I eat things I don't like, if they're just part of the meal. I'm not a big fan of pork, but my family likes it, so I will cook it sometimes and eat a little (though I'll generally fill up more on veggies at that meal). I don't make my kids eat things they really don't like. Typically, they're really not very picky, but if they don't want a part of the meal, they can have more of one of the other components. (The only rule is that nobody gets to decide they don't want the veggies and instead eat more of the meat, which is the expensive part. If I know that you like broccoli or brussels sprouts, you don't get to skip them in order to have more meat.)

We're not going Friday, but I bought tickets this morning for next week. DH and I both want to see it with the three big kids the first time they see it, so we need to wait until my parents are in town, so that we can leave the baby (who isn't going to sit through it) with my mom. It's my dad's favorite book, so he's really excited about the movie too; we're taking him with us, and then Mom doesn't have to sit through it just to keep Dad company. It is a win all around!

White eggs are cheaper here. If you buy eggs from the grocery store, the only brown eggs they have are the much more expensive varieties (vegetarian fed, etc.). If I buy eggs from a local farmer, which I prefer to do, the eggs are always brown (unless the farmer has one of the fun varieties that gives colored eggs -- one place we get eggs has a mix, so we get light brown, dark brown, and pretty pale green eggs), and usually it's only a tiny bit more for those eggs than for the basic white eggs from the grocery store.

Oh, so well said! Our food budget is pretty high (but not as high as it could be if I went all organic/pastured, which I'd love to do). I do cook from scratch a lot, but there's only so low it's ever going to go and still be what our family considers to be healthy. Could I shrink it even more? Yep. But then we'd be eating a lot that we don't consider to be healthy. But I see a huge difference in my family when we eat well vs. when we don't. Fresh food being cheaper -- I think that varies. Pound for pound, fresh broccoli in PA in the winter is far more expensive than frozen broccoli, for instance, and my family will gobble up two pounds of broccoli at a meal, and I'd surely rather use frozen broccoli than buy fresh and limit how much my kids eat! I do think generally cooking food yourself is cheaper than prepackaged meals, but sometimes a compromise is reasonable. Perhaps you can look at some of the from-scratch cooking you're doing to see if there are any places you can compromise? Sometimes you're not really getting a huge benefit from cooking everything from scratch, either healthwise or pricewise. I don't make my own spaghetti sauce; we don't eat it every day, there's a reasonably priced brand in our stores that has only normal ingredients and no high fructose corn syrup, it saves me some time, and it's cheaper than buying ingredients to make my own. Otoh, bread products are worth me making on my own. As for feeling like everyone does it better, I think it's easy to get that impression online, because everyone's experiences get mashed together into one big feeling. The person who's talking about all the mom-intensive schoolwork she does might have a husband who gets home early and who enjoys cooking. Or the person who cooks a lot might hire a cleaning person. Or the person whose house is really tidy might use a lot of computer-based schooling. None of it's bad; it's just that time and money are two forms of currency, and sometimes you have more of one than the other to use in a particular area. I'm all for making changes where you can, to make things easier on yourself, but I've come to realize that no one mom does it all. They all compromise in *some* area.

I would take it and not feel badly about it. Food costs keep rising, and "tight" now may be "impossible" down the line. If you qualify for food stamps, you should also qualify for WIC (and actually, if your resources kick you out of food stamps -- in my state, vehicles with too much value can do that -- WIC doesn't have resource limits, just income limits, and that should help a lot, especially with a baby, because they'll either give you an extra package as a nursing/postpartum mom, or they'll give formula for the baby). I would take the food stamps, save the cash for other emergencies, and nourish your children's bodies well (especially in hopes of lowering their medical costs later). Your DH is working and paying into the system; I think it's very reasonable for your family to apply for the food stamps.

