Lodge from amazon gets my vote! I also have a cast iron skillet that is someone's house brand (Bass Pro, I think), and it's every bit as nice as my Lodge stuff. None of my stuff is enameled, and it works on my flat-top stove beautifully.

Assuming this is a public school's invitation, it's okay. After all, at least the students will be socialized.

I'm not sure? I don't think she'd be comfortable around a lot of bees, even with a suit. But your post tells me what I should ask about when I ask around -- observation hive. Thank you so much!

Well, now, that is different. Hmm. I might have to look into this more. Thanks!

Thanks; that confirms what I thought as well. I figured it would be too big of a risk, but I was wondering if someone would chime in to say that it was actually very safe, no bigger risk than normal playing outside, protective gear, blah blah blah. (Obviously, I've never been to a beekeeper's place.)

I'd like to find a beekeeper who would show us around his/her bee setup. But my DD is allergic to bee stings, enough that she swells up and has an epi-pen, though she's not had trouble breathing so far. Would going to visit bees be too risky? I'm thinking it might but wanted to know what other people thought.

Anyone?

I generally get most of the things ready, preferably the night before if I can, and then I have the kids get themselves ready. They're generally responsible for their own water bottles and stuff to do in the car, but I will remind them, and I'll fill their water bottles if I have time. I do sometimes have the big kids help the little ones -- tie the 3yo's shoes, put the baby in his seat, etc., or I'll have the big kids make sandwiches, but that's not every time, and it's not a routine thing, just that I'll delegate to whomever seems to be available, whether that's me or one of the kids.

I like the hope chest idea, and I think for boys, it could include household items too, but more practical stuff than frilly. Maybe not lace for boys. :) (Although, you could give him a head start on a way to honor his wife, if he can set up a romantic meal with a nice tablecloth and candlesticks for her.) (I hope my DH will build a hope chest for each of my children, and I would expect that DD's would include cast iron as well as the ones for the boys.)

We do memory work. Mostly it's Bible verses (I like the system at simplycharlottemason.com a lot), but we've done other things too. Earlier this year, my children memorized the Preamble to the Constitution, and right now, they are working on the Gettysburg Address (and are about halfway through it).

Yeah, I don't think that sounds right at all, to sneak one in. If it's a matter of "I don't want to know when your fertile time is, if it happens, it happens," that's different, IMO, but it sounds like he's really adamant, and they are actively using something to prevent a baby. Sneaking sounds wrong.

If it's comfortable for her, it should be fine. She might want to try back carrying though, but the Moby is not the easiest to use for those. I have to give up front carrying when pregnant; because I carry so ridiculously low, the baby being worn sits right on my uterus and causes uncomfortable twinges. However, my babies have all been quite a bit older than your DD's baby, when I got pregnant again, so they haven't needed to be worn. A woven wrap, tied above her belly bump, might be comfortable for her. She may want to visit the forums at TheBabywearer.com to get some more specific help.

My 7yo has been working through Miquon, and I thought I'd try CSMP with him when he's done with/bored with Miquon, but now I'm looking at LoF. He's pretty mathy, and I kind of think the silliness might appeal to him. If I got some, would I want to start with the first one, or skip to the middle somewhere? If we worked the practice problems at the end of the chapters, would they be sufficient for mastering a concept, or would I need to find additional practice problems for him? If you use LoF, do you use it as a stand-alone curriculum, or do you use it as a supplement?

How about International Talk Like a Pirate Day? That was quite the hit in my house a few years ago. :)

Every day is Star Wars Day at my house too, sigh. Some group around here is doing a light saber demonstration tomorrow night. DH is planning to take the kids. They have not been told what it is that they're doing, and so far, they've not made the connection that it's May the fourth tomorrow. We're trying to figure out how to get them to wear their Halloween costumes (they were Leia, Luke, and Darth Vader, and the baby wore a knitted R2D2 hat) without giving too much away. But I have a feeling it's going to be the highlight of their year.

