absolutely! Sorry, we aren't eating gluten and so I was forgetting these sources.

yes, the brother with the condo can pick a different gift. thanks for all of the ideas! If any of you garden (I don't) and you can send links to actual good quality items, that would be super helpful. Thanks!

For our family Christmas party we are to bring a $50 gift for the garden or yard for a gift exchange. Any ideas? We have a single older brother in a condo and 2 gardeners in homes and 5 others in homes who aren't avid gardeners, but do garden a bit I'd say. There is a lot of competition to bring the most-wanted/desirable gift. Thanks for your help!

I don't think your body will get used to eating less protein. I have read that you can calculate how much protein you need this way: 1/2 your weight in lbs is the # and then add the word "grams" to that #. So if you weigh 100, you need 50 grams of protein per day. That is why many paleo folks say to avoid legumes, because you get a much higher amount of protein from red meats than from beans. So it is pretty difficult to eat no meats and get enough protein. You will probably need to use protein powders. My favorite site is marksdailyapple.com for nutritional info.

Like others, we buy and sell at a consignment sale. But, as unlikely as this sounds, I realized that if I buy twice as many clothes for my kids used, then I can sell them for what I pay for them because each item gets much less wear. Once I tried to do as others do and really limit the # of outfits each child had to a very minimal #. They wore out their clothes and I couldn't sell them. Now I buy twice that much or more and they wear each item less. I sell them for as much or more than I buy them for. I yard sale and buy items there to sell at a consignment sale as well. Last year I made several thousand dollars above and beyond the total cost of our family's clothing by doing this. If you volunteer at consignment sales, you shop early and get better deals.

I'd do Bigger.

My son had 6 weeks of heck when starting Brain Balance. But then, slowly, things are getting so much better. We also pulled him off all dairy and gluten. If he gets dairy, he goes bonkers still.

This is our first year with HOD. We are using Preparing. Other years we have used SL, MFW (1850-modern), VP years 1 and 2, SOTW year 1, BF Early American... We are loving our year. It took about 6 weeks for me to feel like I can appreciate all that Carrie has done in it. I love, love, love it and really think we'll be using CTC next year. I have 3 kids all using it: dd16 has special needs and it works great for her. dd12 is excelling with it. dd9 is being stretched a bit and it is good. He handles it fine, does the independent work early in the morning, and would be done first if he weren't waiting on sibs to do the T boxes with them and me. He would love to do it alone if I'd let him, but I think he gains more by our discussion. We read the T work aloud, alternating paragraphs between us. We all love Draw and Write. The poetry has stretched us all. I wish we had started HOD sooner and were more prepared for the poetry writing in Preparing. We've added AAS5 with no problem. We have done 10 lessons of Getting Started with Spanish and Getting Started with Latin. We don't have time to get to them as much as we'd like, but would if we weren't waiting on one another for the T work. I bought Apologia and we haven't gotten to it. We like the science because the notebooking has been good for us and we like the books. They are light, but I think for us this is good as we learn to notebook and write out procedures and such. We've adding handwriting for ds9 as he still needs more practice and didn't know cursive. We don't use R&S English or their math and have had no troubles. Love it!

DH's is high and he is not overweight. So I began researching in May. We came upon marksdailyapple.com and felt the need to try the paleo diet that he recommends. I have to explain. DH loves ice cream and we ate a lot of bread. I love to bake and cook. Now we eat almost entirely no wheat, no grains, no legumes, little corn. We both went from a decent weight to a good weight. His blood pressure went down. And best of all, we are not hungry. I'm telling you - the 2-4pm crash is gone. I feel so much better! And now I honestly don't want bread. The appeal is gone, except for an exceptional homemade bread if we eat at someone's house. I do partake of that but my joints hurt afterwards. We eat protein every few hours and snack on nuts that are dry roasted or have no added ingredients. We eat more veggies than before and about 2 servings of fruit a day. My goal is to increase the veggies. I think you can do it. You'll be amazed at how much better you start to look and feel. Read that website for a few days!

We love Kumon workbooks.

