Kmart - I drove 40 miles to the mall looked everywhere for reasonably priced jeans. Ended up finding adjustable Levi's at the Kmart in our town.

You put into words exactly what I wanted to say. It boils down to the fact that I don't really trust the CDC. Do I think they are out to hurt our children - absolutely not, but I think the accountability is not up to par and there are too many personal agendas and conflicts of interest. I would like to hear from the physicians who have personally researched auto-immune disorders and vaccines over long periods of time. Where are these people and are they vaccinating their children? I feel the pressure this year because my baby is in UPK at the school and they are planning vaccine clinics in a few weeks. There is a subtle "peer pressure" I sense in the school about doing the "smart and responsible" thing in regard to vaccinating. I would love to do the right thing but I'm not sure it is. NY has already made it mandatory that all health care workers be vaccinated against H1N1. I know at least 1 person who is very against this and may have to look for a job in a new state.

I haven't worked on a list yet but I wanted to comment on the Silapat. I own the bigger Roul'pat not for baking on but for rolling dough on. I got it from Bed Bath and Beyond. It is great if you need a bigger surface.

We have the Wii and I had to laugh when our 4yo went for his physical and the doctor asked him to balance on 1 foot and he immediately did the "tree" position from the yoga. Surprised, the doctor asked if there was a popular "yoga for kids" or something like that out because our ds was about the 10th kid to do that. We explained about how it is on the Wii fit. Our 4yo's absolute favorite game is Mario Cart Wii.

I had someone make me a pretty rice-filled bag to heat in the microwave. It is about a 1 1/2 feet long and is divided into sections so the rice stays distributed. It also has a cover that slips off for washing. I use it for headaches or to wrap it around my neck when I have to go out in the cold or to warm my feet in bed. I overheated it several times so it is starting to have a more rice smell but I have been using it for 3 years now. I need another one maybe even longer length.

We had the same problem here when our youngest ds turned four earlier this year. We ended up getting him a ball roller set. He has a wooden and plastic one and seems to like them both. The wood one came from Amazon and the plastic was TRU. We have also bought cd players with recorded story cds as gifts.

I scanned through the Aufmann Prealgebra book and I do see a lot of review but I also see some things where we need to practice more. I ordered a 2nd hand solutions manual. This book seems so busy after getting used to the layout of Singapore Primary. I don't think the dvds will be necessary. I know this has been asked a lot .. but why would I do Lials BCM instead? I wish I had the courage to do Singapore Discovering Math. The layout and scope seem more user friendly but I am not sure how it would prepare him in comparison to a traditional math sequence (in case we have to send him to school and he has to take the NYS Regents and PSAT)

My oldest wallowed through the new WW Book 4 in 4th grade and I saved it for ds#2 for his 4th grade. I just couldn't bring myself to torture him with it this year and I actually felt relieved not to assign it. Poor oldest ds IS the guinea pig.

OK, IF we slowly move into algebra, what algebra seems to be real user friendly? I don't need to have a video program for algebra (it's my favorite math) but I despise geometry and will want it there. I know this has been discussed to death but I would like to see some updates on how happy homeschoolers are with their math decisions for this year. I do have the Aufmann pre-algebra book so we could skim through that first to see if he has all the basics down. My initial reason for wanting a video course is that I tend to rush at explaining things and I thought an unhurried video teacher might help.

I am just looking at these for next year (7th grade) after Singapore 6B. Thinkwell seems to be more visually appealing but Chalkdust seems to have more scope. Any reviews of either? I realize that both are going to be a lot of review of what he has already learned but I would like another year of reinforcement before stepping into Algebra.

Land Line. We have no choice - no cell service here. We live in a very hilly area of NY and we are in a valley in the hills so it just misses our house.

Back we did American History, we did Winterpromise American Story 1 but I also owned SL3. You could just add some of the activity resources from WP. The 3d maps are fun at first but can be a bit much for a non map lover. My boys did love making the dioramas and other crafts from Colonial America. I agree with the other posters to just replace those books from SL that are not for you. We did love all the WP Adventure reading stories but I did use my SL schedule for individual reading.

I have changed on this. I've watched enough "What Not To Wear" to know that we send out a specific image with how we dress and look. I find that if I always just wear whatever I tend to feel very blah and send out a "I don't really care about myself" image. I like to have nice things to wear to church or out and feel much more "together" when I have an outfit on. I also want to look good for hubby. I used to go for a long time without getting my hair done and now I go about every few months. He has never said anything to make me feel bad about myself but I think self improvement cannot hurt. That said - I really don't like clothes shopping for myself. Very rarely am I in the mood to do it. I haven't had a manicure since my wedding and I have never had a pedicure. I also love to garden and live in the country so nice nails and high heels are not high on my list.

