:iagree:

Joining late, but I think this is a great idea. After the recurring monthly bills, I have about $200 per month left from my tutoring money to use for incidentals. Whatever I don't spend goes into our Christmas/Vacation fund. Here are my expenditures for January: Jan. 1 - $0 Jan. 2 - $0 Jan. 3 - $0 Jan. 4 - $0 Jan. 5 - $0 Jan. 6 - $0 Jan. 7 - $0 Jan. 8 - $43.53 at Walmart Jan. 9 - $16.33 for supper for dh & me Jan. 10 - $0 TOTAL - $59.86 No spend days: 8/10 Unfortunately, $21.65 of the Walmart trip was a splurge: 2 Cozy Spot heating pads EK & I have been wanting and a pair of trouser socks (which I really did need!). But the rest of the items were necessities: toothpaste, cat food, cat litter, and wipes. The next night (Jan. 9) was mine & dh's weekly date night, and I treated him to wing night at a local restaurant. The $16.33 was for 18 wings, an order of fries, and a tip.

:iagree:

We are hanging in there. Dh's employees have expressed their support for him and their belief in the company, in spite of the financial situation, and that means the world to dh. Dh also serves as pastor of our very tiny house church, which is really more of a Sunday Bible study group. However, that position is not salaried; he receives some pay for this, but not anywhere near enough to support our family. His business is what has paid our bills for the past few years, supplemented by the little bit that I make teaching other people's children in our homeschool. Dh's business provides courses in personal & professional character development. He has written curriculum and also teaches classes in which he helps his students (teens and adults--he has two different programs and is working on a third) examine the causes and consequences of their behavior patterns. Most of his students are mandated to attend (at their own expense) by the local court system as a result of misdemeanor offenses, including shoplifting, underage drinking, assault, battery, etc. He helps the students determine their core values and gives them guidance in becoming persons of integrity in their dealings with others and within themselves. We live near a college town, and there are some shoplifting or fighting incidents and a lot of underage drinking, and up until about a year ago, most of these cases were referred to dh. Lately, however, fewer arrests are being made (we've heard various reasons for this) and most of the violators who are arrested are being sent to other programs instead--programs which are the pet projects of some of those in the local legal arena or their friends. What got dh started in this type of work is that he worked as a chaplain in a prison in our area, where he wrote and taught a character development class for the inmates. Other people heard about it and encouraged dh to rewrite the curriculum and offer it in the community, which he did. Dh's classes have been very popular with the students as well as the court system. The state prison system and juvenile justice system have each expressed interest in purchasing dh's programs and having him train their staffs to implement it, but so far, nothing has happened except talk, but we are still hopeful. Just yesterday, dh received further word that one of the state institutions is preparing to move forward, and they want him to submit a proposal. He has submitted previous proposals which were shelved or ignored, but his contact person says this time appears to be different. That gives us a ray of hope, and incentive to continue to pray and not give up. FWIW, if anyone is interested in knowing more about dh's programs, PM me, and I'll link you to the company's website.

I will certainly pray for you too, Lara. :grouphug:

Thank you all so much for your prayers. I am blessed to be able to have a community of friends-I've-never-met where we can all share one another's burdens.

I am very discouraged right now, and I would really, really appreciate your prayers. Dh is our main breadwinner, and he is the owner of a small business which now seems to be struggling more than ever before. There's dh and also 2 part-time employees, and right now, there's not enough money in the business account to pay salaries or expenses. It's the same story as just about every other small business in this country that has had problems: increasing expenses plus decreasing revenues. Dh has poured himself into this business physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially, and just doesn't have anything left to give. <sigh> Just when we thought we were finally about to be out of the woods--2011 was our first year in the black--things are topsy-turvy again. We have no savings and no other employment opportunities that we can see. In short, we are in need of God's miraculous provision. Please pray.

