"Positive Parenting/Discipline" --there's a wide-open category :). I'm intrigued by the range of books listed here :). Nobody's mentioned this one yet, but one of my favorites is "Heartfelt Discipline," by Clay Clarkson. I believe he's just put out a new printing of it --haven't read the "new and improved" one yet. Comes from a very Christian perspective, so YMMV on that, but I found it was really reassuring, balanced, and helpful.

Seconding the recommendation for Rainbow Light Womens' One. It's whole-food based and usually fairly reasonable in price if you order from Vitacost or can get it at Walmart. Our Walmart used to carry it for a while --a month supply for about $8-- but I haven't found it there recently.

Don't feel too badly. My linguist-husband actually started creating a Ferengi language, and was moderately shattered when he found out someone else had already done (and possibly published) it. :tongue_smilie: In a testament that there might be hope for recovering Trek addicts, we haven't yet seen the new Star Trek movie. I'm secretly wondering if it's because it's one of the odd (or is it even?) numbered movies that supposedly always turn out to be duds.

So, is it weird that I read this quote: "It’s almost everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,†in Derek Zoolander's voice? :huh: "We only want ridiculously good-looking people shopping here. Not people who can't dress good." Where's the Blue Steel smilie when you need it...

"7 Days in September" is a good one. It's currently on Netflix Streaming. As I recall (it's been a while since I've watched it), it was done through the perspective of several amateur filmmakers who filmed different parts of that day in New York (it doesn't so much cover what happened in Pennsylvania or Washington). Not sure what your threshold for how much is too frightening -you may want to see it ahead of your kids (of course). If you're going for what it felt like to be an American that day, that should be a good choice, as it's done through the perspective of average New Yorkers experiencing it. **edited to add: there is some foul language (expletives mainly) in this. Just a heads-up for viewing with children. I'd forgotten about that.** "Rebirth" is also an interesting one --following nine people in the years following 9/11 and how they worked through the grief and shock of what happened. It's on Netflix Streaming as well. If you're looking for more of a straight-up documentary, I'd recommend "102 Minutes that Changed America." That film covers a timeline of events and more detail on what happened and how it happened. It's not on Netflix, but it was a History Channel production and might be on YouTube or available through the library. Hope that helps.

I'm on my second Mirena --two days of cramping both times, manageable with a couple ibuprofen every 4 hours. I had a lot more spotting after this insertion. First time, I had about 4 weeks of off/on spotting, then nothing for three months, then about 4 days of very, very light spotting every 4 weeks like clockwork. This time around, I had three months of off/on spotting, then two weeks of nothing, a three week "period" of spotting, two weeks off, and that was my pattern until about 10 months post-insertion. It was a pain, but considering my alternative is/was a tubal, I'll take that. Now, about 13 months post-insertion, my pattern is back to a "normal" period of five-six days of very light spotting every four weeks. I figure that'll be my pattern until I have to have this one replaced. I'm not one of the lucky (?) ones who quit having a period, apparently.

We just moved to Luverne last fall and have been trying to find the group that supposedly exists out here. I sent an email a couple weeks ago to a person whose name I got from MACHE and haven't gotten a reply (yet). We are in serious need of a support group --so much so that we're on the verge of enrolling our kids next fall because they simply desperately need some friends. I really don't want to send them, but I'm getting concerned about the kids' social health so to speak (not to mention mine :001_unsure:...). If you're still out there, HELP! (please :) ).

aHA! So I'm not the only mom with an Evil Plan :lol:... I've instituted the "you have X amount of time to complete your work, then we will move on to the next subject" plan just this week, in trying to encourage my 9 yo dd not to dawdle through her math. Whatever she doesn't finish in X amount of time gets tacked to the end of the school day, and she winds up losing her own time to get it done. It hasn't shown stellar results yet, but we're still in the "are you serious or what, mom? :001_huh:" stage, and I figure after a couple weeks of finishing the school day at 4:00 pm, she'll come around :). ...I hope :lol:. ...One related question: When do you call "dawdling" passive-agression :001_huh:? Am I being too negative to assume this? She does very well with math (understands the concepts and does accurate computation), but takes For. Ever. to finish because it doesn't come easily to her. Seems these days like anything she deems "hard" takes six times longer than necessary.

Honestly... I'd be glad he has a job at all. We've recently lived through three years living way below what we needed to live comfortably, and struggled to find the (great) job dh has now. Not that living with tight finances is fun. :( I know. But speaking from experience, a limited income is better than no income.

Johnny's Cafe (near the stockyards? I remember driving past them to get there...) was a favorite of my grandparents. I remember it more as a steakhouse than a cafe, and that's what it seems to be billed. I haven't been there since I was about ten. Caniglia's was my parents' favorite. The original restaurant has closed, but they have another location open, supposedly. Great Italian food. Bohemian Cafe was a favorite of my mom's parents. Another long-established restaurant. I really don't remember much about it, though. Last time I remember going there, it was with my great-grandma, and I was probably five. I remember getting really good chicken soup or chicken and dumplings, maybe. It might not be open any more-the link is broken, so that might be less than helpful :tongue_smilie:. edited: found reviews of Bohemian Cafe online, no info as to whether they're still open, though. No wonder mom's parents and my great grandma loved the place -great grandma immigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia when she was a girl :).

