Very good job! And Sean sure looks happy, so that says it all eh? So, tell us, how did you end up doing it??

Be sure that whatever container you use it is rated for FOOD storage. No offense to Ibbygirl, but the container that she linked is not for FOOD storage and may leech chemicals into your rice. You also want a container that seals shut securely with no air leakage. While uncooked white rice won't get stale or go bad (at least not for our lifetime, lol) it is the bugs that move in that you want to watch out for. Non-food storage containers like the one linked above have air holes that will let the bugs easily get to your rice....so that's another reason to avoid it besides the leeching. Sam's club sells food storage containers, I'll guess that Costco might as well. But like others have mentioned, they will also give away their bakery buckets for free....be sure to wash it really really well to get all the grease from the frosting out, and let it dry completely. Even a little water will ruin your rice. We eat rice probably 4 or 5 times a week....it's a wonderful meal extender and there are many delicious ways to prepare it. Plain white rice isn't the only thing to do with it!

You could use Twinkies kinda squished and pinched to make his eyes, covered in frosting. I'd probably use a plastic riser for the neck, the kind they use to separate layers on wedding cakes....too tired to remember it's name, lol. I found this online, but there is a lot of non-edible parts: http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/coolest-wall-e-birthday-cake-19.html

I've had a waterbed since I was a teenager....first it was a twin, now it's a California King. We've had the King for over 30 years......changed out the mattress once (it didn't quite survive it's 4th move, lol). That was 12 years ago....we add water when evaporation is noticeable (after all you are heating the water so it does evaporate). We add a bottle of waterbed chemical once a year (on our anniversary, lol.....picked that date so we'd always remember it....we change the smoke detector batteries then too). We "burp" it whenever an air bubble gets large enough to be bothersome, maybe once or twice a year, depending on how much bouncing the kids do! Other than that there is no maintenance. I can't tell you if the vinyl is healthier than the other mattress, but I can tell you that I am allergic to a lot of things, including dust mites, and have NEVER had a problem that I would consider caused by my bed. It doesn't attract dust to the vinyl....though a lot of "debris" settles on the underlayment around the edges of the mattress.....I put my nozzle attachment from the vacuum down there whenever I think of it. The biggest challenge is sheets. Regular fitted sheets pull off the edges.....those special (expensive) waterbed sheets which are just the top sheet and fitted sheet sewn together also come off. We've found that getting two fitted sheets and using one to tuck under the mattress and one as a regular fitted sheets. It means that you can't buy the really pretty "sets" of sheets (unless you're willing to buy two!), so no gorgeous sheets for us, but oh well. We also have a mattress cover on it, simply because I don't like to feel the slippery vinyl through the sheets. We travel a lot so we're in hotels on regular mattresses a lot.....my allergies always kick up there.....I shudder to think when the last time a hotel mattress was vacuumed for those little buggers. And they always seem to hard and uncomfortable to me.....and I look forward to getting home to my soft cushy body-fitting waterbed. One other thing..."private time" is a bit more challenging on the sloshier mattresses....when we had to change out our mattress we opted for one with some kind of foam strips in it...cuts down on the wave effect from just getting in and out of the waterbed, and also makes "private time" a little less a sea-faring adventure.

Ok, that one I can explain because it "got" me once long ago. The flyer dates are 6/28 to 7/18....BUT....there are certain pages in many of Joann's flyers that are certain dates only. So, I've actually got the mailed flyer right here in my hand....it's 8 pages long, plus has a 4 page insert for their Independence Day Sale. The 8 pages of the flyer are for June 28 to July 18.....but the 4 page insert is only July 2-5. THe good news is that if you don't yet have your teacher discount, or your Joann's gives you a hard time about it.....the insert has a 10% off your total purchase good July 2-5. I wish that Joann's and others would just stick to the format of the grocery stores, lol......ads come out on Wednesday and are good until the following Tuesday. Period. No wondering if this product or that one are on sale a different day. Of course, lately the grocery has been sending out supplement flyers and emails, so that's getting confusing too! Or, actually how about they stop all this silly sale stuff and simply lower their prices to something reasonable. Then I'd be in there buying when the mood hits, which believe me would mean more money than "we have to shop today because it's on sale whether I want to drag my behind there or not".