We had a similar situation with EK when she was younger--infancy through preschool years. She's 18 now, and hasn't suffered any eczema symptoms in many years. At the time, the pediatrician suggested NOT bathing daily and using NOT soap unless she was really grimy, and only unscented lotion. I can't think of the name of the lotion he suggested, but it didn't really help. We would use OTC hydrocortisone cream, and sometimes helped. At times, though, we had to use a prescription steroid cream, but the doctor told us not to use it often. ETA: EK was also allergic to dairy as an infant. Several have commented in this thread that there is a correlation between eczema and dairy allergy. It was true in our case.

We ran out of time to make our butter cookies, so the dough--homemade & containing self-rising flour, sugar, vanilla, fresh eggs (from my sister's chickens), and real butter--was kept refrigerated for 7 days and then moved to the freezer, where it has been stored for 3 days. Would you use it?

Update: We had to attend the rehearsal dinner as well as the wedding, since dh was one of the officiants in the wedding. I wore my dress pants and sparkly blouse to that, and I didn't feel out of place. But then I had NOTHING to wear for the wedding. I contemplated just staying home, but we've been friends of the bride's family for almost 30 years, so that wouldn't do at all. So... dh & I prayed together and then I revisited the thrift store and searched the racks again. I found a long straight black skirt, a cream-colored lightweight dressy sweater, and a stunning royal blue 3/4 sleeve jacket (polyester, but kind of iridescent & looks like silk) delicately decorated with intricate embroidery and iridescent seed beads. The pieces are Sag Harbor and Ann Taylor--brands carried by some of the nicer shops in this area. My very fashion-conscious EK said my outfit was perfect! And the best thing of all was that the entire outfit cost only $8!!!! :hurray:

I think you hit the nail on the head. This is a small town, and the wedding will be in an even smaller town about an hour's drive from here. That town is known in these parts as being "country", even "redneck". The bride comes from an average blue-collar family--farmers & factory workers--but for college, she went away to a big city in the midwest to study dance and the arts, and she's always seemed to think of herself as a bit of a celebrity. ;)

UPDATE in post #19. *************************************** Dh & I have been invited to a wedding--in fact, dh has a small part as he has been invited to offer a prayer during the ceremony. The wedding is TOMORROW! I was planning to wear charcoal gray dress pants with a shiny/iridescent burgundy blouse. But I just happened to notice that on the invitation, at the bottom, it says "Black Tie Optional", which, I understand, means that the men are expected to wear a suit & tie, but not necessarily a tuxedo. Right?? But what does that mean for the women who will be attending? I've heard that a cocktail dress is appropriate, but I don't own a cocktail dress; in fact, I NEVER wear dresses at all! I do not own a Little Black Dress, and because of my weight, I don't think there's any such thing in my size (16-18; I am quite a few pounds overweight, which doesn't help matters). What to do? My budget is very, very limited; I might be able to manage $30 or $40. HELP! ETA: I live in a small town. The only stores nearby that sell clothing are Walmart, KMart, JC Penney, Belk, Maurice's, Cato, and TJ Maxx. The only thrift store nearby is Salvation Army, and I looked there yesterday and came up empty.

This evening, ER proposed to his girlfriend of nearly 4 years. She is a delightful Christian young woman, and we are excited to welcome her to our family. We're looking forward to a summer wedding! :party:

I've decided that I want to start blogging, and my blog will be very eclectic. In it I will express my thoughts concerning homeschooling, curriculum, books & literature, politics, spiritual matters, parenting, thrifty living--you name it, even food & recipes. I have a desire to share glimpses of life from a Christian perspective, interpreted in the light of scripture. I want something simple but catchy--and *different*. I would love to use a phrase from scripture or famous Christian literature. Any ideas?

I'd rather not buy a pattern, but would rather use online freebies. Do you know of any blogs or other sites that provide printable patterns or simple directions? Thanks!

I haven't found an online seller that I thought had low enough prices, especially after you include shipping, so I buy them from Big Lots or TJ Maxx. I buy those for dh & ER, but for me, I use my refillable cup most of the time. I got it from Amazon, and it's pricey, but it saves me a lot of money over time, AND I get to use my favorite coffees that don't come in K-cups.

