Yes, the week after Christmas is high season. The least expensive weeks to sail are the two weeks before Thanksgiving and the two weeks before Christmas. Cruises are more expensive when ps children are out of school. An Eastern Caribbean cruise could take you to Grand Cayman with the turtle farm (http://www.grand-cayman-wanderer.com/grand-cayman-turtle-farm.html) and the butterfly farm (http://www.caymanislands.ky/vacation_planner/eBrochure.aspx?pid=36655). Seeing the culture of the island people is an education in itself. A Western Caribbean cruise will take you to many ports of call in Central America. Mexico has some of the most beautiful Mayan ruins at Tulum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulum and Chichen Itza (http://www.locogringo.com/past_spotlights/apr2002.html). A stop in Belize gets you to the baboon wildlife sanctuary (http://www.chaacreek.com/belize-travel-blog/2009/03/belize-baboon-sanctuary-you-say-baboon-we-say-howler-monkey/) with wild howler monkeys roaming free. Key West is often a port of call and to see how a city is set up on the tip of the Florida Keys is amazing as well as the very laid back lifestyle. Beautiful beaches await. The cruise itself is educational as children learn about formal dinners and formal attire, theatre productions, how to handle oneself on a cruise (a very different environment), immigration, customs, etc. DS will be taking his fourth cruise in February. On each one, he has learned something new.

:iagree: By doing this, you are also ready for any unexpected trips away from the house that might occur (like DH forgetting his school keys, his computer mouse, etc.) :)

A Caribbean cruise. If you can travel any week EXCEPT Christmas, you can get a super deal. Beaches, educational places to visit, and no worries about the food. Unpack once and your hotel room moves with you!

:iagree: We inherited tons of track, the train table and over 100 Thomas and Friends engine pieces. The table never got used because it wouldn't contain enough track. Several friends that do have the table have glued a track to it so that the children can play for a short time without digging out ALL the pieces. When they have a longer time for play, the rest of the tracks get built on the floor.

I don't know where you live, but we had the A/C problem this summer. Our house is also 16 years old. One of the things we found out was that we couldn't just replace the A/C unit, but had to also replace the heating unit, too. Supposedly, these new energy efficient units need a stronger fan to push the air over the cooling coils and force the heat out of the furnace. We had four different companies say the same thing. Then they hit us with the cost and I was running around with my fingers in my ears :willy_nilly:. We were fortunate that a neighbor friend came over and just filled us up with freon for $100 and we made it through the summer. I dread this summer because I am afraid we will have to replace the units and they are just uber expensive. Problem is, in the Deep South, you have to have A/C or things in your home get ruined by the extreme heat and humidity.

So glad he is home. He has grown so much. Prayers that things continue to go well. :grouphug:

I think I've been on all of them over the past 12 years! I usually get 12=18 months out of one before it stops working and we have to start over. Cymbalta was the worst one I was on - never worked and I just went downhill FAST. Current one is Lamictal. Doc just upped the dose to try and get another few months out of it :tongue_smilie:.

This is from The Melting Pot Restaurant Ingredients: 3-4 Servings Size 4 ounces beer or 4 ounces skim milk or 4 ounces broth 1 teaspoon chopped garlic cheddar cheese pepper mustard powder Worcestershire sauce apple (cut up to dip) Change Measurements: US | Metric Directions: Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 15 mins 1 start with 4 oz of base (beef, milk or broth). 2 add garlic. 3 add 3 shakes of mustard powder. 4 stir. 5 add small amount of cheddar cheese. 6 mix thoroughly (using whipping motion until cheese is melted). 7 add five turns of pepper grinder. 8 add three to four shakes of worcestershire sauce. 9 fold in pepper & worcestershire. 10 remove mixing fork.

Not snobbish at all! DH and I are over 50 and we don't share bathrooms with others either! We stayed at the Imperial College (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/) in Kensington. Each room had its own bathroom and everything was very clean. We felt quite safe in the area. My in-laws even stayed there for a week on their vacation and they can afford to stay just about anywhere they wish. Imperial College will always have a special place in my heart because they went out of their way to help us. DH came down with an infected tooth one day before we were sailing out of Southampton on a 2 week cruise. The college went over and above and got DH into the dentist that cares for the students, DH was given antibiotics, and we went on to a wonderful cruise. Can't say that about many people these days.

UPDATE: DH called our travel agent today who in turn talked to the cruise line on which we were booked (we have sailed this line 15+ times). They are REFUNDING my DH's fare :party:. Yeah for great customer service and a company who was aware of how things have been in our state the past week. The cruise line also said that since we obviously use them a great deal, they know we will be booking more cruises with them. Prayers answered and a bitter pill made easier to swallow.

:iagree: Love, love, love this curriculum!!!

