I want my rising 7th grade daughter to work on a keyboarding course this summer. Mavis Beacon frustrated her "back in the day", so we're trying again with something different. Recommendations?

Um. Corrected? :confused:

For Baby Number One, some of you would probably say I was a screamer, but I'd call it moaning, or hollering, or something other than screaming. Let's put it this way, compared to the the woman across the hall, I was NOT a screamer. It became downright humorous, because she had a room full of people who kept coming and going. Each time the door opened, we could all hear her yelling and screeching, the volume swelling and falling with the opening and closing of the door. aaahhhhahhhhahhAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAh haahhhaaaagggggggggghhoooOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It served as a form of labor entertainment for the rest of us. Not because we were laughing at her, but because of the way the sounds carried in that way. For Baby Number Two, by the time my "hollering" had reached a specific crescendo, my mother said, "Jim, get that girl to the hospital, NOW!!" Little did we know I was in transition. The baby was born 45 minutes after our arrival. Woot! So, anyway. Yeah. I made noise. But, I'm not ever quite as noisy as they are in the movies. And, you know, I'm guessing that birth scenes aren't the only scenes where the hollering is exaggerated. :lol:

Woah. Lots of ground covered in such a short question. A discussion like this has a way of sending me reeling. There is so much I wish I knew, so much to understand, and so many layers and layers of history, highhandedness, and hypocrisy that I am overwhelmed before I even wade in. So, rather than stutter along in my own words, I'll mostly rely on linked articles. I would like to add, however, since this thread went off on a plastic bag vs. reusable bag bent, that the study which found so much wrong with reusable bags was sponsored by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. I would venture to bet that clothing, carpeting, and the family cat harbor as many bacteria as Mr. Sporometrics discovered in reusable bags. Nothing like throwing the baby out with the bath water! So this: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/world/europe/31iht-bags.4.9650382.html?_r=1 This: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975-4,00.html And this (including the embedded link to the full article): http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/speeches/20090306jvbtaas.asp These are just the tippy tips of the iceberg, for sure. :confused:

You're looking at planting full-on summer vegetables now. What do you love to eat? Start there. Things to consider: Cucumber (will do best if they have something to vine up on) Tomato (cherries are fun) Beans (you can grow bush beans - green or shell types - and avoid the need for trellising) Pepper (a bit of a late start, but so delicious) Squash (yellow crookneck or zuchinni) Teach your girls to weed, and don't rule out that you will like it more than you think, when it involves things that YOU'RE growing. :D

We opt not to pay for chores or to give an allowance because our kids have, generally, been fortunate enough to have ways to earn money for many years. Until two years ago, we lived on a farm and took produce to our farmers' market. I paid the girls 1/2 of what I paid my adult help if they worked with me in the gardens for at least an hour. Anything less than an hour, they got nothing. At the time, that rate was $4/hour for them. They also did pet sitting for a neighbor and occasional baby sitting or mother's helper work. We no longer live on the farm, but the oldest (14) has a job with one of the farmers at the market. She helps unload the truck (heavy work), keeps the tables stocked, and sells the products when the farmer takes a break from the stand. She gets great money for that ($60/day this year) and has to commit to only 4 hours every Saturday morning for six months. Sweet arrangement. I'm hoping that the younger one (12) will be able to move towards something like that in the near future, but she's not strong nor mature enough yet. Last summer was challenging for her since she had no consistent source of income. This year, she is babysitting (something she happens to enjoy) and, if she could pet sit more, she would. Both girls also make and sell items at an annual art/craft show right around the winter holidays. This usually brings them some money and/or they can trade their items for other artist's things. They done a variety of things, but for the past two years, the oldest girl has made mobiles with beach glass and driftwood, while the youngest has made cards using hand marbled paper. Take a look at some craft books and see if anything appeals to your kids. Then consider whether they could sell quality items at a street fair, farmers' market, or even through a local privately owned merchant. Other ideas include washing cars, weeding, shoveling snow (hard!), mucking horse stalls (also hard), or running errands for an elderly neighbor. HTH! :001_smile:

I'm a little sheepish about admitting how foggy my own memory is of the birth of my oldest, now almost 15. Suffice it to say that my dream of a natural birth did not turn out to be so. Among other procedures, I was given an episiotomy and then, due to the doctor's "help" with forceps, I tore well past that. I missed being a 4th degree tear by millimeters, and boy did recovery hurt. I don't remember using Dermaplast, but I do know I went through a carton of Tucks type pads, which I needed fore and aft. :001_huh: And, sitz baths were invaluable as was the perinal "squirt bottle" which, I think was just filled with warm water. I also found it useful to sit on a donut-type pillow or rolled and circled beach towel. I got good at tucking one leg underneath me and sitting bent kneed while leaning against the back of the chair or couch for support (does that make any sense at all??), so that I wasn't putting so much pressure right on the most tender areas. Mostly, I wanted to post here to encourage her for her next delivery, if there is one. I had a lot of scar tissue and residual pain from the birth of my first, but the second born (and last) was completely natural and tear free. Along with the fact that my body was just more relaxed and prepared the second time around, I attribute the ease of the second to perineal massage. Anyone can Google this for more information. That, and the warm compresses used by my midwife the second time around I think made all the difference. Best wishes to your sister!