Nahhh, not new, they've had that policy for years. Joann's sales flyers end on Saturdays....so you probably were looking at the ad that ended yesterday but shopping today/Sunday? Good news is that McCall's patterns are on sale for 99 cents from July 2 to 5th. Butterick are $1.99 July 9-11; Simplicity are $1.99 July 16-18. Never pay full price for a pattern, as they typically cycle the sales like this....sometimes they aren't all advertised in one flyer, so you have to wait until next month's flyer, but we keep a running list of patterns we want and when they're on sale we pounce. And definitely apply for the teacher discount, as that makes your $.99 pattern become an .84 pattern! The teacher discount is good on all sale items, but is NOT good when you already receive a coupon discount, i.e. their 40% off one item coupons. But sale items, clearance all get the additional discount. Sweet! With your Joann's so far away, is there a Walmart with a fabric department closer? You can take the Joann's ad to Walmart and get the sale price for the patterns. Be sure to print out the ad or take in the mailed flyer....it's such a big price match that it typically requires a manager to view the ad ($10.99 normal price and you get it for $.99). But, it's wonderful when you don't want to travel 15 minutes (our closest is more like 20-30 depending on freeway traffic)....or when Joann's doesn't have the size you need. Hancock Fabrics also price matched, but the one near us closed last year so no more doing that. If you sew a lot, be sure to sign up your husband and kids on the mailing list. We get multiple ads each time, and so we have multiple copies of the 40% coupons! And sign them all up for the email flyers as well, because they send printable coupons (with bar codes so you can't just print a bunch of them, each has your name/email on it and a bar code number). And before someone rides a high horse telling me that's cheating or something, the manager is the one that told my daughters to sign up for their own flyers to get their own discount when she overheard us haggling over who got to use the coupon. She then handed us flyers with the coupons for that visit! I signed us all up for the email flyers and have always stood in line right with them each of us using a separate coupon....they do sometimes compare our bar code numbers, but not always.

Could you share your recipe for crock pot beans? :001_smile:

