The parquet floor tiles installed 20 years ago are worn out completely. There'd been carpeting before that. Underneath it all is just regular subfloor stuff. The back door is technically the front door so all the traffic from outside (think farm yard) ends up on this floor, wet, dry, mud, sand, poop, snow, dog, etc. There is a small landing of tile right by the door, 60's era brown and tan 1x1's. We had to repair that when we moved in and we used up the remainder of the extra tiles laying around. Ironically it's the same tiles that's coming up in the bathroom. Because it's connected to the outside, it can get cold when the door is left hanging open. Yes, we're working on that. The floor is uneven because it's an old house. There's a high spot where an addition was put on and it meets the original house. The kitchen connects with the living room which is a nice oak wood floor. Totally unaffordable to replicate in the kitchen. :(( Affordability and personal installation are a must.

I can't find my copy of TWTM. Thanks!

I have a master plan for each kiddo and where to purchase. )) And I bought my first item today.

I make a copy of my TM lesson plan chart and write in the dates and daily activities as we go. Each kiddo has one too and I fill in their individual assigments. At the end of the year I staple it all together with a copy of the Course of Study page (from Donna Young) and file it.

Thanks!

I like the long battery life of my kindle keyboard 3G. It's a wonderful tool.

My mom is my zone 5 mentor..... She's already got tomatoes potted inside and up. She won't move them outside until mid may. She starts a bunch of stuff indoors before transplanting. She's always got a great harvest. I'm still learning. . . . . I usually end up buying replacement plants from her after mind die. :((

me too. French & Spanish. :thumbup1:

Bac-out from Biokleen. We dumped it down the air ducts in our boys room after we discovered they were peeing down the vents (new contraction!!). It worked great. We use is on all things barf, poop, and stinky animal. It's an enzyme that eats it all out of whatever and the smell isn't obnoxious in my opinion.

We got half way through the alphabet before enough was enough. I never got to the blending part. I liked MFW 1st grade much more! And we've used Adventures, RTR, and Exp. to 1850, and we're working on 1850 to Modern right now. Love MFW, just not the kindy books. Next year we are switching to Sonlight because we're going to try an virtual charter school. If we weren't planning that we'd be starting MFW Creation to the Greek + Ancient History 9th grade. :))

So I can justify buying kindles/nooks for my kiddos! :lol: And so I can keep the book clutter manageable?

So I can justify buying kindles/nooks for my kiddos! :lol: And so I can keep the book clutter manageable?

I bought, and partially used MFW K for two of my kiddos. Frankly it was a confusing TM to use because part of the day's lesson is in one section of the manual and the other part is elsewhere. I just didn't have time with distracting/distracted little people for them to watch mama flip through a book to find their lesson. Really it's just learning letters , their sounds, and learning to write them. I and they loved the Rod and Staff pre-schooler workbooks. They learned to read and write their letters and numbers. There are fun cutting, pasting and coloring pages to keep them at the table for the duration of another older child's lesson. I just let them work at their own pace and didn't worry about making it a formal lesson. Starfall.com is a free online program they do to practice their reading too.

...and in WI. We're ordering Sonlight through our virtual charter school next year. Not the core or TM's, but individual subjects. The first two have the religious content. The school can't buy anything with religious in it. But they can buy biographies or fiction. Interestingly we can't afforded anything Sonlight without the subsidy from the virtual charter school. DH and I are looking forward to donating the materials to missionaries when we're finished with it.

Switched on Schoolhouse is painless but effective. In WI we have to have a semester of high school level health for graduation requirements. I think IL is the same.

I don't need the workbook?

Thanks for the link. I can't get the demos to play. I'll contact them!

Yup, that's what I do! I sometimes even have to use ear plugs. Just the nose peeping through. And I can't wear socks either.

((hugs)) my kids still talk about our foster son who returned 2 years ago. They remember his birthday, his favorite things, etc. It's hard to let them grieve in their own way when all I want is to put it behind me and move on. He won't be returning to us. But he is back in the system.

Do you like it? Our virtual charter school next year requires a spelling element to our lang. arts and this was a suggestion. Anything computer right now is golden for my kids. That's why I picked it. :)) But I would like to know the good, bad, and ugly before I run into them. Thx.

My husband does this to me too. He doesn't like to snack alone. Chips, dips, pizza, cookies, soda, sweets.....he wants a friend. I didn't gain weight until we got married and it took me 20 years to tell him no and change my diet so I could start losing weight and get healthy finally! He took it well. He does still buy me snacks, but he asks first. He also is more thoughtful about what kind of snacks he buys me. It's been healthier for him too.

Better. I fell last week twice. Slipped on the ice and got to see the clouds roll by for a few minutes before I could get up. Nothing broken, no bruise. But oh man so painful! Something is still clicking back there every time I take a deep breathe. My arthritis, who's worked very hard to fuse every joint in my upper cervical spine, wasn't happy with me. I skun my knee on more ice the next day. My pants are still whole though! DH has grounded me indoors at night until the ice is gone. Yay me, no chores!!! Thanks for asking.

I had an epiphany this year -- art supplies in the Easter basket! Yup, some candy, but mostly new markers, pencils, pads, sharpeners, sculpey clay, beading supplies, knitting supplies in Easter colors for amigurumis. Makes my heart happy. They get put in a canvas bag because we hang them on trees outside for them to find on their Easter Egg treasure hunt. This year we're going to use all the acres and make them really work for it!

Watching my mom be grandma to strangers was what finally convinced us we were missing out big time.

I bet there are local families who live far from their grandma. Could you borrow a few grandkids and make your own fun? My mom used to do this before we moved back. )) She had a whole flock of kids/families from church who loved coming to her house. Surrogate grandkids are fun too.