My oldest was largely self taught - learned at age 4 mainly from learning letter sounds (remember that annoying Leapfrog letter sound fridge magnet set?) and following along when I ran my finger under the text I read aloud. My other three kids were not this way! She did eventually need to learn phonics for spelling, which she found incredibly tedious.

White Bean Chili https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/white_chili/ Tortilla Soup https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tortilla_soup/ Good basic Chili https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/simple-perfect-chili-recipe-2107099

We have been using TOG this year. I bought one quarter online (it was Year 2 Unit 4 - to correspond to where we were in history) as well as Year 3 used print version. I have 7th, 6th, 4th and 2nd graders. Previously we have used Sonlight or Story of the World (with activity guide for lit / further history, maps and activities. After one semester I am basically done with TOG. I do not like the middle school (dialectic) book selections at all. I found them to be unnecessarily long and/ or repetitive. The lower and upper grammar were fine, but I think the real value of the program is being able to use it over a large range of ages. The overall cost of the program seems very high for what is provided. Most of the teacher notes are take from the World Book Encyclopedia - not vastly different from reading the wikipedia for the subject covered. My hope was that we could seamlessly synch the younger and older kids with TOG, but it ended up making my oldest kid hate history (she was doing dialectic). The activities are not much different from the SOTW activities. The online version was irritating to use. Overall I have decided to go back to SOTW for history - just adapting for each age range.

I have a family of 6 and live in a HCLA (Central Coastal CA) - we have lived in several houses, the smallest being 1100 sq feet. I think a lot of it is how the house is laid out, how you utilize space, rough storage (like garages and attics) and general personalities. Out of my four kids, I have two extroverts (and sensory seeking) and two introverts (one sensory avoiding, plus two introvert/sensory sensitive parents. 1100 sq feet was a bit too small for us - we were just too on top of each other, even with extreme organization / minimalism. When we moved my priority was 4 bedroom and more space - a tall order - but it has been a huge help. We don't live in a large house by most standard - our current house is 1700 sq feet but with lots of rough and built in storage and that is working well for us.

We are working on buying a house now, so doing lots of house shopping. Its true that many people like to put their own touches on a house, but if you can paint the entire house a neutral, warm tone, that goes a long way with not much money. I can see how it might not pay in some respects to redo a kitchen, but from my perspective, I would much prefer to buy a house that has a fairly new / nice kitchen. I like dark wood or white cabinets, butcher board/ quartz/ light granite counters, and black or stainless appliances. I prefer wood throughout, although newer carpet in the bedrooms would be fine with me.

I started Writing With Skill I with my sixth grader this fall, but she was so reluctant with it that I switched to just doing written narrations across the curriculum. Next year I was planning on trying again with WWS, but a friend gave me her set of Lost Tools of Writing 1 (she was ditching CC). The books look well structured, and I'm thinking I could combine next year with her sister, who will be in 6th next year. Could anyone speak to their experiences with these? Both of these kids have been doing narrations (heavily CM overall) and I'm looking for the transition into writing longer essays. TIA!

History! I love the discussions we have.

I have a two kids like this, and we have settled on CLE and Saxon. The younger kid does CLE (8 yrs, 3d grade) and the older does Saxon 6/5 (12).

We are reading Hakim's US series right now, and I wouldn't do it with a Sonlight Core.

Yep, we did it a while back (6 years ago), and while we weren't the best at getting out salicylates (in oranges, berries), we cut out everything else for a time. My kid's main sensitivity is artificial coloring, but artificial flavors are also an issue (including vanillin, which is often listed as natural). Knowing what to look for is huge. It hasn't solved all our problems, but it was one piece of the puzzle. We later found out that the same kid is also gluten intolerant (stomach and mood issues).

Probably she was distracted or possibly very new / untrained. I was a cashier in high school, and I didn't last long. It was a rude awakening at how nasty people can be. People routinely do not acknowledge you, getting angry/abusive because their expired coupons don't work, or that they picked up the wrong item that they thought was on sale and its not ringing up as such. I was also sexually harassed on the daily (although I didn't know what to call it at the time) by both customers (Are you over 18? Do you have a boyfriend who satisfies you? I could take you home with me right now... etc etc) and a couple of my managers (I can't even repeat what was said to me here). The whole experience has made me incredibly nice to and sympathetic of cashiers in any capacity, even if they seem nutty or are very slow. I will also would not allow my daughters to work in such a position, at least until college age. I also worked at Starbucks in college, and that seared into my brain the moral necessity to put away a phone when interacting with a service industry worker. Its so demoralizing.

I don't go on facebook and tend to look to fringe or international news sources.

