I'm a photographer, and I HAVE heard of an unarchiving fee, though I haven't used one (I haven't wanted to make a large business for myself yet....so I keep things very small). Photographers use it to deter people from waiting forever to order. It's so a photographer can close an order and move onto other orders. It can be a pain if a client from months ago, or even years ago, suddenly wants to order something. The photographer has to pause their current orders in order to go back and re-size, possibly make changes to, possibly create a collage, upload the photos, order them, communicate with the prior client, etc. The unarchiving fee is to make it worth it to the photographer to do all of this stuff. HOWEVER....the unarchiving fee is usually disclosed BEFOREHAND. Lots of photographers even offer incentives for a client to order early....such as a % off of their photos, or a free print, or something like that. That way, the photographer can deal with this client and "close" the file...leaving the photographer able to move onto their next client. That's the problem with dealing with friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances...a photographer usually doesn't follow their normal protocol because they are giving a discount, or doesn't want to deal with all the "business stuff" that goes along with doing favors for friends. You did nothing wrong here. You should have been forewarned about an unarchiving fee. I DO understand charging one....but you just can't throw that on a client after the fact.

Some boxes of Crayola crayons 6 boxes of Crayola Twistables (best crayons EVER....thanks to TRU's Buy 1, Get 3 sale, I got 6 boxes for the price of 2! They usually sell for about $5 each) Too many glue sticks A few bottles of glue A few 3 pronged folders from Wal Mart Some magazine bins (to hold folders) from Target's Dollar Spot Animal flash cards from Target's Dollar Spot (we use these to cut up for animal projects) Some 5 pocket file folders from Target's Dollar Spot...wish I could find more but they seem to be out Erasers that fit on the top of your pencil Primary composition book 2 pair of kids scissors a teacher pointer from Target's Dollar Spot cardstock (not on sale) pencil holder containers (not on sale) several packs of index cards from Wal Mart poster tape a boxes each of Crayola markers and colored pencils big pack of test tubes (not on sale) label maker (not on sale) Crayola water colors x2 Crayola model magic (not on sale) primary sentence strips (not on sale) Whew! I just need some binder clips, a new stapler, push pins, two more of those 5 pocket file folders from Target, and a new pack of Sharpies....and I'll be ready! ETA....all this stuff is NOT just for this year. This stuff should last me at least a few years. So next year I won't be shopping this much LOL.

We school through the summer and only go outside to swim in our pool.

No....but do they have a DVD for each continent? If so, I might want to look into them. We'll be studying continents soon and it would be neat to watch a DVD featuring the animals on each continent.

She sounds slightly crazy LOL.

I've wondered this as well. I grew up down here in Florida, always around water, etc. I can swim, tread water, etc. But if it came to me saving someone and trying to get us back to shore....or me swimming a long distance to get myself back to shore, I really doubt that I could do it. Or to think of being stuck in the ocean, with nothing around, and treading water for an undetermined amount of time...not sure how well that would work either...I don't float very well on my back for some reason either. If I know that I'll be going in deep water, such as in a boat, I make sure that I know where the life jackets are at.

This sounds *exactly* like my 7 year old DD was. From the ages of about 4 - 6, getting her to sleep at night was HORRIBLE. I believe I even started a thread about it here....possibly multiple threads LOL. When she turned 7, it magically got better. She still doesn't require as much sleep as other kids, but she goes to bed and falls asleep MUCH easier. With us, we tried everything as well....it seems that it took a little time and maturity with our DD.

I've been slowly decluttering over the past year. I've had a garage sale, had DH take some boxes to Goodwill several times, given things away, and listed things on Craigslist. It's going well, but it's still a work in progress. We had things stuffed in every closet, cabinet, and storage area! I used to love to collect things....but then I thought...Why?? For one, they sit on a shelf an collect dust, which makes my dusting take longer to complete. For two, they cost money. All to just sit there! I used to collect Smurfs, things with frogs on it, breakable figurines. I don't anymore. I boxed up all of my Smurfs (because I do love those....I loved them from childhood). I kept ONE curio of favorite breakables. It's a small curio that is in the corner of our bedroom. I have a few knickknacks that sit around the house, but I have chosen a more modern looking decor with cleaner lines, so I don't have a lot of stuff just sitting around anymore. Toys....I've purged and purged and purged the playroom. The kids still have a lot of toys, but it is MUCH better than it used to be. And totally organized too. We're just not buying as many toys anymore. And I will completely purge junk before it even reaches the playroom. If my kids attend a carnival and win junk toys, I allow them to play with them for a few days....but when I see they are not playing with them anymore, I toss them into the trash. They never miss them. I've purged my closet and DH's. If something does not fit, it's gone. If you lose weight, you just go buy more. If it's something that hasn't been worn in months, it's gone. My issue is with children's books....I'm not quite sure what to purge. They have lots of baskets full of children's books in the playroom.

I would sit down and have a long talk with him. At 15, he should be able to understand what you expect of him....he'll have to be more independent at his school work. If a 15 year old boy is asking to come home, he probably needs to. Most kids at that age would rather be hanging out at school. But if I brought him home, I'd make sure that he understood what I expected AND that I wouldn't be putting him back in public school again. He'd spend the next 3 years at home because I wouldn't allow bouncing back and forth between public and homeschool.

