I have asthma and haven't gotten the flu shot in many years, even while pregnant. However, my risk for it is lower than a lot of people's, I think. We aren't around a lot of other people, and DH works in a very small office. If we needed to be out and about a lot, I might feel differently.

I would discuss it with her asap. If she does have expensive tastes, and they're not in your budget, maybe she'll help out with them. I'm my sister's matron of honor as well, and she's not asked me to pay for a single thing yet. She bought the dresses, hair accessories, etc. Really, she just wants me to be there and to stand up to support her on her big day, so maybe that's true of your sister as well. You just won't know if you don't discuss it with her.

Who knows? I expect that it will probably include either living with one of our kids, or turning our property over to one of them, in exchange for letting us stay on the property. I don't think that's such a bad idea, honestly, because with mostly boys, I expect that my DILs will probably want their own moms around more, not so much their MIL, and I want access to my grandchildren -- maybe if we're on the property, we'll be able to see the grandchildren often.

Where do you get your elderberry syrup? Interesting to use it as a preventive. How much vitamin D are y'all taking/giving your kids? I'm wondering if I should up ours or not. We should also start taking our cod liver oil again. Last winter, we severely limited trips to places like the library, and we cracked down hard on all public water fountain use. We had not a single illness, not even a sniffle, all winter. I've just reminded my kids that water fountains are off-limits for a while.

DD is good at math, although she doesn't love it, but her scores from 7/6 were consistently good. We skipped 8/7 and went right to Algebra 1/2. So far she's 16 lessons into Alg. 1/2 and has yet to see anything new. (She's only done 16 lessons because we're doing Algebra 1/2 over two years and are supplementing a few days a week with worksheets on other topics, like Venn diagrams and probability, as well as word problems.)

I understand. My youngest two are 25 months apart, which means that I'll have spent pretty much four straight years either pregnant or nursing (including at night)/caring for a young baby. There have been plenty of days where we did just the minimum, if that. It's okay. Your oldest is still quite young (and for all people complain about PA, there is one big advantage -- no portfolio needed for a 6yo, so no pressure), and you have plenty of time. I would focus on reading, math skills, maybe handwriting, and whatever fun history/science/art/music things you have time/energy for. Read some "If You Lived" books, or play on the Williamsburg site, or get some books that have pictures about how people lived in a particular era. Pick out books on whatever science topics interest her. Paint. Go walking (or play in the backyard) and draw pictures of the leaves or flowers you find. Watch youtube videos of birds or whales or whatever other animals she likes, and read some books about them. Listen to the Classics for Children (Beethoven Lives Upstairs, etc.) CDs, or Peter and the Wolf, or The Magic Flute. Really, don't stress too much. Enjoy this time; enjoy your pregnancy and then your new baby.

I use Singapore and Miquon with one child, and they're a really good fit for him, but I don't think they are quite right, at least not right now, for my almost 5yo. I just started MEP with him (we're on about lesson 8), and he loves it so far; it seems to be a good fit. Of course, we'll have to see what he thinks as we get more into it, and we are only on the Reception level, but it's also free to download, so that's always a plus. ETA: I also have a couple of books that use the c-rods for figuring out things, so we may go through that after MEP Reception (which will only last us a couple of months).

When we used SOTW1 last year, our general routine went like this: -day 1 -- read chapter and discuss (do coloring page while listening, although my kids aren't really into coloring) -day 2 -- do mapwork -day 3 and 4 -- read some supplemental books and maybe do a project; we did only a few projects, one of which was the cuneiform tablets (which they really liked). Or watch a video or play a game related to the topic. Days 1-4 weren't necessarily Monday to Thursday; they were flexible, depending on what else we had going on.

That's just hilarious -- so they may or may not have actually found a way to improve performance, but they now suddenly have more students getting passing grades because they've widened the passing net. Fabulous. Not to mention that it strikes me as appalling that you can get just half of the questions on a test right and still pass it. I'll have to tell DH not to stress about getting his estimates right -- if he gets just half of the numbers right, that should be good enough, shouldn't it?

Not very often. It's far enough that we'd have to drive, although DH and the big kids have biked there, and it's nice but not very big. It is just as easy for the kids to play in our large backyard and on our swingset. Now, sometimes we will take dinner over there and fly kites or just enjoy a change of scenery. And we go to a bigger park with woods and a creek to explore a few times in the summer with our homeschool group.