This is what I usually make: http://adelightfulhome.com/diy-brown-sugar-vanilla-body-scrub/ I don't have a problem with residue. But I would think you could adjust the oil ratio if sensitive to that, or use a less "oily" oil - I use olive but maybe melted coconut (since it will re-solidify) would be better for that?

My 11 year old is in her room / reading in bed by 8 and lights out by 9pm. Usually she's actually asleep before then, but her sister (9) is still reading until actual lights out. Different kids are different, but in our house everyone is always up between 6-7 - and since we have a small house and loud little kids, the big kids don't really have the option to sleep in. :glare:

I am really close to my siblings; for me that means I live on the other side of the country so that means I text or talk on the phone with one of (four) of them about once a week. I would love to live in the same city or coast that most of them live, but my husband's job doesn't allow that at the moment. We are a lucky family, we had good parents and several intense medical traumas brought us close and kept us there. My husband is not like this at all. He has a brother that he never speaks to - I talk to him more than he does. So its really not a moral thing, its just how your family is,

If you are still adding people, I would like to join please!

The point I was trying to share with the video is the zones - like fly lady but personalized - but if the images of multiple pillows is a deal killer, I get it. I take the inspiration where I can get it, ymmv.

I was the same way, I wanted the dark gray, but my husband hated it inexplicably. We went we with the white because it was there and we got a good deal. White is supposed to be great for resale (although we usually drive our cars into the ground) and also white is supposed to be safer (maybe they are more visible)? I don't find them hard to keep looking clean, although to be honest I'm not super particular about that. I get a car wash once a month kind of regardless.

If you like watching youtube videos, this lady has good ones on zone cleaning somewhat based on flylady. I started up zones after rejecting them originally (I guess just could never handle flylady's tone). I like how she has made up her own zones and there are many more than flylady's which makes more sense to me - it helped me do the same with my house. I also frequently will take multiple weeks to get through a zone because stuff comes up and I don't have time, but the point is that this is non-critical maintenance stuff, so as long as I'm generally tracking with it, its fine. I just make a note of what zone I'm on in my planner. Just a heads up, she can be a bit hard to listen to sometimes, but I do find the videos helpful overall, so give her a chance. (eta: more recent link)

My very anxious 11 year old just did a Safe Sitter course - I signed her up for exactly this reason! It's given her a lot of reassurance. She's super proud that she knows all about what to do if someone starts choking, and there was lots of info on various emergency situations, which she tends to obsess over. Having plans for all of those is comforting. She still isn't comfortable staying at home alone for along ( we've tried quick trips but she quickly feels stressed). But I think eventually she will get there and the class has helped. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I totally get it. I worked as a receptionist (ahem, "client coordinator") while I was in college at a large and very upscale salon in a big city. The thing is that many people providing hair services are chatty because they are kind of expected by most people to be chatty. Most people are uncomfortable with silence. So if you are just upfront about not wanting to chat- once you've discussed what you want for your cut - most people will happily oblige and not think you are weird /rude. I might say something like, "just so you know, I have a bunch of kids at home, and I'm totally brain fried, so this is my only chance for silence and I'd love to take advantage of it!" Not every hair person is a huge extrovert, so it can be a nice change for them to just focus on what they are doing instead on having to simultaneously cut and keep up a conversation. Another idea if you are calling a nicer / larger salon would be to ask the person making the appointment if there is someone who is a little quieter - maybe say you are looking for a "quiet, soothing experience" and want to find a stylist who is more conducive to that. Sometimes men will ask for stylists like this so its not unheard of. I know that might feel weird but if you are calling around looking for a new person to see, it might be worth it. Especially if you are paying a ton for a haircut, why not? Also just to add - I find that Aveda salons in general tend to be quieter and have softer lighting, if you are bothered by that. They do tend to be pricey, especially on the west coast and larger cities, but it might be a nicer experience overall. *edited for grammar clarity and shameless Aveda plug*

I vote for 2 - we had a similar situation (although it was moving from a depressing 1500 sq ft house with no yard in a scary, hostile neighborhood to a vintage/cute 1100 sq foot house with nice yard front and back and attached garage - that we use as storage and playroom. Night and day difference! The general *feel* of a house makes a huge difference, at least to those who are sensitive to such things. I actually just had a nightmare where we had to move back to the old place and woke up nearly in a panic attack. Your families health issues are even more important - if you feel like this is an uncommon opportunity I would go for it. I wouldn't worry about the landlord, she's probably just conscientious.

I don't have nearly that many, but happy to be friends! :) Editing to add - I think you have to do it by email? That's just what it looks like from the website?

This is what we do with Beast - my kids don't have the frustration tolerance to work through the practice books, but they love the guides. They aren't super expensive, so I think its a great supplement to another program.

Right there with you - I am entirely too emotional it seems. Also, I change organizational systems too often (always trying to find something better....) We could totally have a support group for INFJs married to INTJs!