Before kids I was a Certified Family Law attorney in two different states, and non-certified in a third.....it was absolutely the norm to give a free consultation. So maybe some states do some don't I guess. Open the phone book and look up attorney/lawyer and those free constulations will scream at ya, lol. Just because you want a free consultation does not mean you can't afford to pay....a wise consumer will want to interview several attorneys before hiring one. I would never hire an attorney that required me to pay for an initial consultation. And even if you were the stay-at-home wife and therefore didn't have an income to pay, and perhaps DH had already removed you from the bank accounts, didn't mean that I wouldn't take the case. In the states that I practiced it was very common to be awarded fees paid by the other party, as they were the bread winner and/or asset holder. This request was always made in the first petition....for a source for funding ongoing attorney fees. It wasn't unusual for the Judge to award fees for both sides equally from a particular bank account, or for an asset (stock was common) to be sold to begin the funding. Imagine how unfair it would be if because you and your spouse had originally agreed that you'd stay home to care for (homeschool even) the children and now he's the only one with an income and now no attorney will take your case because you have no income! Wow....there'd be a lot of homeless moms and kids because the DH would have an attorney and mom would barely be able to keep up with what was going on. We also had a lot of families that didn't have a lot of disposable income especially when suddenly there were two households to support. Sometimes you had to get creative about where your fees would come, and often you got some monies up front, and a payment plan going, with final settlement to include sale of assets to pay both attorneys. Of course, at the free consultation don't expect a lot of case specific information....but the OP's friend needs general information about the laws in her state/county. In the three states I practiced it was also common for the larger firms to give seminars about divorce (also free).....explaining how to protect yourself if you're the one leaving, or the one staying.....and for the states that have child support calculations we used to give them a lot of examples of the range for the amount of support they could expect. THe one state where child support was not a set calculation of course that didn't work, but we did discuss the different things that Judges look at in determining support. A lot of people, ok, mainly woman, want information to be sure that they'll be ok after they leave....and support, custody and whether they'll be forced out of the house are the biggest questions. Check with your state bar as they typically have a listing of these workshop/seminars. Ok, decided to do a little searching......here are links to attorneys that provide a free divorce consultation in Tennessee.....don't know anything about these attorneys so not recommending them, just wanting to show that you can get a free consult. Also didn't delve in to see if they were certified or not. Their websites have a lot of information that might answer some of your friend's questions too: http://www.memphisattorney.com/PracticeAreas/Divorce.asp http://www.lawyers.com/Divorce/Tennessee/All-Cities/law-firms.html?rs=1&nbm=1&ac=a9&N=4294967280 This lists 99 firms that offer free consultations all over Tennessee. http://www.davidwaldrop.com/ He offers free 30 minute consultation....so you'd want to go in with a list of questions so you don't ramble, lol. I never scheduled initial appointments for less than an hour. Since I considered the consultation my interview for them to hire me, I never wanted them to feel rushed or that I had more important things to do then attend to them. http://www.williamsandschwalb.com/CustomPage.shtml ok, that should be enough to get you started. Incidentally, my search was for "TN divorce free consult". Came up with many questionable looking websites, but also a lot more that appeared to be actual law offices not some referral services or whatever. Open up your phone book and I'm sure you'll find even more.

:iagree: Farrah was no saint, but after seeing her documentary a month or so ago, I developed a real respect for a very strong woman. I wish her death would have been able to get the coverage that she deserved. Sadly, it won't.

For the issues that you have inquired, the laws of each state are going to be different.....sometimes in little ways, quite often in very differing ways. And to make it more complicated each county within a state may have their own way of enforcing/interpreting the law (often the laws are rather vague making this even more prevelant). And to further make answering your question difficult, even within the same courthouse there could be two different Family/Domestic Law attorneys who each put a little different spin on how they'll rule. (below I have said "she" even though you studiously avoided giving a gender....I do it for ease of conversation, and because sadly, most times it's the guy that leaves and the gal who doesn't want it. My recommendation would be the same if you subsituted he for she below). For all those reasons, I strongly urge you to have your friend contact an attorney for a FREE consultation. I recommend she call a "certified" family/domestic attorney. Not only will these attorneys be up to date on the latest laws in her area, but they will know the individual Judges and how they are likely to rule as well. Sometimes these consultations are in person, often you can get these types of questions answered over the phone. She isn't obligated to hire that or any attorney. By seeking advice she is NOT condoning divorce or even making overtures that she wants the divorce....she is simply being prudent and wise to be sure that she is aware of her legal rights....and her legal duties. And she needs to know them well....it's not unusual for him to pressure her, or give her inaccurate information about what he can or can't do.......and she must know the difference or she can be hurt, financially and emotionally. If she's not wanting the divorce, it will also be hard for her not to continue to trust everything he tells her is "for her own good", and it rarely is in this situation. In fact, because she does want to get back together, it's more likely that she'll do as he demands in the hopes it will win him back, when in fact, it can backfire on her big time. If she's not sure how to find a certified attorney, she should contact the TN State Bar for a referral or two. Again, these consultations should be free to discuss the law and her rights in general terms. Not wanting a divorce is fine, but not being prepared with the knowledge she needs to protect herself can have consequences even more devasting than the threat of divorce.

