Gotta do whatcha gotta do, right? I totally get it. It *is* more expensive, but it's still a relatively minor cost for us and a huge convenience once or twice per week. My kids love being able to prep their own hot breakfast and I love that it's mostly no-mess. It's a special treat for us. I would like to try my hand at making up my own oatmeal mix that they kids can scoop from a jar though. I just need a good recipe! Whereneverever (<---- did I get that right? LOL!), I am totally impressed with your spending and your meal plan. That is awesome!!

Why do you hate telling him no? It's no big deal. If he gets pushy just shut the door.

You have a BABY! eeeeeek! Congratulations, Dusty. <3

Exactly. The OP did state that her yard was not enclosed. Some kids are more compliant than others. Some are capable of following instructions earlier than others. That's fine. *This* child is not ready to play outside unsupervised, for whatever reason.

All due respect, sure you can. You can and you should. That's it. She is six years old. She's not supposed to keep herself safe. You are supposed to supervise her. I say again, gently, SHE IS SIX YEARS OLD. She has been caught playing near a busy street corner, playing inside of a vehicle -- she is demonstrating that she is not capable of playing without supervision. I know it's easy to expect more from our children than they are able to give sometimes. I have certainly been there. Your daughter's safety is paramount, obviously.

Let me tell you, with my last baby I went out and walked around all afternoon and into the evening at the local street fair, several miles all told, and I woke up in labor that night. Walk and hydrate, walk and hydrate!!

This. ^^^ Yes, it annoys me to no end, as does the use of the word purpose as a verb. Conversate?? Gah!

I stumbled across this thread doing a search for EFTRU because there was a download that I bought once to go with the program and I can't remember where I got it now. Anyway..... my eldest worked through EFTRU first, beginning in 5th grade, but not entirely the way the program is outlined in the instructor's guide. I think it took us the better part of two school years to finish it up, but we were in no rush. Then, he moved on to VFCR and began working though those. Again, no rush.

We all really like the Oat Revolution oatmeal and at 5/$1 it's hard to say no, so I don't. I bought it for this week like usual.

I buy basil plants a couple of times each year at the supermarket and they die within a week every. single. time. I set mine up on the bar next to all of my other plants but it's not in full sun like a windowsill would be. Is that my mistake? Does basil need full sun?

For those from the other thread that wanted to have one, and anyone wishing to join, it's the grocery accountability thread! Feel free to post your weekly menu, budget, whether you went over or stayed under, useful tips and trick that helped you save this week, etc. I'll go first. This week I planned breakfast, lunch, and supper for seven days, so 21 meals in all. Here's the menu: Breakfast: (2) apple/cinnamon oatmeal prepped w/ milk (2) cheese grits (1) dry cereal w/ milk Lunch: Beef pot pie, fruit Tuna w/ crackers, carrot sticks, blue cheese dip Pizza, cucumber & tom salad Chicken salad sandwiches, fruit Beans & rice, mixed veg Eggs on toast, cheese, fruit Leftover lunch day! Supper: Beef stew, herbed mashed potatoes Breaded tilapia, wilted spinach, jacket potatoes w/ toppings Potato hash, poached eggs, cole slaw Burritos, mexicorn Lemon-poppyseed pancakes, mixed berries, sliced almonds Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, garlic toast Agnolotti stuffed w/ ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, & bacon, green salad w/ vinaigrette Okay, so this week I made a few changes to my shopping routine. First, I shopped my pantry and fridge and made note of what I had on hand. I still had some fresh produce from last week that's needing to be used up, so I scheduled that into my first few meals, which is something I don't normally think to do. Next, instead of the usual organic eggs and ground beef that I buy, I bought conventional. The eggs came in a paper carton and are from nearby, so that's something I suppose. I bought 2 lbs of ground beef and 2 lbs of chuck roast for beef stew. I did still buy organic milk because I much prefer the taste of my usual brand. I bought formula, a few toiletries, a few cleaning supplies, as per usual. I bought frozen corn instead of fresh at half the cost. I bought bananas and berries but no other fruit, as we still had plenty in the fridge from last week. I won't buy more until what we have is gone. Usually I just grab a bunch of fruit every week and cram it in the fridge and this results in more waste than I'd prefer. My bill was $151.00. That's about half what I normally spend. I can't imagine I'll save quite that much every single week, but that was a significant savings over my normal bill!

