I have been working out 5 days a week since June with no gym membership. I started out just walking and strength training using a plan that I set up using Sparkpeople that a pp mentioned. Now, I use Leslie Sansone DVDs 5 days per week. I have 3 different DVDs. I get a much better workout using the DVDs and the weight has been seriously dropping. Jennie

Notgrass World History this year (10th grade). Last year we used Hisotry Odyssey, but I prefer more of a textbook for high school. We use the quiz book with it. This past week was our first week with it, and it went well. Jennie

I have used very little of the CLE spelling. We started in the older grades (5th and up) and in those grades the spelling is mostly thematic. I have two natural spellers and two who struggle. I would agree that it would be okay for the natural spellers, but in my opinion, they will get more out of AAS than CLE. At least that is the route we have gone. If you have a struggling speller, CLE will not fit the bill in my experience. Jennie

I voted other... We use History Odyssey for the 8th and 5th graders. My high schooler will be using Notgrass World History. Jennie

For what it's worth, we use CLE reading, and I do not hold their convictions about non-resistance. It has not been a problem for us. Jennie

I freeze them flat on a metal jelly roll pan, and then put them in a freezer bag when frozen. I do not wash first. Jennie

We have the 180 day requirement in our state as well. I usually do about 40 weeks. Jennie

This web site was very helpful to us when we first got our mice. The Fun Mouse Jennie

:iagree: This would be my response as well.

I feel like I can chime in on this one. We have had up to 8 mice at one time. This was not our plan, but it happened. Here are somethings that I have learned from our experience. Female mice do better with 2 other female mice for companionship. Pet stores do not always do a good job separating their females from their males at the right point in time. We bought a pregnant female, but didn't know it until 2 weeks later. Pregnant females tend to be a little aggressive. Many, if not most, pet store mice carry a disease called micoplasmia (sp?). It is a respiratory disease like pneumonia. I did not know this before we bought out mice. Five out of 8 of our mice died from this. This was very sad for my dd. One mice died from tumors and the other just died suddenly. I am not sure why. We didn't even have the 3 original pet store mice for over a year. The first one died 8 months after we got her. She was the mother of the babies. We expected more life span. We still have one little guy. He is almost 2 years old. He is one of the babies from the litter. He is great and shows no signs of respiratory problems. Yes, mice can be stinky especially when you have 8 in 4 cages in one room. However, I do not notice the stinkiness as much with one mouse. His tank is cleaned about once a week and that is plenty. Boys tend to be a little stinkier than the girls. All in all, I would get a mouse again. If I were to do it over, I would get ONE MALE. It is easy to take care of. There are no surprise babies. One male mouse could very happily live in a 10 gallon aquarium with a screened lid. Our guy lives in a 5 gallon critter keeper, but that is because he has always lived there. He has never tried to chew his way out of the top, but I know some do. So, I would go with the 10 gallon aquarium with the screen to and clips to keep it securely closed. I hope that helps some. Jennie

We lease our horse. My dd rides, so I am a horse momma. The horse my dd rides is a 19 yo Arab mare named Serene Amira. She has done 2 4H shows this year with another 2-3 coming up plus the county fair. We will probably discontinue our lease in the fall for a few months until more money comes in. I have hockey bills due for the other kids in the fall. I am hoping we can pick up again with the lease after Christmas. You can see some pics in my profile. ETA: I just added pictures of Natalie's last horse show to my blog. Jennie

We are using Christian Light Jennie

The cost of shipping has gone up. In addition if you are paying through PayPal there is now that additional cost (2.9% plus $.30) to calculate. I calculate it all out when I am listing something for sale. I weigh the merchandise minus a box, add the shipping cost, and the PayPal fee. If something is ppd. you can figure that roughly $5.00 of that price is shipping/fees especially on heavier books or materials in binders. Jennie

I find Crayola very hard to sharpen well. When I found Prang, I was hooked for every day use. Even my kids who have Primsacolors use Prang more often. Jennie