OK So if you are like me you are getting a bit tired of the presidental election spin....so I thought you all might like this cute You Tube. Jane Austen for President. It is short only about a minute and a half.

My son and I both enjoyed Beorn the Proud. Rolf and the Viking Bow is also very good.

We are taking the entire SOTW series much slower than most. We love history, and I don't find it a subject I want to rush. Currently we are spending 2-3 weeks just on the French and Indian War. I love the fact that we stall out on certain periods of history. This allows us to really dig deep into the subject matter. For me, what's the rush. Actually this is a bit funny because when I started homeschooling I used Sonlight and had to check off each subject everyday. I got over that pretty quick. We do history all year round because we enjoy it so much. When people ask my son his favorite subject, without even thinking he says history. Consider that your excitement over something new (History of Ancients) may be driving your desire to rush through the old program you have been using. I tend to get this way with science and have had to force myself not to rush through the end of our current materials.

I am sure the girls will love them. It was very sweet of you to take the time to handmake gifts.

I plan to place an order for these next week. Mostly geometry and history items on this order. 020333 Amazing Origami 1 $7.75 $7.75 025799 Basic Drawing Board Geometry Set 1 $15.00 $15.00 012506 Bill of Rights 1789 Historical Document 1 $1.50 $1.50 033518 Blokus Game Travel Edition 1 $15.50 $15.50 012636 Constitution of the U.S. Historical Document 1 $1.50 $1.50 015687 Critical Thinking Using Primary Sources U.S. 1 $18.25 $18.25 012642 Declaration of Independence 1776 Hist Doc 1 $1.50 $1.50 001366 Double-Sided Origami Paper 7†x 7†Sq / 36 1 $5.25 $5.25 037820 Miniatures and Morals 1 $12.95 $12.95 PATTYS Patty Paper Geometry, Workbook & box of paper 1 $28.50 $28.50 009157 Portals to Literature - Time Machine 1 $17.75 $17.75 012768 Rev. War Battlefield Map 1775-1781 Hist Doc 1 $1.50 $1.50 015354 SAFE-T Compass 1 $1.50 $1.50 000197 Teach Yourself Guitar Repair & Maint Bk & DVD 1 $24.25 $24.25 012940 Valley Forge Park Map 1777-1778 Hist Doc 1 $1.50 $1.50 025795 Zome System Lesson Plans 1.0 1 $16.25 $16.25

I know these have been posted before , but they are great and deserve a repost since a lot of people are doing planning for next school year at the moment. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

SOTW Chapter 6 Anne of Green Gables has lots of literature guides available. I used the Teacher Created Materials one and it is great. SOTW Chapter 16 Caddie Woodlawn, Little House on the Prairie, and Sign of the Beaver I think these all have literature guide available. SOTW chapter 21 All Quiet on the Western Front I think Glencoe online has a great free indepth guide to this. I will get the link for you. Sotw chapter 28 Number the Stars Here is the link for Glencoe Literature guide They do have Number the Stars and All quiet on the Western Front as well as many others. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

Of course I started this thread today because I have known what we are going to have for dinner tonight since yesterday. This past weekend I purchased a 5 lb bag of Vidalia Onions on sale, and if I have a big bag of onions I will be making Onion soup. This is a 2 day process. Day 1 Carmelize the onions for 24 hours on low in the slow cooker. Ingredients enough onions peeled and skinned to fill the slow cooker. enough broth (chicken, beef vegie doesn't matter) to cover the bottom of the slow cooker Note your house will smell intensely of onion. Day 2 Open slow cooker and admire the beautiful site, then add beef broth, a bit of Worcheshire sauce and a few bay leaves. Cook on low all day. Treat yourself to Panera bread soup bowls, To assemble - scoop out center of bread bowl save pieces for dipping, put soup in bowl, put in a few croutons, put a slice of provolone or swiss on top, broil until browned Enjoy!!!!

not to have the day revolve around my MIL. Every year since I have been a Mom actually since I have been married Mother's Day is my MIL's Day period. Note my sweet dh would like to change this, but his mom makes sure everyone know this is HER day. I would say more but since I am trying not to speak badly of people I have to bite my tongue.

and generally most of our repeat visitors pick up on this and also remove theirs. This is common where we live. Interestingly a friend of my sons will not permit barefeet in their home so in the summer he must take a par of socks when he visits them. I picked up the no shoe thing in Hawaii. If does keep our carpets clean. I have started to need to wear shoes in the house due to ankle problems, I have a pair of crocs just for in the house wear.

I don't think we need any rules for this. Mainly I am just curious and want to see just what we( meaning my family) are spending etc. Also I think it will be nice to have a record of what dishes I have made so I can look back and say wow we are eating this too often or hey we have not had such and such in a while. Also a year from now I will be interested on our spending compared to this year. So please join us and do this however you want too.

