"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

especially for the kids. But I also enjoy my own home library and have been reading more of the classics because I have no room on my shelves for fluff. Our town library is not very big, and not open many hours. I never have time to finish books I check out, anyway. I much prefer to own my books if possible.

I only subscribe to one magazine, and that is National Review. I don't have time to read others but if I did, they would be Cook's Illustrated and Victoria. My husband gets Wall Street Journal and a variety of outdoor/hunting magazines and computer magazines and Consumer Reports. I rarely read any of them unless he calls my attention to a particular article.

A baby's head after a bath with Baby Magic baby feet Fresh green tomato plants Turkey roasting bread baking cake baking brownies baking coffee beans laundry in the washing machine with bleach orange blossoms play-doh puppy breath horses and oh yes, freshly printed memiograph paper - I think teachers had a whole generation of us mesmerized with that stuff.

Absolutely, Abbey. Those things make such a big difference. I love the way they go out of their way to accommodate families, especially if you have young kids or a baby. That being said, I am a sentimental *fool* for Disney songs. I start crying out of pure joy when I hear certain songs as we're touring the park - I have to discreetly keep kleenex in my pocket so I can (try to) hide the fact that I am blubbering for no apparent reason. :D

First, I am homeschooling more than one child now - I homeschool my 2 kids at home (PK & 2) and afterschool my 7th grader. I also tutor other kids who need help and I lend/give a lot of stuff away. Second, I can afford it more now than I could at the beginning of our journey. Third, there are so darn many exciting things I want to try that were not available at the beginning. And I have Amazon prime which makes it just too easy to try new things out.

what came to mind instantly was "Mary Poppins"! I just love that movie and I sing the songs for weeks after I see it. One that is kind of odd but my oldest daughter loved when she was little - "James and the Giant Peach" - it has some good songs too.

The most important things are mascara, blush, lipstick. It's awful to see your little girl so made-up but stage lights really do make kids look like their heads are bright white blobs (at least for my kids). The makeup just helps them look more normal on stage.

Well said. Our ped's do not have separate waiting rooms. I follow the kids around with wet wipes so they can wash their hands every so often. When we get home they get a bath. We hardly ever go to the ped's when sick but have had to go surprisingly often for well-checks (sports, school requirements, flu shots). It never occurred to me when my kids were newborns that they might be exposed to sick kids (unvaccinated) with potentially bad diseases but I would have been awfully upset if anything had *happened*. I can see a good case being made for a ped requiring that children be vacc. for contagious diseases.

After her initial horror at the fairy tales, she begs me to read them now. I think I figured out the appeal - there is always a clear distinction between good and bad. No matter how bad the evil is, you can root for the good to overcome it. At the end of the story (at least the ones we have read) there is a good satisfactory feeling that the baddies have gotten their just reward (even though that reward is likely to be gory and violent). A friend of mine (who worked as a school librarian at one time) was looking at our children's books this weekend - we have shelf after shelf of mainly older books - the kind I grew up with or older - and she commented that they are truly wonderful stories because, "They are moral. The bad ones always get their come-uppance. That's not true in books that are written for kids today." I thought that was a sad statement about modern children's literature. I am pretty sure she was referring to the junky series books and Young Adult selections that pervade our libraries these days.

or the old standby, Suave!

What an eye-opener. Hard to believe what happened.

My mom is diabetic, I am hypoglycemic. So I have a little knowledge here, not scientific at all. My mom eats low carb. But after diet upon diet that did not work (she probably eats too much) she started taking Byetta which curbs her appetite and works wonders to keep her blood sugar down. Mom's problem is that she entertains a lot (fancy dinners) and has gone on a lot of cruises lately. I would much rather be hypoglycemic than diabetic. What works for me is moderate carb and high protein. I do much better to have slices of chicken breast than a bowl of cereal for a snack. I need to "nosh" most of the day or I feel faint. I don't eat much sugar - we do not make dessert at our house. If the kids want dessert they can eat some ice cream or a popsicle; I just don't crave it. I do make homemade bread almost daily but try to keep from eating all I want (I love bread & butter). I also love homemade granola with pain yougurt. We try to eat a lot of veggies but I could never be a vegetarian - I need eggs and meat to keep my body going, otherwise I would be hungry all the time (or filling up on cheese and fatty foods constantly). If I had to make a general statement, if I were trying to have a diet that would work for both myself and my mom, it would be contain moderate amounts of meat and eggs, a small amount of cheese, large amount of veggies, moderate amount of fruit, and moderate amount of bread. And eating often (but small portions) would be the way to eat. I forgot to mention I drink from 0 to 3 cups of black coffee a day and drink lots of water. No soda drinks. A glass of red wine at night. Eating this way has kept me on an even keel with good blood sugars and a good healthy weight without having to think about dieting. Hope this helps

I was just going through some old clothes and found a pair of jeans (24 months size) that I had packed up because they were too big for my daughter. They fit her - now that she's 3.5 years old. LOL.

oddly enough, one of the men's soaps - Bay Rum. I love, love, love it.

:D

I've seen him twice in a storytelling setting, once at a library and once at a school. I would love to know what he talks about in a seminar. We own many of his CDs, they are family favorites.

I would just add 1/4 cup to a granola recipe like the one posted already. It is not terribly sweet so I would still use honey and/or brown sugar to sweeten. Granola is a terribly flexible recipe, you can hardly go wrong.

Exactly, Abbey. I nursed my three dd's until 3yo and a few months. I never meant to nurse that long, we just kept nursing (and my daughters are very tiny). Each time it took a supreme effort to wean - they didn't want to stop, but I was just plain *worn out*. My last 3yo got weaned last month and I feel relief. I need to get a mammogram (it's been 11 years since my baseline) and I'm glad to have my (body parts) back. I did put up with a lot of comments from my mom and husband but I didn't pay much attention to them. ;)

Brenda, you're a braver woman that I am to have a slumber party for eight 8-yr-old girls! I can't get my dd to commit to a theme so I'm getting ready to make some executive decisions so I can get the invitiations out. We are probably going to have a small party unless some of the guests' siblings end up staying. I got a multitude of items from Michaels when I was in Arizona last week to use for game prizes and goody bags. I just hate having to pull this all together when we just got back from a long trip.

1. How many children to invite - is there an optimal number? 2. All girls or mixed girls and boys? 3. How long shall the party last? Any other tried-and-true advice is much appreciated. I want to avoid any and all melt-downs. :lol:

Wow. We're following some Charlotte Mason recommendations and read "The Bronze Ring" from The Baldwin Project. My 7yo dd hated it at first but became fascinated as the story got stranger...then stranger. I guess those old fairy tales weren't watered-down like they are today.

Not specifically, maybe I am not the famous doctor that she imagined but I am successful in many, many other endeavors and even more importantly, we are best friends and always have been. That's saying a lot.

If the government would just stay out of it, the supply and demand forces in our economy would balance out. But when there are subsidies being granted right and left, how is one to know what the real supply and demand is? The way the government provides (and takes away) "incentives" is all an experiment in social engineering. [A case in point: Today, oil executives have been called before Congress. They are making too much profit. Time to take their tax breaks away.] It's no wonder that the economy is in a mess. It's been mucked with too much. And I'd rather use a different word than mucked. If the government would stay out of it entirely, the economy would self-correct on its very own, much more easily. Oh, I guess I'm sounding like a libertarian again. But I really want to just go back to our founding fathers' principles. Fat chance.:mad:

although I used to be Dana in VA; but we moved. My how the years have passed quickly.