Thank you both for the insight....I do feel that getting a great narration is like pulling teeth from dd so maybe looking at level 2 might be a good thing. We do narrations in science and history as well...maybe I will see if someone local has it so that I can look through it. Thanks again for the insight.

Hi! My daughter is going into 2nd grade and will be starting her second year of FLL, do we need a writing program like Writing with Ease? I feel like I have missed something here....thanks for the input.

You should share the news and be there for your son. It will be mentioned and at least he has had a chance to work through his feelings before being surrounded by all of his classmates. Praying for your family and those impacted...blessings!

You sound exactly like us. :) We were very upfront with our current realtor (we let loose the one of 2 years ago as she was pretty insistent on the exclusive contract thing and became a pit sour when we didn't find what we were looking for)...our current realtor knows that we are not in a hurry and if/when we find what we are looking for we will make an offer. In today's market some of the realtors are bit easier than others to deal with because they are struggling to make a sale. As for the realtor showing the house, they can show you but you don't have to sign a contract with them because they are the seller's agent and they can't be your agent as well. They will though likely want to try to pass you off to their buddy in the house because if they can keep the entire transaction inhouse it's less splitting of the commission. In the end you are the buyer, our economy is not the greatest so take your time and don't sign with anyone. If they remotely want your business they will ease up. Hope it works out!

Another Wordpress bias here...I use wordpress and find it extremely user friendly and easy to use. Support is great and if you want more bells and whistles you can pay for them but there are quite a few bells and whistles already included. :)

I respectfully disagree with most of the comments here as we went last year and my dc were at the time 3.5 and 4 and they absolutely "got it" and of course some things we could revisit and go into deeper as they grow older but they understood. The museum is very well done and can be as hands-on or as hands-off as you want your experience to be and the dinosaurs weren't scary but then again my kids love dinosaurs. My kids enjoyed themselves and still remember their visit. I think you need to decide as a family in terms of your beliefs and where you think this visit would fit into your belief system. The musuem workers are not pushy if you had concerns about being overly evangelized. It is not far from Cincy which has some other attractions. In the end, I think it is well worth a visit.

Okay, why is there no warning about drinking before opening the link, major clean up over here. :) Reminds of those CarMax commercial - there is definitely something wrong with that horse on the inside.

We really love our local library. The online access is terrific and having statewide access is an added bonus.

I don't know where your blog is hosted but for example on wordpress it depends most of the time on how long your blog posts are and how many posts you have told it to display on your front page. Somewhere in your options menu you may have the option to display full text or summary but once again it depends on the platform you are using. In the end, I hope that was somewhat helpful. ;)

Congratulations!!! The circulars can also be used for sweaters, capelets, and items like that where you will need the length but normally the needles are a larger size. Some people use circulars as regular needles so you have options. Enjoy the knitting journey and share your socks when you finish. :)

Hot tea with a cough drop in it does wonders for me! Of course hot water & salt gargle and last but not least if you have one of those baby nasal aspirators, make your own warm water and salt concoction and squirt up one nostril at a time and the nasty stuff will eventually become dislodged and start flowing out. Quite disgusting so make sure to do it over the sink. :)

Come, come, jump in the water is fine! :) Seriously, DC has some freaky weather so sometimes February is a beast and sometimes it isn't...I am 20 minutes away at the weather can change on my drive into DC. Everyone has listed some great things to tour. All of the museums surround the mall and kids really love the National History and Air & Space. Honestly, the National History can take all day as I have spent all day there. The outdoor scuplture garden is unbelievable. Just about everything mentioned as an online site with all the info for tours and maps and the like. School groups are always present but they are usually more present in the warmer months, so you should be okay. Talk to your local Representative or Senators office for some great passes to the gallery and the like at the Capitol as the lines can be very very long. Some offices have interns that do private tours. To keep your food bill reasonable you will have to walk a few blocks to where all the workers eat but you will find all the dining spots. As for lodging, of course staying in DC can be pricey but don't be afraid of the Metro. It will take you pretty much anywhere you want to go so even if you stay in VA or MD stay near the Metro so you can get around because you will not want to drive yourself nor will you want to have to look for parking. You can even catch the MARC commuter train to Baltimore to check out the Inner Harbor, Aquarium, Science Center, Holocaust Memorial and other sites if you wanted to break out of the city for a day. Enjoy your trip, it will be a blast.