This isn't the same exactly, but have you tried using Draw and Write through History? We love it! We do 2 drawings a week. Day 1=draw it. Draw 2 = color it, Day 3=draw next one... You'd want book 4 maybe. http://www.drawandwrite.com/Book4.html

if you do that, you need apple pies ; )

Oh, I just saw casual -- do you have a theme? We did one last year where we all ate out of pie tins and tin cans. We had bbq, tater tots, baked beans in the cans... that I had in the crock pot. Made the bbq in advance. I make 2 pork butts at the same time and freeze the leftovers. We love this recipe: INDOOR PULLED PORK WITH SWEET AND TANGY BARBECUE SAUCE Course: Main Course Source: Cooks Illustrated Published January 1, 2010. From Cook's Illustrated. SERVES 6 TO 8 Sweet paprika may be substituted for smoked paprika. Covering the pork with parchment and then foil prevents the acidic mustard from eating holes in the foil. Serve the pork on hamburger rolls with pickle chips and thinly sliced onion. Lexington Vinegar Barbecue Sauce or South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce (see related recipes) can be substituted for the Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce. Alternatively, use 2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce thinned with ½ cup of the defatted pork cooking liquid in step 5. The shredded and sauced pork can be cooled, tightly covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat it gently before serving. Ingredients Pork 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons table salt 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons liquid smoke 1 boneless pork butt (about 5 pounds), cut in half horizontally (see step by step below) 1/4 cup yellow mustard 2 tablespoons ground black pepper 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (see note) 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce 1 1/2 cups ketchup 1/4 cup light or mild molasses 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon hot sauce 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Directions | Numbered... 1. FOR THE PORK: Dissolve 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons liquid smoke in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge pork in brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours. 2. While pork brines, combine mustard and remaining 2 teaspoons liquid smoke in small bowl; set aside. Combine black pepper, paprika, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and cayenne in second small bowl; set aside. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. 3. Remove pork from brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub mustard mixture over entire surface of each piece of pork. Sprinkle entire surface of each piece with spice mixture. Place pork on wire rack set inside foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Place piece of parchment paper over pork, then cover with sheet of aluminum foil, sealing edges to prevent moisture from escaping. Roast pork for 3 hours. 4. Remove pork from oven; remove and discard foil and parchment. Carefully pour off liquid in bottom of baking sheet into fat separator and reserve for sauce. Return pork to oven and cook, uncovered, until well browned, tender, and internal temperature registers 200 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 1½ hours. Transfer pork to serving dish, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. 5. FOR THE SAUCE: While pork rests, pour 1/2 cup of defatted cooking liquid from fat separator into medium bowl; whisk in sauce ingredients. 6. TO SERVE: Using 2 forks, shred pork into bite-sized pieces. Toss with 1 cup sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately. TECHNIQUE CUTTING PORK BUTT IN HALF Halving the pork increases its surface area, which creates more flavorful bark. Holding your knife parallel to the cutting board, press one hand flat against the top of the pork butt while cutting horizontally. STEP-BY-STEP ADDING SMOKE FLAVOR (WITHOUT A FIRE) 1. SOAK IN SMOKE Adding liquid smoke to brine draws smoky flavor deep into meat. 2. RUB WITH SMOKE Rubbing pork with more liquid smoke gives bark pronounced smoky flavor. 3. SPICE IT UP Adding smoked paprika to dry rub brings additional smokiness and helps bark develop its color.

My husband and I love this Southern Living recipe for Company Beef Stew served in Mashed Potato Bowls. It got rave reviews the last time I made it for a crowd. You can freeze the bowls in advance and the stew too. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/company-beef-stew-10000000599255/

Not against meds, just would like to try to help without first. Our history is that we tried Brain Balance this summer. It helped some. DS eats no gluten, no dairy, and none of the other foods his IGG indicated sensitivities to, including eggs. He was also diagnosed with leaky gut. He takes: Thera Biotic Children's Chewable probiotic. Nordic Naturals Complete 3-6-9 Junior Liquid Vitamin E 100 IU -Hypoallergenic 100 Capsules by Kirkman Labs Nature's Plus Animal Parade Vit C-Orange Chewables A multi-vitamin but I can't remember which right now! We started melatonin a few days ago and it is helping him fall asleep much more quickly. Any ideas???:bigear:

Funny this should come up. I heard or read some report that much ADD is caused by sleep trouble. Who knows, but it got me thinking about it because our add ds has huge sleep trouble. So 3 nights ago we put him on melatonin. He is falling asleep so quickly. No dreams. Doing well so far. Can I hear the success stories too? We've gone the gluten free, dairy free road and fish oil, vitamins, P5P... Our particular child when through major withdrawals from the sudden stop of so many foods. It was bad. But after weeks he started improving a bit. But there is a way to go and I'd love to have input too or hear stories. Thanks!

