We use ABCMouse.com and LOVE it!! It is cheap, and my 5yo is using it for preschool/kindergarten. He can navigate it all by himself which is the MOST important thing when you are thinking about curriculum on the computer with young ones!!!

My journey to being "done": I struggled with this for several years and it was definitely a process. When my second child was born a boy my husband and I had some thinking to do. Both of us come from a 2 child home and we had 2 dc. We both really wanted a little girl. I was also curious about what scripture said on the subject. Well then of course I came across all of the full quiver camps of belief. My husband and I discussed it and at the time decided to just leave it to God. Our birth control method was natural family planning. So it was an easy thing to let go further by just not practicing any method of birth control. Twenty months after #2 our little darling Olivia came. When #3 was around 1 1/2 I was ready to have another baby and wanted to actively try for one. My dh at that point in time said that he felt overwhelmed providing for a family of 5 and did not want another baby at the time. I was sad but respected his concern. The problem was that things were so uneven in the house. The 2 olders always arguing over whose turn it was to play with Olivia and my own concern that we were going to create a monster (lol) with the youngest the only girl and so doted upon. I explained my concern to my dh but he still wasn't ready for another baby. The month Olivia turned 2 my dh broke both his arms in a dirt bike accident and was home for 6 months. He got to see first hand how off balance the family chemistry was. So as soon as he went back to work we got pregnant with #4. My #4 pregnancy was a nightmare. I hurt my back, my #2 had some serious speech issues and life was just hard. I was really overwhelmed and revisiting my feelings on how many children I wanted. I wanted to be done but then would feel so sad and grieved I would question myself and even feel guilty like maybe I wasn't submitting to God's will for my life. Not to mention that my dh was D.O.N.E. and I had to be done too. A couple of months after #4 was born I was reading the Above Rubies Magazine, a support and encouragement ministry for allowing God to decide the number of children a family has, and one of the articles jumped out at me. It was by a woman that has 12 children and had entered menopause and was struggling with grief and depression because she was unlikely to have more children. It then struck me that this was NORMAL, no matter when I move beyond my fertility I am going to be sad and grieve. It is just one of the stages of life and the sadness and grief isn't an indicator of making the wrong decision regarding "being done". As my dh and I discussed my new found realization we also came to the bottom line that families like the Duggars have a specific calling and ministry that isn't any different than being a pastor or missionary. Everyone is not called to be a pastor or missionary or family of 21 and that is OK. It is natural for a woman to feel grief and experience a sense of loss when she moves beyond fertility. Once I had those bottom lines I had so much more peace with being done. My husband had a vasectomy a year ago and I was able to say, "I trust who I am now, my heart and motives now, to make this decision for the me I will be at 35 and 40." Will I be sad in 5 or 10 years? Probably, but I have peace. Not all of life's choices feel warm and fuzzy and just because they don't doesn't mean they aren't the right choice or are a "bad" or "wrong" choice. Blessings on you and your new baby!!

This is what we did too. After 100EL we started working through Phonics Pathways (Timberdoodle suggests going from 100EL to phonics pathways), BOB books, Pathway Readers and the Natural Speller. We are behind in Grammar but just started the 1992 edition of Easy Grammar for 2nd and 3rd Grade and LOOOOVE it. It is so easy and gentle. I wish I had known about it sooner! Funny thing, I had it in a box all along.

.......deeeep breath. Okay, so I need to chill.:lol: Thank you!! You know when you look back at a year and you just feel like what the bleeepity bleep happened? That's how I'm feeling. Plus I still feel like such a newbie to HSing even though I have been working with my ds9 since he was 7. And yes, I am a newbie on so many levels. When I decided on LLATL I felt like, okay this takes care of the reading/English/LA stuff. It is a gentle program that fits my philosophy. But I just couldn't make it happen with 2 kids in diff levels. I know that this is partly because the red and blue are so much more workbooky with cutting and pasting and what not. It just wasn't getting done. I think that putting together something from the library is an excellent idea. I will have to look into it and see what I can find. Thank's all for the advice!!

I like Lane Bryant and JCPenney. I have a CC for both. I do not carry a balance on them. I just use them for all of the discounts and coupons. Then pay off immediately. No point in the discount if you're paying interest!! :tongue_smilie:

I need advice. I am not sure where I should go from here. I need an English/LA curriculum. My dh has been laid off 6 of the last 8 months and life has been stressful and difficult. Last year in regard to HSing we had nearly a zero year. As it is we are a little more laid back and have followed the Raymond Moore school of thought in regard to educating boys. With that being said I have taken it slow and easy with lots of play and adventures. My oldest is 9 and he has completed 100EL, 3/4 Phonics Pathways (orally), BOB books, Pathway Readers 1st grade, First 1/4 of LLATL RED. I would say he is reading somewhere between 2-3 grade. I have not done any LA with him except for the first 3 months this last school year we were working through LLATL Red. It just wasn't working once my dh was laid off. I needed something that I could use with my 1st son, 2nd son and daughter simultaneously and so I switched to FIAR. It was too much with 3 children all in diff. MUS plus all 3 at diff reading/phonics levels. I was trying to do LLATL Blue with one, Red with another and 100EL with my daughter! And that is just LA. As I look at this next school year I think I am going to go with HOD's Bigger Hearts for His Glory. I can use it with all 3 children and it is meatier than FIAR. I am feeling anxious about my ds9 LAs. I need a program that is to the point and complete, I need it to hold my hand and have no holes that require me to figure out and supplement for. I need it to be cheaper. It doesn't have to include penmanship but everything else. I also want to try and catch up with him. He is 9.5 and I am uncomfortable with how far behind his peers he is at this point. HOD suggests using R&S 2 with the Bigger Hearts curriculum. I was thinking about purchasing the workbooks for the Pathway Readers 1st grade set and pick through them and have him do the lessons he doesn't know and then move on to R&S 2. BUT is R&S complete? IS there something else that comes to mind for my specific situation that will work better? Maybe a different LA program... maybe a different unit type study curriculum that allows me to piggyback more than one age group at a time? I eagerly await your words of wisdom......

Here is a good link concerning handmade products and the laws affect on them: This link says they go to the land fill: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story More links on the issue: http://kidsproducts.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_law_effecting_sale_of_childrens_products http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home

No suggestions. I had to post because Timberdoodle is my neighbor. I just LOVE them!! Every couple of years they have a HUGE yard sale where they sell all of their damaged stock for WAY cheap. It's a perk I like!:D

My 18mo ds loves his little push car. My neighbor has a dd that is 4 days younger and that is her favorite toy right now too. Here is the one my son has: http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Winnie-Pooh-Ride-Ride/dp/B0002HRWES/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1227433075&sr=1-4 It was $30 at Walmart. Here is a girly one: http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Brilliant-Basics-Musical-Roll-Along/dp/B0015KONU2/ref=pd_bxgy_t_img_c This one is at Walmart for close to $30. There is a basket on front for that special baby doll.

me too.

you can put a car in a garage.....:001_huh: lol

I think 12 is too young for noticeably altering makeup. It would be fun to start teaching her about skin care though. Things like moisturizing, blemish control and sun screen. Lip gloss seems alright to me. I think it has a lot to do with the child and the subject isn't just black and white,

I LOVE shopping on black Friday! On Thanksgiving we get the paper and pour over all of the ads. Then we split up the stores between my mom, 3 of my good girlfriends and myself. Then we give our list for a specific store to the lady going to THAT one. I ALWAYS get the deals because we do it this way. My teenage sister is so fast we send her after the BIG ones... dropping her off at the door while we find a place to park. I can't wait!!!