When my mom expresses concern about the girls diet, I just remind her that our Dr. says they're in great shape. I wont feed into it much more than that with her. I keep it positive and brief. I get people telling me how they wont stay vegan, that when they grow up they'll at least try everything:confused:. I just say It's a good thing it's not a contest then! It seems people can't help themselves from being rude on this subject. I think it's like telling people you homeschool, it can make people feel defensive about their choices and they lash out stupidly (and unnecessarily). I've also found that you can't just dismiss what people have to say on the matter, sometimes people have truly valuable information to share, or a perspective that's interesting and valid which isn't veg or vegan. It's no fun if your diet is isolating, food should always be a joy! Good luck!!:)

I only use vegan cookbooks when I'm baking. It's harder to translate those recipes to be non dairy if it calls for more than 2 eggs or is heavy in the dairy. Right now we are doing all the recipes from 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World'. For us the most important thing is access to things like vegan chicken broth, veg chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp etc. I can make things like chicken pot pie and ceviche, anything really.

We eat ours Sri Lankan style, wash, slice out the stems, roll like a cigar and slice very thin. Start your onion with some oil (diced), add kale, add handful of shredded coconut, little salt. We eat it with Jamaican food too.

What exactly would I do? Should I fill a little jar w/ the alcohol and submerge it? And by alcohol you mean regular ol rubbing alcohol? How do I know when it's done doing it's thing? I'm not understanding what the alcohol will do to the head, does it get rid of the flesh? At the very least I'll do as suggested and leave it in the jar w/ alcohol. I like the mad scientist look, and I can throw it out when it gets gross. The girls are so excited!!

How do I know when it's....done?:ack2:

We just found a head belonging to a snake or lizard. I haven't really looked at it. The kids brought it home and would like to put it in our Private Eye collection box. It looks like there's a little bit of flesh left on it, mostly it looks cleaned out. How can I preserve it? Can I just leave it outside until it dries up? I have 2 kinds of containers in our collection box: acrylic magnifying box w/ lid, and little cardboard boxes w/ lid. Which one should I use? I just don't want the box to get a gross smell. thanks for any info

I once had a neighbor come up and ask what my hubby does for a living, she said "I always see your husband coming and going through out the day and night, he has a very expensive briefcase (actually it's a laptop carrier), an expensive car, street clothes, and young men at the house." Young men as in Puerto Ricans, black guys, Dominicans, OH MY!! It was obvious what she was getting at. So I said he's a drug dealer. She looked like her head was going to pop:lol: I quickly laughed and told her he's in the record business. She was so flustered, it was hilarious! So that's just lovely, I guess people think he COULD be a drug dealer!:confused: Her next question was what race are you guys:001_huh: Maybe people don't know what to think about us. I get are you an artist.

We'll be doing daily Kumon math packets (classes 2 days a week), We'll only take 1 month off from this. Piano and violin classes once a week, daily practice. Lot's of Waldorf crafts i.e. sewing little fairies, felting, bees wax. Pimsleur french cds in the car, as well as books on cd. Lots of reading and finishing our nature journals. Oh.. and finish up Artistic Pursuits!

Deece in MN, (or anyone familiar with these products:)) How often do you do the history scribe? Is it something that would compliment the timeline books they sell? I'm looking for a way to beef up SOTW 1 for my 5th grader next year. If you are familiar with SOTW, do you think it would combine ok? Also I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the book format of the time line as opposed to something I would post up around the classroom in a linear fashion?

My friend just showed me a Moving Beyond the Page workbook that sounds just like what you've described. It mixed science and so.st. into a Native Am. context.

Has anyone ordered from this Co.? I'm really excited about their timeline book, and reading logs. Any input?

Hearthsong and Mindware are also fun.

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I married his best friend:tongue_smilie: Last I heard he was going to become a priest!

My 10 yo says she likes him because he takes chances, makes mistakes, and gets messy? I think thats a Mrs. Frizzle quote:). She says his poems are like that, I think she's right. We don't use them as our official memorize this poem work, but they know ton's of them from reading the books over and over. I like him because he takes the edge off of something that can get a little pretentious. He will make up a word so the the poem rhymes, that's my kind of guy!

When I was 18 I went to Guatemala with a boyfriend. We went to take spanish immersion classes and were staying in different houses on opposite sides of town. I'll never forget one of the first nights there, we were in the park and he said well see ya tomorrow and left. I will NEVER forget the feeling of walking home alone. For four months I roamed accountable to no one. My mom would almost sound surprised if I called home. I would get up in the morning and check out markets, churches, bookstores whatever. I definitely spent time with my boyfriend, but over all it was an introspective time of my life. My life had been very tumultuous up to that point. I think that trip helped me not to loose myself in all the problems back home. I learned how to find a little peace.

You have to buy them separately.

Oil and sauce with good tongs, put it in the pan, then roll that baby up! I use my super mexican woman powers, no tortilla is to hot for me!:D (just let it cool for a second).

The guide book gives loads of ideas, there are a lot of different lessons to give. In the end it's always you, the loupe, and thinking by analogy. I've started this year with the most basic steps, trying to get them used to thinking/writing like this, and not erasing their drawings. I bought everything from the company. Here is the first activity sheet my then 9 yo wrote out: my finger a small mountain a million threads a wave in which I swam the wind in the sky and....me with the writing is a drawing of her finger as seen through the loupe. You can see the activity sheets on their site. The activity sheets are just the tip of the iceberg, you can get a lot out of this product. They do show how to bring in math, language arts, etc.

I dip my tortillas in hot oil before filling/rolling them, then I dip them in my warm enchilada sauce. Then I fill them. Put a little sauce on the bottom of the pan as well as on top. I used to make my enchilada sauce fresh using dried chilies etc. honestly it's not worth it. I now use Las Palmas products. I mix 1 can red sauce and 1 can enchilada sauce. Sometimes I add a little (vegan) chicken broth while I'm warming it up. This brand tastes pretty similar to the real thing. Maybe you can start with just making cheese enchiladas while you play with the flavor. Add some chopped green onion and sliced black olives on top before you bake. good luck. BTW I once made THE all time worst enchiladas. I say this with confidence because my family is vegan and our "cheese" when used in excess is putrid! We still talk about them and they have been given a totally inappropriate nickname:D. Don't give up it's an easy recipe once you get it down.

Yes! And we love it! In Sep. I bought the loops (w/ lanyards), the teachers guide, and upper and lower grade worksheets. It's going so well I decided to order the wooden boxes to collect specimens. The boxes are awesome! It's really worth it to read the manuel so that you can get the maximum out of the work. This is a well thought out program, there is a good reason for everything they teach. Kinder. seems like a good time to start, if your child can't write out the descriptions you can do it for them. What's so cool about private eye is going back and looking at your collection of worksheets, the drawings are scientific and beautiful, and the descriptions are poetic. It's nice to keep them together in a folder. My kids are 7 & 10 they are both using the lower grade work sheets. Hope this is helpful.

I just bought one at Naartjie. Also Boden has a cute longer skirt.

My girls 10 & 7 are marching around the living room right now to the Kit Kittredge sound tract. Great songs, and music history in one! My husband is in the music industry. It's scary out there:eek:

It's not a special price to get in or a super structured thing. You pay the regular price, and do the park like normal. But they do get together for a photo, and there are some classes available. Mostly, it looks like good company:). I think it will be great for the kids to see so many different families who live like we do.

Feb. 27th! We've tie-dyed our shirts, and are so excited to meet other home-schoolers there. Is anyone else going???