We usually start in July, after about five weeks off, but I wanted to update on what I'd mentioned in other threads that we were planning for this summer. In past years, we've taken three or four weeks to start slowly, adding a few subjects each week. This year, I decided we'd do a Morning Time, plus one individual subject for each big kid (writing for DD, history for DS1, because I want them to finish more this year than easily fits into the school year), plus science (individual reading, group labs), plus art, composer study, and picture study. Those last three I have trouble getting to during the year. This week was great!! Art, picture study, and composer study are no longer relegated to the back burner! They're the main dish. It has been so fun to do them in a more intense way, one each day. It's built momentum for the artist and composer, and it's been really great to be able to discuss and study and listen and watch without feeling rushed to go complete the three Rs. We have one more selection for both artist and composer because we were out all day today, so we will do those tomorrow at dinner when DH can be part of things too, and then Monday, we will move on to a different artist and composer. Our artist this week has been Thomas Cole, and we've looked at his series of four paintings, Voyages of Life. Everyone, including my toddler, has really bonded with the paintings and has loved comparing and contrasting them. We put them on the wall so they can revisit them, and they do. Our composer has been Aaron Copland, and they've adored him too. We watched the ballet of "Appalachian Spring" (which takes place in an 1830s Pennsylvania farmhouse, which is what our own house is), listened to "Fanfare for the Common Man," listened to Darth Vader, er, James Earl Jones read the Gettysburg Address against Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" (this is stunning), and listened for the woodblock in "Hoe-Down" from "Rodeo" (YouTube has a great instrument map that someone made for this piece, which puts up a picture for each instrument as it's being played -- a great help for a non-musical mama). As well, we've had time to discuss the science readings more, and I really feel like this has been a great way to start the year! It's still getting them in the school mindset but without so much heavy brainpower needed.

I wrote down a list of what Staples was offering, with prices, but I also had to go to WalMart for other things first, and when I looked at their school supply section, they had just about everything that Staples had on sale, at the same or better prices. So I bought a bunch of composition books, index cards, sticky flags for marking pages, pencils, pens, stackable pencil boxes, clipboards for my two small learners (they like them for drawing). . . Staples lost my business this year because they opted not to do the penny sales this year or last. No point in adding another errand I don't need.

LOL, yes, I get you. My baby sister is a lefty too. I figure they'll have to adapt to so much in their lives that I might as well buy lefty scissors and such when I possibly can. I didn't want his first experience with school supplies to be frustrating, so I got him these, which have worked very well for him. Like night and day over righty scissors, even given that at not quite three, he wasn't too coordinated with scissors yet anyway. http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Inch-Left-handed-Pointed-tip-Scissors/dp/B0020MLI4S. (The picture is reversed, but the ones we got are true lefty scissors, with the left blade up. I happened to see the same ones at WalMart this afternoon too.)

DD prefers the basic Kindle for some things and paper for others. My son will somewhat reluctantly read things on a device if that's the only option but prefers paper. DH prefers paper. I'll read either. I like the Kindle app on my iPad because I can get books instantly, plus I can read in the dark, plus no late fees. But I like paper as well and will still check out paper books. I still prefer paper for things I want to browse, like cookbooks. The one place where reading on the iPad absolutely wins for me is when I'm reading novels to the children, especially with the baby on my lap. I have very small hands, and holding a paper book open with one hand while wrangling a toddler with the other is difficult and makes my hand hurt. The tablet makes that so much easier! Also, I love that I always have a book available, so if we get stuck somewhere, I can always read a chapter to the children.

We signed on our house in the DC area about October 11 and moved in that same weekend, so we were brand new to the area in the midst of the sniper shootings and were wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into. DH insisted I get a cell phone for when I was out in our new area with our then 7mo.

Yes, I bought some composition books for all of my kids today because they should hold up better than spiral notebooks, and my leftybaby (he's almost four) will be able to use it easily too, but I also made him some reverse opening booklets for drawing, using my ProClick. Arliemaria, I think composition books are pretty universal, so they'll likely have them in a few years too. But you might want to get her lefty scissors so that when she's interested in cutting, regular scissors don't frustrate her. Fiskars makes a red and blue pair that worked really well for my 3yo.

About the same time. But it depends on the child's interest. My kids like languages, so they are learning Latin plus Spanish (13yo) and Italian (10yo). I wouldn't push if they hated them, but I think it's good for them.

Oh, yeah, and I heard the shots from my dorm room when Melanie Spalla (because her name deserves to be remembered) was shot and killed on my college campus in 1996. My room faced the lawn where she was killed, and several of the bullets went beyond my dorm. In the era before widespread cell phones, texting, and Facebook, many parents were understandably very worried for quite a while because all phone circuits were jammed. I remember sitting through my afternoon classes in a daze, along with everyone else wondering what had happened, as information took a while to spread throughout the large campus. I think my reactions to that were probably pretty similar to how I felt after 9/11: HERE, REALLY??? On our territory? Unfathomable.

I wasn't part of them happening, but I remember exactly where I was when: -the Challenger blew up -the Berlin Wall fell -Greg Louganis got back to back double gold medals -America returned to space as Discovery cleared the tower (I will never forget hearing the announcer's words, and to this day, it makes me all teary.) -Y2K happened and the lights didn't all go out -we waited to see who actually won the 2000 election -I was sixteen weeks pregnant with my daughter when 9/11 happened, and I remember getting up that night for my usual bathroom trip and looking out the window at the calm, as if nothing had happened, and yet, the whole world had changed. -we went into DC to watch President Reagan's funeral procession But my husband has actually worked on preserving several of America's historic sites and buildings. It's cool to think that decades from now, people will be able to see churches, houses, etc. (including the Lincoln summer cottage in DC) because he had a hand in their restoration and preservation.

1200 doesn't seem that all small to me, not what I would call tiny, anyway. Our first house was about that size. It had a living room, half bath, and fairly large kitchen/dining room (with a pantry, even) on the first floor, and three bedrooms (the master bedroom was quite large plus had a nice walk-in closet and a second closet built over the stairs; the second and third bedrooms were small but not tiny), a full bath, and a linen closet on the second floor. It had a nice basement, and we divided it so that half was a workroom for dh, and half was a nice, clean, bright space for storage, chest freezer, and laundry. It was more than adequate for the two of us (and our cat) and then our first baby, and it would have worked fine for a couple of kids, probably even two teens, especially if we knew we had a small house and kept toys and extraneous stuff to a minimum. It's so much about the layout. I actually have twice that space now, but the layout leads to some strange spaces.

I'd be interested in it except for one thing (other than the five kids thing): mine and DH's hobbies take up space! Yarn, wood, metal, art stuff, guitars, books, games, you name it. We have very strong DIY genes and are always creating something. We gave birth to children who are the same way, so there's always a project in progress somewhere. Other than that, less to clean, yes, please.

Target has some nice wire bins with dividers, kind of like the desk apprentices, but smaller and only about $15 each. They hold a full binder plus several books, so each of the three older children has one for his or her specific, current stuff, and they live at each child's workspace. Then I have a shelf that holds shared books like the Kingfisher Encyclopedias, plus reference books. And I have a long narrow crate that holds things we don't use often, or stuff that will be coming up. I have our summer group work in my first grader's wire bin for now, but I need to get another of those from Target for the group work books. Otherwise, I just keep them in a plastic mesh basket from The Container Store. I can take some pics if you want.

Congratulations! And to Chris in VA too -- congratulations!

We have removed wallpaper from two houses. Some of it was very easy, and some of it took a lot of steaming and scraping and then washing to get the glue off. It's a pain in the neck but not worth passing up an otherwise great house because of it.

That is great! I wonder if that was part of her issue, not quite knowing what she needed and maybe not feeling connected with the class, and add that to a tough time with transitions, and it adds up to waterworks. We went through a little of that over the spring, not the waterworks, but the not feeling into martial arts class, just feeling kind of blah about it, with DD (although she's quite a bit older than your DD), and the solution was to get the instructor involved. She'd hit a plateau with skills and was feeling like she'd never get to the next belt. He gave her some specific help and got her over the plateau, and bam, her enthusiasm came back strong. So you might talk with the instructor if you think it's related to the MA class itself. But I think sometimes it's just the personality too. I have one (not DD) who will turn on the tears for anything, and he's always been that way.

I want to know what family, with young children and a career or two, has three hours a day to invest solely into one pairing, without also needing to multitask (and by multitasking, I mean talking while cleaning the kitchen, or reading to multiple children at once). Because that's what 15-20 hours a week boils down to, about three hours a day. Where do I get that, especially when my DH only has about five hours at home a day, in which he needs to eat, shower, see his children, mow the lawn or feed the furnace, do any housework that needs to be done, check his personal emails, or work on side projects? Any time he has available just for me is great! We could use a little more one-on-one time, of the non-teA variety, more shared hobbies. We enjoy going out on dates when we can afford to do so; sitters haven't generally been in the budget. But we also both have different ideas of good hobbies, and both of us are very introverted.

