We've done some of Science Jim's more recreational science classes. He is very entertaining. His classes are keepers!

MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) is interesting. You could check out the Tampa Theater too. The theater is on of the last surviving theaters built by famous architect, John Eberson. They have theater tours. If you google it, you can see some pictures and see if they are playing any movies that children would enjoy. Tampa also has the Florida Aquarium. It is in Channelside and right behind the museum is the USS Victory, a WWII ship that offers tours. I completely 2nd the Tarpon Sponge docks! Be sure to take the sponge diving tour and eat some Greek food!

The Secrets of Droon and The A to Z Mysteries were series that mine enjoyed.

We used Math-It for the add. & Sub. facts and drilled with the Saxon flashcards. Math-It was fun and taught little tricks that stick in the children's minds forever.

We live in a state where we have options (portfolio, testing and some others). I've always tested, only because I relate to numbers better than personal assessments from licensed teachers. I also like that the children get practice taking standardized tests. Those are our personal choices. I think it is a matter of personal preference and is ONLY the decision of the parents. MIL needs to leave the academics to you. Is it possible she wants the test scores so that she can brag to her friends or is it an expression of her lack of confidence in your ability? Either way, those aren't good reasons to deviate from your plans.

Things I buy: copy/printer paper, graph paper, post-it tabs, mechanical pencils, white cardstock.

Always filing, always will..til they graduate that is.

Joann's Fabrics offers sewing classes for kids. They are good and the price is very reasonable. He would probably enjoy making the projects! You can see the list of offered classes on the individual store's website by linking from the main website: http://www.joann.com/joann/home/home.jsp;jsessionid=3852309A8A5A5E02E8CB7EDB7D8C24B7.a6p1?topnavlink=true The girls have taken some of their classes and we've always been impressed with the instructors. 4-H also has a sewing course. You don't have to be a 4-H member to get the course booklets. You can see them (the sewing ones) at: http://www.4-hmall.org/Category/4-hcurriculum-sewing.aspx

We just finished up American History using OpenAccess. It was quite good and the girls (7th and 8th) enjoyed it. The slides were interesting and there is a lot more. We used the text 'The American Pageant' by Kennedy and Cohen for the course. We also supplemented but if you wouldn't have too unless you wanted more. Best of all - it's FREE (except for the text). I got my used text from Amazon. The link: http://www.ucopenaccess.org/course/view.php?id=74 Here is a link to some ppt files that were made for an earlier text edition, but they still have good info: http://college.cengage.com/history/us/kennedy/am_pageant_brief/6e/instructors/protected/ppt.html#LinksTable

Long long time ago I had one but I got so sick of the magnet wearing out and dropping the cans (this happened with another one too) that I switched to manual. I don't open many cans except dog food so it doesn't matter anyway.

You can see the Shuttle liftoff on HDTV.

So exciting!!!

Found something fun and interesting! We're watching PBS 1900 House this afternoon and they keep referring to a 'Bible' of the 1900's housewife. I found it online and it is fascinating reading! For anyone interested, here is a link: http://www.victorianlondon.org/cassells/cassells.htm

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I can't imagine how horrible this loss must feel. Our pets are such a special part of our family too. :grouphug::grouphug:

We have a Golden Retriever that handles any oversleeping problems for us. One 'get up' call and if they aren't up I let the dog wake them up. Having 80 lbs of playful dog bouncing on their bed does the trick. I also have a 'wake up' cat. She will bite anyone not up on the ears. She is also the anti-whine cat because she bites for excessive whining too. I just LOVE my teacher's 'pets'! :D

We can't wait! We're on the Gulf Coast side so we're hoping to run outside after launch to see the vapor trail. This is historic!

:grouphug::grouphug: In my thoughts.

:grouphug: CC isn't a bad choice. Our son went to CC for his first 2 years and he could have gone anywhere. We weighed the options and felt that it was more cost efficient to do the 2 years at CC and then go to the 4 year of his choice. The lack of crushing debt is something they will thank you for later. Nothing wrong with the CC. :grouphug:

We're pretty much done with coops but I could maaaaybbbbbeeee be tempted to go to one if it offered a good higher level debate course, philosophy, logic class. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything that comes remotely close to being what I would expect. My experience has been that some of the more academic courses just don't measure up to the description. For that matter many of the fluffy ones don't either. :(

I use 'educational shower curtains'. Do a search on Amazon and you'll see some great curtains. I switch them out periodically. The curtain is in the girls bathroom and when they use the bathroom they see it. :lol:

:iagree: Let your cousin have fun planning a party! She wants to do it! Personally, I don't worry too much about the conventions (1st or 4th baby), I would go if invited just to have some fun and join in the excitement of a new baby. Those that have issues with it being the 4th just don't need to come. Those that come will have a great time! :party:

:iagree: They are still young. There is plenty of time left before you need to start checking the boxes. :)

DH is super-supportive. :001_tt1: However, if I ever decided it was not working (not gonna happen) he would not question my decision. One of the reason hsing works so well for us is because dh is helpful and lets me know he appreciates what I do.

I used it with a 6th and 7th grader and we did all the experiments. Some were good and some were so-so. The text was informative but a little long winded. We liked it but we also do a lot of supplementation with other texts, media and outside classes to keep science interesting. Apologia alone would IMO be dry. So we beef it up significantly. :)

Big time Atkins here too and I know what you are talking about. I was on it for a month and last week went to the fair. I had a footlong corndog, double cotton candy, a root beer and a bag of carmelcorn. It was a carb-bender! The next day I had a headache and the mood was awful. I felt so tired and blah. I got right back on the wagon but it took a couple of days to get over the carb overload. What I find is that I am better off just avoiding the carbs as much as I can. I would get foggy after a GC cookie too.