DD is going to switch from homeschooling to public school for 9th grade. We're very casually dressed at home. Lots of PJ/athletic wear days. Other than once a week co-op and church, she really only leaves the house for soccer practice and hanging out with friends. We're trying to figure out reasonably how many clothes we should have to start the school year. I attended private schools and remember needing to add quite a few things to my wardrobe over Christmas break my first year of college. I don't mind adding things as we go, I'm just trying to get an idea of numbers to help make a budget.

We just drove east through Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. We did have issues at a couple of fast food places that were not open, even for using the restroom. After telling my sister about this she recommended chain drug stores for bathroom breaks. They're usually a little more off the highway, but most towns have a CVS or Walgreens or Rite Aid etc. They all have *usually* clean public restrooms.

I don't think it's weird to stay with family on visits, but the inviting yourself on vacations is not OK. However, no one has ever stayed with us, or us with them, for more than about a week. 3 months is a long time. We have traveled several times with in-laws, my parents and even my parents and all siblings/spouses/nieces/nephews. Those are always planned trips together. MIL or my mom or sibling will say, "What do you think about going here with everyone?" Then we plan it together and go. I can't imagine hearing of my in-laws trip planned for Niagara Falls and then telling them that it sounds fun and we're coming along.

Thanks for sharing! I'm heading into ancient history this coming fall with my youngest two and have been thinking about doing this.

I also just purchase the printed books. I might have chosen differently if I was going to use them for all of my children, so I would have the PDF file, but I'm just doing TGTB with my younger two. For me, it's just not worth the hassle of printing.

In our house it means there's no good cereal, junk food or fresh fruit.

I know about Notgrass, is there anything else? I would be ok with it being more of a unit study than a full year or semester even. We're coming off of a year of US History. She said she would like more information on how the government works specifically before we move on to something else.

I know we have carpenter ants. They're in our south wall. It's probably bad as there is wood debris in the windowsills. We should have called last year, we hesitated, then we stopped seeing them....out of sight, out of mind. So here we are again. I am wondering from anyone who has dealt with this in the past how many treatments were necessary from their exterminator? I called two and they are offering different plans at different prices so I'm trying to figure out the best option.

I think it's likely that when a larger segment of the population is vaccinated that they (and many other people) will slowly begin to stop all the other safety protocols. It will be easier to do that for many people when the numbers are going down and the CDC says it's safe to do so. I think it's similar to any vaccine really. My kids have all been vaccinated for chicken pox. I would still not take them to a place where I knew someone had chicken pox. I know it's not entirely the same but I do understand that for some, especially if they have a lot of anxiety about the current situation, it feels like Covid is guaranteed to be everywhere.

I so agree with the bolded! I used to shop with a calculator and then make adjustments in the store. I love tweaking our menu to stay in budget while I'm sitting on the couch watching Netflix instead of standing in the middle of the grocery store.

I can always tell who has done my shopping. There are two women who are middle-aged who do an amazing job. If there's a substitution it's always generously in my favor. The larger package for the same price as the smaller one I ordered. Name brand for the store brand etc. There is a younger woman who never subs anything which is frustrating and then two younger men who have made some interesting choices. Frozen chicken patties, the breaded kind, instead of frozen chicken breasts. Green leaf lettuce for kale, which I just couldn't see putting in my soup. Dill for rosemary, as if any seasoning subs for another? Really it's just obvious they don't cook 🙂 I adjusted my preferred pick up days/times in order to up my chances of having someone older do my shopping. It seemed like most ridiculous choices were made on weekends or later evenings. Now I pick up on Tuesdays at 11am.

I have been thinking this more and more as my 'baby' is about to turn 7. The oldest is about to turn 15 and we're beginning to have more and more conversations about the planning involved to launch her. I have been telling DH over the past 2 years that we were in such a sweet spot with our kids ages. Everyone potty-trained and able to dress themselves, but no one old enough to be desperate to get away from us yet. 😃 It's been lovely, but I can't help but see the changing season ahead. It's so exciting and bittersweet all at once.

