Yeah, I only figured wb's for Horizons--it comes to about $64 for 2 kids. Singapore tb & wb is only about $36 for 2 kids.

LOL--I don't want to buy THREE math programs for K! My only concern w/ Singapore is having them get too far ahead of themselves. Math was really easy for them this year & they loved it--my 3yo wanted his own wb so bad, he asked for one for Christmas & in that amt of time has almost caught up to 4yo. I'm afraid that "playing math" this year...well, it was so easy, that there's got to be a significant mental jump in there somewhere, whether it's from K to 1 or 1 to 2...& I don't want that to hit them in the face & make them think they don't like math any more. I'd be surprised if they're *really* ready for SM 1. Kwim? We've been counting things this year, learning to write numbers, doing more/less than. Horizons K says they teach skip counting, which I haven't seen in SM K so far. I thought it might be a good bridge between SM K & SM 1. But then I realized it was going to cost twice as much & was an unknown, so I just want to be more certain before I order it. Maybe SM 1 is fine after all. If Horizons were cheaper, I'd just go ahead w/ that plan.

3yo & 4yo are finishing Singapore K this year. Since they're so little, I was thinking Horizons K would be a good choice for their K year and Singapore 1 the following year. It looks like Horizons teaches a little more than Singapore K, so they would still be moving forward. I want them to continue to enjoy math, be challenged, but not get in over their heads. On the other hand, I've been using Singapore for over six years with my older two– – maybe I shouldn't try to fix what's not broken? Singapore is also quite a bit less expensive. What do you think?

I got to (finally!) meet Lara in CO today. She's one of those people that takes less than 5min to feel like you've known her your whole life. I feel SO lucky to live close enough to look forward to seeing her again!

My bigs wear one size, & my littles wear another. They're b/g. Boy is older in the bigs, younger in the littles. None of them seems to care. The older 2 don't wear ea others' clothes, but I think that's probably because they've got plenty & it hasn't occurred to them. The littles...sort-of object to wearing ea others' clothes, but mainly just because they're b/g. At their age, they think it's kind-of fun to be the same size. 3yo thinks he's gotten a promotion & is really 4yo because he wears a 4 (now that we've convinced him he doesn't wear a 3); 4yo just likes to talk about stuff. So she's happy w/ any topic, incl clothing sizes. LOL

Oh, ick! I wouldn't skip the book for that, but as a mama & a girl? ICK! LOL

Ds loved MSM. Survival stories make me want to poke my eyes out, though, so I DREAD pre-reading it. More than I dread wasting $6 on a book they can't read right now! :lol:

Yep. We live on a cul-de-sac, maybe that makes a difference.

I was planning to pre-read it, since it's questionable, but I wanted to put it on the nook, so I wanted to see if it was likely to be worth it (now) or not. If not, I'd just as soon wait because *eventually* I'd like the kids to have a kindle. I know in some places there's this thing called a library. Practically speaking, we don't have one.

Ds has always been very, very sensitive, but he seems to be maturing to a point that he can handle more difficult topics. He'll be 11 next month. I'd say I pre-read more to give him a heads-up now than to filter what he reads, but...there's still some filtering.

Yes, please tell me. I just found an amazon review that mentioned a suicide attempt and parental infidelity. Eek!

Can you give us more info about her? Age, hobbies, interests, previous hit & miss gifts...

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

What age is it appropriate for? Is it any good? What about the sequel, The River? Dh really liked Paulsen when he took a young adult lit class in college, but the summary on the back of the book has always looked too old for my kids. The premise, though, is interesting to me, esp of the 2nd one. And if it's not too graphic, I think it would be up ds's alley. :bigear:

