I have really enjoyed the connectedness with you all! I am really proud of my hubby...not because of his job, or his amazing status in this world, but his God-honoring humility and strength of character at the workplace. He works in a high-stress, constantly changing field. He honors his family daily with his strong work ethic. He is a Switch Technician for a major wireless telephone company. Let's just say that it starts with a *V*. So, fearlessly working both day and night, he coordinates with the field engineers who actually drive all over creation :auto:, calling each other and literally saying "Can you hear me now?". If they can't...:confused:...then my hubby is standing by on his 4 computers to find out the problem and get it fixed. So when you are talking on your *V* cell phones...my hubby built the network that is making it work! Now he recently had to put his foot down about all this night work...since he has more important night work at home with me. :D

I saw a few days ago that the Hillbilly Housewife websight had monthly meal plans based on the rotating ingredients of Angel Food monthly boxes. I thought that was such a great idea to stretch the food as much as possible.

I think the directions for perfect fruit pies are on it's box.

When grinding wheat, even organic, you need to make a visual 'check' as the wheat is going into the mill. There will occasionally be a stray pebble that can usually be seen and removed from the wheat before it goes down the mill. Yuck, just one crunch from an egg shell once made me run for cover...:tongue_smilie:

Hello. We use SL in addition to other things, and it is wonderful. Did anyone mention their new payment plans? Upon placing your order, they give you the option of paying in full, or paying a down payment and then being billed monthly for the balance. This really helped us out this year.

They sell sour dough starters and I remember their site having recipes and helps for sour dough breads. Just a thought. Have fun!

For world culture books, you can get a great reading list from the Sonlight websight.

Hello everyone. What a joy to read your pleasant responses! I, too, admit major jealousy after scrolling through the pictures of kitchens. I repent. I used to live in a big ol' house, with a gigantic kitchen that I re-did (mostly) myself. I papered and painted and polished and scrubbed for 7 years, and finally had it absolutely perfect. New countertops, appliances, tile, flooring, it was a dream to me. Then my dh lost his job and after 4 months he found a new one...far, far away from my home. We moved from a 3,000 sq ft house into one not quite 1,600. I had to give away furniture, books, crafts that had been purchased for 'that spot in the old house that it was perfect for'. I had to give up my perfect kitchen for one that appeared to have been built for a couple who never cooked at home. Tiny doesn't come close. I have about 3 feet of counter top, total. No pantry. Old appliances, ugly wallpaper, just turn around to touch all 4 walls. So, for the 2 years we have been living here, I have been discouraged about what I left behind. I began slowly purging ugly stuff and painting and papering and cleaning and decorating and...complaining. My dh is a wise man, and would not buy beyond our means. So he is willing to commute an hour to work and I am learning to be content with my tiny kitchen. So, after admiring all the beautiful pictures, I went into my tiny kitchen that never seems to get clean because I resent it...and I started to clean and polish the old sink and rearrange the little counter to allow more working space. I shined the oven and reorganized the fridge. I moved things around to give the appearance of more breathing room. I organized my spices and cleaned my cabinets. I fluffed the curtains. I moved country crafts on the walls. I made it mine for the first time. I stood in my tiny kitchen this morning and said *thank you* that I have what I have. I am truly a blessed woman to have, not a tiny kitchen any more, but a cozy, precious one, that now belongs to me. I looked out my window and saw a beautiful forest, and flowers blooming and wrapping themselves on the deck railing. I watched the hummingbirds fuss over the feeder hanging outside my window. I saw the tiny butcher block 'island' table...a mere 2 ft. square that you have to squeeze past to get to the sink...sitting in the middle of the room, that my dh hauled a long way home so that I could have a 'country red' workspace to make bread on. I saw the cookbooks collected over 25 years all in a row, sitting in my little cabinet. I just *saw* so much. I have so much. This is my home, my little cottage in the woods, that I share with my family who loves me. So for tonight's supper I made fresh bread and roasted chicken and made a wonderful vegetable mix of fresh vegetables and herbs from my 'garden on the deck' and a crispy Italian salad and fresh peach cobbler. It's all about perspective. Thank you all for helping me to regain mine. Many blessings~ Ginger :001_smile:

We have a dd who is also very smart and very silly. She is a real joy to teach. She was becoming very discouraged with math until we switched to Teaching Textbooks. Although some say it isn't "rigorous"...I respectfully disagree. I want my kids to enjoy their studies (I think they learn more that way). TT has some hysterically funny story problems that make the lessons fun. Just my opinion. :)

Whether your old computer is still in working order or not, (ours had a bad mother board besides being just plain old and ugly) my dh thought it wise to remove the hard drive before dumping. Ours had old tax returns and bill information and all sorts of stuff, so anyone 'finding' it could access that information, too. Just a note of caution. :)

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton Just precious.