Well, one might wonder whom the producers wanted to succeed....obviously it wasn't Jon and Kate. I got the old seasons from the library when all this started to see what this was all about.....and while hindsight and all that, didn't anyone else just want to scream at Jon to get a backbone or get away from her? I think the epitomy of it all was the episode where Jon and his BIL were building storage space in the garage. All the kids were wandering around in the garage and the driveway. Kate was sleeping in, but finally comes out with a coffee in her hands. Jon is up the ladder. One of the kids comes in and says the ball rolled into the street. Kate who is standing there doing nothing but holding a coffee, yells at Jon something like "you better go it the ball before one of the kids goes in the street". And what does he do? Climbs down off the ladder and trots off to get the ball, hands it to a kid and climbs back up the ladder. Kate sips her coffee. Good heavens. Almost every episode I watched left me wondering why they were together. She harangues him constantly and it's so obvious he was biting his tongue, it's amazing he wasn't bleeding from the mouth. I don't condone their affairs (if they actually had them, they both deny, but hey, they've lied to the press before apparently).....but I totally understand Jon needing to be with someone who treated him well. The sad part is that they don't seem to be able to see that they really need to take their lives out of the public eye and let those kids heal. I know I won't be watching any more seasons, because it will make me want to cry for those kids. And I fear that the cameras will catch every tear as these kids realize their secure little life is over. I don't want to see that. I do understand the reason for the show was to earn money to raise (and college) eight kids. But they reportedly receive $75k per episode and there are 20 episodes in the first 2 seasons and 31 in season 3.....that nearly 4 million dollars (and there is still season 4 to count). How much money do they need? I guess the real question is how much money does Kate need. She seems to be the one always harping on the money issue. That much money will pay for all 8 kids at Harvard for heavens sake, and that's if you don't invest a penny. Money has again won out over the needs of the family. Sad, very sad. There isn't enough money in the world for me to put my family second like they have. And it's not like they aren't aware of what it's doing to the family. Well, now I guess we can only hope that the State of Pennsylvania's investigation will actually conclude that the reality show has violated the child labor laws and shut it down. What a blessing that would be for this family, and they can't see it.

My twin daughters were born at 31 weeks. While they were in NICU they were gavage fed (tube down their throat) of my pumped milk while we worked three or four times a day to get them to latch on. Most of the time they'd fall asleep before being successful. It was very scary and very depressing, and I felt it was my failure, when of course it was simply that they were too little and too fragile to know what to do. Thankfully they had very loving, kind and extremely patient nurses who helped me figure out how to hold them (higher up then you'd think) and I know there were quite a few things we did to encourage them to latch on, and stay on. It's been a decade so I can't recall exactly what they were, though. I do know that when we finally were able to bring them home they were latching on and nursing but not strongly enough, so I still had to supplement their feeding and "nipple confusion" was a big concern. Our Le Leche League (http://www.llli.org/) lady was a godsend. When we were still having troubles after going home with the girls, our doctor hooked us up with a woman just a couple blocks from us who would drop by every day to coach me. I truly believe that she was solely responsible for my not giving up and turning to bottle feeding them. A big concern was my milk drying up because they weren't nursing enough and the pump just never seemed to work well for me. She also showed me what I was doing wrong with the silly pump! She was a godsend and even after the girls were weaned at 14 months she kept in touch until we moved out of the country. As for the house being a wreck.....you have to remember that you have a different set of priorities right now. NOT permanently of course, but for the next few months your focus must be on the baby first, and your other children, not your house. I remember talking with a friend about hiring a teenager to come in and clean for me, but worried about the costs on top of the baby costs. She showed up the next day with two other ladies with buckets and mops, such a silly, but welcome sight! They cleaned my house top to bottom and after that arranged for our church youth group to send one or two teens to keep it up, and the 'bucket brigade' as I called them came back twice a month to do the more thorough cleaning that teens just don't do. I paid the teens but the bucket brigade refused saying I was their group's mission, lol. After my kids were a bit older, I joined this group whose sole purpose was to quietly intervene when other members needed something, cleaning, rides, meals, sitters, whatever. I had been going to that church for 3 years and hadn't even realized they existed. Part of their goal was for it to be a "secret".....random acts of kindness long before their time! Even if you aren't as lucky as I was to find help among your friends, consider hiring a cleaning service even if just once a week. Yes, it's an added expense, but your peace of mind is very important. In fact, that's one of the big things I remember my LLL friend stressing which didn't make sense at first.....a stressed out mommy is NOT a positive influence on the babies nursing strategy. After I got rid of a few of these stressors, I was more relaxed, and more at peace with my new life, and it was amazing how much that affected my babies....their nursing, their sleeping and their demeanor. Don't discount your moods affecting the baby!

