I don't think I could have handled a wedding prank, especially if it resulted in damage. And I don't like unexpected events, especially if they happen while I'm the center of attention, like at my own wedding. I might be a bit of a control freak. lol My bridesmaids did decorate my car, which was cute. I guess I don't consider that a prank, but an expected wedding tradition. The only good prank I've ever pulled was accidental. I joked with a coworker that the "easy button" said "I'm sorry, that was impossible" instead of "that was easy" every hundred pushes. The next day our boss showed me the video of my coworker pushing the button about 200 times trying to get it to say the wrong phrase.

I was so disappointed to read this--we love the Who Was books (my kids call them the big head books) and I was looking forward to the series.

PNW. Very typical of Trader Joe's, somewhat typical of QFC/Fred Meyer and Winco, and our local Safeway is like rebcoola's. I might get a hello. lol.

That's great! I love neighborhoods without random dogs running loose. My current neighborhood is mostly good too. I was afraid a few weeks ago that I might lose one buttock to a jumpy German Shepherd, but other than that it's been great. 😄

Yes, this. I suspect that some people were more active when they only had littles, and "school" was done in a couple of hours a day. As my children grow older and their schooling becomes more complex I find that I have less time for hanging out on the internet in general. And while I can't claim to have my finger on the pulse of the homeschooling community at large, I suspect that fewer people are joining a classical board than even a few years ago, to make up for those who are busier with homeschooling older kids. Elsewhere on the internet, this board seems to have a Lake Woebegone-esque reputation: the dads are PhDs, the moms are organized, and the children all learn three classical languages. Many of the new hsing families I meet want recommendations that are free, online, self-directed, and all-inclusive. The academically inclined families seem to be gravitating towards the secular Charlotte Mason-inspired curricula. And the rest are unschoolers and think that requiring kids to study constitutes child abuse. Just kidding, kind of. I think that I only know one classical hs family locally, and a few who use CC halfheartedly but don't necessarily buy into the benefits of classical education. And last but not least, forums such as this are kind of an old fashioned platform. The facebook hs groups are so busy that I can't even pretend to keep up,

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen the annotated Pioneer Girl recommended on this thread. It's LIW's first version of her life story, and this particular version is heavily footnoted (is that a word?) with lots of details about the people, places, and events about which Wilder wrote. It's a great starting point for those who wonder how the Little House books differ from her actual life story, and is a bit less political than Prairie Fires, which I did see recommended. Another good resource is Little Squatter on the Osage Diminished Reserve, which describes the circumstances surrounding the "settlement" of Kansas.

I'm curious--what are some non-child friendly Beverly Cleary books? I want to read them! I'm imagining a delicious mix of quaint and saucy. lol

r/******* is how reddit forums are named. I've been gone for a few days, but when I checked WTM today the tone seemed more like reddit than WTM. Name-calling, coarser than usual language, etc. Maybe it's been a rough weekend?

Welcome to r/WTM, I guess. huh.

I like it for providing exposure to Latin for my littles, but I wouldn’t use it alone for upper elementary. I haven’t used Latin for Children, so I can’t compare it to that, but my ds10 liked Minimus as an add-on along with Prima Latina.

At our former church there were always treats during coffee hour. Our current church has coffee for coffee hour. 😄 There is a snack during Sunday school, but it's almost always string cheese and mandarin oranges. The youth group does pancake breakfasts occasionally for fund raising, but they serve both regular pancakes and bacon and vegan pancakes and bacon, plus gluten free pancakes, so there's usually something for everyone. lol

Yeah, that's us too. DH lost weight when he went from eating fast food for lunch to eating gas station food. Good job, sweetie. *rolls eyes* He didn't need to lose weight in the first place!

Most of the games listed are sold in big box stores around here. We play most of these. Blokus is quick and fun and a good filler. Quirkle is nice--fun gameplay and nice tactile feel to the tiles. I'm surprised that Carcassonne wasn't on the list--it's usually considered one of the big three gateway games, along with Catan and Ticket to Ride.

I love seeing friends’ vacation photos too. And this will date me, but when I was a kid I loved to see vacation slides. My parents spent many evenings gritting their teeth while relatives took the big picture off the living room wall and projected their vacation pics onto it for us to admire. 😄

I think that it’s unfair to pin a label of rude on this since different people are hosting the two events. I’ve been invited to a shower but not a wedding, and I was happy to share in the joy in any way I could. 🙂