Hilarious! We must have been posting at the exact same time and even both said "bumbling." My best friend loves these books and thinks I'm crazy. She has a thing about Tom and Jerry and I let my boys watch those cartoons (which they love) so there you go! Different strokes for different folks and all that! :)

Oh I truly hope I didn't offend anyone with my "Berenstain Bears" comment! That's why I have so few posts even though I'm on here all.the.time! :) It takes me forever to write s'thing b/c I want to make sure it comes across as I want it to. Anyway, it is totally personal thing with me, but it has just always bugged me that the dad is usually kind of bumbling and messing things up and it's the kids who get it right and show him how it's done. Please don't think I make it a bigger deal than it is! He is portrayed as sweet and caring and they are shown to be a sweet family who cares about each other so obviously it's not that I think they're evil or anything AT ALL! My sweet kids just kind of came into the world thinking they've pretty much got it all together so I try to be really attuned to that sort of thing! :)

I just pointed out the Tide commercial to dh the other night. I agree about hating the way men are portrayed! In fact, this is why we don't read The Berenstain Bears books, but that's another story. It's just one of my "things." The real reason I posted is that this whole conversation has made me think about my first car which was my parents' Oldsmobile Cutlas Supreme...big, boxy 4-door, white with a navy blue top. Oh yes, my parents wrapped up the keys and everything to be funny. Hilarious! Anyway...this was in 1988 which was when Oldsmobile was in the midst of its "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" ad campaign. So my (also hilarious!) cousin had a bumper sticker made that said, "This IS my father's Oldsmobile!" It really was funny! And you know, my car ended up being the one my friends and I took everywhere b/c we could fit so many people in it...bench seats, you know! I always think gratefully about that car b/c when I did get to pick a car for the first time I was so, so thrilled even though it too was a little past its prime. So for me, I think uncool now means everything else seems cooler later! :) Does that make sense? I hope so b/c I make myself feel better and justified for denying my kids b/c of how great its going to be for them later!!!

Just wanted you to know you're not alone! We haven't done anything since dd was born at the beginning of December. I was planning to get back to our "normal" schedule today, had the kids all fired up and everything, and of course I came down with an atrocious cold last night! I don't actually feel too terrible about it except when something happens like did at Target last week...this sweet lady was commenting on my kids and looked at them and said, "Are you all out of school today?" And my oldest said, "We're homeschooled, but we haven't done any school since Thanksgiving." Nice!!! Hello, guilt and self-loathing! :) Hang in there! The nice thing is that we can make up the time so quickly and don't have a definite last day of school that we have to be held to! That's what I keep telling myself anyway. :)

My 3 year old has 30 minutes alone in her room every morning and then in the afternoon all 4 of mine have 1 1/2 hours of "rest-time." When my littles drop their morning nap I just continue putting them in their beds for however long and that kind of morphs into morning roomtime. Then afternoon rest-time is the same thing. I generally require them to be on their beds, but the main thing is the quiet. Sometimes my 7 year old will have a specific thing she wants to work on at her little table and that's fine as long as it's quiet! Really, rest-time is like the holy grail around here! :) It's one of the things I absolutely plan around!!! Obviously I think it's well worth training for! I really think it's good for everyone!

Our 2 favorite chicken recipes for the crockpot are: 3-4 chicken breasts 1 pkg. taco seasoning 1 jar salsa just a bit of water Cook on low all day, or high 4-6 hours. Yummy served with rice and a salad! This is actually a weight watchers recipe I think, but we love it all the time! :) 4-6 chicken breasts 1 can cream of mushroom 1 jar sliced mushrooms 1 pkg. dried Italian dressing mix 8 oz. cream cheese (can use light) 1 c. white wine Cook on low all day, or high 4-6 hours. This is really, really delicious and although it doesn't look very pretty it makes a really tasty dinner even for company. I usually have it with rice or noodles and something green or fruit, etc.

