Oh my! Can I keep my homeschool mom cred if I admit that I take the kids to the dollar store and they each pick out a movie theater size box of candy? We fly fairly regularly, but it is not a long flight. There is a travel plaza near the airport where we always stop- because it has a Panda Express and a McDonald's Playland, so we can eat orange chicken and the kids can get some energy out before we get to the airport.

We dealt with encropresis with a 7 year old after a long camping trip! It only took a couple of months of miralax for us. No problems since.

I think it's great!

I used the first 3 years of RightStart for math. It's not cheap, but it does teach you how to teach math and it is reusable. There are not a ton of worksheets at all, especially at first- it is mostly activities.

We recently had pics taken with a blue/green color scheme. My dd wore a dress with blue flowers. My boys wore jeans with blue/green plaid shirts, one of them had a blue sweater over it. If I were you, I would find an adorable outfit for her and then coordinate the boys to match her.

This is off topic, but a couple posts made me think of it. I have seen things on Pinterest of people using dressers to make mini-loft beds. You put a couple of dressers together, with something at the end and then put the mattress on top. It's taller than a regular bed, but not as tall as a bunk bed, but it frees up space in the room where there used to be a dresser (or two). I was looking into it because we have small bedrooms, but the ceiling slope, making it difficult to have a bunk bed. Just a space saving idea for people who are looking to fit more kids into small houses!

It wouldn't bother me much to have a boy in the locker room with me, but it does bother me to think of my dd changing in front of boys. I am pretty adept at changing quickly and with a towel wrapped around me. The last time we were in a locker room, my naked 5 year old decided that socks were going to be the first thing she put on and she was hopping around trying to put her socks on. In a couple years, she will probably be much more modest, but still not coordinated enough to change as quickly and modestly as I could. (my skills were developed in high school where we often changed clothes on school buses on band trips!)

I believe most 7-10 year olds and even a few 6 yos could handle that! I have an 8 yo boy who would rather die than go into a women's restroom, let alone locker room!

Oh my! That is not a minor vent! That is awful!

My ds is younger, but I have had good luck "hooking" him on a book by reading the first couple chapters out loud. Also, I let him stay up as late as he wants as long as he is in his bed reading. That gets us at least an hour a night- sometimes 2. That doesn't help him choose books, but it does increase the amount of time spent reading! ETA: I got lots of great suggestions by browsing reading lists on Pinterest.

I bought these bins. http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Options-Project-Boxes-Pack/dp/B00S8IYCBO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453403447&sr=8-2&keywords=Scrapbooking+bins+creative+options I got them MUCH cheaper at Costco. Each subject has all the stuff needed in it's own box. The bins are big enough to have notebooks, books, workbooks, pencils, manipulatives (spelling tiles, game cards for RightStart, coins, dry erase boards/markers, etc). The kids have their own box for subjects that they do individually, but there is only one box per subject we do together (dd has a math box, ds has a math box, but there is only one bible box) my teacher stuff is in the same box. I love this because I can say "go get your math box" and we have everything we need to do the subject wherever we want to be. In the winter, this isn't as big of a deal, but in the spring and fall, I try to be outside as much as possible. We also go to the basement sometimes so the youngest can run/jump. We also spend a lot of time camping and I can grab the boxes for the subjects we need while we're gone. That probably sounds silly, but my kids do much better if we don't take too much time off of doing school and we are at a campground for most of the summer. I loved those boxes so much that I bought a bunch more and use them for many other things! They are incredibly versatile!

That was so funny!

Not footsteps exactly, but there are a few noises that I am used to hearing and assuming it is dh. And then I hear those noises when he is out of town. I have been a little freaked out a couple times!

I love the booths! I bought a Pizza Hut booth at an auction one time. I think it is so fun!

We don't have these, but I want to buy them before our next trip- though I want to buy them for use in hotel rooms. 3 kids make for crowded rooms. I'd love to hear from someone who has them. http://www.amazon.com/Disc-O-Bed-Youth-Kid-O-Bunk-Organizers-Green/dp/B00U7R4YPI/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1453078221&sr=8-12&keywords=Kid+cot

I love having many separate spaces! The problem seems to be convincing people to use them! I swear wherever I am, everyone is within 10 feet of me. The youngest has a speech therapist that comes every couple weeks and even though the olders have several choices of where to be/things to do- they always seem to be right.there. I would hate to have an open concept house, I need to have my own space sometimes!

Yay! I will pray for everyone involved!

My ds is right around that reading level too. He really enjoyed the Kingdom of Wrenly series. It's fantasy/adventure, but right at that age level. I will have to look into the secrets of Droon too! ETA: Ds is currently reading all the Boxcar books he can get his hands on! They have fewer pictures, but the text is still pretty simple. I had to get him hooked by reading the first couple of chapters out loud, but now that he knows the characters, he starts them on his own. He's also read Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. They are shelved with the "tween" fiction at our library instead of the "junior" section- which is apparently beginning chapter books.

I don't have a brand to recommend, but I asked my mom to make one for me and for each of the older kids and she did. I LOVE mine. I read that it should be 10% of your body weight, but I wish mine was a little heavier than that. When I remember to put ds's (8 year old, who still wakes up at night) on him after he is asleep, he sleeps better. My only negative experience would be that one of them got a hole and we had little beads everywhere, but that shouldn't be an issue if you are buying one.

I wouldn't fund a lazy lifestyle. One of the first things I would do with the money is set up college funds for my kids, my nieces/nephews, cousins and cousins' kids. I would probably go back myself, for degrees that aren't "practical". I would definitely give seed money for businesses to several relatives. I know my brother would like to open a martial arts gym. I would immediately hire housekeepers, a cook, and someone (or 2) to help with homeschooling! Someone fluent in a foreign language, someone to work with one kid, while I work with another, etc.

I am very introverted and I LOVE acting. People are surprised by that- but here is the thing. When I am on stage, I am not ME- I am my character. If I say something stupid- it's the playwrite's fault, not mine! I would feel MUCH more vulnerable writing something that someone else performed. Getting up in front of a group and saying my own words is my worst nightmare! Someone could criticize my interpretation of my character, but that doesn't bother me. Anyway, being someone that I am not is really fun. In fact, the more different the character is to who I am, the more fun it is! All that to say- go for it! You will probably really enjoy it.

Do you think the average person knows what Gor is?

That "plants of Gor" link was the strangest thing I have ever read.

I quit trying to get my 8 year old to sign up for sports because I was tired of paying money to listen to him cry about it. We recently bought an indoor trampoline and it is wonderful for burning energy. In the summer, we do lots of swimming, hiking and tennis, (he seems more suited to individual activities instead of team sports) but in the winter, we don't get out nearly as much as we should.

I have a space heater that lives under the school table. It blows on my legs all through thr long winter! Sometimes I sit on the floor, so it blows on my back while we do read alouds.