My 5-year-old did Moving Beyond the Page (the level for ages 4-5) last year, and he really enjoyed it. The materials kit is great, since it has everything you need (I am not crafty, so I don't have stashes of that kind of stuff). I do recommend getting it the first time around, but you can recycle/replace some of the materials to save money the next time(s) around. There is a great MBTP Facebook group (Differently schooled with Moving th Page), and I have a (not quite finished) document there that lists what needs to be replaced for each unit.

Costco--better selection, more products that I buy. And as other people have said, great return policy. I was once in line behind an elderly lady returning a vase of wilted flowers. Now, maybe she really had bought those flowers a few days ago, but it looked really old. I think I'd be too embarrassed to return something like that, but the clerk didn't bat an eyelash. Sams (at least the 2-3 I've been to) just aren't as nice (I get a depressing vibe from them). No BJs near us.

I have a nephew (6 months younger than my DS) who has almost the exact same name as my DS. They share the same first and last name, and their middle names are very similar (think Johnson and Jonathan). We had our reasons for picking the name, and I guess my BIL and SIL had theirs. When we are together, we call the boys their first and middle names. DS's younger brother has a name that is common in a more distant branch of the family, but we see them maybe once or twice a year, so there isn't any confusion there.

This site has beautiful photos and their associated color palettes, and there are some really lovely color combinations--very inspiring if you're looking for ideas! http://design-seeds.com

Ours is also a cartridge-type that goes into the fridge. The fridge has an indicator light--it turns red when we need to change the filter.

Homemade applesauce granola Nuts & dried fruit Fruit or raw veggies My kids don't snack much. Sometimes around 9 am they ask for a little snack, but it's usually not much. We often do multi-course meals, so some snck-like things might be an appetizer (salamis and cheese for example) or "salad " course (like veggies and hummus).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Just thought I'd post this since we seem to enjoy talking about food on this board. I put a hold on this book in our library system a few weeks ago, so I'm looking forward to reading it. I found it quite disturbing how junk food is formulated to override our brains' signal to stop eating (not that it's terribly surprising). I've just quit buying it because I started noticing that if I bought, say, Cheetos once, I was much more likely to want it the next time I was grocery shopping. The premise reminds me of David Kessler's The End of Overeating (published a few years ago), which also discusses how eating processed food with sugar, fat, and salt insidiously conditions our bodies to want more sugar, fat, and salt (there's a new version of End of Overeating for teens now called Your Food is Fooling You, if that's of interest to anyone). Anyway, I'm thinking that it's not a bad idea to tell myself, "This is like a drug. Someone wants me to get hooked on this" the next time I'm eating processed junk food.

I didn't have much luck posting this on the K-8 board, so I'm hoping to get more responses here: One of my DS loves having DH read to him from the Oxford Latin Course, which has comics with Latin text. DH's Latin is good enough that he can read it out loud and then translate as necessary without needing to look anything up (my Latin, on the other hand, is, shall we say, in a part of my brain that is not accessible at the moment). We are looking for other readers along those lines. DS is only 3.5, so we're not looking to start him on formal studies--he seems to like the immersion reading and has picked up quite a bit. We have Winnie ille Pu and Harrius Potter, but the former doesn't have pictures and he is obviously too young for the latter! We both learned Latin with college textbooks, and we didn't intend to start Latin this early with any of our children. But since DH and DS3 seem to enjoy this special bonding time, we'd like to find more books to read. So far, I've seen the "I am Reading Latin" books (Quot Animalia etc), but I am wondering if they are more just single words, rather than sentences, at least from what I could see in the Amazon preview [eta: the second series of four books by Rose Williams seems to have actual stories, so that might be a better option]. DS likes the Oxford book because there is a little story on each page. I though Minimus Latin might be more promising for what I'm looking for? At least from Amazon, it looks a little more like the book they are reading right now. I've also seen the Dr. Seuss translations and am wondering if they would be worth getting (Cat in the Hat, Grinch that Stole Christmas) Any other suggestions for basic Latin readers? **Yes, I know about Song School Latin, but seems to be more vocabulary acquisition, rather than immersion. Also, we are total music snobs (pretty much a classical-only household) and really can't stand the folksy, strumming guitar accompaniment.

After dithering all morning, I'm making sesame noodles with chicken (leftover roasted chicken): http://www.dinneralovestory.com/peanut-butter-logic/ Preceded by a salad.

I have both, but I default to light unless the recipe says otherwise. Mostly because I buy the light brown from Costco, and it's a lot cheaper.

