My girls each have a bottom dresser drawer that is lined with nice heavy paper.

Try baking soda dry, or I think lemon juice mixed with salt is supposed to remove rust. Hope this helps, Katie

Please don't be worried. I am a big chicken when it comes to dentistry. I have had 2 root canals. The first one I was so terrified and it wasn't bad at all. It is just awkward holding your mouth open that long. My good friend is a dental hygenist and she says to go to an endodontist. They are trained just for these. You don't want a dentist that just does 1 or 2 a week to do your rc. You want someone that knows them like the back of their hand. Hopefully you won't need one anyway. If you do, don't worry-it's not bad at all. from one chicken to another

Oh, that video is wonderful. Thanks for sharing! I think children don't even realize they are saying it. It comes out so naturally. Katie

Dave Ramey is great! His course has changed us forever. I wish I had taken it when we first got married 13 years ago. Keep up the good work! Katie

We fight this so much. My dds friends say, "like" all of the time. "She was like, he was like, I was like...." I can't stand it. I am constantly reminding them to not say it. I had to put 2 of the 3 in PS this year. Now they are around their friends more, so it rubs off on them even more. My 10yo doesn't say it much, but the 8yo ---AAHHHGGG. It is on tv, movies, everywhere you go.... I don't let my girls watch much tv, very innocent shows such as Little House, Andy Griffith, etc. It reminds me of the "valley girl" times. Anyone else notice this?

Me too. I don't hate the cooking as much as the meal planning. I hate going through recipes to try to find things we might want to try.... Then planning my shopping list. I can think of a million other things I would rather be doing.

We put our 3rd and 5th grade daughters in public school for this year only. I told them that before we enrolled them. My 3rd grader loves it. I am glad but also sad. I feel like I wasn't making it fun enough for her. We just moved to a new state and she is making new friends, so that is probably her main reason for loving it. It is killing me. I want to have them at home, but we made the decision to put them in for 1 year. I have a 5 yo daughter at home too. So, hopefully I can focus on her. At least my 5th grader said she wants to hs next year. She doesn't care for the way the middle schoolers act. My 3rd grader came home on the first day (4 hours) and said, "I want to go to public next year too." I was so sad. I hope you are handling it better than I am. I am still pouting.:angelsad2: Katie

I did this to the front of our old fridge. I got so many compliments on it. I used a thin masonite type board from Lowe's. It is smooth and about 1/4" thick or so. Sometimes I have bought this board and it is smooth on both sides and other times it was rough on one side. This was many years ago, so black was the only color easily available at the time. I measured the pieces, cut them and sanded the edges. I painted on a coat of primer, then a couple of coats of chalkboard paint. Be sure to paint the edges too, they will show. I also framed it out with some small trim that I painted with red semi-gloss. I attached the trim to the panels with liquid nails, then later attached the panels to the fridge with liquid nails too. It held up really well. I am planning on doing it again, but going to use Martha's recipe. I am so excited to use a neat color. You could easily adapt this to a wall board. Just attach it with some screws and it can be taken down later if need be. Happy crafting, Katie

I usually spend $500-600 dollars per year. That is for 2 elementary aged children. I have a Kind. this year, but we have quite a bit to reuse. But even with the few things I want to get for the Kind., I am still keeping it at $600. Katie

I have an eleven year old that would wear it! I think it is adorable. I love the ivory floral too. Katie

I had some homemade strawberry-rhubarb ice cream at a church picnic the other night and it was wonderful. It might be close to my favorite. I had never had rhubarb before. It was great! Katie

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it! Katie

Thanks. Great article! Katie

I am going to use Mara Pratt's American History Stories vol. I-IV. I have a 5th, 3rd, and Kind. I am going to use Guerber's books mixed in and have my oldest read some out of The World of Capt. John Smith. I hope this will be a good mix. You can look at Pratt's books online at: http://www.mainlesson.com/displayauthor.php?author=pratt This looks good too: http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=eggleston&book=first&story=_contents You can look at them by genre and there are several american history books. You can print them off or order several on amazon. Rainbow has several too. Hope this helps! Katie

