DH and I have been to many weddings in the past few years and did not receive a single thank-you note. We usually give cash and I would like to know that it was received. We cannot afford to give a lot, usually like $50, so maybe they don't feel it was worth the time. I think any gift should be acknowledged either verbally or written.

They said it would not be ready till next summer. I'm bummed because Amazon says something about December and that would have worked out great for my 3rd grader. I don't think I'll go for it next summer.

Actually you download it but it is an easy way to learn countries and such. http://www.wartoft.nu/software/seterra/

I use BJU Reading up till 3rd grade and then switch to just books. My ds (8) needs extra reading practice this year so he does the following: BJU Reading - 1 lesson per day including workbook. He really likes the stories. Sonlight Readers 2 - Intermediate - I wanted him to enjoy some full books. McCall- Crabbs Reading tests - 3x per week - this tells me his reading comprehension. You get an idea of your child's comprehension by asking the questions from the BJU reading TM. Rod and Staff English 3 - We do a lot of this orally but I do have him do the worksheets SWR for spelling and phonics. I do skip some of the BJU phonics included in the reading lessons if they don't mesh with what he has learned with SWR. He is also reading a page or so a day from The Little Kids Adventure Bible. Writing With Ease - Level 2 I know this seems like a lot but I have seen good results. He just informed me last night he has been reading BoxCar Children at bedtime. This guy would normally never pick up a book on his own and read it. When we do subjects, like English, I have him take turns with me reading the lesson. This helps me gauge how accurately he is reading. I don't think he is completely ready yet to read to learn on his own.

I use it mostly for the answers and I follow the schedule in front. I do the schedule at a faster pace then suggested but it is nice to have when writing my schedule. With 4 kids, I don't have time to personally solve each problem so having the answers is worth it. I also have used some of the teaching suggestions in the HIG but not very often.

DS finished RS E at the end of last year. We did Singapore 4b, just the textbook, over the summer. When school formally started in September, he started the 5A textbook, workbook, and CWP. I also have Intensive practice but have not used it much. He hit a wall when he started the fraction unit in 5A so I had him spend 3 weeks doing the KEY To Fractions Books 1-3 instead. I probably did not have to make him do that but I wanted to solidify the idea of equivalent fractions and lowest common denominator with him. He will be starting back into 5A tomorrow and should fly through the fraction unit now. I know he has already touched on most of the topics in level 5 but I don't think RS spent enough time on them to really call them truly learned.

There is a place near by that does very reasonable neutering and spaying. I think it might be in part with Cornell. They did our stray cat for $40 plus shots and we also had them do our male dog for $50 and they only charged $5 for his shot. It was a lot more at the vets. I have watched enough of the Dog Whisperer to respect a dog's need for leadership and knowing that has really made our dog into a very good animal. The stray is about the same size as him but much stronger. I also put Frontline on both of them. I knew our dog needed treatment so we did her too. She is slowly becoming more and more ours everyday except we cannot agree on a name. Our male is George but she is more exotic looking and kinda spooky. We need to decide for sure this weekend.

Switzerland - I would love to see it some day. Plus the rest of the world. Hope your shopping works out.

We captured a stray (I think) last Sunday and have been holding it with our other dog since. Our dog is a male (fixed) Beagle/German Shepherd mutt. He is very good on the farm and leaves the chickens alone. This new dog is female (hopefully not pregnant). If I had to guess, I would say she has lab and husky in her. She is mostly black with ice - blue eyes and very intimidating looking but seems friendly. Our dog seems to like her but she has gotten more aggressive as the week wears on and as she is getting healthier and more familiar with us. We were considering keeping her but I have my reservations about her and the chickens and I am wondering if she will start to fight with the male. Also, the constant humping is kinda annoying. Is it better to keep 2 males or doesn't that really play into it. If we ever got another male, I would have it be a puppy. I have been advertising on the radio and called the SPCA but I don't think she belongs to anyone. Any advice?

You can also return their stuff to sears. One main reason I order from them is because of that option. I hate sending things back.

Have you ever seen a marble run?Those are great fun to set up. My youngest went ga-ga when he saw these in a Christmas catalog a few days ago. I also love the family box idea.

