Gosh, what's not to love? Really knowing your children & being the one to raise them (instead of teachers/after-school workers, etc). Having a close, nurturing relationship that seems to come about from being with them for more than several hours a day. Being able to tailor your child's education to his or her needs. Another big one for me is my kids aren't doing schoolwork a million hours a day (7-8 hours at school, plus homework, plus tutoring or afterschooling). We're able to finish in a set amount of time and be DONE. They can go out and play, do crafts, use their imaginations... whatever. Just like kids SHOULD be doing. :) At this point my kids are younger (4 & 6) and I enjoy being with them all day. That may change as they head towards puberty, but at the moment I honestly don't have anything bad to say about my homeschooling experience.

Our dinners were always great - either a green or fruit salad along with something from scratch (everything from veal picatta to roast chicken). For breakfasts we would eat a lot of cereal... my mom wasn't a breakfast person.

We've been changing things up a lot, but as of right now (for a young 1st grader) M-F: MUS Alpha, Spanish, FLL, Reading, phonogram/rule review, read-aloud from illustrated classics MWF: MOH1, SWR, Bible T, TH: RS4K (Life), Journal, Fine arts (painting, music study)

Irish Wolfhounds fit every one of your criteria. They are awesome.

We went to Cape San Blas, FL this past fall (October-ish) and LOVED it. Very quiet, almost deserted beaches and great, warm water. You can go during scallop season and wade into the bay to find scallops. There is great fishing and also a place to rent boats or get a charter for fishing in Port St. Joe which is the main town about 15 min away. Cape San Blas is a huge peninsula and there is a large state park at the end of the peninsula with hiking trails, etc. Oh, it's on the panhandle of FL :) eta: It is not commercial at all - No huge high rise condos, no rushing out to the beach to get a chair, etc. We rented a house (there are a decent amt to choose from - especially on FYBO.com).

My fave salad is lettuce, diced celery, green onion (or diced regular onion), mandarin oranges, candied almonds and an oil, cider vinegar & sugar vinaigrette. SUPER yummy :) Other times I will do dried cranberries and feta or blue cheese crumbles with balsamic vinaigrette.

It seems like it's more of an under-educated thing... or too lazy to care thing (like my sister :( ).

I don't think that's the way it was meant... at least not by me. I was born in TN and all my family lives here as well. My own sister writes sale instead of sell and it drives me nuts.

I didn't mean it like that... I just never saw people confuse the two until I moved to TN. I just assumed it's because the two words are said the same and people just don't realize they're spelling it wrong.

I think it's a southern thing... it drives me crazy too. I think it stems from the fact that 'sell' and 'sale' sound the same with most southern accents.

I was wondering if I need a separate Bible curriculum to use with MOH. If I do, what do you recommend for the younger elementary crowd? Thanks!

Snowmass in CO is great! Wonderful little town, lots of stuff to do. It's near Aspen so even more to do if you drive a bit.

Neither of my kids are breakfast eaters. They wake up around 7:30-8ish, watch Magic School Bus at 8:30 then we start school at 9. If they get hungry while doing school I'll make them a snack or an early lunch. I don't like eating in the morning so I don't expect my kids to. My oldest will actually feel sick to his stomach if he eats too early.

I tend to not take my boys with me to grocery stores, so if we're out and they need to use the restroom it's usually somewhere small. In those cases I started letting DS1 go in by himself at around 5... I'd wait by the door for him. Now my boys are 6 and 4 and I let them go into a mens restroom together pretty much wherever we are as long as i'm waiting by the door for them.

Regardless of there only being one public use entrance, someone wanting to do harm to your daughter could use a different exit from the store... and I think would be more likely to. I wouldn't send either of my boys into a regular size grocery store on their own until they're around 10 or 12 (depending on maturity, etc). There's just too many crazies out there. I try to live my life making choices I know I won't have a chance to regret. ***I will say that we live in a pretty small part of town and we have a local deli/convenience store where I know everyone that works there and most everyone who goes in there (and they'd watch out for my kids). The store is about 800 sq ft. I *would* (haven't yet) send my 6 yo in there while I waited in my car in front of the store (literally parked about 2 ft away from the front door). That's about it, though.

I would pay it off, fix what absolutely has to be fixed and then start saving for a new-to-you used car with under 100k miles. 20 mpg really isn't that bad. If I were you, once I paid it off I would committ to not having a car payment for your car ever again. The more out of debt you can be, the better you'll feel... even if it means keeping a crappy car for a bit longer.

We have a cavalier king charles/bichon mix ("Cavachon") and LOVE him. He's only 15 lbs but is a bit taller than most small dogs. He has a great, easy-going personality. He is low/no shed but needs grooming b/c his hair will grow long if you let it. He has curly hair so has that messy/cute wiry dog look to him. He would walk for ages if you wanted to but will also sit at your feet and sleep if you're taking it easy.

When we went we didn't plan any meals. We just did what we wanted when we wanted... We used the special hours for people who stayed at the Disney resorts so we didn't have to wait in many lines. We also made good use of the fast passes. Do you have to be so scheduled for any reason?

That is awesome!

I am and we've only been off a week! Lol! My mom is here through Friday so we'll probably start up again the Monday after that. Can't wait to get back to a routine.

Yes, yes it does. ;)

Yeah, just use some dandruff shampoo. If I use *anything* else I get patches on my scalp that look like cradle cap, though obviously it isn't. As soon as I go back to anti-dandruff shampoo it goes away within a few days.

Yep :)

You could do pesto pinwheels - puff pastry spread with pesto, rolled up and cut in 1/2" slices and baked. You could also do chopped spinach and sundried tomato with a bit of parmesan for the filling.

This probably isn't the cheapest but it's pretty darn good. Baked chicken thighs (skinless), chopped 1 lb of pasta cooked in salted water 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli sauteed onions (and mushrooms if you have them) 1/4-1/2 cup fresh grated asiago/parmesan/whatever you like cheese Mix it all together with a little olive oil & YUM! Pretty darn cheap for about 6 servings - maybe around $1 a serving?