Chalkdust Geometry Wheelock's Latin Apologia Chemistry Great Books online course Total Health

I used to love getting Taste of Home and Quick Cooking magazines. A huge number of my tried and true recipes came from these. I also bought quite a few of the Taste of Home hardover cookbooks when they went on sale one year. That said, I've sold almost all of them now. I've now become an online recipe snob. My favorites are allrecipes, recipezaar, and food network. I love being able to see other users' reviews and tweaks. My remaining cookbooks fit in about 1 foot of linear space in one of my cabinets. The minimalist in me finds that glorious! Oh...I do have Ree's cookbook (Pioneer Woman). I made lots of her recipes before the cookbook ever came out, so it's nice to have several of them collected in one place. Especially the cinnamon rolls and chicken spaghetti!

Since you're only two chapters behind, I would start doubling up every now and then in order to finish by the end of the school year. When my kids have a really heavy work load, I often do the lesson with them orally. We really zip through it pretty fast that way. I also skip the worksheets when we do a lesson out loud. My third son, age 12, is only about 1/3 of the way through R&S 6th grade English. He should be almost finished, but we got way behind the year we moved. So now, I'm doubling up on the occasional lesson, but we're also going to do grammar through the summer. (Only for him, the other boys are on schedule.) By the beginning of 7th, he'll be back on track.

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I was thinking Queen Anne, but maybe that's wrong. I'm looking to get somthing similar to paint white. This just happens to be listed on craigslist in my city. Thanks! http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/fuo/2251151998.html

My son will likely be enrolling at our local CC for one course in the fall. He'll turn 16 this summer. What would be a good first class? I'm thinking about Foreign Language, especially Spanish. He's just finishing up his 2nd year of Latin (about to complete Wheelock's) so he has HS foreign language experience. How hard could it be? Any other suggestions would be great. Writing, maybe? Lisa

My oldest 3 boys are in Scouts. Ds 15 is a Star, one merit badge and a couple months leadership away from earning Life. He just finished a weekend as a staff member at our local Camporee. He's a den chief this semester. Last semester he was Historian. He's working really hard on his Physical Fitness badge and really getting into it. He's doing P90X. That boy doesn't have an ounce of fat, and his muscles are getting really big! Ds 14 is about to become 1st class. He's running a little behind. Ds 12 is Tenderfoot. He broke his arm at the last campout and will get his cast off in a couple of weeks. The campout theme was First Aid, and the boys in the troop had him bandaged and in a splint by the time the adults arrived on the scene. I was really proud of them. They had the perfect opportunity to put their skills to work. It was a clean break of both the radius and ulna, so it was visibly out of whack and had to be reset at the hospital. Looks like everything will be fine. All 3 participated in Camporee. Also, campouts are really big in their troop. They go on weekend campouts every month. Just got back from Camporee today. All 3 are going to camp this summer at San Isabel in Colorado. I don't like paying for camp, but they usually earn several merit badges there and get more done than they would at home. Hubby is also very involved. He's a comittee member, too. 2 of my 3 attended their troop's winter camp for a week over Christmas break. All I can say is, "Brrrr!!!" They had a blast! My oldest is the only one who's done a High Adventure trip. He did Northern Tier canoeing the summer he turned 14. There's a trek going this summer to Philmont, but neither one of my oldest wants to go. They would much rather canoe than hike. Can't say I blame them ;) I think that's about it.

I use everything. R&S books are so inexpensive, so I can justify it. In the past, I had the worksheets and tests coil bound, but now that I do the notebook/file organization system, I just stuff their notebooks at the beginning of each unit with the appropriate worksheets. I package the test in a sealed envelope and hole punch the envelope, also inserting it in the notebook for the appropriate day. That way, instead of having to get the test for them, they come to me with the envelope, a pencil, and a clipboard, ready to take the test.