Boston! Boston in the fall! (Having lived in/near both DC and Boston, I don't like DC, but I do like Boston, as much as I like any city.)

Mayor of Kroger -- LOL! I am pretty sure that I'm not only going to need to raise my grocery budget when I have four big boys, but I'm also going to need to raise my gas budget, because I'll need to account for another trip to the store (minimum 10 miles away) during the week. I don't think I can physically store a week's worth of food for four hungry boys (and a girl), LOL!

DP

Hahahaha! That was funny!

My children (then about 7 and 10) about choked the day we were at the site of the Gettysburg Address, and we passed a group of twenty-somethings. One of them (in an American accent, so I'll assume she was American and therefore should have known) said to another, "Wait? You mean Lee fought for the Confederates?!" I understand if you can't name all of the generals on each side (I can't either), but shouldn't you at least, by 20ish, if you're American, know that Lee was the main Confederate general? As for the Tolkien-Rowling thing, I really hope it was satire. If not, maybe Tolkien ripping off Rowling brings new meaning to the term "ghost writing?"

But that's the question -- ARE they sick? If they were coming today, the answer would be no, but will they still be sick six days from now?

My sister and her fiance are scheduled to visit us next week, arriving Friday. My sister was just diagnosed with tonsillitis and she started antibiotics yesterday evening, so she'll have been on them for six (out of ten) days by the time she arrives. I expect that she won't be contagious by then. How about her fiance? She says he's not being treated, but he's in close contact with her, and I'd assume he was exposed. By the time they visit, it'll be well over a week since he was exposed. She says he's not at all sick. But even if he doesn't get sick, I'm concerned that he can be an asymptomatic carrier and still spread the illness to my children, including the newborn. Since they're coming to meet the new baby, it won't really work to keep the baby away from everyone; if that were to be the case, we'd be better off rescheduling (although that's tricky to do). Or is well over a week too long for the bacteria to be hanging around him so that it's spreadable to us? I'm not a big germophobe at all; a cold wouldn't really bother me too much. But I REALLY want to avoid having to put my newborn on antibiotics for something avoidable. But I don't want to be unnecessarily paranoid either. (Although, he's exclusively breastfed, and even though I don't have tonsils and can't get tonsillitis, I suppose my body could still be exposed sufficiently enough to make antibodies for my baby. But still, ugh!)

Another reason NOT to align them is because that would typically put several artists or composers of similar styles together -- for instance, the French Impressionists -- since they were around the same times, and that may make them less distinct in children's minds. Simplycharlottemason.com, for instance, suggests using artists and composers of different time periods so that the styles are more distinct and therefore the artists/composers stand out more to the children.

I keep seeing a commercial comparing the iPad to the Surface, with the Surface winning, and I am intrigued by it but don't know anything about it other than what's in the commercial.

I have my 6th grader read the lesson and literature selections, to get a feel for what it's about. Then I have her do some of the exercises (usually the easier/shorter ones) on paper, just writing out the answers, and we discuss the longer/more complicated exercises together, orally.

I would fake enthusiasm if need be, if I felt it was something important. I also try to find something interesting in the subject, and I may rely on material that does the work for me. I'm happier to put my own history programs together, for instance, because I like history and feel comfortable with it, but science is not my thing, so I find that it works better to have a set open-and-go program. It's still hard to make sure we get it done, but it's a lot more successful than when I tried to cobble together my own science programs. And I figure we make up for the things we're not good at with the things where we are. I love history, and I love languages, and those are fun for us!

Benjamin Christopher William Zachary We used two of those names for two of our boys. I think any of them would go well with Alexander (which I love -- such a great name!). Ben and Alex, Alex and Chris, Will and Alex, Alex and Zach. . . I also love Nathaniel and Nicholas and think they also go well with Alexander.

I've read their book (and largely liked it), but I've never seen even a commercial for their show, much less their show.

Awwwww! What a great treat for you! And what a great support you are for those kids!

I think if the buyer was willing and happy to pay the return fee, I'd accept the return, refund the money, and attempt to sell the item again.