It can really vary so much that I don't think there's much point in thinking about what clothes to pack at this point. I would wait until about 7-10 days out and then look at the extended forecast on weather.com. In December, we can have days that are cold enough for jackets and gloves or days warm enough for shorts and flip-flops. If I had to decide now, I guess I would mostly bring long pants with short and long sleeve tops, a jacket, and a pair or two of shorts to cover all possibilities. 50-70 is a good estimate for the average, but like I said, I would wait until closer to the time you're leaving to decide which clothes to pack. Even then, I would overpack. If the weather says warm, bring a jacket just in case; if it says cool, bring a pair of shorts.

Ours is relatively clean today... Cup of water Today's newspaper Napkin holder Uneaten biscuit from last night's dinner (how did I miss that when cleaning up from dinner, breakfast, and lunch? Off to go throw it away now.)

Our septic tank access is right in front of our front porch (lovely thought), and has a concrete cover to it that sat in the middle of the grass. We extended the flower beds so that we now have bushes and flowers in front of the porch with mulch spread around. We cover the septic tank access with mulch, but it's easy to get to since you just have to scrape mulch away. Not sure how this would work in your situation, except I have seen yards where people have a circle or kidney-bean shaped flower bed in the middle of the yard. If you did something like this around the covers, you could hide them with mulch.

I agree that the $4300 is a very good price. I'd be surprised if you find cheaper. 30 minutes is not that far away, either. That sounds like a good option to me. I had my third at a birth center because we didn't have maternity coverage. The total there was $4200 with a $500 discount if you paid it off in advance, so we paid $3700, but that did not cover the sonogram or extra tests.

Yup, homeschooling in FL is pretty easy. You send a letter or intent to your county at the beginning of your year (whether that's August or March or whatever). You keep your lesson plans and a portfolio of work *in case* a school board person needs to check up on you. I don't think that ever happens, and even if it does, the school has to give you two weeks' notice. Then, at the end of the school year, you send in evaluation results to your county. You have three choices for evaluating your child (pick one). 1. A portfolio review by a certified teacher 2. A standardized test as mentioned by a pp. 3. An academic achievement test by a school psychologist. Your evaluation has to show that your child has made a year's progress commiserate with his/her ability. That's it. No attendance requirements or records, no school name, etc.

What would you charge to complete these projects? This is for a friend of mine who I know doesn't have a lot of money, so I want to be fair/generous to her, but also fair to me. FTR, I do a lot of sewing, but have not done much quilting. I feel confident I can do what she's asking, but I don't know what is a reasonable price. Here's her request: I participated in a couple of quilt swaps, collecting squares to represent the Five in a Row books I did when the kids were younger. There are about 60 11" squares. I'm thinking that would make two blankets. I would just want them sewn together, some kind of backing (fleece?), maybe in the ditch quilting. The other project is from a class I took but wasn't able to finish. The top is done, it will just need the backing (which I have) and some kind of filling. Are you interested and could you give me a quote? TIA

I used Knockout flea spray back in the spring when we had a major infestation. Our vet recommended it, and I bought it from them for twice the cost of what you can get it for on Amazon. I think it's pretty similar to a room bomb, but you spray it directly on the carpet or upholstered furniture. It says it lasts for four months, but I ended up doing two treatments wihtin a week. After that, the fleas were gone for about 3-4 months. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00076KQOM/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001ANYHY6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=160SJ02QVGJFAW9QDN0B

When I needed new contacts recently, I did a google search for discount contact lens places online and then checked the prices at various site for my specific contacts. For me, Lens Discounters had the the best price. I found the 1800 contacts was actually quite a bit higher. http://www.lensdiscounters.com/index.html?mv_source=msn1 I recommend them, and their standard shipping was pretty quick.

Thanks for the responses. I know this isn't a life-or-death issue, but I do want to be tactful, so I knew you all could help! That's what I was afraid of. I like the bolded part. I think I'll add that. It also makes it sound like we have this huge gift-giving circle, when really, we don't. Cutting my brother's family down to one gift practically cuts our gift-giving list in half. Thanks ladies. You've helped me out. I'll remove the last line, add Jennifer's sentence and a "Thanks for understanding." I'll let her make any decisions about her own gift-giving plans (she's smart enough to figure out that they would be welcome to reciprocate the one-gift plan).

