That's the thing....we won't have a freezer to freeze those ice packs in though. But we will have ice in a cooler. I need to be able to make our own leak proof bags with the ice from our cooler (they have ice machines at the campground).

In a few months we are camping at Disney. We sometimes stay in a condo. When we do, I bring ice packs to put in the freezer so that we can save money and bring our lunches into the parks each day. This time we will be camping and won't have a freezer (we have a pop up). We will have ice though. Is there some sort of leakproof bags that I can buy to put some ice in to make ice packs for our lunches? I've tried using zip locs (even double bagging) and still had leak issues....that's why we've been just buying lunch the last few times we've camped at Disney. But I'd really like to save money and eat healthier. But I'm not sure what to use to bag the ice without a mess. Any suggestions? Surely this product has been created lol.

LOL! I think I would have been speechless!

I just picked up a few book lights from Target, near the book section. They do have clips and younger DD clips hers to the underside of the bunk to read. Older DD really has nowhere to clip hers so she just props it up or holds it. Seriously, I cannot believe we have actually found something that works for us for bedtime. We went through consequences, rewards, all sorts of behavior charts and systems....nothing stuck. They'd work for a few days and that's it. I was to the point where I wanted to leave the house each night at bedtime and leave it all to DH LOL! I can't believe bunk beds and reading were the key all along!

Zero percent. Well, as far as actually hands on goes. He, of course, is the one who supplies the dough in order to purchase the homeschooling materials LOL. Otherwise, he's hands off with schooling. Now....I've already warned him that when our children get into upper math, I will be handing them over to him LOL. He's the accountant....I'm the one who hates math. It's only fair LOL.

My two share a room as well. I'm sure it's much different with a toddler though. However, we got bunk beds just for this reason. Before bunk beds they would kick each other, fight, look at each other, talk, throw things at each other.....seriously, we had YEARS of horrible bedtime issues. The bunk beds and the reading has solved our problems. We got the low Ikea Kura bunk bed. DD6 is on the bottom and DD8 on the top. They have book lights, so there's no light shining in anyone elses eyes if the pther child is trying to sleep. There's no talking allowed....there's no peeking at the person on the other bunk allowed....there's no swapping books with each other allowed. They each have a book bin that sits on their beds at their feet. Each day they swap out their books if they want different ones for that night. It's really working for us. But like I said, I'm sure a toddler would be much different.

After MANY years of horrible bedtime ordeals, we've finally hit the jackpot over here. Now they have to get into bed at a certain time but are allowed to lie there and read until they can no longer hold their eyes open. This is AMAZING for DD8. She now lies in bed at night and reads, reads, reads. She's going through chapter books.....she's pulling all the animal and science books out of our science basket. As long as she's in bed and being quiet, I don't care if she reads till the cows come home LOL.DD6 still cannot read well so she just looks at picture books for a short time and then easily falls asleep. DD8 requires less sleep and stay up much longer reading. So yeah....the incentive is that she's in charge of her own bedtime in a way.

Rash guards and shorts here. My girls have never asked for anything else because they just know that's swimming attire for our family. No bikinis. No tankinis. Really, the bottoms are both basically underwear.

I'm considering using HOD for this coming year. I have a 6 year old (rising 1st grader) and a 9 year old (rising 4th grader). Can I use this for both of them, do you think? Also....I'm confused about what I need. I will be using it for science and history, definitely. So I assume I need all the history and science books in the economy pack, right? Do I need anything else? I won't be using it for math....and I'm not completely sure about grammar yet. We have FLL and really like it, so I'm undecided there. Lastly....wouldn't it be cheaper to try to find the books myself? I found several of them used on Amazon for cheaper. And I found several kindle versions for either free or very cheap. Seems like this would be the better route to go than purchasing the package deal.

What??!! Crazy!!

I had the exact same thing happen to me when I was pregnant with my second daughter. I, too, was just about 36 or 37 weeks pregnant. I ended up going to a specialist who gave me one injection of something. It wasn't Novocain because that has epinephrine in it which cannot be used during pregnancy. It was a very short-lived pain medication that he injected in my gum. Then he did a "baby" root canal. It literally took like 10 minutes. He drilled in, took out the pulp, and put something over it. I believe it was called a pulpectomy. It's a short term thing but I was bad and waited like a year to go back and have it finished lol. Never bothered me in that time!

This thread is hilarious! I need an update LOL!

This.

I have two sick kids at the moment. DD8 got sick on Tuesday. Horrible cold, icky sounding cough, high fever. I washed my hands and used Germ-X ALOT. I didn't allow her sisters near her. I designated one recliner in the living room as hers. After she was finished with it for the day, I wiped it down with a Lysol wipe (it is leather). I washed her bedding when her fever broke. I wiped down the TV remotes and the iPad with a Lysol wipe when she was finished using them for a while. Now baby is sick....I try to wash my hands often, but it is more difficult with her since she is spending most of the time in my arms. I haven't washed anything of hers....and it's pretty impossible to confine her to an area where she can't spread many germs. So with baby I'm just hoping my immune system does its job.She also sleeps with me so it's really useless to wash the bedding until she's well.

For an 11 year old you'll want regulation size, which is a 5. He could do with a 4. Smaller balls are for younger kids.

I would have had him at the ER immediately! He needs to be seen.

Don't play the what if game....you sound like you were a wonderful wife to your husband. I'm so glad you were there with him until the end. I'm so sorry for your loss. :crying:

I just asked DD8. At first she looked at me like I was crazy. Then she replied with "because you don't want us to go to school." So I said "but why?" Then she said "so that you can see us." True....I'd miss them if they were gone so much. So that is part of the reason. I asked DD6 why we homeschool....she said "I don't know" about five times. And then said "because the teachers don't teach us about Jesus." Smart girl!

Oldest DD is 8 (will be 9 in April) and today she toted 2 stuffed foxes and a stuffed rabbit to Walmart and a restaurant. She loves her animals. I definitely don't think she's too old. I'm 32 and I sleep with three stuffed animals...they fit in just fine with the hubby and the baby. :)

My girls are 8 and 5 (but are nearly 9 and 6)....and for the past few months they have been fighting and bickering HORRIBLY. This is just not acceptable to me. I can handle arguing....but seriously, ALL THE TIME. From the moment they wake up. This morning they joined me in bed for some snuggles....and it immediately began. Someones legs were touching someone else's legs. So the kicking began. Later on, they were scratching my back.....one child was scratching where the other child wanted to scratch....which led to pushing. They fight about their imaginary friends quite often. :glare: Basically, whatever they can find to fight about....they do. And honestly, most of the time I feel that my 8 year old is to blame. She's VERY finicky, moody, and quirky. So things have to be just so-so for her. I'm not saying my 5 year old is never at fault, because she knows which buttons to push on her sister and sometimes does, but it's the 8 year old a lot of the time. She can be down right mean to my 5 year old. There's no name calling in our home, so they've honestly never called each other names. But for some reason, they think it is okay to use their hands to hurt each other. This is NOT okay by any means. I'm about to pull my hair out...it's very stressful for them to be fighting all the time. I find myself raising my voice a lot. We've tried taking time apart to cool down (they usually go right back to fighting), taking away electronics, tomato staking (that works while it is happening and for a bit after, but they usually go back to fighting). I need something that works on a daily basis. I need to get to their heart. We sit down and read Bible verses about quarreling and love. They are interested but they don't seem to be taking it to heart. I don't expect them to be perfect and never fight. But I'd like for them to fight less than the 75% of the time they are fighting now. What do you guys do for constant fighting and bickering? And the hitting, pinching, etc MUST STOP NOW. We've never allowed this or just brushed it off when it happens. It's always a serious offense in our household and I'm not sure why they think it is okay.

I feel like my 8 (nearly 9) year old is not paying attention nor retaining when we learn about science, history, geography, etc. I just learned about project based learning the other day. Basically we do a unit on a specific topic (weather, the Civil War, mountain ranges, Native Americans, etc).....we read books, research information, watch videos, and all that. And then I turn my child loose with a project. My 8 year old DD is very....stubborn. She wants to follow her own directions rather than mine. I figure this might be a good compromise. I read on a blog where this homeschooling mother gave her children a list of about 4 projects to choose from. They chose which they wanted to do (which still allowed parental guidance but the child also got a choice in the matter) and they ran with it. I figure this could either be a genius move or a disastrous one. What happens when the child comes back with sub par results? What if my child chooses to make a lapbook and writes three facts in there....(1) Red foxes are red. (2) They live in the forest. (3) Baby foxes are called kits. I wouldn't find this to be sufficient for a project. Do I send the child back? Do I conclude that they are not self motivated enough for project based learning? With project based learning do you check for proper grammar? Sentence structure? Spelling? Neat handwriting? Or do you go by the facts presented and the information retention only? Also, what sort of materials do you consistently keep on hand for PBL? I figure the basics....paper, glue, file folders for lapbooks, etc. And I guess I'd probably need to keep things like boxes for diaramas, empty toilet tissue rolls, etc. I figured that I would also keep a basket of project books on hand for my daughter to flip through for ideas. Does anyone have any recommendations for project books (history, geography, science, biography..any of those). I think I already have some history pockets on hand, which I'll throw in there. What other types of things would be good to keep on hand? We have some Legos, which could be used to make models. We also have Playmobil, but not any specific historical sets. Maybe get some plastic army men for battle scenes? I could probably grab those at the Dollar Tree. I'm excited about this....I'm hoping that DD will take it and run. But I'm a little afraid of what to do if I feel like she hasn't put her all into a project. Also, any blogs, ideas, pinterest boards.....I'd love the links! I found a fabulous blog the other day about PBL (can't remember the name right now) but she gave examples in detail of her children's projects.

We recently moved our girls into a bunk bed. I'd been eyeing the Ikea Kura every time we went into Ikea and I happened to find one in great condition for a really good price on craigslist. They've been sleeping in it for nearly two weeks....and honestly, it freaks me out a little. When DD 8 climbs on the top bunk, the slats seem to bow downwards. I'm afraid that DD5 is going to get crushed or something. Does anyone else have this bed? If so, do you feel it is safe? If not, what bed do you have? And how old are the kids that sleep on it?

My oldest is in 3rd and we haven't even started any formal history yet. We'll probably begin for 4th grade. That's not to say she hasn't learned any history....during the election we studied a lot about presidents, voting, the White House, etc. Near Columbus Day we talked about Christopher Columbus. We've read some American Girl books that are very historical. We just sort of went with whatever happened to come up for these young years.

Spiral....definitely spiral for DD8. We began with Math U See...we got through the first book when I realized that this just wasn't working for us. So we switched to Abeka. Both DD and I love Abeka! I know that Abeka is "notorious" for just being a textbook but it definitely works for DD. When she learns a new concept, they throw it in a bunch of times in the book and even in the book for the next year as well. DD is very good at math (she's in third grade, but working on the 4th grade Abeka book....even then, Abeka is usually more advance so some of this could even be 5th grade work) but she needs that spiral curriculum to bring it back around and refresh it in her mind.

I'm the same way. A few weeks ago my DD8 came up to me and said "I want to learn more about red foxes." So we got some books, looked up some information online.....and that was it. I didn't know where else to go from there. I mean....it's not like I can go out and find a red fox for her LOL.