I am trying to figure out where I can get a copy of the "Safe Passage" DVD on water safety, from the Army Corps of Engineers. I downloaded the worksheet pack, and it looks perfect for us. It states that you can get a free DVD per school, but I've clicked all the links to get it, and I can't find anything that actually lets me request it and put in my name and address. Everything sends me here to get a DVD: http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/ But none of the links on that site have it (at least not that I've found). One of them links to here: http://watersafety.usace.army.mil/, which links back to the corpslakes site when you click "educational resources." Is it possible to get this DVD still? Any ideas?

I started 100 Easy Lessons with my DD at about 3, but she very quickly took off and didn't need it. I did it this past year with my then-6yo DS1, and it was a good fit for him, because within a couple of lessons, he could read a real word (it helped that it was "Sam," which is his dad's name). We skipped the writing exercises (though we did copywork separately), and I didn't do all the scripted stuff. DS1 wasn't ready to learn to read until this past year, but my DS2 will be 4 in October, and I feel like he might be ready to read then. He shows more interest in letters and books than DS1 did at that age, and he seems like the kind of kid who will be motivated to learn more (this kid seems to have a lot of personal drive in general) so I am going to start with 100 Easy Lessons, since I have it, and see how it goes.

With the Presidential election coming up in November, it seems like this summer and fall would be a good time for a civics unit. We learned about the Constitution this past year but haven't talked much about the branches of government and such. What are some of the resources you've used for these topics, for around the fifth grade level?

I really want one of those rings someday, but I'm hoping for one more baby and will wait until then. I would love to have mine and DH's birthstones in it as well, maybe as bookends to the children's birthstones, or, if we don't have more children, we could all just be in age order, so that the two darkest (DH's emerald and DS3's ruby) would be the bookends, which would balance the rest of ours (three of which are very pale) nicely.

I know three out of four children's blood types. I'm making an educated guess on the fourth's, and on DH's. I was typed during my first pregnancy, possibly my second too. My older three were typed by the midwife when their post-birth checkups were done, but the MW was out of the little cards when she did my fourth baby's checkup. You can order the cards for about $15 each, I think. I just haven't bothered because I'm O+, and so are my first three children, so I think it's pretty likely that DH and baby number four are also O+. (Yes, they could be A or B.) Or maybe we do know that DH is O+; I can't remember.

I think it's a really lovely and generous offer, and I would really want to take her up on it. I wish more opportunities were available for bartering. If you and the children (because I agree that you should be helping alongside them) can help, then she doesn't have to pay a cleaner or gardener or whatever, so the value could actually be pretty high. I think it's a great way to show that there is more than one type of currency, and sometimes you have more time than money.

I have vague issues with the Pledge. I think the mindless saying of it is kind of creepy. I also have vague concerns about pledging allegiance to anything other than God, Himself, directly. Even though it includes "under God," it still makes me uncomfortable. I have told my children that they are not required to say it if they don't want to, though if they choose to abstain, they are required to be polite.

Someone suggested to me that my young Tolkien fans might enjoy some of Wagner's ring cycle music. However, I am clueless! I know it is pretty long, and while that's not necessarily a turn-off, I think we probably want to know a bit about the story beforehand. Is there a decent book or something that would help us? Or specific parts of the music that we want to make sure we catch? I was looking for Ambleside's list for Wagner, and they don't seem to have many past years on there anymore, so no Wagner. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

:bigear: I am interested in this as well, for my 5th grader. I had not intended to do any formal grammar or spelling with her but have been wondering if I need to. She's naturally a pretty good speller, and we do use workbooks like BrainQuest and Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills to hit grammar/spelling/etc. topics that might get missed otherwise. So I'm trying to decide if we need a more specific program for grammar or not.

My daughter has expressed an interest in having me teach a class in Renaissance history next year for our co-op. If I wanted to use SOTW and the activity guide(s) for ideas, which activity guide would have the most options for Renaissance, 2 or 3? I know Volume 2 ends at the rise of the Renaissance, but I wasn't sure how much was in the 2nd vs. the 3rd. I'm kind of not exactly sure how I want to teach this class, but if DD's interested, I want to give it a shot. (I think she is interested because we recently listened to From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but if that strikes her fancy, great!)