I don't know know about Williamsburg. However, at Busch Gardens Tampa, you can purchase a one day pass or a fun pass (good through the end of the year) for the same price IF you are a Florida resident. You cannot buy the fun pass if you do not live in Florida. I don't know if it works the same up there, but that might be something to check into.

Check local credit unions. They provide the security of a bank but without the fees.

The OP's situation sounds very similar to what we have gone through. My oldest wet the bed every night. We tried limiting drinks. We woke her up to go to the bathroom at 10pm and 3am, and she still would wet the bed. She was a very heavy sleeper and tossed and turned all night. We did take her for a sleep test, but everything was normal. Also, I was a bed-wetter until late. We bought an alarm that buzzes when it gets wet (attaches to the underpants). Best $60 we have ever spent. It went off a few times in the first week, and then maybe again once a month for a couple of months. She hasn't used the alarm in over a year, and there has been one wet night during that whole time. If you choose to go that route, make sure she understands the buzzer and tries it out before she goes to sleep. Also, we ended up putting tape over the speaker because it was SO loud (didn't sound too loud when we tried it out, but it could wake the dead at 2 in the morning). This is the kind we got: http://sleepdryalarm.com/See-How-The-Alarm-Works.html

How horrible!

It's for my cousin who is definitely not Chinese So glad I'm not the only one to think this. That's what gets me! I have no problem with the engagement party as a way to celebrate with the newly engaged couple. And I will gladly get them a wedding gift and a shower gift at the appropriate time. But for the engagement? The wedding is a year away. It seems to me like the money tree is a way to raise money to fund the wedding. And that seems tacky.

We received an invitation to an engagement party with the note "No gifts, please. A money tree will be available if you would like to give cash or gift cards." Is this tacky? Or normal? I don't think the couple is registered anywhere, as the wedding is still one year away. Am I obligated to bring cash or gift card, or can I just give them a nice congratulations card for the engagement (I will get them a wedding gift at the appropriate time)?

Which Sea World would you be going to? I've been to the one in Orlando several times, and I would not pay $72/person for one day. We have passes, so that makes it reasonable. Sea World Orlando does have a few good rides and there are the animals, but I don't think it's all that great. If your childen are really interested in sea animals, then maybe, but if they just want regular animals and rides I would either do Disney's Animal Kingdom or Busch Gardens in Tampa. If you are coming to Orlando, then I would recommend considering a day or two at Busch Gardens. It is really a great park, and a lot less crowded than Disney. They have tons of rides for all ages and lots of animals and really great shows. We have passes there, too, and we can only do about half the park in one full day. I could on and on about BG. Of all the parks in Florida (and I've lived here all my life), it's my favorite. Disney's fun, especially if you have little ones who want the "magic" of Disney, but if you have older kids who want to go on a bunch of really cool roller coasters and see quite a bit of wildlife and maybe a few shows, you can't beat Busch Gardens. It's about 1.5-2 hours southwest of Orlando. And no, I'm not a spokesperson, just an enthusiast :)

Wow! That is quite a range! Thanks for all the replies. It seems maybe professionals run 50-75 for overnight and nonprofessionals run 20-40 for overnight. If we had neighbors who could run over and let the dog out and check on them periodically, that would be my preference, but I don't, and the dog has bladder issues that means she HAS to go outside early in the AM. So, the young lady will stay overnight. Hopefully, she'll think around $30/night is reasonable. Thanks, everyone!

I haven't read all the replies, but I'm going to vote sienna. We were in the same boat last summer and looked at SO many 00-02 Odesseys and 00-02 Siennas. From what I learned from research and reviews is that during those years, the sienna edges out the Odesseys. By 2003, the odyssey started taking the lead. We've had our 01 sienna for 8 months, and I love it! No problems, only routine maintenance.

I'm sure this varies by region, but I need to know what is the going-rate for pet-sitting. We have two occasions coming up this summer when we will be away from the house (one for 3 days, the other for a week). I have a very nice 20-year old young lady who will stay at the house to take care of our animals (1 dog, 1 cat). But she's never done this before and neither have we, so she doesn't know what to charge and we don't know what to pay her. She will sleep at our house and take care of the animals, but I've encouraged her to keep her regular routine, so she'll still go to work and socialize, etc. What do you think?:bigear:

--- If you are receiving this email, it's because your dues have still not been received. They were originally due by 4/1 and quite a few reminder emails had gone out to that effect. That cutoff came and went and many members had still not paid their dues. I made a point of getting in touch with everyone individually and giving a one month extension on the dues when I took over the group because I did not want to have to remove anybody from the group. That is not the kind of organizer I want to be. However, we are now halfway through the one month extension and so far dues have only been paid by 14 families total. There are still 10 families I am awaiting payment from (three of whom I never got any sort of response from at all and expect to be simply removing from the group very shortly). The rest of you (with the exception of one person who is still unsure and will let me know by the end of the month) have indicated a desire to stay with the group but still haven't gotten those dues out. I really hate to have to keep sending out these types of emails. It's time-consuming, and it makes me feel like I'm going around nagging and micro-managing everyone, which really isn't fun for me at all. But I just don't know what else to do. I am doing everything in my power to not have be the "bad guy" who starts removing interested members from the group. But if I have to, I will, because 1) the dues are needed to pay meetup costs and should be treated like any other financial commitment or bill you take on, and 2) it's not fair to the members who DID pay their dues to have a bunch of other members allowed to stay in the group indefinitely WITHOUT paying them. Therefore, please note that I absolutely MUST receive your dues by 4/30 to keep your membership active. That gives you two more weeks to get them to me. Anyone whose dues are not received by 4/30 will be removed from the group with no further notice and will not be allowed to rejoin until after their dues have been received. Thanks, Nancy --- That is a frustrating situation to be involved in. As for your email, personally, I think it's a little long and over-kill. Your irritation (which is totally understandable) shows through. I think it would be better to shorten the overall email. I would keep the parts that I have put in bold. The unbolded stuff is either information that they already know (eg. previous emails were sent out to them), or that they don't need to know (how many you're still waiting for), or expresses your frustration (the part about micromanaging) That's my opinion, for whatever it's worth.:)