He has tons of days of leave so that isn't the issue. The climate in our state for teachers is so bad that if he did ask for the time off and then get it, it could come back and bite him in the (*&^. It would give his county just cause to not issue a contract in May due to taking too many days off. It is just so political. DH must get a contract for next year and then we are home free as he can retire anytime after that. As a veteran teacher with numerous degrees and certifications, he is an 'expensive' teacher. With our state's budget problems, getting rid of the expensive teachers is very appealing as they could replace a person like DH with three beginning teachers. I need to go do school with DS and stop worrying about something I have control over :smash: .

You can't forget that ps is all about the scores on TESTING. Extending a week at the end of the school year (which makes perfect sense) would still leave the students without that extra week to cover the material that is going to be on the CRCT, etc.

We have traveled around the world for the past 30 years and have never bought trip insurance. Also, trip insurance would not have covered this particular situation.

I'm using Trail Guide to World Geography and I don't like it. I feel like I am missing components. DH bought it at a homeschool conference last spring. When I was looking at it, I told DH he must have missed buying some of the components. So a couple months later, at another homeschool conference, I stopped at their booth to make sure I had everything, I did and they told me it was open and go. In my opinion, it is not. One of the few things that I have purchased that I really don't like, but am using it because I hate to see things go to waste.

I know you said you didn't like the university accomodations, but that is where we stay when we go to London. Just a couple blocks from the Tube and all the excitement of London right outside your doorstep. Plus, breakfast came with our room. Since we were only there for sleeping, it really was perfect.

I live in the Deep South. We have been snowed/iced in for a week. No school for the public schools so DH has been home (high school teacher). At his county's BOE meeting last night, they passed unanimously to take away the Winter Break that is on the calendar for February 21-25 in order to make up these crazy snow days. No input from the public at all!!! It doesn't effect me and homeschooling. However, we have booked and paid for a cruise that week!!!!!!!!! We are going as an extended family to celebrate my FIL's successful open heart surgery. DH doesn't dare ask for that week off as it would jeopardize his job (bad, bad climate for teachers in our state). :cursing: Sorry, just needed to vent. Going on a cruise without my DH of 30 years just stinks. And to add insult to injury, we cannot get any money refunded for his part of the trip. :rant:

I don't like the taste. As I have gotten older, I can tolerate a cup once in a while at a social gathering, but them it is more cream and sugar than coffee. Funny thing is that neither one of my parents drank coffee. My DH doesn't drink it and neither do his parents. Sometimes I wonder if one drinks it because they have been brought up around it all their lives.

I just signed up for the SE Homeschool Convention today (in Greenville, SC) and haven't had a chance to look at our speakers. For your convention, definitely go to see Dr. Carol Reynolds. She is an outstanding speaker and gives lots of information regarding how she sees homeschoolers once they get to college. She is quite entertaining and it is usually standing room only so get there early. And it goes without saying to see Jim Weiss, Susan Wise Bauer, and Jessie Wise. As far as vendors - make sure you have a list of curriculum you are really interested in looking at and then go to those vendors first. Have a price list so you know the prices of curriculum you want to buy. You will need to price shop the vendors to get the best price. There will be vendors there that just sell all kinds of curriculum (Rainbow Resource, etc). If you go prepared, you will have a BLAST!

My friends gave up Starbucks a few years ago when they realized just how much money they were spending. Two adults x 2 coffees a day = about $20 a day and that was on a good day plus two grown sons at home that were each spending about $20 each per day. They all quit cold turkey, put $60 a day in a jar and at the end of a month had around $2000 (put in extra change, etc. too). Then they went out and spent big bucks on a really cool coffee machine and all the syrups, etc. that they liked plus a cool coffee cart. In all, they spent around $2500, but it has been money in the bank. Everyone loves to go to their house for coffee because it is just like a fancy coffee store without the guilt of spending so much money. They say even on a month with lots of visitors and extra coffee being made, they rarely go over $40 for the month. When you look at it that way, it makes sense to quit the love affair.

:iagree:

DS is terribly uncoordinated, also. He falls so much that we call it 'crash and burn'. He has been evaluated (twice) by OT and PT as well as having his vision checked. Not enough problems on either evaluation for special therapies and no vision problems. DS is now taking TaeKwonDo and it has helped immensely. Not quite as much falling, but it is still quite evident. (His jumping jacks and push ups could win us a place on America's Funniest Home Videos!) His pediatrician attributes his problems to two things: he spent the first 27 months of his life in an orphanage on only hardwood floors so never had the opportunity to experience the differences in texture of walking surfaces that we take for granted AND he is growing so fast. Every time DS seems to finally be able to get things all going together, he hits a growth spurt :svengo:which just makes him have to get it all coordinated again. We've just learned to take it in stride.

Lunch - hummus and pita chips, apple slices Knock, knock joke between DH and DS - Knock, knock Whose there? I'm a I'm a who? I'm a gonna get you (which then involves hugs, kisses and lots of tickles) :001_smile:

"Striving for excellence, leadership and distinctiveness"

DS loved Times Tales and it worked beautifully. We tried Quarter Mile Math for drilling and it BOMBED. $$$ down the tubes!