This is not anywhere near the same level as building a house, but DH added a mudroom onto our house with no construction experience. He learned how to do the electrical, HVAC, insulation, drywall etc. using Youtube and other internet resources. It took him a lot longer than a contractor, but it turned out really well. He did outsource the plumbing, since he didn't feel comfortable doing that, but I think that only cost us a few hundred dollars. As long as you're realistic about it taking ten (or more!) times longer than a professional, I think it can be done. Will you have a place to live while building the house?

The geography chapter suggests teaching the subject by having kids learn to draw maps freehand. Each grade level focuses on a different continent, and they practice drawing a few times a week. The sample drawings in the book are pretty inspiring!

Welcome--these forums are wonderful ... and addictive :)

DH and I have been planning a library since we moved into our house three years ago--we finished our basement and set aside a big room as a library. Since we moved, all our books have been stacked on the floor (sorted roughly by subject and genre, but still a huge pain to find anything). We looked into getting bookcases custom-built, but the prices were astronomical :eek: . We finally just decided to get Billy bookcases from Ikea--a lot cheaper, and I won't have a heart attack if my kids scratch or ding something. We're filling three walls with bookcases going from floor to ceiling (using two height extenders on each bookcase). We also decided to put glass doors on the bookcases to make the room look a little more formal (and keep the dust off the books). I am SO EXCITED to finally have enough storage for my books (and room to buy more books :) ). I figured that this board is probably the only place where people would share my excitement over this kind of thing! ETA: in-progress pictures found in posts 30, 48, and 61 :)

I live near a town with Swiss roots, and there is polka music almost every weekend--and the dance really fills up. The older folks are by far the best dancers. A few polka bands we've enjoyed that you can find on Youtube are Steve Meisner, Greg Anderson, and Johnny Koenig (not local but amazing on the accordian).

I agree about the geography--it really should be titled "Awesome Ways to Learn Geography" :) Can you get it from a library just to peruse it?

I vote donate, too, unless your kids are into crafts. Then I'd take it apart so that the components are usable, and then them let make something with the stuff.

We're having a green salad, followed by penne with sausage and slow-roasted tomatoes (frozen from my summer farm share). Maybe I'll add kale or broccoli, if I'm feeling adventurous.

Seed Savers Exchange--My local grocery co-op carries their seeds, which is convenient for me.

For those of you who use HAS, do you do any art history separately? Or do you figure that your kids have plenty of time to be exposed to art hsitory when they're older?

along the lines of the French bread suggestion, warm biscuits or rolls are always delicious.

I used to only sort by color but because it was a pain to get everyone's clothes in the right place come folding time, I now sort darks/lights for the kids and then for me and DH separately (though I sometimes combine the whites load if there isn't much from all of us). Now I take all our clean stuff into our bedroom, and it's quick to put away. And it's also a lot faster to put away the kids' stuff. Before, I'd avoid doing it, and a few loads of clean laundry would pile up before I'd finally make myself put everything away.

Perhaps we're talking about different publications--I am referring to peer-reviewed journals written by scholars and intended for a scholarly audience. I think that many students who have had an introductory class or two in chemistry (or physics, biology, etc. ) at the college level are not ready for such reading because the research is so specialized. If you are referring to peer-reviewed journals, we'll just have to agree to disagree :)

Well, you're going to set the next trend with your new style, right? ;)

I don't know if this has been discussed here yet, but you might want to check or update your Facebook privacy settings with the new graph search feature. I found this article helpful: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-privacy-graph-search-2013-1?op=1 I could, you know, delete my Facebook account, but it's a way of keeping up with more distant family members and friends. And who can resist cute pictures of babies?

:grouphug: How kind of your dd to give you candy--hope you enjoy it and hope tomorrow is much, much better!

Has he considered taking it untimed or with extended time? Some of the possible accomodations to request are here: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ssd/accommodations/time It is noted with the score if the test was taken with extended time or untimed, I think.

I'd also add that unless you really know a field well, you would have a hard time knowing which articles were significant for that field. You can't just randomly flip through these journals and expect to find suitable reading material. You'd need to know if there was follow-up research after an article was initially published, how credible other scientists found it, etc. And, as pp have mentioned, these articles are often so specialized that even undergraduates need guidance in learning how to read them.

Thank you, everyone. I have said, "I'm so sorry," but I wish there were something else I could say. It just feels so inadequate :(

I've had success gently reheating this recipe for pork chops with mustardy apples and onions: http://www.dinneralovestory.com/pork-chops-tonight/

I recently found out some really bad news about someone I know of through mutual aquaintances. She was found brutally murdered in her apartment. It's horrifying, and I don't have any idea what to say to the people who were close to her. "I'm sorry" doesn't even seem to come close to expressing what I should say.

Hands down, the 1995 BBC version. Nothing comes close :)

For me, Latin is an essential language to learn. DH and I feel like we truly understood grammar after taking Latin and both wish we had not waited so long to take Latin (high school for me, college for him). I took Italian later in college and definitely think that Latin made it so much easier (same could be said of French or Spanish).

I always see these posts, and I think to myself, I really need join in. So today I will --write at least 3 thank you notes --finish some writing for work --do a load of laundry --do a quick pick-up of cluter in the house; prep house for company tomorrow morning I will get it all done. I will!

That's great--congratulations!