My son has been complaining for a long time about his muscles and joints feeling "tight". I posted quite a while back about it and called it "compulsive stretching." I have an older son who at one time had some strange habits with facial muscles (mouth, nose, and eyes) but he outgrew them. I thought my younger son was just being obsessive about some bad habits, mainly squeezing and stretching his feet and hands. Then he said it was spreading to his neck, shoulders, etc... basically all over his body. 2 different pediatricians wrote it off, but on the last visit, I told the Dr. that my son was now coming to me in tears saying he couldn't stand this "tightness" any more. (It wasn't painful, just "tight.") The Dr. ran some bloodwork and discovered a TSH of six point something. My son was also Vitamin D deficient. He told him to start drinking more milk (for the Vitamin D) and come back in 2 weeks to have the thyroid and D retested. I did so, and both were even worse. The TSH had jumped to 8 point something, and the Vitamin D had dropped, even though my son had been faithfully drinking his milk. And that's all I know right now. Oh...I do know that it's not Hashimoto's. His antibodies were all fine. Hopefully I'll learn more soon when we get an appt. with the endocrinologist.

Just an update: After going back and forth btwn. Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and White Fiestaware (what's the point in that, right?) I started reading some online reviews of the Canopy dishes by Walmart. Never thought I'd consider the WM dishes, but reviewers (who had owned Williams Sonoma, Potter Barn, and the like) said they were every bit as nice if not better. The reviews were fabulous. And a 16 pc. set is only around $32 including tax. I have found some minor flaws upon opening some of the sets, but have bought enough to repackage the flawed pieces and cobble together complete sets without blemishes. I return the flawed sets to WM. I have 16 complete sets right now, but would like to get a total of 24-30 complete settings. The plates are nice and large. The Pottery Barn ones are smaller, as I understand it. The mugs are large, too. With 5 boys doing the dishes, I don't have to worry about breakage. Each piece averages out to about $2, so what's to worry about? I'm so happy with my new white dishes! Here's a link: http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/7942615/canopy-round-white-porcelain-16-piece-dinnerware-set-reviews/reviews.htm Thanks to all who weighed in!

Yes, I know Armour was having some trouble for a while w/gov't regulations. I am taking Westhroid, which is identical to Naturethroid. For a while, most pharmacies were completely out of both of these, but I found one in Arizona that had stocked large quantities prior to the shortage. I want whatever is best for my son, and am willing to hear a Drs opinion about synthroid vs. dessicated thyroid. I just want someone who doesn't rule it out from the get-go.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'm in the midst of scheduling a visit to a group of pediatric endocrinologists. My pediatrician is faxing them the paperwork, and they'll call me with an appt. soon, I hope. When the receptionist asked which Dr. I wanted to see, I asked her if there was one who was more friendly to natural thryoid treatment when appropriate. She said, "Yes, definitely." She has a child with low thyroid who sees that particular Dr. and thought it would be a perfect fit. I was glad to hear there was a Dr. in that practice that would at least consider dessicated thyroid if it's needed. Lisa Darwin

What is Riley's? Both my parents were diagnosed with low thyroid at age 37-38. I was just diagnosed at 37, and now my son has it. I'm hoping it's just run-of-the-mill low-thyroid rather than a more involved autoimmune issue!

My ten year old son has low thyroid, according to two consecutive tests showing a high TSH (six point something...) Should I take him to a pediatric endocrinologist, or some other kind of doctor? Also, I take natural thyroid meds, and I'm wondering if dessicated thyroid (as opposed to levothyroxine) is ever prescribed for children. Do children ever outgrow this, or will this most certainly be permanent? Any insight about your child's journey with hypothyroidism would be helpful. Symptoms, improvements, long-term effects, etc... I'm a little alarmed that he's manifesting this so young

This is cute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFnuP9niRUg&feature=player_embedded

We have used Schola Classical Tutorials for Great Books 1 and 2, and Artesian Wells for Latin 1 and 2. I'm very happy with both of them. Aaron Wells, my son's Latin teacher, also happens to be the son-in-law of Wes Callihan, my son's Great Books teacher. I don't think online math would be a good fit for my boys, Science is at a local co-op, everything else is from home.