We used caterpillars. I had a circle cutter so we cut a lot of colored paper into circles.......each of the kids drew a face and glued antenna on one circle....that "head" started in their bedroom and each time they read a book, they'd write the title, author and draw 1 to 5 smile faces (rating) and the circle would go onto the caterpillar. For books that we read together the head was in the hallway. It was very colorful and a lot of fun to see how quickly he grew. The original plan was to take it down each year and start over, but that never happened.....but after several years there wasn't much room left in the hall or their rooms to put more circles, lol. We finally took down all the circles and the kids chose their favorite books and we put a caterpillar circle around the very top of their bedroom wall and two of the kids have a trail going across their ceiling as well (because they had more favorites than would fit around the wall). It's a wonderfully colorful and fun way to remember our love of books. Even the eldest (she'll be a teen this week!) loves her colorful circles and doesn't want to remove it. We used that poster putty stuff to put them on the wall so that there wouldn't be any damage to the paint. They do occasionally fall down but a hard press and they're back up again.

Hey, if you as the parent didn't authorize them to give your daughter the card then you can't be held responsible for her losses. I'd probably be calling the district librarian and lodging a complaint anyway, and letting them know that you don't intend to be responsible since DD7 is now an adult in their eyes. Good luck collecting from a 7 year old. Our library makes an adult sign the paperwork before a child under 14 can get a card. Ooo, another good question for them.....what about the law that says they are not allowed to request personal information from any child under the age of 13 (it's mostly used for computer sites, but the law, I believe is for anyone collecting personal information like name, address, phone, email. I can't imagine they gave her a card without that information and the law says they have to have parental consent. This one isn't even "adult" meaning an older friend could do it for her. Yeah, I wouldn't let this one go.....DD should have consequences, but so should the library. And I'm still trying to figure out how respect equals treatment as an adult? So if they thought of your DD7 as a child she wouldn't be entitled to respect? Wow.

Oh wait! As soon as I clicked on that it dawned on me.....you could put up the same hook type think you use for cafe curtains couldn't you. You might want more than one at each end since a PVC pipe might be a bit heavy, also at more than just the center as they tend to bow if not supported. But it might be much cheaper than a wood dowel as I suggested, but I'd probably want to test it in the store to see how much weight it might handle before it starts to bow.

How would you connect a PVC pipe to the wall? Since it's hollow you couldn't screw it to a "book end".

You don't necessarily need curtain rods. I have a 10' wide window and the rods would have been ridiculously expensive. We were originally going to use closet rods, but then I went to the hardware store and bought these dowel like things....basically it's just a piece of wood that has been rounded. As I recall it's stated use was railing for staircases. The longest length was only 8ft, but my DH glued them together and then nailed a bracket across it to secure. The fabric covers the bracket and wood seam. We have a wall on one side of the window but not on the other, so my husband made these bookend type pieces that we painted to match the wall paint and they stick out a couple of inches and the dowel is secured to them. He also used several closet rod holders (the kind that hook the rod in the middle to hold it up under the weight.). Another thought, if your landlord would let you is to paint the windows. I originally thought of advertising for your online business, but if you don't want/need to do that, you could always hire an artist (try a local art school) to paint a mural or landscape, something attractive. Adapting :tongue_smilie:another poster's idea....perhaps you could advertise other businesses on the painted windows. Think of how businesses decorate their windows for the holidays, or fast food advertises their specials with paint on the windows. My idea is to cover the entire window with one color and THEN paint the advertising so that you can't see in between the words. Maybe your homeschool support group has members with home businesses that would love to advertise in a well travelled mall area? This might bring in a few extra dollars (all assuming your landlord approves). Another idea that came to mind after reading someone else's idea.....instead of buying the expensive louvered walls, make them. Much cheaper, don't need the fancy louvre brackets.....basically just make a tall fence like structure. Paint it pretty, and set it back a foot or two from your window and then use the other poster's idea of selling display space or even posters from the local theatre, store's sale ads, etc. You could then put curtains on just the door to block it's view as well. This would probably be better, easier and cheaper than my paint idea too, as changing the ad on the paint would be difficult/expensive, but changing the poster would be quite easy to do. Also, being that it's not ON the window, you might be able to bypass any concerns the landlord has about it. Yeah, I think I like this idea better, lol....but I'll leave the paint idea in case you like it.

