I had never heard of this book until a couple of weeks ago. A homeschooling mom was raving about it. Her son loved it. He is 10. She said it was also her husband's favorite book when he was a little boy.

My son asked for me to read Rapunzel several times even though, as he sheepishly admitted, 'It's kind of a girl story.' I think he liked it so much because he had seen Tangled when it came out. I must say, though, he has liked all of the fairy tales I've read. I saw this list of books, which includes fairy tales, on a blog. I liked it a lot and have used it to guide me in selecting books for my kids (7 and 4).

In my previous life, I was an accountant. I contract with my former employer to do extra work they don't won't to hire someone full time to do. The jobs they have me do vary. Most recently, they had me reading contracts and setting up terms in a data base. A tedious job, but it was nice to have extra $$$ around the holidays.

I read aloud to my kids (7 and 5) as often as I can. Some books they seem to enjoy, some they seem to tolerate, and some they avoid by quietly slinking out of the room when they think I'm too engrossed to notice. Others, they flat out, vocally complain about. It's nice when we come across one they love so much that they bring it to me throughout the day and wave it in my face so that I'll stop and read to them. Honestly, there have only been a handful of those that I can remember (besides picture books--they have LOVED many picture books over the years). Most recently it was Ramona the Pest. Others I remember are: the Narnia series, the My Father's Dragon series Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Matchlock Gun (surprisingly) Any extremely popular ones at your house?

Love it. I'll have to remember that quote if my kids ever face something similar.

Yes, it was Stripe who recommended the book! I like to give credit where credit is due. Thanks, Stripe!

Someone on this board suggested If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier. I checked it out from the library, but we haven't read it yet. :tongue_smilie:

Like you, since we practice every day, violin seems to get the most attention. However, I feel that math and reading are the most important. My son is 7 and it feels like we have been focused on reading for a long time. So much, that math took a back seat until last year when I finally woke up and decided we needed to get with it.

Going out to eat. :glare:

1 My kids are 7 & 5. The answers are more for the 7 yo because the 5 year old doesn't do spelling or math. She does the rest though.

The Bible, obviously, speaks a lot about salvation. Whether or not you believe the Bible is the immutable word of God, I suppose, is a key decision one must make. If you believe that it is, trust what the Bible says about what saves us and will put us in His presence.... Mercy (Titus 3:5) Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) Christ (1 Timothy 1:15) The Gospel (Romans 1:16-17) Faith/Belief (Mark 16:15-16) Repentance (II Corinthians 7:10) Confession (Romans 10:9-10) Baptism (1 Peter 3:21, Mark 16:16) Good works (James 2:14-24) Hope (Romans 8:24)

Snow White illustrated by Jarrell and The Bremen-Town Musicians illustrated by Ilsie Plume. I think there is also a Zelinsky version of Rumpelstilskin.

This resonated with me especially. I'm 41 and these are my feelings exactly. I'm different then you in that I got married late and had a successful (albeit unfulfilling) career as a CPA until after my children were born. However, I feel that my own social skills have atrophied to the point that I'm lost as to how to connect with others. I have recently been distressed that the bloom is now officially off the rose and that it's only down hill from here. :( I like Carol in Cal.'s advice for both of us. I did go to a long-postponed trip to the hair salon in December to get a professional dye-job. This, plus exercising and wearing some new outfits have helped my outlook. I think that it's a mid-life crisis in my case (which sounds similar to yours).

My first grader reads one lesson in OGPTR (we did lesson 199) today. Plus he reads about 10 pages of a 'real' book each day (currently Owl at Home).

I've been meaning to try this recipe for lentil tacos as we love tacos at our house.

I plan to use these Scott Foresman worksheets this summer as a buffer between FLL1 and 2. I think my son would benefit from this extra practice. Besides, it's free. :001_smile:

Another poster (Farrar Williams) once suggested the Jamie and Angus stories. My 5yo is enjoying the first one in that series as a read-aloud currently. It's about a boy and a stuffed animal...a relationship to which she can relate!

Seems like there is always room for improvement. Sigh.

:bigear: The afternoons are SOOO long here too. I need to implement an artist study, composer study, Bible study, art project, drawing lesson or something in the afternoons. Turns out, I'm lazy in the afternoon, too. One thing we all like to do is play board games. I try to do something educational like State Sequence or Chess in the afternoons.

:iagree:

I have a Mac and an iPad. I tried to load Overdrive. I gave up. However, I know someone who has a Mac and an iPad and was successful! She said she had to go through the steps more than once.

I love Rebecca, and I'm in the 'Gothic' camp. As an aside. Last year I read another one of Daphne Du Maurier's books. It was a collection of short stories. I think it was called Don't Look Now (or that could have been the title of one of the stories). Anyway....Wow. That one had a different feel entirely than my beloved Rebecca. A lot of the stories dealt with the paranormal and had a Twilight Zone feel to them. Most were fairly good although different than what I expected. However, one of the stories still disturbs me a year later.....***SPOILER ALERT***. It had a young woman falling in love with an older man with whom she had a steamy sexual relationship. Turns out the man was her biological father. AACK! :blink: Sorry to burden you with that. I just had to get it off my chest. Carry on...

Nice post, Tibbie Dunbar. As for me...I, too, am a pitiful housekeeper. All my adult life, I have had the dream of being able to HONESTLY say, "Yes, I'm an excellent housekeeper." This is a special year, 2012. It is the perfect year to incorporate 12 habits. I've made a list of 12 housekeeping habits I want to develop in each of the 12 months of the coming year. Here they are in no particular order (I'm still working that out): 1. Establish an evening pick-up routine before my husband comes home from work 2. Clear the counters after the evening meal 3. Clear the counters after lunch 4. Clear the counters after breakfast 5. Sweep the kitchen floor every day 6. Vacuum every day 7. 'Swish and swipe' the bathroom daily 8. Make my bed daily 9. Train my children to do a new chore (to be determined) 10. Do a load of laundry a day 11. Shine the kitchen sink every evening 12. Do some kind of deep clean every day

:party:

I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the tip!