My 3 and 5 yo boys have been playing all morning with a bunch of homemade, sanded wood blocks and molding to make marble rollers. Now, they are shooting about 30 marbles back and forth over a tote lid. All the "real" toys sit upstairs untouched. I am thinking socks, underwear, and books for Christmas.

I am planning on switching back to homemade detergent for the winter when clothes tend to be just wet and not muddy. I tried the homemade soap at our previous house which had very hard water and was not impressed. I don't like the smell of Fel's Naptha so I am going to try a different soap. I have tried Tide and really did not see a difference worth the extra $$$. I have been using unscented ALL or Arm & Hammer all summer with a white vinegar rinse. I do have to say that with 4 boys I am not a "whites must be white" type of person. Bleach is not good for us to wear or smell and I could care less if their socks are their whitest. Each boy has a drawer with "nice" clothes for only going out.

It was beautiful and now its gone. Last spring I sat down and developed a 36 week reading schedule for my 10yo based on other curriculum recommendations, availability, and our world culture study. I used it a few weeks ago to order books from the library and now I cannot find it anywhere. I am so not motivated to do it again but I do so much better having a list of books for him. I'm not really expecting any replies but I can tell you next time I am typing my list and putting on the computer.

Homemade Granola in a pretty tin or something. I am still thinking of what else I can put with it.

When I read the excerpt from 101 Dalmations, the boys really wanted to hear the original story. So I got it out on cd from the library. They really liked it. We already have read most of the books from the excerpts.

Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, or MustardSeed or if one is particularly naughty - Puck Yeah, I can be odd.

Rhonda Praying for peace in your heart and healing in your body.

I can see how it would be really good to have the grammar through dialectic levels together. The rhetoric is so much more. I really like the layout of TOG and the book selections. I think I will just stew my choices for a few months and start back to deciding after the new year. I am looking forward to ancients again no matter what we use.

You say it would be cheaper than SL cores but with SL you actually get the books. Do you get the books with TOG or just the schedule? This is the part I'm struggling with. I felt kinda bad spending $70 on the WP schedule for the American studies, even though it was worth it but to spend almost $300 on a TOG schedule is a lot.

I am starting to browse my choices for Ancients next year. I am definitely doing SOTW with my 1st grader but am not sure for my older 2 who will be in 4th and 6th grade. Right now Biblioplan is at the top of my list because I like how it reorganizes the Sotw lessons into units but sometimes I think "well I could just do that myself" and use the books I want but it really is a pain. I like the looks of TOG but not the price. I like that TOG has some additional stuff to go with the literature reading but I don't need all the extra that comes with the Rhetoric level. DH wants the boys to go to high school. Why am I even thinking about this in October??? I guess the whole point of TOG is to be usable for a range of ages but am I missing something? Why would you spend so much on it for the lower levels?

I know we qualify for Wic and almost for food stamps. We are doing fine without them but our vacations are minimal. Disney World is a great place to go if you can afford it. I don't see it as a need for my children. I have been on Wic in the past and it really helped for that time but I got off it as soon as I knew we were OK. It is tempting, I guess, to stay on and not have to pay for the tons of milk and cheese these guys consume but inside I do not feel "right" about it. I do try not to "judge" others because when we were on Wic I had an older lady verbally attack me for using it and implying that I should control how many children I have. I didn't even have them all with me at the time. But....we live in a low income area and the public assistance abuse I do see makes me sick inside.

I have no problem with the no kissing. One of the most beautiful weddings I went to was one where the couple, both of whom had been divorced before, decide to wait till their wedding for their first kiss. The groom started to cry afterwords. I have been to many weddings where the bride and groom have been shacking up for months and the "specialness" of the day is just not there. Yeah, the Duggers are definitely different but they seem full of peace and joy. I hope it's not a facade.

Latin is our very first subject everyday. It doesn't take long and then it is done. I learned to do this last year when it was at the end of the day and suffered from the "we'll do it tomorrow syndrome". We do LL and are doing just a page or two per day but we do it every day.

but I am pretty sure this old farmhouse was built in the 1800's. Now that I think of it, I have never lived in a "new" house. The house I grew up in was also an 1800's farmhouse then we moved to a Victorian house which was the birthplace of a Civil War Gen. I have to laugh when I watch HGTV and houses built in the late 1900's are considered old.