sewmamasew has a large link of sewing blogs and tutorials http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/

Hated the show but the books were worse. We were given some as a gift. The kids picked them every. single. time. for bedtime. AAAAH! Unfortunately, they are now lost:p

I finally gave my copy away after it sat on my bookcase for years. Just read to them and help them vocalize their observations of the world around them.

They do math in the mornings, I correct by the afternoon. The next day they need to have made the corrections and hand them in with the new lesson. I let them check the answer for the corrections and some questions that they are stuck on. They have to show their work anyway and we're all in the same room for most of the day so I'm not worried about them cheating. It'll show up in their test anyway, if they were cheating.

We listened to the audiobook when they were as young as 3. Librivox has a good one. Still a favorite here.

We did SOTW 1-4 for our older kids but moved on to MOH. With our younger kids they just listened to the SOTW audiobooks. I hate doing the activities. Mummies - BTDT.

Every problem in the mixed practice section. Sometimes I let them skip some problems in the investigations.

We used FLL for grades 1 and 2, then followed R&S throughout with my 2 older children. With my 3rd child FLL just did not work. He couldn't memorize any of the definitions for more than half a day. We skipped the memory work too. It just got too frustrating. I think he has a processing disorder and he's getting evaluated for that. Now he's on R&S 3 and it's been wonderful. He really enjoys the diagramming and grammar makes sense now.

Wheat, egg, and dairy allergies. I'm looking for oat, barley, corn flours; EnerG Egg Replacer; rice milk, agave nectar; and brown rice pastas.

is it cheaper to buy basics (flours, sugars, pasta) from Whole Foods or Amazon? Any other places to buy from? Also, what are some of your favorite products? TIA

Scarlet Pimpernel

We've tried different science programs for years and I always dreaded the labs because of the scavenger hunt it involved for every piece of equipment or material (piece of fur, anyone?) This year we switched to Rainbow for grade 7 and I love it. The kids love the writing in the textbook and the labs are great. The kit comes with everything, down to the little piece of string needed for an experiment. This just makes my heart feel so light and happy:)

The kids named him Chewbacca because of his coloring, and it was ironic since he's so little.

I asked a while back where to get a dog. We ended up adopting a 2 month mystery breed from a rescue a few weeks ago. We think he has dashsund, boxer, chihuahua blood in him. This is our first family pet and it's been a big lesson in responsibility for our kids. Tired but basking in the puppy love. Thanks for all the great advice. I think I'm linking a picture, but not sure.

Thanks for the resources. Actually it turned up that dd has mild wheat, egg, and milk allergies -:blink: That eliminates basically everything we eat for breakfast and lunch. I'm also trying to figure out what "mild" means. Can I have muffins baked with milk but not a whole glass of milk. KWIM?

Thanks for the quick replies:)

My dd just got tested for allergies. I only talked to the ped. briefly on the phone and I'm wondering if a milk allergy only means cows' milk. Anybody know? TIA

While trying to go dairy free, I found this recipe for peanut butter cookies without flour or butter. It was super easy and really delicious. 1 egg 1 cup sugar 1 cup peanut butter Beat together until well mixed. Roll 1 Tablespoon into ball. Flatten. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes depending on how soft, chewy you want them. I doubled the recipe and got between 3-4 dozen cookies.

My parents have both. They prefer the Vitamix. There's too much waste with the juicer.

I do most of the cooking, but my older kids have started to make meals - tacos, nachos, quesadillas, etc. Dh makes great egg dishes.

I was talking to my friend on the phone while she was visiting the house across the street from me. We both came out our front doors at the same time, and we were talking to each other on the phone while looking at each other across the street. My little Clueless moment.

What about oreo crusts? It makes cheesecake sooo much better.

Me too! I always shop by labels. And countries I think are interesting - like Australia or Portugal.

The Hershey's website: http://www.hersheys.com/recipes.aspx has lots of good cake recipes.

Disney is a lot of fun and can be worth the money if your kids love fast rides and are tall enough for most of them. My older kids (11 and 9) at the time are ride maniacs and had a great time, but there were several rides my then 9year couldn't ride on. That was a big disappointment. My other kids either didn't want to go on the rides or were too short. Then it's just a lot of waiting around. If you're just going for 1 day, you might be in long lines for the most popular ones if you wait til later in the day to go on those. If you have an extra day or two, at least you'll know the lay of the land and go to the popular/best ones first.