Tea is HUGE in our house. The kiddies have been drinking decaf herbals since they were old enough to hold a cup! Celestial Seasonings Teddy Bear Tea (mint and chamomile) is probably the most requested by the kids. They also enjoy Twinning’s (decaf) Green Tea. My favorite caffeinated tea is Twinning’s Darjeeling. My favorite decaf is Republic of Tea Ginger Peach (which also happens to make the BEST iced tea!).

Oops! Forgive me, that should be 'desperate' not 'despArate' (for all you spelling buffs!)

Add another to the club! I used to run regularly (about 5 years ago) and I loved it. When we moved from the pacific northwest to the midwest I hit a brick wall. I just couldn't get used to running in such extreme temps! Five years and 20lbs later, I am desparate to get back into running (whatever the temps!). I hate being out of shape. This Tuesday is the night! I am doing the couch to 5K program. Wish me luck. Hopefully, by summer, I will be running 3 miles on a regular basis. :p

Don't do what I did. I hesitated buying IEW because of the price and went with CW instead. We tried CW for a few months and found it to be lacking in a lot of areas. I borrowed an IEW dvd from a friend and it was amazing. I ended up buying IEW. CW is now sitting on my shelf!

The best disipline/reward system (in my opinion) is Accountable Kids. With effective disipline and the right motivation, you can accomplish anything! I cannot tell you how much it has helped my 7 year old boy. Here is a link: http://www.accountablekids.com/fotm1007.aspx Best of luck to you as you begin this new adventure. Be patient. It will eventually all come together and you will come to cherish this oppurtunity.:)

My ds (just turned 8) whines and complains like a weenie when he plays sports or other competitive games with his friends. He does fine in Karate, but every other competitive sport brings out his negativity if things don't go his way. His Dad and I try hard to break this annoying behavior of his, but we cannot seem to get him to understand. I am afraid if he keeps this up he won't have any friends. Does anyone have any advice?

I purchased the 3rd grade book and never used it. It was way too basic. We ended up going with FLL 3 (which we love).

Classic Starts are wonderful. My son really enjoyed White Fang and Tom Sawyer. These might be too easy depending on your child's reading level (I believe they are around 4th grade reading level?) -- they are great for independant readers though. Good stories with wonderful plots... Here is a link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=classic+starts&z=y

Spicy food, peppermint candies, and lots of walks worked for me! Good luck! :)

Please excuse me in advance, as I am still fairly ignorant with the whole creation/evolution scene. Can someone tell me what the difference between an "early creationist" and just a plain old "creationist" is? I have also read of "creation-evolutionists"? Any input would be appreciate...I am just curious.

I use FLL3 with my 7 and 9 yr olds. We do it together and it takes about 10 minutes. The retention is impressive -- it is super simple and very thorough. Go for it!

I was sent to the office in 4th grade for bringing candy to school and selling it to kids for 4x the value. Kids were spending all their lunch money. I was a CANDY PUSHER! When the school bully wanted me to give her candy for free and was refused she went and told on me. That was the end of my entrepreneurial ways :(.

Abolutely amazing museum. Very sobering.

We use FLL3 and IEW and it is a wonderful combination.

Martha Stewart Living Everyday with Rachel Ray Everyday Food (my personal favorite!)

I am looking for some inspiration. What is everyone serving for snacks this Sunday?

Without a doubt, it is IEW http://www.writing-edu.com/ We tried both Classical Writing and Writing Strands for a bit and they were not engaging or thorough enough for my taste. IEW was in a completely different league. I put of buying it because of the price. After borrowing one of the DVDs from a friend, I knew it would be worth the money.

http://www.hannaandersson.com/home.asp?rs=1&cm_mmc=Google-_-Brand-_-Hanna%20Andersson-_-hannaandersson&cchkrd=y

My ds (7 ) still has the occasional letter/number reversal. Should I be concerned? He reads well and does math well. The only thing that is out of the ordinary is that he finds a lot of difficulty in copywork -- he will skip words or leave out letters. It is a very slow process for him. He is much better at dictation. I can see him concentrating when he makes a lower case b or d -- he has to think it out. What may be wrong here?

We love Minimus! My 7yr old ds and my 9yr old dd have really enjoyed this program. I find it very easy to teach (with no Latin background) and the cd makes pronounciation a breeze. I made up some of my own vocab and verb review sheets for extra practice.

I have been mulling over the idea of starting a blog for a long time now. I am thinking I might actually do it, but I have no idea where I should start. I have Photoshop Elements 6, but I have not yet mastered it. Does anyone have a good resource on how to start this from the ground up? Thanks in advance!

Another enthusiastic vote for Sense and Sensibility -- I never really noticed or liked him much until I saw that movie. He is also wonderful in the Harry Potter films (I think he is best in The Order of the Pheonix).

Favorite movie(s): The Untouchables, Sense and Sensibility, and Henry V (with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson) I really don't have a favorite TV show -- I'm not that crazy for any of them.

I am looking to buy a used piano for my 2 children and I do not know what questions I should ask sellers. Right now I am looking at a Wurlitzer upright with a bench for $400. What should I ask the seller before buying? Do you think this is a good price?

We are just about to complete Saxon 3. After much deliberation, we have decided to continue with Saxon 5/4 (I was toying with the idea of switching to Horizons). Saxon 3 has worked very well for us. The lessons were easy yet just challenging enogh to keep my dc interested. Retention has been fabulous. It has been a very smooth ride so far. I am concerned about 5/4 though, because the format changes so greatly. I was wondering if anyone was dissapointed with 5/4?