we have 2 sandisk sansa fuzes. they're really good. I would highly recommend them and they are a lot cheaper than ipods.

I've done a few tiny bits but just waiting until pay day to get stuck in. I am making my dd's present so I need to get all the things I need for that and then actually do it. I am definitely trying to keep the costs down this year. It doesn't really feel like Christmas buying time yet though, maybe it will when it hits December.

caroline-it wasn't some variation on scotch eggs was it? sounds scotch eggy. I've seen a variation that seemed to be like a bread roll with an egg in it but the egg was obviously broken into the roll then cooked.

That sounds way to much to spend on a website. I just did one for our group and we just pay for the hosting. Websites are so easy to do on the cheap and many teenagers are as good as paid professionals at writing them, there must be one in your community or a parent who could do it. Alternatively the online site builders are getting better and usually really cheap or free.

We have about 12 inches at the moment. Its all been re done over the last year as there were a ton of offers on last winter for insulation so we got the thickest around. Its just been finished these last few weeks with our loft boards going down. We also have cavity wall insulation that is filled and got new double glazing on most of our windows 5 yrs ago which made a huge difference. The house tends to stay at a fairly constant temperature and we can turn our heating on much later in the year and off earlier. We have got a couple of really old double glazed windows that need replacing soon though.

Second Language Lessons makes sense.

Our is not mandatory as such but they halved the non recycllable collections and doubled the recycling collections so its expected that you recycle. We usually have about 1 bin bag of non recyclable waste but our recycling changed a couple of weeks ago and they now take a lot more so I think that will reduce more as they now take most packaging. We get non recyclable waste collected every 2 weeks and recycling every week. They will also collect food waste and make electricity out of it. You do get warnings if you put bad things in the recycling like disposable nappies and you can get fined. The quantity of recycling they will take is unlimited and they also pick up garden waste/card so they get what we don't compost. I am very pro recycling so happy to do it but I have a friend who doesn't bother because she thinks its too much hassle to sort her waste.

A Naturopath would be a good place to start since they use multiple disciplines.

I don't have any experience of schools in lagos but if you like Well trained mind then you probably wont find the British national curriculum will suit your needs.

I have iron deficiency but everything else seems normal just low iron stores. I felt dreadful until I started taking iron about 5 weeks ago. It took about a week for me to feel noticeably better and less tired. My serum ferritin was 5. I don't know why I am so iron deficient. I am continuing to see a doctor and had a host of tests last month. I also have low blow blood pressure and tend to have a fast pulse.

I personally wouldn't get a birth to potty/one size type nappy if she is already 13 months. Loads of kids grow out of them by the time they are 18months/2 yrs so you've already missed a big chunk of their use. I think the only plus point would be if you were going to use them on a subsequent child but I think there are better fitting options in sized diapers if you are starting from 13months. Pocket diapers are great for toddlers. You could maybe try Fuzzi bunz and get a Medium or a Large depending on how big she is or I really like Green Acre designs pockets.

My son has reflex anoxic seizures on a regular basis and I know that there are a few kids who have these triggered by eating. They can be triggered by hurting yourself or touching strange textures or getting upset. Some kids have one and it never happens again some kids have lots like my son who has had roughly a 100 seizures/blackouts. The stars website is useful. Its a support group with case studies http://www.stars.org.uk/patient-info/conditions/ras there is a US website too but its not as well laid out and doesn't cover RAS as much http://www.stars-us.org/ My son has a mixture of blackouts and tonic clonic seizures. Its often mis diagnosed as epilepsy.

My close friend suffers from these (same person as I just posted about on canker sore thread). She follows a low arginine high lysine diet. Taking lysine tablets and trying not to get run down.She's been doing this for the last yr and has gone from 1 or 2 cold sores a month to having had about 2 or 3 in the last year. The 2 or 3 have happened after she has slipped from her diet or got extremely stressed. Another thing that works well when she gets them is St johns wort oil dabbed on as soon as you feel it coming, (works really well on shingles too). I read something recently that said that taking magnesium/using a magnesium (chloride I think) spray oil can help too.

A friend of mine is having the same problem at the moment. A naturopathic medecine book I have says It can be B vitamin deficiency.

Its really normal to do bring and share parties round here. We go to several a year. They are mostly just general get togethers rather than specific celebrations, but I wouldn't think of it as being wierd or tacky if its was for a birthday or a family celebration. Lots of bring and share bbqs too, where the host provides charcoal and bread rolls and some drinks and then every one brings whatever they want cooked plus salads/puddings to share. I think I would still take food to a party even if I wasn't asked though, maybe a sweet or treat or juice. I did a fully catered party for my son though because there were so many people coming and I am a feeder, I love cooking, but friends still bought extras and we had a huge feast. Some people travelled a long way so they need a decent meal not just cake. Its just nice to think that your family is part of a larger community and that your celebration is their celebration that they actually care about. It also helps solve the problem of people on unusual diets, kids with allergies, children who are really faddy with food etc.. you know that they'll all have something to eat. Though i try to accommodate them in whatever I make it gets hard when their needs conflict. We don't do expensive gifts round here at all though, ever really. I remember a few years ago some friends of friends invited everyone they knew even distantly to their wedding and asked on the invite for presents of money from all the guests - the wording was quite rude. They weren't providing a reception I don't think so that felt really awkward too as we barely knew them and it felt like they were just inviting people for the gifts. But maybe that was normal for their community.

