The closest Borders is about 45 minutes from me. I'm sure that bookshelves at that price were one of the first things to go. I'd love to have them but I don't think I'll make the trip.

I'd have specific household tasks that I want to accomplish each day. And kids chores too. I'd have a verse that I'd like to memorize or read each day. Any errands or appointments, of course.

So sad....shows that all the fame and the money in the world just cannot buy someone happiness. She was still trying to fill a void in her life. Probably some sort of drug issues are the cause of death.

Love his chunkiness!

Here's what we are doing for 2nd grade...it seems to take us most of the day to do everything. I'm not sure if it's just my DD who makes it take too long, or if we are doing too much. Reading: (daily) Dancing Bears (she's not reading well at all....so I need to stick with a formal reading program). Sometimes I'll add an activity to reading time....such as reading a Dr Seuss book to me, or having her unscramble and read a sentence that I created and cut up. Then she'll write the sentence. Or she'll get a tube of letter tiles and see how many words she can create and write out of those particular letters. Or we will play the game "See Spot Spell." Writing: (daily) We do a daily journal entry (just one sentence where she randomly chooses a noun, verb, and adjective from a jar and forms a sentence from those words). We are also working on some words from vision/auditory therapy where I write them, she copies them (she writes a lot of things backwards, so that's why we need to do this). A few times during the week we do Apples & Pears (a writing program for struggling writers/readers). We also do things like writing in the sand....again, this is for her therapy but we plug it into the school day. Grammar: (daily) First Language Lessons. We do two chapters per day. Plus, we work on the poem memorization for it too. Then I'll occasionally elaborate for a few days on something like learning the days of the week and the months of the year to help her learn them better. I also have a list of vocabulary words and we go over one per day, along with our grammar lesson. Bible: (daily...one chapter per week) Positive Action Bible Curriculum. This usually consists of me reading scripture, elaborating on the scripture by telling the Bible story in kid friendly fashion. The kids are usually coloring a corresponding picture while I'm reading. Then we discuss the story, apply it to real life, and pray. Math: (daily) Abeka 2nd grade (we've been doing this book for a few months now and will move into the 3rd grade book before we are halfway finished with her 2nd grade year). We do 4-5 pages per day. Not front and back. Occasionally we'll have to pause a few days while I elaborate on a certain subject that she may not be catching onto as quickly (such as fractions). Sometimes I'll substitute using the math book for playing a game such as Money Bags or Dogopoly...those reinforce her math skills. Science: (twice a week) Right now I'm doing my own natural science with them....but in the fall we will be starting Real Science 4 Kids. Right now this could consist of us watching a documentary about animals, doing a craft type activity, reading books, doing an easy experiment, etc. History: (twice a week) We were working on SOTW for a while, got sidetracked, and I hope to begin it again in the fall. We will rotate science and history, having each twice a week. I hope to do the story, coloring, and discussion one day and the activity the second day. Map Skills/Geography: (daily) This is fairly quick during our school day. DD is learning the states. We name the states she's already learning, pointing them out on the map. She adds the sticker of any new states she's learned. And I'm about to add in a continent study too. When not studying the continents, we do 2 pages of a Map Skills book that I have. This takes like 5 minutes or less. Then I also work with my 4 year old (when I actually get around to it) on recognizing numbers, letter sounds (using ETC but I hope to move on to OPGTTR soon), and a few other preschool-ish activities. But she sits on with my 7 year old on science, Bible, grammar, and sort of listens in on history sometimes. I feel like it is taking all. day. long to do these things. Maybe it's just my DD....she's moody and cranky a lot LOL. And then I do try to give them a few breaks here and there. The girls love to play and imagine together so I want to give them time to do that. I feel like the 4 year old sort of stays to herself all day while I'm working with my 7 year old. Sometimes I feel bad about that. She's very good at playing alone though. And she has no interest in very much "school." Is this too much? Too little? Am I leaving something out?

The other day I *just* read about a grandmother who threw an AWESOME secret agent camp for her grandchildren. Go to this website: http://www.grandmaslittlepearls.com/ . In the "search this blog" box, type in "secret agent." It comes up with LOTS of blog posts about all the things she did to prepare for the day. There's some really cool ideas.

Snapfish is having an awesome deal until the 26th. 200 prints for $2 or 100 prints for $1 (plus shipping).

With how I have to discipline my 7 year old during school time, I'm really not sure LOL. I know for a fact she would not be like this for other people. At church and at homeschool group she is as quiet as a mouse and very compliant. At home....not so much. I hope that she won't hate homeschooling one day.

I don't think I've ever seen an actual liquidation sale. Stores will advertise it, but then I walk in and things are the same price...maybe a couple dollars cheaper. This happened to a Blockbuster store that was closing. I was hoping to find cheap movies. Nope, still $20. I walked out.

THANK YOU for this reminder!! My girls LOVE the Crayola Twistables crayons. I do too....they are seriously the best. They are like $4 - $5 per pack. I just got 6 packs of them at TRU for a bit over $10. They are currently using two packs each (that I bought at full price a month ago) so I'm putting these 6 away for future use.

