Our new house addition (family room, three bedrooms and a bathroom) was officially finished on Thursday. That day was the big move - much excitement in the house. Today, my two-year boybarian forces a door open against the door stop and the door. rather than the door-stop, gives way and the brand new door now has a two-inch square hole in it! On the bright side, at least it didn't go through both sides and the door still functions. All door stops have now been removed from said doors (they were the kind that fit on the hinge) so now we'll probably have door knobs put through the drywall instead :banghead: I keep repeating to myself, "doors are just things, doors are just things, kids are more important, kids are more important".

You may want to check at your local Walmart because I saw a bunch of these on the clearance rack at our store the other day. I almost snagged them all for my kids for Christmas because they like them but alas, the budget did not allow. They weren't in the toy section, but in the seperate section with all the clearance items - not sure how different Walmarts handle this, but ours is a completely seperate clearance shelf.

I feel like this is a stupid question - but, we just had a tankless gas water heater installed last week and I noticed last evening that there is a gas smell outside (near the exhaust vent) when it runs. Anyone know if this is normal? I'll call the installers if I need to, but I'll feel stupid calling them if it's common knowledge that this is normal :)

I try to take it as a compliment but it doesn't always come across that way. My aunt, on the other hand, who is single and has zero kids, joined a water aerobics class a few years ago. On the first day, she introduced herself and told a bit about herself, only she lied through her teeth and told the class that she had eight kids - LOL! She totally enjoyed all the compliments she got on how great she looked after all those kids! She did 'fess up later :)

Rosetta Stone's style fits very well with a spoken language, not so much with a written language that is no longer spoken anywhere. Latin is usually studied for purposes of vocabulary development, grammar development and to be able to read ancient works in original languages so the Rosetta Stone method would probably not be the best choice for any of those goals. HTH

I absolutely agree that Saxon elementary is drag but let me share that I've decided that all the review, repitition, and, yes, sometimes pure drudgery are sometimes worth it. I took my two older kids through Saxon 1, 2, and 3 and hated it every step of the way so we switched everyone over to MUS which made us all happy. . . BUT . . . their math test scores on the standardized tests started going down, down, down . . and we just kept with it but eventually switched back to Saxon and my oldest will tell you that Saxon has helped him tremendously on the ACT whereas he says that MUS Algebra I and Geometry just didn't do the trick (he switched back into Saxon at Algebra II). My youngers started with MUS and then we messed with Singapore for a few years but suddenly this year I realized that they were not nearly as confident as my olders were with math at the same age and the light dawned that all that Saxon drudgery was what had made my older kids more successful in math. So, for what it's worth, we are back slugging our way through Saxon and I'm determined that though I'll make it as painless as I possibly can, all those drills and repititions are probably going to pay off in the end. Just our experience - I know there's many here who have had much success with many other programs.

Our addition is almost done:party: But now comes the part I've been dreading: Window Treatments. We were in Lowe's today and the saleslady was showing us the new cellular cordless blinds that open from the top and the bottom which would be nice because our new windows can open from the top or the bottom. We were curious about durability though - the sample seem . . . not fragile but not as durable as the old-fashioned metal or wood blinds either. Has anyone had any experience - we were looking at Bali Blinds? These would be for the three bedroom windows. Also, we have a nine-foot sliding glass door and a six-foot sliding glass door in the new addition. The 9 foot is two glass panels on each side with the door in the middle. The 6 foot is a normal patio door. Any suggestions? I'd been toying with the idea of just getting a rod and curtains to cover it but then was looking at the vertical blinds (which I thought were going out of style but seem to be everywhere in the stores and catalogs???) Then the saleslady threw us a curve and told us that we can get the cellular blinds that open vertically for patio doors and wide windows. Anyone seen or have these?? There was no sample at the store. My main concern is durability - we've got lots of little kids and I'm not sure that they would hold up to little fingers - we've also got a cat and I'm afraid that she would shred them in a day. Any help is much appreciated! I'm just not good at these things!!!!