Here's the response I received from Currclick. I have chosen not to tell them what board this was posted, as I don't believe board rules would want the owner of the curriculum posting here, and I think this response settles the question. OP may want to write to Connect The Thoughts if it would make her feel better to have this information come directly from them rather than through me, a stranger, and my information from a third party also. Hello again, I apologize for the delay. We heard back from the publisher and their reiterated that their products are alright to be used by the purchaser and their immediate family. This is the pertinent point that was passed along from Connect the Thoughts - "I don't have a problem with a family buying a course and using it in-house for all their kids. I do have a problem with someone buying a course and offering it to people outside their immediate family, and would consider that a violation of copyright." If you can let me know where you saw the incorrect posting, I can see if we can address that as well. Thank you for your business and please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns. Jeff Montgomery Customer Service CurrClick.com But.....I would hope that this exchange will also make them decide to reword their copyright so that others aren't confused. Can you imagine the damage to their business if this was posted on a forum where people don't always step and try to track down the facts.....both on what the copyright laws are, and what this company really meant by their wording. I have been on several boards were my DH jokes that everyone is simply a herd of cows/sheep....they simply follow the person in front of them never looking around to see if there is more to the world than the rear of the guy in front of them, lol. In fact, one of these groups I had to leave because someone posted a convoluted explanation of copyright law that in essence gave free reign to share any ebooks (and some people were even scanning books to share) because of the "fair use" portion of the copyright for educational purposes. Their explanation went on that if teacher's can use it in their classroom, and have 5 classes a day, with 30 students, that's 150 students....so since it was a small board they likely had less than 150 students.......well, you get the drift. I'm all for sharing resources, and I often lend out curriculum that I bought used ahead of time and am not ready to use with my family so another family can enjoy it, I figure it's still only being used by one family at a time, and isn't much different than the next family that will use it when I sell it after I'm done. But copying it and sharing it with 150 students, well I can't find a way to justify anything like that, so I left said so and left. I often wonder if my forceful but polite rebuttal ever made a difference, but I'm too scared to rejoin the group and be associated with that again! Enjoy your curriculum OP with a guiltfree mind. And thanks for letting us know so that we could get to the truth!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I think you really need to let your DH know that this is not ok with you. I know he feels awful for them, but there ARE places that don't really worry too much about past credit, not always the first choice of places you'd want to live, but sometimes tough love is necessary. I'm guessing of course, but sounds like his brother got himself into this mess, now he needs to get himself out of it....and moving in with your family isn't really going to teach him responsiblity. That will come much quicker if they have to lower their standards and move into a cramped apartment that will accept their poor credit rating. Six month or a year of good standing with the apartment (plus no new credit messes) and they ought to be able to "move on up". Believe me, I'm not unsympathetic to your brother's plight.....we have had our share of serious financial problems and had to seriously downgrade our lifestyle because of them. But I don't know that we'd have pulled ourselves out of the gutter we felt we were in if we'd had family to live with and care for the kids. We "made it" because in our eyes there was no other choice, not for us, but because the kids needed us to make it. It wasn't fun, it wasn't easy, but when you have no choice you do what you must to get through. Mostly though, I think your feelings on the matter should have a large impact on the decision. If you truly feel there is no choice, you might want to make sure that the BIL and your DH come to a firm agreement about how long this will go on, that is, a date at which time BIL will move out again. So that they have a goal, and so that you have a light at the end of the tunnel. It's much easier to grit your teeth and say we'll get through this because it's only for 6 months than it is to feel there is no end in sight. Your mental and physical health needs to be accounted for here as well as their need to get on their feet. If all else fails....put the kids down for a nap, and start calling any and all apartments in town until you find one that will accept a family of 5 with both adults working but an eviction on their credit. Be honest about their past mistakes and that they are responsibly working towards getting back on their feet. Then tell BIL about your finds! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Might be time to explore all that town has to offer....parks where your boys can be noisy boys.....museums, zoos, whatever there is to do while the baby sleeps. I'm sure MIL will object because you're supposed to be visiting her....but I'd remind MIL that your kids have needs to...and while you respect baby's need for quiet, your kids need activity. Invite her to come along and enjoy her other grandkids, but if not, go anyway. And keep telling yourself it's only a few more days! Depending on where you are, perhaps you can find away activities only while baby is sleeping (of course that's many hours each day, lol). As for SIL being the big time high power executive but the wilting flower of the family....been there watched that with a number of friends....concluded that both are true. She's great at the high power stuff....but hasn't a CLUE for the mommy gig. They don't offer Mommy 101 at Harvard darrrrling. Sad thing is that many of these types (not saying SIL in particular, but if the shoe fits) have children because it's all part of the plan. 2.5 children by age 35 or whatever. Then those kids arrive and their behavior doesn't fit into the plan......oooo, spit up....oooo diapers.....no way am I staying home from work because Jr is barfing and the preschool says they won't take him, I've got a meeting! The reality check that all of us went through when our first born wasn't sleeping through the night at 3 weeks or potty trained by 1 year, lol. This is hard work, but WE stepped up and loved it.....she may not ever make it there. Different strokes for different folks, ya know. The comment about the Nanny was most telling wasn't it......at least be heartened that your sister KNOWS that the child needs more than she can (or is willing) to offer and is financially able to make it happen. It's not ideal, but with great luck the nanny will give the emotional well being that the child needs. Think of the alternative if your SIL isn't willing (or able) to be there for this child and couldn't hire a nanny to give him one-on-one attention. Remember too that "in the old days" it was quite common for rich families to have a nanny, even though mom stayed home (or were out doing their charity work). And these nannies raised wonderful children.....many who became leaders in their field, and talked fondly about their nannies, and rarely about their mothers. Sad, but true. Since you probably can't ever hope to change her, maybe the best thing you can do as Auntie is encourage/push/cajole things towards what's better for your nephew even if it's not what's best in your own heart. And a call each week to ask the Nanny how Jr is doing, and hoping that you can subtly influence Nanny into offering the child something closer than what is in your heart. I got lucky with one friend and helped her find a daycare in a home instead of a center....and it was someone I knew by reputation would be a positive influence both emotionally and educationally. That little one has been with that day care full time in infant/toddler and now before/after school care for K-3rd so far. The afterschool care is a lot more than watching tv so that pleases me! But I know I'd never in a million years convince the Mom to homeschool, or even to work part time to be there for her daughter after school. When I did suggest it, the laughter was almost maniacal. Mom's response was that her mom worked full time when she grew up and see what a success she had become.....daughter would follow in those footsteps. I bit my tongue wanting to point out that she had no relationship now with her mother, except the obligatory holiday meal visits. I want my own kids to be successful....financially certainly but more than that I want them to be emotionally successful. And that's an almost lost commodity in today's world. And some days, it's seems so impossible to make others see that, that I begin to wonder if I really am the one who is wrong. Then I remember my eldest who will be a teen by week's end, who still makes a beeline for me when she first awakes because she has to start the day with a several minute minimum hug/cuddle. And that my friends are lucky if their teen would even speak to them today. I'll take poor and loving over rich and distant for my children any day of the year. And happily be called names for it.

