The easiest thing to remember is that every step "UP" in car seats is a step "DOWN" in safety. Rear-facing is the absolute safest way any child can ride. It is now recommended that children ride rear-facing to the upper most limits of their car, seats (and most carseats on the market today will allow a child to rear-face until 30-40 lbs....which means that most/many kids can make it to 2 or 3 rear facing!) Next safest is forward facing with a 5 pt. harness. Race car drivers wear a 5 pt harness. WHY? Because they know that a) it is more secure - holding them into position better and b) because it spreads the extreme crash forces more evenly over their body. There are 5 poins of contact (vs. just 3 with a 'regular' seatbelt which you would use with a booster. When can a child ride safely in a booster - that depends on the child, and the manufacturer's requirements for that particular booster. Most booster seats have a MINIMUM requirement of 4 years and 40 lbs. Would I put a 4 yr old in a booster? No way. a child should not sit in a booster until they are mature enough to sit upright with out leaning/fidgeting, etc EVERY time they ride in the car. (Most 4 yr olds I know are nowhere near ready for that!) And, with some boosters there is a danger of 'submarining' under the seatbelt. (Britax does have a new booster with a strap between the legs that hooks to the seatbelt and prevents the child from submarining) I prefer to see kids harnessed until about 6 or 7, and then - if they are mature enough they can be moved to a high - back booster (preferably one with good side - impact protection in the head and trunk area.) For older children (I would say 8 and up) any booster that allows for proper placement of the seatbelts will suffice. And to answer the OP... My 7 yr old rides in a Britax Regent, my 5 yr old is in a Britax Frontier, my 10 yr old is still in a booster, and my 12 yr old JUST got out of hers.:) Here's my blog article about booster seats. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/CPSTblog/511023/

We are using RTR this year and I didn't care for the science. I bought the 6th grade CLE Light Units that correspond to the topics being covered (Anatomy and Astronomy) and my daughter is using those instead.

This site has a lot of great patterns, too! http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory.php

For my 7th grader, I am considering (at Daisy's suggestion...Thanks Daisy!:)) doing SOTW 3 with tests and map work, but then also adding ACE 7th grade paces. That way, my DD will get the history portion in SOTW3, and yet still be doing 'grade level' work in ACE. (ACE 7th grade is a 1/2 year study of careers/occupations, so we can take our time and spread it out over the course of the year.)

kitty litter laundry soap dishwasher soap paper towels TP

Actually nuts are different from peanuts. Peanuts are a legume (not a true nut) so just because she has eaten nuts without a reaction - be careful because she could have a totally different reaction to peanuts (especially if another child in your family has had a reaction!) My DS had a very bad reaction to peanut butter the first time he tried it (at about 18 months). Most children will not react to it the first time they eat it...they need to build up antibodies against the protein... but because DS had been exposed when I ate it because I nursed him - he reacted the first time he actually ingested it. With my next two children we waited until they were over 2 before giving it to them. One of them was also allergic, and the other was not.

I used the 4th grade R&S book and interwove it with MFW:ECC. It worked beautifully! I am also looking at possibly using the 5th grade text as a spine for next year, and I'm thinking about adding some of the Christian Liberty Press books to go along with it, or perhaps The Light and the Glory series

I do have the whole set - Actually my DH stopped by the CLE store in Virginia and picked it up to surprise me! :-) (And...I sent you a PM if you'd like to see samples)

I haven't seen R&S music, but I just got CLE's music program, and I am pretty excited about it! CLE does use the same 'shape' notes as R&S. They assign each do-re-me pitch a shape. The number on each light unit corresponds to the grade of the child - so you only do one Light Unit per year. The units start off simple - explain what is a note, what is a rest, etc., and then the concepts advance slow but steady through the Light units (key signatures, chords, intervals, piano/forte) They refer to the Bible often, and show how music is mentioned throughout, and they have the children working on hymns in the later grades.

We changed our dog's mane from Brody to Jack. The first few weeks we called him "Jack-Brody" Then we just dropped the Brody part.

My oldest really liked the Morpurgo version, and my 9 yr old DS liked this graphic/comic book) version http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Monster-British-Graphic-Universe/dp/082258512X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265647939&sr=1-1

We used The Memory Bible. It has a little devotion/Bible story (read by Kirk Cameron) and then some wonderful catchy songs. My 5 yr old knows SO many verses already thanks to these CD's!

We bought my 12 yr old DD a cell phone a few weeks ago because she got locked out of the school after band practice. (Her group had gotten done 20 minutes early so she went outside to see if we were there) It was 6:30 at night, so it was dark, - and when we got there she was frozen (January - in Wisconsin- and she had no hat or gloves because I normally drop her off right at the door) She was bawling because she didn't know the school doors would be locked so she couldn't get back into the school to call us. :-( We got her a phone the next day.

Me too. :-)

When we did SOTW1 we used the Egyptian Mummies lapbook from Hands of a Child. I thought it went really well with SOTW. http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=1053&it=1&filters=10500_0&manufacturers_id=16

Topamax made Coke/Pepsi taste different. I was at Mc Donalds and I kept taking my sodas back to the counter telling them that their 'mix was off'. After the third one - my DH tasted it and said "it's fine." I later read that was a side effect of the meds....:blushing:

You've got some good recommendations already - but another thing to remember is that the majority of kids reach a plateau and stop gaining so quickly once they get mobile. Most kids who are at the top of the charts at that age tend to level off and be 'average' by 12-18 months. Britax and Sunshine kids are really nice seats for extended rearfacing. The Radian can have some installation issues - but I would recommend having the seat inspected by a certified tech anyways. They should be able to help teach you how to install it properly. Other seats to consider are the Graco MyRide 65. It is a really deep seat with nice SIP (side-impact protection) and it offers a lot of support for sleepers and special-needs children who need that extra bit of support. Another great seat is the First Years True-fit. It has a removable head rest that you can add as your child grows. Both of the above seats forward face to 65 lbs - which is an added bonus because keeping children harnessed as long as possible is safest. Car-seat.org has a great deal of info about carseats - including forums with CPST/carseat techs to ask questions. Michelle ( CPST;))

Geronimo Stilton books are a fun combination of chapter book and graphic novel (comic book.) That really appealed to my son as well. Right now my son is reading the "Larryboy" chapter books (Veggie Tales.) I know they are silly, but I at least I don't have to worry about questionable content.

Yep - sounds about right. Our daughter just started. We got two different opinions ( they had different methods of treatment - one wanted to do a rapid palate expander and Dh and I just did not agree with that) but both gave us a ballpark figure of $7000. We did wait until after the first of this year when we were able to get orthodontic insurance - which covers $3000. My advice is to shop around and get several opinions/quotes. Some may have better prices, but some may have different treatment (that you may or may not agree with)

If it's less than 4 yards...it goes into the kids stash. (So I guess I keep it anyways...)

Because he witnessed how traumatic school was for my son. :-(

Bill Murray and his family came to eat at the restaurant where I worked for a summer job when I was in college. He signed his placemat with an autograph and told me to have a 'safe trip' back to school. He was nice...and VERY tall!

I LOVE the activity book! Yeah - we don't do all of the activities, but I try to pick one fun activity per unit and we usually do most of the mapwork and coloring pages.

Here's some from Wisconsin Shawano , Oconomowoc, Kinnickinnic, and Rio (pronounced rye-oh)

For preschoolers there is the Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum. It is unit studies based on picture books. http://www.ittybittybookworm.com/