I like this idea! This week, I've given my kids fruit for snacks instead of junk. Last week, I finished everything on the school schedule, including art (I can't remember the last time that happened). I cleaned toothpaste off the bathroom counter and washed the dog this morning (not at the same time). I have not raised my voice yet today.

Like a few others, I was originally against it. But we got to know quite a few homeschooling families while our kids were little, and Dh thought it was a great idea. Eventually, I agreed to hs our oldest for preK, figuring I couldn't do any irreversible harm. Since then, my mindset has changed so that I believe this is the right thing for my family and is no longer a matter of "we'll see how it goes" like it was when we started. Dh is very involved in our schooling as far as doing read alouds in the evenings with the kids, helping plan curriculum, and attending the annual conference. He wishes he could do even more than that, but his work schedule doesn't permit it.

Ditto. I use a stock pot (or my crock pot if I get it going early enough). We have a cast iron Dutch oven that only comes out for camping trips.

The iPad 2 is considerably thinner/ lighter. If you plan on carrying it with you (like in your purse), you might prefer the iPad 2. It has a faster processor and cameras, but I don't know that those are important for what you want. If you get it with 3G, you have the option of getting it through Verizon or At&t. The iPad 1 with 3G is only available through AT&T. Other than that, I don't think there are many other differences.

I really like the idea of starting the ancients in your oldest child's first grade year. If your son will be kindergarten this coming year, I would probably just save history until the following year. Like Tina said, you can do a nice geography study like Gallopping the Globe or somehing similar in order to introduce countries and cultures to your children.

I plan on doing math review and a science unit study. In the past, we've done catch-up for what we didn't finish in the school year. This year, however, we 're actually on track. Yay! But I still like the idea of keeping some kind of routine during the summer (or else we all go crazy!)

My kids like the MTH books, too. Other book series that they like on a similar level are the Cam Jansen books and the A to Z Mysteries.

I agree! I love it!! And for Dawn, I think I'd still love it if it were an iPad 1.

I have a question For those of you who have experience selling on eBay and/or paypal I know the buyer is protected by eBay and paypal if the item never arrives (it's the seller's responsibility to insure the item, etc.). Is this true for international shipping as well? I have been selling on eBay for a while, and I always send my packages with insurance when I am shipping within the US. However, when I ship something to Canada, i can't buy insurance for a package going first class, only priority, which is a LOT more expensive. For my last Canadian customer, I gave them two shipping costs and explained that the cheaper one does not include shipping or tracking. They chose this option and now they're asking me for a tracking number. :glare: if the package does not arrive, will eBay hold me liable?

I agree with Robin who said it was an investment. Would I spend that much on a program to only use with my kids for one year? No. But when I look at the price divided up over the length of time we will use it, it becomes a reasonable cost. I buy about half of the books for each year with the thought that my younger child will use them next rotation. The other half I get from the library. TOG is what you make it to be, so I suspect it would work well with two students of different learning styles. My two are fairly similar, so I can't speak first hand on that. Definitely print out the 3 week trial plan. Personally, i had a hard time seeing the whole program from just those three weeks, though. I didn't feel really comfortable with the program until after no bought the whole first year. If you do decide to try out a whole year, you can buy a used print version and then if you don't like it, you can resell it for pretty much the same amount of money. You can find used copies for sale on this board or on the TOG forum.

I had the same question! We're doing Rod and Staff 2 this year, but I feel like I want something else for writing for next year. I am not a big fan of WWE, so for us, we looked at Classical Writing and Writing Tales. You can look through sample pages and scope and sequence on their websites. Since I haven't used them yet, I can't tell you how well they work, but I liked the looks of both of them. I feel like either one will be a good supplement for R&S and the other writing we're doing through history and literature. BTW, both CW and WT have grammar practice added in, so it might seem like overkill with R&S, but it looks pretty simple, so I think it will be a good review and application of what DD learns in R&S. Just my two cents on what we've decided to do.

You guys have me scared. I have just removed my bank account info from paypal. Is it safe to have my credit card info there, or should I remove that too? Those of you who use paypal for selling things (not just buying) how do you get the money from your paypal account without it being linked to your bank account?

Florida's a pretty easy state for homeschooling. You send a letter of intent (to educate your children at home) to the local school district. There are no attendance requirements or any quarterly checks. At the end of the school year, you submit an evaluation to the county. An evaluation can be one of three things: 1. Have a teacher review your child's portfolio of work and write a letter saing that the child has made a year's worth of progress. 2. Have your child take a standardized test and submit the results to the county 3. Have your child tested by a school psychologist If you visit FPEA.com, you will find forms for your letter of intent and the teacher portfolio review. There's also a downloadable "getting started guide.". This guide should give you all the info you need (for example, you are also required to keep lesson plans and portfolios in case the county ever wants to check on you). I believe FPEA also keeps a list of registered homeschool groups by county, but I can't help you there. I'm down near Tampa. Hope everything goes well with the move.

Bummer.