We are working on our study. We purposely decided not to call it a school room because I don't like being chained to one spot all year. This room will hold all our books and the desktop computer and it will probably have an old table for the kids to work or play at. I will also hang my large world and USA maps on its walls. Right now, we are using our living room for storing these things and its so cluttered. The study still needs trim around the windows, floor covering, and baseboard to be finished. I cannot wait, it has a radiant heated floor which I am going to love in the dead of winter. We tend to do school in different areas at different times of the year. We stick with the kitchen table in the fall and spring but when its colder we retreat to the living room or ,hopefully, our new study.

I am reading Mara of The Nile because I wasn't sure I wanted to do it as a read aloud. I cannot imagine giving this to my 4th grader to read on his own. But he isn't the strongest reader. I am going to give it to my 6th grader to read. I am enjoying the story so far.

I buy the spiral bound grid paper notebooks from Staples (when they're on sale of course) and have them work the problems in them. I have them write the page # at the top and the problem # as they work through. The grid paper seems to help them but I don't insist they write each number per small square.

My SWR materials are 7 years old. My red book came spiral bound and I find that I don't use it enough to do anything else with it. My WISE Guide was also spiral bound but it started to fall apart a couple of years ago so I had Staples cut the spiral off and drill holes for a binder. I find it very handy and I have the rules/phonogram cheat sheet in the front in a page protector. Every once in awhile a page will get pulled out but I just put it back in with reinforcing rings. I also keep my diagnostic test scores in the same binder. For the phonogram and rule cards, I cut them and then used store bought reinforcement sheets on them and used a corner rounder to keep them from being pokey. It took forever but they have held up beautifully and we use them for games and phonogram hops and hides. One thing I am glad I did was I wrote in red on the back of the phonogram cards the spelling list in which that phonogram is introduced so I am not quizzing my kids on what they haven't learned yet.

I think it is well worth the money. It is so much easier to review and check answers with the TM and it gives highlights of what should be learned from each lesson. I find it necessary.

I can so relate with this. My mom is a classic hoarder and I do get angry about it because it seems so selfish and yet she gives us so much. I take most anything she gives me and just plan to throw it out although some stuff has been very useful. Both my brother and I are neat people. Him more than me because I have 6 other beings inhabiting my house. Clutter really bugs me and I like nothing more than to wake up to a picked up downstairs. I have to try hard to let my boys be themselves in the house and let them decide what to keep and throw away. I hope and pray I never have to go down that road. We have gotten her to slow down with yard sales, now she goes nuts at food pantries and will take so much more than any of us could ever use. She brings piles of rotting food (because she gets it 4 days before coming to our house) some of which I salvage but most of it goes to the animals. I think there is also a control issue. She will worry about me throwing out my own things or selling them which in no way pertain to her. The most frustrating aspect is that she owns multiple properties which have her stuff crammed to the ceilings and guess who will have to deal with that? I wish she would see she needs help but she is accountable to no one and will not face it. I am sorry so many on this board have loved ones and neighbors who suffer from this sad disorder. You really cannot make it better for them, they will just continue.

I cannot believe am sharing this and yes I do respect the Bible but one day at church my oldest shoved his Bible into my hands to carry so I had to grab it and he walked away. This was in our church's foyer and it really pushed a button and before I thought about what I was doing I flung his Bible back at him (about 5' away) right in front of the elder's wife. I was really embarrassed. Just a few weeks ago that same wife passed me at church and casually asked how I was doing and I replied "Well I haven't thrown my Bible at anyone yet." Fortunately she has a good sense of humor.

We have been plugging away at building our new study (schoolroom) since July. The room adjacent to it is carpeted and has been the subject of drywall dust and lath and plaster. Once the study gets mudded and sanded, I want to get the carpets professionally cleaned but don't know anything about who to go to or what type of process would be best. I own a carpet cleaner but I think I want something that really gets the job done. Any suggestions?

Yesterday - Went to the hospital and had a uterine ablation. Although it was not fun it is kind of sad that I looked forward to spending the day in bed. Today I am still in my jammies watching "You Got Mail" and trying to make heads or tails about all the school curriculum I have piled. I need to start school someday.

It is a Dlink DIR-615. Wireless connections are a Windows XP laptop and my Macbook. We don't have any Vista operating systems but I would think it would be fine. Our Wii also connects to it. I do not have it locked so if you drive by my house you could connect to it but I do have the router itself password protected. If you have close neighbors or live in town, I would recommend locking it - that is where key codes and all that comes into play.

How ironic. I'm taking my oldest to have a baby tooth pulled Wed. too. In his case the adult tooth is already out in front of it. I had the same thing done when I was that age and I don't remember it being a big deal. I keep baby orajel on hand just in case.

I only printed the exercises for both. I printed only 1 copy of the lesson, which we did together, and the history sheets, which take up a lot of paper. Basically, if I thought bot needed a copy, I printed it.