I made my own using Publisher (came with my operating system)....you could do the same with almost any graphics type program that you use.....probably even Word to some degree. Of course, mine is just calendar pages and lesson plan pages....I figure all that other stuff belongs elsewhere for me. My address book is on the computer, the kids growth charts are on their bedroom doors, lol.....birthdays go into my calendar pages (and on my pop up reminders on my computer)......and the other stuff, well, it just doesn't need to be there for me, so the few that I need are where they belong, lol. You can get blank calendars free from many many places, just google for what you want....single page, double page, week, month, daily. Then you can decorate them or not as you see fit. I loved the look of that Well Planned Day, but I just know that all that pretty stuff will eventually be written upon because the space for what I use a planner, i.e. the planning, is just not large enough for me. I use graphics from PCCrafter/Hugware or just googles to fancy mine up, but it's in the borders not so much across the writing area. And as for printing it.....if you have a color printer that is pretty expensive to use and want your calendar in color....consider taking your finished project to a print shop. I have done that for projects where the colored area is quite heavy....it costs .49 a page, so a two page monthly spread would be 24 pages or about $12. And they do it on the heavy ink jet paper so there is no bleed through. That's almost as much as the prepurchase price for that planner, but it's customized to your own needs. (Hint, before you rush out and have a whole year printed....do a month or two and actually use it, tweaking as you go along until it's everything you need.)