Good Morning, My oldest dd(10) is really bored with R&S. I don't think she minds the book itself. I think she thinks that there is something "more fun" out there. I tried to tell her that grammar is grammar, no matter which book we are using. We have been doing it all aloud, except diagramming. I like the look of R&S books personally. They are neat and organized. I am attracted to that. I feel that diagramming is important, so when I looked at easy grammar that is what I didn't like. It also seemed like a lot more busywork. I am sure that the student will know their parts of speech after using it. Then there is Harvey's. I have it, and am not sure that I am strong enough in grammar myself to teach with this program. I was not a good grammar student in school. I have learned so much teaching my children. I wish I had been taught this way when I was in school. Harvey's diagramming looks a little different to me, compared to R&S. So, I don't know which one to use. Can anyone help me with my decision? Thank you, Katie

I am so glad I am not the only one in those shoes. We moved out of state in June. I am still fixing up the house. I can't seem to make up my mind on what to order from Rainbow. I am hoping to get it in by Friday. We start on Labor Day, but if I don't get on the ball we won't get to start then. Katie

I have ordered from Amazon many times (with free shipping) and have always been pleased. Sometimes the shipping did seem slower than others. They have good cust. service. I would contact them. Katie

We start Labor Day. I am a little nervous about adding one more child this year, but I know there are plenty of amazing women out there that have many more children to teach. Katie

My hormones are nuts right now and I am much more irritable and short with the children. My husband is worried about my relationship with my girls will be damaged if I continue to be this way. I am having several other health issues as well. But that is the reason my DH thought putting them in PS might be a better option. My husband is wonderful about helping. He helps with the cooking a lot when home. He is in law enforcement so he has irregular shift work. But he is very helpful. I wish we could do take-out some, but the town we just moved to only has 2000 people and limited dining options. The next biggest town is 5000 people and 20 minutes away. I love that most of you say to keep them at home. That is what my heart says too. I do think I could simplify our day some. I do have the girls do some chores but I feel the need to be more organized about it. Does anyone have any good rec. for a good household management program? I feel like it is more exhausting to stay after them to do them, than to do them myself. But, I know that is not teaching them anything. I do feel that they should be doing chores. And my oldest is very helpful. Maybe the younger two will get better about is when the are older? I so appreciate you ALL, or Y'all, taking the time to give me your thoughts. I will continue to pray and hope that I can figure out what the Lord wants for our family. I think the Lord works through you all to help me find the answer.

I am so sorry you were treated that way by someone that calls herself a Christian. If I remember correctly, Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourself. I am a Christian and hope that you don't get the impression that all Christian are like that. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job raising your daughter. I think that children that grow up without being spoiled grow up to be much more responsible adults. They learn not to overspend beyond their income and are not materialistic. They tend to be the kind of people that are kind to everyone and are willing to do things for others. That sounds like the kind of adult I hope my children turn out to be. I will pray that the Lord brings you and your daughter some wonderful new friends. And keep up the great work! Katie

I had 3 c-sections and regret that I didn't try a VBAC. I agree too that we shouldn't give you medical advice. But we can encourage you to have a voice when you deal with dr's. I feel that we employ doctors. We, and the insurance for which we pay, pay them for their service. They can give you their advice or what they think would be best, but ultimately it is your decision. Please try to stay calm about it. You don't need anything upsetting you. When I was pregnant with my 3rd daughter I had some health concerns and had to tell one dr no to some testing that he rec. It was tough to do, but I felt like it was the best choice for me. The Lord be with you! Katie

Hello everyone, I would love some input from others that might have been in my situation. I have 3 daughters that are 5th grade, 3rd grade, and Kind. I have been HSing for 3 years. We just moved to a very small town. I am having some health concerns and am changing my diet to try to correct it. I have been so torn all summer, not knowing whether to send them to school or hs. I really want to HS, but my DH feels I really need to focus on my health. He doesn't want me to be too stressed from HSing and not take care of myself. He thought we could send them just for the year and then go back to HSing next year. I hate that when I am HSing I don't have the energy to cook healthy meals for my family, much less keep up the house. School registration is tommorrow. I am planning to keep the Kindergartener at home either way. I am so sad to see them go to school. Has anyone gone through something similar or have any words or wisdom? Thanks for reading! Katie