OK, Los Angeles... Beaches Disneyland City Walk at Universal Studios (especially the Shabu Shabu at Wasabi..YUM!) the weather (although for this New Englander the monotony of nice weather is kind of annoying...give me a little raincloud every now and then for crying out loud!) Grace Community Church and the preaching of John MacArthur the Grove proximity to San Diego (Sea World, the Zoo) Ronald Reagan Presidential Library lots of hiking fantastic sushi Things we have yet to do, but want to: The Getty Museum La Brea tar pits numerous other things that I can't think of now Of course, I could do without the hordes of people, the traffic, and the earthquakes!

Oh, Ria. Yes, we just put our 6 year old beagle down in July after very sudden kidney failure. It was, and still is, so hard. I used to always wonder when I'd see people get so sad after the loss of a pet. Now I know how truly devastating it can be. We still have tears around here. I miss my doggie at night when I'm going to bed. I would always lock him in his crate and say goodnight to him. I've actually said goodnight on a number of occasions and he's not there. I really do feel your pain. It's so hard.

Well, we do a half hour outside mid-morning (usually about 10-10:30). My 20 month old never comes in happily, but with a snack waiting inside, he usually forgets how unhappy he was pretty quickly. The snack is the only thing that makes that do-able on a daily basis.

I always make sure there is something on the table they'll eat (bread/salad) and just serve one meal. I am a mean mom, I guess, but barring allergies I would almost never make another meal for my children. The only time I break this rule is when I prepare something very expensive for hubby and I (like filet mignon). I just don't have enough grocery $ for everyone to eat it. It's a lesson in manners, I believe, to graciously accept a few bites of something and not complain about it. The ability to refrain from complaining is huge for me.

Mine's up! Happy WW!!

Mine's up! Happy WW everyone!

The Mariott Marquis is right in Times Square. It's not cheap, but for one night might fit the bill. We've stayed there twice and it's a delightful hotel.

Yes, my first thought was Alphabet Pam's "totally-evil-responsible-for-many-added-pounds-on-my-hips no bake cookies." Those always work around here in a pinch. :-)

I have always used regular and it's always been fine. Enjoy your yummy bread!

Jill Trinka and John Feierabend put out some great folk song CD's.

We found a great pumpkin apple butter recipe a few years ago and gave it away for Christmas. I think I found it at Allrecipes.com

Rifles for Watie here, too.

I would say that 4A/B started to get hard for my son and 5A/B was plain 'ol difficult. We are now breathing a sigh of relief in 6A. It seems to be a bit easier. Maybe because we slogged through 5A/B and got all those concepts nailed down? I don't know, but it's nice to have a bit of reprieve.

Jackie~ I really am amazed at the impact this has had on our homeschool this year. My kids really look forward to Mondays...it is such a happy and cheerful way to ease into our week. I hope you have the same success!!

Well, my 11, 8, & 5 year olds are watching "Holiday Inn" right this minute, dancing around and singing all the songs! So, it may not be normal, but we'll come along and be abnormal with you!

We have made Mondays our fun extras day. We forgo math, Latin and the like and instead do history projects and crafts, letter writing, hymn singing, picture study/art, nature walks, recitations of our memory work, as well as units studies (currently we are working through one on U.S. elections and are about to start one on the life of Mozart). It has made a big difference! I used to reserve Fridays for all the extras. But, honestly, I was usually so tired and burnt that we never got to half of what I scheduled. Doing everything on Mondays when we are fresh has really, really helped. Also, I've recently set my kids up with private blogs and invited friends and family to read them. My son LOVES to write and this gives him a great outlet for writing about things that interest him. This is a great question. I am really looking forward to more responses!

Mine's up...fun with lollipops! Happy WW!!

Welcome, Esther! Enjoy your first homeschooling year!

Welcome back, Colleen. I'm sorry your trip wasn't what you'd hoped.:grouphug:

My first reaction was Ecclesiastes 1:9, where Soloman states, "That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun." So it is not possible that beauty can be a Greek idea, it was originally God's. And Who is this standard of beauty? God Himself: One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4 We are made in the image of God, and therefore there should be some innate ability to perceive beauty, but I would say beauty apart from God, Who is beauty defined, is a corrupted form of beauty. That is probably why God reminds us over and over in Proverbs not to be deceived and led astray by the beauty of others. Phillipians 4:8 reminds us, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." I do not know what the original Greek is for 'lovely' in this verse, but it would probably be worth looking into. Good question! I enjoy having to think these things through. I apologize for the chaotic presentation of these thoughts. DS5 i sitting next to me, pummeling me with questions! :-)

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales & Augustine Came to Kent We are thoroughly enjoying both!

I feel ambivalent about it. We completed Ancients II last year and while I think my children (4th & 5th at the time) learned a bunch, it definitely was a little dull. To answer you questions specifically, it was: *very easy to implement *sometimes interesting, but more often tedious *rigorous enough *the levels do not match up, so you would have to pick one and either beef it up for your olders or water it down for your youngers *I found it accurate *Worldview is secular, but easy enough, IMO, to add in some Christian worldview if that is your desire *Pandia Press was easy to deal with, shipped fast, etc. Part of it for us was that my kids don't really LOVE the history pockets, and those are used heavily in Ancients II. They're just not big 'cut & pasters.' I think the program was thorough enough. I loved the map work included. It was just hard for me with 5 children, the youngest of whom was a newborn, to spice it up enough. It just felt boring. HTH,

Oh. My. Word! You poor thing!!! But, I wouldn't let you live that down either!:tongue_smilie:

I am a knucklehead, too. I thought, "fruit!" Huh?

Praying here, Kathy!! The Lord is honored by the magnitude of our prayers. I will most certainly pray for a miracle!