I haven't, but when parents are driving separate cars, especially if the kids are used to going in either car (like, my big kids often ride with DH in his car and aren't strictly used to riding in my van), I could easily see it happening, especially for older kids who don't need carseats. I could easily see putting the baby in the van with me and having DD also hop in there, but DS2 might opt to go with Daddy, and I could see it being easy to forget DS1. He's quiet and sometimes a bit spacey, and it's equally likely that he would choose either his older sister or next youngest brother to be with, so I wouldn't necessarily think anything of him not being with me. This is why I count heads and double-check whenever we have two cars someplace.

We don't do gifts for Mother's/Father's Day for our parents anymore, just cards and a phone call. But things that my dad would like, just little stuff that said we were thinking of him: replacement ball cap for his favorite team (since he wears them a lot now that he's retired, and they get icky after a bit), his favorite snack, books of his favorite types of puzzles, an interesting book or movie. FIL is harder, but in the past, we've gotten him things to listen to in the car, like old radio shows on CD/mp3, and he's said he really enjoys those. As for DHs, that should be fairly obvious -- food/dessert and teA. From the kids, probably cards, and it just occurred to me that he could probably use a new ball cap too.

At the ages of your younger children, it might be worth a try to give your DD2 and your DS a chance at sharing a room. At some point, you will probably need, for privacy reasons, to have the two girls share a room, and it mght be that it's harder to put them back together later, especially if DD1 feels that DD2 is then intruding into her space, but if it's causing a lot of stress to have them sharing now, maybe separating them for a while would be better. My DS1 and DS2 (7 and 3) share a room, and DD (10) has her own room, for privacy reasons. She currently has the largest bedroom, but if we stay in this house, eventually, we'll switch her room and the boys' room. The boys have a bunkbed in their room, but it's not big enough for the bunkbed and the twin bed that we'll eventually need so that DS3 can share with his big brothers. Right now, he still sleeps in our room, but DD's current room is the only one that can accommodate beds for three boys.

Another glowing recommendation for GSWL! It's especially good for parents who don't know Latin themselves, as it's easy to learn it alongside of the child. We started with that toward the end of third grade and are moving on to Latin's Not So Tough for fifth.

Thanks, everyone! Honestly, I already have a lot on my plate, so making up more problems is probably not going to happen right now. :) I think we will get into a groove with the Singapore+Miquon combo, and then either add in CWP Level 2, or use it after we finish 2B, before we start 3A.

My children and I take the Nordic Naturals liquids. They have some that are noted as "Children's," but they are exactly the same as the Adult ones, just in different flavors. The only difference is the dosage -- on the Children's one, it's 1/2 teaspoon, and on the Adult's one, it's a whole teaspoon -- but teaspoon for teaspoon, they have the same amounts (though I'm not sure what they are off the top of my head).

Thanks for posting this, and I'm sorry for those of you who have been hurt or burned because of your generosity! I have borrowed things a couple of times from friends, and I was extremely careful with them. Had something become damaged or lost, I absolutely would have replaced it -- I can't believe that people wouldn't! I've lent a few things out to friends that I trust very much, particularly those that I see often. There are a handful of people that I would trust with my curricula, but I have perhaps been (blessedly) too trusting with lending things in the past. This thread is inspiring me to be judicious when lending items. I am planning to lend our GSWL book to a friend, but a) it's not a huge expense if we don't get it back, b) its pages are a bit worn anyway, c) I trust this friend wholeheartedly, and d) I see this friend often. Thank you for the warnings!

That reminds me of the newspaper in my hometown. . . there was a column of personal news, and in it, a grandmother or something very often put news of her grandson. It always said "Little Mattie Jones [not his real name, but that sort of nickname, and always with the "Little"]. . . visited his grandmother at the nursing home/attended the floral show/had lunch at Local Restaurant/etc.

