Mine usually don't get parties after they turn 1. We may do something very small with grandparents only. This year, when DS turned 5, he got to pick out special foods to eat and things to do. We may do a party every few years for him now that he is old enough to have real friends. My brother and SIL have 3 parties for each (2) kid each year. A friend party then a separate party for each side of the family. It's crazy. We all get along fine, it's just scheduling issues with that many people because it's so massively important that we all show up each year that they plan parties around our schedules.

Aww...the ICQ sound reminds me of college days! I remember them all too, and I still love clicky keyboards! Now we have cell phones only and no VCR.

Ours is doable. Like others have mentioned (and I didn't read the entire thread), it looked HUGE when we moved in at the ripe old ages of 19 and 21. 3 beds/2 bath Cape Cod older house with an eat in kitchen, laundry room, and living room. It was fine for a decade...then we threw 2 kids into the mix. Now the boys share a room, we have a room, and there is a rarely used bathroom upstairs. The downstairs bedroom is currently a school/play room. On the positive side, we have big rooms (except for the kitchen - it can't hold both a table and a fridge. The fridge lives in the utility room.) and crazy huge closets. The down side is the weird small kitchen and the long and narrow living area. And all the walls. Some days, the walls make me crazy. No such thing as open concept here! We have no plans to move, however. We are on track to have it paid for in the next 15 years or so. Our backyard is great, finally. Over the years we have added a privacy fence, play set, pool, and fire pit. A lot of days I would like something else, but getting the house paid off trumps starting over with a more expensive mortgage - we got an insanely low price when we bought this and can't get anything comparable for the price range.

I've spent months researching curriculum and saw samples at our local convention a few weeks ago. I'm 98% sure we are going to be a MFW family after kindergarten. (Planning on starting it in first.) I know Adv. seems to be very well liked here, and I've also read lots of positive reviews other places. What I can't figure out is their general view of American history - does it have a providential view? I guess what I'm trying to get at is do they view everything (thinking of the horrible way Natives were treated, bringing slaves over from Africa, all the "mean" things our country has done) as God ordained, or does it explain that not everything we've done was God-led? If that all makes sense...

I'm a total newbie, but I was also going to suggest MFW. It's what we will be using for 1st and up.

I am not a chicken owner, we live in town and can't have them. I never really wanted them until recently. We have new friends who live just outside of town and have 6. We love to go visit the chickens!

Our nearest Costco is 2 hours away. This thread makes me sad! :)

It was sweet that they were working together instead of the usual fighting! But seriously, I thought he knew not to write on the walls by now! Boys!

"mom! Come here! I showed brother how to make a T and he did it!" On my newly painted white wall. The only white wall in the house. In red crayon. Ad then lied about writing on the wall.:glare: I scrubbed it after he tried, and now he's earned himself the fun of cleaning the entire school/play room.

I have to add my story. My boys were adopted as babies. I have been married for 15 years and have spent the last 14 years and 6 months or so birth control free. About 12 years ago I was pregnant 3 times in 1 year and lost them all, the first 2 were Clomid induced but the last one was not. Nothing since then. When older DS was about 3, he was in the back yard playing, came in, and announced that God had promised him a baby sister. Since then, there's been some other just odd...hints. A month or so ago, I dreamed that my boys were called up front at church and presented with a sister from God. And that's just the most recent little hint I can think of. I'm 35 and fully expecting a surprise sometime in the next 10 years or so!

We have 1 email address for the both of us, and we've never had a problem. We do have FB passwords to both our accounts. We both know our iPad lock pass codes, voice mail passwords, the whole nine yards.

I've seen the youtube video and read instructions, and I still can't slice a mango! (but I have rotten knives)

I like this. Progressive phonics is reading a book with a parent, but the kid only reads a word or two over and per as it appears in the story, the adult reads their est of the story. I could easily do this with our words we are working on learning! Lots of good little tips!

This is great to know! I think we will start doing activities like this. And yes, I do realize that he just may be at a platau for now. Slow and steady, I suppose. Just interesting to me that he can spell them.

I've put OPG up for now and we've been working through Progressive Phonics from the beginning, very slowly. We are doing the Alphabetti books right now and usually do 2 books a week. He struggles to blend sounds to form a simple CVC word, which is the stage he's been at for months. However, I've figured out he can spell those words to me if I ask him, and he rarely will mis-spell one. So, what do I do from here? Just keep slowly plugging away at progressive phonics? Work on orally spelling the words to me and figure that will help the blending that he struggles with so much? I would love to buy AAS, but I've hit my spending limit. The well is dry!

Me too!! They just sit there looking all lonely!

My blogging is pretty pathetic, but I did! Thanks!

I finally found the courage to hit the button. Yes, I hear it! It made my teeth and inner ears hurt.

I'm quite sensitive to it, and DS is also, to a point. He's not quite old enough yet to pick up on some of the subtle things I notice. He struggles some with abandonment feelings and did spend time in an orphanage. Boxcar children are out. I DESPISE Stellaluna with a passion. He watched Tangled with a friend about 1 1/2 years ago, so he would have been right around turning 4. It sent him into an angry tailspin that lasted for weeks and we had to do quite a bit of damage control. To this day, he won't watch it. (But we don't watch a lot of Disney anyway) He would love Peter Pan, but I don't know if he can process the Lost Boys yet. He's a deep thinker and very sensitive to adoption and loss issues. We haven't read Horton or Are You My Mother, but when he was younger he liked A Mother For Choco.

Spelling power? I don't have it yet, but have looked at it a lot and read a lot about it. It may have what you are looking for.

W are not required to have a name, but I wanted to come up with one just for kicks. After thinking about it for months, it finally came to me earlier this week. We are Providence Prep School. No mascot or anything else yet, but our little name fits perfectly.

I have pt used them, but I do like a lot of what they pull together from various resources for their cores, especially for the younger years. I do think they are pretty expensive. I have in mind what I plan on doing for the next few years and plan to incorporatespe of Timberdoodle's recommendations into our plans.

:iagree: yup, starfall.com and the leapfrog videos (they are on Netflix). Starfall has a free section for the alphabet, but I have a subscription to the paid site ($35/yr), which covers alphabet, early reading, songs, and an awesome math area.

Yuk! I think vintage books are beautiful, but yeah...gross!

This exactly what I have always thought too! Exactly! Most kids around here have names that are fairly common. W do have a Chloe and Khloe at our church who are both 4. I have a nephew with one of the "dreaded" -yden names too.