We live in CA but shop at the base commissary. IDK if regional pricing has any impact on commissary pricing. We live in the high desert. I have a black thumb under the best conditions so trying to garden here would be a colossal waste of resources! :P The fresh herbs I buy are .99/bunch and I buy two bunches of parsley and one of cilantro every week. They are generously sized bunches so I think that's a good price. Anyway, I am going to start a new grocery spending accountability thread since I just went shopping today!

I really want to agree with you. Tebow showed promise the year he played for Denver. Being cut for Manning, well, you can't blame Denver for that one. It was a smart move. The Jets (and perhaps more pointedly Rex Ryan) insisted on playing Sanchez all season and if that's not poor judgment then IDK what is. The Pats have Brady and a backup QB already. Do they really need another QB?? IDK. I have a soft spot for Tebow. I really want to see him succeed.

Well, I borrowed your words and shared on my own FB along with a link to HSLDA's version of the story. Thank you for summing up my own feelings on the matter so succinctly.

There is either a TJ or a WF about an hour and fifteen minutes from me. I'm not sure how worth the trip it would be. I've never shopped at one! :)

A bag of frozen Tilapia filets runs me about $8-9. We usually have that once per week. That sounds yummy about the cream cheese and herbs, and it would be a great way to use up the last bits of herbs left over at the end of the week. I know I seem like I'm shooting down everyone's ideas in this thread, but I am really trying to take the suggestions to heart. I am meal planning tonight and shopping tomorrow. I'll post back and let you all know how it goes! Would anyone be interested in doing a weekly grocery budget accountability thread?

This is how my boys eat, too. They're all crazy skinny and hungry! My 10yo eats more than my husband every single night of the week and if he doesn't get full at supper he will wake up queasy and half the time end up puking before he can get his breakfast down, no joke. He's always been like that. We never could tell him to eat a meal or go hungry, because if he didn't eat he would vomit. Good thing for us he's not a picky eater, just a hungry one!

Thank you. Now he magically understands. I guess I'm not a good enough teacher. :P

One more question. My husband needs to know why you raise BOTH the 5780 AND the K to the fourth power. Why not only one of them?

Okay, let's try this again! :) E* = (5.67 x 10^-8 W m^-2 K^-4)(T^4) and T = 5780, so: E* = (5.67 x 10^-8 W m^-2 K^-4)(5780K)^4 E* = (5.67 x 10^-8 W m^-2 K^-4)(1.12 x 10^9)(K^4) E* = 6.35 x 10^1 W m^-2 Which is almost right, save for the exponent on the 10, which is 7 in the answer on the quiz: E* = 6.35 x 10^7 W m^–2 Do you see my mistake? ETA: NM. Our mistake is in the scientific notation on 5780^4. It's 10^15, not 10^9. Our calculator needs to be replaced apparently. :P

That's glorious! :D

I mean, even if they did have the ability I probably wouldn't tell that to my 7 year old. IDK. Unless there were a serious threat and she needed to know how to don a gas mask or something, what's the point, you know?

No, we have the formula in front of us. We plugged the temp in. We got the wrong answer. Help! Here's the problem: 1. The average temperature of the sun is 5780 K. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, calculate the average irradiance of the sun. Show your work and include appropriate units. Hint: Formula- E* = sigmaT^4 ^ is for the power sign. When you input your answer, be sure to use the ^ sign to denote "to the power of". This formula may help you with this problem: E* = sigmaT^4 (Points : 1) Here's the problem with the temp plugged in: E* = (5.67 x 10^-8 W m^-2 K^-4) (5780 K^4) Our answer is: E* = 3.23 x 10 ^-8 W m ^-2 The correct answer, according to the quiz, is: E* = 6.35 x 10^7 W m^–2

Agreeing w/ Joanne, as usual.