I know a family that cleans the dance studio weekly in exchange for lessons. Another creative idea--when my daughter took up a band instrument from the start she appeared to be a very promising student so I mentioned it to one of the band directors. She suggested speaking with the high school director as in our district National Honor Society candidates/members need a certain number of volunteer hours each year. Having said all of that, music and dance lessons is the area in our budget that is so important to our kids that we've always somehow managed. This school year what we shell out per month for dance, band, and associated costs will average as much as our mortgage. I know this won't go for everyone but if you would have asked me five years ago if we could have done it on our income I would have said absolutely not, but somehow we've been able to pull it off.

I agree about it depending on the program and the child. When my daughter was an older four she really, really wanted to do ballet, and only ballet. The studio we were interested in only offered a class with a mix of dance forms but because her interest was so great they allowed me to enroll her in the ballet class with seven year olds. She was attentive, worked hard and was able to keep up--in fact now in 5th grade dances with the senior dance company.

Too late to help, but I do my stew in the oven on low temps and add dry tapioca as the thickener. No stirring, no last minute thickening, and fewer dishes to wash up. :D

Have you had his eyes checked?

At my house all the males take far longer in the shower than us girls. Go figure... I don't limit the teen boys--I'm just really glad they're willing to get clean! Our hot water heater heats water up fast but I do stagger the times and delay running the dishwasher and warm/hot loads of laundry until they're through. The youngest goes in early in the evening when she can, and then the boys need to have at least 15-20 minutes between showers.

You have my sympathies. My husband once had chest pains requiring an ER visit (family history of heart problems so must be taken seriously). The dx also was that he wasn't 20 anymore. Riding down hills on tubes or sleds with kids on one's chest will tend to cause chest pains. ;)

This edition only has illustrated dust jackets, a fold out map inside the back covers, and I believe a simple illustration or two (ie door to Moria) that I think might have been actually done by Tolkien. If you want illustrations, you'll be disappointed with this edition. http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0395489326/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262812881&sr=8-2 I believe this is the illustrated edition by Alan Lee but I don't have a copy to be sure. http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0618260587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262812881&sr=8-1

There's a book out that I would add to this list that I think is very helpful for parents who are looking for answers: "What Your Explosive Child Is Trying to Tell You: Discovering the Pathway from Symptoms to Solutions" by Dr. Douglas Riley Here's a good intro article on sensory issues: http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall97/sensory.htm

If she gets in the mood for fun fantasy, check out Eva Ibbotson. Which Witch is a fun fantastical read.

We got a lot of math milage from baking! I would sometimes type up favorite recipes using simple terms and in list form and it was great for not only math skills but also following directions.

This was my first thought. I think Beau sounds best with strong constanants.

I've had eardrums rupture about 8 times. I'd already been an allergy patient so I was already getting shots, but sinus surgery and a tube in the worst ear for about 2 years put and end to the ear infections. I was asleep for both surgeries--didn't feel a thing. And for the ear tube surgery there's no discomfort afterwards.

I just saw this article which lists nighttime sky highlights for 2010. I think I'm going to put them on my calendar. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/04/2165357.aspx

My oldest son was a series reader from preschool years onward until about 6th grade. He discovered The Boxcar Children and read them all over and over again. If it hadn't have been for his discovering the Star Wars novels in the school library... Try The Penderwicks!!! The illustrations and something else about the books that I couldn't put my finger on reminded me of the early Boxcar Children, but the vocabulary is much more challenging, while still understandable. There's a second book called The Penderwicks on Gardam Street and I thought I read she was working on a third. I pulled ten weeks worth of vocabularly/spelling words out of them for my 5th grader this year. My daughter loves anything written by Laurie Halse Anderson. There's a series called Vet Volunteers which she discovered too old to really get hooked on, but she loved Fever 1793, and later on, Chains. She's 11 1/2 now and FYI I'm finding it a MUCH harder to find appropriate books to interest her at the 6th-7th grade reading level than earlier levels. There are loads of books around that 5th grade level though. She's also liked the Dear America books. While the characters and time periods change, the writing styles are similar and feel familiar. I'm having her do some of those this year as part of history. Island of the Blue Dolphins Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech She loved Harry Potter but I did most of it as a family readaloud as I wanted to be involved when they read it. Has she read Narnia? The first four books especially have familiar characters that kids can relate to. What my daughter hasn't loved are most of the books and series I loved as a child: Black Stallion, Nancy Drew, Heidi, Trixie Belden, Little House. And here I thought I had such great taste in books...;)