I've always liked the idea of Sonlight, but I've never really looked into it closely. I assume you can buy components for each subject rather than the whole program? Should I look at teaching guides for history? What else would I need to buy--other than the individual titles, of course?

They enjoy books as long as we read together. It's when I assign them to read on their own that the trouble begins. But the Any Novel Study Guide does sound really good.

These do look good! Thanks!

Thank you for the suggestions; however, I am not asking HOW to implement their studies; I am asking WHICH PROGRAM you would recommend. Here's what I want: - a literature-based history program with a Christian worldview - for high school students who are working at logic stage - 6th-7th grade level reading material but suitable for 9th-11th grade students

ETA: I am not asking HOW to implement their studies; I am asking WHICH (literature-based history) PROGRAM you would recommend. Here's what I want: - a literature-based history program with a Christian worldview - for high school students who are working at logic stage - 6th-7th grade level reading material but suitable for 9th-11th grade students ****************************************************************************************************************************** I am looking ahead to next year, when I will likely be teaching a group of 9th-11th grade students who work below grade level. None are ready for rhetoric stage work; they are all firmly in the logic stage. (Are some people stuck in this stage permanently???) All have poor comprehension and HATE to read. They lack the ability to draw conclusions and make inferences as they read, and they have very poor vocabulary skills. I have been working with them on logic puzzles this year using Perplexors, and they are barely able to do the puzzles in the Basic book (3rd-4th grade level). I have also been working with them on writing compositions, and they are doing fairly well with writing paragraphs, but at this point, none are capable of writing a good essay. Their reading ability and interest level would be most compatible with books written on maybe a 6th or 7th grade level. To integrate history & literature, what would you suggest for me? I've been looking at middle school level materials such as MFW Creation to the Greeks or Mystery of History paired with Sonlight readers or TruthQuest selections. Which other programs should I look at?

I can't do it. I just do.not.have.time. I love to read, but I'm so busy teaching 4 high school girls that I don't have time to read for pleasure more than about 30 minutes at a time each day--because I schedule it into the girls' school day. At that rate, I cannot read an entire book in a week. A couple of years ago, I tried to start a Book a MONTH group here on the boards, but it fizzled out pretty quickly.

We have 2 profiles for our Netflix account. In one profile, I keep a queue of DVDs for Christmas movies and programs. I add Christmas movies to my queue whenever I come across one in a search, since Netflix doesn't have a search option for holiday programs. Well, now that it's Christmastime and we're out of school for a few weeks, we want to watch Christmas movies, but Netflix won't let me access that profile. I keep getting a message that this option isn't available, but they're working to restore it. It's been several days now, and nothing has changed. Boooooo! Anyone else having a similar problem?

I have front loaders, and if I had it to do over again, I would NOT get a front loader washer. I like the option of filling the washing tub with water and letting items soak. A front loader uses minimal water, so that's not possible. I also like the option of being able to lift the lid and toss in a forgotten item anytime during the cycle. With a front loader, you can only add items during a certain portion of the cycle, and then you have to press the button and wait for the door to unlock, then add the item, close the door, and press the button again. We've had trouble recently with our front loader Whirlpool Duet because the latch sensor isn't working right, and sometimes it shuts itself off mid-cycle because it thinks the door isn't closed properly. Also, a metal button on a pair of EK's jeans somehow got caught under the edge of the rubber gasket that seals the door. It ripped the button off the jeans and then tore multiple holes in the rubber gasket, which caused water to pour out from around the door and onto the floor. We contacted the nearest authorized repair center to see what it would cost for a repairman to come out, and it was OUTRAGEOUS. We ordered the part ourselves from Amazon (about $70, I think) and dh & ER were able to fix it, but they had to take the washer almost completely apart in order to do it.

Secretly, I want an iPad 4 and an iPhone 5. We can't really afford the iPhone, and the iPad is WAY out of reach. So I'm going to ask for a new Bible, some games, and Harry Potter DVDs.