My oldest son had a year and a half of Latina Christiana in middle elementary. He jumped right into Wheelocks in 9th grade, taking Latin 1 from Artesian Wells Classical Tutorials. He's in Latin 2 right now, and will finish Wheelock's this year. It's been a challenge, but he's doing very well. Artesian Wells does have a Pre-Latin, also using Wheelocks, but going at a much slower pace. You might want to check it out. Registration hasn't yet begun for next year, so you could probably still get a spot. Lisa

Eucalyptus Stoneware makes the bread baskets for Williams Sonoma. I broke down a few weeks ago and bought two oval-shaped white baskets directly from Eucalyptus, then saw a round version that looked identical at Target today. Eucalyptus sells them for $50 apiece, but Target has them for $19.99. Don't think they're from the same manufacturer, but I'm not sure if that matters. Just had to share this, because I know that these baskets get rave reviews on the Williams Sonoma website. Target has them in white and blue. Can be used as a fruit basket, etc... Mine currently has lemons in it. Wish I had seen this a few weeks earlier! But then again, for the price...maybe I'll get a couple more :) http://www.target.com/Lattice-Porcelain-Bread-Basket-White/dp/B0043E6OAO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=stoneware%20basket&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-2&qid=1298339376&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Lattice%20Porcelain%20Bread%20Basket%20White&node=1038576%7C1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

Salsa Chicken. It's one of our favorites, and very low carb. It gets rave reviews: http://www.food.com/recipe/salsa-chicken-27475

We don't have any loose papers here at all. Everything is in a binder for each week. All workbooks have the binding trimmed and hole punched, then each child's work is stuffed into the appropriate dividers a week or two at a time. When their worked is complete and has been checked and corrected, daily work is thrown away immediately, or at least at the end of the week. The only things I save are tests, compositions, or special science and history assignments. But daily math, grammar, spelling, etc... all get tossed. I saved absolutely everything for the first 6 years, and finally found great liberation in tossing what I didn't really need. I doubt I'll need the tests either, but for now I want to save a small sampling of what they accomplished. Texas doesn't require anything right now, so I don't have the state breathing down my neck. Each child has enough to fill either one or two file folders at the end of each year. I type up a summary of courses, activities, extra curriculuars, and any standardized tests (like Iowa) and put it in that year's folder for each kid, then I'm done. The following thread really helped me get a handle on all the papers and workbooks. It was the. most. helpful thing I've ever read on this forum. And, yes. I read the whole thing :) http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189482

Yes, I do have several of the plain white Corelle (Winter Frost, I think they're called.) My kids use these every day for breakfast and lunch. My guys all do the dishes, and even though we've broken a couple (into a million pieces on the tile floor!), they're great. I do like that they stack together so compactly. I'm hooked on Corelle for everyday at home. But something about Corelle just doesn't seem upscale enough for holiday dinners, special events, etc... I'm wanting to keep it very basic and white, but want something a notch up from the Corelle.

Yes, I saw these yesterday. I'm very tempted by them, but the plate size was a bit of a concern. With a hubby and 5 boys, appetites run large around here. Not sure if they'll appreciate the smaller size.:tongue_smilie:

So many great suggestions. Thanks ladies! I found out there's a Fiestaware outlet in Canton, TX, not too terribly far from me. I might just collect one white plate apiece from several different stores and use them as a trial until I decide which one to buy more of. I was originally leaning toward Crate and Barrel, but now I'm not sure. You've all given me great leads to follow. As for the Lenox, since several of you asked, I have Lenox Liberty. Was planning to sell them on ebay, one 5 piece place setting at a time, with extra auctions for the 2 additional serving pieces I have. Thanks again everyone. This has been very helpful! Lisa

I got 7 place settings plus a couple of serving pieces of Lenox china when we got married. I can count on one hand the # of times I've used them. (They're not very versatile... off white with a navy and gold trim.) Several years ago, my MIL gave me several boxes with Nikko Christmastime dishes and serving pieces, plus quite a few pieces from another set that used to be sold at Macy's. In my minimalist pursuits, I've decided to sell them all and use the money to buy things I'll really use all year round, not just once (or less) a year. So I'm wanting to buy white dishes that I can really use. Lots of them. Then, we we have guests with large families, church gatherings, or holidays, I'll have all the white (or maybe clear) dishes I need. One pattern, one color. Easily replaceable. My question is...what are your favorite (and most economical) white dishes? Crate and Barrel? Pottery Barn? I want something simple and classic that's been around a while and will be easy to replace when one gets broken. If you prefer clear glass, I'm open to that, too. Give me your best sales pitch! Lisa