What is the absolute cheapest pay-as-you-go plan for cells that also has reasonable coverage in rural areas? Something that I could use for just the occasional call -- more than strict emergencies, but not more than 5-10 minutes at a time. I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth ditching our current (very good because we piggyback on a family member's plan) plan when it's up in a few months, or not. Do the pay-as-you-go plans expire, or are they good for as long as you want until you use up the money on them? ETA: Not for surfing/email/tablet, just calls and the occasional text.

:grouphug:

Oh, haircuts! Great idea -- I didn't even think of that because we've always cut our own hair. DH has a set of clippers that he uses for himself and the boys (a $20 or so set of clippers seems to last about 5 or so years; I just looked, and amazon has the set he has for about $40, yikes, but currently on sale for $22), and I trim DD's hair and my own (mine is crazy long, so I put a ponytail holder around the bottom of the braid, snip across, and have DH even up anything funky). A friend of mine goes to a local beauty school and gets her hair cut there for really cheap, and she's been pleased. I also dilute conditioner, and it doesn't seem to make a huge difference.

Also, find yourself some little treats and fun that don't cost much (in time OR effort), and indulge in those occasionally. We take full advantage of free and cheap activities where there's a cap for the family in the price, or where children under a certain age are free. But take a few dollars and buy some ice cream or cookie ingredients, or buy some extra gas and go to a state park, or something -- little stuff like that, if you possibly can, helps to keep everyone from feeling too deprived. If family members ask what you would like at gift-giving occasions, suggest extras like movie tickets or museum passes or other things that your family might otherwise have to skip. Or ask for necessities like snowpants or swimsuits for the kids or warehouse club memberships.

Didn't read all of the other posts, but I think I'd hold her back. I'd probably start her in the math level she's ready for, but I'd do it more slowly. My 11yo DD will be starting pre-algebra next year (sixth grade), but since it isn't her favorite subject, I'm planning to do the pre-algebra book slowly. If it takes more than a year, that's fine. We're going to do a few lessons from that book each week, but also some extra work on word problems and maybe other things like AOPS. I don't think she'll want to take a ton of advanced math, so I'm totally okay with her starting algebra 1 halfway through seventh grade, or even the beginning of eighth. I like the idea of finding a very different curriculum from the school too.

Consider a timer for your hot water heater so you can keep it turned down when you're not using it a lot. You might also look for programmable thermostats for your heat. We have an old house, which has two heat setups. One is the main floor, which is heated by a wood-burning furnace, and the other is the upstairs, which has electric baseboards. We turn the main floor up during the day and down at night, vice versa for the upstairs. We also have window AC units, so we only cool the rooms we are using, which saves us a lot of money. It's a little chilly in the bathroom on the coldest days of winter and a little warm on the hottest summer days, but when I remember that I'm not paying to heat/cool them 24/7, it's not a big deal. You might also talk to your electric company and other utilities to see if they can do a budget plan. We use a lot more electricity in February and August, and much less in April and September, but we pay the same all year, which helps avoid big surprises in the big months. Some utility companies will analyze your house for efficiency too, though I haven't personally tried that. Definitely use thrift stores. In my circle of friends, good scores at the thrift store are celebrated! I'm so glad to live in a time when thrift is chic! Watch your circulars for grocery sales. We live too far to receive them, but they're online. In the summer, hit the farmer's market shortly before closing, because often the farmers won't want to lug home the leftovers and will sell them cheaply. Talk to your mortgage company and other creditors to ask about hardship plans. Consider raising your deductibles on insurances, such as auto and home. Apply for food stamps and other help if you need it. Look into CHIP healthcare for your children. Don't be embarrassed. So many people are in similar situations. If you need help to feed or heal your children, apply for the help. Be patient and gentle with yourself. It is HARD being right on the edge of everything, realizing that you need to find the time (and energy) to do X or Y so that you can save a few dollars, because every penny helps. It's honestly exhausting. Sometimes, especially if you have small children, you just don't HAVE five more minutes in which to do a task. It is draining and worrisome to have things be so tight for a long time. Be gentle to yourself.

I tend to think of education in content areas in the young grades (even up through about grade 6 or 7) as being about exposure, rather than needing them to remember every little fact. For instance, we did the jello-candy cell model and a labeled paper cell a few years ago, and we talked about the functions of the various cell parts. It was pretty funny to hear my 3yo yelling "MITOCHONDRIA," and for a while afterward, they remembered the various parts and functions. I'm not sure they remember those details now (although DD just surprised me and remembered what the powerhouse of the cell is called), but that wasn't my main goal. My main goals were to interest them in how a cell works and to give them an idea of how the various parts work together. The next time they study it, some of the terms will be familiar, and they'll add more layers to their understanding. Same with history. Interest and excitement are what matter to me most at this point. I do find that reinforcing things in different ways helps with retention, but I agree with other people who said that kids will remember what they find interesting. And my kids tend to have a few niches where they're really, really interested and know a lot about those subjects.

