We are hoping for a more ethnic doll as well. I love Kaya because when I was little I wrote Pleasant Co and asked for a Native American Doll, and several years later Kaya came out. But not all Native Americans are Nez Perce or even a similar tribe, and she isn't a good representation of a lot of native history. My daughter says Caroline looks almost exactly like one of the new dolls from New Orleans {can't recall the names right now :confused:} but with different hair.

You can do that elsewhere too though - I know I'm looking at houses that only need minor work in San Antonio that are in the $10k to $30k range. My goal is to do the same thing - be mortgage free :D Then I want to start tackling the student loans and CC until I am fully debt free.

Good morning! Today we're starting our new school year and running errands :D Mama is celebrating with eating out for lunch today - we're having Bill Miller's BBQ :D Do you ever do something completely different than what's on the lesson plans for the day? Sometimes. More frequent is we ditch school for the day and unschool Have you had your hair cut, permed, or colored recently? Was it a big change or a small change? I confess, I have never permed or colored my hair :001_huh: . It's been at least 4 years since I got it cut - I really need a trim but haven't been able to find a local stylist who doesn't charge an arm and a leg and who has a private room to do cuts in.

I have that one on my shelf - will have to read and post a review. :D I can tell you it looked good enough that when I got a copy to review I kept it rather than passing it on.

We are :D in theory. But the school room is a total wreck, and I've been super busy with Ramadan & Girl Scouts for the last 2 weeks and haven't even looked at our new materials yet. Dd is ready to start back though, she is ready to start 2nd grade and Brownie work.

If you don't find anything you want, order something for The Book Samaritan!

I've used them both as a child and an adult. As a kid, it was a BIG deal and I still remember it 20 years later that I was allowed to pick out a treat {I picked granola bars} at the food bank. We don't tend to use them anymore because they mostly don't work for us. We only eat certain things due to food allergies and eating halal {no pork or pork products} as much as possible. So unless it's a food bank that allows you to "shop" for things you need & can use, it mostly doesn't work for us. There are a few here that do allow that, or that only give bread / produce out, and it's easily enough to give the extra bread away on craigslist.

It's not so much that we can't do anything, it's more family issues. I live with my mother and my daughter, and my mother doesn't know I've reverted to Islam. Neither does my daughter because she would turn around and tell my mother. I'm hopeful that by next Ramadan I'll be in a more stable place financially and be able to tell them without worrying about repercussions.

No idea. This was my first Ramadan / Eid and it has not gone well at all for a variety of reasons. I may give dd the other American Girl knock-off doll I found at the thrift, but that's about it. No decorations or celebrations, no matter how much I may want to. No Eid prayer either as it's way across town and I simply can't get there by bus.

The Estate for M? He left none. He passed away almost 15 years ago, and my mother had forgotten about these insurance policies until it came up with S's death.

How do you tell if someone had a life insurance policy if you don't have any of the information from it? We know my brother S had a life insurance policy and the company it was through. My mother is fairly sure that when her then-current hubby bought the policy on S he also bought one on M, but we have no way of finding the original paperwork as we don't have access to the house where they likely are. We inquired with the insurance company and they deny having a policy for M. Is there a way to find out if there is a policy? My mother likely is the beneficiary.

What's your favorite movie? It's a hard choice - I really like Harry Potter, but Heidi brings back wonderful childhood memories. What are you up to today? Well I was supposed to take dd to half price books to pick up the gift card she won in the summer reading contest, then on to the girl scout office and then to a new grocery store. But I woke up with my back out of whack, so I'm puttering around the house cleaning instead. Going on a trip anytime soon? Not that I know of :D

I've never been able to get the hang of using cups, so no help there. I LOVE mama cloth though, but I'm in the market for some new ones myself. I have a couple I dearly love, but I can't remember where I got them other than it was Hyenacart.

She just acts like a normal kid to me - but all I watched was the clips on TLC. A little redneck, but she'd fit right in in my family :D

I just gotta ask - who is Honey Boo Boo? Never heard of her :confused:

I do :D I found it made our day go MUCH smoother if dd had a lunchable or something similar, so now I make hers.