So very true! Anything is a good reason to nurse -- waking up, sleepy, hot, cold, someone new entered the room and you need to check that Mom's still there. . . I've not done pacifiers with any of my babies, and if you're concerned about supply, I would absolutely not use a pacifier for at least six weeks Even then, I'd be very careful about using one, especially during a growth spurt; I'd try to save the pacifier for car rides when you can't easily stop, when Mom is showering or cooking, stuff like that. My DH has had a few of ours suck on his finger for a few minutes while I shower, but IIRC, some of them won't even go for that. My two littlest guys did like their fingers/thumbs for a bit after the first few weeks, but usually after they had just nursed and were sleepy; I would burp them, wrap them in a carrier on my chest, and they'd find their thumbs/fingers and fall asleep. But if they were awake, and I saw them putting fingers/fists/thumbs in mouths, I generally took that as a request for milk and nursed them. I do think the biggest factor in breastfeeding success is external support, though, especially if things are less than textbook simple. I would really have a heart-to-heart with your husband, and people like your mom or MIL, if they'll be around a lot post-birth, about how nursing should be your #1 priority, how they shouldn't try to hold the baby off for a bit unless you're truly unavailable, etc.

Do you like to use the Singapore CWP alongside the levels, or after the levels? If I'm starting my son in Singapore 2A, would I want to use the Level 2 CWP, or the Level 1 CWP? I wasn't sure if it would be best to have a lower level so as to provide a reinforcement in a different way once he'd mastered that level, or if I'd want the concurrent level so as to provide a challenge for that level (but I wanted to make sure that he would have covered all of the necessary skills to solve the CWP for a concurrent level). Thoughts there? (Sorry, I keep asking a lot of questions about Singapore. It's all new to me.)

With a newborn, I am nursing pretty much continually. Absolute minimum of 8 times a day, and more like 12 or more. Baby should be nursing at minimum every three hours (from the start of one nursing to another), and every two is more likely for my babies. Sometimes every hour. :) (My smallest baby has been 8 pounds, and I've one at almost 10, and three of them have been a week late, so that may put them on the hungrier side too; IDK.) If the baby is nursing frequently during the day, it may be acceptable for the baby to go 5 hours at night, but only one 5-hour block. (And if I was concerned about supply, I'd be inclined to try to nurse baby every three hours at night as well.) Use both sides as much as possible -- let baby nurse on one side until it feels considerably softer, baby seems happy, you've seen/heard lots of good sucking and swallowing, burp baby, and switch to the other side. Baby may or may not want the other side, and if not, start with that side the next time. (I do use block feeding, where I use the same side for all feedings in about three or four hours, which gets more of the fattier hindmilk into the baby, but for supply concerns, I'd want to try offering both sides at one feeding, to get the most stimulation for the breast. I wouldn't worry about block feeding immediately.) My favorite breastfeeding book is the Nursing Mother's Companion, by Kathleen Huggins, but in-person help may be the most beneficial thing -- a LLL leader, a certified lactation consultant (hospital nurses may call themselves LCs but may or may not have good training; look for a certified one at ilca.org), a friend or relative who has btdt, even an online forum like this one. Barring a real issue, the more stimulation, the more milk will be made. Resist people who want to give a bottle, and ask them to watch your older children instead so that you can nap with the baby. If the latching thing isn't happening, take a breath, hand the baby to someone for a minute, get a glass of water, and try again. And when it seems like all you're doing is breastfeeding the baby, AGAIN, that's probably a growth spurt, and you need to keep nursing as much as you possibly can during that time, so your body gets the message to make MORE! Good luck! Please feel free to PM me if I can offer any more specific help. I'm not an LC, just an experienced mom who's read a lot too and who is happy to help in any way I can.