Ours is a little over 3,000 square feet. It was about 2,000 when we bought it, and we finished the basement (plumbing for a bathroom was already roughed in), and DH built a mudroom by going into the garage space (it had been so deep that you could park two cars in a row, and we find having the mudroom so much more useful than all that wasted garage space). We have a bedroom and a bathroom on each floor (total of 3 each)--a bit of a pain for us to run down to the main floor when there are middle-of-the-night nightmares, but at least those are few and far between. Our boys share the biggest bedroom, which is on the main floor. The kitchen is a bit smaller than I would like, but we loved the house and the acreage that it was a trade-off I was okay with. We're in the process of turning our old laundry room into a pantry/extra kitchen storage, so that should help (washer/dryer were moved to mudroom). Our basement has a music/family room, a guest bedroom/bathroom, and a library. We absolutely love this house--all the windows have beautiful views, and there is no other house in sight. This house was custom-built (it was 12-years-old when we bought it), and the quality is miles beyond our last house, which was ~7 years old and in a mass-built subdivision.

Yes--that's where the "I am Reading Latin" books are from. I am thinking that the first four books might be too basic, but they have a second series of four books by Rose Williams that might be more actual stories.

Here's a graphic that shows you the organic companies owned by big corporations: http://www.cornucopi...o-owns-organic/ ETA: full graphic here: http://www.cornucopia.org/wp-content/themes/Cornucopia/downloads/OrganicT30J09.pdf

I buy mine from Costco.

One of my DS loves having DH read to him from the Oxford Latin Course, which has comics with Latin text. DH's Latin is good enough that he can read it out loud and then translate as necessary without needing to look anything up (my Latin, on the other hand, is, shall we say, in a part of my brain that is not accessible at the moment). We are looking for other readers along those lines. DS is only 3.5, so we're not looking to start him on formal studies--he seems to like the immersion reading and has picked up quite a bit. We have Winnie ille Pu and Harrius Potter, but the former doesn't have pictures and he is obviously too young for the latter! We both learned Latin with college textbooks, and we didn't intend to start Latin this early with any of our children. But since DH and DS3 seem to enjoy this special bonding time, we'd like to find more books to read. So far, I've seen the "I am Reading Latin" books (Quot Animalia etc), but I am wondering if they are more just single words, rather than sentences, at least from what I could see in the Amazon preview. DS likes the Oxford book because there is a little story on each page. I though Minimus Latin might be more promising for what I'm looking for? At least from Amazon, it looks a little more like the book they are reading right now. I've also seen the Dr. Seuss translations and am wondering if they would be worth getting (Cat in the Hat, Grinch that Stole Christmas) Any other suggestions for basic Latin readers? **Yes, I know about Song School Latin, but seems to be more vocabulary acquisition, rather than immersion. Also, we are total music snobs (pretty much a classical-only household) and really can't stand the folksy, strumming guitar accompaniment.

For a splurge, I like Shabby Apple's classic/vintage look. Here are their suggestions for an hourglass figure (seems close to pear shape): http://www.shabbyapple.com/t-btHourglass.aspx Also, I wasn't sure if knee-length is okay, or if you're looking for mid-calf or longer?

It would depend on the age of the child. I think 7 and up is old enough to know better, so it would be the child's fault. I guess it also depends on what the relationship between your DH and his sister is worth--would she drop it if he refused, or is this something she would hold against him (and would he be okay with this or not)?

just agree with me

My aunt, who had been a software engineer, went back to school in her 40s to get a PharmD ... so 30 is definitely not too old! Good luck!

basics: (tomato) pizza sauce, cheese, sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, onions, olives nice extras: pesto, bacon, canadian bacon, pineapple, basil, tomatoes (sliced or diced), anchovies (depending on your guests)

From the beginning, I've never bought new toys or books for my kids, so I don't even think that it's on their radar. I've always said "Item X belongs to the store, sweetie, so we can't bring it home." We don't have TV, so we don't know 90% of hte commercial characters out there or what shiny new gizmo is the current hot thing. As a result, what we get at the library each week is super exciting! We occasionally go out to eat maybe once a month. Sometimes DS will tell me he'd like to go to Restaurant A, but he's fine with me saying "restaurants are a "sometimes" thing, and today I already made xyz for dinner." My kids do ask for "new" toys because they get their toys on a rotating basis. Christmas and birthdays are pretty much the only time they get toys that are actually new. I do tell my kids that many children have a lot less than we do, so we should be grateful for all that we have.

I have a Kura, too. My kids climb and jump, and the slats don't bow.

A local-ish chain that I really like is open 6:30-2 every day (http://www.eggharborcafe.com)

This is where I find that limiting the number of toys that are out really helps. My kids appreciate toys a lot more when they haven't seen them for a while. But it sounds like the main problem is that you and DH are not on the same page about the values you want your children to have. I would ask him if he honestly wants to raise materialistic children and if he wants his children to need "stuff" to be happy.

Usually once a day but sometimes twice if I'm cooking/baking in bulk to freeze and have used a lot of mixing bowls. I don't put plastic, wood, or knives (I do put in knives from our dinnerware, though) in the dishwasher. I just run it when it's full, rather than at set times during the day.