I have this book, and it has several things to knit for boys -- a chainmail sweater, a Robin Hood tunic, and a Renaissance sweater. There's also a Hansel sweater (though IDK how big it goes), a pirate sweater, a crown, a knitted knight's banner, and a pillow. http://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tale-Knits-Projects-Happily/dp/0470262680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355278118&sr=8-1&keywords=fairy+tale+knits I knitted a pirate eye patch for my son a few years ago, and it was a big hit.

My DD said the plastic needles were too slippery and were more frustrating than helpful. I would go with bamboo needles, personally, or some other wood. For beginners, I might suggest a short circular needle, like these in one of the shorter lengths: http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/Sunstruck_Fixed_Circular_Knitting_Needles__DKPFixedSunstruckNdls.html (I have the multi-colored version of these and love them, but I think the light wood would make it easier to see the yarn.) I knit flat on circular needles all the time, and it's nice because it's harder for the yarn to slip off the back, and then it would also make an easy transition to knitting circular later if they want to. These in the 10" size might also work: http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/Sunstruck_Straight_Needles__DSTNSunstruckNeedles.html

I actually try not to spend a lot of time away from home. Everyone ends up stressed when we're gone too much, especially on the weekend. We normally go out once a week (plus once, sometimes twice, on weekends). So we might spend six hours away from home during the Monday-Friday week. Sometimes there's a second day, and occasionally it's three days. But if it's more than about twelve, I feel very stressed, and everything suffers. We do live 20-30 minutes from everything, so we have to factor that into the day, the drive -- but it does keep us from going out multiple times a week for short trips. Typically, once a week, the boys have speech therapy, so DD does schoolwork while she, the baby, and I sit in the waiting room, and then we also hit the library, grocery store, and any other necessary errands. It does make for a long day, but it is SO worth it when we don't have to all go out other days.

I just can't get too upset about how people use their food stamp money. Yeah, you probably shouldn't buy soda or chips on food stamps (or with cash), but really? It's not the end of the world. (I do think using food stamps for food and then buying cigarettes is pretty lousy, though.) It really seems to be that people on assistance are darned either way. If they buy junk food because it's the best way to stretch their food money (because filling tummies is the most important thing, quality of that filling ranks after that), then people wonder why they're not buying better food. If they buy higher-quality food, people complain that they're eating better than the taxpayers and that they're not stretching their budgets enough. So what are the people who need help supposed to buy? Please remember, everyone, that you don't know the situation of the person using food stamps. They might have bought expensive item X at the thrift store. Or maybe they had a great job and gave lots to charity and everything -- and the economic crash left them unemployed for four years, during which they exhausted their savings. Or maybe they had savings but work for a small business that doesn't offer health insurance, and they used up their savings to pay for necessary surgery. Or any one of a number of things. Just be gentle to each other.

If what you're doing is working, I would not change it. There's always going to be something new and shiny, but it sounds like you have a good thing going, and as long as it's working for everyone, stick with it. If you get to the point where your older ones need something more, then look for something new. But you amaze me all the time -- you get so much more done with your children than I could ever hope to accomplish with mine. I have no doubt that your reading and discussing the Bible with your children is producing significant fruit.

We have pergo in the dining half of our kitchen and in our schoolroom. I'd prefer real hardwood, but the pergo is not terrible. (We actually have real hardwood, like really old original hardwood, under the pergo, but we're not sure what shape it's in, and it's hard to justify ripping out perfectly good pergo to see hardwood that may well be in bad shape.) They put it in before we moved here, so it's at least six years old, and it still looks really good. And we are NOT gentle on it at all, not by a long shot. I vacuum, rather than sweep it, most of the time, and when it needs to be mopped, it cleans up really nicely and easily. My kitchen half of the kitchen has linoleum in it, and I hate that with a passion, as it's really hard to clean because it has a texture to it that traps dirt. Pergo's not the best thing for a floor that could get wet easy, though, so it's maybe not the right thing for the kitchen (or I'd have insisted upon replacing the lino with pergo -- might still do that). Yes, it's cold in the winter, but so is the linoleum, and so is the hardwood that we have in one of the rooms. In one of our other houses, we put the DIY hardwood, and it looked nice too. It fastens together a lot like pergo, IIRC. We only lived with it for a couple of years, but it was a good option.

