I used Behr's "Pecan Sandie" for my whole house. I love it and did the white trim, ceilings, and doors.

I know. It surprised me. I guess we should also do away with Christmas trees, Yule logs, mistletoe, holly, wreaths, Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, and Sunday worship too. They're all rooted in pagan beliefs. :glare:

I didn't read all the replies, so sorry if this was brought up, but the origins of Halloween are actually more Christian than you think. I'm Christian (Catholic) and know much about the holiday and it's origins - hence I have no ill feelings about celebrating it and being a part of it. According to an article in Catholic Parent magazine, "...Halloween is on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety. It’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on October 31--as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Feast of All Saints, or "All Hallows," falls on November 1. The feast in honor of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to November 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter’s at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland. The day before was the feast’s evening vigil, "All Hallows Even," or "Hallowe’en." In those days Halloween didn’t have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans. In 998, St. Odilo, the abbot of the powerful monastery of Cluny in southern France, added a celebration on November 2. This was a day of prayer for the souls of all the faithful departed. This feast, called All Souls Day, spread from France to the rest of Europe. So now the Church had feasts for all those in heaven and all those in purgatory. What about those in the other place? It seems Irish Catholic peasants wondered about the unfortunate souls in hell. After all, if the souls in hell are left out when we celebrate those in heaven and purgatory, they might be unhappy enough to cause trouble. So it became customary to bang pots and pans on All Hallows Even to let the ****ed know they were not forgotten. Thus, in Ireland at least, all the dead came to be remembered--even if the clergy were not terribly sympathetic to Halloween and never allowed All ****ed Day into the church calendar. But that still isn’t our celebration of Halloween. Our traditions on this holiday center on dressing up in fanciful costumes, which isn’t Irish at all. Rather, this custom arose in France during the 14th and 15th centuries. Late medieval Europe was hit by repeated outbreaks of the bubonic plague--the Black Death--and it lost about half its population. It is not surprising that Catholics became more concerned about the afterlife. More Masses were said on All Souls Day, and artistic representations were devised to remind everyone of their own mortality. We know these representations as the danse macabre, or "dance of death," which was commonly painted on the walls of cemeteries and shows the devil leading a daisy chain of people--popes, kings, ladies, knights, monks, peasants, lepers, etc.--into the tomb. Sometimes the dance was presented on All Souls Day itself as a living tableau with people dressed up in the garb of various states of life. But the French dressed up on All Souls, not Halloween; and the Irish, who had Halloween, did not dress up. How the two became mingled probably happened first in the British colonies of North America during the 1700s, when Irish and French Catholics began to intermarry. The Irish focus on hell gave the French masquerades an even more macabre twist. "Treat or treat" is perhaps the oddest and most American addition to Halloween and is the unwilling contribution of English Catholics. During the penal period of the 1500s to the 1700s in England, Catholics had no legal rights. They could not hold office and were subject to fines, jail and heavy taxes. It was a capital offense to say Mass, and hundreds of priests were martyred. Occasionally, English Catholics resisted, sometimes foolishly. One of the most foolish acts of resistance was a plot to blow up the Protestant King James I and his Parliament with gunpowder. This was supposed to trigger a Catholic uprising against the oppressors. The ill-conceived Gunpowder Plot was foiled on November 5, 1605, when the man guarding the gunpowder, a reckless convert named Guy Fawkes, was captured and arrested. He was hanged; the plot fizzled. November 5, Guy Fawkes Day, became a great celebration in England, and so it remains. During the penal periods, bands of revelers would put on masks and visit local Catholics in the dead of night, demanding beer and cakes for their celebration: trick or treat! Guy Fawkes Day arrived in the American colonies with the first English settlers. But by the time of the American Revolution, old King James and Guy Fawkes had pretty much been forgotten. Trick or treat, though, was too much fun to give up, so eventually it moved to October 31, the day of the Irish-French masquerade. And in America, trick or treat wasn’t limited to Catholics. The mixture of various immigrant traditions we know as Halloween had become a fixture in the United States by the early 1800s. To this day, it remains unknown in Europe, even in the countries from which some of the customs originated. But what about witches? Well, they are one of the last additions. The greeting card industry added them in the late 1800s. Halloween was already "ghoulish," so why not give witches a place on greeting cards? The Halloween card failed (although it has seen a recent resurgence in popularity), but the witches stayed. So too, in the late 1800s, ill-informed folklorists introduced the jack-o’-lantern. They thought that Halloween was Druidic and pagan in origin. Lamps made from turnips (not pumpkins) had been part of ancient Celtic harvest festivals, so they were translated to the American Halloween celebration. The next time someone claims that Halloween is a cruel trick to lure your children into devil worship, I suggest you tell them the real origin of All Hallows Eve and invite them to discover its Christian significance, along with the two greater and more important Catholic festivals that follow it."

