Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the supportive tone and nature of your replies! All of this is good. I like the idea of the kids making a list, and then getting to help set up the menu. Maybe our "health" lesson each week should be helping me make a menu plan and the accompanying shopping list!

I made a mistake way early in my elder son's life: I didn't establish a regular routine. He gets up when he wants, eats his breakfast when he wants, chooses what he wants to eat... THEN we finally get to start school. When it's time for lunch break, we go through this "what are you going to eat?" process again until he finally feels full. Then I usually give him some time to play with his brother until we can finally get back to work to finish our day. So the problem is multi-faceted: 1) no set wake-up time 2) I let the kids decide what to eat for breakfast and lunch which sometimes takes too much time making the decision and then "finding" enough to fill their growing tummies. 3) This sets us up for an irregular schedule making us feel rushed once we finally get started and putting us [or me at least] into a "mood" I'm looking for suggestions on how to gently establish a routine. The boys do go to bed at reasonably regular hours [though the elder boy often reads in bed at night; I hate to stop this, but....]. The younger one has been getting up REALLY early despite no changes in his going to bed time. But he's pretty good about going to the playroom and playing quietly by himself until one of us gets up to feed him breakfast and get him changed. I've tried before to suggest having a family breakfast ["We're all going to have X for breakfast."] but elder son balked, and I think younger will protest now. Still, I think that makes the most sense, unless elder is willing to get up earlier and feed himself. I know I need to have a family discussion about this, and come up with a family plan. I just want to be ready with suggestions for the inevitable objections. Thanks!

Re: why spectators came to watch the 2nd & 3rd tasks of the Triwizard Tourney: I don't think so because Dumbledore talked Mermish to the Merpeople to find out what happened under water and why Harry took so long; he in turn explained to the other judges and that caused them to score they way they did. Maybe it was a masquerade? And Cinderella had teeny-tiny feet; very few if any girls in the kingdom had the same sized foot, right?

Oh, that's good to know! I only have the primers so far, not sure if I said, so I didn't know that. I'd heard there was a lot of writing, but didn't realize it was like that. :) Do you think I should stop having him do the writing in the primer, or have him do it cursive? Will that confuse him that his book shows him to do it one way, and now I'm saying to do it another? Hmmm, maybe I should get the sandpaper letters afterall.

No, they tilt in so the cats can't get into them, and if it /were/ blood, it was a lot of it, and I'd notice a wound that big on the 3yo. All I can think is some sort of oxidation, but I just can't figure out what. :(

It is my son's job to "swish" the toilets at least once a week. I used to do it every day a la Flylady, and would put Mr. Clean in the toilet brush holder. But with kids and cats, I stopped doing that for fear they'd get into it. The other week in what I thought was a fit of pure brilliance, I decided to put some vinegar in the brush holders instead [keep in mind, these are the kind that tilt in when not in use so I can't see in them when they're closed]. I only managed to get one of them done though. I've been noticing that there was some dirty smudges on the floor around the brush holder [DS8 isn't too observant in these matters], so today I went in to check on them and clean up a bit. When I opened the brush holder, the vinegar was blood red!!! Like, forgive the TMI, as if my period had started into the brush holder!! I can't figure out what happened. These aren't the kind that are bristles twisted into metal wires; they're the "French" style like this. I guess I can't rule out metal inside it, but.... And if I can't use vinegar, what CAN I use?

I bought the Get Ready For the Code series for my 3yo because he enjoys doing "school" with his big brother. But I've also been reading about cursive first, and wishing my 8yo had done that since he REALLY struggles with reversals, spacing, etc. [We just started Logic of English] Is there a way to combine the ETC and cursive first? We're almost done with the A primer; is it too late? [he often skips the writing pages]

Awesome! Thanks, ladies!

:auto: :bigear:

by Mary Casanova? I was planning to do this for our next read-aloud [we just learned about Louis XIV and read "Man in the Iron Mask" [adaptation]], but one review on Amazon mentioned "love scenes" and another rec'ed it for girls 11-14? My son is 8.5. How mushy-lovey is it? TIA

Popeye's Taco Bell [ETA: shoot missed it was on your list--poo!]