My daughter had almost violet (i guess they were very dark blue) eyes when she was born. They changed when she was a toddler to light blue and when she was 5 they went green. At the moment they are a pale greeny/grey around the outside with towards stronger green in the centre. I haven't a clue what colour they will end up. I have green eyes (and red hair & pale freckly skin) and her dad has bright blue eyes (and a Mediterranean olive complexion and black hair).

London is soooo expensive to stay in. My recommendations are generator hostel - bloomsbury. I have stayed there a few times. Its clean and modern, well staffed and breakfast is included. They do 6 bed private dorms. Its not far from the british museum and russell square tube. or youth hostel associaton - though they are getting more pricey but over the last couple have years have changed a lot to be really geared up for families. I just had a look and the YHAs in london pancras and london central and london st pauls have 6 bed family rooms from £74 to £100 a night in november. Thats very cheap. I have stayed in B&Bs for less but they are generally horribly seedy and I wouldn't want to take kids.

They are fab. Series 2 has just finished a few weeks ago. We bought series 1 from amazon uk. My daughter likes the song best.I think my favourite is . oh and and

my kids have bedtime stories 2 or 3 times a week and audio books the rest of the time. I read to them so much during the day that I can't see straight at bedtime and am just too tired. My dd gets annoyed when I can't stay awake and the story stops making sense. We do most of our fiction reading first thing in the morning before breakfast and in the afternoons.

The whole lateness and no show mentality of so many home ed families has pretty much killed our local support group. We used to hire a hall once a fortnight and split the cost between us. It got to the point about this time last year where we had about 10-15 families saying they were going to come and probably only about 4 families turned up time and time again. We can't afford that hall any more. People always say they want to have a group to go to but don't actually feel like they have to put any effort in. I've also done a lot of field trip organising where people either turn up 2 hrs late or not at all and I just end up feeling really embarrassed. I do now know who the reliable people are and who will inevitably not turn up. These days the reliable group just tend to communicate amongst our selves and plan stuff together rather than planning open trips. There are some families who just seem to float through life with no respect for the people who organise the things they don't turn up to.

I was educated in England in a state primary and secondary school. The amount of history we did in school was pretty minimal. At primary school we mostly did history that related to our local history. So Normans (lots of local Norman castles), Elizabethans & Sir Francis Drake (He was born in the town we live in, his house is a few miles away, plus we are close to Plymouth.), a little about the local Benedictine monastry and the odd bit about WW2. We did a bit of history at secondary school but I can't remember what was covered at all. If you chose to do History GCSE or A Level you obviously did a lot more. I did neither so only did history for 2 yrs from 11-13 approx. My sister did continue history and studied WW2 in depth. It was definitely not taught in a chronological way or any way that allowed us to get the bigger picture. Just topics here and there. I know that is the same now in the primary school I went to as my mum still works there. Most of my knowledge of history prior to starting history with my daughter was picked up from TV (Time Team and other documentaries and period dramas) and from visiting castles and stately homes and talking with my parents. I a picked up lot more as an adult than I did as a child. There is a lot of history all around us where we live.

My dd doesn't tolerate most sun screens well, I think its the aloe vera that is in them but could be something else. There are so many ingredients. She gets a fine red raised rash or looks like she has been scalded every where the sun block has touched and it takes about a week to go away and is very sore. The only two i have found she tolerates well are the Lavera neutral ones and a brand called soleo organics.

Thanks for the replies. I think i will stop trying to analyse it all so much. I'll try some of the other iron suggestions. Was worried about the iron Ok so I am anaemic. I think that maybe was what was confusing me a bit as all the advice sheets were for anaemia and dr had told me I wasn't. Any way... in the long run I don't want to be taking tablets but I eat really well so not sure where I'm missing sources of iron but I'll add in the molasses etc... Thanks everyone:001_smile:

After feeling very tired with loads of different symptoms for ages (a good few years) i have been told I have iron deficiency my serum ferritin was 5 but haemoglobin was fine so not anaemic. I've been prescribed ferrous sulphate. 3 x 200mg tablets a day. I was wondering though how I can maximise the absorption of the iron so I feel better more quickly and minimise the side effects of the tablets. I looked through some old threads about iron deficiency and it appeared that there is just so much food that stops iron being absorbed as well as it could. What can I eat if i'm having tablets 3 times a day. I was told to take the tablets with food but maybe it would be better to take them between meals? I'm confused.

I would be inclined to keep hold of the Toyota you have or buy a replacement Toyota if you like newer cars. Mainly because I have friends with old Toyotas (1992-1994ish age range) that are still going strong and need minimal amounts spent on them and friends with new Kia Sedonas that didn't last long/became far too expensive to maintain really quickly. Toyotas seem pretty reliable. I am thinking of buying an old Estima (Like a Previa) and looked into a sedona as an alternative but they just don't seem worth it.