Thank you for all the ideas! The only other thing I was coming up with were beach chairs but I really don't want to invest in those for something we might do once every 5-6 years. I shared all the fun games with my siblings and it looks like between the lot of us we'll end up with all of it there. 🙂 Thanks again!

We're gong to the beach in the first time in forever at the beginning of the summer. Because of this I was thinking of making the Easter basket vacations themed with lots of the things the kids will use while we're gone. We need new towels, so that's an easy start. I am coming up with millions of ideas for the 6 and 10 year old but nothing for the 13 and 14 year old. Should they just get sand toys as well? I love going to the ocean, but it's something I do about once every 5-7 years, so it's not a frequent activity.

We also encounter this. We'll ask FIL what something is and the reply will start with "Well, Dad saved from that from......in case....." And then that means we can't get rid of it. Even though DH's grandpa died almost 10 years ago, was in a nursing home for 4 years before that and not well enough to work on the farm for almost 5 years before that. So it's something that has been saved for at least 19 years with no one using it. But we can't get rid of it. And it's usually been saved in an old plastic bucket or on a random pile somewhere - always very organized you know?

Just a note on water storage: We store it everywhere. We have several cases under everyone's beds. We have gallon jugs in the basement. We always have a case in both vehicles. We usually only have about 2 weeks worth though.

We live on a multi-generation farm. I would love, love, love to be able to declutter even one of the multiple outbuildings that my FIL has stuffed to the brim with junk. He, like his father before him, saves everything that may ever possibly be useful. One evening he spent over 2 hours pulling out stainless steel nails from the wood of a building we had to take down. He's very frugal and for the most part that is a quality I admire about him. However, he values his time very little. To buy the hardware that it took him 2 hours to save would only cost about $10. It's getting to the point where he needs to park equipment outside because there is no room in the actual equipment building for it. If we never make much headway while he's alive DH has promised that we'll just hire someone to come and clear it all out when he's gone. We'll probably (hopefully!) be in our 60's by then.

I already have the book and had made my own cards years ago. I'm working through this again with my youngest and I think she would benefit from the letters but they don't seem to be sold separately. I never used them before, we just wrote on a small whiteboard.

My mom is a nurse who is still working on a floor in a hospital caring for Covid patients and is refusing the vaccine. I also find it frustrating. Her argument is that she has seen quite a few new drugs come out through the years that had eventual long-term consequences and she consistently holds to the standard that she won't take something unless it has been out for 10 years. It makes me very concerned as she plans on working for at least 2 more years and has terrible asthma. She has admitted she would be very likely to have to serious case but still refuses.

Our first floor is all wood floors and I have found the thing that makes the biggest difference to me, other than a nice fleece hoodie, is to have on slippers that have a sole. Growing up my dad always told us that if your feet were warm the rest of you would be warm, and I'm finding that to be true.

I agree with the Ikea option, I played around on it quite a bit when we were planning our remodel a few years ago. You can also meet with someone at Lowe's and they will help you design it. I have a friend who did that but then ended up using a local Amish builder for the actual cabinets. They were better quality but less expensive than Lowe's. We went to a local kitchen design place and there was no charge for them to come out and take measurements and plan things out for us. There's really no other way to get a true quote on your cabinet order.

Do you have the activity box that comes with The Good and the Beautiful? If so, why not play games from it for awhile and skip the bookwork? The games are very similar to a lot of the activities in Right Start Math as well as Kate Snow's Addition Facts That Stick. The box already contains ten-frames, counting manipulatives, base-ten bricks etc.

Just seeing and adding my voice to all the others who are lifting your niece your family up in prayer!

I would sand and do everything I could to get them off the wall before painting. A friend moved in to a home where the children had an adorable bathroom with their handprints all over it. Due to the thickness of the paint of the handprints she had to sand down each handprint and THEN paint with primer and THEN ended up using drywall mud to smooth out some of the places that were still noticeable. It was a nightmare she never expected when she saw the cute bathroom.

We also use the CeraVe products. They were recommended years ago by a dermatologist who said to use something with ceramides in it.