Bolt is another bus company in my area.

The app didn't turn out too helpful. I'm switching back and forth btn BBC News and CNN on our Roku.

Has anyone ever had an au pair? The exchange student thread got me thinking about this again. I just think it might be fun and a rich experience. I don't need it so much for the childcare.... Hmmmm... DH thinks it might be expensive though; I've only skimmed the surface. Pros? Cons?

I just downloaded the app "Elections-2012" that promises to have live results and videos from election night at my fingertips. I can only hope. But if anyone has some other resources I'm :bigear: We have a Roku, and obviously internet.

Clean shave now, but he has had both a full beard and a goatee before. Never just a mustache since we've been together.

I haven't read all the responses. Mine have been voting with me since they were little. I early-voted on Thursday, and I took them with me. They did well. They asked lots of questions about voting in general, and I let them know that voting is secret, that I don't even have to tell Daddy who I voted for. I waited 30 mins to vote [i've never waited that long at my regular voting place, but I'm campaigning tomorrow and wanted to have voting out of the way], but I was surprised that there was only one other voter there with kids. Sadly, one of those kids was REALLY unhappy about being there. :( I felt bad for him and for his mom. But the other voters and the officials were very nice to me and mine [and probably those others too, but they were far enough back in line I didn't see it], and I honestly want them to see the process, not be intimidated by it, and know from an early age how important it is to be informed and vote.

Nope, sorry, not my husband's. For one, he keeps it trimmed too regularly so the ends are always blunt and pokey. For two, he keeps it too short so that it sticks straight out like hedge-hog quills. And for three, he has really course hair. :( :iagree: Yup, mine too.

None, sorta. I don't like when my DH grows a beard. I don't mind how it looks--except his beard went gray before his hair so that did tend to age him--but he tends to keep it super short and it is not pleasant to kiss him with. I've tried to encourage him to let it grow just a little longer, but he fears letting it look unkempt. :/ He knows I don't care for it, and from time to time he grows one anyway. I don't nag him. But it goes both ways. I'm not a regular shaver either. I tend to keep the pits shaved in the summer, but in the winter, not as much, and legs pretty much year round are left natural. I'll shave occasionally when I want that smooth feel and/or look [like for his birthday or our anniversary]. I know he prefers me to be shaven, and I appreciate that he doesn't nag me about it. [OTOH, I hope to get laser hair removal as soon as I can afford it and find a practitioner.]

I'm curious if you ever decided? All these cakes look yummy, and I subscribed just to have the recipes handy. :tongue_smilie:

Sorry, this is not true: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/sandyunion.asp One AL truck turned around because they got false information or misunderstood information they were given and believe/believed they would need to affiliate. But there are other non-union crews working in NJ. Jeannie, I'm glad you are safe, but terribly sorry about your books! :(

Oh gosh, this thread has gotten long, and I haven't read all of the responses yet, but I also wanted to mention that FB keeps changing my privacy settings or something. My default setting is "friends only". I occasionally will post something publicly if I want people to be able to share it more easily or if I'm trying to reach someone who I have otherwise blocked [think current events issues]. After posting publicly I have to make a point to change the setting in my status update box BACK to friends only or I'll suddenly find that I've posted a whole day's worth of status updates publicly :/ Yesterday it happened even though I don't think I posted anything publicly prior; just suddenly my entire day's posts were public. It's frustrating, but it just reiterates: no matter what your privacy settings are, whether you're in a private forum, or posting under a pseudonym, nothing you post on the internet is truly private. People can copy/paste and name you, people can photo-shop and make it look like you've done or said something, etc. Right or wrong, it's the age we live in. :( Laura, I'm glad you got the job.

What an awesome idea!

Thanks All! I'll unfile, no biggie. I guess. ;)

I just downloaded Big Book 1. There seems to be a lot of choices! I'm not clear how to work through the lessons. >Should I go through in page number order, flipping through the sections as I go? >How long do you spend on LL each day or each week? I've printed out the introductory stuff and the first 2 lessons and put them into their tabs in a binder. But I'm sorta stuck there. :/