My sister has jokingly made comments several times. She has said, "So, do you want another child or two added to your homeschool?" I've flat out told her that I don't and that my two children are my limit. She is having a lot of problems with the private school that her daughter is attending and isn't sure where else she can move her to (she won't consider public). I've given her a few pep talks and told her that if push came to shove, she could homeschool her daughter (she is a SAHM). But the bottom line is that unless there were extreme circumstances (for instance, if my sis was a working mom and her child was in a dangerous situation), I am just not interested in homeschooling any other children aside from my own.

I get up around 6:30 a.m. and head down to my basement to work out in my home gym. I finish between 7:30 and 8:00 and go upstairs to wake my girls up at 8:00. I take a quick shower and run down to eat breakfast and make sure the girls have eaten too. If I have a few minutes, I pop on the internet while I'm eating breakfast. We start school at 9:00.

I'm old school. I think that it sounds disrespectful for children to call adults by their first names. I prefer Mrs. (last name), but am okay with Miss (first name), especially when the children are young.

They are all biased one way or another IMO.

I am surprised that several people are bothered by the use of the word "institute". :confused: I always thought that it was a catchy name for the company and nothing else. I don't feel like it is a misrepresentation in any way. :confused: We just started IEW so it is too soon to know if it will work well for us, but I like what I see so far. :001_smile: I honestly don't care what they call the company as long as the program works for us. ;)

I spend as I need it. I'm fortunate that I'm able to choose homeschool curriculum that I really want without having to consider the cost. As I always tell my DH: Whatever I spend, it is still cheaper than private school!

We start tomorrow! This is Year 7 for us (is that right/possible? :confused:). I've got everything ready, and I'm excited to start! :thumbup:

I pre-ordered it too! I'm doing the Brazil Butt workout right now and then I'm going to work up to Cathe Friedrich's Butts and Guts. I guess I'm really focused on my tush these days. :lol:

Your day sounds great! We start tomorrow too, but we are starting with a full load right away. I want to get a few really full weeks in before all of our activities start up again.

I guess I'm lazy too because that sounds like way too much work for me. Besides, while I adore teaching my own children, I have no desire to teach anyone else's. :blush:

Nicely stated! :iagree:

I never leave the house without light makeup on, but if I'm not leaving the house or if I don't have anyone coming over, I usually don't wear it. I look really put together when I go out, but not at all when I'm at home. Thank goodness I rarely have people drop by without calling first. :lol:

You look great!! DH has done P90X so it is around here somewhere, but I haven't been interested in trying it. Maybe I'll give it a go eventually. :)

I'm doing Brazil Butt Lift now. I'm only on my second week though. I don't like the Cardio Axe, so I'm running in place of that. Otherwise, I'm following the program as written (doing the pear shaped one) and adding in running or spinning. I haven't tried Sculpt yet though. If I don't like it, I might substitute another full body workout (Cathe Friedrich or Kelly Coffey-Meyer instead as I like to lift heavier weights). Once I finish the four weeks, I'll probably keep doing parts of the program regularly (High and Tight), but I'll start doing Cathe Friedrich's Butts & Guts and Gym Style Legs too.

I do everything except get mani/pedis and plastic surgery. :001_smile:

I am 42 and I have worked to upgrade my look now that my kids aren't so little anymore. ;) In the summer, I mostly wear dresses or skirts everyday. I sometimes wear shorts, but dresses and skirts are so much cooler and I look more put together, but they are still so easy. This year I mainly have sundresses from Loft and Athletica. My skirts are almost all from Athleta. Love them! I wear them with fitted tees or tanks. If I want to dress up a bit more, I add a cute necklace or scarf. For shoes I wear fit flops or platform sandals (so easy to walk in but dressier). In the fall/winter, I have lots of fitted tees that I wear with cropped blazers or sweaters or long wrap cardigans. Once again, scarves to dress it up. I usually wear these tops with jeans or cords or slim skirts (with tights). I have a couple of pairs of tall riding style boots that I love to wear with skinny jeans/pants or skirts. If I'm going more casual, I will wear Uggs instead. If I'm wearing boot cut pants or jeans, I usually wear short boots with heels. A couple pairs of jeans that are flattering for your body are a must!! I buy premium-brand ones, but my sister has found some that she likes at Kohl's and I know that Gap has some great ones as well.