I can smile about it now - not at the time! My dh took a look at it this evening and my d f-i-l made my day by declaring that it didn't look too bad at all. I'm guessing that he had pictured a collapsed roof. The top brake light has been reattached and as long as you only look at the van from the ground, all is good! Tomorrow's got to be a better day!

The teenagers giving advice made me LOL! My ds age 17 (driving on a permit) was the one with me and I had asked him if he wanted to drive home as we were getting ready to leave. He declined and was very quiet as we were scraping our way out of the garage and after we were clear he says with relief "Boy, am I glad I wasn't driving!" Decreasing heights! What are they thinking!

This morning my ds had a drs. appointment and the only parking available readily was a parking garage that had a sign that said 6 feet 6 inches clearance. I had my son (age 17) get out and watch as I went under the bumper to make sure that our van would clear. It was fine, cleared by 3 inches or so. We went in and parked, no problem, though I was laughing at my instinct to duck my head as we went under the cement bunkers. As we were leaving, again no problem . . .until the last two cement bunkers which were lower than the others and scraped the roof of the van. I'm trying to decide how to get hold of the owners of the garage - if for nothing else than to have them correct the signage so it doesn't happen to anyone else. Thankfully, my dh is a very easy-going and gentle-spirited man and took my tearful confession very well. He laughed and said that he probably wouldn't have even checked the clearance if he was driving - just barreled on in and parked. My new van rule: No parking garages, ever, ever, ever! On top of that, my ds has to have surgery on his elbow next Friday.

At least the grandma is taking some action and it should solve the immediate problem you were having, though I know it's no fun wondering who the grandma is aiming the action at! Several years ago we had a four-year old who would come and knock and knock and knock at our front door. I usually answered and told him that my kids weren't available at the moment but if he saw them come outside then he was welcome to play with them. He did the same pattern, five minutes later. This was continual. I finally mentioned it his mother after months and her reponse was, "Well, Jakie is very social and that's not something I'm going to inhibit". Grrrr . . . . . So, whether the grandma is upset with you or with her grandson, it could be worse . . .at least the behavior isn't being encouraged as "social".

I honestly can't remember what we read in high school - I don't think we ever read complete books, just portions which probably explains my memory loss! The one book that I will always remember as required reading was from eighth grade. We studied and analyzed this book for months. I remember having to list all flora and fauna found in this book, all similies and metaphors, we had to underline, highlight, read, and discuss. What book was this wonderful, in-depth analysis done on, you ask? Jaws II. Yep. That was considered classical lit for our class in 1978/1979. Of course, the highlight of the months of reading was to go on a field trip to actually watch the movie :)

I have two doing Phonics Road 1 who can read very well. They are going faster than the pace suggested by the program but I know they will eventually slow down (probably when we hit PR 2). I also have a K'er this upcoming school year with whom I am purposefully not going to use PR1. We're going to do MFW K with some modifications so that he learns all the letter sounds used in PR1. I'm hoping that he'll at least be reading three letter words and blending proficiently before we begin PR1 next year (or at the very end of this year).

PR = Phonics Road To Spelling and Reading

We are facing the same decision with our ds. He has gone through what we thought would be the first round of two rounds of orthodonic work. The first round did palate expansion and straightening but the ortho was sure that he would need a second round. Well, he's now 13, has all his permanent teeth and they loook great but last week he had a follow-up where the ortho is trying to convince me that we need to spend $4500 more because his bite is "slightly" off. I could not get a straight answer from this dr. as to whether this was just a "looks" issue or if it was a "health of the teeth" issue. Grrr . . . Anyway, another idea for you, is that we are going to take him next week to our trusted dentist just to get his opinion on the whole situation. He doesn't have a monetary interest in our decision so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get a straight answer out of him. Maybe that would help you with your dd?

If you wanted to know the brand of my dd's favorite from the hospital, it's a Soothie. There is a website where you can order the version that smells like vanilla which is what the hospital had. I think that's the reason she really liked it because I had tried other paci's and had no success. I can now just go to Walmart and buy the non-smelly versions for her and she doesn't mind but when she was really little that vanilla smell seemed to really calm her down.