Yeah, I'm doing pretty much (like, exactly) what I thought I'd do, what my parents expected I'd do, and what everyone else thought I'd do. Even as a teen, I wanted to be a mom of a bunch of kids, and I wanted to homeschool them and live in the country. I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and that's what I do. I just didn't expect I'd have three little boys. One or two, sure, but three, with only one girl -- that is a surprise. And an even bigger surprise is how much I adore having little boys. I had no idea. :)

I'm making a few changes, using several new items, and tweaking a few things to reflect my children's changing skills and interests, but adding things like WWE to beef up their writing skills. However, the biggest change is to our daily schedule. Instead of trying to schedule music and science into our regular days, and feeling like I've failed because we didn't get to it, I'm scheduling those for Fridays. So Friday will have none of the usual work, but we'll have more time (and, more importantly, energy on my part) for science projects, music, and educational games, as well as a built-in catch-up for anything not finished during the week. I hope that will also be an incentive to my children, not to dawdle during the week so that they have Friday free for fun stuff.

I would really like to have the Jim Weiss SOTW CDs to listen to in the car, but they are way out of our price range, even as downloads. I just wondered if there was a place where I could download them in mp3 format, somewhere where we could rent them for a short time that wasn't quite as expensive as buying them, or somewhere similar to audible.com that might have them.

We finished our required 180 days plus a few, because I wanted them to finish a little more work in a few subjects, and when they were done, we made a big deal out of officially promoting them at dinner that night, which they liked a lot. (My 3yo said, "Mommy! Me want do 'koolwork too, be pa-moted." He was thrilled to be declared officially a preschooler.) We're on a brief break (of a few weeks, not the whole summer), but we'll start up again in early July, which is when our state lets us start counting days. So while we did declare them to be in 5th and 2nd, they're not actually doing any work that counts for those grades yet. And it does matter, because in our state, testing is required in certain grades. I can call them whatever grade I want, even skipping grades if I so choose, but if I declare a child to be a 5th grader, I need to stick with that and get the testing done. I also assign them grades based on where they'd be if they were in a public school, partly because people often ask kids what grade they're in, and this gives my kids an easy answer to give.

Congratulations!!

Our co-op isn't huge, but these are some of the things that I think has made it successful. (It's been good for a few years, but we've had some changes, and this past year was a growing year, in which we really worked hard at the format, and it was *great.*) -A dedicated co-op director, who is not also teaching, nor is she running the rest of the support group. This has freed our support group President up to focus on other things, and it means that one person is the go-to person. She's also the one who keeps the schedule running, knows where everyone is supposed to be, makes sure clean-up happens, etc. Nothing is haphazard. She also can substitute if needed. Our director is really, really good for this position, and I really feel that this has made the biggest difference. -Code of conduct -- it's general, but it states that children need to listen to any adult who is in charge, but they are ultimately in their parents' care. All moms must sign this, and children in the family who can write are to sign it too. -Payment in advance. Offer discounts for teachers if you can, and if you offer a cap, that might attract larger families, which is good for filling classes, but it also means that you have more kids without as many adults. So it's a mixed blessing, I suppose. -Everyone participates somehow. You teach, or assist, or watch the nursery, or you are the hostess for the Mom's Room, or something. -Options -- next year we will be able to offer X or Y for several of our age groups, which I think is helpful to our parents, because, especially since we're in a portfolio state, parents can pick which classes complement their own teaching strengths. -Down time/time for socializing/fellowship, and something for the kids to do during that time. We have a time together, then time for separate classes based on age/interest, then a free time when the kids can play or eat a snack, then a second class period, and then some time afterward when the kids can play more.

Just had to say that this thread is fabulous! TeA and wetsuits -- y'all are the most creative ladies!

Wow! Congratulations! Did they suspect such a large baby? If so, I'm particularly impressed that the medical staff didn't insist on a c/s.

It's running $3.39-$3.59 here in south central PA.

