Have you talked to the folks in charge? Just tell them what you've told us about how your kids enjoy the lessons etc. Maybe they'd be open to going back to the $50 rate particularly since you work there. Seems like it would be a better deal for them too to keep three kids at $50 each rather than lose three kids unless there are people lined out the door willing to pay $60. I've found that a lot of places are willing to give discounts but they just don't advertise that. Can't hurt to ask.

My younger ds uses Sharpies to write his lane, etc. on his arm for swim meets. I was joking with him that he should just get a grid tattooed to his arm because he usually has to re-ink after a few races as the Sharpie is pretty faded. Hand sanitizer usually does the trick to take off any further remnants.

Most of the activities you listed are things that my family would enjoy but not necessarily as a field trip. There are a lot of factors at play and I think that a lot of the other posters have hit on those. For our family my criteria would be: 1. Distance: I prefer not to have to drive more than 90 minutes max and prefer things that are about 30 min. away. The farther I have to drive the more special the activity should be. 2. Uniqueness: If the activity is something I can do with my family then I probably wouldn't do it with a group unless there was some other incentive such as a special rate, a place that you can only visit as a group, or a special activity just for the group. 3. Schedule: I prefer to go on field trips in the morning or early afternoon as my kids have a lot of activities in the late afternoon/ early evening.

I have a Dutalier, it's going on 14 years now. I bought it when ds2 was born and had it shipped from the UK to Germany and then had it shipped to the U.S when we moved back here. It has a off-white sort of velourish cover and it still looks great. I love it and it gets daily use.

Are you at my house? Grrr.

It doesn't sound like a big deal to me and I have a German MIL that I can't stand, BUT your feelings are valid to you and that's all that matters. :grouphug:

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I used to love cooking but now I find the whole process of shopping and planning and preparing to be completely overwhelming. Also the fact that dh can cook but is too lazy to and yet wants "something delicious" every night doesn't help.

There are lots of different kinds of German dumplings and different regions will have their own ways of making them. From your description it sounds like a "Dampfnudel" although those are usually served with sweet toppings. Maybe Google "Dampfnudel", "Knödel" "Semmelknödel" "Klöße" and see if there is one of those that look similar to what you remember?

No, you're not sensitive, I hate air fresheners with a passion. No need for so many either unless there's a body in the basement. In which case, I advise you to leave NOW. :tongue_smilie:

For Tacoma that's probably fine but it kind of depends where in Tacoma he is going. My dh works in Seattle and the traffic going that way at 4:30/ 5 a.m. is already pretty congested. There is also the commute back home, again it depends on what part of Tacoma you're driving from. That said, Gig Harbor is a lovely area. The Key Peninsula is a lot less populated than Tacoma/ Seattle so if that appeals to you then it is a good choice. As milovany said a good base for getting to lots of different places in the Puget Sound area and also to the coast.

As long as you're not afraid of a little rain there's no reason not to spend a lot of time outdoors in WA. Gig Harbor is a nice area. I live in Tacoma so I can't speak from experience about what sort of activities are available but I know they have a YMCA. Probably the biggest thing to factor in is where your dh will work. If it is in Tacoma then he will have to drive across the Narrows Bridge (toll) and the traffic can be pretty bad.

I made our advent calendar many years ago. Advent Sundays everyone gets chocolate (usually a Lindt truffle), once a week there is a note for a special activity (tree lighting ceremony at the park, make gingerbread houses, etc) and the rest of the days there are pieces from our Playmobil nativity set. We reuse that every year so it is not new and exciting but my kids thrive on routine so I think it is comforting that there is always the same things year after year. We also do a book basket "Advent Calender".

Thank you everyone for all your very thoughtful replies and especially for the reminders to trust my instincts. I do think that dd has some sort of problem but it's been easy to talk myself out of it and hope for the best. Your replies have given me lots to think about.

My older two children learned to read fairly young (around 4.5 years old) and very easily. Basically taught them letters and their sounds and they were reading chapter books shortly thereafter. My dd has not been interested in reading like the boys and hasn't taken to it readily at all. Last year we started using Dancing Bears. She knows most of the green flash cards but still confuses "b" and "d" and "w" and "v". She will sound out the words but then doesn't recognize them when they appear again on the page. She recognizes a few words like "cat" but when she sees "car" or "can" she guesses that they are cat. Otherwise she is highly intelligent and she does great in math. She understands math concepts a lot more readily than her brothers did at that age. Does this sound "normal" and that she needs just more time or is this something I need to have checked out? I don't want to wait and hope that things work themselves out only to find out it is something I should have sought help for earlier, kwim?

A three month wait is typical for my area.

My suggestions are exactly what stripe already suggested. I am using "Sewing School" with my 6 year old dd this year (just started this week so I haven't had time to really test it out but it looks great and do-able) and I've used "Cooking with Children" with both of my boys in the past. I've done a lot of baking with my kids but I wanted to make sure that they could cook a meal too. "Cooking with Children" walks you through all of the basic steps. The recipes are pretty basic but relatively healthy and all of the skills learned can be applied to more advanced cooking.

We use the mesh bag and dishwasher method most of the time but the bathtub work well too.

We have lived with in-laws and also with my parents. In both cases I was very glad when we had our own place again. I do enjoy being close to family but I also enjoy my privacy. When I was growing up my grandmother lived across the street from us and our current situation is that my parents on the same street as we do. For us this is a perfect situation: close enough to see each other and be there if we're needed but every one has their personal space.

In Germany they only say Lego but here in the U.S. I usually hear Legos.

Umm, everything? I like having a clean house but I loathe actually having to clean it. The only domestic task I really enjoy is hanging out the wash. Something very satisfying about pinning clothes up and having them merrily swaying in the breeze.

If my kids are sick enough to be in bed, then the are really sick and really need to be in bed. Most of the time they just want to sleep but, if not, they can read, watch movies or listen to audiobooks. Usually this is just a day or two and then the are fine enough to go back to joining the family in our normal activities.

If you'd like to PM me the specifics, I can give it a shot.

Being left-handed isn't a disability or a defect and , personally, I feel the whole "lefties have horrible handwriting" is a myth. It's like saying "red-headed people have horrible tempers" or "women with widow's peaks will outlive their husbands". I'm left-handed. I learned to write in ps and I wasn't given any sort of special instruction. I have been told many many many times how beautiful my handwriting is. I've used Getty-Dubay Italic with my 2 ds's. One is right handed, one is left-handed. They both have nice handwriting although my leftie ds's handwriting is nicer and he does calligraphy as well. My dh is right-handed and his writing is barely legible.

My DH is German and our two DS's were born in Germany. I felt comfortable breastfeeding everywhere, even though bottle feeding seems to be the more popular choice. Most people would *try* breastfeeding for three months and then switch to bottle so it was a little unusual to breastfeed for longer than that but I never felt any negativity. My MIL never bf'ed DH or SIL so she was a bit shocked that one could bf for longer than six months.

We love TT here. Both of my boys used Math Mammoth until grade 6 and then switched to TT. For my middle ds math has always been his weakest subject and one that we had a lot of tears and arguments about. He loves TT and is doing very well with it and math is now his favorite subject. Previously he's tested around 60% in math on standardized tests but now he's up to 90%. With older ds he's always done well in math and had high test scores and continues to have high test scores. I'm really surprised at the negative TT experiences. I know at least two other homeschool families irl that use TT and they have all been happy with it as well. I guess there really is not one program that works for every child!