If invited to someone else's house, I would certainly ask what I could bring. If the person said I didn't need to bring anything, I'd ask if they were sure, and if they still declined, I wouldn't bring anything. But then I'd reciprocate and invite that person over, or otherwise find a way to bless that person/family another time. If someone asks if they can bring something to my house, I would probably decline (unless it was a holiday -- Thanksgiving, etc. are always potluck sorts of things, where each person has her specialty item or two), but if they really wanted to bring something, I might suggest a side dish or dessert or something that I knew the person did well, like "could you bring some of those delicious rolls you've made before?" or something? When we were first married, another newlywed couple that had been college friends of ours lived nearby. We'd get together about once a month, at one of our apartments; the hosts would cook, and the guests would bring a dessert or side, and it was always a lot of fun.

Congratulations!

When my 4yo was being wild and crazy a few days ago (it's crummy weather here -- bitterly windy, rainy/snowy, half-frozen-half-thawed so our yard is all squishy, just not at all nice weather for being outside, and my energy for walks is pretty nil right now, being pregnant as well), I took him (and his 1yo shadow) into the kitchen and showed them how to do jumping jacks and running races and other little exercises. 20 minutes or so of that, and 4yo calmed down like you would not believe. Then he was able to play quietly enough that the big two kids could work without him distracting them. I wish I had a trampoline for the littles to bounce on. Now, my almost 11yo is super active and always has been. 4yo son is normal 4yo boy active; 11yo DD is extra active. She also has trouble paying attention. It takes much more effort to keep her on track, so I understand your frustration. (She's also very bright and creative.)

Fabulous -- you are quite welcome! I hope it works out well for you!

My interpretation is something like this (and I think those are great questions, if for no other reason than the historical context; on the flip side, we have really enjoyed integrating our favorite well-known Bible stories with SOTW1 this year, seeing how the events in the Bible fit in with the larger picture of the world): 1. Cain brought God the leftovers, not the first, not the best. He didn't make giving to God his top priority. 2. One interpretation is that God made Adam and Eve with all of the genetic traits, and He made it so that technically, yes, they were marrying their siblings, but they were no more genetically related than a husband and wife are today. (I'm not really sure how that works with scientific laws, which I believe that God set up, but I also believe that He can, and does sometimes, suspend those laws, and this might be a case of that.) If people were living hundreds of years back then, literally, it's very possible that families grew large quickly, and some of them may have moved to other locations by the time Cain killed Abel, hence Cain's concern. I do think there are many ways to interpret parts of the Bible, and I agree with PentecostalMom that sometimes we just have to put our trust in God's overall plan and accept that we won't know everything here on Earth.

I have no words -- I am so, so sorry.

Will the medical side of your insurance cover it? DS1 had to have oral surgery last year, and the dental side of insurance covered part of it, and the medical side covered part of it, including the anesthesia. If it helps, they did quote me a not-too-awful cost for the anesthesia, if insurance didn't cover it.

Blue eyes are recessive. My parents have green eyes and blue eyes; two siblings and I have blue eyes, while the fourth has green eyes. That sibling has two brown-eyed children, and one blue-eyed child. I'm still waiting for someone to get DH's beautiful green eyes, but so far, we're four for four on blue eyes (though some have turned grayer than others). I think hair color is way more complicated, though. My parents have brown and black hair; two siblings and I have brown hair (although in some varying shades), while the fourth had blond hair as a child and how has lighter brown/dirty blond hair. My brother with the dark brown hair has two brown-haired children and one blond; I have one child with brown hair, two with blond, and one that looks like he'll be brown as well. DH's dad has red hair; his mom has brown, and DH and his sister both have red hair. So far we have no redheads, sigh, but DH's sister has a blond and a redhead. And then there are dimples. I have dimples, but only one of my children, so far, has them. They're so cute on him, though!

I assume you have an MP3 player, right? You can play it through your car's radio if you have a transmitter, such as these: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_13?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=mp3+radio+transmitter&sprefix=mp3+radio+tra%2Caps%2C266 They work okay but don't necessarily last very long and aren't always spectacular. They do seem to be better at higher prices. DH noticed a background whine with his. You hook it to you MP3 player (you may need a separate cord for it), and you tune the transmitter and the radio in your car to the same station (an unused one -- you may need to change it after a while if you're driving far), and it plays through the radio and speakers in the car. If you're going to do that a lot, I'd look into getting a tape player installed in your car. DH and I have both found that to be a much better option for connecting the MP3 player. (Or I suppose you could probably install something that has a direct MP3 connection.)