Yes. She should detag herself from the picture, remove the post that says she's tagged from her page, and do not comment on the picture. Still though, whoever posted the picture is allowing unsolicited people to see it anyway. Nothing is protected online.

Yes. I usually take a stab at humor, but looking back at it, it's just not funny. I also tend to talk way too much and go off topic as to what the original question was. I just hope I haven't come across as odd, lol. Then again, maybe I am odd. :D

:iagree: (well, dh is a Mets fan, but I try to ignore that fact)

I always used that homemade soap to wash our cloth dipes. I heard it was fabric softener that made the diaper much less absorbant. The homemade soap worked so well. Then we did a double rinse with a cup of vinegar tossed in to soften them up. Then about an hour on high heat in the dryer (if I had the means to line-dry them outdoors, I would have done that too). They came out so soft and just smelled so wonderful. Yay for using cloth. Let me tell you - my ds never had a rash the whole 2 years he was in cloth (he also got a light layer of Balmex with every diaper change. Balmex washes right out). He was also fully potty trained by 2 1/2. Just a tip: I bought a yard of fleece and cut out a bunch of rectangles to line the diapers with. It prevented stains and washed up great with the homemade detergent as well. p.s. We used prefolds, nylon (velcro) covers, some Fuzzibunz, and some AIOs, used a dry (garbage bag-lined) pail, and washed. Is it strange to admit that I miss them?

Well, first you bring them over to my house... :D

I started Year 6 with her last year. Having not done anything like this since she's been homeschooled, her eyes were just glazing over. So we tried Year 4 instead. She just couldn't take to it. She's more of an unschooler (and has been since we started) and learns best by coming up with her own plan and more self-directed activities. Looking back, it definitely would have worked for her if we had started with it from the beginning, like I did with ds.

We use AO. I researched both AO and SCM (and Mater Amabilis) and AO's layout was the one that didn't stress me out. I love AO's simplicity, thoroughness, and just about all its content. I secular-ized it as well, and supplement with some basic language arts and geography workbooks. I find the Yahoo group invaluable. It has given me a lot of ideas, helped me overcome concerns, and has given me such a great appreciation for AO. We are in our second year with it and ds (8) and I both still really love it.

I agree that it can be so dangerous. My ds played tackle football on a team in the neighborhood last year when he was 7. The coach was insane. He worked these boys like they were college kids. They had to run around the whole track upon getting there (very big track). Team punishments included "drills" (where the kids would have to run up and down a hill about 20 times - big hill), laying on the ground with their legs in the air (you try doing that for more than 10 seconds), and getting screamed at or pushed. Punishments were given when they lost a game or when one of the kids couldn't hold in a bathroom trip until the end of practice. The coach's favorite practice drill was called "crackers". The team would make 2 lines, the coach would call out 2 names, and these 2 boys would stand 10 feet apart from each other in the middle of the line of boys. On the whistle they would charge at each other to try and get to the opposing side. The coach would yell "I BETTER HEAR THOSE HELMETS CRACK!!". If the kid went off to the side, the other kids in the line pushed them back into the middle. My son's head did a lot of "cracking" and I was so worried about it - but of course all the other parents (Dads, especially) just loved it and cheered their kids on. I saw a lot of tears from these terrified kids. They were praised for how long they stayed in and how tough they were. My son is a big, tough kid, but this was crazy. One day he got punished for talking to a friend and was told to run up and down the big hill 20 times after practice. He went up and down twice, then took off his helmet, jersey, and shoulder pads, threw them at the coach's feet and yelled, "I'M DONE!", and walked over to dh and said, "Let's go home". He's never gone back and I couldn't be more proud of him. (although I was ready to take him out myself by the following practice).

