I like hot milk with a tablespoon of plain old malt powder in it: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=malt+powder&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1294&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GiU0t3BRSxkU2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/08/triple-malt-chocolate-cake/&docid=VfKfUuleVGt2lM&imgurl=http://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/malted-milk-car.jpg&w=500&h=500&ei=RZAcT8-gHc_ciQKvrNzJCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=421&vpy=221&dur=470&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=130&ty=115&sig=111377293144475674155&page=1&tbnh=109&tbnw=109&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0 Add a little brown sugar to sweeten it, and mix it so that it's frothy on top!

Apparently some of us DO have our cake, and eat it too! :) Our town has the "It takes a whole village to raise a child" approach. Some (the majority) go to the regular public school, some go to the alternative school, some homeschool, some public schoolers who are unable to take courses at the ps (because our town is small and many courses are just not available) take online courses through other high schools in the state, some homeschoolers take some classes at the ps, some public schoolers and even some homeschoolers sit in classrooms and watch a high school teacher via television camera who is 100 miles away, and many ps and hs juniors and seniors take online college courses through a state law called Post Secondary Education Option. The philosophy is not to separate us from them from the others, but simply to do what is best for each child. Students from all of these various mixes also play on the same sports teams, speech teams, drama teams, and these various teams in turn represent our village. :)

I'm not necessarily recommending any printer, but just wanted to encourage you to see what the costs of replacement cartridges are for the printers you're looking at. Depending on the printer, the cartridges can greatly vary in price, quickly making up the difference of what you thought you were saving on the printer cost! I'm sure you've thought of all of this already...

I'd open a bank account for them and have them save it. They can learn to use deposit slips, etc. When they get older -- mid to older teens -- they'll probably find things to spend at least some of it on: movie tickets, iPod, etc. You could also have them choose a charity together, and each of them could put 10% (or whatever amount) aside in a jar. Once it gets up to a certain amount, they can donate it to the charity.

I have two children who have learned German, one by living in Germany and among Germans and another by three years of online classes. Neither is fluent, but they are both at a point where they can get by. We have done a lot of travels as a family, and have found that German is often a language that we can speak (my husband knows it some as well) when neither party knows each other's primary language. This happened many, many times, in both Eastern and Western Europe.

I would suggest both the Mrs. Pollifax series and the #1 Woman Detective Agency series. They are not comedic, but are light-hearted and sweet. The Mrs. Pollifax series does have funny, laugh-out-loud parts. The #1 Woman Detective Agency series has some deeper, poignant scenes it is as well.

I watched this with my older teens after we read the book and we really, really liked it. It made quite an impression on all of us. Some of the scenes we FF through, however. The one scene that really stands out is when a man was burned alive. There is also a disturbing scene near the end of one of the main characters (a young woman) throwing herself off a cliff.

Pajama pants in public do annoy me, but I would not make a law against them!

I'd back you on that one... using "Please" is a good thing to learn. Probably the best time to teach that is not when in the middle of it, but between episodes. Also, be sure you model it yourself, and make sure you and your husband are in agreement on this! I have a stubborn one too... She is an older teen now, and I still have mixed feelings about when to hold my ground and when to say "This isn't really important."

Not sure the age of your son. If he's using an 8th grade text, does that mean he is in 8th grade? I'd check with a French institute in a nearby metropolitan area, if they have one. They might have suggestions. (For example, in Minneapolis there is this: http://www.afmsp.org/ Otherwise, sometimes at that age a friend of a friend of a friend might be your best bet. (Someone who would take him in for a month, in France.) We wanted to do that with our daughter, and she ended up going to a semester-long French-speaking Bible school when she was 17: http://www.champfleuri.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=17&Itemid=63&d4dad6935f632ac35975e3001dc7bbe8=516333da9e4b9a68b1c89a4cc8e8ba44 But, they would not have taken her at a younger age, and I don't know what your beliefs are and if you'd be open to that type of a setting. Oh -- I just remembered something else. That same daughter also did a post-high school homestay in Tours, France, through Rotary. But, I kind of remember Rotary having programs for high school age students as well.

