Register for the Do Not Call List. You can do so online and you can even add your cell numbers. Telemarketers are out of control these days. I still get a few from time to time. They're allowed to call if you have an existing business relationship with you so my credit card companies are always trying to get me to sign up for some worthless extra service or other. I'm always torn because a) I don't want strangers bothering me at home, but b) the poor guy on the other end is probably just trying to pay his rent. Ack!

I've done that. (Hanging head in shame.)

Velcro Baby! ;) (There's a science lesson in there somewhere!)

Last night, I took a package of Swansson broth, but noodles in it and called it soup. :tongue_smilie: Ds supplemented with frozen waffles and fresh fruit while I watched the new episode of Stargate Universe. Seriously, I was sooooo dragging my butt last night -- it was a long week capped by a fun (but tiring) trip to the science museum with our group. This weekend doesn't look better for food. I made hamburgers this week and froze them raw. This weekend I'm planning to slap them on the bbq right from the freezer and call it a "homemade meal." I've got tons of fresh fruit and veggies and it's going to be self-serve weekend. Dh and I are setting up our raised planters for our vegetable garden (in South Florida, veggie season begins in late Fall.)

Yeay! I was just about to post something encouraging when I saw your update. Keep us posted! (Post pictures!)

Ds just went off to piano lessons with Dad. I'm thinking about stuff do this weekend and I'm stumped. We live in the suburbs, about 20 miles from the "Big City." There's skating, bowling and ... watching the grass grow. Obviously there are things we can do if we look hard enough, but we're in a rut! What do you do with your family on weekends for fun?

You're fine. People soak beans overnight all the time. I used to -- until I got my pressure cooker. ;)

I think what you may need is a MP3 to MIDI converter that will turn your MP3 music files into a MIDI file. You should then be able to open them with your Midi Sheet Music program. If you google (is it lowercase if I use it as a verb?) "mp3 to midi converter," you'll get a couple of pages of packages and reviews.

If there are abuse issues, you need to contact the authorities. If it's really that bad for your dn, then you should report it. The fact that you haven't makes me think that you don't "like" the environment, but there is not sufficient cause to call the authorities. It's not a matter of believing you or not. None of us know what goes on there. We're all just responding based on the information you gave us. I can certainly appreciate that you're doing this out of love.

Barb, thank you for all the great advise. You have obviously done this before. ;) Time to get to work!

You are treading on very thin ice here. What you are talking about is undermining this child's relationship with her grandmother. Obviously, you don't like the mil very much. You may have your reasons. That being said, this looks like a power play to me. You (who have no legal right to do so) have determined that you could provide a better home for your niece and are planning unilaterally to gain control of the situation. I would counter that if you're this willing to manipulate the child and the situation so you can get your way, the child is better off where she is. *You* know this is not right.

No. He's just one more guy making a buck off the Bible.

Yes, unfortunately it's in my son's room. I recently bought him a memory foam mattress. It's wonderful! I thought I had the best bed in the world -- dh bought it for me when I was pregnant and he went all out. I've never been on a more comfortable mattress. When mine gives out, I'm getting memory foam for my bed. Things to know about memory foam. 1. It's harder than you think. If you like a medium bed, you need to get a "soft" memory foam mattress. If you like a really hard bed, get a medium. (I guess you get the "hard" if you're in traction.) :tongue_smilie: 2. Ge the kind that has tunnels to keep it cool. Different brands call that feature different names. Look for the words "cool" or "air ventilation." This is a good feature in South Florida. I'm not sure if it's important where you live, but generally you want your mattress to stay cool and not hold the heat from your body if you are keeping the room at a comfortable temperature.

This is true. Best case scenario is that your kids learn the times tables, but if they don't, it's not a show stopper. This reminds me of my first statistics class in college. I was a straight-A student and then I registered for statistics. I had to learn how to do ANOVAs (analysis of variance) in one term. There are a dozen steps to doing one by hand. It was awful. I had to hire a tutor. I couldn't believe scientists had to do this in order to make sense of their research. The week before our final exam, our professor gave us each our user ID's to access the school's mainframe and get into MiniTab, a statistical program. He handed out a sheet with short instructions for plugging in our data and getting MiniTab to do the actual work. We were all thunderstruck. We asked why he had made us do ANOVA's by hand for four months when a program existed to do it in seconds. He laughed and said, "We'd never get any science done if we had to do it by hand! I just wanted you guys to know how it works. You'll never do an ANOVA by hand again." Your ds needs to understand the concept of multiplication. If she does, that's what matters. Some people memorize things, others don't.