I wish they had guitar strings on subscribe and save, lol. My kids run through them quickly. It would save DH from running to Guitar Center, 45 minutes away.

I just became a Prime member last October, and now I can't imagine not having it. But. I live half an hour from a WalMart or Target. Prime saves me a lot of hassle with taking all the kids anywhere, and often, the two day shipping is faster than I'd actually get out to WM or Target anyway, since we only go out about once a week during the week. I tend to buy a lot of household stuff. Toddler cracked a DVD when we were at my ILs' a few weeks ago, three hours away, and we don't see them very often. No problem, my Prime happily delivered a replacement to them in a couple of days. I needed sunblock before we went to visit my ILs, and I like brands that aren't usually found in regular stores. The health food store that might have had what I wanted is thirty minutes away in a different direction than I ever need to go. Again, no problem, Prime delivered it to my ILs' house, and it was waiting for me. I consider it to be completely worth the money for the hassle and time and probably money it saves me (30 minutes each way, plus five kids, plus at least $10 in gas for my van, plus the hefty health food store markup vs. Amazon Prime equals no contest), but I recognize that it might not be that way for everyone. In some of the other places we have lived, Prime wouldn't have been as useful.

I'll join! I haven't knitted much in a while, but I sure would love to!

Oh, honey. I had two winter babies and then a fall one, and then I had a July baby. We don't have central AC, so I was blasting the window units. Our bedroom one is directly blowing on me, and it was such a lifesaver during that summer pregnancy. My poor DH would smother himself in blankets, while I'd complain that it was still hot, LOL! I swore I wouldn't do another summer pregnancy, yeah, right. Baby number five is an August baby. You have my sympathies. Turn on the AC!

Well, after thinking and reading a bit more, I decided to order this one, and it should be here in a couple of days. The reviews on the multi-floor one that does hard floors too were too mixed for my liking, not definitive enough to spend the extra money on it. Thanks, Hive!

Oooh, that's even better! Might have to get it. :)

Since it would pay for itself after a couple of uses, I'm considering getting this carpet cleaner and wondered if anyone had it or a similar one? Do you find that it's pretty useful? We'll be moving a bunch of rooms around this summer, but since we want to paint them too, it might take a few days or weeks, which makes renting a carpet cleaner machine not cost effective. This is the one I'm considering: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ZJ2M7G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER But then there is also this one, which cleans hard floors too. Anyone have one of those, and does it really work? Is it easier, or more convenient, than a twisty mop? We have hard floors on our main floor (pergo and linoleum, plus a couple of rooms with old hardwood, and one with a rug on it, plus carpet upstairs), and with five children and country living, it's hard to keep our floors clean. I'm wondering if the extra money would be worth it for the convenience of cleaning the hard floors (especially at the refurbished/open box price), or if it's really not any more convenient than a twisty mop? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045I8E4M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2L77EE7U53NWQ

I would add: tortillas, black beans, white beans (go nicely with Italian spices and sauces, or with chicken and Mexican spices for a white chili style dish), ground beef or turkey. . . Maybe shrimp or fish fillets sometimes. I'd also add a premixed Italian herb/spice blend and a Mexican one, maybe an Indian one too. Sauces: if you have an Aldi, I'd look there for some ideas. My children love their Alfredo sauce mixed with chicken breast and sautéed broccoli, but they have a vodka sauce, marinara, sometimes a pumpkin sauce, a spicy marinara, etc. I like to keep a few on hand for busy evenings. Also, check out this book for ideas for dressings, dipping sauces, pasta sauces, and more: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Saucy-Dinner-Marinades-Dressings/dp/155832237X And, fwiw, since we still have so many small children, passing things is difficult at the table. We have gone to lining all the dishes up on our island, buffet style, where everyone serves themselves (and I plate up for the little ones). Neater, simpler, faster, and out of sight, out of mind (this is for the almost two year old, who will eat everything on his plate, unless he sees something he really likes, in which case, he will fixate on that item and insist upon more until it's gone; if the food isn't at the table, he will happily eat everything before demanding more).

Yeah, that's creepy. I'm sick of all the "tearjerker inspirational can't believe must see he did this and I was amazed forty-two people who did some thing cool click bait" in general.