Looks like your nitrate question was answered. :) Just another one of those preservatives that we avoid. I buy Hormel. It's about $2.50 a package here. Just enough for lunch sandwiches for the week. Sometimes I use the sale flyers. Aldi generally has good prices regardless and I don't really buy much there (too many packaged items... ;)). The other two stores don't run sales like the main grocery stores do. And when those stores do, their sale prices are the same as Target or WalMart's regular prices. Every once in a while there is one store that has great sale prices. In that case I will plan a trip there since it's not close to where we live. Not really. I'll have muffins planned for, let's say Wednesday morning, so I make them Tuesday night (or make the batter and put it in the fridge so they are served warm in the morning). I also always make a double batch and freeze half of it. So maybe the next week or two weeks out I can plan them again for breakfast then just set them out the night before. I don't set a day aside to cook anything ahead for the week if that's what you are asking. I avoid freezing foods as much as possible. I do NOT like reheated foods (which is one reason we never do leftovers). The fresher the better. Even though I will make a double batch of muffins to make an easy breakfast, they just aren't the same as fresh. If I make muffins, they take maybe 30 minutes to bake. Scrambled eggs maybe 10 minutes. On toast/yogurt or cereal mornings I can sleep in b/c the kids can get it themselves. lol The baked french toast I made this week (and will never make again...YUCK!) took an hour to bake, so even though it was something prepared the night before, I had to get up earlier to preheat the oven and bake. Oh gosh....believe me, if I could spend more, I would. Doing it on $150/week is hard and I don't shop like I would really want to.

Just b/c I didn't mention it doesn't mean they don't help. ;) I was just addressing the OP's question about menu planning, staying in budget, etc. I do believe it is part of my calling as a wife/mother...to provide and take care of the shopping, cooking, cleaning. However, it is just as important to teach my children those skills. They help plan meals (there's a spot on my meal chart that says "Next week I would like to have...." and they can write in things as they think of them but I also have them help think of things when I'm making my grocery list), they help prepare meals, one of the chores is cleaning the kitchen, etc. And my dh has things he prepares (he's the pancake guy in our house too! lol) sometimes. On nights when I have to teach or might be away at a birth, they are all perfectly capable of preparing a meal without me.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but here is what I do. I get groceries on Sunday afternoon so on Saturday or before I go on Sunday I make the weekly menu. I meal plan for breakfast and dinner. I don't plan lunch, just have the usual stuff (pbj, nitrate-free lunch meat, crackers, fruit, veggies, yogurt, etc.) on-hand. This week we had: Monday: Grilled Chicken, corn on the cob (I had a frozen fruit salad planned but then realized my pan for that is packed away...we'll be moving in a week or two or three...) Tuesday: Tortellini Salad Wednesday: Sub Sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit Thursday: Tomatoes/Rice (tomatoes, whole grain rice, sour cream, salsa), strawberries Friday: Taco Salad Breakfasts this week were: Toast/yogurt, cereal, baked french toast, and muffins (from scratch, using up old bananas) I make my menu and then make my shopping list off of that. The menu is posted on the fridge. I made a little chart in Excel and put it in a page protector. That way I can write on it in wipe-off marker each Sunday. It also eliminates answering, "What are we having for dinner????" about 35 times a day. I typically shop at Aldi, Target, and WalMart. They are all within a mile of each other. On my shopping list I just note what I'm buying at which store (i.e. the animal crackers my son likes are only sold at WalMart). You will not find many things that are prepackaged in my kitchen. If I do buy it prepackaged (things like crackers, bread....someday I'll get to the point where these things are from-scratch), I am VERY picky. We have eliminated food colorings, HFCS, and preservatives from our diet. I make as much as I can from scratch and use fresh foods. My budget is $300 for two weeks. That includes groceries, pet food (two cats and one dog), and house needs (toilet paper, etc). With the menu planned and posted, I can look ahead to see what I'll be preparing. If something needs to come out of the freezer for the next day, I get it out. If I need to prepare something ahead of time, I do. If I need to get up earlier to do more breakfast prep, I do.

When you are in a position of need, after a while you begin to feel guilty for ALWAYS having to receive and not being able to give back and/or repay. Yes, the gesture is appreciated but the guilt is also there. Wanting to do something for someone in return and not being able to (i.e. when your main prayer is that you'll have enough money to buy groceries for your family that week), really really sucks. Sure, there are things you can do that don't involve money or passing on items. But when that's what people are doing for you it's hard not to want to return the gesture in a similar way. I LOVE to give as well. Being in the position to only receive is a blessing but also is very hard. It's not always something personal against the giver.

Why is the island SO special? How do its special powers work? Why is Widmore SO interested in it? Why do they keep the connection going with the Losties? Even in the alternate reality they are connected to one another in some way.

At first I thought Sam but I'm not sure now. How would he know? Plus, I don't recall him being the exact same age..? I think perhaps they have left that open in order to introduce a new character. Oh yes.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Desperate_Housewives_characters#Paul_Young So he could have it out for Mike....but Mike is gone for now. So this opens it up for Susan and Mike to move back and for Paul to get his revenge. ?

That was the stupidest season finale they have ever had. :thumbdown: The whole Lynette storyline was absurd. It's Bree's son, Andrew. They made SUCH a big deal about Bree's life in the season finale. Starting this series she was the perfect housewife. She then became very successful in her business. But things have changed in that she's lost one dh and in the SF, she has lost another....over Andrew (the whole "..you put ME in jail but you didn't turn in your son." comment). Her business is gone basically b/c she took a portion of it out of Andrew's hands and to keep safe from blackmail against her Andrew, she has lost her business. Now...because she's trying to have a clean slate and realizes the damage she's done, she is going to confess Andrew's crime to Gabby. She thinks she is going into this trying to protect Andrew, her son, but....is he really her son?????? Sooo...everything she's been through in some way revolves around Andrew. All the ways she has been ruined (with the exception of her first dh's death) is the result of something Andrew has been involved in. Now she has nothing. And when the season starts again, she's going to find out that he's not her biological son. That's my theory. ;) What were the circumstances in him leaving Wisteria Lane in the first place? It's been so long ago that I don't remember.

