Best thing we ever did for our playroom. (got rid of stained carpeting) Looks great 3 years on, we chose the CHEAPEST on sale kind because we needed it right away due to unexpected visitors and got what was in stock, it still looks beautiful, the kids and cats are hard on it. People compliment it. And it isn't cold to sit on. You can play a board game on it if you want, unlike the tile we have in other areas of the house. It definitely has a different "sound" than real wood, but this has been very practical for us. Our real wood is in the den, which doesn't get the hard use the playroom does. Easy to clean, no problems with water damage, although we do wipe up spills right away.

He didn't realize these were bedbug bites? He needed to be fumigated in the driveway, and his clothing and luggage burned! Good luck with this... :grouphug:

Sounds like "some" of the stress would be off if hubby were home more often -- can he take the car four days a week, and leave it home ONE day so she can get whatever errands/shopping done? (although I remember when I had two littles I did most of my grocery shopping at night early on) How important is this "in case she needs the car" issue? Can she schedule what she needs it for on a single day?

About 3 hours of actual working time.

With N.L. my boys' retention has been excellent, and they even tell my husband "what we did in science today" when he comes home on many days.

Lastest report I read today is of hundreds of octopuses (octopi?) washing up on the beaches of Portugal. Seems every week it's a new animal.

At Level 2 N.L. feels very hands-on to me. I like the scripting, although I ad-lib at certain points, or skip any things that seem repititious.

I'm Catholic, and, yes.

I am sorry for your situation! But it seems the market wants to hire NO ONE, no matter what your age or qualifications. They do seem to like temporary or contract workers, though. Good luck!

Thanks, I was wondering what a Hittite Warrior Homeschooler might look like!

We didn't start multiplication until age 8. With single digits.

I think you have to get your Florida license to practice within the first 10 years of becoming a doctor. Otherwise they won't let you practice there.

Well it's still early, but this is what I'm imagining: Language Arts - MCT Math - Horizons 7 plus LOF pre-algebra/Economics Science - Basic Text (maybe Holt for 7th graders) plus Nancy Larson Science History - Notgrass American History for Middle School Writing - Jump In or Writeshop, not sure, still researching this Lit -- Lightning Lit 8 (I consider this a 1 semester course) plus Progeny Press Guides. I MAY look at Mosdos Lit for 7th graders instead of Progeny. Health - Switched on Schoolhouse CD for middle schoolers

We bought it and started in December. The science we were doing was boring me. The nancy larson stuff really upped both my and my boys' interest level. It's something we look forward to every day. Also their retention seems to be VERY good. Probably because the hands-on goes right along with the lecture (and is easy to throw together due to the necessary materials supplied, and anything extraneous is easily found around the house). For us it has been well worth it. I also like the built-in review.

I can't find any legitimate reviews to pattern based writing. Anyone know of any? They have a lot of websites.

We are in central Florida and there are plenty of trees and land! And of course it's a buyer's market right now. We have a great homeschooling group here too. Atlanta is getting a bunch of snow this winter, so I vote for Florida! Just wanted to add, race relations seem pretty good where we are, MUCH better than when I lived up north. Before I pulled the kids out of school (wanted to homeschool, nothing against them), there were children of all races in their private school, same is true of public. The north seems very segregated to me compared to here. There are hispanics, phillipinos, african-americans. Whites are still the majority but the others are a significant minority.

Wow, I will pray for her, because it sounds serious. But it's a HUGE step that she has a doc that is on her side and on the right track. That gives me hope that he will be able to do something for her. With docs who don't believe you, or just kind of shrug, I always worry that time is wasted when something more can be done. I pray the answer is found for her.

My sister-in-law was an art major in college, IS an artist (does paintings, photos, has had shows), but what brings in the money for her is her graphic arts job -- so, a lot of computer graphics training along with the art training. She loves her job, but it isn't super high paying. It pays well enough though. She is a graphic artist for a parks department in a suburb of Chicago. (really, it wouldn't have occurred to me that a Parks department would need a graphic artist, but then do a TON of graphic arts work, and she is in charge of it all)

Rotate, then donate. ;)

We have enjoyed the Time Travelers series for my 4th grader. They have them for Civil War, and Industrial Revolution through Great Depression. They have some nice optional hands-on activities that are great for younger kids. Just something to consider that isn't as intense as AAH. I agree that's way too much info for a 3rd grader. Here's a link: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/CivilWar.htm

Supposedly Spokeo.com is giving out a lot of info on people, and it's cheap to subscribe to the more advanced info. I don't know if it's possible to have your info removed, but it isn't a comforting thought that so much is out there. http://www.spokeo.com

And in the interest of preserving plays as an art form, I can't say I begrudge anyone their royalties. Also nothing wrong with encouraging homeschoolers to create their own plays -- that's creative too!

Well I grew up later than the Prime Catholic Guilt era, so I have no recollection of any priests yelling, or even delivering much of a stern message in their homilies. So the guilt doesn't come from that. But both parents and school taught what was expected, and lots of things are sins that are very widely acceptable in our culture today. So we have guilt if we do things that many people would consider normal. Most obvious example from college days is, lots of people slept around. If you were Catholic and did that, you should have Catholic Guilt because sex before marriage is sinful. Ideally, the Catholic Guilt would prevent you from committing such sins. Or from missing Mass, which is another serious sin.

Without reading anyone else's responses, my gut feeling is minimal punishment, if at all. The conversation you had with him a YEAR ago (when he was 4 -- i.e. 20 percent of his lifetime ago) about alarms -- and he's not only supposed to remember it, but somehow imagine the cause & effect, or "seriousness" of this issue? My goodness! I'd respond differently if you told me he commonly disobeys parental commands and isn't remorseful, but he has ALREADY shown remorse. If he did it a second time, obviously that's a different situation. I totally feel for the little guy. Don't beat him up over this. Console him, tell him everyone makes mistakes, and don't make a further big deal of it. How did he get to the fire alarm without y'all noticing, BTW?

This actually is a good argument for opening the gifts later.