Has his behavior changed since the fight? Stress will sometimes set a bird back for a time (hens may stop laying), but i'd be more concerned if he was acting very lethargic, gone off his food, or was showing signs of infection (runny droppings, etc.). The feather loss could be a result of the fight. Could also be a result of mites which like to congregate around the neck, under the wings, and around the rear end (vent). Is your guy scratching a lot or shaking his head? Mites look like dust with legs and are best visible with a flashlight at night. HTH.

I would quarantine the birds for two weeks. If you use a worming routine, it would be good to administer it during this time period. At minimum, it will give you a chance to check them for signs of ill health before merging them with your flock. Sometimes the stress of the move will bring out symptoms which were not apparent before. BTW, is your seller someone you feel is reputable? Can you be sure these birds are pullets? What about the birds' vaccination history and/or the flock's management? These are all questions I would be thinking about before buying. Good luck!

Happy Birthday - to YOU, Janna, for that delightful, little, busy bundle of love! (Do you still have castor oil in your medicine chest? ;) )

I was there, but apparently I'm now too old to remember when I started hanging around "the place". We started homeschooling in 2000. This fall, our kids entered public school. We had a great run with homeschooling, and sometimes, I still really miss it. Good to see you finally got up the nerve to post. ;)

I just got notice that a copy of this book has arrived for me through ILL today (that's a really bad acronym, isn't it? ;)). Can't wait to see what it has to say. How good it must feel to have something so exuberant to share! Yay for you!!

I asked some friends about you just t'other day...you and your dead kittens (you're famous for that, you know?). So great to see you, and good to know you're coming up from wherever it was you were. I'm not here so much myself these days. I was only in it for the rep anyhow. :lol:

Everything brehon has said is dead on - beans will vine for some time before they flower - so my hunch is that it's just too soon. Along with excessive nitrogen, drought will also sometimes contribute to poor flowering or blossom drop. If there have been no extremes in your soil or weather conditions, I'd just give them a little longer.

What a horrible story - and on Mother's Day too! I'm so sorry for all the fear and continued sadness you all must be experiencing. I'll keep your little fellow in my thoughts. I hope you can sleep tonight. The adrenaline rush must have been huge! Goodness.

I'd be curious to know what sort of frog. Some of them (tree frogs, for instance) sure can be loud! Maybe you need to plant another frog of the opposite gender somewhere away from your house! :001_smile:

Listen here.

...I haven't seen mentioned is succession planting. Start fresh squash plants a few weeks after your first planting is in the ground so that you'll have new life to put in when the older ones are gone. That plus floating row covers might just get you through. Nasty critters, those! :glare:

A friend offered me the opportunity to borrow the 30-day Shred, but after doing some reading of reviews online, I told her not to send it just now. It sounds like there is a fair amount of jumping in that video and I'm concerned about my lower back which has been "irritable" off and on for a couple years now. Do you own the video so that you could speak to that aspect of it? I just took a look at the Sparkpeople videos and I'm intrigued. I like that there are lots of options there, and that they are FREE. I noticed that many of the "bootcamp" videos are only 6-10 minutes long. I'm surprised by this and wonder if most people combine them with some other form of workout, or if they combine days. An article I read recently indicates that breaking up exercise into 10 minute intervals throughout the day isn't a bad thing at all, but ONLY 10 minutes? What am I missing?

Yes! Food grade coconut oil would be my recommendation as well. I have very coarse, dry hair. I stopped shampooing almost entirely about a year ago, and maybe six months ago began using coconut oil as a conditioner. My hair is so happy!

You know, in some places, dandelion are viewed as flowers, not weeds. It's worth trying to change your perception of them if you can't eradicate them. They are not unattractive. They are edible. I agree with Ottakee - CELEBRATE! :D

Our landfill recycles textiles. You might check with the authorities in your municipality or ask the question of neighboring cities/towns. We're a very small place, so I am impressed by the fact that we have a textile recycling option (you have to take the clothes to the landfill yourself, no drop site). Worth an ask.

I've never ordered from them, but wow! What a resource! And, yes (Nicole) - outside you must go! :D

Unfortunately, now that my kids are as old as they are (12.5 & 14.75 - heh) the phrase "do" has taken on an entirely new meaning. I don't want to hijack Alessandra's thread with trash talk, but last night I made the mistake of asking "Who did you do?" instead of "What did you do?" in front of my kids, and they could not retain their giggles. Good grief. So, go ahead and let her "do nature", because at least she's not "doing" nature. :001_rolleyes:

I had hoped for a better ending to your story, but alas.... It is hard when we lose the critters we care for. Please know that birds, not unlike other animals (cats ranking at the top of the list), are very good at disguising their illnesses. By the time we humans notice anything's amiss, it's often too late to respond. Plus, her "illness" has probably been coming on for quite some time (you said she stopped laying maybe 10 months ago, right?). Try to remember that you gave her a good life, and that you did all you knew how to do in caring for her. As I mentioned before, it's not terribly uncommon, what happened to her. Chickens are social creatures, for the most part, and are probably happiest in a flock. Would you want to consider adding two more? That way, if something happens to another one, you've always got a partner in the mix. JMHO. ((Tammy))