A cookbook of some sort would be appropriate for the hostess. For the grandfather, perhaps a "coffee table" book of Life magazine photos or other such compilation Woman in her early 20s could also use a cookbook, decorating book, travelogue type book or book suited to special interests she may have Can't think of any kinds of books for wedding gifts unless they are given as part of a gift and are related (ie cookbook--again!--and a kitchen-y item) or a great bottle of wine and a book about wines. A book to give the parents of a new born is tough. I mean they probably bough a book or two about raising children and/or a health type book and there are just so many good ones out there. Maybe a magazine subscription instead?? Something like Parents or Parenting of Family Fun?

My ds6 went to a Montessori Pre-K for 2 years and it was SO wonderful. I wish I had sent our older daughter there...we chose to do a Catholic Pre-K for her, which was more of a glorified day care. As you've probably realized by now it's very Charlotte Mason-y in approach, at least ours was. I'm sure you'll both be happy with it.

CT is easy peasy lemon squeezie!! We do nothing :)

We enjoy Earth Balance spread.

You do not need to purchase the hard cover. The workbook works fine as a stand alone.

I would teach the months of the year beginning in January so that when they need to figure out the 1st month, 10th month, etc. they do it correctly and easily.

I have my 6yo in Saxon 2 this year after Saxon 1 last year. Honestly, we're still skipping a bit because it's SO repetitive. They basically start with the same concepts from the middle of the previous year and re-teach. Now I know kids supposedly lose a lot over the summer, but it's a bit much IMO. My daughter is in Saxon 3 this year and she started out with similar lessons as my son! Poor girl is chomping at the bit for multiplication, which she loves, so I'm trying to skip as much as I can to make it just a quick review. It's a really slow program, but I've tried a few others and this still works best for us.

I didn't check the locales on any of the previous posters but coming from the Northeast, I was floored by the fact the majority do not have their kids use Mrs. Last Name! My group of friends all do the Mr./Mrs. To me it not only signifies respect for the adult, but it shows the child they are not on the same par with those adults. Out of my large group of friends, I had only one that told my children to call them by their first name. It rankled me a bit because I felt she was undermining my authority (truly, I'm pretty laid back and easygoing!). I don't understand the making them comfortable bit...I mean if my kids went to someone's house and they all ate with their hands, chewed with their mouths open and burped aloud, I would expect them to still use good manners, even if it made the family uncomfortable. The one exception we do have is age old dear friends that we see fairly often. The adults are Aunt First Name and Uncle First Name because Mr & Mrs just seems too formal for this specific relationship.

The new season begins on the 25th. Looking forward to it!!

I've had my Itty Bitty Book Light for years (at least 7-8 I'd say) and it's held up wonderfully. You can attach it to all kinds of surfaces besides a book, it comes with a cord so you can plug it in or run it off batteries. It's small, compact and well made. I have been super happy with it.

Extracurricular activities are something we struggle with a bit here. Last year we were involved in too much and a couple of the activities weren't even worthwhile in my opinion. Running around every day made me stressed and the kids stressed. I would definitely cut down if my kids were in public school because I really don't like evening or weekend activities and that's when ps kids have most of their activities. Because they are home schooled I like to give them more social opportunities. We don't socialize with a lot of homeschoolers and they don't see their ps friends regularly because they get home from school so late in the day. This year I'm determined to have school done by noon so we're starting a little earlier in the morning. So far we've been done before 11 almost every day. I tried to leave one day completely free from activities and so far it's going well, although not all of our activities have begun yet. In a nutshell, I try to have one "sports" activity, one "educational" activity and something of their choice. Piano and CCD are always musts. Here's what we have going on: DD8: brownies (1x/mo), CCD (weekly), Piano (weekly), Irish step dancing (weekly), American Girl Club (6x/year), soccer (weekly for 6 wks) DS6: geography club (weekly for 6 wks), CCD (weekly), cub scouts (2x/mo), piano (weekly), soccer (weekly for 6 weeks)

We were married in '97. Walked down to the wedding march. Processional was Pachebel Canon in D. My sister sang Grow Old Along With Me (Lennon song based on a Browning poem) during the mass. First song w/hubby was I Could Write A Book (oldie but goodie) which he also sang to me in front of everyone later on in the reception. He's a keeper that one :)

End of week 2 here and it's really going well. Much better than last year. Not sure what to attribute it to...perhaps maturity, perhaps curriculum. But it's amazing how much more I enjoy it when they do. Thanks to whomever suggested extra work for dawdlers. If I see one of my children really dragging, I set the timer for an appropriate amount of time. If the work isn't finished by then, the get extra related work. It's really cut down on the dawdling!!

