I did it. I used the water I cooked the fruits and vegetables in to get it to the right consistency, without losing the nutrients. I put it in small mason jars in the freezer. I've heard of people freezing the food in ice cube trays and popping them out and putting them in a freezer bag and you can grab how many you need for the meal. It was easy, didn't take to much time, and the kids looked the fresher taste. When I was transitioning them to meat I mixed hamburger with yams and chicken with butternut squash.

You're welcome. :D This thread has pictures of some of the ones we got. We also got the Thomas and Friends set and a Mickey Mouse set. Ds3 LOVES Mickey Mouse. I lined up the character stickers along his new bed as a transitioning tool. He has a stuffed Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy, and he has them sit right under their character sticker. :001_wub: I'd post a picture, but our computer crashed and dh hasn't put the pictures back on the computer from the back up yet.

Ahhh. Thank you.

Okay, what am I suppose to say instead of "suppose to?"

I was in a similar situation a while ago. I found out what she was interested in (My Little Pony) and I go her some wall decals. They are AWESOME! :thumbup: I have some for my boys, and they love them. They have over 100 theams to chose from. They are re-stickable and don't take the paint off. If they get dirty you can wash them and put them right back on. I've had some for over a year and they still look great. The 5yo girl I got them for LOVES them, and her mom loves them too. It's also a great way to personalize "her" (your her) part of the room if she has to share.

I pumped and froze breast milk in the little plastic bags with no problems. Ds#2 was drinking milk in July/August that I has expressed in May (I knew I was going to have to stop making milk because I had to go on a medication, so I over produced and stocked up.) Maybe it's the brand of bags? Maybe it was something she changed in her diet at the time of the milk making? I suppose it is possible that the bags were to full and ripped a seam? Was she pumping with lanolin or something similar on her breast?

Our deal when we got married was that I would cook and he would clean up (which ended up being he puts the leftovers away, and nothing else :glare:) Because he's putting the dinner away, he puts some in a plastic container for his lunch. Then in the mornings (he wakes up earlier than the kids and I do) he puts it in his lunch pail and takes off. He has a instant breakfast powder in milk for breakfast.

Okay, I'm going to be the first one to "tee hee!" at your thread title. Prepare for more silliness and giggling. :lol:

:D

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. Having the feedback and stories of those that have BTDT is very helpful. I'm calming down :chillpill: :001_smile: Some of you talked about early readers that mostly memorized words and are poor spellers because of it. That is one of my worries. I learned to read at 4 memorizing word with no phonics whatsoever, and I am also a terrible speller and I can't pronounce new words that I've never heard before. And I am afraid of the same thing happening to my kids. Thankfully ds-turns-3-tomorrow learned his letters and sounds and putting them together is how he's reading. But he is also memorizing some words. I'm studding up on the rules I never learned so that I'm ready to explain when he comes across a new words. I hear what a lot of you said about not using a curriculum. I guess I just like the idea of it because it makes me feel like I have a plan :tongue_smilie: Until this happened I had no idea I was so plan dependent! I will practice making adjustment so that he continues to enjoy learning, and I don't box him in. ( The little stinker was also born 2 months early. I don't think he will ever be on my schedule :D ) I will look into all the resources and books mentioned. I've thought about ETC but he's not close at all to writing. And AAS looks awesome, but I'm not sure if we have the money in the budget. Is that the sort of thing they sell used on here? When I tried searching for it generally on yahoo I didn't see any used for sale. And I heard what you had to say about saying "enough" when I need a brake. Thank you again, everyone, for responding. I will save my...emotional outpourings and neediness :willy_nilly: for this board :D I sincerely was not trying to brag when I was asking for prayers. I know my help comes from the Lord. He is my strength, and sometimes I need more of that than usual. But I feel much more at peace about it now, so I believe those prayers were answered. -Anya

:iagree: Another vote for this.

It's only been 5 years for me. We didn't think of homeschooling until ds5 was 6 months. I had WTM and The Well Educated Mind on my Amazon wishlist. Dh got them for me for Christmas and I was sold after the first 4 chapters /sections. Everything made so much sense! Both dh and I were like "Why weren't WE taught this?! " I recently got the 3rd edition (we had the 2nd edition first) and it's been a lot of fun re-reading it. I also bought SOTW in preparation for 1st grade. I had a blast reading it and the activities. Now dh is reading it. :)

I learned in kindergarten IN California in the early 90's. All sight words and no phonics. I am a fast reader but a TERRIBLE speller. And I can't pronounce words I've only read. I am learning phonics alongside my kids (yeah for homeschooling!) I do not want them to be handicapped like I was.

