That's fantastic! Congratulations!! :)

In our case, DH and I both worked for a major high tech company for many years during the tech boom (of course, we were also both laid off during the bust but that's another story). Because of that, we both have solid 401Ks and were also able to put a lot into savings and investments over the years. DH was also an active duty military officer for over a decade and has served in the Army Reserves for the past 9 years (activated and deployed for 1.5 years during that time) so he will be eligible for full military retirement benefits. This past year, DH started up his own company and it's doing very well. His business is such that he could continue managing it part-time (basically checking in a few times a week) once he "retires" (he plans to retire around age 50 - he's 42). I'm currently working on starting up a business as well (very part-time - less than 10 hours a week right now). My plan is to grow the business as the kids get older and continue working at least 2 days per week (maybe more) during our retirement. Income from that business is not factored in to our retirement plan, but it's something I enjoy and it's flexible enough to allow us to take time off whenever we want to. We would be ok with just DH's military retirement benefits, our 401Ks, and other investments for retirement - but since we both enjoy what we do (and can do so part-time and still have time for travel, etc.) we'll likely both continue working for awhile. Other than that, we live debt-free (other than our mortgage, which will be paid off in the next 6 years), we've been paying into the kids' college investment plans since they were born (so they should be all set - unless they decide to go ivy league!) and our insurance premiums should go down if I can manage to go for at least a year without a speeding ticket... :tongue_smilie: At least that's the plan for now (as much as the future can be accurately planned for)...! ;)

:iagree: Unbelievable!!! Glad you're filing a police report...

Since you mentioned that many of the moms are new to homeschooling, how about sharing some information about your local library's resources for homeschoolers (or just library resources in general)? I recently attended a Homeschool Forum at our library and was amazed at all the stuff they do/provide specifically for homeschoolers (as well as some of the other general resources that can be helpful in homeschooling). I'm sure the level of service/support varies by library, but if yours does anything like that, it might be helpful to share that info... Another idea might be to share where to get great deals on books and specifically homeschool curriculum. Again, since these moms are new to homeschooling, this might be helpful to them. I'm thinking specifically of sites like the Homeschool Buyers Co-op (where you can get in on group buys) as well as any bookstores in your town that homeschoolers "in the know" frequent. If there's a regular and/or annual homeschool book swap in your area, that would be a good information to include too. HTH! :)

I'll be in my early 50's if we decide to homeschool both kids all the way through high school. My goal is to expand my business (I'm starting it up part-time right now), write some books, travel lots (with the kids when they have time!) and remodel/redecorate the house (my DC are VERY rough on the house)... ;) This seems so far off, but everyone keeps saying that it goes by fast...

YUM!! Looove Nutella... But I rarely buy it because I tend to eat it by the spoonful (straight from the jar). Not that there's anything wrong with that... ;) Enjoy your double-pack! :)

My first thought was that it's your spark plugs. I googled this and found a great site that outlines the problem you're having, the possible causes, and what to do. http://www.aa1car.com/library/misfire.htm Per the above site, it says a misfire is caused by "one of three things: loss of spark; the air/fuel mixture is too far out of balance to ignite; or loss of compression. Loss of spark includes anything that prevents coil voltage from jumping the electrode gap at the end of the spark plug. Causes include worn, fouled or damaged spark plugs, bad spark plug wires or even a cracked distributor cap. A weak coil or excessive rotor gas inside a distributor would affect all cylinders, not just a single cylinder." If you know how to check and replace spark plugs, I would start there. The other fixes might require a mechanic (depending on how comfortable you are with car repairs). But at least this gives you an idea of what the problem probably is, so that you won't be "sold" a more expensive repair that you don't need. HTH and good luck! :)

How fun! Congrats to your nephew... I'm sure his family will get a copy of the show - maybe they can request (or make) an extra copy for you?

That made me think of all the "Inspiring-Underdog Sports Team-Movies" I've seen - they're all pretty similar too...

We also have our own well and septic. When we bought this house 10 years ago we were told by the well inspector that we had a "100 year water supply". The water is not treated. Both my kids LOVE to play with water, they take a bath every evening (but I just start DD 10 minutes before DS, and use the same water), I take a good length shower every morning, and we do have a garden (no fancy landscaping, but it does need to be watered every day during the summer months). As others have noted, we're not stingy with our water use but we don't waste it either. I'm not concerned about our personal water supply here, but do have some concerns about the overall availability of water as I've heard the "water will be the new oil" line as well...