I've seen a lot of the performers I really wanted to. I'd have to pick a classic like Aerosmith or the Stones. If they don't have to be alive, the Doors. Jim Morrison was just yummy.

Guinness beef pie? Lots of other good suggestions here as well!

My husband's self employed and we pay $500/mo for 2 adults, 2 kids, with a $10,000 deductible. Yes, that means anything up to $10,000 in a given year we pay out of pocket. It's crazy. Every time he gets a paycheck I'm paying down medical bills. And we don't even go to the doctor that much!!! I haven't read all the posts, but most states (I think??) have coverage for kids w/in certain income limits so if you qualify, at least get them covered. You should look into a catastrophic policy for yourself and your husband (should be very reasonably priced) so at least if something serious were to come up, you'd be covered.

Has anyone used this who works for themselves/owns their own company? Our biggest problem is that my husband works for himself and sometimes we just have no idea what our income is going to be on any given month. I'm clueless as to how to come up with a budget with this scenario.

So really the only thing you need to re-reference once you've read it through are the worksheets?

Looking for recommendations of which book is the best for someone who wants to "do the Dave Ramsey" thing. Thanks!

I don't really, but I know I should. I'm on first thing in the morning, checking email and coming to these boards and a few other favorite sites. This year I have forbidden myself to be on at all during school hours, which are from about 8:30 til noon. I'm on and off all day long, sometimes quick, sometimes longer. I do work from home on the computer (transcription) so some of it can't be helped. My worst time is after dinner/kids bedtime. I don't watch much TV, so I tend to spend that evening time online. In my defense, a lot of time I spend online is related to school and lesson planning, etc. But still...I have to cut down. It will be interesting to read how others handle limiting their screen time, if they do.

My daughter turned 8 this past spring and we did a cooking themed party. My husband made pizza dough (inexpensive). Each girl got a ball of dough and formed their own pizza and then put on whatever toppings they wanted. They played some games like simon says while waiting for the pizzas to cook. After they ate they could make their own cupcakes. I filled mini sized cupcake tins with a chocolate cupcake mix and then the girls could "blend in" their own flavorings with a toothpick. Offerings included peanut butter, orange extract, mini chocolate chips, crushed mints, etc. While those were cooking my daughter opened her gifts. When the cupcakes were done they frosted them. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. For goodie bags, you could probably find a lot in a dollar store. Or maybe you could have a decorate your own apron craft while the pizzas were cooking. Good luck to you!

DD8 and DS6 will occasionally watch Mr. Rogers or a somewhat educational VHS/DVD during a weekday afternoon. I admit I use it as a babysitter when I have work to do (most of my work I do at night, but sometimes deadlines dictate daytime hours as well). We subscribe to Netflix and usually do one family movie a week (usually a classic oldie, but sometimes a cartoon like The Rescuers or other old Disney). I'd say they watch about 2-6 hours a week on average. The only other screen time is about a 1/2 hour a month on Webkinz, which I"m not crazy about, but their cousins set them up with them. No video games. I think there's always something better for them to be doing than watching TV, but a recreational movie watched as a family here and there is a lot of fun and Netflix has such a great selection of movies!

Hits: WT, Noeo Chemistry, Getting Started w/Latin, SOTW So-So/Gets the Job Done: SWO, FLL, WWE, Saxon/Singapore, Progressive Phonics Total Misses: None!!

Have you looked at Writing Tales?

I am really into antiques and have been to thousands of shops over the years. Now this isn't the era that I specialize in, but I've never seen anything like what you are describing, nor did I turn anything up in a google search. I guess I'd talk to someone at either an auction house or local antique store and see if they can shed any light on this object. Keep us posted with what you learn. I'll keep an eye out for you on Antiques Roadshow :)