It would have been waaaaay too much for my kiddo with sensory issues at age 4, and a lot more than I scheduled for any of my kids at that age. Lots of downtime at home was really critical to his well-being so on preschool days, that was all that was happening unless it was absolutely necessary (ie therapy). Most days off we stayed home. Have you kept up with occupational therapy? A lot of times schools and county programs will release way too early based on the fact that they've reached the current set of goals for their current situation. If the child isn't functioning well, that would be one of the first things I would revisit because it's so critical for a child to be regulated.

I'd spent a good deal of time last week planning out this week...but plans do change. :001_huh: The heat went out on the van which meant trips two trips to and from the repair shop, plus I overdid yesterday and wasn't moving anywhere very fast. I decided the best thing to do was chill (no pun intended) and we wound up with a lighter than usual day of work, but still a good day.

One more! Fields and Pastures New: My First Year as a Country Vet by John McCormick.

I took it hard when my appliance repairman pulled a penny out of the dishwasher works and charged me $72.

I've been getting shots for years and it's made a huge improvement in my quality of life. I used to have days when I'd seriously be incapable of functioning due to allergies and that hasn't happened in many years. I was on a bunch of allergy meds when I started and within a few years was able to cut back significantly. Eventually I didn't even have to treat for asthma on a daily basis but only when I had colds. Now I don't have to even do that most of the time. I do still take a decongestant/antihistamine on most days but if I decided to give up dairy completely I could probably do away with that too. I even have a cat now--something I NEVER would have considered ten years ago. Oh, I should mention that there came a time when I needed sinus surgery to "mop up" because a lifetime of allergies had left them so inflamed that I could no longer fight the infections. That made a huge difference also. Yes, it's been a lot of time and money, but well worth it for me personally. I was retested a few years ago and nearly all of my former allergies were gone, but I had developed new allergies to the grasses and molds in the region so I started over again on the shots to keep them from getting out of hand.

I'll second the suggestion of the Jello Poke Cake, although at my house we call it Reunion Cake since we usually make it for the family reunion. The recipe I use has a pudding frosting which helps keep it moist as well. Jello Cake Mix 1 cup boiling water and 1 small package of strawberry Jello. Add 1/2 cup cold water. Set aside. Bake a white cake mix according to package directions and spoon into 13 x 9 inch pan that's been sprayed with non-stick. Bake then let cool 20 minutes. Poke holes in the cake with the handle end of a wooden spoon. Holes should be about 2 inches apart. Drizzle the (still liquid) jello evenly over the cake. For frosting, combine 1 pkg of Dream Whip, 1 package instant vanilla jello plus 1 1/2 cup milk. Beat on high until combined and fluffy. Mix and spread on top of cake. Refrigerate. I usually do the cake the day before and cover with foil and refrigerate. I usually make the frosting up the day before as well, and keep in a covered bowl to spread on a few hours before serving. You can change flavors--I've had it with lemon cake and lime jello and that was very good also.

My husband's phone is completely paid through work. We have four tracfones for the kids and myself. I buy one card per year when there's a double minute special (about $100 each) for each phone plus I usually need some extra minutes. It's around $37 per month but the kids usually roll over most of their minutes to the next year since most of their calls amount to "I'm ready to be picked up."

I'll second this one--it's a really good read, and not really well known. Also very good is The Lost Men: The Harrowing Saga of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party by Kelly-Taylor Lewis.

I left some questions blank once. Soon after I returned it I got a telephone call insisting I answer the questions. Some of the questions were ridiculous (like identifying my ancestry when my father's family has been in the US since the late 1600's so any original ethnicity has been mixed many times over through the generations), but I had to answer anyways. I found it very intrusive, with many questions that I don't think were the government's business.

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks is excellent! Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi by Laura Fermi Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees; On the Far Side of Liglig Mountain, and Living Stones of hte Himalayas by Thomas Hale (interesting and humorous read about a missionary doctor family in Nepal)

One of my boys is named Mark and he went all the way through elementary and middle school as the only Mark in the school. Now in a high school of 2000 kids he's one of only a few.