I'm not going to use a handwriting program. Right now I'm working through the Explode The Code pre books with my 4 year old. Her motor skills are definitely not anywhere near good enough to write well. We skip most of the letter writing in the ETC books....I just want her to have a firm foundation of letter recognition and their sounds. The ETC pre books did this for my 7 year old when she was 4.

I began reading them to my 7 year old when she was 6, but I stopped. There was too much name calling for my taste. My children have never called each other a name and I believe it's because we don't allow them to listen to books or watch TV shows where name calling is prevalent. If they hear TV or book characters calling names and hear it as commonplace, then they will think it's okay.

Can someone explain the TFB to me? Is it like an online database of all of the Evan Moor books? And if you become a member, then you can print off any book that you want? If so, that would be awesome. I was just about to purchase three more books that are about $10 - $12 each.

My kids LOVE their science. We use their books to do different science studies. Last year we did Plants, Habitats, and Animals With Backbones. We're actually finishing up Habitats now. Then we'll move onto the Body, Weather, and Water. I think these are all in the 1st-3rd grade category.

The only one who stays overnight right now is DD7....and that's only with my parents. And yes, I call to say goodnight each time she stays over there. And I also ask my mom how she's been, did she eat well, has she behaved, etc. She's MY kid and if there is ever a problem with that (which, there's not) then I'd be thinking about not letting her sleep over anymore.

We're pretty lax on our schedule. I'm not one of those who can follow a time schedule down to the minute. I'd love to begin schooling by 8:30 but that's just not feasible for us. My kids sleep late and I try to do a few chores in the morning. So we try to begin by 10. I pull DD7 aside to begin her schooling at 10....we do reading, writing, and math together. Then it's usually a break...it's usually about 11:15 or 11:30 by that time. The kids play, I fix lunch, they eat, I do a few chores, I eat while surfing the net (and they play), and then we begin schooling again by about 1. At 1, I bring both kids together and we do Bible, Grammar, Map Skills, and whatever our other subject for the day is (I rotate history, science, sign language, art, and health). After those subjects, time for another break....kids play, I do chores, or research things for school. Right now, that's about where our day ends...it's usually about 2:30 or 3, depending on what we did for our rotating subject that day. Soon though, I'll let the kids have a break, then I'll pull aside my 4 year old for about 30 minutes and go over some preschool things with her. We don't really have any outside activities right now. But DD7 wants to take ballet, so we'll be signing her up for that.

Thanks everyone....I'm going to look into everything mentioned here and then decide what to do. I think we'll definitely drop RS4K though. I just know we won't get to experiments this year, especially with a new baby in the house.

LOL!! It's always lovely to witness one of nature's mating rituals....especially when a young child is right there to ask "What are they doing, mommy?" "Umm...making babies, sweetie." :lol:

I had saved nothing from my last two pregnancies. So I had to start over with maternity clothes. I had to suck it up and just go buy things. I found a pair of REALLY comfy capris (than can unroll and turn into pants) at Motherhood. I bought four pair in different colors and I just rotate them out. I'm very funny about how my clothing feels, and these feel great, so I'm just going with it. Do you have a Burlington Coat Factory near you? I found that they had a really good selection of maternity shirts for good prices. I got a few from there....I picked up a few on sale at Motherhood....I found a few at Old Navy. And that's about it. I tried consignment stores but didn't find anything that I liked. I've looked at eBay, but like you, I really have to try something on....the size on the tag doesn't necessarily matter. It's how it fits.

We used to have one. They are pretty easy to care for. We fed it crickets once or twice a week and made sure it always had water to submerge itself in. My sister has one right now that's an escape artist....even with an aquarium lid.

I will drive on the interstate....but it definitely isn't my favorite place. I'm concerned with the high rates of speed. One reason I dread road trips is because I think of the dangers of interstate driving. I worry that we'll be in a wreck.

Looks like fun!! I did Just Dance 2 on the Wii before getting pregnant...and early in pregnancy. After I have this baby, I'll be looking for some good indoor exercises. I'll have to check it out!

When I was 16, I knew that I'd never homeschool my kids...I'd been around homeschooling because my mom homeschooled my middle sister through her high school years and my youngest sister for all of her school years (she's a senior this year). Then I grew up. :D I had my own kids, realized the depth of my love for them, and knew that I could never send them off all day long to be raised and taught by strangers.

I'm not sure that I would have been brave enough to cut that thing open! Way cool though! And that thing is HUGE!

I got over eager and purchased Real Science 4 Kids to do with my girls this year. I bought the physics and chemistry. After thinking about it, in all reality, I'm not sure that we'll actually get to all of those experiments. And since the curriculum centers around these things, I have a feeling that it's going to be one of those subjects that pushed to the end of the day, and then we just don't get to it at all. I'm wondering if I should go a different route. My girls love worksheets and coloring. They like me reading to them. We've done quite a bit of life science type things for the past two years....nothing too formal, but I bought Evan Moor books and we went through those. Plus things like life cycles, plants, etc. Can anyone recommend anything that's less experiment based, but still fun for a 7 and 4 year old? Science is my 7 year old's favorite subject so I'd like to to remain that way. I don't mind *some* experiments, but just not completely centered around them.

Sign Language and Art. I schedule it.....but it rarely gets done.