I just started eating Paleo last Monday, so this if from a very newbie perspective :) So far I've lost 4.5 lbs and feel amazing. I was addicted to sugar and whole grains...the first few days were hard, but now my cravings have diminished greatly! I'm not taking supplements at this point, put plan to add some krill oil for Omegas. For breakfast, I do eat eggs a lot, sometimes with bacon and sauteed spinach. Sometimes I eat some almonds and a piece of fruit. The only cheat I've done this week is dark (70% cocoa) chocolate, just a couple of squares..it was heaven and not too much of a splurge! I'm trying to lean out now, so plan to keep my cheats to a minimum. However, once I get to my desired weight, I will probably add some periodic beans (I love them) and cheese into some post-workout meals. I love the site http://www.everydaypaleo.com, I've tried multiple recipes this week and they have been very good. She also has podcasts and links to other great sites. Good luck :)

Our church actually provides the small 3 ring binders and tabbed dividers for each sermon series. It's a great way to keep them organized.

Yes! Go for it...I get one before our beach vacations and have always been very pleased. They should tell you to put some lotion on your feet and palms so they don't get sprayed too. As long as you follow the directions on turning, it should look really good :)

I'll also add one of the things I was most impressed with this year was the presentations they had to do each week. Both my kids grew so much in their skills and came out of their shell. It was a really neat process to watch! I think gaining confidence in public speaking is so important when they are young.

We did CC this year with a 1st grader and 4K...we wouldn't have even thought of going for memory master yet! For these ages, I used CC as a jumping off point to learn more at home. For instance, we would check out and read library books/SOTW/watch DVDs about the things we covered in our history sentence and timeline. We would do the same for the science memory work, i.e if we were studying the 5 senses, we got books on this subject. Since we learned the states this year, we did do some fun state flag and facts work at home too. I let the fine arts just stand alone at CC. We just continued with our phonics/spelling/math at home. I did use the CC Connected site, they had a lot of great copywork sheets that incorporated history, Latin. We did listen to the audio CD a lot, so my 1st grader usually could recite her memory work well, my 4K'er picked up a lot but of course he didn't master everything. I honestly don't think it is paramount for them, at this stage, to know the context of every single thing. IMHO, memory work is a success in and of itself. If it weren't for CC, I know I wouldn't make it a priority to stress memory work, so it is worth it for my accountability.

Patricia Cornwell - her Kay Scarpetta series..she's a medical examiner, so murder/suspense genre Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum novels...they are funny, main character is a bounty hunter Ann B. Ross - Miss Julia series

Count me in...I'm giving my diet an overhaul starting today! I'll need some major accountability :ack2:

I L.O.V.E. thrift shopping! This week I scored Sets 1 -5 of BOB books for only 50 cents a set! My biggest success was buy 3 Japanese pottery dinner plates...I bought them because I liked them. Got home, looked up the name stamped on the bottom and found out they sold for $100 a piece!!!! I paid .25 :)

I use CeraVe Moisturizing lotion with SPF 30

Yes, that does sound good! So was the homemade blueberry fried pie I ate earlier :D

We got a little behind in math, so we will be catching up. DD will have daily reading, we'll still do read alouds. We'll be doing some science using RSO Life. Also, our BSGFA for Bible. We will be taking off a week at the end of May and then 2 weeks in July for VBS and Fine Arts camp. DD will continue piano lessons too. We will be very relaxed though!

Thanks for the input. I woke up this morning and it's not hurting, so maybe it's over. I'm thinking it's sinuses since I can't tell any tooth problems..I am overdue for the dentist though, so I will make an appt anyway.

Thanks! I knew you would be a wealth of info...now to narrow the list down :)

I usually buy most of my Usborne books at the thrift store, so my purchases are quite random. I have a friend that started selling them and wanted to purchase a couple of things from her. What do you consider "must- haves" for the elementary age? They offer so many, I'm overwhelmed! Thanks :D

My jaw, on one side, started hurting on Sat. I woke up with the pain and also had a sinus headache. I've been suffering with a bad cold for a week or so. I chalked it up to maybe grinding my teeth. I took an Aleve and it got better. It started again today, I've also had the headache and do feel some pressure on my teeth (it would feel so good to yank them all out and chew on a teething ring...lol). Could the jaw pain be caused by sinuses? If it continues, should I go to the dentist or my internist? I've had my share of sinus infections and never had jaw pain before, I'm perplexed..what say the Hive?

Yum, Indian food sounds delish! Tonight is taco night with black beans, mexicorn and homemade salsa :)

Yes! A lot of our schooling is outside...we read, do science,spelling, math and art projects. I bring their little table out into the driveway along with the supplies usually followed by a picnic lunch. Spelling words are done on the driveway in sidewalk chalk too, math games playing hopscotch...fun stuff. Unfortunately our summer here a very hot and humid, so fall and spring are our favorite seasons to this.

We school year round too...we take breaks in Dec., Mar., June/July..during the summer months we may only "do school" 4 days a week. When we finish one level, we just immediately move on to the next. The summers seem a lot more relaxed because we don't have our weekly CC or CBS classes.

Praying! I've had pericarditis and it is no fun! Sorry he's had to have surgery so many times now..praying for wisdom for the doctors, peace for all of you!

We get ours from Amazon

With a sleeper car= yes I would do it, without sleeper car= no I would not!

Tuscaloosa is a great city to live in! I went to grad school at U of A...it's definitely a college football town. The Mercedes plant is in Vance which is outside of Tuscaloosa a few miles. Northport is another city that is right outside of T'town that has a lot of subdivisions. There is a pretty big H'schooling community in the area. Tuscaloosa was hit hard back in April by tornadoes, so there is still a lot of rebuilding going on. Birmingham is less than an hour away, so you are surrounded by fun things to do. If you move there, you will need to add some crimson and houndstooth to your wardrobe and get used to hearing "Roll Tide" A LOT!!!!

DD7 got one for her birthday and she loves it, especially the art studio that came preloaded on it. She would do it all day if I didn't limit her time! I would say keep it :)

This site is wonderful http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/totschool.html

I have a B.S. in Marketing and a MBA...I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years before staying home. Since staying home, I've taught CC courses and do some business/marketing consulting.