Same experience here - we're about 50-50 now with the paci vs. non-paci kids. I second the idea of trying some different shapes. My youngest loved the ones that the children's hospital gave her but my mind is blank as to the brand name - I'll look at it when she wakes from her nap and post again.

My four year old (going to be five on Sunday) asked for "corn on the dog" (corn on the cob)for his birthday. Cracks me up! My favorite mispronounciation though was my fifth child who would say "scwissors". I was sad the day he actually pronounced them correctly.

I always have very strange dreams when I'm pregnant. I vividly remember when I was pregnant with my first, I dreamed that he bit me (as in removing something very important) while I was bf'ding him. I would have flashbacks to that dream often when feeding him after he was born - LOL! I've also always had the nightmares of leaving the baby at home or in the grocery cart or in the car. They are always the dreams that haunt me while I'm pregnant but strangely I never have those dreams when there is a newborn in the house. You would think it would happen again at that time - I guess I'm too tired to dream when up with a baby. LOL about the messy diaper - you have very practical dreams!

Thanks Carol - I'll look it up.

Our church is very small and I'm the treasurer. By small, I mean our yearly budget is probably around $60,000. I've been limping along for years, either using spreadsheets or even hand accounting methods but am interesting in speeding up the process of compiling my monthly financial statements. Currently I have to manually transfer the numbers from my spreadsheet into my report spread sheet because I don't have the time/knowledge to link everything together the way I know it should be. So . . . does anyone use a particular financial software for church accounting that wouldn't be overkill for such a small church and also wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Thanks,

You don't really have to hunt for them. . . if you use the built-in application that searches for the top-25 or 50 free apps or best selling apps they pop up all the time, and believe me, I've never searched for them! Apple did clean them all out a few months ago, but I've noticed recently they are popping up again. My 13 yo just got his own itouch and we haven't figured out how to block them yet so if anyone can help, I'd appreciate.

I've used Saxon then MUS and we are switching back to Saxon. We are switching back because my younger kids who have used MUS the most, are testing really very weakly in math because there isn't as much drill in MUS as there is in Saxon. They are also getting bored doing the same thing for a whole year so we are ready to go back to incremental. As far as Saxon jumping all over, it does jump but because you are constantly reviewing, when we were using it, it didn't seem jumpy at all. You practice and practice and practice all these little steps while moving forward with other things and then add on. It was apparently very effective because my olders who used it the longest are very good at math. As far as his boredom, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Each new program is fun at first and eventually you hit the doldrums and you just have to work through it. My second oldest hates math, has always hated math except for the first few weeks of a new program, and will probably always not enjoy math time, but she works through it and perseveres and is actually pretty good at it now. If you think that the mastery system isn't working for him, I'm not sure that Singapore is the best choice because it is really a mastery program (at least that's my impression from the bits and pieces I've used).

I think it depends on whether you've used other MUS levels. When I was using MUS, I began with one of my kidlets in Beta. When the younger kids came up through it, I never looked at the Primer or Alpha DVD's because I already knew the methodology. If you are just starting with Beta, I wouldn't skip the DVD's and TM. If you've taught Alpha, maybe, though Beta has additional items than Alpha so I'm not sure I would skip it even then. My kids always watched the DVD with me before doing the lesson. They enjoyed Mr. Demme at that age.

My teens say it helps block out the random noises that occur in our house with the little kids. I see by your signature that you have lots of littles, too! My oldest says that he feels like if he hears noises (screams, fussiness) upstairs (he does most of his schoolwork in the basement) that he should come up and see if I need help. The music helps drown that out so he can concentrate. He has a specific playlist on his itouch that he uses for math - I think it's songs that he doesn't particularly like so he's not tempted to sing along (LOL). Maybe that's the reason? As long as I don't see it taking him a LONG time to do his math, or the quality of the work falls off, I let him go. I remember as a highschooler doing math homework in front of the TV (what were my parents thinking?!?). Music has got to better than TV :)