I am using 1a with my ds5 right now and have 1b waiting - however, I am using it as a supplement and doing my "main teaching" out of RightStart A (which I LOVE and used with ds7). I like MM for the review & the independent factors, but I don't particularly care for it for actual teaching. For fingers - I remind mind to just use his abacus anytime he is using his fingers. I think it is a hard habit to break and I don't want him to get into it (he tends to get obsessive about things and set in his ways, so I have to cut things off at the pass!). The abacus will be more efficient as we get to higher numbers, as well!

I would think age & confidence from training (such as learning to walk without pulling anywhere) would be the best help. I imagine that she's just more timid out of her comfort zone, which doesn't seem that unusual...

Wow - anywhere from $60 to $300 a week!! Crazy :) I guess it sounds like a lot of it will depend on how YOU feel about the deal. If you are helping a friend out who can't afford a lot and it won't severely impact your schedule, then cheap. If you are doing it for someone who could easily make other arrangements but really wants YOU, in particular, to do it, then expensive! Personally - I could do it short-term as a favor for cheap, but long-term it would be a huge hassle for my family. The only thing that would make it liveable would be more money and an easier job (ie no dinner or HW help, just all kids getting along and playing). I just wouldn't be able to be happy losing my ability to change plans at the last minute or add new interesting classes or just run late on HS & early on dinner...

If you refinance and don't have paid in the 20% of value, they probably won't let you borrow over. If you do have that paid in (thereby having large amounts of home equity) then you can get money out!

Oh man - how devastating!!! Makes me re-think my idea of starting cross-stitch again, now that my kids are older (but still only 5&7 - I haven't done it since they were super-young). Honestly, I think I'd wash it as best I could - maybe even put coffee on the whole thing and then wash it so the staining is even and looks consistent - and then give it to him with a hug and an apology... :) :grouphug:

For Physics, I am REALLY liking the "Exploration Education" kit/workbook/DVD we recently got. I am using it for a very science-y 2nd grader, but it could easily go up to 5th/6th & then they have an add-on for jumping it even higher. The elementary, however, doesn't appear to be worth it. As for other areas of science - I'm all ears on those!! :) We're trying to decide if we should try RSO next year or try Elemental again (I started Biology lower-level but really didn't like it). Supercharged Science is great for older kids, especially very science-oriented ones, but very expensive both for the website & the experiment materials. I will be saving money to try and do the all-out expensive 3-5 year programs on this in a few years!! :D

I'd go low carb & low sugar - and not worry so much about calories! :)

You're going to get one with a run, right? Or are you going to have a fenced in run? I'd never thought to put it on wheel with a handle before - great idea!! Drop it in place for a few months, then move it around... hmmmmmm.... My dh wants to do a chicken house with a "chicken moat" around a garden as pest control - of course, we've just moved the garden this year from an area where that would have worked to one where it won't, and he STILL hasn't built the coop!! laff.

We have a lady who comes and cleans once a month or so, and she keeps putting the remote in the toy boxes!! Seriously??

Huh - I had to deactive a seat from my FILs computer (they live with us) so that I could put our single-user (non-HS) version on my computer & they were super nice about it... no problems at all!

Wow, what a huge variety of interactions!! We just recently (a couple months ago) refinanced with Wells Fargo after going with some no-name originally to purchase our house 3+ years ago. Said no-name was very helpful at first and then dropped us like a hot rock somewhere in the middle & immediately transferred the mortgage to Countrywide (which got bought by BofA) upon completion - grrr! In fact, having so many problems with no-name was one of the 2 main reasons why I went with a major company to refi. The other big reason was location - the WF bank is right down the street and the loan officer has an office there, so all my appointments could be in person. That was a HUGE HUGE HUGE plus!! We could have gotten much lower fees going with an online company, but it seemed like a large number of complaints were given about documents "missing in the mail" or "not received yet", etc, and people not being able to get ahold of the loan officer when they needed to. Our refi was painless and wonderful - the loan officer was kind, helpful, available and definitely someone I will do business with again if possible. The rate was acceptable, and the fees were probably above average, but the experience was really good & easy (which, honestly, made any added expense worth it). She got everything done quickly, correctly & without incident. We've also banked at WF for more years than I can remember, and it is great to have my mortgage stuff right in with my other online banking items instead of having to hop around. :) After extensive research into other loan refi options, I determined that I was willing to pay a premium to be able to walk down and HAND someone paperwork and go in and YELL at someone if I needed to!! :D (although thankfully I didn't!)

So... the three things jewelry he's ever gotten for you are the ones you wear all the time??? Wedding ring, special earrings, special cross necklace? I can see why he'd have gone out on a limb and gotten you something, then! Better to have returned it and saved money, though, than to be bitter every time you saw it and wish you didn't have to pretend to like it. Have a great trip!

