Hey, Hey! Long time no see... lol So, quick question. Does anyone go to Classical Conversations? If so, what level/age is your child in and what are your thoughts? I'm looking to put my 14 y/o son in. Also, I can't decide what level. We go tomorrow to sit in the class and observe. He needs "something". I didn't really want a co-op, and when I got the email for Classical Conversations, I thought 'this might be what I'm looking for'. :) Thanks for any help! Tracie

So the Mattress Firm salesman tried to convince us we needed a fully enclosed, zippered, waterproof, dust mite, bed bug proof mattress pad. Theirs is $150. I found a similar one here: http://www.mattresssafe.com/ It's less than the mattress firm one. But I don't know how thick it is and if it's noisy. (some of them with plastic - crinkle) Don't want that. Does anyone have this on their mattress? Do you think its a little excessive? Won't a waterproof mattress pad be sufficient? The reason I'm asking is that almost all warranties on beds have a clause saying if there are ANY stains on the bed (even from sweat), then its void.

Any suggestions from the nighttime crowd? :bigear:

quote ::Fwiw, I also only buy white or shades of white,:: I was thinking that, too. I think I may do that eventually with all our sheets. White! :D Tracie

Now, I've only been going a few weeks, but we love it. My two girls, 6 and 8 are together in level 1. One of my boys is in 8th and the other a jr. in high school. The two boys do their work on their own and we just discuss it. The girls I help. The 8 year old writes all of her answers. We alternate in reading the scriptures. Some of the answers at that level are "circle the correct answers" or "put this sequence of events in order from 1 to 5". There are fill in answers, but the parent can fill it in "in the child's words". So, my *just turned* 6 y/o needs help. She will fill in one or two word answers, but I will write longer answers for her. I hope this helps. Two things I did notice about the program, which I like, but just a heads up. There are no snacks served. Also, it is a Bible study and my friends that have gone to AWANA say its not the same. It's not fun and games play time. My kids ALWAYS say they have fun, but it seems to have a serious tone and ALL of the kids I've seen are very, very well behaved. There is no yelling or horsing around when I pick the kids up after my class. If someone is looking for a playtime with snack, this isn't it. lol I think its great for parents of children with allergy issues. They are super cautious. OH, and two adults go to the bathroom with each child. (even the older ones, which my boys protest to me... but the rules and the rules and I can see why they have them in place) Tracie

So, I need sheets since we are upgrading to a king and I have no king sized sheets. :glare: Does anyone have sheets that they loooooove? (and won't completely break the bank?) I'm thinking of getting two nice sets for now. (hmm, that has me thinking. How many sets of sheets do you have per bed?) Thanks! Tracie

What was your pillow top filled with? Memory foam? Latex? Or both? How much filling did you have? All of these are important. Trust me I read so much about mattresses and talked to so many sales people this past two weeks. (actually I'm over it) lol Honesty, I tried lying on a regular mattress with no pillow top and it hurts my shoulder. After all the reviews, I think we made a good decision. I guess time will tell. :glare:

I have a bad shoulder that flares up from time to time. It was tricky finding something firm, but soft enough for my shoulder to sink down into, since I'm a side sleeper. Sooooo, dun, dun, dun, dun! We got this: http://sdmattress.com/store/index.php?prodid=658 We saved $900 by going through this company instead of Macy's, which had the same exact bed (under another name) I'm so happy it's over. They make the beds brand new and it will arrive in 2 to 3 weeks. Yipee!!!! This particular model has the individual pocketed coils and this one has two story coil ie coil on coil made of titanium. The comfort coils are on top and support coils on the bottom. Plus it has a latex pillowtop... the memory foam was too hard for my shoulder. OH and we got the KING!! WOO HOO! :party: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the responded to my questions and offered advice. It really helped steer me in the right direction. Tracie

How do you just 'let go'? I just feel so bad for that little boy today. :(:(:( This was so hard and I feel like I let him down. Head says it was the right thing.. heart is aching.

I guess I should've put 'it depends'. LOL Goodnight~! Not -Depend's- at least, not yet! :tongue_smilie: Tracie

Quite often I smell like coffee (breath) lol Mint, I'm usually chewing minty gum. Today I smell like gardenias ala gardenia body spray from Bath and Body Works. :D Tracie

Oh no!!! I'm so sorry about that. Do you know when it started or how? Is it louder when you sleep on your side? When I did that last night, it startled me at how loud it got. lol I'm so sorry they can't do anything about it. That's a bummer. :sad: -Tracie

Nope, but my allergies ARE acting up a little... stuffy/runny nose. I mean, its spring time in Florida. Everything is in bloom! Trees, flowers, etc. I wonder if that's it!! Off to take some allergy meds. :001_smile: Tracie

