My friend had a Dodge Sprinter, they aren't nice to look at but they seat 10. ETA: My friend is selling hers. She's in the New England area, if anyone is interested I can PM you her contact info.

We rent a town house, and have an end unit. It is a unique layout in that the biggest bedroom has a set of stairs and a loft in it, so it is like 4 floors of living. The biggest advantage to an end unit here is that there is a window on the end, which the middle units do not have. It gets really hot up there! Another advantage is that there is less noise, as we only have one neighbor on this side and we are not near the street. If you live in an area with a lot of snow, try to think about where they are going to plow all of that snow and the possibility of children playing in front of your unit. My dear neighbors left playdough on my front steps and also like to sit there.

I'm not sure why you are so interested in what other people are teaching their children, it is their business.

I did mine for the first time this year, it was really easy. I just wrote about myself and my husband, told them I was doing the legal number of hours, provided them with a rough list of books we were using (I didn't even include the names of the authors, and I cited the books and things we were doing under headings of each subject that is required to be taught. All I have to do, per my district is to submit a narrative and some work samples one per year, at the end of the year. No testing or teacher evulations required. The district here suggested belong to HSLDA. They don't even want a list of books next year, just a letter of intent to continue and the names of the students and their grade level. PM me if you need any samples, if you end up submitting anything.

Sounds just like us! However, we're going to have to be even more thrifty when our taxes skyrocket to pay for other people to live in more comfort and do less work, while we work hard, scrape and save to get by.

My sil is town administrator (like a mayor) of a small town. She told me that they are no longer recycling paper because there is too much of it. And in most towns it is ending up in the dump or sitting in storage because no one wants to buy it. I also use those plastic grocery bags for everything.

I forgot about this. We're totally against public school too.

That was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, we're definately into being good stewards. We usually are very frugal and have little to recycle, other than cans for the bottle deposit, as we re-use almost everything.

I'm a Right-Wing Extremist of a sort, my ideal government is a Catholic republic or constitutional monarchy. I accept that I don't live in my ideal. I'm opposed to murdering babies before birth, somewhat neutral on the death penalty (St. Thomas says it is up to the state to decide), and support any kind of legislation or laws that are in harmony with Catholic morality. One of the major areas where I depart from mainline conservatives is that I do not support Israel. I eat meat but not on Fridays, only wear long skirts, submit to my husband, cover my head in church and I don't recycle unless I get a bottle deposit back. ;)

I use Seton, for fine tuning, but the rest of the practice came from copywork. We begin learning with the Kumon books too. DD has enjoyed practicing her letters on one of those write and wipe boards-- I can't remember the name of it.

We're traditional Catholics and we follow the Mary-like standards of modesty in dress. http://www.littleflowersfamilypress.com/standards.htm

I think you sound like everything is on track. This is one of those things where you can be upset but still be happy at the same time. Good is drawn out of evil. I would actually be angrier if my child had used contraception, because it is a deliberate and thoughtful act against our beliefs as Catholics. I would rather have a pregnant teen who might have fallen in the moment or due to pressure and passion than one who willfully goes against their Faith even to the point of "planning" to do it. Contraception is worse than pre-marital relations by our moral standards. I would rather live in a world of teen mothers and fathers than one saturated with the contraceptive mentality.

I don't get a choice in the matter, when the Good God says I'm done, He'll stop sending them.

The point is, that as long as Obama stands where he does on issues both political and moral, he has no right to speak to my children. To us, he is not a role model and will not be given that status in our home. I can't see how such a speech will not sway some children to have an emotional attachment to Obama, like many people who voted for him, based on the notion that he is talking to them so he cares about them. The President and the Federal Government are like big, caring fathers who are looking out for all of us. :grouphug:

I've known many traditional Catholic women who headcover all the time. My daughter and myself always cover out heads for mass and I keep our coverings handy in my purse. I have seen many of them sew their own coverings to match their outfit or even install a small snap on an existing scarf or headcovering so that it will fit better.

We won't be watching or listening. I believe the Federal Government should stay out of the education business and stay away from my children. I certainly do not belive that any politician should be using the public schools as a medium to push their agenda. If schools are going to be secular and leave out certain worldviews and religions from their buildings, they should omit the Liberal religion, values, and morals along with the traditional and Conservative counterparts that have already been cast aside or made illegal. I certainly hope parents will keep their children home from school or that the students will be given the opportunity to opt out.

I don't have a recipe but the ones that have brown rice in them seem to hold their shape really well.

We always made juice from them, using an old pillowcase.

I wish them success in their endeavors. Au revoir.

I have a Cuisinart processor and love it. I had a Black and Decker that I also liked but I could not reach the customer service department after multiple attempts to order a replacement bowl. (everything on this bowl broke). I think Kitchen Aid has awesome customer service. A part was missing from an attachment that I bought for my mixer, I called, got right through to a HUMAN, and they sent the part free of charge. I recieved the part 3 days later! If I had to do it again I would get two different bowl sizes, one for big jobs and one for small jobs. I also use my processor a lot, it gets prime real estate on the kitchen counter. I would buy a Cuisinart again, but I would also consider a Kitchen Aid. However, I probably would not buy a Black and Decker because I don't think they can handle heavy use (and my abuse).

My mother became a grandma at 38. :) I'm still working on my degree. Its all about priorities, having a family is first. I'll likely have 4 or 5 children by the time I graduate.

Heh. "Let all those pregnant women and their little troop of carbon producers walk!" I really do apprieciate those parking spaces for expectant mothers and mothers of infants. As a professional baby-maker, I find it really annoying to drag 3 or more littles into a store for two items and have to park in the next county.

:iagree: I'm a Catholic, our family is Catholic. Seeing the movie made a good impression on me. It was an excellent depiction of the Crucifixition and the agony which my God suffered for me. We don't hide the fact that Our Lord suffered (the most brutal death known to man so that we won't have to) from our children. We keep a crucifix in every room, my children know that their Jesus loves them and that they must love Him back. They know that they should feel sorrow when they look upon the Our Savior and strive to love Him more each day. I would show the Passion to any person of any age without any qualms.

in order to homeschool, what time of year do you file/submit your paperwork? This would be for the next school year.

MODG is my favorite boxed Catholic curriculum. I don't use it but I like a lot of the books used in the program. I think the pace is a little slow for us but I know that it is just right for some people.