I'm not sure how much you want...but my 4th grade ds is reading through The Complete Book of US History on his own this year. He loves it! Of course, he's my kiddo who'd be happy if I'd do all of his school like this...give him what he needs to read and let him tell me about it after! Anyway...there's not a lot of extra, but you could easily add some literature to go along if you wanted. There are occasional questions, brief activities, etc. We're doing HOD's Preparing this year which is a world history overview, but we really haven't done much history so far and I wanted him to at least have an idea about US History at this point so I'm fine with there not being much added to the basic readings. Here's a link so you can see the book if you want: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-U-S-History/dp/1561896799/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288382765&sr=8-1 Also...I, of course, have no idea of your feelings re: early history, but I didn't like some of the very first chapters in the book, but I just started him out a few sections into the book. Hope that's helpful in some way!

We've done the photo calendars and they were a big hit. We may do that again this year now that I think about it! But the biggest hit ever was what I came up with "on the fly" 2 years ago. I just used an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white cardstock and painted one of each of the kids' hands a different color and put one handprint each on the paper. Then I wrote their names and ages next to their hands and printed "We Love You" across the middle of the page. You could print it on in a cute font before the hands if you wanted. I hope this makes sense. It was really simple, but for some reason is hard to translate into words! Anyway after they were done I bought inexpensive, but attractive frames (I used the kind that make whatever's inside look like it's floating in the glass) at Michael's or somewhere and voila! Merry Christmas! I'm not sure why they were such a huge hit, but they elicited tears from 2 of the 4 grands and from their great-grandmother. It's one of those things that I wish I hadn't already done! :)

We're using Beyond and Preparing here for my 2nd and 4th graders respectively. We are loving it so far, and I don't see any reason for that to change, but in the spirit of full disclosure we are only through week 1! :)

I feel your pain...literally! I am so, so sorry for you! In fact, this exact thing happened to me last night overnight. I had forgotten to take my medicine yesterday. I have done this exact thing with every pregnancy and I'm on #5. The good news is that (at least for me) it has completely disappeared after delivery. I use Zantac at first, but at a certain point that just doesn't cut it anymore and my dr. gives me a prescription for Protonix. I tell people every time that it has changed my life...and I am serious!!! I sincerely hope you find some relief. I know it is miserable!

I'm going to shoot for doing LC I 4 days/week, 1 lesson/week. My plan for my almost 10 y.o. ds is: 1. watch DVD lesson, start bookwork 2. review vocab. (all up to this point), complete bookwork 3. review vocab., copy new vocab. into copybook 4. review game of some type, Ludere Latine puzzle, etc. I'm sure I got this plan from someone on these boards! This seems to make sense to me now, in theory. I hope it works out since I already have it typed up on his weekly checklists in file folders!!! :)

I think I can relate. I've had a little "stone" along my left jawbone for probably 25 years that I can kind of push back and forth. It's probably 1 cm wide. Okay, now that I say that, I just tried to feel for it and can't find it. Maybe it's gone now! Funny! Anyway...it was never actually painful, but scared me (and my mother!) of course when I first found it all those years ago. I don't remember being told exactly what it was, only that the dr. assured us it was nothing serious and we did nothing about it. I know that sometimes it would seem a little sore, but I think that was at times that I would kind of mash on it, then it would get sore, so I would mess with it and so on and so on. I guess it's obvious that since I just noticed it wasn't there, it hasn't been a huge deal since I first found it at 13 y.o. or so. I hope the same holds true for your dd!

I started reading just over a week ago and have been a serious planning addict since! Ditto on taking over the kitchen table...we haven't been at the table for a meal in 9 days. I think what makes me stop and think is that neither dh nor the kiddos have said a word about it seeming strange that I'm in here constantly! Hmmmm? What must that mean? I don't think I really want to know. :) I told dh the other morning before he left that I could either interact with the kids now or plan my interaction with them for later! Both things just can't happen! :) Evidently neither can housework, grocery lists, seeing people, etc! If I'm being totally honest though...I'm in heaven! I think I enjoy this part much more than the actual carrying out of the plans. Should I admit that??? Yikes! :)

I have a couple and will be watching for more ideas! One of our favorites is easy chicken pie (NOT to be confused with delicious-more time consuming, but seriously worth it-chicken pie!). You just need one can of Veg-All, one large can of chicken (or some cooked from the freezer if you're on top of things, which I only rarely am), a can of cream of chicken soup and frozen pie crust. Stir the canned items together and put in one crust. Sprinkle on some lemon-pepper if you have it and top with the other crust. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so and serve with some fruit and done! We actually really like this, not just b/c it's fast and easy. Also, lots of times for lunch or if dh is working at supper-time we have a "smorgasboard." Our normal items are popcorn, p'nut butter/graham crackers, and fruit. Sometimes I have pigs in a blanket in the freezer or I'll cut up carrots and celery, etc. Really the nice thing is my kids know that anything might be included and it has been strange sometimes (for example the other day they had granola bars, ham, and tomatoes :)), but we usually have our smorgasboard on a blanket in the den so it seems like a big treat no matter what they actually are eating! :) Breakfast for lunch or supper is always a fast hit around here too! Can't wait to see other ideas!