A Tree For Peter A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy and An Orange For Frankie An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

I have copied all your wonderful responses and have put them into my college prep file. I appreciate you taking the time to help me today. Blessings~ Ginger :)

Good morning. I have read and read about the subject of testing and I keep reading conflicting answers...can somebody point me to a thread of answers or slap me or something? I have one dd going into 10th grade. Is she to take the PSAT this fall or in the 11th? How about the SAT and/or ACT? When are they to be taken? How do the students prepare for them both when they are so different? Is one better than the other? :confused: I appreciate your patience. Ginger

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species King Phillip came over for good soup. :001_smile:

I would unplug the answering machine. Being able to leave her rambling, accusatory messages is allowing her to keep a mental vice grip on you and your husband. Please don't give her anymore control in your home. Blessings to you, and peace~ another Ginger

As far as I can tell, "gerant de societe" is a generic title given to the manager of a company. How mysterious! ;) Ginger

Well, doctors, I feel better already! I have the afternoon to prop my feet up and eyeball their catalog again. Now, do you think my youngers (will be 4th and 5th) could/should tag along with their Quest for the Middle Ages, or do their own program? Decisions...decisions. Many thanks again! Oh-another thought. Any suggestions for my older's literature additions for that time period? Maybe a Lightening Lit course or great books volume from Veritas Press...We love to have discussions over her readings but I need some kind of guide so I don't sound like the village idiot. Thank you so much for your patience with my questions!

Thank you Janice and Rose. We used the TOG redesign until February when we all were languishing under the 'heaviness' of it. (I had used the old one several years ago for a while, too, and I admit the new one is much better.) Maybe volume 2 is more fun? Anyway, I bought Living Books for grade 3 which was also ancients and that is what we are currently doing. My older is a great writer and reads like the wind. She did the Cornerstone Curriculum Starting Points also. She read the complete SL level 100 in her free time for fun...yep, I bought that, too! She is so fun and joyful and loves to do an activity once in a while. My youngers are bored with 'nothing but reading' and I really want to have some sort of school memories besides when the math workbook got finished...I have been admiring WP for the youngers (CATW) but hadn't considered it for 10th, so I will look at the catalog again. Many thanks for you 'doctoring'...and hugs to you, too!

Good morning all! I visit here every week and glean so much wisdom. Please forgive my rants this morning but I am pulling my hair out. My background is basically: Homeschooling 18 years (you would think I would know something by now)...Oldest college grad and married, remaining at home soon to be 15, 10 and 8. We have a background in unit studies (Konos, MFW, Learning Adventures, TOG) and some Charlotte Mason (SL, too) and WTM things thrown in. They all really enjoy learning at least some things together. This fall I cannot decide what to use. I map out plan after plan and none of them sound right. I am calm but now just avoiding any discussion of school. We wrap up this year today so now I feel I must get off square one. I am tired so next week's vacation will be a blessing. I need to pick: ~Biology for my 10th grader (she used and didn't enjoy Apologia PS this year) ~Latin for her as well (she used Latin for Homeschoolers this year, light but enjoyable. Last year she did Prima Latina with her younger sisters). She loved TT for algebra and will continue that. ~I have no idea what to use for history. We burned ourselves out with TOG trying to keep everyone on the same topic. Debating about returning to it for year 2, or using Konos High School or Quines WWWW program. Choices are killing me. For youngers, they are needing some activities (we are using Living Books which is great but reading only). Konos may kill me to try it again! Bad library and I am OLD. They are happy with MUS and Queen's for language. So, you can see that I am a real mess and need someone to tell me what to do! Many thanks for any suggestions at all to get off square one. Our curriculum fair is in 2 weeks and I would like to buy *something*! Blessings~