Right now, I am super pleased with my home/auto insurance company. Within four hours or so of reporting an accident, I had a claim adjuster contact me to see how she could help, and they've been fantastic. When everything's all resolved, I may send a letter to thank that specific adjuster. Last Christmas, we got DD a Lego set, but unfortunately, DS2 lost a few of the pieces not long afterward, including a few of the minifig's parts. So I went on Lego's site and requested a quote for the missing pieces. I fully expected to pay for the replacements, but I wasn't able to do a direct order. Instead of sending me an email with the quote (which they've done before, so that's what I was expecting), I got an email saying that they were sending the pieces to me right away, free of charge. And they did. Hurray for Lego customer service. My bank recently merged with another small branch, and wow, they made the change-over SO easy for the customers. Plenty of communication about what to expect and what would happen, pleasant answers to any questions, and just a really smooth change-over. I expected a little confusion and frustration, but there was absolutely none.

I have never seen the show, but I know who Xena is, and I recognized her when she was on the X-Files and now that she's Ron Swanson's girlfriend on "Parks and Recreation."

My 3 and 7yo boys LOVED the Ralph S. Mouse books.

We have all loved "Who Is Coming To Our House?," and my current preschooler wants me to read it to him frequently. I love the rhyme and repetition and my 4yo's quiet reverence when he fills in the lines. I love the idea of each animal doing its part for the special visitors, and the larger theme of each of us having a special ability to offer the Lord. "B is for Bethlehem" is a family favorite and always one of the first ones we read each year, because the author was my mother's childhood librarian. DD and I read "The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas" for the first time this year, and we loved it. The ending is so sweet! And we all love Jan Brett because of the amazing pictures!

For next year, stalk amazon frequently if you want an expensive set. This year, TRU was having their usual Buy One Get One Half Off sale, but their prices are generally higher than amazon's anyway. I happened to hit a mega amazon sale a couple of weeks ago and got one of their expensive sets for about 2/3 the price it is currently going for on amazon. It, plus another set, also on sale, was still cheaper than the price for the two of them at TRU's BOGO1/2 off sale. But the prices seem to jump around a lot at amazon, though the week after Thanksgiving (after Black Friday weekend) seemed to have really good sales.

My kids love SOTW when I read it, but they are not huge fans of Jim Weiss, unfortunately. Now, we've only listened to SOTW 4 with him, so it could just be that it's more war after war and less culture/stories, but they weren't thrilled about some of his other non-SOTW CDs. (And they like music and audiobooks a lot, just not his voice.)

Sansa Clip or Fuze -- we have both and like them a lot. Don't get the Coby ones; they didn't work well at all for us and were returned. I think the Clip is easier to use, but the Fuze is bigger and less likely to get lost. (The Clip also charges with a normal USB cord, the same one my camera and e-reader use, so that's nice; the Fuze has a special USB cord.) Our cars are all too old to have mp3 ports, so in the one that only has a CD player, we use an FM transmitter to hear the mp3 player. DH says it's annoying, though, that there's a background noise with it. In our cars that have cassette decks, we use a cassette adapter, and that is quieter and less finicky.

I voted "81-90," but I actually think it's closer to 100; I haven't counted in a while. I do count days that aren't traditional bookwork days, such as swimming/outside activities in the summer for PE or history/science field trips. I think I voted for "201-210" days for the year, but it might be more. I'm required to do 180, and at last count, I think I figured out that we should hit that around April-ish, but we'll continue doing schoolwork until we finish the bookwork I want us to finish (which last year was sometime in May, so we had five or six weeks off before starting again, which was perfect).