We live about 5 minutes from a town with a post office/bank/pizza parlor/fire and police, 15 minutes from a town with a grocery store and library, 20-30 for the towns that we need to go to most often (the ones that have bigger grocery stores, WalMart, bigger libraries, craft stores, Home Depots). We love living in the country and having some land, but honestly, it grates after a while, the drive to anywhere. DH commutes 45 minutes each way, every day, and it's not an unpleasant drive, but we all wish he had that extra hour and a half at home. The drive for me to town isn't too annoying once a week, but honestly, I do turn down activities that we could do, just because the drive makes the day too long. An hour round-trip drive on top of getting small children ready and loaded and unloaded (and bags, groceries, etc. loaded and unloaded) really does eat up the day quickly. There is no such thing as a quick trip anywhere. (For instance, there are nice YMCAs about 20 miles away, but that's too far for us to use very often, much less several times a week, so we do suffer a lack of that sort of thing.) It's not worth the gas cost (we're currently talking $4-5 dollars just to get to the grocery store one time) or time cost to go to the grocery store for a couple of things, or even to pop into the library for a couple of things. I do combine errands as much as possible (and I have DH stop on his way home for one or two things sometimes), and it HAS forced me to be more intentional about errands and running around -- "do I really NEED to go out, and can I hit two or three errands if I go out?" But the downside to that is that it is a very long day when we do go out; we pack lunch and schoolwork, but there are often many five-minute errands that necessitate getting everyone buckled and unbuckled multiple times (because my kids aren't quite old enough to stay in the car or to do most errands for me), and we end up very tired by the end of the day. It will be easier when my children are older and don't require quite so much assistance from me, but it will always be a long day. (Gas cost for commuting and weekly trips for me is pretty hefty -- but. If we lived closer to DH's office, we'd have paid much more for a house, so I think that's a wash. Wear and tear on his car is a slightly bigger deal, but I think it still is cheaper than a higher house payment.) Otoh, we have land to run around on (and hopefully to garden on in the future). We have well water, and we have gorgeous views. It's quiet here. We have neighbors, but they're not right on top of us. It is so much nicer than when we lived in a development with neighbors very close (and then I had the temptation to run to the store, or run to the library, or whatever, just because they were all close). So that's why we do it.

I think that is a perfect response IF people probe.

What a sweet story! I'd have been embarrassed too, but I think it's wonderful that you let the couple bless you.

I am so, so sorry.

Ugh, I did that with my first two (and after passing the 3hour and still having large babies, almost 9 and almost 10 pounds), I flat out refused (er, declined) to take it with any subsequent babies. I don't think it is an accurate test *for me.* It was miserable torture! I hope you feel back to normal very soon!

I'm so sorry.

We're in the middle of the fifth book in the PJ series right now and like them a lot. I think Riordan's takes on the old myths and characters are hilarious. Poseidon the beach bum made me laugh so hard! I do sometimes get a bit annoyed at the very conversational tone, but it also doesn't sound too odd for being a teen describing something to a friend. We're reading them along with other Greek mythologies, takes on the Aeneid, etc., and it's all really serving to reinforce my kids' understandings of the various Greek characters. They love when they can guess what Greek god or goddess or monster is making an appearance in the PJ books, based on Riordan's descriptions and their previous knowledge. I don't think they're the best things ever, but I do think there are some clever premises in the books.

There seem to be plenty of homeschoolers (generally on the more conservative side, if that matters to you) in Pennsylvania, and it seems to be well-accepted, with plenty for them to do. Nobody even blinks at us being out and about in the middle of the day. Also, we're allowed to participate in sports and extra-curricular activities at the local schools if we so choose, and I think (but don't quote me on that, because I haven't asked for them) we can get special needs services through the schools too. Yeah, we have to test in a few grades, and yeah, we have to do portfolios every year after age 8, but it's so not a big deal. You just need to look at the school district you're in first, as they can vary about how much grief they give the local homeschoolers. (Mine is very friendly.) Also, PA allows philosophical and religious exemptions to medical checkups and vaccinations, if that matters to you.

This is so beautiful! I have no desire to upgrade my rings; they fit me well and are very pretty. I would redo the setting on my engagement ring if it wore down too much, but I have no desire to upgrade. I would possibly like a ring with all of our children's birthstones on it, flanked by DH's and mine, small ones. Maybe after this baby. But it would be an addition, not a replacement.