[When you use beans as a prebaked pie crust weight...]

You may not need to use beans if you prick the bottom crust all over with a fork before baking. That's a trick learned from my Grandmother.:001_smile:

[Where do you buy seeds?]

Johnny's Selected Seeds has a very helpful catalog with detailed growing directions for all the vegetables. Hybrid and heirloom seeds.

[Ordering glasses online]

Warby Parker has a scan-in-your-photo-and-"try-on" option. They'll also send you frames to try on at home for free. Limited styles. We haven't ordered from them, but their site was interesting.

[How do you handle all the loose paper--worksheets, coloring pages, maps, etc.?]

I turn half the binders spine out and half spine in. In practice, we're usually filing papers in all the binders at once anyway, so it really doesn't matter that it's harder to pull the inside ones out individually.

 

Brilliant!!! This solves an annoying problem for me! Thank you!

[Current WTM Homes for Sale prayer list]

Please add us to the prayer list. We have a home in Greenville, IL we'd like to sell this year. There are wonderful renters in it currently. Please pray for their house in Chicago to sell, too!

[What is the best sippy cup to use for a 9 month old?]

Whew! That request is stretching the limit of my technological ability. :D

Let's try this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40084861

[What is the best sippy cup to use for a 9 month old?]

The cup we've used for all three children and often given as a gift is the "green frog cup" from IKEA. It's lightweight, #5 PP plastic, with two handles and a one-piece lid that has three holes. It's very cheap (no big deal if it gets lost) and comes in a set with a matching bowl, spoon, and bib (hate the bib). The cup is dishwasher safe. I like that you can remove the lid when the child a ready for a "real cup". It has a wide base to minimize tip-overs. We really love it!

[What do you do when your 7-8 yo does not want to do his school work?]

It's reassuring to hear that this is a common issue for 7-yr-old boys!

 

I think Charlotte Mason wrote something about the reward for work being extra free time. It's nice even for adults to have something to look forward to, so the prospect of an interesting activity, outing, or time to do his own projects is sometimes a good motivator.