, etc. but not a lot of 'gooey squishy' stuff. (That is how my girls describe science). In addition, I looked at their history, and it appears that my 6th grader would be able to do the reading herself. I was going to put her in an Amer Hist. class at the co-op next year, but I might not need to do that if I use Memoria's history. I'd *LOVE* any feedback you have on their stuff.

Beth Moore is great. i've done a lot of her studies. I also like Battlefield of the Mind (name escapes me, but she's well known). I did some by Elizabeth George several years ago and her books were really good.

I actually have our salads all made and ready to eat. I have these bowls (MUCH cheaper at Target) and a bunch of 2 oz plastic cups with lids. The salad has greens and carrot slivers in it. Then I put several of the little cups in the salad bowl. One has dressing, the others have a variety of nuts, Asian noodles, cheese, fruit, meat, etc. It's easy to grab and there is NO thinking about what to do for lunch. I make 7-10 on Sunday.

I have a ton of the 99 cent bags, but I always forget to take them into the store. DH works in IT for a major grocery chain and when they have dog & pony vendor shows he gets a bag. Sometimes it even has a cheap insulated mug in it!

while it sounds political, to me, it's not. Flat out, if you create a problem, overspend, destroy someone's property, injure someone, etc. you should fix that problem yourself. Pay your debt, repair their property, pay for their medical, or whatever else restitution is needed. With that as my viewpoint, the first cuts should begin in congress. Then see how long it takes them to fix it :glare:

I could SO see this happening at our house! There is almost always at least one package on our front porch!

That sounds pretty reasonable. When we got married, 25 years ago, We had a standard fee and then had to buy $450 worth of pictures. (I don't remember the standard fee). He was/is a professional photographer and the pictures were FABULOUS.

I can't imagine that a place that carries that brand can't order one. It may take a while to get. We have an HG Washer/Dryer combo unit, VERY common in Europe, but nobody in the states has ever heard of such a thing. most of the time, I *LOVE* it. I can put a load of jeans in at night, and in the morning they are ready to put on. We got it at Best Buy in their discounted section. It was a return. Apparently a special order that someone didn't like. I would check this website. http://www.ajmadison.com/ they seem to have access to TONS of appliances. And some of the European stuff is becoming more popular in the states as we become more conscientious about what we put in our bodies. <struggling to walk away from the soapbox>

We've been in our current house for 16 years and are planning to move in the next 6 mos or so. We were planning on living here until we grew old and needed to downsize, but during that 16 years we acquired 2 children and it just isn't big enough for us now. Our next home will either be a ranch or have a 1st floor master so we can stay there until we 'end our retirement'.

Thank you all so much for your feedback! I am going to do some checking around, but I have a bad feeling in my gut that it's going to be all on me.