First, let me say that I have to intentionally plan to spend time with my littlest one too! She is my most clingy so far and I often wonder if it's b/c most of my time with her is indirect communication! I am with her constantly, but lots of nights after she goes to bed I feel like I wasn't ever actually WITH her. You know? So sad! Anyway...I have found (and keep in mind that dh affectionately calls me a task-master!) that if I say things aloud to the big kids like, "Ok, guys, so-and-so and I are going to do..." and if I don't let them help if they ask to, she thinks it's just as fabulous as any game we could play! For example we often have spots on our den carpet (go figure!) and she thinks it is big fun if I put her in charge of rubbing the spots with a toothbrush after I spray the cleaner on. Maybe this is just b/c she likes to "help Mommy" right now, but we both end up happy. She also loves stickers and always wants to "make a picture," and if I'll sit with her at the table and talk to her while she works on s'thing she loves it. Sorry, I know I didn't really answer your question, but I wanted you to know I totally know how you feel and am watching this thread for great ideas too! Have a great day! Katie ds 9 1/2, dd 7, ds 5 1/2, dd 2 1/2, #5 on the way

We're going to be doing Beyond and Preparing. I'm so excited! I've looked at HOD every year for the past several, but am just now actually doing it! I'm actually in the process right now of get my filing done (thanks to the massive thread going on!) and getting all of my supplies, etc. together for the year! Fun! Hope you have a great year!

My kids love the Storykeepers series. They're set in Rome and stories from Jesus' life are told in flashback. http://www.amazon.com/Story-Keepers-13-VHS-Set/dp/B000S373DG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1277060773&sr=8-4 We have this exact set that I thankfully found last year at a consignment sale for $10! Yippee! But they do come on DVD as well. I'd love some more ideas myself, so maybe my post will bump you to the top and get some more responses!

:lurk5:

Hi, all! I'm coming out of lurkdom for ideas/advice. Our baby #5 is due the first week of December which works out well b/c we usually take off most of December anyway. So I was thinking it might be fun after that first month off to then spend January doing something all together that we might not otherwise get to...like a Jan Term kind of idea like colleges sometimes offer. Anyway...my first choice is to just spend the month snuggled up reading through some good books. That will go over wonderfully with my oldest...and my K'er too actually! But my 2nd grader and the 3 y.o. will probably have other ideas about what would be fun. Soooo...any ideas? I had thought about maybe doing some fun science experiments, etc., but I don't usually get to those now, I'm thinking with a newborn that will just not happen! I obviously want it to be low-key and not require lots of work since that's the whole point! But I would like it to be a sweet time of doing something memorable and special while snuggling up with our newest little one. Okay...I think you get the idea! Thank you so much in advance! I always know just where to come for great advice!

I've used Pentime with my 3rd and 1st graders this year. I bought it from Rainbow Resource and it's very inexpensive...around $5.00/book. I'll try to link: http://www.rainbowresource.com/search.php?sid=1273713163-1204733 They both started in book 2 Transition this year. They love it. It's very basic which is just what I wanted. I will add that doing cursive has completely revolutionized my 9 year old son's writing and attitude about it! It has been the greatest joy of school this year for me...that sounds kind of sad now that it's typed out!!! But, he has always detested writing and has (and still does) really struggled with manuscript, but his cursive is completely gorgeous! Seriously, I sometimes just look back over his work in awe. Sometimes I can hardly tell a difference between his work and the book's example! Now...I'm not sure that I attribute all of that to Pentime, but it's simplicity has certainly not been a hindrance and I think it's actually helped b/c it doesn't drag on. Whew! Way more than I meant to write! Sorry about that! Have a great day! Katie ds 9, dd 6 1/2, ds 5, dd 2 1/2

Some of our favorites off the top of my head: wordless: Good Dog, Carl A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog...and 2 others in this series by Mercer Meyer, different than his Little Critters books picture books: Bark, George Old Hat, New Hat The Very Hungry Caterpillar Good Night, Gorilla (almost wordless) Clap Your Hands Mr. Gumpy's Outing Harry the Dirty Dog So many good choices! And this is making me realize how often my current 2 1/2 yr. old has to listen to the bigger kids' books (she grabbed Farmer Boy off the shelf the other day just assuming that's what I meant when I told her to go get a book!). These are the ones she grabs when it's her turn to choose. I love picture books and my big kids inevitably get drawn in themselves when we're reading them. Love that! Katie ds 9, dd 7, ds 5 1/2, dd 2 1/2

Hi, all! I feel a little foolish since I haven't posted here in a really loooong time, but when I couldn't find an answer on my own, I knew where I should turn! Anyway...I'm in charge of the craft for our mother/daughter night at our church in a couple of weeks and I am stumped! The girls will be K-5th grade and we don't want anything too terribly time consuming or expensive. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! Thank you, thank you! Katie DS 9, DD 6, DS 5, DD 2

We had a very similar situation a couple of years ago and my sweet daddy and I were swarmed while dh and my mom watched from inside laughing until they realized what was going on! (I am actually laughing now myself remembering how hilarious we must have looked to them!!!) Anyway...those nasty yellow jackets are scary aggressive and literally followed us as we ran through the yard to the door. The stings were very painful and even days later when they weren't so sore, the itching as they healed was maddening. They continued to swarm the area for several hours after the initial stinging, but as soon as we could leave the house dh went and bought some kind of foaming "stuff" especially for yellow jackets. At dusk (evidently they're calmest then, unlike my children!) he went out prepared for battle and sprayed the holes. No more yellow jackets ever again from that nest! Yea! Sorry that I rambled. It's been a long time since I relived that day. It was quite a scene! My kids have never seen me screaming and crying like that and my dad was dancing around yelping and swatting himself...see why I'm laughing now!?! ALLLLL that to say...you will be glad if you go ahead and take care of them before they get up close and personal! Take care! edited to bold your actual answer that got lost in my rambling!

We do chores everyday here. I don't really use a chart per se, but each kiddo has a magnetic board and pocket (actually a 3x5 card box) on the wall. Last summer I made cards with one job each on them and stuck magnets on the backs. At night before I go to bed I stick the cards on their board that I want done the next day and when they complete a task that card goes in their box. Not everything goes on the board though. For example before they come out of their rooms they are to have their beds made and bring any books from the night before out to the bookshelves. After b'fast we do our jobs for the day...this morning for ex: all brought their laundry hampers to the washing machine, 8 y.o.ds wiped bathrooms and gathered garbage, 5 y.o.dd ran the vacuum (sweeper) in the den and dusted her room, 4 y.o. ds wiped kitchen garbage can and doorknobs. (We really love our Lysol wipes! :)) It really only takes about 15 minutes every morning and the change in the cleanliness of our house is amazing! We actually wiped all the baseboards over the course of the week last week! Now, I will say that I do not operate well with clutter so we pick up throughout the day...before rest time and before bed especially...so I don't include picking up as a job. It's just kind of an ongoing part of the day around here. :) Dh is very helpful and is generally willing to do whatever needs to be done. I am finding though that since we've started being more intentional about our chores during the day, there's not much housekeeping still to be done at night after he's home, which I really like! (He does do baths though which is major in my book!) I'm the task-oriented person around here so actually the main thing he does that helps me is play with the kids so I can do my stuff. I'm at the point right now that there are many nights I'd rather be alone to clean the kitchen than him do it for me! I hope that's not more info than you wanted! Have a great day!

which I think is exactly what strider has. My knee cap basically drifts to the outside and doesn't stay locked and loaded in the center like it should. My ortho doc knew almost immediately what it was and sent me for some physical therapy and gave me a brace. It's much better now thankfully! Evidently it's not uncommon, but I'd sure never heard of it. I would definitely go and have it checked out to rule out anything serious/degenerative. Take care!