Aldi is my first grocery stop because generally things are cheaper than what I can get elsewhere. Fruit is tricky there because of how they do their business (it is usually pre-bagged and obviously ordered way ahead of the season, so sometimes not ripe). I then head to another local store for a deal on fruit (if possible) and other, more obscure items like dish gloves or tahini. I prefer grocery shopping to be pretty transactional. I make a menu and a list, I go get the stuff, I don't have to do that again for a week or two. Some of my staples are their dry beans, split peas (when they carry them), "triscuits", Graham crackers, plain yogurt, whole grain cereals, Olive oil. I try to keep it a bit boring!

I shifted my dd to women's when her period started, because I have had problems with cycle-related anemia and so it seemed prudent to give her one with some iron.

I was just reminded of the Lego Brick Shakespeare Comedies retellings. Weird, funny, faithful to the stories. ETA - but I'm remembering your ds is 7, so this is probably still a bit too wordy and obscure.

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef Breaking Cat News We love Nathan Hale and that was the best way for my dc to learn and WWI, but they can be in the graphic side (Donner Dinner Party) and conflicting (Raid of no Return - Doolittle attack on Japan) Amulet it can be a little dark, but it is very good.

I remember a Wall Street Journal columnist 20 years ago writing about how his kids had to do chores as a family responsibility, but if they needed pocket money he would pay them to go for a run. Perhaps he paid by the mile. Before kids I thought that was brilliant, after kids I still think it is a good idea, but I've never been able to put it into practice. I like the occasional, specific reward. Asking me, "is there a reward for this?" Will result in the appearance of a scary, thunderous look from me. That sounds weird. If it is their money, they get to spend it on what they want - and that should be part of your consideration up front. Don't want them running to the corner store to spend their money on baby carrot sticks? Pay then with ice cream coupons. 😊

Is he spending more than 6 hours a week on each of those 3 subjects? You know, another option beyond dropping every thing else that you think is valuable would be to drop the outside English class for spring and add that to what you cover at home. I suggest dropping English because the math class has already adjusted his workload and he is reading the science book on his free time. Sure, it would mean that first semester was more expensive than you planned, but it is you back in control of his schedule and the scope and sequence of what he learns.

To finish in a standard school year, plan to do close to 3 chapter "sections" a week. Although, finishing in a school year is totally optional! I read a section out loud and then we answered the discussion questions out loud. I would have a few of the suggested literature books on hand from the library, occasionally reading them out loud (sometimes as bedtime stories. We had a time line that we would add to after every 5th chapter, this was nice for a spaced review. We also had a lapbook that we updated every 3rd chapter. The pieces used to be available online. I cut everything out and then they assembled the books as needed. When grandma came over she would look through it with them as they opened all the flaps or showed her all the pieces. I wouldn't have done it from scratch, but with the template it was easy. Some of those parts could be helpful if you need to differentiate a bit with your two students. Mostly I tried to make history a "fun" subject.

Definitely just get started. You may find that your people want to go deeper in certain areas - ancient Egypt or ancient Rome, for example. Or you might insert a year is American history later. Or you might finish and then focus on us history and government Or the history of fashion, or warfare.... Do what feels right for now, and then when you have to make the next decision we will all be here!

LOL I know the feeling! I just bought a men's shirt pattern and I'm reading through it trying to visualize the whole process. Eek.

Hospitals are generally not compatible with good rest in the best of scenarios! Sorry to hear you are needful of a visit

No doubt. I got so frustrated with the silly pediatric thermometers that I eventually threw them all out. The pediatrician's office could just set up a scanner like this next to the weight and height measurement station... Heat-display technology is old news isn't it? I'm just surprised at the apparent sensitivity of it. And for no good reason, since I was around when gps went from +/-3m error to essentially none.

I was wondering this also. In our house I only buy 100% ww bread and I switched out the floor in my canister from all-purpose flour to whole wheat. Don't forget that popcorn is whole grain!