My girls were 9 and 6 when I had that same idea. I bought this awesome wooden dollhouse on ebay. It had a lot of rooms, opened up real big, the roof came off, it came with miniature wood furniture, etc. I bought little people for it. The whole thing was easily "renovate-able". I was thinking they would paint the rooms and the outside, put down new pretty flooring, decorate, hang holiday stuff inside, create elaborate dramatic play. I had such high hopes. They didn't play with it ... ever. :glare:

I think it was me. If so, You're Welcome!! :001_smile: If not, then I'll just casually slink away, :blush:

I write it as one word. The Catholic schools in my area have something called "Home School" which has something to do with communication, planning, and volunteering between parents and teachers. I feel that writing it as one word separates us homeschoolers from the home-school associations the schools sponsor.

Wow. Such a strong, beautiful person.

I liked it too. I definitely want to see it again. (although, I didn't think it was as scary as all the hype. I slept fine that night, lol)

The Jansport ones tended to hold up the best for us. They're plain, sturdy, and cool looking. :)

The only ones I keep are photo cards (some), special acknowledgement cards, homemade cards from the kids, and cards from my parents and grandparents given to the kids on their Christenings and first birthdays. Everything else goes right in the recycle bag after about 3 weeks.

Ooh, I love the how-effed-up-is-that game. My son had a homeschool group trip to the botanical garden this morning but it was raining and cold and I was tired so I kinda hinted at how horrible and boring it would be so it would sorta be HIS idea not to go instead of his lazy mom's. ;) Who's next?

No. :tongue_smilie:

With dd (now 13yo - diagnosed with ADHD/ADD-inattentive at 7yo) we used fish oil and Attend along with changing her diet to remove any potentially allergy-causing foods and unnatural additives (we did a modified version of the Feingold Program) and switching to unschooling. When we ran out of Attend, I didn't buy more - I just wasn't sure there was much of a difference with it. I kept up with all the other changes and attention, moods, hyperactivity, and overexciteabilities significantly lessened after a few months. Dd was never on meds. It's been 6 years and she hardly shows any ADHD/ADD-inattentive symptoms.

My 13yo dd was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD-inattentive when she was 7. We started homeschooling shortly after that. What worked with her was a more natural diet (no colorings, additives, or preservatives) and unschooling. It was amazing. She created her own schedule and checklists, pursued so many of her interests (geography, sewing, songwriting, penpals, science experiments, gardening, dance, creating websites and learning HTML coding, cooking, etc). I just let her direct her day and I helped where I could (by providing her with resources, going on lots of field trips, and being super encouraging). I let go of all demands and expectations and she just blossomed. Within a few months, many of her symptoms disappeared. 4 years later, she preferred using a more defined academic schedule - with my help - and we're still with it. She does still have some inattentive issues, but nothing major. She's a competitive dancer, which calls for extreme focus. That's also helped her. I have no idea if this is a solution for everyone, but my dd is a new person and people are stunned to find out she was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD-inattentive. Maybe it was the radical decrease in frustration and powerlessness that came from school. I don't know.

Yes. My kids have the option to go to high school. Here in NYC we have so many (free) high school options and many of them focus on specific areas. Dd 15 is a junior in a journalism school. Dd 13 will be auditioning for performing arts schools (dance). We choose the high schools VERY carefully here, taking everything into account. If I lived in a place where there was limited high school choice, I would have to absolutely LOVE the school to allow my kids to go there.

My 13y/o is 5'4" and weighs about 100 lbs. Pajamas are adult small. So are sweatshirts, sweatpants, and t-shirts. Jeans are girls 16 or junior size 0/1. Dresses can go from girls 16 to adult small depending on the designer.

I've loved just about all that were previously mentioned. Other favorites of mine have been: Quarantine THE Final Destination (4th one in 3D) Hostel (1 & 2) Mirrors Halloween (the new one, 2007) 30 Days of Night All the Saw movies And I can't wait to see Paranormal Activity!