You know you are a homeschooler when you find lice on a child's head and promptly collect nits and lice and examine them under a microscope. We even got to see one hatching out of the egg!!! Except for the gross out factor, it was rather neat! Off to clean some bedding!!!!!!

Bejeweled Zuma Garden of Time Lexalous Scrabble Farkle Tetris Battle (very addictive)

Good man!!

OH, and one more comment on the 4 and 5 yo: Guess what their pricey private school uses for language arts: ABEKA! Same stuff I used. Their parents pay $10,000 a year for what I did for the cost of a workbook. (just a little victory dance here!!):001_smile:

I was in a hot chocolate mood, so I'll skip the tea. Breakfast was toast and cereal; I work on Wed. mornings. Tomorrow is pancakes. We are trying to adjust to having a 4 and a 5 yo in the house. BOY DO YOU NEED TO FEED THEM OFTEN!!! I've forgotten all of the snacking that went on when the kids were younger! Lunch: spaghetti leftovers (did you know you can burn pasta while boiling it? I managed to do that last night! LOL) Housecleaning today: keep DR table clear of books so we can eat! Keep toys picked up. Have I mentioned the two new little ones in the house yet??? Tonight: dinner at church (yeah, no cooking) and Awana. What are we coping with today? Our beloved pediatrician retired a couple of months ago and killed himself this week. It's a smaller town and he was very loved by all. He supported homeschooling, too! Sigh....now to find new peds for the kids. And, with all of the babies being born, yes, I would love a new baby in the house, but it is SO much easier to add them at birth than to add them when they are older. This was a LOT harder than I expected. God has been good, though, to help us all settle in. Today was better than Monday was!!!

TEE HEE Story of my life!!!

Blessings on this new little one!! Push it out! Push it out! WAAAAAAAAAAY Out!!:lol:

HUGS and PRAYERS!! I try to picture myself as riding over the tidal waves of life....hoping an upbeat mental image might help. But, I get sucked into the disasters all too easily. Sounds like it is time for something to come off your plate...or for a friendly plumber to show up! :grouphug:

Good morning!! I could use some hugs today! We've acquired a 4 and a 5 year old for a week or so and adding the little back into the family system is HARD WORK!!! Yikes, I've forgotten how NOT fun it is to try to teach school and stop to wipe backsides. And at the same time, we are celebrating our oldest turning 18 and an adopted son bringing home a girl to meet mom. So, in one weekend, I've added two little, one adult and a future wife. My head is reeling! AND.....my boss wants me to work full-time (NOOOooooo) and one kid needs an emergency ortho trip today. Plus, dh works until midnight tonight and I have two hours of advising college students to squeeze in. None of these are bad things, but, all together, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Hugs would help! LUNCH: leftover rice and chicken plus a can of soup and some veggies made a yummy rice hotdish. Christmas List: I think I want a Kindle Fire and some new house decorations (year round stuff). Hang in there, ladies! We can do this!!

Electric mattress pad fans here! Even had them on the kids beds! I like the ones that have a timer and so shut off automatically after 8 hours!

We gave it a British male accent and named it "Miles" because we go many miles with it!

Well, it's COLD. Forget snow. -30 with a stiff wind would be a better description. Yes, the job market in Williston is great. BUT, it is a rough, rough place to live. Few women, few housing options. Think wild west town. In no way do I mean to rain on your parade, but I would NOT make plans to move my family to Williston to live without making a visit first. I doubt you could even find housing there. Lots of people live out of there cars. Now, on the upside, you could like elsewhere, quite frugally, and have dh commute/work in Williston. It is hard work, though. Very physical. It will still be colder than you can imagine. ND as a state isn't awful. Lots of rural people homeschool because it is a long way from home to school. Check the HSLDA site for specific guidelines. If you decided to move to western ND, please contact me directly and I'll see if I can hook you up with someone from the western half for more info. God's blessings on your decision.

Are we crazy?? We are heading to DC over Christmas Break and planning on camping. We are from Minnesota, so the cold doesn't really bug us so much. We will have about 3 weeks to spend traveling there and back. I'm so excited about going and see it all!

Our pastor gives small, religious Christmas ornaments that were well received. "Some" of the ones from Oriental Trading are nice and CBD has some inexpensives ones, too!

Peter Pam was a huge hit here The musical/live stage event, that is

We've been delighted with the rigor and feedback from our Potter's School class.

I'll graduate my first one this year!! This is our 13th year in all.

I love Lucy is the major hit of all time here. Highly recommended Beverly Hillbillies was a hit. Hogan's Heroes. With two boys, I'd consider the Six Million Dollar Man. Someone asked about MASH. Not kid friendly at all! Lots of making out and strong innuendos about s$x. Full House Gomer Pyle

:lol::lol::lol: Mine wraps himself in a blanket and huddles in his chair in front of the TV when he has a cold. From his demeanor, you'd swear he had cancer. I SO want to tell him to suck it up and be a man...but that wouldn't go over well teehee

I've been told that children can't BE depressed....all while dealing with a desperately ill and depressed child. Honey, I wanted to say, when you 3yo cries in your lap once a week because she wants to die, she's depressed! It's not in HER head or in MY parenting! Whew....that was years ago and I didn't realize how mad that could still make me!

I'm a big Victor fan!! I think his designs are amazingly intricate. And he rarely has the time management problems that Anya has. It also ticks me off that, on several first episodes, someone had to help her finish a collar or something. Her designs are all drapey and flow-y to hid that she can't sew well. However, that said, she did an amazing job with $11.50 and muslin. And the top showed real, fitted designing for the first time. Still think Victor should have won, though. Can't wait until the next episode. I think Victor, Anya, and Josh at the end. Bert, although he can design, is a bit boring.

Oldest daughter was reading the notations at the top of the youngest daughter's spelling test. Youngest daughter doesn't excel at spelling. Older daughter reading: "Good job! Wonderful! At! Me: laughing profusely. :lol: Older daughter had read A+ as At and didn't have a clue why that was wrong. Memo to self: review letter grades and report cards with children. And for the record: older daughter is in 10th grade!! Guess I forgot a lesson or two on public school grades!

I'm watching it, but I don't remember that line. I've been a bit surprised about the crudity in several of the episodes, though.

This is our 13th year and God has faithfully helped us at each stage of homeschooling. I'm thrilled that I've had all of the extra time to build life-long relationships with my children.

We work at a college so we get 90% off the tuition, but no R&B. We were honest with the kids. They can live at home and have cheap tuition and that's the option. We'll cover the tuition, they cover the books and any associated expenses. Going elsewhere and getting a pile of debt just isn't an option for them or us!! College is still a good investment, but acquiring a huge debt load to get that degree isn't a super smart idea, IMHO!