Well, I already posted this the other day, but here goes: Two days ago, my 7yo dd was sitting on the bed reading Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" to her stuffed animals. She was explaining all the lines to them just as I had done for her. I guess she really was listening. Today, she read Robert Louis Stevenson's "Windy Nights" and just loved it. She came to me and said, "Mommy, I love this poem! It's so beautiful. It has such a nice tune." Gotta love that! My dd 12 has been reading the novel I chose for her (A Wrinkle In Time) and actually LIKES it. This is nothing short of miraculous. My ds 20 woke himself up this morning to start his second semester of college. And he bought me lunch two days ago! Woohoo! Jeannie

After my husband erased our wedding guest list from the computer for the third time (years ago, of course), I gave up on a computerized address book. I also hate paper books because you never know if it's the new address or the old one, and they get so messy. I started using a small index card file box. Get alphabet dividers, index cards, and a file box. Write everyone on a separate index card and file them under their letter. The nice thing about this system is that if someone gets a new address, you just make a new card and toss the old one. Never wonder if you have the right address or not. It's portable, so I can take it anywhere in the house where I might be doing work. Also, I can write in family members' birthdays on the back of the cards. When I send out Christmas cards, I don't make a list. I just start at "A" in the box. I make a small notation of the year in the corner of the card ('08 this past year) and I know I sent that person a card. It has been the absolute best, most reliable way I've ever done an address list. Good luck to you! Jeannie

My son had a homebound teacher his senior year after he was in a car wreck and had his fractured hip repaired. He couldn't put weight on it for three months and sitting in the wheelchair was agony for him. The school board found a fantastic homebound teacher for him. The man even spoke Italian (my son was in Italian 2). The teacher was a middle school math teacher, so he came to our house in the afternoons. We got him two afternoons a week for I think around an hour and a half to two hours at a time. He was very dedicated to giving my son the teaching he needed while he was out of school. We loved him and my son learned a lot from him. I think a home schooling mom would make a great homebound teacher. Good luck to you if you choose to go that route! Jeannie

It was wonderful! The stuffed animals were enthralled and feel very enriched to have been exposed to such wonderful poetry. My dd is begging me to buy this book so she can keep it. She is not happy that it's a library book and we have to give it back! I found the study for it on homeschoolshare.com. It's for lapbooking, but I'm sure it could be adapted to note booking or whatever. I love that site. My dd loves to make lapbooks! Moments like this one today always make me glad we homeschool! jeannie

My 7yodd is reading Robert Frost to her stuffed animals. We are doing a poetry unit-very quick one on winter poetry-and the primary poem is "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening." She loves the book illustrated by Susan Jeffers. The pictures are just lovely and she has pretty much got this poem memorized after two readings. Anyway, just thought it was cute that she was reading poetry to her toys. And now back to our regular programming....... Jeannie

We picked up the state cards and the states flip book at the beginning of the school year. Check your flash cards and make sure they're all there. Don't count them, verify the states. LOL I have a good reason for this. My daughter and I did a lapbook for Miss Hickory, which is set in New Hampshire. When I went to pull out the state card for her, I couldn't find it. Turns out I had two of another state but no New Hampshire. I mean, come on! The one stinkin' card I needed! What are the odds? I find lots of very useful resources on the dollar rack at Target. Lots of scrapbooking stuff, too. Jeannie

I love that part! I was so PROUD of Neville right then that I could have cried! After seven books, some of these characters are like friends. Jeannie

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Just throwing this one out there, but what about Audie Murphy? He was poor, uneducated because he had to drop out of school around the age of 12 to support his family after his father abandoned them, supported his siblings after his mother died, managed to join Army (after being rejected by every other branch of the military) and became the most decorated soldier of WWII (that might not be specifically right but I think it is) and did it all before he was 19 or 20 years old. He went on to become an actor. One of our favorite movies is To Hell and Back, which is based on his autobiography. Just thought I'd toss that one out for you. Should appeal to a boy anyway. Jeannie

I know a lot of people have issues with Barbie dolls. I am not about to get into all of those and my opinion of them. That is a serious black hole from which nothing good will come. I liked Barbie dolls when I was a kid. I still like them. I never got any negative body images, etc. from them. They didn't turn me into a sex maniac. I have always liked that Barbie is marketed as the girl who can do anything. I am happy to be a SAHM, but if my daughters don't fit that mold, I don't want them to think that that is the only fitting place for girls. The reality is that not everyone is suited to cooking and cleaning and caring for children, no matter what some people may preach. I know a few ladies who are just not cut out for motherhood. Anyway, I have never had a problem with Barbie dolls, and I never will. My daughters have them. They play with them, and they play with their other toys, too. I think if you seriously have a problem with the doll, let your dd play with it till she tires of it, then make it disappear. She is clearly thrilled with the doll, so it seems cruel to just take it away from her. Good luck. I'm sure you'll get lots and lots of conflicting responses. J

When my middle child cut her hair off, I made the mistake of calling my sister to tell her. Her oldest is one year older than my middle. Her response (insert holier than thou tone here) was "We don't leave the scissors down where J can reach them." My answer was that there wasn't anywhere in my house that my daughter couldn't reach. Well, Karma can sure come back and bite you in the patootie. Six months later, my sister calls to tell me that J had cut his hair. I laughed my head off! :lol: Jeannie