I have dry eye and I have done both. I use Restasis and I wear daily contacts. The Restasis definitely helps for sure. Without it I don't think I'd be able to wear contacts anymore. And the daily wear contacts help a bit too, I think. They are definitely more expensive, but I don't need to buy any solutions except for saline solution to rinse them off. Being able to put a fresh pair in every day and throw them away at night is wonderful and I think that the lack of chemicals from all of the cleaning solutions helps my eyes.

I've purchased wines that have been recommended to me by friends, or the staff at a wine shop, or from a magazine article. Also, if I get a glass of wine when we're out at a restaurant, I will make a note of the name of it if I like it. Then, I track it down. We had a wonderful bottle of Amarone recently. We made a note of the name and my DH found a place that carried it online and ordered a few bottles. :)

We used CLE 2 and CLE 4 Math last year. The flashcards are definitely worth it.

Thanks for the reminder! I'm super excited about it! :001_smile:

We only discuss financial things within our own family and with some of our extended family. We are blessed with a higher income than many, so I spend time discussing our finances with our children. I think it is important that they realize that we are able to do things, go places, and buy things that many people can't. Our whole area is fairly well-off so my kids tend to be surrounded by people who are in a similar situation. I want to make sure that they realize that not everyone lives this way. However, I forbid them from discussing any of it with anyone else. I also encourage them to downplay their activities/vacations, especially when they are with friends that are not able to afford such things. DH and I did not grow up with money at all (lower middle class or so and under the poverty line at times), so we would feel extremely uncomfortable sharing finances with our extended families. They obviously know that we're doing well when they visit us, but we try to downplay it as much as possible. It makes me uncomfortable at times. I am able to be a little more open with my sister as she is in a similar financial situation. We don't discuss specifics, but I don't mind sharing what we paid for something, etc. if she asks. I have never had anyone directly ask how much my DH makes or how much our house is, but the house info is public record so anyone can look that up. DH's salary isn't because he has his own company, but in general there is a lot more information "out there" for people to find. Even if you want to keep your finances private, it is more and more difficult these days.

I agree! We love CLE as well! My girls are doing SO much better with CLE than they were doing with another popular homeschool math program. ;) I love the spiral nature of it and how gentle it is. Sometimes I've questioned it when I've read threads about how other math programs/approaches are "right" and others like CLE are "wrong", but I know that CLE is working and working well for my children, so why mess with a good thing? CLE Math led us to try CLE LA and CLE Reading as well. We are Christian, but I prefer not to use heavily Christian material myself. CLE Reading is definitely in need of some modifications for our purposes, but it is still worth using. CLE Math and LA are perfect for us.

I have Dry Eye. My doctor did put plugs in my eyes to help a little. It wasn't a surgery though and it wasn't expensive. He just popped them in my eyes. Took a minute. I also use Restasis. It is a prescription eye drop that you use twice a day and it helps your eyes to make its own tears. It has helped. My eye doctor says that my eyes don't exhibit all of the damage from the dryness that they did before. I am able to wear my contacts most every day although I usually take them out and switch to glasses as soon as I am home for the day and am not going out again. Oh! I also switch to daily wear contact lenses. My doctor said that the chemicals that you use when cleaning your lenses can irritate dry eyes. Now I just pop a fresh pair in every day. Love it!

No, I don't think it is racist and it wouldn't bother me at all to see it displayed in someone's house. If the person exhibited signs of racism, it would certainly concern me, but with the absence of such evidence, I would assume that her explanation is valid. It is simply a symbol of southern pride for many people.

Watermelon. I absolutely love it. I know that it isn't "bad" for you, but I seem to be able to gain weight eating tons of it anyway. :glare: If I have a whole watermelon cut up, I will keep going back and eating on it all day long. I have pretty strong willpower most of the time, but watermelon is my weakness.