Like others have said, I would start your daughter with Alpha because it is truly the start of the program and re-covers the topics of Primer just now to the point of not moving forward until they are mastered. The first chapter of Alpha deals with place value and learning of the unit, ten, hundred blocks. This is important because mathusee uses the block system. Chapter 2 deals with counting/writing the numbers 0 to 20. Chapter 3 deals with the blocks again but this time the focus is on the unit blocks and their colors and the like. Each chapter in the student workbook covers the new topic (pages A-C with D-F being new + old). My dd started in Primer last year and when she finished we moved into Alpha and we plan to start our son on Primer in September as a Pre-K math program. On a somewhat different note if you buy both sets of blocks, I have found that a fishing tackle box from Wal-Mart does a wondrous job holding them. :) Hope that helps!

Like others have said most are pretty easy to use and walk you through the basics. I use WordPress and it is really easy and offers different templates and the like. I also use Flickr to host my photos even though WordPress offers 3GB of space. When I first started, Blogger was having some issues as it switched so I went with WordPress and then I recently looked to switch to Blogger but I found it not as easy as WordPress. It is kinda like anything else wherever you start and become familiar is easier than what you don't know, kwim. :) Let us know if you finally take the blogging plunge.

Hey! Let's see where do we start, I have been married for almost 7 years and we have 3 kids - the Princess and the Prince and Malachi that is an angel watching over us. I have been home since a month before the Princess was born, can't believe it as been almost 6 years. Prior to that I worked on Capitol Hill and for a nonprofit doing public policy in Washington DC. The Princess is 5.5 and is in K and we use MUS, trying out TOG, OPGTTR, and anything else that I throw in the mix. The Prince just turned 4 and likes doing school so he is starting some penmanship items and other fun stuff, he likes reading the first level BOB books and he picks up way too much from listening in due to his being highly auditory. :) Hubby works in a good government job. :) We have recently started a home church and that has been interesting but truly a blessing. I love to do all sorts of crafts - sew, crochet, knit, jewelry and anything else that I am can get my hands on..and I love to cook. I have been doing quite a few swaps on Swap-bot and love it and I am currently wishing for spring as the cold weather is driving me crazy. Forgot to add, that I found WTM about a year ago and it helped open my eyes and think more about what type of education we wanted for our children. I found the boards about the same time and have commented periodically.

No school here during birthdays which really only amounts to one day off as hubby, dd, and I are all in July/August. :)

Our BJ's has a nice organic milk and the carton is $2.99 which is cheaper than the other organic milks in the grocery store. The only gallon jug available in our area is Horizons and it is only at one store as it doesn't sell fast enough in the other stores and it usually ranges from $5.99 up. When Organic Valley is on sale, I buy that and we do Stonyfield Farm yougurt.

Mine aren't ready for this but I like the selections you chose and as always very generous of you to offer it for free.

It doesn't have graphics and cool colors, but MUS has an online drill site and you can select what is tested - http://mathusee.com/drill.html

We're in Bowie.

We don't use Saxon but we absolutely love OPG. We ordered the complete package with the magnetic boards, cd, letters, and flash cards when dd was about 4 and now both kids love it. They ask to take the magnetic boards on road trips so that they can practice spelling words and making sentences. Very little if any prep is required unless you count separating the perforated flash cards. :) We use it as a standalone program and use other books to reinforce it. Most libraries carry it so you can check it out and see if you like the format/set-up before buying. It provides a great phonetic foundation to the point that my parents have even commented on how well our daughter is able to break down words. The fact that it is black and white, in terms of color, was key for us with our daughter as she gets distracted with other stuff being on a page. Hope that helps!