Yes, I think that is very possible, especially if you have a great library. I have managed to get some great deals and have been given a fair amount of the stuff. I want for free, but even still, I don't think I would get to $600 for two kids next year. Possibly if I get IEW instead of WWS for my sixth grader, maybe.

Also, if you are not strictly opposed to graphic novels, my 8yo really likes the Tin Tin books.

DS1 turned 8 last week and is reading the Will of Gettysburg book in the Boys of Wartime series. It's his first really big book (like, aside from easy chapter books like Ready Freddy, Magic Treehouse, and Time Warp Trio, all of which he has also liked), and he's really, really enjoying it. (It does probably help that it references a lot of places he actually knows, but I skimmed it and thought it was a very good story.) His older sister is reading the first of Erin Hunter's Warriors books (warrior cats -- what could be better?!), and when DS1 heard that there was a series about warrior dogs by the same author, he asked for it. I'm not sure if it will be too much for him or not, but I've requested it from the library, so we'll see. He LOVES Percy Jackson, but we're doing those as family readalouds, so I don't know if he'd be quite up for reading them on his own or not. He also gets interested in some of the snippets from WWE2, such as Ginger Pye. I think he'd also like Carolyn Haywood's books about boys, such as the Eddie books or Peter and Penny.

The church we have most often attended in this area seems to have a policy of two unrelated adults in each of the two nurseries. It doesn't always seem to be parents in the nursery either; it seems to be other adults (often grandparentish age) who enjoy spending time with the babies. (There are a fair number of babies in the service too; it seems to be toddlers in the infant-toddler nursery. I don't leave my babies in the nursery, but I have appreciated taking an older baby there for nursing/playing when they get a little noisy.)

Yep, you win! (My bank flagged what was indeed a fraudulent charge on my card last week -- a hefty purchase at some international store. I was tremendously grateful for that. Good to know they'd notice if I bought a lot of curriculum, LOL!)

You also need to have them check your thyroid again. Many doctors will tell you it's "fine" if it's between 2 and 4. If you're showing any signs of PCOS or fertility issues or other signs of hypothyroidism, many endocrinologists will prefer your TSH to be in the 0-2 range and will medicate to get it down that low. I highly recommend seeing an endocrinologist, not just a regular doctor. Typically, they will do baseline bloodwork on day 3 of your cycle. It does sound like you could be a PCOSer, and you really need someone who can address that, not just for fertility issues but for long-term health.

I don't drink a lot of caffeine, especially when pregnant, and although I finally discovered the joy of coffee a few months ago, I've been limiting it during this pregnancy, because I've also read that it can cause issues with the newborn because of withdrawal. My fourth baby's labor was only half as long as any of my others (4 hours vs. 7, 8, and 11.5). He was the same length (21") as the rest of them, but he was only 8 pounds (my others were 8.11, 9.10, and 9.5). In his case, smaller did make for faster, but his head was the same size; he just had nearly two pounds less chub on his body than my second baby. (And I didn't have IVs for any of them.) However, #4 also came at 38w3d, and #2 came at 41w1d (and the other two at 40w6d and 40w5d); had #4 waited an additional 16-19 days, I think he'd have been over 9 pounds as well. I do think my body did a lot of loosening up with #4 in the last trimester -- I was achier all over, and I kept joking that the labor was going to be fast. It sure was, and he practically fell out. I'm kind of hoping that happens again this time.

I would plan to carry on as you need to, as if the baby were yours, and I would not reduce your fee for that reason. Taking the baby about your regular business is going to be good for the baby in terms of intellectual development and everything. As for nights and weekends, I'd charge more if it was going to be inconveniencing your family in some way. If you'll need to be up with a baby in the middle of the night, or if you'll need to skip weekend events with your family, or if you'll order pizza more often because your evenings are busy with the baby, or whatever, I'd charge a bit more.

It depends. I might assign some very independent work, like workbooks or reading or even math (especially for my 5th grader), or I might put on education videos or something. Unless I'm so deathly ill that I can't get out of bed (which hasn't happened yet), it's likely that we'd do *something* educational, even if it's not anywhere near a full load. But y'know, I also wouldn't worry too much if I just let them build with Legos, play video games, and play all day. Unless it was an ongoing thing (like bedrest while pregnant or something), a few days off isn't going to be the worst thing in the world. Don't push yourself too hard -- rest and get better soon!