Dh brought home a squirrel from hunting once and I ate that just fine. So I wouldn't have a problem eating it. My Papa raised a cow on our property miles away from where we lived. I refused to go out there and see it, knowing I'd someday have to eat it. But I think I could do it now.

:lol::lol: I'm trying to re-learn how to sew on a machine. Does it HAVE to look like a jumper, or can it just be a denim dress with wide shoulder straps?

I've never tried (or heard of) 5-HPT, but it sounds interesting. I usually use melatonin but after 6 months or so it stops working and I have to get it out of my system for a month or so for it to work again. Right now I'm having to use an OTC sleep aid, so I can't remember about feeling sleepy all the time. But I (almost) always feel tired. Iron pills helped some, but then I had....um....issues with....intestinal discharge? I got so clogged up that I got acid build up and was really sick. (Sorry, OT and TMI.) So, maybe try a multi-vitamin with some B or iron and see if it helps. I have heard it has helped a lot of people.

Ds2.9 started reading about 3.5 weeks ago. His third birthday is on Monday. He's gone from making "bed" and "red" on his Word Builder toy to reading almost all CVC words, and is learning some consonant blend words. In 3 1/2 weeks. All from the Word Builder toy and Starfall. I did NOT do any formal instruction. Or even semi-formal instruction until this last week. And I started panicking and feeling overwhelmed when he started reading 40 words after only a week. I was not ready for this. I admit it, I love plans. I love making them and I love following through (although that rarely happens.) I always considered myself to be flexible, but this has sapped me of all of my confidence. My fil (who I look upon as my Dad) says that I'm borrowing guilt. I'm worried about screwing this up, of teaching him wrong, taking the fun out for him, not helping him progress enough and he just starts memorizing words or gets frustrated and stops because they don't follow the phonetics that he knows, something. I've been asking for friends and people in my Bible study and Moms group to pray for me; for peace, confidence, and God's will. I've tried avoiding telling them about what, because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. But eventually I have to explain. Everyone says "You should be happy! This is a good thing!" and I know that. And I am. But that doesn't take away feelings of being overwhelmed. I have even avoided posting on here, not wanting to sound like I'm bragging or like I'm looking for attention. But I process things best when I talk/express myself and I can get feedback. Can I get some BTDT advice? Tell me what you did/didn't do to avoid the pitfalls I'm anticipating? A phonics based curriculum that works with really young kids? Right now we're using OPGTR. I'm very opposed to whole-word learning. Even HOP has more sight words than I like, and I'm weak on the phonics/spelling rules. I'm working on that, though. He is not a kinetic learner. Using letter tiles confuse him. He does really well watching/looking and hearing/saying. We're doing stuff advised on the blog in my signature. Is there anything else? And how do I fill his thirst for learning without completely emptying myself? He would "do words" all day. He begs for it, and cries when I say "no" or "not now." I feel bad saying "Hey, I need a break!" Thank you if you read all of that. And thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.

On one of the Latin shirts the English translation is: I Have A Catapult Give Me All The Money Or I Will Fling An Enormous Rock At Your Head :lol::lol:

:iagree:I kinda freaked out on my first post ever on here where I got a lot of views but NO responses. I was in panic mode, so that didn't help either. I got some comments that put me in my place, and I didn't post or make a new thread for a while after wise. But I'm over it now, and am much more patient.

:lol: Brilliant!

:iagree: And it does mean that a least one person is interested.

I have learned from this thread that I need to change myfont orcolor if I want to be noticed :D

It seemed like she was trying to make a point about there isn't persecution even in "California, one of the most highly regulated states." But CA is one of the most free states when it comes to homeschooling. That seemed misrepresentitive. (Is that a real word /spelled correctly?)

When I saw the title I thought it would be a picture of a denim jumper. :D My best friend and I go shopping together a lot, and she likes pointing out "homeschooling" clothes at the thrift store as a joke.

When ds#1 was 4 I taught him the names of the planets (I got him wall stickers for his bunk bed as a reward for going up there.) When we got to the planet "Uranus" for a long time he called it "my-anus." :D The other day I had to explain what a bra is to ds5 and ds2.9. After the explanation (I used the words breasts) ds2.9 said "Mama's a lumpy girl!" Ds5 followed that with "I'm a flat boy!" Ds5: "Jesus is eating my egg roll." (He's learning about Jesus being inside of us in AWANAS.) Me: "No, you are eating your egg roll, not Jesus." Gabriel: "So, what is Jesus doing?" Me: "He's...watching you." Gabriel: "Hey Jesus, watch this! I'm eating my egg roll...here it comes!" (As he dramatically puts his egg roll in his mouth.) Joke: DesCartes is in a bar, the bartender asked him if he'd like another. DesCartes replied "I think not" and disappeared.