We vacationed in Gatlinburg last week. I recommend the Laurel Falls hike and Cade's Cove. We biked CC, but that is NOT for the faint of heart. :) The LF hike will only take an hour round trip, so if you drive Cade's Cove, you could do both the same day. The Smoky Mtns are gorgeous right now! We even saw a black bear mama and cub. The Aquarium has a homeschool rate of $7 a ticket. Be sure to have a membership card of some kind. It is AWESOME. Davy Crockett mini-golf was on our list, but we ran out of time. Have a blast!!!

thanks! we're excited, except for the packing and unpacking part! ;)

We are moving to Nashville (Franklin) next week! Woo HOO~ We homeschool three boys and are super excited. Any tips on homeschool groups and co ops there? We are classical home schoolers. Thanks in advance~ xo

Bravo!

Target clearance, Ann Taylor Loft clearance, TJ Maxx, local boutique sales. I went to Ann Taylor Loft a week ago and bought two pairs of chinos, two tshirts and two pairs of black lounging pants for $50! I ALWAYS check the clearance racks~

I have an Ethan who is 11 and all I can say is 'Good luck!'~ :lol: If it can come apart, he will accomlish it and if it can be dangerous, he'll find out how. ;) Plugging in was taught/allowed after the toddler years and we discussed NEVER putting anything except the plugs in the outlet.

These earrings and medallions that I also sell~ http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33965039

VERY cool!

Also, if you're using the DIVE cdrom, he'll be used to short lessons. Some of the chalkdust videos are an hour long!

We switched to Chalkdust pre-alg and have been shocked at how many more problems are required each day. My 12yo spends 2+ hours a day on math in this program. He's not thrilled, so we may go back to Saxon alg 1 after he finished in Dec. If you have a good thing going, just stick with it~

Nature's Way or Udo's are the only brands that I would personally buy. Just make sure it's interic coated, sot that it survives the journey to the intestines. For what it's worth, I wouldn't use Culturelle if it was free. (Kind of like Centrum vitamins~) My degree is in Holistic Nutrition. ;)

I have had to change curriculum in math before and it made all the difference in the world when my son felt like he 'got' it.

The first year is ALWAYS the hardest. :D My 10yo son, the middle child, gave me trouble every day, UNTIL I started writing out a list of what he had to accomplish for the day/week. He was thrilled after that. He seemed to think that if he finished too quickly, I'd just give him more work, so he wanted to know my plans from start to finish. Once we got that cleared up, his time to complete assignments cut in half. :confused: I was stunned because I thought he was a little slow and he really was amazingly intelligent~ Character issues pop up with ALL of our kids from time to time. You do have to look closely at different personalities to see them, though. Some of us wear our 'stuff' out there for all to see and some of us are better at hiding it. Our most important job is nurturing their character, not producing a genius. The world has plenty of inhabitants that are selfish, intelligent twits..... :D

We ate Thanx dinner at Cracker Barrel there once. It was actually good. :D We were on our way to Nashville from Little Rock.

That must be nice. The regular shipping to my house takes a week and a half at the earliest~

I would feel fine using them~

Well, we can check science experiment off of the list for today. If you hold a piece of paper over a burning candle, it may catch on fire. The breeze generated while running through the house (screaming) will not put out the said fire. That's what the kitchen sink is for. Thank God there were no damages other than my 6 year old's embarrassment~ My reaction was laughing, I must be losing it....... :D

Date night last week~ It's so cool to see what you guys look like! My cyber friends~ ;)

removed photos~

We have moved to a place with pathetic homeschool material availability and lousy local bookstore selection, so I've found myself ordering from Amazon, A LOT. That is, after I try to buy it used off of these boards...... ;) We've started buying a lot of dvds and fun books through Amazon recently because they are so much less than local store prices, though I HATE waiting the 1.5 to 2 weeks to get my books. I AM afraid that if I DO get prime, I will order even more~ :D I have a book issue. I'm okay with that~ :lol:

Ann Taylor Loft and Charlotte Russe - lapis style.

I've never had them go bad. I store mine in a little glass jar with lid. As long as they stay moisture free, there should be no problem......

Do any of you have the amazon prime membership? If so, do you think it's worth it? Dawanna

We went through this last October. We are now employed, though at 50% of the previous salary. Our house sold, miraculously, and we walked away with nothing, but didn't owe anything, so we consider ourselves lucky. You CAN do this. It wasn't fun, but it brought hubby and I closer than ever and we now appreciate everything we have a little more! ;) God is big enough to supply all of your needs~ Don't freak your kids out! What is the point in them worrying, as well? Let them pray about it, I guarantee they will have more trust than the adults! :D

If you invest in a vitamix, you can grind your wheat berries and have your bread ready to bake in 1 hour. The heat generated during grinding speeds up the raising process~