What about looking into campground memberships that have cabins? Some let you travel to different campgrounds every couple of weeks, and if you had a cabin, you might also have some basic cooking facilities. Tent camping for three months might get a bit old. But yeah, with two ten-year-olds, what a great time for an adventure!

Last year, The Sixty-Eight Rooms (and its sequel, Stealing Magic), by Marianne Malone, was a big hit with my first and fourth graders (and it looks like another sequel, The Pirate's Coin, is coming out soon). It's got mystery, adventure, realistic modern fiction, and history all together. The audio book is very good. My current second grader is reading this book, which he loves, although it's more on a fourth grade level: Will at the Battle of Gettysburg, part of the Boys of Wartime series, by Laurie Calkhoven. He is really enjoying it, and it's realistic historical fiction.

Going rate for a daycare center around here seems to be around $200 a week for a child under a year. I'd probably charge less than that to watch an infant in my home.

LOL, I don't have Prime, and I have noticed that their regular free super saver shipping is definitely getting slower, but there's a warehouse not too far from us, and once, I ordered an item in the evening, and something like 10 hours later, it was on my doorstep. Wish they were all like that! I have an order of three items, all listed as in stock, all qualifying for free super saver shipping, which I placed on February 10 -- it has not yet shipped. :(

Wow, I am so sorry for people who have such poor libraries -- such a shame! Our libraries ROCK! We have access to three counties' systems, each with several branches, and they're all wonderful. It's rare that I can't find what I want at one of them, and they're generally happy to order from across the state for me. The librarians are friendly and helpful, especially at the teeny-tiny branch closest to our house. If I have any complaints, it would be that the popular books (like Star Wars and other similar books, many of which are not high quality, either in form or content) are too much front and center, rather than classic, high-quality literature. The one big branch has more computers and non-book activities than I would prefer, but it's also a beautiful, cheerful space, and it makes for a lovely place to take several children to play for a few hours; I can sit in the corner on a comfy couch with the baby, and all of my other kids can find something fun to do -- books, toys, computers, etc. They even have a halfway decent selection of e-books and downloadable audiobooks (which is a particular boon for my DH, who has a lengthy commute and long working hours, so being able to download audiobooks from home when it's convenient for him is really helpful). No, I don't think good libraries have had their day. Far from it.

No, we will not be getting this one for any of our children. Aside from concerns about this particular vaccine's safety, we have several children with allergies, including one with some anaphylactic allergies, which make me very uncomfortable with that vaccine (or others), especially for that child. Our doctor did not mention it specifically at the last checkup, which was recent; she just asks me to sign a waiver if I decline vaccines. When they're a little older and can have informed consent and are at a slightly higher risk for stuff, then we may consider it.

My children do not have any of those things in their rooms. (We don't have a game system at all.) DD has a cheapie non-internet e-reader that she's allowed to take to her room for reading, and she's occasionally allowed to take my iPad to her room for specific things (reading, doing math), but she's not allowed to surf or play games on it without very specific permission (and any internet surfing is done in the public areas). They're also allowed to borrow my mp3 player to listen to audio books/music.

I'm so sorry. Big :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: .

I share your extreme dislike of snakes. They give me creeps like nothing else. I'm shuddering just thinking about them. Ick! I do like our gecko though; she's actually very cute. But I do like when I can send someone else to get crickets for her. You have my sympathies.

Congratulations! Hope everyone is doing well!

LOL, I'm probably not going to tell the kids that I got the big set for a while. Re: the junior set. It's not junior in the sense of requiring less fine motor skill or being a different scale in size or something like that (not like Duplos vs. Legos or Monopoly, Jr.). It's just the first 30 pieces and first 100 projects in the whole line. If you have the big huge (750) set or any of the other sets, you already have all of the pieces/projects in the junior (100) set. I think it's just called the junior set because it's a good way to dip your toes into the SnapCircuits thing without spending a ton of money or having a lot of pieces that might be overwhelming to a younger child. So if you're pretty certain that you'll be using the big set with all of your children, including your 8yo, I wouldn't get the junior set (unless you want a second board and more pieces).

