My ds12 has been sitting in the front seat for at least a year now. He passed my mom for height and weight when he was 10 and I figured if she is safe then he would be too. He is now as tall as I am, but not quite as heavy.

Quick and easy. Tricolor rotini, pepperoni, ham, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and sometimes onions and cucumbers. Mix with Marie's creamy Italian Garlic dressing. Yum.

Twin Sisters Productions has the cd's we have. We have the addition and subtraction and Spanish ones. The additions they go back to over and over again, but the others not so much. They are better than some others I have heard. http://www.twinsisters.com/onlinecatalog/songsthatteach/math.htm

A washcloth and ziplock baggies. I always throw in a washcloth just because it feels so nice to wash the sweat off my face and I can throw it over something easily to dry. The marshmallows :).

I created 3 subfolders in my inbox:ordered,shipped, and received. When I get the ordered email, I stick it in the ordered folder, when it is shipped, that goes in the shipped, when it gets here, I move the shipped email to the recieved folder. After we have used the item for a week or two, I purge the folders.

My ds7 is my puzzler. I taught him that one had to be put away before getting another one so pieces won't be lost. He still does puzzles whenever he's bored. Even on his gameboy he prefers puzle type games like Tetris to others.

I found little wooden tv tables that fold up when not in use and whenever one of mine find it impossible to work with distraction (a lot of those with a 2yo), they can take a table and a chair into their room with the door closed and the understanding that I will only check inbetween working with the others that are out in the dining room with me. They come out if they have questions. For my oldest, If he is being nosy, I offer to let him teach and do his stuff later. That always helps him focus on his work :)

I got it for my dd8 this year after Christmas and she has been slowly reading through it. She has only read the parts about hygeine so far since she is so not a pick up the book and read it type person. I think I will assign it for her summer reading so that she will finish it. I was just 12 when I started but she is already having mood swings, but no visible changes yet.

Be warned that the tannic acid in tea can leach iron from your system, so if there is any problemwith iron, tea is probablynot good. That said I grew up drinking sweet tea and 3 of my 4 kids drink it, although they mostly drink the decaf stuff.

My middle ds(now 7) calledhis a pop-pop. We still use that today.

Iced tea all day,hot tea if it's cold or I don't feel well. Can't stand coffee.

We didn't do much this year for 1/2 grades, mostly library books and a few experiments/worksheets off the net. For next year, with 2/3 graders, we're gonna do R.E.A.L. science life.

My ds7 has just this past month reached the reading environmental signs point. He had short vowel phonics down, but is still in the sounding the silent e and then getting it right when reminded silent e. Does he like any phonics based games?

I voted C because that is what i would prefer, but in reality it frequently gets out of hand because of {drumroll please} too many toys. Who's surprised? No-one, thought so.

My dd8 voted Hershey bar from your choices, although Reese's would have been her choice if it was on there.

I know how you feel. We have 3 more chapters in SOTW2 to finish. All that is needed is for me to read it to the kids, but I am doing everything but that, including laundry. Time off didn't help here, we just had a week off to go to a wedding and still cannot get back into the groove.

Can you give them like large eggs (plastic) and tell them that they are their dragons and they must care for them. Then at the end, let them open them and have some candy or small toys inside. A treasure hunt is a definite must, dragons always have treasure. Maybe play games like but substitute knights and dragons for the regular names. Maybe a dragon mask craft? HTH

We all go to bed between 10pm and 12am here. But we don't start our day until 9am. My preference would be to have the kids asleep by 10 so I can have a long time alone without hearing MOM, but dh's late work hours mean that they are up til he gets home so they can tell him "just one thing" LOL.

How do you decide where the line is between challenging your child and too hard? For instance: I was reading Nancy Drew type books at 6yo in 1st grade. My ds12 was about 9 reading Nancy Drew and now reads anything I read as long as I ok the book. Maturity, not vocabulary is the deciding factor. My dd8(almost 9) is reading small chapter books now,just started this year. My ds 7 is still in the Bob books stage. My dh is not a very big reader, but when he does read, it is stuff like Hawkings, or Freud. Anyway, my dd8 is showing signs of boredom with school (I know part of it is the end of the year), but I don't want to ramp up too hard and frustrate her. My ds12 can and needs to do more work (esp. writing) and fights me on every little thing I add that is more than he did in 1st grade. He does it out of fear of change(a problem he has dealt with since he was little) and that makes it hard for me to tell if it is his fear or frustration from too hard material. Long story short: How do you decide where the line is between too hard and just challenging material? Thanks:bigear:

Congratulations! My 3rd had the fluid left in his lungs after a rapid birth and he turned 7 this month and is fine. He also had trouble with latch, but by the time he was 3-4 weeks, he was a pro. So hold on, it will end.

Are you married into my dh's family? He is only 4 yrs. older than me, but has three older 1/2 sisters that are older than my parents. His dad was 10 yrs older than my grandparents. His youngest sister is my age. :001_huh: He is also one of 12.

If you go to www.donnayoung.org you can find a schedule broken down by day for the year. How long each day depends on how fast your dc read. I haven't done it yet, it's on the schedule for my ds12 next year, so I'm not sure how long.

If your son likes to draw, he can draw pics from the field trip and you can write what he tells you. I generally save full reports for those exhibiting rude and disobedient behavior on field trips. ETA: Mine don't like writing anyway, but often the reports end up being oral to Dad and granddaddy.

Both of my older boys are lefties, my girl is a righty, the 2yo, who knows. My mom and her younger brother are lefties and the other three are righties.

My ds12 gets this whenever he bathes, shower or bath. He uses baby soap for body and hair, but when he's done he has itchy feet. Maybe it's the age?