I do think it's unfair to have to do things for other people. :tongue_smilie: I mean shoot ~ it's unfair I have to cook dinner for everyone and wash everyone's laundry. Etc. (okay so I really don't think it's unfair...And that is a mom's job.) Our rule is simply if mom and dad have to do it then the kids have to too. If they don't want to clean up after someone else, then I don't have to do things for them. We are family and that is what we do. I do think it's good to teach our kids to serve and bless others sometimes that involved cleaning up after someone else.

This isn't Niagara, but it's one of our favorite places up there. It's about an hour and a half from Niagara. Genesee Country Village and Museum It's similar to Williamsburg or Sturbridge only it's the 19th century.

If you decide to the US side, we like going to Goat Island. Drive in, park, walk to the falls, then do Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds. There is nice little trolley thing you can ride around in. There are places to picnic, bathrooms, shops etc. Parking was easy and quick. Also go to the observation tower. There is also a bridge to Luna Island. That's IMO the easiest most kid friendly way to go on the US side. It is stroller friendly too!

Well said! Glad to see others raising their sons that way too!

The insurance company is most certainly within their rights to ask. We have had to do that. But you know it's not them. You are right to simply refuse. It's getting more common for drs offices to ask crazy things like this. I went round and round with one office wanted ds's birth name and birth moms name. He wasn't legally adopted, but in our state it's against the law for me to give this information. I went round and round with them - I finally told them to all his SW. It was so annoying! It most often comes down to ignorance of the process. I do my best to educate them. If they need something provide them with your DL or child's BC. I have never had to show a BC, but I have had to show my DL. If they ask for the BC ask it they ask for it for all patients. If they don't, I would refuse to show it. That's just me...

If you paid for insurance, contact the sell. It's the PO responsibility, but you need the insurance info first.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I am not okay with government schools, food stamps or universal health care. The amount of money being poured into schools is outrageous! I school 4 kids with a fraction of what our district spends for one. Frankly, I school my kids for what I pay in taxes to our local school. And my kids are getting a far better education. There is a better way to this, but it's not going to happen. There is a better way to meet the needs of those down and out, but our system isn't going to make the changes needed.

The issue with soy is in the US it is often non-fermented. Fermented soy is much better for you than non-fermented soy. Also much of the soy in the US is refined and messed with in many ways as is typical for the US and therefore not only not as healthy but it becomes unhealthy.

We only buy good shoes and we get 4 - 6 months out of them.

That's correct. So they could have even bought the car on the mainland and just had it registered in HI.

It's definitely proper to give something. I would consider the amount of time they are giving up, and whether or not this is something they would have been attending anyway. If they aren't close and they are coming just to do this for you, then you want to give them something to reflect that. If it's your brother or someone who would be there anyway, I would do less. KWIM?

Like pp said, they are agreeing with him in prayer or adding to it. Like they are praying together with him.

Absolutely! My kids are too young to get any sort of credit for Latin. It doesn't count until they are older (high school.) And we do Latin - we will do Greek later then Spanish (or other language for credit.) Learning Latin will help with other languages later too. I don't have them study Latin for credit but for their brains. So no matter what we'd study Latin. Is another language required at the age your kids are now? If so, I would do like you suggested and do as a secondary. to French. If it's not required until later, I would study Latin now and French later while keeping up Latin as secondary later.

I agree - you all need a break! Homeschooling with a baby is hard. I think you need a more play approach at these ages would give you tremendous relief. Read to them and make it fun. Like Carrie we do Classical Conversations and my ds (4) loves it (eventhough he hasn't actually started.) The memory work and songs are so much fun to him. My ds (4) begs to do school, but what he's really wanting is the attention that comes with it. He's a very verbal child who like dialog. And what he's wanting that time to discuss and explore more so than doing school. So I am doing projects with him, reading books and such. This week we made rockets - air rockets very appropriate for his age. And he LOVED it. He wants to be an astronaut now. Do some fun things together and come back at the curriculum in a bit. I would think you don't need to change programs. I would do a hands on approach with him - play math games, do math projects or things like that. Go places and see things, count steps and add the flowers you collect on your nature walk. It may just be workbook overload not necessarily that workbook just any workbook. My oldest (dd 11) is like that - she gets too many workbooks and shuts down from them. So we have to balance it some. In fact, after 6 months of Abeka in K with her we went looking for whole new way to school because it was workbook overload. I think a nice break will really help. Then when it's time to come back to the books you will all be refreshed!

I agree with being tested for Lyme, Lupus as well as Celiacs.

Well they do sort of, but it's very flexible. Go here to get more information: Scholars Pick the grade then the history. You can get their lesson plans. And they will take out anything you already have. I loved that! I still got the discount buying the lesson plans and all the books even when I said I already have this and that and such. I was very pleased with it.

I love this! I have to get one.

We have had great success with it.

For curriculum, 40%-60% is my rule of thumb. There are some items that hold their value very well. For those, I would pay 60% of retail (which is 40% off.) For others, I won't look twice unless it's 50% off or more. I tend to look for items that are 60% off or more (paying 40% of retail.) I may go over that for an item in person that I can see but never online unless the item is out of print or hard to find. For reading books (fiction or biographies or whatever), I will only pay less than 40% of retail. (So 60% off or more unless they are hardback, in good condition and hard to find.) If I am paying more than that, I will almost always buy it new for 2 reasons. 1. There is a risk with a used purchase, and there are sometimes unforeseen problems. If it was really cheap - oh well. If it was almost retail and something was wrong/missing, I would be annoyed. I have had that happen before. And I wound up spending more than if I had just bought it new. 2. I do like to support certain businesses and help them stay in business. If I am only going to save a few buck, I will buy from them. (I buy mostly from a company that price matches, so I price match from the cheaper sources. So I save on shipping too.)

:iagree:

They are letters/blends. They go together to make words. I rarely used them and would not bother making them. There are photos of them in the book/workbook, so if that's all you do it's fine. They really aren't critical to the program at all.

Yep! We'd go to Texas too!

2 xlong twins would be a good idea on a king frame. In fact we slept that way for a long time in our early years. We couldn't afford a king and we don't like sleeping in anything smaller. You had a foam pad over the bed and hardly noticed they were 2 seperate beds.

We have a library card catalog cabinet that we keep our in - they are organized by size. It's been great. They use the shelves that pull out to build and the top to store projects. It's easy to drop the parts in each drawer - when we used buckets it's was hard to get them in there and keep them organized. The drawers have gone much easier. It's been organized now for several months. Sometimes we get strays but it's 95% organized all the time.

Pepsi as well - they have "throwbacks" (like the MD) which have cane sugar in it instead. They are good! And I am not really a pepsi drinker. But I am so glad to see it!