[I come asking a super quick favor. Beautiful young woman with Down syndrome (Award)]

:001_smile:

 

Voted!

[VENT...Is it just me or does anyone else cannot stand Kindles, Nooks, E-Readers??]

I never thought I would want one, either. My mom bought me one for Christmas a few years ago, and I love it. I do cuddle up with the kids on the couch and read to them from it. I also use the library for many books, but if I need a book right away the kindle is great!

 

I didn't think I wanted a kindle either. My brother in law got me one for Christmas. He was so excited to watch me open it! It was an extravagent gift and one I never expected. (I think he got a deal from his work.)

I love bookstores. My first paycheck ever went to a glorious 100 year old copy of Folk Tales. I have books in every room of my house. I love the smell, the feel, the ideas.....

But, I love my kindle. I love the convenience of sticking it in my bag and it being able to hold stories I can read to the kiddos if we're stuck somewhere AND a book for me at soccer practice or the TKD studio.

Yes, I could bring those books with me, but, man, that kindle is light!

[Battling a UTI, starting our 4th course of antibiotics.]

My 7 yo dd had to have a VCUG last fall. I really dreaded it, but it was much less of an ordeal than I had expected. I did take her to a children's hospital. (She does not have the reflux.)

[Just sharing some things we made for our bedroom renovation]

I love it! I especially love the beadboard headboard. I might have to try that sometime soon. We have never had a headboard and yours is so nice!

[Used piano??]

I would ask the piano teacher. We got a used piano on freecycle. Keep in mind that moving it probably won't be free, so factor that into your cost. Ours looks nice in our living room and (after tuning) was perfectly adequate for my kids' use. (Moving it on our own, however, was another story...)

[how to make your house do the housework--anyone use these ideas?]

I don't believe I have *ever* cleaned the closet doors. Ever.

[Keeping ducks?]

I love ducks too! We have 8 chickens and have had 2-3 ducks in the past. Wild animals kept eating the ducks, and I couldn't bear it anymore. Ducks have so much personality! I loved watching them swim in their baby pool. Just make sure they have a safe night time enclosure, but it sounds like you have that covered.

[s/o... if you consider bargaining rude...]

I think it's fine to tell someone you're not interested in an item at their price. I would much rather someone tell me that so I can lower the price if I choose to, instead of just not responding.

[Kindle or Nano for ds's 11 birthday?]

Although I *love* my kindle, I don't think it's the best choice for my dd11. My parents suggested getting her one for Christmas, and I didn't think it was a good idea because most of the books she reads she gets at the library. We don't want to have to pay for all of her books!

 

We got my dd11 an itouch for Christmas instead. It has the kindle app on it, so she has read a book or two on there. Definitely a lot of things to be distracted by, though, you are right! I have put some controls on it for now (like a kid-safe internet browser instead of safari).

[Iphone 16gb or 32gb???]

I've also got an 8 GB itouch and space has never been a problem for me. I have plenty of music (not a ton, but I could fit plenty more), a lot of apps, and no movies.

[Best art for co-op setting?]

I haven't used it to teach an art co-op, but we are using Atelier this year and we love it. I bought the first level for my younger two children, and a higher level for my oldest dd. Frequently, however, my oldest dd will do the Level 1 project along with the others. It's fun to see how each child makes the project their own.

[Another important dh-dw issue:]

Oh, I just thought of something. You know those little brown plastic scrapers that you get when you buy stonewear from Pampered Chef? I use those on ALL my dishes.

 

I use these, too! They are great on all kinds of pans, not just stone bakeware. I bought 2 or 3 more at the last Pampered Chef party I went too, because somehow they're always getting lost.

[Dark hard floors. I am at my wit's end.]

They make sandals with microfiber dusters on the bottom of them. ;)

 

And I've got them! (Not that my floors look like it...)

I also use a Miele canister vacuum. Before that, we had an upright Hoover and I went to a vacuum repair shop and bought a long hose with the hard floor attachment on the end. This made it more like a canister vacuum, without having to buy a new vacuum.

 

I also own an Electrolux cordless stick vacuum that I bought at Costco, but it doesn't work very well for me.

 

And then, I also own a Roomba.

 

I've got a vacuum addiction. Not a *vacuuming* addiction, mind you, I just like to buy them and see if that's the magic solution!

[If you do FLL, which do you prefer...]

I may be wrong, but I thought that FLL 1/2 was just the older version before she split it into two books. I have always used FLL 1/2, because that's the only one that was out when I first bought the book. The book is split into two sections: one for first grade, and the other for second. I believe the newer versions don't have the copywork that FLL 1/2 does, because now there is WWE. We just skip the copywork/dication in FLL because we are doing WWE.

[Baby squirrel cam]

Thanks for the link! We are liking it. My brother once syringe fed baby rescued squirrels. They weren't as small as this, but they were pretty darn cute!

[When to switch from RS to MUS?]

I've really enjoyed RS B with my dd. For me, it's one I don't want to miss! I may switch to Singapore after RS C (still thinking about it). I did use MUS with my older dd for a few levels (first through third grades), but we didn't like it. This was before I'd found RS, and I ended up switching her to RS E in the 4th grade. For us, MUS had too many problems of the same type, and she began to hate math. She loved the games in RS and that made math fun for us again. Also, I love the abacus. It just makes more sense to me than the MUS blocks.

[Art for upper elementary?]

We're also using Atelier this year for the first time, and we all love them! They're rather expensive, but they do re-sell very well.

[All-In-One Knitting Supplies Kit]

These are my favorite needles.

 

http://www.fabric.com/knitting-crochet-knitting-needles-hiyahiya-knitting-needles-hiyahiya-steel-interchangeable-knitting-needle-set-4-tips-small.aspx

[Should I just drop SOTW Narration for now?]

I love the CDs. We usually listen to them 2-3 times during the week, while we're in the car. If we only listen to them once, my dd has trouble with the questions.

[Is an ipod touch worth the $$]

I love mine and use it all the time. I just have an 8 GB one, and I've never had a need for any more memory.

[Outlining, can you recommend a good resource?]

I just bought the Remedia workbook on outlining for my 11 yo dd, and it is really too basic for her (even though we haven't really done any outlinging yet). I think I need the newest TWTM instead!

[SOTW editions]

I'm using the old editions of everything (book, AG, and CDs) because I already have them. It's worked fine for us!

[Speaking of Flyladyish stuff, there's an app for that!]

I have the HoomeRoutines one and I *love* it! It makes Flylady workable for me. For some reason, I really enjoy checking things off on my ipod, and I love that it resets overnight for me so the next day it's ready to go again. (I got sick of wiping dry erase marker off my laminated routines, and then just stopped doing them altogether before I got this app.)

[Wii Dance Games.... Which One???? :)]

We've got Dance Dance Revolution (2 I think?) and Disney Dance Dance Revolution, but our favorite by far is Just Dance 2! It's more of a workout for me than the DDR's, and it's easy to just grab the remotes and dance, without worrying about the dance mats.

[my cat came home!!!!!!!]

Yay!!! So glad he came home- and I bet he is too!