I have decided to track our menus and grocery expenses. We have basically stopped going out to eat and I want to see what grociers are costing us. Here is all you need a nice new notebook and a pen. Cookbooks are optional (personally I need these) Here is how I do my grocery list. I make a column on the right hand side of the paper for groceries(this I then tear off and take to the store), and on the left I list menus and location of recipes. Under the menus I am going to write what store I went to and how much I spent. So here is Week 1 Menus Frijitas (chicken) p111 Fix it and enjoy it BLT's Salmon on grill Crusty Baked Chicken Breasts p97 Fix it and Enjoy it BBQ Chicken on Buns p194 Fix and forget (slow-cooker) Refried Beans p 205 Fix and Forget French Onion Soup Fix and Forget Caramelized Onion p221 Fix and Forget (for Onion Soup) Manwich for ds for lunches I tend to stick with 2-3 cookbooks per week. Food Lion had Boneless chicken Breast and Salmon on sale this week so Several recipes are based on that. Sunday May 4 spent $123.00 at Food Lion. ( I was out of a lot of staples and am also trying to buy organic items) Tomorrow I have to go pick up an order at the organic store that will probably run about $20.00 We are a family of 3

Yes a lot of Austen actors appear in this production From the Pride and Prejudice of 2005(Keira Knightly version ) Cranford has Bingley as the doctor, Lady Catherine at one of the sisters that star in Cranford, Charlotte as the girlfriend of the guy that breaks his arm (sorry I have not learned all the names of the character in Cranford yet) I was dowsing off a bit at the end last night so I need to rewatch it today. Here is an Austen website blog that has a 6 degreees of seperation Cranford Austen contest. http://janitesonthejames.blogspot.com/

I usually ask for assorted colored post it notes in my Christmas stocking...Why because they make great reminders for me and for my ds. We have a post it note board(dry erase board) an the left is a jobs to be done and the notes go there first. On the right is the finished jobs side. When the child assigned the job has finished it they move the note. It is strange but there seems to be a power in moving the note that works for getting the job done You could make different rows onthe board for each child etc. Notes last about 1-2 weeks before they lose their sticky and have to be replaced. I used to do this for school assignments too.

The program review very good reviews when it was shown in the UK last fall. It has some excellent actresses/actors in the program. This program will be shown over the next three Sundays on Masterpiece Theater(PBS)

So my answer would be that they have not been worth it for me. The questions are great, it's just that my son and I both read the chapter and we tend to enjoy having our own discussion about the contents. At this stage in his development the question answer thing seems to have gone out the window. I guess the questions could be a launching pad to discussions, we just have not needed them.

I have been told the painting is an original by a Janpanese artist who's work is highly sought after. I have been told it is worth in the $1,000's or dollar range. We love the picture and it hangs in our master bedroom. The frame alone is stunning. I paid $9.00 for the picture and frame at a yard sale in an expensive neighborhood. The guy said it was a guft and he just didn't like the picture. :001_huh: The Sue Grafton book was a first Edition of her first book a romance she wrote while in college. I sold it on *bay for $365 I paid 25 cents As soon as I looked at the copyright I knew it was valuable. That was a great yard sale day. Strangest thing radioactive rocks yep they made a gieger counter go crazy. I didn't know they were radioactive when I bought them. I just thought they were pretty rocks that my boy the rockhound would like. When I looked inside the box when I got home and saw the names of the rocks I said hmmm thats interesting. Asked dh to bring home a geiger counter and we then safetly disposed of them.

Actually this had such an impact on our ds age 14 that he is doing a power point presentation on the program. Ds has also gooten much more concerned about the environment. He also read the book after watching the program and would often come to me and say Mom you have to see this. Dh and I also thought it was an excellent program.

Marley and Me The Memory Keepers Daughter The Time Travelers Wife $64 Dollar Tomato I read the first three last summer

My dentist has advised me to use baking soda. He assured me it will not scratch my teeth. With the autoimmune disease I have I have a difficult time using toothpast that foam. Here is a link I found about the safety of baking soda for tooth care. http://www.oralcarepro.com/article_landing.aspx

Due to Claire's post I decided to do a bit of investigation on borax. As she said it should be handled with gloves on and you should not breathe in the powder. Also it should not be injested. It is considered a "green" cleaning product though. Here is an interesting web link I found about it. http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/115/1/Handy-borax-tips.html

Sophie the vet can probably tell you some better ideas, but I will give it a shot. I used to breed Shetland Sheepdogs and have whelped several liters. 1. Any dog can have a Big puppy first in the birth canal that can cause problems. The only way to know for sure is to have her xrayed. Most dogs have no problems and I never xrayed mind, I am just saying if you want to know for sure. 2. I used to add a bit of yogurt to there food when they were pregnant and just feed a high quality dog food. 3. As for keeping Mr. Lab next door out, when they scent a female in heat they are difficult to deter. I believe you can buy a spray to help hide the scent. I used to just keep my girls crated when in heat unless I was walking them etc. If you have questions when she is closer to whelping just ask.

I was searching for homemade cleaning recipes and found this great site, and thought others might like it too. http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/cleaning.html#toilet Happy Green Cleaning!!!! Please note as posted by another poster some of the ingredients are still toxic in nature.

Struggle for the Continent. Yes my board name is fitting.

Our thoughts and prayers are with your ds, you and your family.