I would opt for the path of least resistance and go with "Instead of whining, I will be thankful." J

I have had to face the fact over the years that "decluttering" is an ongoing process. There is no end to it. If you think there is, six weeks down the line, you're going to wake up and wonder how your house got so cluttered again! LOL There is no end to it. You have to make up your mind that you will be decluttering forever. That sounds really bad, doesn't it? At first, decluttering is easy because you have so much stuff. Eventually, decluttering will just mean looking around the living room and thinking, "I don't really like those little knick knacks anymore." Then you'll bag 'em up and ship 'em to Goodwill. As long as you bring things into your home, you have the potential for new clutter. I have lived in clutter most of my life. My mother would buy junk, junk, junk! When it came time to clean the house, her solution was to box it all up and rent a storage unit. She never went through the stuff, she just bought more and then rented another storage unit. When she died in 1995, she had six storage rooms, all at least 10x10, that she had been renting for the better part of ten years. I shudder to think of the thousands of dollars she wasted storing trash. And it was just that-trash. Another poster recommended Flylady.net. It's wonderful. Just remember that your home didn't get cluttered up in a day and it won't get decluttered in a day either. Be nice to yourself, and stick with it. Good luck! J

I just took both DDs to see this movie yesterday and they loved it. I thought it was surprisingly good. I like Adam Sandler, I just can't let my kids watch any of the movies. LOL This one was good. I actually thought the guy with Sleep Panic Disorder (is that even a real thing?) was pretty funny. But then, I am weird. Jeannie

Well, this is not looking good, is it? 87 reads and not one person has posted. Hmmm.......guess I won't be going with this one after all. :) jeannie

bump :lurk5:

Hi, I'm researching curriculum for next year and would like to know if anyone has used McRuffy's 3rd grade science program? I have found reviews for 1st and 2nd but not 3rd. If you have used this, please tell me what you liked and/or disliked about it. Thanks Jeannie

I am going to re-read Homeschooling With A Meek And Quiet Spirit. I really need to read this again before picking up school on Monday. :) I am also in the middle of re-reading The Prisoner Of Azkaban so I'll probably finish that by Monday as well. Then I'll pick something new for the next week. I have a running list of all the books y'all have posted that look interesting. Jeannie

Can honestly say I haven't been to a garage sale all year. Weird for me. Hopefully, Goodwill counts! I found a great purple desk chair for dd for $6. I also found the exact reader that I wanted for her for about .25 (new price is 12.99 and this book looks brand new). J

I've been a member for a very long time, but I can't honestly say I've tried as hard as I should have. I have made a great deal of progress over the years, though. My New Year's Resolution is to get out the control journal that I bought several months ago, and actually fill it out and use it. J

I'm in! I love to read! I'm bad about re reading old favorites instead of trying something new that I might not like. I made a page in my planner for a book list and have been taking notes as I read through all nine pages of this thread. J

My husband cycles through all the MMOs. Wow, Everquest, Everquest 2, Anarchy Online, City of Heroes, I can't even name them all. I tell him he has MMO commitment issues. Years ago, I would fume and fume about his staying up playing computer games. I guess over the years I just decided to be glad that at least he was home and in the same room (most of the time). I will say that lately, he has been choosing to watch tv with us, play Rock Band with the kids, that kind of stuff. And if I asked him to get off the computer, he would. He might not like it, but he would. I usually don't ask him, though. I know marriages and relationships that have broken up over computer gaming. I think both parties really have to be willing to give or it can't end well. Good luck. I hope you guys can find a balance that will keep you both contented. J

This will sound a little goofy, but I really loved those shows when I was a kid because they showed me that not all families were as screwy as mine! LOL I loved the Brady Bunch, the Partidge Family, My Three Sons, etc. I'd watch those shows all the time. Even the Adams Family was more normal than mine! :) I don't see a thing in the world wrong with being compared to June Cleaver. I figure, the people who attack these shows and what they represent, or refer to SAHMs as June Cleavers (in a derogatory manner) are kind of like people who attack home schooling without any good reason. They're really doing it because they feel threatened and they feel that you are secretly looking down on them and thinking that they are failures as parents, or home makers, or whatever. They take your life choices as judgments against them. June Cleaver rocks!:thumbup: Jeannie

I don't think we have a single loser this year. Honestly, I don't think we ever have had a loser, thank goodness. Big hits: DS 20 loved his Tim Hawkins dvds, Warhammer books, the entire set of The Cosby Show on dvd, and his Transformers chess set. DH loved his Nintendo DS, but he picked it out so I knew he would. DD 12 loved her iPOD dock that is an old timey juke box, peace sign watch, Tim Hawkins cd, sewing box, and Rubik's cube (the new one with the talking games) DD 7 loved, loved, loved her new kitchen! Makes the three hours DH spent last night assembling it totally worth it. She also loved her Tumbles the Rollover Pup, new doll, Littlest Petshop pets, Fur Real friends, Barbie Pet Vet set, .....the list goes on and on. She is the happiest kid today. Me, Dh gave me a beautiful cross necklace, new watch, and a griddle. Merry Christmas! J

I think your family is beautiful! They look happy and fun-loving and completely normal. I also prefer the natural look to photos. J