In our set of Correll the mugs are ceramic and not made of the same Correll material so likely that's why you've had breakage. We've had good luck with double walled stainless steel mugs.

Just an fyi, Writeshop has a secular option you can email them to ask for.

For us it's just an environmental thing and although we can't entirely eliminate it we reduce it as much as we can. The movie A Plastic Ocean has some information on it if you are interested. Anyway, since we avoid plastic we use glass at home but in the RV we have been able to find stainless steel alternatives for most things in addition to the Correll dishes.

Oh and, in addition to Correll for our dishes, since we don't use plastic in general we went with stainless steel for our mixing bowls and such in the RV. We have a nested set that are lightweight. For drinkware we have stainless steel tumblers. We also have that non skid rubber mat stuff on the shelves with dishes.

The only help I can give is to recommend to avoid Roman Catholic. That's how I was raised and I would rank it as very spiritually abusive so the opposite of what your friend is looking for.

Huh...no idea really but it sort of reminds me about an issue we have had with a dog. One of our dogs is prone to ear problems and when she has a flare up of the fungus or whatever in her ears you can smell it just being in the same room with her. So even if we were to bathe her it wouldn't help because the infection is hiding in her ear or ears.

We use Corell dishes in the RV.

Love, love, love Build Your Library...best thing ever for us. No hates this year.

Wow even not in flu season I didn't want any visitors. Infants are way too at risk for RSV to have more people around them than needed even if the flu isn't also going around.

We started outed out very strictly classical but have switched to Build Your Library which leans more Charlotte Mason and we are all a lot happier with it.

I bake and make nearly all of our own food and snacks. I fit snack making in all through the week. So one day I might take 10 minutes to mix a batch of oats etc for granola and pop it in the oven and then it just has to cool on the counter and be dumped into a container. We use it in yogurt for snacks a lot. Then another day maybe when I'm in the middle of other projects I mix a double batch of muffins and get enough made at once for freezing a bunch too. We can take some out in the morning and they defrost by snack time. I just always try to make double batches whenever I can because it doesn't take much longer when you have everything out to just double it. I think I fit it in by having the mindset that there isn't another option. We just honestly don't want to eat prepackaged foods from the store so making our own snacks is not so much an extra thing to fit in but just another requirement of our lives I guess.

Build Your Library has a monthly family book crate and we are using those books for it now. They are on a different theme each month so we learn about that theme and do the activity pages she provides too.

White Russians are my choice the once a year or so I have a mixed drink.

Yes I start buying early for the next year. I bought the next year of Build Your Library at the black Friday sale and now I've been slowly picking up the books from the thriftshop and hopefully will have a bunch for $1 each by the next school year.

I guess I'm proud that I survived it and can still be considered sane by most standards lol. I had so many stressful things going on this past year. One really rough part was that as my disabled teen is getting older he's becoming more of a constant challenge to take care of than ever. I literally can't remember a day where I felt any sort of relief or break from the stress in the past year at all. I'm proud though that we made big progress educationally and that school is at least going better than ever for him.

My 2 year old loves to clean things up to show how clever he is. He puts his bibs in the bib drawer, puts trash in the garbage, puts toys in their specific bins etc. He also loves putting his laundry in the machine and pretty much any other task we give him. We even handed him papers we were going through and he placed them in a file...he loved it and every time he filed a paper he clapped for himself.

We love it...I've never thought about the exercise factor since we already walk a lot. Our main tip is remember to take a pencil to sign the logs and watch out for muggles :).

I agree...I've always thought there was a circle of hell especially for those people who put wallpaper up, where they spend eternity taking it down.

Wow... after someone not far from me almost died from hantavirus, I would get rid of any mouse immediately.

I'm researching and reading about which fountain pen to buy next and the best ink for it...which varieties of beans I should grow next...cold hardy greens to grow now...permaculture...helping bees survive the winter...deer fencing...weaving patterns for rigid heddle looms...and I'm always reading the newest science and nutrition journals as I get them.

It seems likes it's possible that it's complex tics. There are more tic disorders than just Tourettes and I would go to a neurologist unless you really think it's just behavioral. Do you hear her doing it alone in her room?

The smaller amount you make the faster it ferments. For someone just starting, I would start tasting it after the bubbling slows down visibly, then each day until it tastes the way you want. It ferments more slowly and develops a better flavor at lower temps, like a cooler as opposed to warmer room of the home. Then you can put a real lid on instead of the cheesecloth and put in fridge to store. Or, you can transfer to a separate container to store in fridge. But, don't try to can it because the heat of canning will kill all that good bacteria and it won't be any better than the stuff you buy at the store. It's best to just make it as you need it and store in fridge.

About the probiotic capsule, I have never done that and don't recommend it. The exact strain of lactobacillus you want is naturally present in the cabbage, and the salt inhibits the growth of other bacteria long enough for the right lactobacillus to grow, and keeps it crunchy, as other strains can make it too mushy. It's a wonderful natural process and doesn't need anything else added to it at all. I've been making enough for my family to eat daily for about 16 years now and never added extra bacteria of any kind and it turns out beautifully.

You knead it with salt to help draw the liquids out faster which helps the fermentation start sooner and helps inhibit the growth of the bad bacteria that you don't want to grow instead of the lactobacillus. You want the moisture out of the cabbage leaves from the start.

I don't want to list the books in case it ruins the surprise for anyone who ordered it :) So the books are for all ages really. There is a book for parents or a young adult, a book appropriate to read aloud for all ages, and a book for 9 years old and up or so. They are all on the same theme. Then there are little goodies that go with the theme in the box too, a custom matching bookmark in each book, and a booklet with information and discussion questions and a web address with tons more links and a pdf of activity pages.