I'd love ideas. As I get older, my pores are getting worse.

Head over to Amazon and watch the video, if you dare. I'm pretty sure that little beasty is days away from becoming sentient and taking over the planet. I knew Amazon would have some hand in the end of the world!

We're going to an open house for the high school we're looking into for our 8th grader. What questions do I ask???

So far, I'm enjoying Scholaric but I wish they had a better search feature on the blog. I'm trying to schedule math. I would like to skip the week of Thanksgiving. How do I do that??

Hmm... Anybody look into this?? It looks like free unlimited photo storage for prime members. If they started a 2 day photo printing service, my life would be complete!

Has anyone used one of the services where they put a bathtub and shower over an existing (broken or ugly) bath and shower?? Cost? Worth it?? Do tell!

I'm fascinated by these kits (don't go to the link if you are the delicate sort). www.loveisartkit.com My question for the Hive is, if you saw that on a friend's wall, would you think, "cool art" or "looks like someone made Tea in a paint shop"?? ETA--I tried to link but my link button doesn't work. Sorry!

I'm in the process of having part of me lasered (ouch!!). The worst part is shaving. I really hate it. From what I've read, the laser heats the hair follicle and kills it. That is why it only works while a hair is present and that is why you can't tweeze BEFORE the treatment. It seems to me, I should be able to have a treatment and then tweeze all those hairs without messing up the process. My laser lady says that it is important for the body to "push the hair out" so I can not tweeze. She says that it won't work if I tweeze. I feel like she is mistaken. Anybody have any thoughts??

My 9yo hates school. In an effort to change his opinion, I've decided to re-commit to doing read-alouds with him. Give me all your exciting-for-a-boy books, please!!

We've never done the tests but we're going to start. Any guidance on how much time I should give for a 3rd grader and 8th grader??

Sorry, this is gross. For about a week, she has been crying and saying "bad poopies". She has been pooping a bit and it is super stinky. I think she may be constipated?? Can we just give her Miralax or do we need a doctor to sign off on it?? Any other ideas?? We've cut out dairy, upped her water and tried to add more fiber.

The inmates have been running the asylum for way too long. Step one in getting back where we should be is cutting back (banning??) screens. Between the TV, nintendos, phones, iPad, computers, etc., my kids are totally addicted to screens. This is not going to be a change the children happily embrace. I would love to hear thoughts on how to do this without bloodshed (kidding, mostly). I plan on making a list of alternatives. Anything else?

I have zero ideas.

I'm trying to choose an electronic planner and someone recommended Scholaric (thanks!!). I'm playing with it and I have a question. Is there any place to keep a booklist or other random notes? As I run across books I want to get but don't have or want to schedule yet, is there a place to make a note of it?? I'd also like a place to keep random notes ("Johnny needs to work on his TKD kicks this year"). Is that possible? That is one of the features I really like about EverNote.

I wrote a long, rambly, whiney post but decided to just cut right to the chase. I've always been drawn to the CM style. As the years have gone by, we've moved further and further away from it for many reasons. I want to get back to a place with more reading, writing and discussion. Here are my issues-- 8th grade boy--might be going to school for high school so I need to make sure he is prepared for that. 6th grade girl--sigh. Being 12 is just hard on a girl and her attitude toward school has taken a nosedive. She wants to do whatever is fastest and easiest so she can move on to her own thing (mostly playing on her phone or sulking in her room). 3rd grade boy--sensory issues. Literally can't sit still. Can be convinced to listen to a read aloud if he likes the book, otherwise he just complains and runs into the walls (literally). Won't read a book to himself for more than 10 minutes unless it is a comic book. Pre-K girl--goes to pre-k every morning which has been good for her. 2yo girl-typical 2yo I envision lovely baskets of books around the house with the children happily reading. I'd love to do some poetry memorization. Is like the kids to work on hobbies other than Mindcraft. I'm tired of just checking boxes. So, any advice??

I pretty much loathe MLM companies and home "parties". I do love some of the stuff in the 31 catalog though. My sister and one other friend feel the same way. I'm tempted to sign up and just 'sell' to them and myself at cost. Is that possible? Is there any kind of minimum you have to sell? What comes in the starter kit you have to buy??

Here is what I think I need--an electronic planner that will allow me to add in all the work I want the kids to do and print it out so it looks nice and organized. The only feature I need would be the ability to reschedule work that didn't get done. I used HST a few years ago and it was too much plus I don't have time right now to learn how to use it again. So, OneNote, Ever Note, Excel, something else?? I'm willing to pay a one time fee but I hate subscriptions.

DH and I have a ton of student loan debt. Neither of our families contributed to our college educations and we made some poor (expensive) school choices. By way of background, we have been on the Dave Ramsey plan with a few tweaks along the way (we bought a house and a used van DR wouldn't have approved of) so paying down debt is important to us. I did the math this weekend and there is really no way to pay off our student loans before our oldest starts college. Talk about depressing. We have been focused on our debt and have not started saving for college. I do not want my kids to be burdened with student loan debt and we will work with them on school choice and making money where they can to pay for school. With only 4 and 6 years left, should we put our debt repayment on hold and start putting money away for kids #1 and #2??

I wonder if you can get a cheap beanbag and refill it as it flattens. Is that a thing??

Please point me in the direction of good but affordable bean bags!! I saw some that got great reviews but they cost as much as my sofa!

Overalls or a plaid shirt for a farmer? White jacket and toy doctor stuff for a doctor? Firefighter hats are cheap. Construction worker hats are cheap.

Just hugs. That sounds so scary. How soon will you know the results?

Adding another voice in the "let her go camp". I have no issue with polite teens participating in the fun!

Proof that "art" is subjective...

I was listening to Diane Rehm this AM talking about assisted suicide. Her guest was the one that I really noticed. Honestly, I had to turn it off.