Duck duck goose Florida

Can you help me word this email to my sister-in-law (my brother's wife) What I want to say... Hi, how are you, etc. etc. As Christmas is coming up, I wanted to let you know our gift plans. Since Dh had a pay cut at work this year, we're cutting back on things, so instead of doing individual gifts, we will be giving one present for the whole family. If you would like to do the same for us, that would be great. Does that sound OK? Does it seem rude? I guess I worry most about the last sentence. How would you feel about this? My brother and his wife have 5 kids, and we have always bought gifts for both the adults and the kids as they do for us. Money isn't really an issue for them, but it is for us. I would rather not buy an inexpensive trinket for each child, but rather a nice gift for everyone. I am friendly with SIL, but not close. We pretty much only communicate by emails and FB. Would you send this or change it?

This isn't so much of a resource as just a story to get them thinking or talking. http://www.facebook.com/notes/pro-life/a-worried-woman-went-to-her-gynecologist-and-said/10150586599035175

We have been using Steck-Vaughn Spelling: linking words to meaning. http://rainbowresource.com/product/sku/035597/5356a215657a097d5de5d8a9 I like it. Each week, the kids have a list of words that all have the same sound, like "long a" but show different ways to spell the same sound (hay, same, they). The lessons are easy to divide into 3-4 days' worth of work (about 15-20 minutes/day) and can be done independently. ETA If he's advanced, you might want to consider level 3. I find the levels to be what I would consider average. If you're interested, I have levels 1,2, &3 here and could give you an example of what the spelling words from the different levels include.

I am in my third year of TOG. In the first two years, I tried using writing aids with my kids. Some of the assignments were good, some didn't really fit for us, but overall, I really like WA. However, WA does not follow a classical philosophy to writing. I have decided to hold off on it and use it in the middle and high school years. My DD struggles with writing, and I decided to use a more classical approach to teaching writing for a few years. After that, I plan to go back to WA. We started Writing Tales this year and really like it. It's fairly low-stress, which is what she needs, but I have noticed an improvement in the quality of her writing. Each lesson covers two weeks and has the student read a story, retell it, rewrite it in their own words, edit and write a final draft, and do copy work and grammar lessons that relate to the story. I combine this with a copy work book because WT does not do as much copy work as I would like. I also add in some history narrations. For us, WT provides enough structure to give us a writing program, but it is not so intense that we can't add to it.

OP, I do not think you're being unreasonable. Yes, 15 months old is young, but a child of that age is perfectly capable of learning the things that you want to teach her. IMO, it sounds like you are a firm, but loving mother who provides her child with a safe and enjoyable environment to grow, develop, and learn. Regarding the MIL, IF you only saw the MIL for short, occasional visits, I would say not to worry about the issues you mentioned. Your time with your daughter would override any "untraining" from your MIL. However, you say that you are now living near her for part of the time. Presumably, your dd will be spending a significant amount of time with her grandmother, and I do think that could be harmful to your goals as a parent. I saw this type of thing in a child I used to watch. He was near my own dd's age, but was much more "babied," you might say. When he was here, I expected certain things from him that his mother did not think he could/would do. At my house he would do those things, but then when mom came, he would revert back to being "unable" to do them. If your dd spends a lot of time with grandma, she will learn that some things are OK with grandma that are not OK with you. Right now, she's learning it's OK to fuss for Grandma but not OK to fuss for mom. Perhaps that's not such a big deal (as many people on this board feel), but where will it stop? When she's 5, will she learn that it's OK to watch TV at Grandma's but not at mom's? When she's 15, will it be that it's OK to have boys over to grandma's house and not at mom's? Perhaps I'm going overboard, but I do see the importance of establishing firmer boundaries IF your dd will be spending a lot of time with grandma. So, that's my opinion. We've had to set some boundaries with our own parents. It's never fun in the moment, but it has been helpful. And, when we've talked with them, it's always been me with MY parents or DH with HIS parents. IOW, I won't talk to my MIL about an issue like that, but my DH will do it on OUR behalf. Also, FTR, when my dd was 18 months old, my dh put a new roof on the house. We have pictures of my dd climbing the ladder and then standing on the roof. (For all the worrywarts out there, yes there was always someone there to catch her if needed and someone on the roof to hold her hand.)