Ugh, I'm still just sick over it. Our two foster children were moved and placement had 30 days to look for another placement. They waited until the last day and then called us and asked us if we would keep them another night. We said 'yes'. So, yesterday they were supposed to work on a place for them together. They call as the caseworker is here to pick them up and they were going to ask us is we'd keep them another night. Well, the cw said to be firm with placement or they will just do this again and again. We had the kids totally packed up and ready to go. They called the cw back again and the baby was going to the office for emergency placement. ie they just call foster homes to find someone to take her overnight. And the 6 year old went a county away to a boys shelter; the shelter was the reason why we took him in the first place. We felt ill. We were mad. My husband called our pastor (his dad) for counsel and he (not emotionally attached, as we are) said to stick to our guns and let the kids go. We had prayed about this, received advice from several sources and knew this was the thing to do for our family. Even the cw thought they were trying to play into our hand and get us to keep them because we didn't want the 6 y/o to go to the shelter. It's mostly for teens and here is this 6 y/o boy going into that environment that isn't really supervised properly. It's a zoo there. I feel guilty and relieved. We were not equipped to take care of the baby. She needs a medical foster home and we are not. After our adoption of Rachel is finalized, we won't be foster parents anymore. I was torn because my heart is for fostering, but God showed me through this ordeal that my 5 kids, my husband, my family HAS to come first. I have my plate full. My kids were troopers through this, but also endured a lot. The last few weeks, I (we) were all so stressed out and that's not good. Anyway, please pray for us that we could heal from this, as we especially miss the little boy. Please pray for R and R that God will be with them and His will be done. It's looking like they will go back to bio mom, and that may not necessarily be the best thing as she's had them back once and they were removed a second time. The system has totally failed this little boy. Honestly, his mother should've lost her rights a long time ago and he'd be adopted and in his forever family. The cw thinks he'll end up back in the system along with his sister and then they'll be in limbo again for a year and a half or longer. He has trust issues as it.. I could go on and on and really have to get going as we have an ortho appointment soon. I guess I just needed to vent. -Tracie

It's still there today. Weird! I'm going to call the dr. today, just to ask if I should come in or what I should take. At least I know its a common thing. There are some people who live with it, and I honestly don't know how they do it. How annoying! :glare: Tracie

This is so strange. My right ear is ringing. I can barely hear it, but if I plug that ear, WOWSA, its much louder. It's almost like I can hear crickets chirping...or like a phone off the hook. It's quite annoying! It also feels like an ear plug is in that ear. :confused: I'm going to call the ears/nose/throat dr. tomorrow if its still doing this. Hopefully it stops overnight. I looked it up and know its Tinnitus, but I don't know whats causing it. ie no ear infection, I'm not prone to earwax build up. Well, I just hope I can ignore the noise and sleep tonight. ugh... :( Tracie

So, I'm at my foster son's public elementary school with my two homeschooled daughters, 6 and 8. We were there to check out the book fair. As I'm checking in at the office, the secretary said, "The book fair had- :::very excited voice::: Hannah Montana books!" :::big smile::: :::waiting for response from my girls::: ::::sounds of crickets chirping:::: (lol) ::::puzzled look on her face:::: I said, "We don't have cable, they don't know who she is.". :::*you have four heads* look::: rofl They must think we are really odd. I mean, what little girl doesn't worship Hannah Montana?! Such cruel parents we are for shielding our children from cable tv! Sheesh! :tongue_smilie: Tracie

Cool! So, where did you shop? I was just going to ask everyone's favorite stores. What a fun day! :001_smile: Especially when you get to buy smaller stuff than before. Tracie

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. Usual Suspects

That's the thing. After reading more about mattresses last night, we really need to go to a few Simmon's dealers to try some more out. It seems each store carries a few different mattresses in each collection. Plus if we save $500, we can upgrade to a nicer 'model' like the one you got. But I have to try them. So, I'm really glad we didn't just buy one on a whim. :001_smile: Tracie PS Melissa, why didn't you get a pillow top? Just curious.

After reading this board last night and getting lots of responses on buying a mattress:D , I found an online retailer that someone else used and found out that we would save around $400 to $500 going with this online company. (man, I love this board and you ladies!) The company is reputable and I couldn't find any complaints. Anyway, do I have any obligation to the salesman that spent over an hour, after closing, with us? Should I show him the total cost of buying from online company to see if he will match it? For us, its a big purchase. Huge. $500 is a lot of money for us. Just wondering how to handle the salesman. Thanks, Tracie

Maybe you and dh should spend a few nights at a nice hotel with a king size mattress to test it out :) That's why I want one! :) So much room... after I sleep in one, I wish we had one. I guess after 18 years of marriage and hardly getting anything that is just for *us*, I do feel like we deserve it. And I'm leaning towards the traditional mattress. The Tempurpedic was nice, though!!

Ok, so we went mattress shopping last night. Sears was a bust. There was absolutely no help in the mattress department. I had already checked Sam's and Costco, so I knew what they had. We ended up at Mattress Firm and got down to two beds and I think we made a decision. The final two were a Simmons Beautyrest (World Class) - heavenly, yet firm. Good mattress. Under $2,000 for a king. Then there was the Tempurpedic. For a queen we could get one for about $2,000 for a middle of the line. I like the idea of the bed, I know it would be good for my back and shoulder, but there is no bounce. And I couldn't exactly bring that up to the salesman, but hello. I like my bouncy bed. ;) Even if its firm, springs have a little bounce. If you *know what I mean*. ;););) So, what to do? We have always wanted a king, we have a king size quilt, blanket, and comforter. But, we will need some sheets. Our bedroom has the space. Should we get a king? Will we feel too far away? Or will we enjoy the extra room? lol ;) Tracie PS We waited overnight thanks to Dave Ramsey and I'm glad we did. The salesman was a born salesman... very good.. and not in a creepy, pushy way. He knew his stuff and took his time with us... over an hour. We are def. buying from him. Anyway....

quote: "My dh will tell me he's not thinking of anything and I'll ask him "HOW?!" I just don't get it, but I know that's just how it is!" I know it~! I have a zillion things going on in my brain. And my conversations with my dh. I will jump from one thing to another to something completely different and he's like, 'where did that come from'? lol Has anyone heard of this guy? I'm wondering if his DVDs are for rent anywhere or are they just for sale? Tracie

Thanks for sharing, that was pretty good. The only thing, is that I actually have a nothing box and like to go to the nothing box. LOL It's rare, but when I go fishing with my dh, I'm in my nothing box and its a nice place. :D Tracie