Maybe stock up on little Christmas presents for next year: card games, colored markers, etc.

It sounds like your DR is not used for eating, so that's nice! But in case you decide to use it for eating at some point, or even just want your table freed up for whatever reason... We always homeschooled around our dining room table, but used the table to eat and do other projects on as well, so we were CONSTANTLY having to clear it. I got a tray for each child which I was able to place on a window seat in the same room (but you could perhaps place them on a shelf...?). Whenever we had to clear the table for a meal or whatever, it would take 30 seconds to gather up each child's pile of work and supplies and plop them into their trays off of the table. It was a quick way to clear the table but keep things organized.

I'm not sure if your girls are old enough yet to appreciate these, but one of my all-time favorite Netflix series was the newest Little Dorrit series. http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Masterpiece_Classic_Little_Dorrit/70115059?trkid=2361637 They were excellent! Another favorite -- although these would be for you and your husband, not the girls -- are Foyle's War. http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Masterpiece_Mystery_Foyle_s_War/70143821?trkid=2361637

Ditto. Sorry you are going through this. Sounds like you are trying so hard to create a nice family.

Any news? As another family of migraine sufferers, I would not have taken him in before. I would just assume it was a bad migraine, but would constantly check on him throughout the night. However, if it happened now, I WOULD take him in. The only sign of my husband's impending stroke was a super severe headache which we thought was a migraine. I'm sure this is unlikely with your child, but I'd take him in anyway to be sure.

We love Netflix, but there isn't nearly as much available through instant watch as DVD, and we are usually looking for very specific titles. Check the foreign films, however; there are usually enough there to choose from. They often played at independent theaters and aren't well-known.

When we have extra money to spend, I'd prefer to spend it on events, not things. Such as, a little weekend getaway (even for the whole family), tickets to a show, etc.

I didn't know whether to say between 8 and 9 or 9 and 10. We've always started right at 9.

We are a family of migraines, but those symptoms do not sound like typical migraine symptoms to me. Usually symptoms would not come and go so quickly with a particular activity.

I agree with both of the above. As another option, could she take a leave of absence for a year (I don't know what they call it in college...) and do a gap year? Maybe volunteer work abroad, or something along those lines? My older kids have done this, and it really helped in two ways: it gave them a chance to take a break from school and do something very different, something exciting; and, it helped them focus in more on what they DID want to do in life, and redirect their goals. Maybe after taking a year off, she will decide another school or option is better for her afterall.

Reading and travel. I love planning travels -- not even for myself necessarily, but for anyone. It's kind of a weird past time, but the moment I have a "travel project," it almost consumes me. I love looking for the best deals, the best inexpensive places to stay, the travel logistics, etc. So if any of you have any travel-related questions...?!

No. But my kids always WANTED to get dressed, so it was never an issue. It seemed like a good discipline/habit as well. (However, I was usually the LAST one to get dressed, after breakfast and once the kids were started on their school work!)

At that age, we gave our kids 20 minutes of non-school computer time every 4 hours. Our television has only one channel -- public television, and we usually allowed them to watch an hour's worth of public TV each day. We don't have wii or anything else.

Wow, I would have loved to have attended, and so would my children. You are very fortunate!

Well I don't know if it's freakish, but my daughter can bake, boil, or cook an entire meal from basically nothing. Lunch time would come along and as usual I'd still be in the midst of a project with one of the kids -- having forgotten to go to the grocery store as well -- so this child took the bull by the horns and began creating something out of nearly nothing, for everyone! It's a great skill to have and she continues it to this day, almost every day. She even does the grocery shopping now. :) Today she made gluten-free coconut pancakes with sauteed zucchini and nitrate-free sausage for lunch. (Now that she does the shopping, we have a few more ingredients on-hand.)