I don't know anything about teak, but the set looks beautiful! And, it looks big enough for your entire family to sit around. :)

Kristine - I can't imagine the stress of it all. I'm sorry that you have to go through this.

"Mom, I put Silly Putty in my bottom." Ugh, what??? He put Silly Putty in his underwear, down by his bottom, not in it at least! :D It is stuck all over his underwear, I think we'll have to toss them, along with the Silly Putty! Boys! :lol:

I didn't understand that from your first post. I thought you were saying you were thinking about not paying on it anymore after July.

I agree with this 100%. I guess I don't see it as "giving it back to the bank". I see it as not keeping your word - let your yes be yes and your no be no, KWIM? I understand about it being a mistake. But, why let the bank lose money on the deal when it was *your* mistake? God is forgiving and merciful. However, our actions still have consequences. I guess you need to be sure you can live with the consequences.

I finished PL and am starting LCI. I think that if PL worked well for you, you should consider LCI. It is a tried and proven curriculm. While it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, it works and my ds enjoys it. We purchased Ludere Latin, which is a crossword, word search, etc supplement that goes with LCI. That adds more review and adds fun. :) I looked at Lively Latin, LFC and a few more and decided to stick with what has been working, is a tired and true program, and has the complete series out. Have fun making your decision!

Oh, wow!!! That is very exciting to me! The bummer is we are ready for year 3 next fall. Do you have any knowledge of when years 3 & 4 will have maps and coloring pages?

Well, we were getting take out pizza every Friday night. I love that! Pizza and movie night. :) However, we are currently trialling frozen pizza instead of take out. It is cheaper and I can just purchase it with my grocery money, but it isn't nearly as good! I should just make a bunch of pizza crusts and freeze them, but wah! I like my night off! :) We very, very rarely go to a sit down restaurant except our own. My family owns two restaurants in our town, so we eat there for "free" (it does come out of the bottom line, LOL!).

I love Simply in Season! It is a great cookbook. I love the others in the series as well "More with Less" and ahhh, can't remember the other one! Simply in Season is divided by each season and uses the fruit and vegies that are, well, in season during each season. It's seasonal, ya know? :) Anyway, it's great! It has a lot of interesting recieps. My MIL was an assistant, trying out recipes before they went into the book, giving her opinion. :)

Thoughts? Do you use the recipes for cleaning? It looks interesting to me!

It reminds me of debates I had in my Bio Ethics class I had in college. I can see both sides. Ultimately, I think they have rights, just as you and I do. And, asking them to stop having children b/c it is a burden on the government budget, would set a precedent to others on welfare. "Oh? You can't afford this child? You're required to have an IUD or have your tubes tied after 1 child." That is one option that could happen.

He has changed our lives! Dh and I love his style. :) We need the in your face instruction. We had a small student loan, small amount of a car loan, the house loan, we were saving a bit for retirement (but nothing else!) when we read his first book several years ago. Now we have our 3 months savings, no debt except the house and are putting back the 15% for retirement he recommends. We just went on vacation with cash, came back and our dd ended up in the hospital. In the past that would have caused us some difficulty with cash flow, but not this time! We have our emergency fund so that we can pay our deductible and have a plan in place to replace the money as well. No, Dave Ramsey isn't God, by any means. For us, however, he provided the right advice at the right time and our lives (and children's lives) are changed.

Furniture Polish from the Clean Team. It is in a pump so it doesn't spray like aerosol cans do. Here is a link: http://www.thecleanteam.com/catalog_f.cfm I have a friend (jail warden) that dusts everything with a bucket of water and a rag.

We also use Biblioplan and really enjoy it! I love the book suggestions, and that there are various age suggestions. So, my 2nd grader that is ahead in reading still has books to read on his level and on the same topic as his younger brother. The book selections are great!

I'd be interested in the dw recipe too. I'm just using Cascade, and haven't found a great alternative yet!

That was the worst part of it! She kept getting poked and poked; sometimes two or three pokes just to draw blood one time! After the IV needing to be tried 3 times, a blood draw being tried 3 times, then next blood draw being tried 4 times, I asked for their best person to come the first time every time. After that, they were able to draw blood the first time! So frustrating! And, to see your sick little one, scream and scream, not knowing why, and being so dehydrated she couldn't even cry tears. Even so, I'm so thankful for hospitals and doctors! What did they used to do when children got this sick?

How awesome to read of all those who have been praying for us. Grace is home, had supper with us all tonight, and is already in bed. During supper she just smiled and smiled!! Thanks again for your caring and for your prayers! Thanks to Lori (jail warden), for posting and giving updates!

Thanks everyone! I'll put them on the back burner. :) They look really fun, though! I'll try to remember them for a few years down the road.

I also use Charlie's Soap and am very pleased with it. I just bought the 5 gallon bucket, and split 1 gallon out for my MIL. Purchasing in the large quanity was very cost effective! I tried it in the 80 use size first, then purchased the big mama size. :)

How do you use them? As a supplement to your studies or as science? I'm thinking about reading it out loud to my 3rd grader. It is Christian correct? Why don't we hear about these books more? They look really great!

Exploring the History of Medicine. Have you used or read these books? They look like a really interesting way to supplement science. If you used them, what ages would be best? My 3rd grader will be doing chemistry next year. I went with a really light program, so that my 1st grader could join in. Can I add some of this reading for ds? He is really bright and reads everything. Thanks!

I'm looking for a stainless steel sippy for the baby and 1 water bottle each for my boys. I'm overwhelmed! Do you know where to get the best price? Thanks!

I can't believe all of the things he has learned from these books as well. I know they are fiction, but they have given ds a good sense of timelines (what happened when), and really broadened his knowledge of history. He knows many of the presidents names, when the were president, about the Civil War, and on and on ALL from these books! We have only studied Ancient and Middle Ages history so far, yet he knows a lot of American history from these books. They are very worthwhile, IMO. Kathy

Hey there! I emailed you back, did you get it yet? :) Phil and I are trying to keep the computers off during the day. :) Why does Ty need orthodics? I don't mind getting them for Levi again, if he needs them, but if he isn't going to wear them or they don't really make a difference I don't want to spend the money, KWIM?

My 6yo ds is flat footed, no arch. He has had orthodics in the past and his current pair is too small. However, I can't decide if he needs them or not, and they aren't covered by insurance. Our current doctor says yes, our old doctor said only if he complains of back or leg pain. He doesn't complain of pain, or being tired, which is another symptom. He goes barefoot most of the time at home and in the summer goes barefoot or wears flip flops. Should he be wearing his inserts all the time, even in the house? Or, only if he begins to complain? Anyone know anything about this? Thanks!