But in *any* house, everyone is going to end up in the kitchen anyway, right? And fresh-baked cookie smell trumps clean house any day. ;) I've never lived w/ a *really* open floor plan...I guess I should vote that I think I'd love it, but really, I think it depends on the plan & the rest of the house. As far as the things you mentioned, I always feel that way anyway. If we're having company, the one room I don't clean is the one everybody goes into, even if it's my bedroom. I always think it's not possible, & there's always some fluke I didn't anticipate. When I was younger, I'd insist that the whole house be clean, & then? Nobody went in the other rooms. :lol:

Most days he acts more like he belongs on the fields of ancient Briton fighting off the Romans. He's, um, energetic. And bruised. :D

I sent my phone # in a pm a couple of days ago...you're probably exhausted & have a bunch of them...but I just wanted to mention again here...if you need anything, call me. I can watch your kids, whatever you need. Dh could come get them if you want...just let me know. :grouphug: I missed the surgery until just now, but I've been thinking about you all & praying. SO glad he's doing better right now. I hope the tests come back really boring & he gets completely spoiled by the nurses. :grouphug:

The week we moved, he was awful--full-blown throw himself in the floor screaming like I've never seen a kid do in real life. After a couple of weeks, he settled down. Then the baby came, & wow. I think he was spoiled quite a bit the week I was in the hospital. Combined w/ all the changes--new baby, me out of the house for the first time in his life, etc. Wow. Crazy difficult. He was telling me NO to my face. Not in the 2yo way, but in a more thoughtful, out-&-out I WON"T DO WHAT YOU SAY way. The past 2 days have been delightful. He cleaned off his place at dinner (wow! my bigs don't always do that), put his clothes away, cleaned up half the school room--all without being asked. Yesterday he laid down for his nap when he was told--no crying or arguing. Last night, he went to bed just as pleasantly. He was upset when older ds told him he had to take his hat & sunglasses (latest uniform, lol) off to sleep, but older ds is a little bossy like that. When he was more polite (ie, not just pulling the accessories off 3yo's face), 3yo smiled, took the hat & sunglasses off, & hung them up. He came up to me today & said, "Mama, I need your ear." Terrified, I leaned down to whatever unknown plan he had. He whispered in my ear that he wanted something--I forget what--cupping his little hands around my face. But more importantly? Not screaming. I knew he'd get back to himself. Really. But waiting...wow, it's hard. Crossing my fingers now that this isn't temporary. :lol:

:grouphug: I don't know what else to say, but hoping good things & rest for Stacey. Good job, mil!

I don't want to say I'd be glad to do it, because it depends on the kids & the situation. I do think it's normal & part of being a family. As far as whose house...I'd generally prefer to do the sitting at my own house, & that would be a factor, but I've been really grateful, too, when my ils would sometimes sit at our house. For a couple of hrs on a Sat night, I'd think 14mos should be ok at someone else's house, but I know that's not the question. Would I go to my sister's house to sit for her kids? Honestly...if I couldn't take mine w/ me, I wouldn't want to, but that speaks more (I think) to where I am in life than the overarching question you're asking. Can you swap babysitting? Why can't your dc go w/ you? Is your bro's house comfortable for you? These are all factors imo. So my answer to your specific question? It depends. :D ETA: Our bro's don't have dc, & my sis hasn't lived w/in four hrs of me since having dc, so this is all theoretical, based more on grandparents watching dc than sibs.

It's 30 degrees, sunny. There just happens to be snow on the ground. But if that's not what kids do in the snow, tell me quick--I can still stop them. They just need their blood pumping. :D

:grouphug:

It's not actively snowing, some of it's melted, seems fine to me. I figure this is what people do. Dh thinks I"m crazy. What says the hive?

In defense of the circa--I held out at least a year before suggesting it for my birthday. :D The laminator--that all sounds like a bunch of stuff to spend time making & then not use. :lol: Chore charts are tempting, though.

That's what he says, but--why? I rarely laminate anything, & when I do, it's almost never less than 11x9. I WANT to want it, really. I just...don't. But I think you're the one who convinced me I needed a circa punch a few years ago, so...wait a minute. Now that I think of it...lalalala...I'm not listening to you! :lol: