I received an email today with corrected links. I haven't had a chance to try to download it yet, but I'm guessing it will work now.

How long did it take? Because I didn't get it either. I got two emails with no links.... :huh:

I grew up with fake, and my husband grew up with real. We got a real tree for the first few years of our marriage until I could convince him to get a fake tree. He has never looked back. :) We like it because it doesn't shed needles, it is non-allergenic, it doesn't poke you when you try to decorate it, it is the perfect size, shape, and fullness, and we don't have to purchase a new one every year. I'd like to get a pre-lit one eventually, but for now ours works.

Magic School Bus science club is 50% off right now at homeschool buyers co-op. It winds up being ten bucks a month. They send you a science project kit every month for a year.

I'd get it if you can afford it. I asked for a Bob Ross master paint set every year as a child for probably ten years. my parents could not afford it. Finally last year they got it... for my twin sister, lol. They couldn't remember who had always wanted it. It gave us all a good laugh.

This all most definitely happened to us. We always had to open our gifts back to back. For birthdays we'd get $10 each from the aunts who gave $20 to our brother... that sort of thing. I guess we just thought of it as a price we were willing to pay for a lifelong best friend. :-)

I am an identical twin. My sister and are are very close, always have been. We live about three hours away from each other but we talk on the phone about three times per week. sometimes we will call each other ( never planned) at exactly the same moment so that both of our phones go to voice mail. Sometimes we have the same random dreams on the same night. Once I told her about a dream I had that night about someone whom I hadn't seen in a decade without knowing that she had just run into the person that day. Stuff like this happens all the time, it's fun. :-) Eta: My parents didn't know they were going to have twins until after my sister was born. in those days you didn't have an ultrasound unless they suspected something unusual. They would listen for two heartbeats. The Dr. said our heartbeats must have been in sync because they never heard an echo. My dad was in shock for about a month after we were born and didn't speak except to say he would never be able to get in the bathroom again. At least that's the way the story goes. :-)

My opinion is that you will know. We have two and we know we are done. If God is all powerful, then how can we interfere with his plans? I think He guides us in our decision making. He know we are not meant to parent a ton of kids. He created us that way. That doesn't mean we will never feel any nostalgia when we see babies. But we do know we're done.

Here is my list of movies that I have watched again and again: Any Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, or Sherlock BBC series (many of these are feature-length so they count!) The Piano (I'm not sure why, but I'm just spellbound by this beautiful movie every time I watch it) Far and Away (just recently watched it again and remembered how much I like it) The Last of the Mohicans The Jason Bourne movies Clue The Princess Bride Charade (Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant) White Christmas (every year. I'm hoping to get my DD's into it too!) Pride and Prejudice (don't hate me, but the Kiera Knightley version) Emma The Lord of the Rings Trilogy That's all I can think of. There are so many great movies out there! ETA: How could I forget Harry Potter? All of them, but my favorites are Prisoner of Azkaban and Deathly Hallows Part 1.

When my second DD was born, I would just leave to go on walks around the neighborhood. I felt like if I had to spend another minute in the house, I'd burst! The neighborhood walks, by myself (DH would watch the girls), happened whenever I needed it. In the evening when DH would get home, or on the weekends. No phone, no I-pod, just me and silence. Bliss. The exercise was just an added bonus. It sounds like you may need to get out more. Do you have any girlfriends you can call to grab some coffee? You were considering the book club. Go for it. Not knowing anybody shouldn't deter you, its a great way to meet like-minded people (or even not-like-minded people). You can always stop if you don't like it, but I have a feeling that you will like it. Taking time for yourself will make you a better mother. I always come back from it with a fresh appreciation for my children. It makes me happy that I miss them! :laugh: Hang in there! I totally relate to how you feel!

The same thing happened with me. I used a nursing shield until I healed then very gradually stopped using it. Lanolin didn't help at all. The best thing is to let the nipples get plenty of air. Go topless as much as possible. Make sure she washes and boils her nursing shields daily or she could develop thrush. DD had a proper latch and I still developed cracked and bleeding nipples. We were able to get past it though. I know it's tough, but she should try not to pump if she wants to continue to breastfeed. Unless she is pumping between feedings. Hope that helps! The nipple shield was a lifesaver!

Articles like that are purposefully inflammatory in order to get more page views. It's an ugly "all publicity is good publicity" tactic.

We just discovered Humbug Witch, which my dd3 loves. it's an old one from the sixties. Your five year old might like it. :-)

I put preschool because around here, all children go to preschool. When people ask if my daughter is in preschool (and they frequently do in making conversation), I tell them no, because I am homeschooling her. I am. I feel absolutely no need to justify that statement with what level of work we are doing, nor would it bother me if somebody said, "No you aren't because you don't fit xyz requirements that I have decided make you a homeschooler." They are entitled to that opinion (though it sounds exhausting to police everybody like that), and I am entitled to continue calling myself whatever I want. I "self-identify" as a homeschooler. ;) I honestly don't understand why people are so obsessed with "proper" labeling. You'd think that a person whose lifestyle is so counterculture (home schooling is) wouldn't develop such rigid standards of what constitutes home education. Live and let live.

And therein lies the problem, I think, one that Wendy was sort of getting at. Can such a person really exist? Like you were saying, we all bring our own biases into the equation. Maybe even a test can't be impartial because it is designed by a person (persons/committee). Perhaps if the only skills being evaluated are remedial reading and math. All tests I've known have had an element of social studies, science, etc, the content of which I may or may not be actually teaching to my children that particular year. Particularly social studies. Of course, my oldest is 3 so we haven't quite got there yet. But that's why even "impartial" test scores aren't necessarily a good indicator of the learning that is going on. Is there even a standardized test that contains no "content" subjects but skills only? I don't know. I'll admit that I wouldn't appreciate somebody telling me that I needed to include more "neighborhood and community" content in my curriculum when we were focusing on ancient history for example.

Ha okay thanks! I can imagine the conversation with the neighbors. Love the roses! Oh thanks, it's the placenta. Works wonders. :)

Sorry to show my ignorance here, but are you all talking about human placenta and if so why would you keep it in the freezer? Not trying to be argumentative just understand. I've never heard of such a thing!

Gross. I used to go to a camp where they did stunts like this. They never took it that far though. I remember they smashed a tv with a sledgehammer and I thought it was stupid and pointless at the age of sixteen. Most of the kids thought it was hilarious and cool though. I could see it escalating to something like urination in the last fifteen years. Ugh.

I think you have fleas in your house. They drop eggs everywhere, and the eggs can stay, alive and unharmed, for YEARS. They will hatch when they feel warmth and vibration. We had this problem a couple of years ago with cat fleas, after we took our cats back to the shelter because our daughter was deathly allergic. We washed every stitch of washable fabric in our house. All bedding, pillows, blankets, curtains (we had to do that anyway because of her allergy). Then we vacuumed everything, upstairs, downstairs, the couch, every nook and cranny, which caused many eggs to hatch, then bombed the house. Still had fleas. Did the same thing again, three more times. It was an entire summer before we no longer saw them. They are notoriously hard to get rid of. On the plus side, our house was cleaner than it had ever been. :laugh: I still shudder thinking about it. However, they are easy to kill as adults. If I saw one on myself or my dd, I would grab it and put it in a cup of soapy water. It would die almost instantly. I think cat fleas are bigger than dog fleas, though, and easier to spot.

You always have such interesting input. I bet you win all your arguments. And I mean that in a complementary way. My husband says I win all our arguments but I can admit it isn't due to rational thinking and clear communication. :rolleyes: Persistence, maybe. Sorry to post off topic, but that is kind of the way this thread is going. ANYWAY, I live in a testing/evaluation state, and I'm fine with it. I would do testing even if it wasn't required.

Another assumption, as well as a gross generalization. The issue is frustrating, and differing opinions also cause a lot of frustration, which is important to keep in mind. There are many possibilities about the reason for a defensive reaction to the idea of increased regulation. I wouldn't automatically jump to, "Your children are probably illiterate." In fact, I wouldn't try to guess the reason at all. There is simply no way of knowing unless you are told.

That's quite an assumption.

I lost my pregnancy weight this way: 1. Try to listen to my body. Am I really hungry or do I just feel like eating. Never eat while distracted ie watching tv. 2. No snacks after nine pm. Just water to drink. 3. I don't use no calorie sweeteners. Instead I gradually reduced my intake of sugar. Now most things taste too sweet. 4. Smaller portions. A true serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. 5. Start exercising. I started running on my treadmill for one minute then walking for ten every day. From there I gradually increased to 30 minutes run/walk. The following year I ran my first half marathon. All very gradual. 6. Think of it as making little permanent changes. Good luck!

3rd for anki. It's free for android and computer but I think you have to pay for iPhone. It uses a special logarithm to make sure you are reviewing the right flashcards and they have hundreds of decks that are user generated to upload.

That's funny, I always think the fun really begins at two. I guess I'm just not a baby person. .. different perspectives. :)