Wow -- there are lots of great ideas above! And yes, I agree that you should stick with the reason for the season in the midst of all the fun -- it's a good opportunity to "testify." Maybe if you're making written invitations you could incorporate some Christian symbols to indicate that your party is about more than just bunnies and eggs so that people know coming into it what your "take" is. And then the Resurrection Eggs are a "gentle" way of telling the real Easter story -- if that's the route you choose to go. As for crafts, a good friend of mine (oh wait -- it was YOU;) gave me a link to a lovely blog called "Inspiring Ideas" where I've found a couple of neat things. Here's one I want to try with simple food colouring dyes: http://jeannewinters.blogspot.com/2009/03/jesus-easter-eggs.html You could just use shape stickers instead of letters if you wanted. Could be messy, though. When I was thinking of ideas, I didn't know there'd be 16 children. You'd probable have to do it in shifts. Here's one I have done repeatedly myself (I just really like them, though I've modified them a bit!) and with my children, who went a step further and wound fine coloured wire around the frame and added beads: http://jeannewinters.blogspot.com/2008/03/wire-cross-accent.html Make sure you have (ahem) good wire cutters, though;) Perhaps a really simple idea would be to print stained glass templates in black on white paper and have the children trace them onto transparencies with a black Sharpie. Then have them colour in the stained glass "window" with coloured Sharpies. We've done this successfully in the past at Christmas time, and are doing them now for Easter. I limit the size to a quarter of a page. Anyway -- hope that helps a bit.

. . . but I sent you one.

Hello everyone! Haven't been here in AGES -- but my 10 yo son has been asking for a boy pen pal, and since he is a reluctant writer (unless it involves a comic strip!), I'm THRILLED to oblige by trying to find one here! We are Christians, Canadians (in Ontario), and a homeschooling family of three children (dd11, ds10, dd6). My son loves Lego (Bionicles) and MegaBlocks (Neoshifters) and Playmobil -- things that he can put together and then use his imagination to play with them. He also loves computer games, and Wii games, especially if things explode in them :{ Let me know if you have a son close in age that would be interested in exchanging letters with my young guy!

BTDT -- doctor wasn't worried -- 'member? I think it's just that you're getting old. Things start falling apart around now, you know.:lol: Hey, maybe we'll be twins with whacky thyroids:) Woo hoo!:cheers2: Seriously, though -- what does it hurt to check it out with the doc?

One more word about the price . . . When I consider what we can (and do) spend for other learning opportunities, I don't think RS is so bad cost-wise. ONE trip to the zoo or science centre would cost our family of 5 close to $100. We recently spent $360 for our 3 children to have 10 one-hour tumbling and trampolining classes -- which is approximately what two levels of RS cost me -- and it offers hundreds of learning hours. There is no perfect curriculum or program out there; but so far, and FWIW, I'm happy with my RS purchase:)

Well, here are some of the reasons I like Rosetta Stone French (homeschool version), which I purchased about two months ago after spending a couple of years looking at other programs: the children can do it independently (even my 6 yo) I can sit down and work on it, too, when I feel like it the program tracks their progress for me (and you can print reports, should you wish to) they are forced to learn how to pronounce things properly, as the program requires repeated attempts if things are not said correctly I can choose the emphasis of each child's program (so, for example, I have it set up for my oldest two to be working on all strands of language, but for my little, it's mostly oral) I don't have to schedule the program, though I can if I want to It's simple and fun -- there are never complaints about doing French -- just competition for time to do it on the computer my children's french vocabulary is definitely improving. Just last night, when we were out for a walk, my son started pointing to things and naming them in french. While I know that doesn't mean they're speaking in french, they are learning basic sentence structure and vocab, and my dh (who is fairly fluent in french) says that building vocabulary is the key at this stage -- just as it was when they were first learning to speak English. they learn how to listen, read, and speak the language all at the same time they can listen to themselves speak (by playing back what they've said) in comparison to what the voice on the program says I'm sure I could come up with some other reasons, but duty calls . . . HTH :D

I most certainly find it a challenge (and sacrifice) to play with my children, especially the imaginary stuff. I'd much rather read aloud. But I'm getting better at saying "yes" to board games, and sometimes actually enjoy them:)

You guys are awesome!!! 4kids4me -- I wondered if you'd catch me here:p Glad to see ya!

I'm wondering if anyone out there has some suggestions to help my 10 yo dd with her sleep issues. She has a really hard time falling asleep, and the longer she lies in bed, the more anxious she gets about her inability to fall asleep before my husband and I go to bed. (She has intense anxiety about being awake when everyone else is asleep if it happens before she has slept. If she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, she is not bothered by being the only one awake -- in fact, she says she enjoys that time -- but only if she has slept first.) Of her own volition, she has stopped eating after supper time (in case something she eats will keep her awake), taken soothing drinks like cammomile tea, taken natural children's sleep aids (an awful tasting tincture -- the name of which escapes me right now), gone to bed earlier than the rest of the family (to get a head start on falling asleep), tried listening to soothing music, and given up reading in bed (because, while she loves to do it, she finds it too stimulating -- she just keeps thinking about the story after she has turned the light off). She has also established a routine of asking me to lie with her and pray with her soon after she goes to bed (which I'm happy to oblige). I'm thinking I should take her to the doctor -- but in the meantime, do you have any suggestions? I'm wondering if it's hormonal. I really don't want to put her on any medication -- I want to find a natural solution. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom you can offer!

Hello everyone! I haven't been here in a while, and things are . . . so . . . different!!!!! Wow! Let's see if I can figure it all out . . . My dd is working on a project for Awana and needs to interview five adults. If a few Christians could answer these quick questions, that would be tremendously helpful: 1. When did you trust Christ as your Saviour? (I'm assuming they want an age, not an exact date.) 2. Did you trust Christ because of a lesson or verse you heard? If so, can you tell a bit about it? On behalf of my daughter, who suggested you all might be the ones to ask -- thank you so much for your help!!!