Honestly, we try to go around 2:00 so the school groups are starting to leave. We've had good luck with that tactic. My older son doesn't nap anymore, but the little one will sleep on the way usually and be fresh for the outing.

I've heard the Art Institute offers free membership to teachers. If I qualify, we will try to go fairly often to see exhibits related to our reading. And ideally free days to Science & Industry and Field will coincide with a current topic for us. But we'll go even if they don't. I'd like to go to some of the cultural centers too.

Oh no! Would you mind sharing what you don't like about Drawing With Children? I just found a copy recently and haven't gotten too deeply into it yet.

I just have two littles, so on the wall above their little table, I hung a dowel rod. I have all different colors of the tin pails from the Target dollar section hanging from the dowel on s hooks. The boys can just reach into the pails, or get them down to take to another table. I keep crayons, colored pencils, dry erase crayons, chalk & eraser, glue & glue sticks, and magnetic letters here. Markers, scissors, and paint brushes have pails on a high shelf because of the 2yo.

Ew. That's really gross. No idea. :confused:

I love the Madame Alexander dolls! I have lots from various years, kept in a basket on a high shelf, and the boys ask to play with them every so often. We also a bucket of dragons from How To Train Your Dragon, frquently used with Schleich knights. We have lots of superheroes which have fared much better than our few store-bought superheroes. The Lego sets are great. We got several Magic Tree House books on CD from Wendy's that we love. And some little DK books from Arby's.

:lol: I was thinking about doing this with the ants too, but think I will wait for another day. DS4.5 has worn his safety glasses to freshen the kitchen sink with baking soda and vinegar twice already today. :D I think I'm going to order more stuff, esp with the free shipping. I want a few more of the sets of gears. And maybe more play money. The boys have paid me for everything today, even cups of water.

:party: The box arrived today, and the boys and I had so much fun! Did anyone else get the reading rods? I think they're my favorite item.

Now tracking says my order will arrive tomorrow! Woohoo!

I figure they're swamped. I actually called yesterday to double check because I, too, thought it would have shipped by now. I was told my order would ship by the end of this week. If I'd paid full price, I'd be annoyed. But for such wonderful deals, I will be patient.

I might buy a scale or balance. The coupon is good until the end of the year, so I may use it closer to Christmas.

:grouphug:

My mutt came from a rescue group that works with shelters in Kentucky and Tennessee. I found her on petfinders.com. We went to meet her once, came home to think for a few days, then adopted her. She is one day older than my younger son. They were about 14 weeks old when we adopted her, and they've just turned two. There were many interesting days that first year. :tongue_smilie: Petfinders is great, and you can search by size, breed, age, etc.

Our current dog is a beagle mix. She has just turned 2 and is a little calmer. I adore her, but she has been much more difficult to train than my previous dogs. And she barks way more than they did, which can get on my nerves. She is a great dog, and is just right for my family right now. She is big enough to make me feel safer, small enough to not fill the house. Sturdy enough and energetic enough to tussle and romp with the boys, but also very gentle and patient with them. She is funny, cuddly, and smart. There is nothing quite like watching a parade of two little boys with drums and noise makers and a baying dog marching through your house. That said, my real heart's desire was another Newfie or Newfie mix. I don't know if I'll ever get another, but I think the very best dog in the world is a Newf. My big girl has been gone for 3 1/2 years now, but I still miss her.

I agree that Reading Eggs isn't as intuitive as Starfall. Even I have had trouble figuring out a few things. And I don't know why a reading program needs to use burping noises for anything. But DS seems to be enjoying it.

Gorgeous!

:grouphug::grouphug:

MEP has some.

I am curious too. Some "About me" sheets would be loads of fun. We have a Dr Seuss book called "My Book about Me" that we are going to fill in over time. It's really charming. A sheet or two at the beginning of the year's saved work would be great to look back on too. DH and I were just talking about trapperkeepers the other night. :D The main difference between a regular day and an official school day for us will be our calendar and weather chart. I feel like most of what we're doing is something we might have done anyway, but I am more purposeful and organized about our days/goals.

Poor little guy. :grouphug: Both DH and I also had vivid memories of it, and now DS4.5 loves it. Tried to convince us to get him a pet mongoose. ;)

1. I was born on St. Cecilia's feast day. 2. I am a musician. 3. My first son was born on my birthday. 4. In high school, I imagined I'd marry another musician and have six daughters. 5. I married a cop and have two sons. 6. I always wanted to marry a cop and have two sons. 7. I strongly dislike talking on the phone. 8. I adore the color green. 9. I have a rather large collection of green depression glass and jadeite dishes which I began collecting as a child. 10. My favorite book is Jemima Puddleduck.

DS is just starting out, so I went back to lesson 2 to try this. I think many of the activities are actually easier on the touch screen than the laptop. Using a traditional mouse on a desktop might be about equal, but even then I bet DS would still find the touchscreen a smidge easier. There was one game I couldn't get to work at all - I was supposed to drag an egg on a spoon to an egg cup. Also, it isn't possible to hover with the touchscreen, so for one activity there are two pictures, one of which starts with the correct letter sound. If you know what the picture is, no problem. If you don't, and you have a mouse, you can hover and hear what the picture is. But you can't with the touchscreen. And honestly, I don't think the pictures are all that obvious, esp for a little kid. Overall, though, it worked really well. HTH.

Oh cool. I will have to try it later tonight.

Some wonderful poems I'd never heard! Thank you all. I also just read poems over and over, and my older DS memorizes them. I don't know if I can pick a favorite. I'm excited to read "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb Riley, and "hist whist" by e.e. cummings this fall. I also love "little tree" by cummings for Christmas time.

:grouphug: