Fajitas - The Best Ever! 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 1 lb beef 2 limes 2 tbsp sugar 2 tsp dried oregano ½ tsp cayenne ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp cumin 2 onions 3 bell peppers (red, green, yellow, one each) 3 tbsp oil Guacamole and sour cream to serve Flour tortillas to serve Salsa to serve Slice the meat into ¾ inch wide strips and place in a large bowl. Add the zest from one lime and the juice from both limes, sugar, oregano, cayenne, cinnamon, and cumin. Mix thoroughly. Set aside to marinate at least 30 minutes. Slice the onion thinly, and the peppers into ½ inch wide strips. Heat the oil in a large fry pan. Stir fry the marinated meat to 5-6 minutes, and then add the peppers and onions. Cook for 3-4 minutes more, until the meat is cooked through, and the vegetables are soft and tender. Put the mixture in a tortilla, add salsa, sour cream, and guacamole, wrap it up and enjoy. Notes: Tip#1 Make up the dry ingredients(from sugar through cumin) by the bunch and store in a container in your spice cupboard. Tip #2 Just use bottled lime juice, it's faster. Tip #3 Trader Joe's sells bags of frozen bell pepper/onion strips. Tip #4 You might make the first batch with only 1/4 tsp cayenne;-)

I try to buy used.. I've found some great deals on this forum as well as homeschoolclassifieds.com. I have to admit sometimes I actually laugh out loud at some of the prices posted. Actually a dollar or two ABOVE Amazon prices. I totally get it that sometimes it's just not worth it and I for one am very, very grateful for those of you who do it anyway! I also look and plan way in the future when looking at garage sales, thrift stores and on these boards. I have found some great stuff at Goodwill for .99 that I just put away. I had a friend that found TT5(the disks) at Goodwill for $5.99!! As to the cost of packing.. My mom always used to cut a paper grocery bag flat and wrap items in that to send.. I've not had any complaints when I have sent out stuff that way. And for those that are really going to bag it and not sell used anymore.. consider donating to The Book Samaritan. It is a non-profit organization that takes applications from homeschooling families in need and tries to fulfill those requests for free! http://www.thebooksamaritan.com/ Or post the books at www.curriculumshare.com

Here is what we did to help cut costs.. (disclaimer.. my husband is Cheap with a capital C and this will not work with a lot of men.) In Florida, there are time share presentations everywhere and they will give you 2 adult tickets to WDW. And get you discounted children's tickets. The presentations are long (like 1.5 -2 hours) but you can bring the kids and they feed you all breakfast. My husband and I figure that we are getting $50 an hour to sit there and make chitchat($200 worth of tickets for our collective 4 hours). We did it 3 times when we were there three years ago(only 1 child and we took a portable DVD player for her) and got tickets to WDW, Epcot and Sea World-bought a child's ticket and we were good to go. They are usually first thing in the morning and you are still to the parks by 10:30ish(and when we went they opened at 10) so really not bad. You do have to be able to repeatedly say NO.. LOL Like I said... it's not for everyone.. but we think it's fun.. LOL The Homeschool days sounds intriguing too.. I'd never even heard of such a thing.. Hope you have a fun trip!

:grouphug: Prayed for you all..

Nobody's cooking.. we ate leftovers:)

I never really thought of this either.. My daughters coach "requests" that all the girls do 50 V-ups and 50 push ups each day(with proper form of course=) It takes very little time and is great for muscle building. Splits never hurts(both sides and middle) and a bridge until they get it very well is good. After they get a good bridge, they can try raising 1 leg/hand at a time. Handstands, cartwheels(good and bad side). We bought a cheap chin up bar($10 Target) for the doorway when my dd was learning her pullover. Ruined the doorjamb but she got it..LOL :bigear: Staying tuned for ideas from others.

I do not know the family so I do not have enough info to make that kind of choice. I know that in our family we probably only do "daily academics" for about 2 hours a day but that does not include the hours upon hours my dd spends buried in books of all kinds. Our family also lives a lifestyle that has us "teaching" our children at all hours of the day and night. Heck we start even in the diaper stage teaching them all the body parts and left/right feet. We teach them to observe around them. I have had conversation on civics in the car.. My dd has attended more plays than some adults I know(and even been in 2 of them). Been to ballets, musical performances and cultural events.. etc. etc. etc. I guess what I am trying to say is that you can't just make blanket judgments about the quality of an education based on the time involved. Just look at how many hours some kids are in public school......

Christian/ secular materials or charter school acceptable We are under a public ALE so we use secular h/s materials but I actually would not send my dd to a charter school. (Just to clarify a tad=)

:bigear:

:iagree: with the Missionary stories with the Millers books and another friend is using the Voice of the Martyrs materials. Don't forget about the Christian Heroes books from YWAM http://www.ywampublishing.com/c-39-hero-biographies.aspx We personally are doing Children Around the World from WP next year. http://www.winterpromise.net/index.php?cPath=21_34

:bigear: So what kind of "structured exploration" do you use?? Just stuff you put together on your own or a specific book or curriculum?

Hey Hive, Can you help me out?? I had a book of animal stories as a child that I would love to find again for my children. I remember a story about a crocodile that ate marshmallows off a wooden paddle, was relocated by developers and made it's way back to the lake where the old man fed it the marshmallows. The other story I remember was about Big Ears, the Different Deer about a caribou. If any of you have/remember this book and can give me the title/author or anything, I would be ever so grateful!! Hoping someone can help=D Lori

Hi. Welcome to the forum!

:iagree:Especially Egg Drop soup with green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. Yum

Our dd now 7 loved puzzles and put together the US puzzle map so often that she learned them all. We were around to tell her the names of the states too. We also have Audio Memory's states and capitals songs which I highly recommend for learning states and capitals. If you want something more "curriculum-y" the kids in our co-op loved the class that someone put together from this Little Man in the Map book. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Man-Map-Remember-States/dp/0978510046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310189604&sr=8-1#_

:iagree:

:bigear: Aack, I've been worried about retention.. I needed something independent and secular with very little writing(which my dd hates) to teach writing and this seemed like such a good thing. I guess I will try it this year just to see. *sigh*

Thanks ladies! I had forgotten about Aha science.. That will be perfect and I'll look into Mr. Q's too. I heard about that ages ago but never checked into it. Thanks again.

Hello Hive, I have a rising 3rd grader who will be 8 in Oct. We just found out that a new little bundle will be joining us in Feb and so my planning got derailed into survival mode(being PG and I don't get along to well=). I have most everything chosen now to be easy and self directed(get out the WWW and do the next lesson) but Science is a stumper. I do still want to have her do some experimentation but I guess that may just be out. Anyone have any ideas for easy science? To bad they don't have a Growing with Science.. lol Thanks in advance for sharing your collective intelligence! Lori

I don't know you but adding my prayers. :grouphug: Lori

I'm the baby of 3 (by 6 years) married to an oldest of 3.

I will be teaching cursive to my dd who will be 8 this coming school year. She has been begging me to learn since we started last year! I also will be having her use a computer typing teacher starting this year.

I'm sure I must have joined to buy something.. I don't remember now.. lol I don't usually have a lot of time to post stuff in the forums but I sure have tried to take time since threads like this started popping up and I want to be able to buy things=D I think that newbies sometimes feel very intimidated by the forums because a lot of you seem to "Know" each other and what can we comment that hasn't already been commented by someone else?? You feel kinda silly just copying and using the "I agree" sign.. And lots of newbies looking for curriculum are new to homeschooling as well.. with just a year or two under their belts, they don't feel like they have any "wisdom" to contribute. One way to help others looking to know if a person should be sold to or bought from is to leave feedback from any transaction.. buying or selling. I have never sold anything but I try to leave feedback for everyone that sells to me.. I have purchased several things over the last few months and have had nothing but good experiences. Thank you to those that are willing to sell used!! It really, really helps stretch the budget!

I'm a last of three, DH is First of three. DH's family is all PS and we are the only with children right now (but I would bet the other 2 will NOT homeschool) My Brother(firstborn) was entirely PS'd as was his wife(also firstborn of three) and they homeschool their three. My sister (middleborn and PS'd through 11th grade and homeschooled for the last year.. btw.. do not ever do that to a child who has been through so many years with the same kids and then not allowed to do senior year and graduate with them.) She does NOT homeschool her 2. Hope this helps with your research!! It has been so interesting to read the responses so far.. Lori.

Just signed up with PBS the day before yesterday.. I hope you feel better soon!:grouphug: