I want a 10' surfboard...and a new Kitchenaid (the biggest one).:tongue_smilie: Both are hundreds of dollars. :blink::ohmy::blush: I think I'm getting a rain jacket instead. :hurray: Actually, I'm thrilled with that too because we'll be taking a big hiking trip shortly after Christmas.

You guys are my heroes! :thumbup: You have unstuck my frozen brain! I love the idea of cool flashlights (maybe even those headlamps for night crabbing). School1777- we're in Hawaii which makes me happy to not need hand warmers, but sad because don't have Chick-Fil-A (thanks for rubbing it in). :lol: Thank you so very, very much! I just read the ideas to the activity coordinator (15yo son) and he thinks it sounds great! ~Jo

You know, I thought about giving a price range, but I decided against it. It isn't that I'm made of money, but this is my one formal dinner party that I give every year and I am willing to spend a little more for the gifts. I'm not willing to have anything engraved...how's that for a limit. :lol: We don't do children's birthday parties and this event is something my kids look forward to every year. It is very white linen, china, crystal, and silver. Even the kids' tables have linens and glass (you'd be amazed at how mannerly 17 kids become when sitting at a nicely set table). After the dinner, however, the kids do crafts and activities on the lanai and generally make themselves scarce so the adults can sit and laugh...and laugh...and laugh. They are a great group. :D

We will have 17 kids over for Thanksgiving and my older children have several activities planned to keep them occupied while the adults linger around the table. They are going to do a Turkey Shoot, Pet Rocks, treasure hunt, and a few other activities and they asked me to get "PRIZES." The ages are generally 7 to 12 with a few outliers.:tongue_smilie: I would prefer not to order from Oriental Trading Company for this particular event (shipping). Thanks for your help. I hate to run around to stores without a clear idea of what I'm looking for. ~Jo

I'm sorry, Penny.

Yes. True and right. ((Jen))

Thanks. I thought about that, but with all the ages I'm thinking I'll need something a little more interactive. There will be plenty-o-boys, and if it isn't interesting they'll reach for the nerf-guns, which I'm trying to discourage on Thanksgiving (we have crazy neighbors that call security if we are too loud :glare:). The guessing jar is a fantastic idea! It is on the Plan of the Day. ~Jo

We will have 17-20 kids for thanksgiving this year. The kids will have a separate eating area on our lanai while the adults sit down for a formal dinner. Every year I put together an activity for the kids to work on after dinner to buy us some time before putting on a movie (I like a long lingering dinner). I have done popsicle stick frames, poetry painting on our plastic fence (huge hit), and last year they could paint or bejewel raw wood photo frames that I bought in bulk. Any great ideas for this year? I'll have ages 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15- with some multiples in there to add up to 17 kids for sure. It is a great group of older kids who will do a great job working with the younger, so that isn't a problem. I'm just fishing for ideas. Mahalo! ~Jo

:iagree: TOGing here too. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I want to say, "isn't there a movie?"

Did you decide on credits? We did First Form last year with my 6th and 9th grader. Although we took the entire year to complete it, I'm giving .5 credits. I hope to finish the 4 forms before my oldest graduates. New question for you Luann- are you using Latin as your foreign language requirement? I was going to have my oldest take two years of a modern language to have his bases covered. He doesn't know where he wants to go to University yet. ~Jo Btw- I see you love the Worldview Academy's Great Books course. My oldest went to their camp over the summer (from Hawaii to the mainland!) and loved it. He's already saving money to go again next year. :)

The size is the limiting factor. And in this case, I'm sending super lightweight stuff so it would be silly to go with flat rate. I've tried to use a couple of configurations of post office-issue boxes, but I would need to ship 2 boxes and it would be ridiculously expensive for 3#s of stuff. :glare: My question, just to clarify, is: can we no longer print our own postage at home for non post-office issue boxes? And I should explain that I avoid entering the post-office whenever humanly possible. Our local offices are insanely busy from open to close.

Btw- I'm trying to ship Priority, but not flat rate.

I just want to mail a 3# box of wicker purses to my step-MIL. I want to reuse a box I just received. I can't find an option online to print postage for just a regular ol' box! They seem to be indicating I must use an official priority mail box or flat rate box. Am I missing something? :confused: Thanks. ~Jo PS- I send oodles of boxes every year at Christmas and I always just print out a barcoded paper and tape it on my recycled brown boxes. This seems like a new format since late last year.

Wahoooo! Yay, Ree. Those who know her from the old boards know where she started from. Those were the days when she would tell me to get off the boards and do my laundry because "my kids need clean underwear." She was always fun. I've got nothing but respect for all that she has done. Message to Ree: Go do your thing! I hope you make a million dollars! Because I know you'll be generous to those in need and you'll hire people who will be blessed to work with you and your family. Much aloha, ~Jo

:D :hurray: I've missed you and I've thought of your family often. - Jo Oops. I forgot the reading question in my excitement. Reading: The History of the Ancient World with a chaser of Agatha Christie's Black Coffee.

Thanks, Audrey.

Friend is asking for website to print a North America black line map. I use a cd-rom for my maps, so I don't know. I asked on the general board. Oops. Please help. Thanks. Jo

For Ip Man Red Cliff? Exciting either way.

A friend is asking. I have a blackline cd-rom. She would like a free website. Thanks. Jo

I buy white cloth napkins from restaurant supply websites. Always white, so I can bleach them. Having said that, I don't think disposable napkins are a budget buster. Jo

We watched Ip Man over the weekend and I thought, in a completely fictional manner, it gives a feel for the oppresive nature of Japanese occupation. It is typical Martial Arts violence, with blood and broken bones, so it would only be appropriate for older children, if at all. My 6th and 9th grade boys are watching, but they do TKD and are completely unaffected by the violence. It also has subtitles, but if you know anything about this genre it can be hit or miss in quality. This movie is high quality. It is based on the real life teacher of Bruce Lee. Again, this isn't a widespread recommendation- you have to know your kids. There is no s*x, but some cussing, and of course people get killed...a lot. Is that enough of a warning? :D Jo (whose limited reputation on this board has now been sullied) :tongue_smilie: ps- My other favorite historical martial arts movie is Red Cliff. It is based in the fuedal fighting 11th century in China. Same warnings, but I think there is also a s*x scene with no nudity that we skip over.

Agreed. And I would like to add that my 9th grader, doing all rhetoric level in Year 4, is just now during week 24 totally comfortable with the accountability questions and other assignments. I think 9th grade is a really developmental year. In some ways it is as exciting as watching the light bulbs go off in the early years. I worried a lot in the early weeks that he wasn't able to handle the work, but he has become comfortable and has excelled at this point in the year- writing persuasive essays to verify that his understanding of the material is solid. Don't worry, nurture, work alongside, talk/discuss, write, and don't worry about those pesky credits. Jo

:hurray: It's not just me. I still like Barb's answer. :D I think there is a lot of room for debate :boxing_smiley::cheers2:, which is why we should take public debate about the "middle class" with a grain of salt. Thanks to everyone for your input. Jo

But you are giving the governmental definition. It is broader. There are some vets collecting pension checks down in Kakaako park living in tents with cell phones. Their pension payouts may actually put them in the lower middle class quintile, but they are not what I would call middle class Americans. Not to mention, I'm not limiting the definition to just America. Middle class in the Dominican Republic looks very different. It looks like Barb's definition.

I like it.