This year, we are doing regular math for the two big kids, and they're both reading daily. (DS1 is reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and DD and I, who have been reading Little Women together, just finished L'Engle's The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas; she's probably either going to read Christmas With Anne or Louisa May Alcott's Christmas short stories next.) I also checked out a ridiculous number of Christmas books to read together (both picture and chapter), and I hope to do some activities/crafts based on the books or general Christmas themes. We've been doing picture study at dinner, based on Christmas themes, and that's really nice because DH can be involved too. I really like this (scroll down to the list) list from Elizabeth Foss (http://www.elizabeth...ybook-year.html), for incorporating narrations/writing into picture books, and I want to use Christmas themed books to challenge at least my older child to expand her writing/narrating repertoire. My second grader has really been enjoying WWE2 this year, and since it's a good fit for him, I am hoping to do some similar exercises based on the Christmas books. So, covering the major subjects but in a different way (and putting Latin, French, and other extras on hold for a bit). And of course, there is Christmas music, decorating, baking, parties, and all of the usual holiday craziness. :) ETA: We do school year-round, but taking off completely between Thanksgiving and New Year's would be too much unstructured time for my kids. We were on vacation for a full week at Thanksgiving, as in, we actually went away; there wasn't "book learning" in that time, but we did some really great field trips. DH will have some time off around Christmas, so we'll take off then completely, maybe through New Year's, but if everyone starts getting bored or anything, I'll add math or history or something. Looking at all of that, I guess I'd say that my main goal is to keep some structured formal education going, but there's so much extra stuff that we want/need to do, so I don't want us stressed out or burdened. And I really want to draw attention to the wealth of special literature, music, art, etc. that Christmas brings. (And there is always a big need to enjoy our own baby, as we ponder the birth of The Baby.) Oh, and this year, we're also trying to read at least the first part of The Hobbit as a family, as we're planning a family movie outing. DH read it to the big two kids a few years ago, but DS1 was only 4 then, and DS2 (now 4) has never heard the story but is a big fan of the LOTR movies and is looking forward to the movie. I figured he ought to have at least some idea of the story first. In addition to that, we also have Tabitha's Travels and A Christmas Carol going (and Farmer Boy in the car, LOL), but some of those may extend past Christmas. Love the look of the nature study book too -- might have to try that next year. Thanks for sharing it!

Yes to all of this! Unexpected happens, and she is one blessed girl to have your support. Give her some more hugs and assure her that it will all work out. Congratulations!!!

If you get her the big-ticket item, would it use up both the Christmas AND birthday budget? If it would only use up one, I think I'd opt to give it to her for her birthday, and do the usual several gifts (so that she's got as much stuff to open as everyone else) for Christmas. I think it might be hard to have less to open on Christmas when everyone's opening stuff, but it would be easier to have a single big gift on her birthday (especially presuming that there will be cake and other general excitement). But given the choice overall, I'd opt to get her the big-ticket item if that's what she really wants.

Oh, goodness, that must have been SO MUCH FUN! What a great memory! I don't really have a preference. In theory, fewer big things, but in reality, it varies. Sometimes my kids' greatest desires are for something small or inexpensive, so they can get lots of what they want. And sometimes, they want big expensive Lego sets, LOL, so they'll get fewer of those, but I also know that they will be played with over and over and over again, so I'm okay with that. This year the big three have a lot of overlapping interests, so there are some gifts addressed to all of them, with some special things for each child, but group gifts has let us get some things that would be too much to give to one person, but split between three, they fit into the budget better. For myself, I suppose fewer big gifts -- I guess if someone was getting a gift for me, I'd rather it be something bigger (read: more expensive) that I wasn't likely to buy for myself.

Yes to this. I do keep certain foods away from them for a while, though, so when they're first learning to eat, they're eating fruits, veggies, some meats, and some dairy products (cheese, butter), and eggs. I've never given my babies solid food before almost 8 months, and the last two have been a full year. Despite waiting so long, they are both excellent eaters.

My bridesmaids walked down the aisle to Pachelbel's "Canon in D." I went with the traditional "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin for my processional and Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" for the recessional, but I think of Pachelbel as "our" wedding music.