It's true, but it still all worked out in the end. For both of us?

Oh yes. In 2nd grade I was being picked on at the bus stop, so I walked a couple of miles through town to go to school. In 3rd grade I (badly) faked my Dad's signature so that I wouldn't have to tell my abusive stepmother that I had forgotten my homework. In 5th grade I ripped the sign off of the "Teachers Only" bathroom stall and through it out the window - I was angry at the injustice of teachers getting working, clean stalls when we didn't. In 6th grade I was suspended from the bus. Later in the year I was punished for LOTS of stuff (this was the true beginning of my downward spiral.) I managed to skip the principal's office in 7th and 8th (even though I had plenty of issues), but landed there again in the second week of 9th grade. I was suspended for smoking in the bathroom (which I wasn't, but my friend was, and I took the blame because I knew my parents wouldn't care.) Despite all this, I was always in the Gifted and Talented programs - go figure!

K - some wierd lady whose name started with a "K" - Mary C. Williams in Wilmington, NC 1 - Mrs. Jones at the same school, then someone else at Hyde Park Elementary in Hyde Park, OH 2 - elementary school in Madeira, OH 3 - Boyd E. Smith Elementary, ??? 4 - Same school and a male teacher, then switched back to Mary C. Williams in Wilmington with Mrs. Stokes 5 - can't remember the school (in Wilmington, NC), but it was Mrs. Raegan 6 - Landmark Christian Academy near Cincinnati, OH - Mrs. Rawlings (incidently, she passed away last year and I heard about it through an email from the evangelist guy from Liberty University?) After that it's confusing - I started 7th grade at Walnut Hills High in Cincinnati, OH, transferred to Silver Sands Middle School in Daytona Beach, FL, then back to Walnut Hills. Eighth grade was at Githens in Durham, NC. Ninth grade was Jordan High School in Durham then Chapel Hill High in Chapel Hill, NC. I started 10th at Riverside High in Durham, NC then changed to Northwood in Pittsboro, NC. I went BACK to Jordan in Durham for 11th, but lasted less than a month. I am a high school drop out! LOL But I do have BS in Psychology and part of a MBA...:D ETA: I don't have a CLUE who the principals were!

Layout does make a huge difference - my house is laid out pretty well, so we seem to have more room than we do. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room (when you open the front door) and a LARGE eat-in kitchen (like 13x20) with a breakfast bar divider.

Same here - an employee quit and we were HAPPY! LOL Now we just work more (dh works 60 hours himself.)

I have 6 dc and live in 1300 square feet. The only advice I can give you is to get rid of stuff. That is what we had to do - we have less furniture and less belongings overall. When things start to stay messy more than straight, I know it is time to re-think what we actually need. My dc have fewer clothes than most and few toys. (BTW, this house felt like a MANSION when we moved in - we had 4 dc in an 800 square foot trailer before this!) Go to the library and check out the book "Material World" to see how families all over the world live and what they have. Many live in houses much smaller than you or I - it helped me to see what was really a necessity. About twice a year, I re-think it some more. For example, I think we have too many blankets right now - if I am having a hard time figuring out how to store them, then we don't need them!

I eliminate non-necessities. I don't buy dairy products other than some butter (and sometimes sour cream.) I buy little to no meat - the idea being that we can eat meatless 4-5 days per week. If I am limited on my budget (which seems to be often!) I buy in this order: produce frozen veggies canned veggies and fruit starches/grains beans meat I finally realized that I was being silly when I didn't want to pay $1.88 per pound for tomatoes, but I would pay $3.00+ per pound for hamburger. I try to center our meals on the veggies and use the grains/meat as "sides."

I did tell him that if my dc grew up and ran off to all parts of the globe, therby making me worry - I was going to blame him! :D I can't take ALL the credit - I do have some great kids, but they came that way!

And by someone I really, really respect. *sniff* So, I will plug him here.:D William Powers, author of "Blue Clay People" and "Whispering in the Giant's Ear" - he specializes in the area of globalization and what that means to people in the Third World. We met him last year when he rented a house close to us for a few months - he and my dc hit it off. He was in the US to visit his parents (who live not far from here) and wanted to come see my dc while he was here. I really, really hope he settles down near here! Below I linked one of his books - it is sold out right now, but it will be re-printed in the next couple of months. If you are looking for a really good read on the subject, you can't beat it! http://www.amazon.com/Whispering-Giants-Ear-Frontline-Globalization/dp/B000Q6GXZ4/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201461231&sr=1-8

I'd rather be a migrant worker in a field than a worker in a slaughter plant any day! LOL What Pam said is true, though. Most people don't think about it because most agricultural workers are not American. I don't think this is as true for dairy farms, though.

Will you get a loan to buy any of the cars in question, or pay cash?

LOL - I guess that makes me less than lower class? We are self-employed, but so far it is a loss, so no taxes. Even if we make a profit, it will have to be $35K+ before we actually pay $1 ourselves due to tax credits, etc. We can't get Advanced EIC because we don't have a paycheck. I hope to have to pay taxes someday....that means we are finally getting somewhere!

I have a 4th grader doing First Language Lessons Level 3. I don't think that your ds would be "behind" by doing it a year later! FLL 3 covers a large amount of material not covered by other publishers. However, if you were to do a lesson a day and skip some of the more repetitive lessons, FLL 1/2 could be done in a year pretty easily.

We pay nothing out of the paycheck and still get $4-5K returned. Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credits.....

My ds just felt terrible and his stomach hurt. We actually caught it before it was too bad, but he STILL didn't get surgery until almost 24 hours later. The last 8 hours or so was agony for him. No vomiting (except for the contrast for the CT Scan), no fever, very little elevated blood levels.

I need to hire someone to come to our place of business and assist with childcare in the mornings. I already tried the local homeschool loop and craigslist. Any other ideas? Our church is not anywhere near our business.

The two workbooks released next year are for Grades 1 and 2, but she said that the 2nd book could be used for an older child no problem.

I rarely find meat for that price, even when on sale. We did find frozen Wal-Mart brand boneless, skinless chicken breast for $2 a pound a few days ago, so I bought 9 pounds. Generally, though, we just don't eat meat. Or buy cheese or milk.

Here in central NC, meat goats go for about $1 a pound on the hoof (live weight.) That's pretty decent. You need to find a processor and figure out what they are paying.

I am glad it is back, but I wish people would follow the rules!:D:rolleyes: