Thank y'all soooo much! I can't wait to look through these lists and choose some. And I'll definitely be hitting targets dollar spot to look at the junior classics.

I feel like my days go something like this...... Explain DD8's independent work, send her off. Give baby a toy. Sit down with DD5 to work on phonics. Get back up because baby is pulling on the computer wires. Return to DD5 and work on a letter sound. DD8 comes out and says she doesn't understand this math problem despite us going over it ten times. Grab baby out of pantry. Tell DD5 to wait and I'll be back in a sec. Help DD8 with math problem and send her off. Baby crying and pulling on my leg, me practically yelling the letter sound so DD5 can hear it. Pick up baby, stand up with baby because she wants to be walked. DD8 groaning from bedroom about not wanting to write a sentence. DD5 is getting bored waiting for me to tend to baby, she wanders off..... And so on and so on. We usually get to the three R's for DD8 but not much else. Poor DD5 is learning her letter sounds from the Leapfrog DVD and we usually do not get to math. I find myself shouting spelling words over the baby's fussing very often....like daily. It seems that whenever I sit down to read our living science and history books aloud, the baby decides to fuss. Tell me that someone else's homeschool days look like this LOL.

I don't really plan out ETC. My daughters have always done two pages per day. And we never use the half numbers, even with DD 8, who was a struggling reader for quite a while.

Is there a list of good books for 3rd graders to read? DD8 reads for 30 minutes a day (part of our school day). For the most part, I let her choose what she reads (usually Magic Treehouse, Cul-de-sac Kids, stuff like that). But once a month I want her to read a book of my choosing. What are some books that are not too difficult for her to understand? But will be good, solid reading for her?

I can proudly say that I am one of those women who say "my husband handles all of that." I hate math, hate running numbers, and don't want the hassle of paying bills, etc. My husband is the accountant, great with investing, running numbers, and all of that jazz. I take care of the house, the kids, the meals, the homeschooling....I happily let him handle all of that other stuff. If something important comes up, we discuss it, but other than that, he really does handle it all. Thankfully!

I'd like to do a state study with my kids...some sort of thing where we "travel" through the United States (from the comfort of our own home, of course) and learn about each state. I'd like to make a passport and get some state stickers so that when we "visit" that state, they can put the sticker in their passport. I'd like them to maybe make brochures for some states, maybe write a few short paragraphs sometimes, etc. Is there any resource like this? I'd love to not have to research everything on my own.

I wasn't born until 11 years later. My mom was 10, my dad 13.

I haven't officially bought anything....but I did pre-order something that should be releasing around November. I don't want it to sell out before I get it because I know that both DD's really want it for Christmas (it's the Skylanders Giants game).

Civic duty, blah, blah, I hate it anyways LOL. I got my summons about six weeks ago. Thankfully, if I have a child 6 and under in my full time care and I'm unemployed then I am exempt. I currently have two of them! I know you mentioned IBS....my mom has that and got summoned about a year ago. When they asked if anyone needed be exempt, she told the person that she has IBS and could have to run to the bathroom at a moment's notice. That wouldn't fare well in the middle of a trial. So she was excused. To the poster who mentioned their nursing baby, I would have been LIVID if they replied to me with the options of weaning or forcing a bottle. That's crazy!

I just turned 32 the other day and I've been doing that for years. I blame it on the fact that the kids zap my brain cells LOL.

With baby #1, I passed the 1 hour. With baby #2, I was right at the cut off. With baby #3, I failed the 1 hour. And I refused the three hour. My number was not horrible....I think it was only a few points above the cut off. I knew that at the 3 hour test I would either (A) pass out, (B) throw up, or © all of the above. So I refused it. I just checked my blood sugar a few times a day and watched my carbs/sugar. It worked out just fine.

I've had three hospital births and they were just fine. I'm sure that movie (though I have not seen it) takes the most extreme cases to make their point (as most documentaries will do). My first two babies were induced due to low fluid. My third came on her own, even after I was asking for her to be induced and they weren't agreeing.

I can't believe that the Maze Runner trilogy has not been mentioned. I literally could not put it down...I think I read them cover to cover in one sitting. Way better than the Hunger Games, in my opinion.

We just recently upgraded from a Nissan Quest mini van to a Suburban. I absolutely LOVE it. I *did* want something where all three kids could fit across one seat (and DD5 has a huge car seat). That way, if we need to, we can fold down the third seat and have tons of cargo space (which we need when we go camping). I love having a large vehicle.

Thanks for all of your replies! Hopefully the doctor will prepare us for what is to come when we meet with her on Thursday. I didn't realize there would be bloody discharge from her eyes....yikes!! I mean, of course it makes sense but I didn't think about that. I'm not very good with blood. :ack2: DD5 is a very sensitive child....I'm not exactly sure how much to tell her and when to tell her. I'm thinking of not telling her until the afternoon before the surgery. And I'm definitely not saying the word "surgery" or anything about cutting the muscles. Maybe I'll just explain that the doctor will give her some medicine to take a nap and while she's asleep they are going to fix her eyes. But to her, nothing is wrong with her eyes. She says she cannot "feel" the eye go sideways, so she's not going to love the fact that they are fixing something that is not broken to her. She will still need to wear glasses afterwards because she has a rather large astigmatism....so it won't make any different to her right now whether her eyes are fixed or not since she'll still have to wear glasses. And thanks for the warning about her being cranky when she wakes from anesthesia. She did have a "whiff" of anesthesia when she was about 18 months old for a scope of her throat and did fine....but that was such a very short time. Maybe 10 minutes to do the whole thing. Does anyone know if we will be allowed back as she wakes up so that she will not be afraid?

DD5 has exotropia caused by amblyopia (in other words, one eye turns outwards due to having a lazy eye). We've tried patching....we can't get her to do any eye exercises....so the next step is surgery because it is just getting worse. So DD5 is set to have surgery on the 24th of this month. We have a pre-op appointment on Thursday of this week. I'm just wondering what to expect. The surgeon (which is the doctor who has been seeing DD for the past few years about her eyes) is really good. I'm comfortable with her. But DD will be going under general anesthesia and CUTTING her eye muscles, so of course, I'm a little apprehensive. I'm sure that blindness is a risk. And that worries me. And the doctor said there should be no pain afterwards....just a feeling like there is something in her eyes, which should only last about a day. Anyone have any experience with eye surgery on your kids?

My youngest is currently 8 months old....best things so far are... Nose frida Sophie the giraffe lots of onesies and baby legs sun hat for bald little heads Honestly, we do not require a lot of stuff with babies.

We go to Disney every October around Halloween. We LOVE MNSSHP!!! Just the parade and fireworks alone are worth it....very well done.

No....definitely do not vaccinate just because you feel pressured. Research and see what the risk of your child catching the disease is....if you feel there's enough of a risk, then you can choose whether you vaccinate or not.

I had to google it.....very strange toy, I must say. :confused:

Do you have an iPad? We purchased the Art Authority app on the iPad and it is awesome.

I had a Kindle Fire....thought it would satisfy my urge for a tablet. I had it for two months and sent it back. Bought the iPad 3 and couldn't be happier. There's just absolutely no comparing the two.

It's an app that you download (free if you have netflix). But you do have to be connected to wifi.

It's crazy down here!! The river near our house is reaching "record flood stage". Thankfully, we are not close enough to the river to be in a flood zone, but there are many people taking on water tonight...so sad.

Umm....nevermind. I found it on the actual A Living History of Our World website....:blushing: