Another probably unhelpful reply... I'm from Canada where a lot of people do RCM exams. Anyone with an ARCT certificate can teach. It says on the link below that it's recognized internationally as a teaching qualification. https://examinations.rcmusic.ca/forms-and-services/arct-graduation

This is probably going to be really unhelpful, but we have a friend who plays cello and initially applied for a masters program at Yale. He got through the audition process, but wasn't accepted into the program so now he's doing his bachelor degree. He was pretty much right out of high school and applying to a masters program. I think it had to do more with who was teaching that program and the audition process than past degrees. Just chiming in because in this instance a bachelor degree was not an absolute requirement.

I don't know how my dd ended up horse crazy. She read Black Beauty when she was five and then had an imaginary stable full of horses. They all were different and had their own personalities and she would ride them everywhere (which meant that she galloped, she didn't walk). She read all the Marguerite Henry books she could find and anything else about horses. She drew countless horses. Then we moved next door to three horses and she was able to help care for one of them and even do a little bit of riding. Interest peaked at twelve or thirteen and then slowed from there. She still loves horses and recently used my camera to take a bunch of pictures of them, but she's not driven enough to go and muck our a stall or anything.

Just had another thought - how about using the bosu ball? You could do your weight lifting while balancing on the ball to work your core. Squats on the bosu are good for that, too.

Does your gym have a TRX? There are a ton of strength exercises you can do with it that also strengthen your core.

Then they'd be Canadians who happen to be black.

Yes, exactly. I found it strange when I moved to England they don't use the term "East Indian" at all - anyone who I would call East Indian was referred to as Asian which really threw me because I was used to people from China, Korea, Japan, etc. being referred to as Asian.

Thanks - Like Mother Like Daughter looks great! I read a bunch of her posts and will check out the other links today.

I remember that book! I read it back when I did the FlyLady (dh says those were the best three weeks of his life) however many years ago. I'll see if my library has it.

Thank you! I have Home Comforts sitting on my shelf - haven't looked at it in about ten years. I think I'll pull it down.I'll check out the blogs and decluttering sites today.

That's horrible! It sounds worse than mine. I was potty training in the back yard and wanted to dig the kiddy pool out of the back shed. The shed was big and full, the pool was way at the back of it so I started moving things out of my way and putting them behind me so I could make my way through the shed to the pool. Except that somewhere in there I heard the buzzing of a wasp so I tried running for the door - except it there was stuff everywhere and somehow I slipped and my knee dislocated. The two older kids were at VBS and I was home alone with my two year old and my 5 year old. 5 year old had to call a friend and she took me to emerg (I can't actually remember where we took the kids...). I was on crutches for at least a few weeks and didn't wear heels for almost a year. Now I have psychological knee issues ;) Even the thought of doing something like skiing completely freaks me out. Anyway - I'm so sorry about your knee and I hope that whatever you did to it is able to heal smoothly.

I'd like to do a better job at running the house - meal planning, cleaning, laundry, organization, etc. I like some parts of FlyLady and will likely try to implement some routines (I still have a firm entrenched morning routine from doing FL about 11 years ago). However, I'd like to take a look at other blogs or sites that have helpful posts about home organization. Does anyone have any favourite places to go for inspiration? I'd like to create a household binder, but I'm not sure what to put in it. I'd like to have some sort of coherent cleaning plan. I'm going to start another Whole 30 on the 7th, so anything related to W30 would be great as well. Thanks!

I read those as a kid and they stuck with me more than any other books. I haven't read them to my kids yet, but maybe that's what we'll do next. My best friend and I wrote a song and a poem about the series and I think I can still recite them both by memory today :)

The Mysterious Benedict Society was the book that turned my reluctant reader into an avid reader. He got it for Christmas when he was ten and never looked back.

At that age my boys absolutely loved The Indian in the Cupboard series. I did, too. Right now I'm reading Watership Down to my nine year old and we're both enjoying it. I keep hearing about people who didn't like it at all so I'm a little worried about the second half of the book, but so far so good. I'm also reading The Road to my older boys (12 and 14). It's definitely not a typical read-aloud, but I love the language and the intensity of emotion in it and the boys and I are having some fantastic discussions about the various scenarios in the book.