Fears? We're in year one and were thrust into homeschooling a year or three before we'd planned to (lived in a town with a fabulous school, then we moved in Oct. due to job change -eek!), so I'm still working through a lot of them. That I would never have another minute to myself. Ever. :lol: Compounded by the fact that we're in a small town where we know noone and haven't yet found reliable babysitters, should I (okay... we -the kids occasionally need a day off from me) need a day off. I'm an introvert who formerly fantasized about what life would be like with all the kids in school and I had the quiet, clean house to myself. Oh well. :) That can wait another thirteen years or so, I guess. I'm still struggling with finding a good group here, one where I can find some good activities with the kids and good grown-up fellowship. (does such a thing exist? I need a MOPS for homeschool moms :lol:...) That I would miss a critical part of what Every Smart Kid should Know and that I was going to wind up with the "homeschool dropout" kids dh had to deal with as a teacher --the homeschool kids that weren't transitioned well into school life (the parents threw up their hands and sent the kids to school b/c they didn't know what else to do...) and hadn't been doing much academically at home :001_unsure:. I admit to being a bit of a slacker parent when the kids were in school with homework :tongue_smilie:, and was afraid that tendency would get the better of me with it all being on my shoulders. ...that's actually not been too much of a problem. We're using a distance learning academy, so I have some (helpful) accountability with that. That I'm going to screw up with the legal stuff. Joined HSLDA to allay that fear a bit --but I still worry about that one, especially since we were sort of thrown into our situation --literally two and a half weeks from dh looking for a job to "We're moving!! We're homeschooling!! What now?!?" Fears I don't have -my parents are wholeheartedly supportive of us homeschooling (yay, mom and dad!), and (ironically, maybe) with dh being a teacher, I didn't really fear being a competent teacher as to knowledge -I figure myself successful if I can inspire them to be self-driven learners by the time they graduate. If I can gift them with that tool and a well-rounded mental library of basic knowledge, I figure they're set.

Only once. After that, she hits me back.:001_huh: What is this "alarm clock" thing you speak of :lol: ? I haven't needed one of those since my firstborn made her appearance. The kids all inherited dh's early riser genes :glare:.

In our situation (dh is a teacher), when a school provided moving expenses, it was expected that we get at least two (or three) estimates, submit them to the school, and the school would then inform us as to how much they would reimburse. We made the initial choice of mover (or, in our case, rental truck in one case) and payment for services, they then gave us a check to reimburse once we arrived. It was generally assumed that we would do our own packing, or if we had the packing done for us, it would be at our expense. A company's policies (as opposed to a private Christian school) may vary.

My pizza crust recipe makes two crusts -when we only need one, I prebake them both at 425 for 10 minutes, then wrap and freeze one crust for later, top and bake the second for dinner that night.

Even a lot of private schools are suffering, though, due to economy. Dh taught foreign language at a private Christian school was laid off a couple years back due to lower enrollment, even before the economy got *really* bad. ...The humor in the situation? He's working for a homeschool publisher now, and business is BOOMING :lol:. I think we got in on a good thing! :001_smile:

...Wouldn't be ATI, would it? Gothard's "Advanced Training Institute"?

Congratulations! :)

...Never thought of soy sauce/worcestershire sauce. I may have to try that this year. Mom's "secret ingredient" was always a dollop of sour cream added to cream of mushroom soup (plain 'ol canned variety), and always canned, french-cut green beans. It's never tasted right to me with regular-cut green beans.

In my universe, birthday cake has no calories, if it's YOUR birthday cake.:D Then again, in my universe, I wake up some days wondering who it was that inflated my backside while I was sleeping :tongue_smilie:...

If you've got time to do this, put on pandora.com radio, and select the '80's channel --could give you some inspiration while you multitask :). --Sad but True Story: I went to a small Christian high school (read: "secular" band t-shirts were not allowed), and took my driver education at the city's (public) central campus. A good number of the kids were wearing "Guns and Roses" t-shirts the day we all signed up. ...I thought Guns and Roses was an anti-violence movement. Not kidding. <Monty Python voice> I got better... :lol:

Very cute... Only, I wish I'd found them about a week ago :) !!! Dd's girls club at church is having an auction fundraiser tonight --a dozen of these would go quickly, I'd be willing to bet! Ah, well... Next year! :)

:) Northwest Iowa here, just north of "Dutch-ville" --just moved a month and a half ago from Wisconsin. I have parents in Des Moines (grew up there, graduated from DM Christian when it was still around 100 students), and went to college two years at Dordt in Sioux Center, so it's a little like coming home :).

(well, does a former AZ mom count :) ?) Ditto the train park suggestion. We took our son there for his first birthday and the whole family had a great time. Not terribly expensive either, if I'm recalling correctly --we were there in '96, so it was a while ago...

Another coconut oil/traditional pot popper here:001_smile:. It's really not all that slower than microwave method, actually --and much, much cheaper.

Please, for the sake of my daughter (okay, and myself :)), does anyone have some more ...entertaining ways to learn math facts --that is, more entertaining than flash cards? Or am I simply to follow the Routine of the Generations Past and ensure that my daughter will need a calculator to add numbers greater than three, live with an unbalanced checkbook, and need years of therapy to deal with a nagging mother and generalized math anxiety? :svengo: She understands the concepts, does her work accurately, and has a wonderful comprehension of how things work, but she is sooooo slow with her math. I am attempting to point out that if she simply had the facts in her head, she wouldn't have to take so long, but on the other hand, I've been remiss in working with her on this. Please tell me there's a better way than I remember when I was eight (my memories involve flashcards and a nagging mother...).