Ditto. We've been using it for a year and ds knows all his times tables up to the nines (the level he's currently working). A few months after we bought it, when it was clear to me that it was working, I splurged for the $39 version which has robot world levels. The free level has everything -- all you get for $40 is robots instead of little monsters in some levels. I got it as a reward for ds who was doing so well. Since ds loves computer games, it was a natural fit. Now he spews his times tables on command, or just to impress his friends. ;)

You have a good doctor. Most doctors won't do that because they can't charge you another office visit if you call in. An insurance company won't pay him for his time if he picks up the phone to speak with you.

Can a kid possibly eat enough vitamin D in his food? What would it take? Mine drinks 1% milk like water. Does that even help?

I have a giant bookshelf staring at me. It's full of books and curricula I've bought during the past five years for my ds. I need my bookshelf back. :tongue_smilie: How do you price books and curricula you want to sell? How do you ship? If you've done this before, I'd be grateful if you'd share your experience. I've been putting this off for several years, but I've got to get proactive here.

I fear your ds is right. My 10-year-old ds concurs. I called him over to read the post and comment. He thinks our grammar (JAG) is alright, but according to him, "Fun is not how I would describe it.":tongue_smilie:

This happened to my ds twice. Once when she was 13 and another time in her early 20's. In both instances her doctor put her on birth control pills for six months and that was the cure.

Cinnamon is a powerful antispasmodic. I boil a cup of water in the microwave with a stick of cinnamon in it. Let it steep for a few minutes. I add a teaspoon of sugar or my ds won't swallow. ;) Give her as much as she'll drink in a day. My ds usually has four or five cups during a day when she's hurting.

My midwife gave me garlic pills (yuk) to control borderline hypertension when I was pregnant with my youngest. It seemed to work for me. What works for me now is a breathing exercise I do in the morning, afternoon, and at night after I get into bed and turn out the light. I get comfortable, close my eyes, and relax. I take a deep, slow breath for ten seconds, then I let it out slowly for 10 seconds. It takes some concentration because one is not used to taking such slow long breaths. I do 10 or 15 of these at each sitting. There's a very slight sense of euphoria which I assume has to do with the amount of oxygen one is breathing. On days that I don't do this, both my stress level and my blood pressure are elevated. I learned this from a research paper I read several years ago about a study where they used this technique to help lower blood pressure in patients at some hospital. It's worked for me.

I've just bought the 2002 Ed. of Fourth and Fifth grade (fish and tiger). Are there any tests, resources, activities, anything for these books so I don't have to reinvent the wheel? I'm using them to supplement our very skimpy RS4K curriculum.

I bet it was a hoax. These people are very, very much into publicity.

I've struggled with this for years. This is how I solved it. I choose curricula and materials that will work very well for my son. I find the venue (which is often my very big house with a very big kitchen and a landing strip-sized counter. I send out invitations for such-and-such lab (workshop, co-op, whatever), and *tell* them what I'm doing, when, where, what they have to buy, and how much the supply fees are. There is no lobbying. There is no negotiation. I came to this decision after doing a lot of soul searching. Why am I doing this? Who should be the primary beneficiary of my time and effort? In every case the answer was "My son." After that, it was easy. I create beautiful programs for him, and invite his friends to join. Once they arrive, every mom has a job. Somebody cleans up after, somebody read the book, etc. I have it all planned out and when they arrive I tell them what their job is. I always have a full house, and usually have to close registration within a couple of weeks of announcing a co-op program. I know my programs are draconian, but the fact is that none of the families that attend my programs ever create their own. They wait for me to do it, and that's just fine. But I do what I want and what works for my son. Absolutely no argument. Also, I make them pay the supply fee up front for the semester (we do two). This way I'm not agonizing over who's coming, who's not going to show up and not call, who showed up, but forgot their fees, etc. I make copies for everyone and have resources for everyone. If someone doesn't show up, they lost their money. Interestingly, I've never had a complaint about my style. People are just grateful that somebody does it. They know that if they'd like to do it a little differently, they're more than welcome to do it. At their house.