With regards to gifts, a couple of friends of mine tried to do homemade gifts for a while. They actually made some really neat gifts - and so did their kids. I remember one birthday her younger girl made a huge cookie (possibly cookie sheet sized...) for the birthday girl and decorated it with icing. It was a big hit at the party. What kid doesn't want to receive a giant cookie or a box of cupcakes for him or herself :) I have received a number of handmade gifts over the years - the most precious being a felted bag that two of my friends made together for me. The friends who did this handmade gift thing were both very talented. They were able to knit and sew and can things and bake things.

I had a goal of 52 books and only read about 28. We did move across the country, so that's my excuse. A lot of what I did read was fluff. My favourite book of the year was The Orenda by Joseph Boyden. It dealt with the relationships between the Huron, the Iroquois and a Jesuit missionary. Probably one of the most disturbing books I've ever read, but also one of the most fascinating. I also enjoyed a few short story collections: The Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood What We Talk About When We Talk About Ann Frank by Nathan Englander. Civil War in Bad Decline by George Saunders Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri My least favourite book was Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk which really bugged me because I loved his novel, Snow. Museum of Innocence was really stupid. I read all of John Green's novels as my 14 year old is interested in them. Most surprising enjoyable reads were JK Rowlings detective books - she writes as Robert Galbraith. They were fluff, but the stories were compelling, the characters were interesting, and I enjoy the way she writes.

Glad to hear you say that! I'm about halfway through reading it to my nine year old and so far we're both really enjoying it. I was getting worried about all the bad reviews.

I am willing to splurge a little on good Yoga pants - I buy mine from Lululemon. They hold their shape, don't fade or stretch out and are very comfortable to wear. My latest pair has a very high rise at the waist. I don't go out of the house without wearing a shirt or sweater long enough to cover my behind. http://shop.lululemon.com/products/category/women-pants?mnid=mn;CAwomen;bottoms;pants

My daughter's name is Abbie. Not Abigail. She is almost 19 and very happy with her name. She dislikes the name Abigail.

My mom still does a stocking for me. Actually, my mom and my sister do a stocking for me, my sister and I do a stocking for my mom. My husband also does a stocking for me so I get two. I like stockings :)

I'd like to not care about the scale. I can tell there have been big changes this month. In addition to just feeling better and having way more energy my clothes also fit differently. I'm fitting nicely into clothes I haven't worn in at least two years. I shouldn't care what number the scale says, but I do. TRX is suspension training. It's strength training that is great for also building core strength and balance. https://www.trxtraining.com/suspension-training

I'm back at the gym again after no exercise for a couple of years. This week so far: Monday: TRX class Tuesday: spin class Wednesday: TRX I have to pick fil up at the airport tonight at 11:30, so I'm not getting up for the 6am spin class tomorrow, but I will do TRX again on Friday. I also joined a 30 day FB nutritional coaching group - today is the last day of the 30 days so tomorrow I can weigh myself. I'm nervous as I feel I've worked hard this month (gym 3 times a week plus eating much differently). I know I feel way better - I have a lot more energy and less headaches, but I'd like to see the number on the scale move, too.

We've read the entire Chronicles of Narnia as a family two times. Three of my kids have read the entire series and one has not. We've read The Hobbit as a family, plus all of the kids have listened to the audiobook - oh, and all of the kids have listened to the Focus on the Family audio of Chronicles of Narnia over and over again. Three of my kids have read The Hobbit, two of them have read the first book in The Lord of the Rings. As a kid I didn't read Chronicles of Narnia, but I read all of The Lord of the Rings.

In our old local meet-up group it was expected that everyone was able to organize an activity. Basically, if someone said, "Hey, are there homeschool swim lessons?" Someone else would say, "No, there aren't. But, great idea - why don't you organize that and post it?" The official "owner" of the MU group did post some regular meet-ups, but everyone else felt free to organize field trips, post when they were going to the park, etc. It resulted in a very full calendar with a wide range of activities - everything from baking at someone's house with a cap of 5 kids to a series of art lessons with a local artist to beach days and beyond. Basically, if someone thought of it it got posted and there were generally other people interested in taking part.