Oh, I have an awesome photo...but I prefer to stay happily married. ;)

My MIL once gave my (very conservative) DH a pair of tight, black vinyl pants. :001_huh:

Oh I loved tinsel! It was the best part of my childhood Christmas trees...except maybe the bubbling lights...

Thy hamster doth not belong in the Nativity set, and If I catcheth him there again - LO the punishment shall be most severe. Thy cat, and thy dog, and thy hamster in his rolley ball, and every creature that moves along the ground will stayeth away from mine Christmas tree or they shall be tossed out into the snow.

I pay $9 a week for a 30 minute lesson, plus books. (which I know is an embarrassingly great deal) :blush:

We try to eat before we go . I do bring in bottled water because we don't do soda. (But our theater offers free cups to get water from the bubbler - so I don't see the difference.)

Wonderful news!

Does she drink diet sodas or consume a lot of artificial sweetners? I used to get horrible ice pick headaches, and I noticed that they were much more frequent when I had diet soda or products with Splenda or aspartame. When I gave up diet soda, my headaches went away.

Are you talking about the "Sea to Shining Sea" that is a part of "The Light and the Glory" set? If so that is not Catholic - but it is taught from the providential viewpoint.

For the stockings: Hot Wheels, Silly Putty, Play-Doh, a Slinky, a Life Savers Storybook Under the tree: dolls, trains, a toy drum, stacking/nesting toys, Tinker toys, Lincoln Logs, Marbles, Classic Board games (Clue, Monopoly, Life) a bike/scooter

She rolled around in hers all summer - but I know her parents were very careful to go pick up all of the sticks and rocks before she used it. Also - shes a tiny little thing - I don't know how it would be for bigger kids (?)

Our neighbor girl has one called a Giga ball.... and I've always thought she looks like a hamster when she's in it. :lol: http://www.amazon.com/Giga-Ball-Gigaball-Red-51/dp/B0015XJ8KY

I like the Amish romance books and a few historical ones. To me they are like junk food. A fun treat, and fairly harmless in limited quantities, but I wouldn't want a steady 'diet' of them. ;)

If you have a few charcoal briquettes place them around the house for a few hours. They will help absorb the odor.

I see you! Hope tomorrow is a better day for you.

DS - Legos, K-nex, science kits, Playmobil all 3 DD's - Playmobil, Littlest Pet Shop, Schleich, Build a Bear, American Girl dolls

Carpe .... If you'd like, I can crochet you a hat. I make hats for people undergoing chemo and radiation. (In honor of my mom, who I lost to cancer many years ago) My DD is modeling my most popular style of chemo cap, but if you'd prefer another style I can change it up a bit. If you are interested - just PM me with your favorite colors, and your shipping info. I probably won't have time to start it until Christmas break, but it works up pretty quickly once I get going on it. :grouphug:

I have the older Pampered Chef one. I used to hate it, but then I found a few tips to make it work smoother. 1) You have to have the right dough. It can't be too sticky and it needs to be slightly chilled. 2) You need to use parchment paper on a cool surface, and then transfer it to a cookie sheet 3) You have to hold it at the right angle ( basically straight up and down) or the cookies don't fall out right and they look weird. It's still not my favorite gadget, but I can at least make it work now.

i would recommend crochet first because it is a bit more 'forgiving. (You don't have to worry about 'dropped stitches')

Thank you all VERY much! I did buy one unit CLE Language Arts for her to try, and she says that she likes how it explains things, but I think I placed her too far ahead - so we'll need to re-think her placement test results. :001_huh: She had used CLE back in 3rd grade, but at the time I didn't feel that the spelling portion suited her well, so we moved on to Growing With Grammar. I really do want to look more seriously at R&S, though. I think i will look at the 5th grade level - even if it is review, I'd rather have her know it for sure vs keep floundering.

Name: Michelle age of dc: 13, 10, 7, 6 how long homeschooling?: this is our 5th year have you taught these ages/grades before?: only one child. I'll only go through this once. Do you follow a particular style of education? I'd say we're fairly eclectic, although we're leaning more and more towards traditional textbooks. Do you plan to homeschool high school?: Yes (although the kids may attend the local Christian school for one or two classes) Any favorite quotes or wisdom that get you through the day?: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

I have never used R&S English - so can you please tell me a bit more about it? If I was to start R&S with a 13 yr old child that is only 'average' in grammar...where should I start? (I don't want to send her back so far that she falls even more behind!) She did very well with Growing With Grammar on the daily exercises - was not retaining it, so we switched to ACE this year. She does not like the way ACE explains things, and she is floundering. I am looking at switching to either CLE or R&S. We have some experience with CLE, but I am looking for more info about R&S. I have heard that books 7 & 8 of R&S are actually considered by some to be high-school level. Is this true? If so - could you use them and get H.S. credit for them?.... (worrying that would look bad on a transcript )

Cam Jansen Mysteries or the A to Z Mysteries

Yes, but when you buy a pure bred (from a quality breeder) you know that that person is breeding that dog to maintain the standards of that particular breed, and they hopefully are doing it with the intention of 'bettering' the breed. You get a set of paper's with the dog's bloodline,a and you have the ability to show that dog, or possibly to have your dog bred. With a designer mutt -you are paying outrageous prices - and having no papers to show, and doing nothing to 'better' the breed. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE labradoodles, cockapoos, goldendoodles, etc. I think that those dogs have some wonderful qualities - but I dont' think that are worth the 'pure bred' prices that people are asking for them. Around here a Goldendoodle is $1500! To me that's just crazy.

Nothing is wrong with them, per se, but people are spending small fortunes for what is basically a mutt, when there are so many perfectly good dogs in shelters that they could adopt instead.