I agree with this. Another thing I would be angry with is the health risk. it is one thing for a health problem to occur just because, but to help one along so I can become your nurse maid later on is not for me. He is being selfish. Plain and simple.

I always wonder how the guy can whip it out and add a c*ndom all at the same time while still doing all the touchy stuff to the female, add that to the but-wait-there's-more action through the night...this to me is akin to super hero status. Realistic, no way, but fun to read.

I live in the real world. I read to escape it and I never read a romance looking for good literature or reality. Some of my favorite authors for romance (some a little beyond that): Robin Schone (not her newest book)(super spicy) Amanda Quick (mild) Nora Roberts(mildish) J.D. Robb(mildish) Lora Leigh(spicy) Linda Howard (medium) Shayla Black (Spicy) Shannon Mckenna(super spicy) Sandra Brown (mildish to medium) Nalini Singh (mild) J.R.Ward (medium) Amy J. Fetzer (mild) AnnMarie Mckenna (medium)

Nope. Best MD gift ever was when DH took the 2 boys out for the day. They were gone for most of the day. I am always reminding him of that gift and how special it was.

I used another book for Earth and Space. I found you can substitute any book as long as it has the topics being discussed. Using the library books would do this.

I second Beautiful Feet's curriculum. Another one is from Home School in the Woods Composer Study http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/AP/Composers.htm

Thanks. I know she wants more then vocabulary now and SS2 looks like it has it.

Dd went through SSL 1 but she really does not remember all the vocabulary. Can she move on to SSL 2 or should we redo SSL 1?

That is a great price. I have the complete set but printed (I found on ebay) and it looks fabulous. Most definitely considering using it for dd when she gets to high school.

Some children are natural writers. If you have a child who loves to write of dictate (if young) then a writing curriculum is not necessary until later on in the upper grades. Your idea sounds great. She is doing creative writing and research (had to find out about spiders) and then she adds to her paper a mini report. That is more then enough for 1st grade.

I did talk with a loan guy and got a preapproval This is all good advice....thank you ladies.

20% down is not happening unless I want to deplete our savings. We did this on our first house and then had no money left for emergencies which took us down a whole lot of trouble. So looks like whatever we purchase will have a PMI. Good to know about the PMI and eliminating it once 20% is reached.

Since you mentioned Avengers and the Mission Impossible movies, what about Transformer, Battleship, Iron Man, Captain America?

We are almost through book A and dd will move to book B but we are working very slow through it and dd cannot do it on her own. I do notice there are benefits to using BA so we will continue but just extra slowly. If i asked dd she would probably say she does not like BA. She usually groans when we pull it out now, but it is getting her to think differently, so BA is making her brain work hard. I notice when we finish a lesson she usually wants to just go swing or relax. I don't think we are drop outs but we are not the normal users of BA though.

Thanks for the info. The 28% is good to know.

20 years ago we purchased a house, sold it 2 yrs ago, rented , and now I saw a house I want to buy. I am sure things have changed considerably since then. What should I know? Anything I should NOT do in regards to financing? The house is in my dream location and is what we want (style wise, yard wise, price wise). Any advice, FYI's, or prayers would be welcomed.

Elemental Science is the easiest science I have done in my 20 yrs of homeschool (beside just getting library books and read). It takes at most 15 mins a day if you do the 5 day schedule. You or your child reads a 1 -2 page spread in the book mentioned (but you can use any science book that covers the topic for the day). Have the child narrate a sentence of 2 into the notebook and add the picture that is provided. You have an experiment a week that is easy, quick and fun AND will use normal household supplies. That is it. There is an optional poem to memorize and vocabulary you could have your child copy (I never did) and sometimes there is an ongoing project. When we did ES Life Science I added in RSO Life Science for more experiments just because dd loves science but it is not necessary. Also the book ES recommends for experiments, Jan Van Cleaves book, will have more experiments then assigned and we did these also.

The public library is for the public and should not have special treatment for any group. Teachers have school libraries they can use. Homeschoolers have home libraries they use. If you use a public library then follow the rules. Pay the fine when you forget to bring a book back. Renew when you need it for extra time (but remember others might want it to). If you feel you will need a book longer then the allowed time for a public book even wit the renews then you need to purchase a copy for your self. I am sorry but I cannot get upset at your library for this.

Amelia Peabody series is great fun.

Take control. Make a schedule, explain it to your children, stick to it. Any foot dragging, whining, and not following the schedule results in their after school time being shortened because the work gets moved to homework status. I am all for relaxing in the mornings but I get up early (5:30) to get my lazy mornings going. Dd enjoys reading, playing outside, and PBS kids in the morning before school...to do this she gets up at 6am. School starts promptly at 8:30. You did not say how old your children are. I am referring to school age kids (2nd -6th).

Burgess Bird Book Apologia's Zoology 3 I know James Herriot wrote some children's books but I am not sure if they are for a younger age then your son. i know he wrote some for adult. I just picked up a treasury of his and it looks like it could be written for ages 10 on up but not sure. I would investigate him though and see what he has written.

Reading about science is the best and easiest way. You can work your way through the 500's at the library and go topic by topic. The same with the DVD section there. Elemental Science is an extremely easy curriculum that takes at most 15 mins a day. You read a pg, narrate in the notebook and once a week do a neat experiment using actual things in your house. Simple, easy, fast. I find using a curriculum like this gets the habit of doing science in place. Once you are doing science you can move on to more involved science curriculum.

The classic series. I am about to try the living book curriculum, Sassafras Science, though.