Our house did not have a dishwasher when we bought it, so DH installed one. It's across the kitchen from the sink (not the most convenient, but it's not a big deal), next to the refrigerator, and it has its own cabinet and countertop. It's also right next to the door we use most of the time, so it holds a lot of that sort of stuff. It's kind of a catch-all, and I clear it out every couple of weeks or so. I also have a basket on top of the refrigerator where I keep scissors, tape, Sharpies, and other stuff I want out of sight of the kids. If I was taller, it would be more useful to stash stuff up there. All chargers live on the dishwasher, and that's the camera's default place too, unless someone's left it somewhere else. Right now, I think it's on my desk in the schoolroom. Video camera lives in a closet upstairs. We haven't used it since DS2's birth almost four years ago (had it set up for DS3 and then had him in the bathtub, LOL); we just use the video setting on the camera for birthdays and other such stuff. All over the place. I've got one or two stashed on my cookbook shelf, and there are a couple near the bed, and I think the kids have a couple in their rooms. Closet in the living room, but I haven't used it in years; I just throw my stuff in my diaper bag, which is usually by the kitchen door. Don't have this. I sort all mail immediately upon bringing it into the house, every single time. Junk goes immediately in the trash, DH's mail goes in a pile until he gets home and sorts it, and stuff I need gets put with bills or other stuff. If he doesn't have it, it's on the dishwasher with his keys and such. DD takes them to her room, or they live in a box next to my rocking chair. Probably on the dishwasher. Which is why I clean it off every couple of weeks. In a big bin outdoors. On my desk or in the filing crate next to my desk. Don't have a Wii, but computer games and cords live in a drawer in my desk. Not sure where we'd store the bigger Wii accessories though.

DD did still need some practice in remembering the steps, especially when needing to borrow from the hundreds to feed both the tens and the ones, but the ham analogy did help her to understand the concept. I suppose money would work too, but I'm all about relating it to whatever the kid needs! :)

I had to explain this to my DD using food as an example. Bear with me here. . . The Ones column represents slices of ham on a serving tray at a party. Uh oh. 9 people want slices of ham, but you only have 3 slices available. Go get one of the cooked hams from the storage trays in the kitchen -- the Tens. Oh, good, there are 8 hams waiting to be sliced. Slice 1 into 10 slices. Add those 10 slices to the 3 on the serving tray. Now you have 7 hams waiting, and 13 slices. Give the 9 people their slices, and you have 4 left. Uh oh. People want ham so quickly that you use up the hams waiting in the kitchen. Good thing you ordered a lot of hams, but they come in bags of 10 full hams. You've got 3 full bags of 10 hams each -- that can be 300 slices, or a 3 in the Hundreds column. So open 1 bag (leaving 2 in the Hundreds column), split it into 10 hams and add those to whatever's in the Tens column, and split more of the Tens into slices (Ones) as needed. That's all it took for her to get the idea, but since she loves food (especially ham, LOL), that helped her to see how ten slices is still the same as one whole ham; it just looks different. Somehow, that made way more sense to her than using the one and ten C-rods, hundred flats, and thousand cube, though I think for my son, the rods, flats, and cube will work just fine.

I was a nanny before having my own kids, and it was long hours. It was hard to come home and still need to cook and maintain my own home. (My DH, who was going to school, helped out a lot.) If your teen doesn't mind helping, it could probably work, though there may be the usual concerns about her being home alone a lot. I think your biggest issue would be working with your son if the baby doesn't nap well. That's not any more of an issue than many moms have to deal with with their own children, though.

If it was just DH and me, I'd head for the Outer Banks of North Carolina, specifically Ocracoke Island, which is where we spent our honeymoon. Beaches, romantic setting, and delicious seafood. We've spent a few anniversaries there. :) (Of course, if we took a family vacation anywhere, we'd probably go there too.) We spent one anniversary hiking in the mountains of New Hampshire, with a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant, and that was fun too. In the summer, it's pleasantly warm. Spent our tenth anniversary exploring the Wellsboro area of northern PA, which is really pretty. Wellsboro is a very cute little town.