My younger DD turned 4 back in March....she's been doing "work" with big sister since she was three though. She participates in the following with my 7 year old: Bible (Positive Action Bible Curriculum) Science (so far it's been nature/animal/plant type stuff....we'll be starting RS4K in the fall though) Grammar (First Language Lessons) Artistic Pursuits (when we actually get around to it) SOTW 1 Apart from her sister, I do the Get Ready, Get Set, Go for the Code books with her....we're only on the first one though. However, I may switch over to OPGTTR. I tried it with my older DD and it didn't really work for her. So I may try it with my 4 year old. And I'll throw in some simple math too....nothing too advanced. Recognizing numbers, counting, reinforce shapes, etc.

I don't have four.....but I'll have three. A 2nd grader, pre-k, and a newborn. I'm kind of scared LOL.

Oh, and I'll definitely look into a decent brush/comb too. I just use a regular straight comb in order to get the tangles out. Maybe I can find something more comfortable. I'm sure my 4 year old and her tender head will thank you guys. :D

I had to LOL....I love practical jokes. DH and I take turns leaving this very realistic looking roach in various places around the house in attempt to freak each other out. And I also borrowed a life sized cut out of this guy (Zac Efron) and stood it in my DH's closet so that when he opened the door, he'd just about wet his pants....he nearly did LOL. But yeah, I would definitely tell him that there's an appropriate time for practical jokes and that it could have devastating consequences if done in a vehicle.

Wow, thanks for all of the replies and suggestions! So, I use a kids shampoo on her that is supposed to have a detangler/conditioner mixed in with the shampoo. Should I also use a separate conditioner or detangler? Maybe the one mixed into the shampoo is not good enough? I've been trimming her ends myself.....probably not often enough. And I've noticed that most of the worst snags do happen at the ends of her hair. Maybe I should take her for a cut at a salon and let them trim the ends? I usually cut my kids hair though....I hate going to a salon and paying the money for a simple trim. But if I did, I could also see what sort of conditioners they have for kids. I keep meaning to put her hair up at night but always forget. I will DEFINITELY have to start doing this. For those who braid their DD's hair at night.....do you just braid one down the back? Is that uncomfortable for sleeping on their backs? Or do you braid one on each side of the head? Sorry for all of the questions.....for my hair, I honestly just wash and brush it. I keep mine relatively short. Like I said, this is not my forte LOL.

Any particular type of detangler? I've never bought any....we keep older DD in a short cut since it looks good on her, so I've never worried about detangler.

See, I'm not that good LOL. I've tried and tried to french braid....and it turns out *okay*. Not too good. By morning stray hairs are going everywhere. Her hair is so fine that stray hairs seem to come out of every style I've tried. Maybe I'm just not doing it right LOL. I've always been a tomboy....girlie hairstyles are not my forte LOL.

DD4 has always had tons of hair. She had so much hair that I never wanted to cut it. So I let it grow until she was about 2 years old. Since then, I've always kept it about mid to lower back length. Well, it's just gotten to be a pain. Whenever I pull out the brush, she starts to run away and cries. This happens every morning and after every bath. She cries pretty much the whole time I'm brushing. Sometimes she screams. I know it is not comfortable....but I'm not trying to hurt her! I've asked her if she wants me to cut her hair. First she says yes (while I'm brushing her hair). Then she says no. She REALLY loves her "princess hair". This child spends her life dressing in princess dresses, twirling around, pretending to be a princess, etc. She loves that she has long "princess hair." I'm not sure that I could bear to cut it. But I'm also not sure how much longer I can brush her hair with her screaming bloody murder! Anyone ever had the same experience? What did you do?

A detached school room would never work for me. I'd have to remember to go out early and turn on the A/C in the summer and the heat in the winter before we could even go out there. If it were raining, I'd hate to worry with everyone getting wet. And I'm much too busy around the house while schooling. I make lunch, make dinner, wash dishes, etc.

I call it dinner. But I grew up calling it supper...my parents still do.

Yikes! That is really freaky!! When driving through a neighborhood, I've often been thankful that we do not live in a home that's straight through a stop sign. We live on a short cul-de-sac where it's not easy to get up any speed....and our bedroom (family bedroom) is at the back of the house. Yes, I've thought about this...I'm a worry wart.

DH is a lefty and so is DD7. I am a righty and so is DD4.

::sigh::...another thing I haven't thought of when homeschooling LOL. We do poem memorization and parts of speech definitions using First Language Lessons. Then we do scripture through AWANA at church. I'm wondering if I should be more organized with them? I usually just pull the AWANA book out during our Bible study time and pull the FLL book out during grammar time and just work on the memorization at those times.

I wouldn't worry about the weather down here in December. It could be 50 degrees or it could be 90, but it probably will not be raining.

Yep, the day after Halloween....or sometimes even the days leading up to it. That's when I fill my girls dress up box. Playsilks are good too.