I follow those stories with a fatalistic view. For some reason the apocalyptic center of my brain (whichever part that is) is convinced that it will be a virus that some day does a reset of the human population. I was a little surprised to see that "the man" has temperature scanners sensitive enough to pick up fever in pedestrians. I think Atlanta vs Sea-Tac monitoring is because Atlanta is the main Delta hub, while Sea-Tac is the hub for Alaskan. I wonder what path the US patient zero followed to get to Seattle.

We were able to discuss what guidelines seemed reasonable. We discussed sleep hygiene, school distraction, and addiction hallmarks. In the end my dc and I agreed to allowing phone use between 3 and 8 pm once school work and chores are done on three weekdays. On the weekends they are available after noon. At night they get charged outside of their bedrooms. This is all handled fairly casually, so may not fit your request, but two years in it has been very effective and applies well to other electronics also. When issues have arisen it is nice to be able to go back to the mutually agreed guidelines.

We have a Terry Pratchett book going as our read-aloud (The Wintersmith) and some of the names he chooses really make us giggle, Miss Tick (mystic) is one of the witches and the pictsies are hilarious - Wee Billy Bigchin, Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock-Jock, or Rob Anybody. Mr. Pratchett strikes me as someone who devoted a fair amount of attention to language.

We listened to the series last fall. I prefer audiobooks for these rather than reading aloud, because I drive myself batty trying to do 13 different dwarf voices and I drive my audience batty when I can't stop trying to sing all the songs. However! My educational background must be similar to @dicentra's (computer doesn't feel like tagging today...) because I find myself following her response pattern. Just yesterday I was introduced to a list of stages called "the hero's journey" and thought, "golly, you can wrap a pattern around these things?" I am learning a lot as I teach my children, although I think I could teach them more effectively if I already knew everything. Your notes on the Hobbit are educational for me. Sorry I can't engage in the dialog - Yet!

I've been doing this with Italian too. If you have time (and funds) you might like News In Slow Italian. I used to listen to the Spanish version when it was free. One of these days you will find some random opportunity to start speaking it. Surely! I had studied Spanish in high school and the grammar rules are super-duper similar, so when I had the opportunity to travel to Italy, after a year of Duolingo, I was able to transition into speaking fairly smoothly.

What gets me is that she took the time to have the child swabbed and diagnosed, so there was no room for, "maybe this is a cold or food-poisoning" Obviously she clearly knew exactly what it was.

Our library has a copy of Seriously Good Freezer Meals, which I have had some success with.

Our standby freezer meals are: lasagna (spinach-mushroom), tamale pie (vegetarian), chicken pot pie (mine doesn't use a bottom crust and has frozen, shredded potatoes added which thicken it nicely), and a few sips and bread to serve with. Another thing I've been experimenting with is frozen burritos. My dc favor chicken for the filing, I add rice, beans, shredded cheese, and a tomatillo salsa. I wrap them in foil to freeze. To eat, unwrap and microwave a minute or two, flip over and microwave another minute, then let it stands for 2 minutes.

Oh dear, I hope everyone is on the mend and your dad made it through unscathed!

For variety my family likes this pesto salmon recipe.

Last week I was picking up younger DD from class. She is too young for a phone, but she knows the routine. I say outside double-parked forEVER watching her through the big window watching her stand turned away watching another class. Argh! Eventually I drove around, found a parking place, and went in to get her. It was evening, so at least I was dressed.

She auditioned for Nashville and Louisville. She has been accepted to Nashville previously, but this year I think she will actually go somewhere. She is thinking about trying out for either Boston or Cincinnati. She dances 20 hours a week, but doesn't see dance as her career. I'm not sure what her likelihood is of getting accepted to the SIs, but the tryout classes sound intriguing. YAGP is an interesting experience. Dancing solo in a big theater, and seeing so many other dancers and the range of skills is all educational. They picked her variation in August and she has been rehearsing once or twice a week since then. The dedication to a single, specific task over a long time period is a useful experience. BUT, it is expensive, most pieces are between 1 and 2 minutes of performance time (so high cost per hour!), and it means a bit more dancing during the week. I counseled against a second year, but she thought she could do better now that she knows how it works. Eventually I agreed, after explaining that she needed to stay on top of school work so that I wouldn't regret a second year. I should say that the cost of YAGP includes a master class on Saturday after the contest, so there is that.