Yup. As mine are using more notebook book paper (instead of workbooks and large K-ruled paper), I have discovered they don't know the "rules" about notebook paper. They'll start on the wrong side, they pay no attention to the red margins, etc... Another thing I just realized my dd and ds don't know: My SIL posted this story on FB... *DD* just came home and told me never to pull my tongue and say apple. Glad she is learning so much at school. I can't say my dc know that information either.

Thank you to everyone for your responses. I appreciate the information. It sounds pretty much the same everywhere. Bummer. Thank you. This is a good idea. He is not a teacher; he is a school psychologist and RTI coach/coordinator. I don't know if this makes it better or worse.

I'm not quite sure if you all will be able to help me, but here goes... If you live in NC, SC, TN, or GA, can you tell me about the education system there? Not so much for students, but for employees. For example, are schools having to lay off workers? Are teachers getting raises/cost of living increases? Has overall funding for education been increasing or decreasing? I know the economy is bad all around, but how is it affecting the school system where you are? Here's why I ask. We are comtemplating moving to one of those states and Dh works in public education. Here in FL, public education is not going well. Funding is down and continues to be cut. Employees are being let go, there's not much hiring going on, and teachers in this county haven't received any kind of pay increase in 4-5 years and are now facing salary cuts. Those aren't the reasons why we're looking to move, but we don't really want to end up in another state with the same issues if we can help it. Thanks!

I've had a wagon and a minivan. I would pick the minivan over a wagon any day. It has so much more space for the kids and is easier to get in and out of. It sits higher than the wagon, but it isn't any longer, so it's actually easier to drive. The wagon has more storage space in the back than the van unless you are using that third row seat for kids, then you have NO room to put groceries or other bags. Also, consider the kids who would be riding in the back. Mine loved it and thought it was a great adventure to see the people behind us, but after a little while they typically got a little car sick from facing backward for so long. Gas mileage is slightly better for a wagon, but I don't think that outweighs the van's benefits. Fwiw, we had a 2002 Ford Taurus Wagon w/ third row seat and we now have a 2001 Toyota Sienna. Use consumer reports or Edmonds to check on the cars that you're looking at. Those sites can tell you which makes / models / and years have consistently ranked well or had problems. You don't want to save money on the front end only to have to pay for tons of repairs during the time you have the vehicle. Hth

You love The Well Trained mind... But hate FLL, SOTW, and WWE

I sew professionally (you can see my website in my signature). My ten-year old machine died on me this Spring (and I had about 5 orders that needed to be completed immediately!). I ordered this machine from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Affordable-60-Stitch-Computerized-Free-Arm/dp/B000JQM1DE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316803552&sr=8-1 It had good reviews, and it was reasonably priced. It's not quite as low $ as you're hoping for, but it's a good machine. I've been very happy with it. It's easy to operate, but you can also do professional work on it. As for stitches, it does basic straight stitches, overlocking, button-holes, and a variety of fancy stitches. It might also do quilting stitches (but I don't quilt, so I didn't pay attention to that part of the manual).

The only Ike I've known is my grandmother. Everyone calls her Ike; even her nieces and nephews call her "Aunt Ike.". Her name is Iris - so, not what I would have guessed for your son. :lol:

If it helps any, I just heard my five year chanting his big sister's LFC vocabulary while taking his bath this morning (and he doesn't even sit with her while she does Latin. He's picked up the chants from her).

My kids each have a 1 or 1.5 inch binder with multiple dividers for Bible, memory work, writing, grammar, history/geography, literature, and Latin. They have a separate science notebook and math is done directly in the workbook. The binders are filling up quicklym but my plan is to go through them every quarter and pull out the pages to keep in their portfolio (which is a separate binder) and which pages to toss. I like them having everything in one place.

Yes, I've done it and it is a very nice way to earn a little extra. The little boy I watched was about 6-9 months younger than my daughter, so it worked out really well in our situation. One thing that the mom and I had to figure out was what to do when one of mine was sick or when her little one was sick. Neither of us were big germaphobes, so a little cold wouldn't bother us. We'd call and say, "so-and-so is sick, here are the symptoms, what do you want to do?". It's important that there is a back-up plan. What if one of yours is too contagious? What if you are sick? What if you want to go out of town for a few days? Does she have anyone that could watch the kids in a pinch? In my situation, the other mom's mother lived nearby and could watch the boy when needed, so it was really an ideal arrangement.