Thanks for the replies, keep them coming :D We intend on getting the home inspected prior to making an official offer - learned that lesson with this house :glare: I have an excellent Realtor to work with who we used to buy this home. We are hoping to hold back enough cash to do any urgent repairs, and then work on the cosmetic stuff as we can since we will have more free income without our current mortgage payment. We are lucky enough to have a Habitat Restore a block away for getting low cost home rehab needs. Both the homes I'm looking at are short sales. One is a short sale & estate situation - from what I gather the gentleman who owned it passed away in early 2010 and it was already pending for foreclosure. Now because it's the estate the bank has agreed to do a short sale as they can't foreclose, and the estate can't settle until the home is sold. SO I think they should be motivated to sell even though they haven't dropped the price at all in the 80 days it's been listed on MLS. And it's only about 6 blocks from where we live currently :D so moving will be easier. But they are asking about $50k, and I would like to pay about half that or just slightly more than that so I'm not sure they will come down that far.

I cheat :D I take a jar of Ragu Margarita flavor {sometimes it's labeled Tomato & Mozzarella} and use that. If I have time I cook it on the stove and spice it up a little :D Tastes almost exactly like Pizza Hut's sauce, and WAY easier.

I'm strongly thinking of switching dd to teaching textbooks - she tested into their math 3 even though she's only going into 2nd. I have a few questions if anyone can answer them. What's the difference between TT & TT 2.0? How do you tell which is which? Does TT run a grade level behind? Does it give a good instruction vs. Saxon?

Another option, depending on your child, is to spread High school out over 5 years to allow for the additional music practice. Or to switch your school year around and just school in summer which gives you winters free to devote to music.

I'm not married, and dd has my last name. When I do marry, I won't be changing my name because it's a part of my religion {Islam} to not change the wife's family name even after marriage. My kids will have their father's last name, with the exception hopefully of 1 son who I intend to name after my father with a name that has been in the family for over 200 years and handed down every other generation. There is no one left with that name as the tradition hasn't been kept up in recent generations, and I really want to continue it.

Has anyone done this recently, and if so can you tell me your experience? We came into a windfall after my brother's death, and I really want to use it to buy a home free and clear so we no longer have a mortgage payment to worry about. I'm primarily looking at "investment" properties & fixer-uppers. I do not mind putting sweat equity into a home :D especially since that way I can hopefully make it more handicapped accessible for my mother. I have my eye on two different homes, but both are on the market for more than I have by about $10-$15k. Both have been on the market a LONG time though, so I'm hoping they might be willing to take less. SO, anyone? Or even someone who flips houses, since really I'm flipping it to live in instead of sell.

I don't think they will BUT you can always offer them either on the free for shipping thread in the For Sale board here OR on the board over at the boards at http://curriculumshare.com/ I have 2 boxes sitting here that no one from either place wanted to send to The Book Samaritan but again no shipping money.

I am so in! I've been working at this for the last 2 weeks because I'd like to get the house fully cleaned up for Ramadan {but I'm not going to get done :glare:}. Yesterday I: Moved all the food stuff off an extra bookshelf in the living room and onto a different shelving unit Moved the shelf from the living room to dd's room, took all the books off her other bookshelf and put them onto the new one Worked with dd to sort out half a tote of her books she is willing to get rid of Put dd's old PC desk that we upgraded last week into her bedroom for her art center Moved the other bookshelf from dd's room into the school room and swapped it out for the educational VHS shelf unit Decluttered another stack of books and two stacks of VHS tapes from our shelves in the school room {still need to photo for sale} Today's goals: Finish cleaning my room & vacuum both it and the school room Clean out master bathroom Get my office area cleaned up and file / box all the excess paperwork

I don't know as I've never tried it that far out from burning it. We keep a big bottle in the kitchen right next to the stove lol. It's worth a try though. Have you tried Aloe? That works well too.