Glee or Spry

Bible - Finishing The Shepherd Trilogy Latin - Prima Latina Poetry - Music of the Hemispheres History - TOG Year 1 Science - CKE Earth & Space Math - R&S 3 (she's 1/2 way done with this book now) LA - CLE LA Handwriting - Copywork Reading - CLE Reading 200 Piano lessons I think that's everything. :)

And OMGosh!! I'm in love. I've skimmed through it to see what it will look like planning it out for next year. Just in my skimming I have learned things about poetry I didn't know. :thumbup:

Yes, absolutely. All of my children will learn to play and read music. I play piano and violin so I will be teaching them (as soon as we move and I can get my piano tuned!!).

Ah, I went back and reread it. Makes sense now. Ditto knowing your baseline. How high is that bottom number from what it normally is? Was the systolic also high? Did you have any additional stress going on that day? Were you well hydrated? What did your UA look like? All of this should have been taken into consideration before jumping straight for induction. Recommending induction based on ONE reading alone seems off to me. Even with ten days until your EDD more monitoring can be done, dietary changes (such as ones suggested here), etc. Hey cilla - Great posts! Are you a midwife by chance? I am but taking a hiatus from midwifery for the time being. :)

Thanks!! Very helpful!! Tina I like your suggestion of taking 3 weeks. We may have to do something like that since we do a 4-day bookwork week. I'll definitely take a look at your blog! Thanks for the link. Thanks Heather! Helpful as well since we do 4-day weeks. :)

I'm confused.... He said a bp of 90/? was high?? What is your baseline?

Absolutely! All of my children have seen videos of natural births.

I've searched the WTM boards and looked over TOG's website. I'm sure it's there somewhere but I'm just not finding it. How many days during the week is needed for TOG? How much time do you spend each day? If it helps, I'll be schooling four (K, 3rd, 5th, and 7th). Thanks!

Yes, we are using CLE for Math, Reading, and LA. The exception is that my 10yo likes R&S Math so she hasn't switched with that subject. Someone has suggested Saxon but I'm not sure my dh will go for it. He used it in high school and H.A.T.E.D. it. He's always said that our kids will never use it. LOL! We already do somewhat. ;) I take into consideration how she is doing on the tests and then go through each lesson and circle the problem #s she is to do. Since they have so much review, she's not doing every single problem. Sometimes we hit a lesson that we can skip altogether.

By upper level I mean where they switch to doing English and Literature at 9th grade. So with that into consideration, taking CLE Lit out of the picture, one could do English I in 9th and English II in 10th. I'm not really sold on using CLE Math all the way through. That's one I put down to just guide us through. I've looked in to Teaching Textbooks some. Most of my IRL homeschooling friends use it but I've read some not so great reviews here. I'll cross that bridge when we get there. I think my main confusion is the LA and Writing. Want to be thorough but not go overboard.

I hope it's ok that I post here. As we prepare for 7th grade with my oldest dd, I'm trying to get an idea of where we are going from here until graduation with the core subjects. My. Head. Is. Spinning. I know things may change, that I may find different curriculums that work better for her. But for now I just need to have a guide to know what we'll be doing. 7th LA & Reading: CLE 700 Vocabulary: Caesar's English I Writing: ? Math: CLE 600 8th LA & Reading: CLE 800 Vocab.: Caesar's English II Writing: Essay Voyage Math: CLE 700 9th LA: CLE English I and Literature I Vocab.: Within the Word I Writing: Academic Writing I Math: CLE 800 & 900 (Algebra I) 10th LA: CLE English I and Literature I Vocab: Within the Word II Writing: Academic Writing II Math: CLE 900 & Geometry 11th LA: CLE English II Vocab: Within the Word III Writing: Academic Writing III Math: CLE Algebra II OR take a community college class 12th CLE Lit. II Research Paper Math: CLE Functions & Trig OR take a community college class Math: CLE Algebra II My :confused: is that I don't know if I'm happy with CLE's upper level English and Literature. Has anyone used these? Yay? Nay? Should I be looking for something that will cover American Lit., World Lit., English Lit., etc? Am I missing something?? help???

Hmm...now I have a bit of a spoiler just from reading the thread title. Haven't seen the previews or the show yet so I didn't know that's what would be uncovered this week. Maybe the thread titles could just be the show title and date????

Only two of my dd's have their's pierced. My oldest has no interest in doing it. One had it done on her 9th birthday. The other had it done for her 7th birthday.

Will be praying for this dear family. A couple in our church lost their son this Fall. At the funeral I saw a really special idea. They had a calendar book set up along with post-its (or index cards...can't remember which) and pens. There was a sign there instructing people what to do. You were to pick a day, a week, several weeks, etc. throughout the year. That was your week to do something special for the family. It could be anything from taking a meal, sending a card, calling, etc. Just do something to remember the family and support them.

Use it. Love it! I've also seen it work in helping a newborn who needed a bit of mild resuscitation (as in just some blow-by and vigorous stimulation) after birth. Didn't see much response and immediately after giving RR, baby began crying and pinking up.

Dh and I loved it. Looking forward to the sequel. :)

I just adore the response from a friend of mine.... "So, if the current inhabitants of Guam all left...does that mean Guam would float up into the sky and crash into the moon?"