We got the YSC kits (separately from NOEO but the same types) from Amazon just to try out and enjoyed them alright, but I got a good temporary deal on the 3-in-1 kits. If I had payed the full YSC price I would have been irritated - there was really not much to the kits, and pretty much all of them heavily involved me (I was hoping ds 7 could do most of it himself, since he is VERY hands-on and sciency, but no). They were really nothing to write home about, and as a part of the NOEO science I would plan for them to be "an interesting aside" rather than "a core part" of the program. The living books are, to me, the heart of that program. The 3 kits came inside 1 smallish box, and each one was just a paper-sized plastic bag with instructions (not exceptional ones) and a few odds and ends. The volcano one was particularly amusing - the volcano itself was AWESOME, and easy enough (after prelim run) that my ds could do himself...over...and over... and over... it was months before I got rid of it finally. However - the "kit" was basically black paint to paint the volcano, as I recall, with and instructions on how to get everything else from around your house and make a volcano (which involves a plastic water bottle base, paper mache, vinegar & baking soda). Um - really? For an average of $8?

Lol - we had mixed reviews on attachments!! 1) My dh liked using the tennis racket, but accidentally hit the tv screen with it - so he's not likely to use it again!! (unfortunately, tv is fine - would have been nice to replace our ancient one... :D). 2) The fencing nerf swords are a pita - you have to remove them to click the screen then pop them back on (irritating!!!). My 5yo, however, absolutely INSISTS on using them anyway - rofl. I enjoy using them but probably won't bother much (since you have to take the sleeve off, have to take the top off all the time, and it kind of hurts my hand where the remove sits in the plastic base)... something cool about the "swish"!! 3) We got accessories for the EA Active 2 - weights, jump rope, etc. I have only used the jump rope so far, but it was remarkably exhausting - I'll definitely do it again! Dh probably won't be able to use that, since he's so much taller than I am!

http://financialsoft.about.com/od/quickenbudgettips/ss/How-To-Set-Up-An-Automatic-Budget-In-Quicken.htm I use Quickbooks rather than Quicken, so I really don't know the answer - but I found above link to setting up a Quicken budget. Maybe that will help?

Boon: A surprising boon was the gifts from Grandpa to my 2 boys - I made sure to tell them in advance to "remember that Grandpa doesn't like toys, so it definitely will be something practical"!! :D). Usually he just lets Granny take them to the store for a nice toy right after Christmas, but this year for some reason he really decided he wanted to get them pants - and I didn't want the kids all excited for...um...not much. It turned out he got them each a pair of pants AND he put a new pocket-knife in the pocket (a medium one for the 7yo that he'd promised to get for him at 8, and a mini one for the 5yo) - this was a MASSIVE hit for both kids, but especially the 7yo (who has now told everyone multiple times throughout the day that he likes all his gifts but the one from Grandpa the most!). Bust: we got Dance Dance Rev 2 for the wii and can't get the mat to work right :( ETA: Our bust was a boon, after all!! Dh just hadn't bothered to read the instructions or do the training, so he couldn't figure it out... I was able to get it working and have a fun dance session! :D

Hah!! You wanted some sort of bird feeder/roosting thing, right? Right? I didn't want to look it up, cuz that would be cheating, but I'm pretty sure I remember that story... :D

Ours ended up well, too!! :) The kids are actually being SUPER-well-behaved today, and everything has gone very smoothly (aside from having to wake up too early!).

We squeezed out until 6am-ish... at least, that was when dh came in and woke me up & asked if they were allowed to open their stockings!!

Schoolroom desks...? I've been eyeing them for too long, now, and I can't wait until next year when we can save up to buy some!! :)

Aw man - poor kid!!! Tell him it is a good opportunity to learn to be ambidextrous... :D

We plan to go back on Atkins for the adults (did it 1.5 years ago or so and did GREAT losing weight & eating more healthy foods) and lower carb/sugar for the kids. We also got a bunch of wii exercise games and are planning to try and get fit this year! :)

:grouphug: Thanks for all the hugs, support & ideas - and just for letting me vent!! :) I'm really not that whiny usually, I promise! We had a wonderful Christmas morning - the kids were a delight (well behaved & kind to everyone - very unlike last night!) and had a joyous time, my lovely dh actually got me a surprise gift that was genuinely good (he bought phyllo dough & promised to make baklava & samosas!), and dinner is in the crock pot (so no mad dash to cook later). I try to drop hints throughout the year, but I guess I don't do a good job. I suppose that it is because when I walk through a store I just automatically see things for ds5, ds7 & dh - things I know they would want and enjoy - and it seems like it ought to be easy for people who know me well to do the same. Amusingly enough - I'd be thrilled to death if dh finally built the chicken coop that we've been talking about for years!! :lol::lol: I'm not huge on the presents, honestly - it is the thought/time/consideration that I would appreciate more of! :) A yummy tray of treats & a hug & I'm set!

2 boys - 5yo & 7yo - likely to turn out just like dh!! :glare: You are both absolutely right, though - I need to just accept that dh won't be able to figure this stuff out on his own & make a list (for kids AND dh!!) and give clear directions for them to go take care of it. That would undoubtedly clear a lot of the aggravation up.

Wow - I am so out of it - I actually thought "hey, tea [notice - no uppercase!] is a good idea - dh loves earl gray and oolong types!!" and "why do they write it like that? teA?"... :D Some how, though, I couldn't misconstrue "rhymes with slowjob"!! rofl