We're just starting to explore this (eldest will be 13 next week). We have been looking into CLEP as well as doing an AA at the local community college. I've attended a half dozen workshops focusing on "preparing your homeschool student for college while they're in junior high". Either it's a hot topic, or my radar is high as it seems everywhere I turn this is being discussed. There were lots of things I cam away with but one I was surprised to learn.....if your student is a transfer student, even if they're the same age as the other students entering university.....there are few if any scholarships that they can receive. Of course, since they'd be transferring in most likely as a junior, that would cut down on the university expense significantly and maybe a scholarship wouldn't matter. I just know that I've got a HUGE file that I've collected for several years about local organizations/companies/etc that do scholarships....and now it appears that may have been a waste of space in my file cabinet, lol. Just thought I'd throw that out in case someone else didn't realize.

We had a problem with this at our main library several years ago.....because there were no rules in place the library staff wouldn't do much (like your library their unofficial policy was "if we see it, we stop it"...but of course they are purposely NOT looking for it, so not seeing it unless someone complains and then of course it's too late). Several concerned parents made telephone calls to all the news media (tv, newspapers, radio) in our area. They were able find a few reporters that were interested in investigating this situation. They found when community leaders see reporters toting a story that has great potential to embarass them personally or politically, then they take action. Our libraries, and all city computers have filters to prevent it....and it's a misdemeanor to access such things in city facilities. And there are signs about this law near all public access computers. Good luck....it took a lot of effort but it worked for our town. By the way, there ARE federal laws about not allowing children to view such things....so if your child (or any child) were to accidently view it, you could conceivably take action under federal law. But of course, that means that some poor child has to be a victim first!

I got a reply.....pasted below exactly as received...... Hello, Thank you f9or your inquiry. As far as I know, every product on our site is intended to be used by you or your immediate family and I don't believe Connect the Thoughts is any different. I can only think that the person who posted that information is in error. I have contacted the publisher and am awaiting a response. I will let you know as soon as I hear back from them. Thank you for your business and please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns. Jeff Montgomery Customer Service CurrClick.com I responded by sending them a copy of what OP wrote was the specific copyright. I'll let you know if I hear more.

Could you link to your post please? Also, I tried readoutloud.com and it appears to be a referral page, not a real website that has information?