:bigear:

Hey, look: that paper cutter is just $38 at Walmart. I think I neeeeed one.:auto:

Same here. To the OP, dd12 finished R&S 6 last year and her math score skyrocketed on her testing. I tried moving her to MM in 4th grade. DS excels with it, but it wasn't for her. R&S works great for some. Hang in there.

We do this for ds7. At the front is his checklist inserted in a page protector. He uses a dry erase marker to check off each item when done. Workbooks aren't divided up into it though. Just pdf's and copywork and such. Last week I started to hole punch the right side of his copy work so that it goes to the left and the lined sheet of paper he copies onto goes to the right. Not sure if that makes sense, but he likes it! At the front of the binder on the inside cover I used packing tape to tape on things he needs to see. Today I switched it to the days of the week and months of the year so he can write the day and date on the top of his copywork. It used to have his numbers there because he struggled with reversals. So far, so good with him doing the next thing next!

We don't use Sonlight, but own lots of cores and love the book choices. Loved Rightstart math more than any other. If I only had one child, I'd still be using it! Sentence Family was a blast. I agree - I love Click Erase pencils. Every child and I each have a "color" so we all know which belongs to whom. We loved our study of American History using Beautiful Feet's Primary guide. We enjoyed History Pockets for fun extras. Draw and Write through History at the right age is fun. I really like the way Heart of Dakota schedules it such that one day we draw, the next day we color. That way we don't feel like it takes too much time. IEW's Linguistic Approach to Poetry Memorization My huge whiteboard and expo dry erase markers This is our first year with Heart of Dakota and we are on week 6 and love it more every day. It took a while for me to see the big picture of how it works. Now it seems lovely to me. Nature study

Oh, maybe someone said this already, but good quality chocolate in both dark and medium is always a treat.

This was me a few months ago. I went to a doctor who recommended I begin taking a multi-vitamin, D, Fish oil, and calcium and an adrenal supplement. At the same time, I heard about marksdailyapple.com and from several sources heard I should try it. So we as a family began to eliminate all grains and dairy and sugars and processed foods. Our food pyramid is like a base of veggies, a middle of protein from meat sources, and a top of fruits, especially "berries" and cherries but all fruits. I dropped 20 lbs but more than that I feel so much better. I stopped taking the supplements and still feel great, although I will take them, it was more like a test. I've since read that we should eat 3 platefuls of veggies per day. Holy smokes - how?! Anyway, I really don't love veggies, but this is my goal. We start our day with protein and try to have some protein every 4 hours. We've gone from needing carbs and crashing when they are gone, to sustained endurance and no crashes or huge hunger struggles. I no longer have any 2-4pm crash. It is an unreal difference! Also, I've searched online recently for how to reverse several major illnesses' progressions, and for every illness I happened to look up, this same diet was the key to helping via diet change. That was encouraging. HTH!

We once stayed at a bed and breakfast where they did a few cute things that I have since copied. The first is to have a miniature cake stand with a dome lid (really I think it is like a cheese stand maybe.) Put that in the bedroom with 2 breakfast muffins on it and a few cookies for a treat. Then, they had a bottle of water but it was in one of those glass bottles with the flip lid, like this: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/airtight-glass-bottle/s216669 In the morning they had a thermos of hot coffee and all of the fixin's at our door. If it were me, I'd love fruit!

and this is what we make instead of driving to Starbucks: Sour Cream-Lemon Pound Cake Course: Breakfast Amount Per Serving Calories: 323 Fat: 29% Cholesterol: 62mg Sodium: 172mg Carbohydrate: 53.4g Fiber: 0.7g Protein: 4g Source: cooking light We like a bit of butter in the icing to make a thicker icing. This lightened version of a traditional sour cream pound cake calls for a reduced amount of butter and low-fat sour cream. It's citrusy flavor comes from fresh lemon juice, lemon rind and lemon extract in the batter and the sweet lemon glaze that's drizzled on top of the cake. Cooking Light April 2000 Ingredients Cooking spray 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs dry 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup butter softened 2 1/2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons lemon extract 3 eggs 1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind (about 2 lemons) 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh divided 8 oz sour cream 1 cup powdered sugar Directions Preheat oven to 350. Try in 2 loaf pans. Coat a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray, and dust with the breadcrumbs. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Beat the butter in a large bowl at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and lemon extract, beating until well-blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add grated lemon rind and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat 30 seconds. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream, beating at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 for less than 1 hour (and 10 minutes if bundt pan) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. ICING 1-1/2 oz. cream cheese at room temperature 2 Tbs. unsalted butter at room temperature 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar 1-1/2 Tbs. lemon juice