Congrats on the birth of your new little one! Glad everything went smoothly and that you and the baby are doing well... :)

Jakarta, Indonesia Reason for editing: I originally went with Jerusalem, Israel, but then got to thinking about the Israel-Palestine conflict. I'm really not interested in turning this quiz into a political discussion (certainly not my intent!)... ;-)

LOL!! Well, in that case, they've done their conditioning well... :tongue_smilie: Now that I think about it, I've never had them fresh out of the oven (I've always had them somewhere else after someone picked them up - like at the office, at church, etc.). So I haven't had "the full Krispy Kreme experience". I think we have one location in town so maybe the kiddos and I will have to do some "consumer science" tomorrow too. :)

Sounds like a legitimate "freebie" to me! Hope you're able to get some rest tonight...

Can't speak for DD coffee (it's been at least 15 years since I've had it - honestly don't remember what it was like). I brew mine at home every morning (a nice medium roast blend) and stop by Starbucks 2-3 times per week. I did want to chime in on the DD vs. Krispy Kreme debate though. I honestly don't understand what the big deal is about Krispy Kreme donuts. I think they're just...donuts. Nothing special as far as I can tell. But then again, I rarely have donuts so maybe I'm just not enough of a connoisseur... ;)

We have dandelions all over the place here (which, ironically, is actually not the reason for my choice of username ;)). I've been thinking that we should try harvesting and using them (never have, although my mom apparently ate a lot of dandelion green salads growing up). So thanks for all the great ideas! :) I didn't think about the fact that chickens can spread the dandelions (we have chickens too, and we let them go "free range" on most nice days - so maybe that's part of the reason they're so abundant on our property)...

The fact that this was a Freudian slip almost makes it funnier...!! When I first read "statement of math" yesterday, I just figured it was the latest trend in homeschooling and that I'd probably be confronted with it soon. :tongue_smilie:

G: Georgia

I think that's a great suggestion. If he does want to have several friends over, I wouldn't start with a sleepover party. Since you're already not in the "partying mood" (;)) it seems like a sleepover would just add too much stress. Start slow and work your way up from there... :)

We've gone through this a few times in the past few years (our lower level flooded TWICE so we had to have it completely recarpeted, and we also had hardwoods put in on the entire main level). It's definitely stressful, but it feels SO GOOD when it's all done!! In terms of tips, there's no "magic advice" I can offer that is going to make this any easier for you (although when we had the hardwoods done, my DH was out of town and the kids stayed at my mom's house for several days - that helped). :) I think your attitude of "I'm going to focus on how nice this will be when it's done and it's great that I get to paint, etc." is the best approach you can take. Hope it all goes well (and quickly!!) - and enjoy your new flooring!! :)

I can see the logic behind this in principle (i.e. treating everyone the same in order to be fair) and I can certainly understand the desire to be fair. However, I remember reading in several parenting books (and I've read A LOT of them - another mom of a very strong-willed child here ;) ) that it is not always in the best interest of a strong-willed child or his/her siblings to try to parent all your DC the same. They are all different - and you probably need to parent them differently at times because of that. Both your strong-willed child and his siblings are probably quite aware that he's pushing the limits much more than everyone else - so even though he might lament the fact that it's "not fair" that he doesn't get any freebies while the other DC sometimes do, he may very well recognize that it's necessary (although he would probably never admit it if he's anything like my DS!). Applying the same "no freebie" rule to a sibling who is generally very obedient and just has minor and infrequent slip-ups, may make that child become resentful and add to whatever negative dynamics are already going on. I'm certainly not a parenting expert - just another parent who is constantly learning and adjusting and trying to figure out what works... So this is just one perspective. FWIW, I recently read "Transforming the Difficult Chid - The Nurtured Heart Approach" and we've been putting that into practice with DS this past week. Although we have always tried to focus on the positive and provide lots of verbal recognition for good behavior (which is the focus of the first part of the book), the approach to consequences outlined by the author is very different from what we were doing. I was skeptical at first (because it seemed to me like I would be letting DS off much too easy), but I have to say it actually seems to be working. I've seen other posts in this forum recommending the book (which is what prompted me to check it out in the first place). If you haven't already read it/tried it, might be worth a look.... HTH! :)

I think your explanation is perfect. We have all "schooling" approaches represented in our group of homeschooling friends and one of the families we are closest to are radical unschoolers. I've explained unschooling to DS and from time to time he'll tell me "Mommy, I want to have an unschooling day today" (when he doesn't feel like doing what's on our agenda). ;) So I'll give him some say in what we're doing, and then he's satisfied... :)

Great site, thanks! DS is still struggling with his "R" sound (even though he did have 1.5 years of speech therapy) so I'll be checking out the resources listed...

Yes, and I refer back to different sections frequently...