Yeah, $140 for food-food (no pet products, laundry detergent, etc., and that wouldn't probably include coffee either) sounds about right. I don't know why, but when we went to low grains, we really did start spending more. Part of that is because we need more fat to fill us up, and good fats are expensive, but also, we eat more salad now, and it's not cheap. A side (or under a stir-fry) of rice is pennies, but a side of salad is not. I used to serve a meat entree, a starchy accompaniment (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes), and one green vegetable, with salad as an occasional thing in place of a green vegetable, and now I serve salad most nights plus a green vegetable, or a green vegetable and cauliflower. My kids really do seem to eat a lot; they all like meat and will gobble it up. (My budget does also include portions of meat for dinner so that there's enough for DH to take for lunch the next day.) ETA: I honestly don't know if more grains would make my kids hungrier faster. It's been several years since we ate a lot of grains on a regular basis, and the kids were littler (and there were fewer of them). I do know that if they eat eggs or even oatmeal (with milk, nuts, butter, etc.) at breakfast, that fills them for longer than bagels, but dinner is different. That might be because dinner is usually fairly close to bedtime, so they don't have time to get hungry. At any rate, I know everyone is different. :)

I am tired of the same old salad dressing ideas and could use some new ones. We usually do either Caesar dressing, or DH's favorite, balsamic vinaigrette. I'm tired of the balsamic vinaigrette (even though we do put it on different salad ingredients/greens) and want a different flavor. We love bleu cheese dressing, but homemade is expensive. So, what are y'all using on your salads these days? (Bonus points if it keeps in the fridge easily so that I can throw it on my salad at lunch.)

You're quite welcome! I was laughing because we were just going to get the upgrades as needed, but this will save us money in the long run, plus get us the educational materials (and more importantly, a sturdy case, so hopefully it will last through five kids). After just two days of DS1 tinkering with the basic set, it's become one of those things I can't say enough good things about -- just the right balance of independent and parent-assistance for him (he just turned 8). I'm really not sure. If you look at the site (snapcircuits.com, or .net), there are some details about what's in each upgrade, so maybe that will help. It looked to me like the lights set is separate from all of that, but I'm not quite sure. I also do not see the battery eliminator on the list of parts for the 750 set, but I could be missing it.

$5 per person per day is just barely doable for me, but that really only includes the older five of us (two adults, one tween who eats nearly as much as I do, and two boys); the little guy only barely eats enough food to be noticed, and I really don't tend to eat more when I'm pregnant or nursing. We eat meat at dinner pretty much every night (fish occasionally, when it's on sale), a fair amount of dairy, fruit daily (but not tons, except in the summer when it's really local and fresh and cheap), and lots of vegetables and salads. Not much is organic; when we can, we get pastured eggs and meat, and I buy organic butter for cooking, as well as organic or hormone-free milk (raw when the budget allows). What we don't eat is a lot of grains -- that is what kills our budget. If we ate more grains, I could keep our budget a lot lower and use less meat -- ground beef in sauce over spaghetti stretches a lot farther than ground beef in bunless burgers with a salad and green vegetable on the side. We do use some legumes, like occasional meatless meals (a few times a month), or peanut butter, or occasionally chickpeas or black beans as the protein at lunch, and the kids eat some grains (like oatmeal for breakfast, or sandwiches for lunch), but largely, we lean more toward the paleo side of things. (Really, it's the budget that keeps us from going full paleo.) In a couple of years, when I'm feeding five people with real appetites (not baby appetites), $25 a day is not going to be enough. However, we also have a large yard and a good growing season, so gardening should be more doable. My DH works really long hours, and I'm just swamped with kids, house, schoolwork, etc., so it hasn't been feasible. But when the kids are a bit older and can help more, gardening is going to have to be part of life. We're also hoping to get chickens at some point, but right now, I just don't feel that I can take on one more responsibility (which is also why we don't have a dog).

I don't think there is a safety reason for the headrests for the passengers behind them; I think they're just for the passengers using that seat. I think it would be totally fine to remove the headrest in front of your daughter's seat (but do remove them from the vehicle, as they can be dangerous projectiles in case of a crash). The reason I'm saying that is because I was told it was perfectly acceptable to remove the headrests from the middle row in my van (and I have kids sitting behind each of those spots, in the third row) in order to make it easier to install carseats in the middle row.