The only reason I'm glad for our hardwood floors right now is that we are still potty training some kids. Mopping that up is SO much easier than getting it out of carpet. But once they're all potty trained, we're switching to carpet!

How do you choose a good lawn care company? Our lawn is not in good shape. It's got all sorts of bare patches and weeds. It was not in good shape when we bought it, and our efforts haven't really worked. In fact, it's probably a little worse off now than it was then. We'll be selling in a year and a half, and would love to have a nice looking lawn when the time comes. We've decided our best bet is to hire a lawn care company. We'll still mow and water ourselves, but we could use some professional help with fertilizing, weed killing, and a little seeding. We don't know anyone who uses a lawn care company - so we have no idea how to get referrals. How do we pick out a good company? What do we look for? Thanks!

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

We have a weekly movie night. Getting them to agree on a movie was nearly impossible - so we started a rotation. Mom and Dad have veto power though (to make sure the biggers don't pick something to scary for the littles). Whoever picks the movie also gets to pick what's for dinner that night.

I could be wrong - it'd take me a little time to be sure off the top of my head: smallest sum would be something like: 10579 + 23468 largest difference would be something like: 98765-10234 smallest difference would be something like 97531-86420 again - just guessing. I'd have to play around a bit to be sure. But now I'm curious, and I just might do that.

Those look like 10 digit numbers. Can you only use each number once? if so then I think it'd look more like 97531+86420 = for the greatest sum. Other answers would be possible. I can't remember the rest of the question so I'll check back in a minute.

I'd love to go to that if they have it again!

I see you said his talks are "sprinkled"... It looks like some might be misinterpreting that as "drenched." I have very limited exposure to Andrew Pudewa (I've attended three of his lectures, but I didn't really see this. During one lecture he did mention that he figured most of the people there were Christian (it was a Christian conference) so they would probably agree with him about some point. There wasn't anything in the other two lectures except some ideas about teaching writing. Again - I've only been to three of his myriad of talks, but I'd hate for someone who might benefit from him to not go because they think he's an ultraconservative looney who'll be pushing his agenda the whole time. In my SMALL experience, he really did teach about teaching writing, and stuck to the topic.

My confession: When 6 month old dd is nursing, I'm on the computer. Yeah - we should probably be bonding or something. Oh well. I need some sanity time too, and it's my only somewhat alone time during the day. And my kids love food from a box.

It really depends on whatever the mother is comfortable with. I've moved around a lot and even though I attend the same church (LDS) it really varies from place to place. In one congregation the norm was to just nurse without a cover right in the middle of things. (I would use a cover, but many would not). Then other places most people would use a cover, but still stay with the main group. The building I'm in now has a nursing mothers' room with rocking chairs, and that's what people usually use (some with covers, some without). But the room can be difficult to get to from some areas of the building, so sometimes we just nurse where we are.

We've been using homemade laundry soap for years. Though our clothes didn't smell dirty, I did miss that nice freshly-washed smell that you get from store-bought detergent. Last time I made laundry soap I added one cheap container of heavily scented laundry detergent to the whole batch. Now things smell nicer :)

Thanks for the replies! And keep them coming! I'll look over them all with DH tonight and we'll decide what to get. We really need knives, so I thought that might be a good place to get them. Everything else is just gravy - but, hey, I like gravy.

A friend of mine is hosting a pampered chef party. Any must-haves? How are their knives? Anything else I should look at? Thanks!

How about a good D.O.? Get the best of both worlds.

I voted academics and other. the other being freedom - if we want to take a month long vacation on october - by golly we're gonna.

Gumbo - Hungry Girl's recipe

That is all.

One summer as a kid I watched that movie At LEAST once a day. I had the ENTIRE thing memorized (well, it was the tv edited version we taped, so I didn't have the parts that were edited out memorized). My brother and I used to act out entire scenes word-for-word from memory. ps - the most disturbing parts could be the giant rats, the torture machine, or the sword fight at the end that gets a little bloody. None of them get very gruesome, but you never know what's going to bother a kid.

I usually stock up at our local convention from Miller Pad and Paper. Sadly, this year I won't be going, so I'll probably get it online through their website.

dd had cradle cap off and on from when she was a baby until she was about 5. what worked best for us (and you probably already tried) the blue dandruff shampoo. We'd let it soak on there for 5-10 minutes, wash it out, then comb with a fine tooth comb. It seemed to solve the problem at least for a couple of weeks, then we'd do it again. Eventually she outgrew it. Good luck!

We ended up trudging along and did okay. Though I certainly wasn't a model of enthusiasm, I didn't lose my patience even once. We finished up everything and good learning happened. I did, however, blow through my secret supply of Belgian chocolate. And I'm going to bed early tonight.

i like a ginger, lemon, honey tea like this salt water gargling is good too

I'm not so sick that I really have to stay in bed and can't move - just sick enough that doing anything is a bit unpleasant. On days like today I really wish there was such a thing as a substitute teacher for homeschoolers. And not the kind that would just show up and pop in a movie - but the kind that took the teacher's lesson plans and implemented a great day of learning while the teacher was home sick. Oh well. Time to stop whining and start working. Complaining: done.

:iagree: but knives are always handles up

We're in the same boat, so this has been very helpful to me! I've never actually seen any of these Latin Curricula so I don't know how they compare. Since we loved SSL so much, and the CAP website says LFC is for 3rd graders, I figured we'd start it next year when dd starts 3rd grade. She'll be just turning 8 then. She's bright - but not really above average. Will LFC be too hard? Would GSWL for 3rd grade be a better choice?