I tried them with ER, who was a preemie. This was back in 1990, in a very small town with limited shopping options (no Walmart back then, LOL). I tried to use cloth diapers--which I found in only one size--covered with "rubber pants" (as my grandmother called them) because no one had even heard of diaper covers at that time, and it was a complete disaster. The smallest "rubber pants" I could find were WAY too big for my tiny baby, even though I bought the smallest size I could find. It was way, way too messy and he was much too uncomfortable, so I wound up ordering Huggies preemie diapers from the manufacturer (got the contact info from the hospital where ER was born) because they weren't sold in stores back then. There was no Internet in 1990, so I had to call the Huggies company and give them my credit card number, then wait for UPS to deliver the diapers a week or so later. EK was also born early, and I didn't even bother to try cloth diapers for her. We used Huggies Supreme because that's what worked best.

This would be a HUGE red flag to me if I was a member of that church and contributed money for its ministres and programs, and I would be looking for another church. Financial accountability is very important. Money could be going to support projects that the members are not in favor of, or worse yet, into the pockets of those who are supposed to be in charge of it. That kind of thing has happened to more than one church in this area. In one large, high profile church in a nearby city, the pastor was actually convicted of embezzlement and went to prison for several years.

I am not really familiar with the AJM/DYW organization at all, but an acquaintance whose dd's were involved (and won at the state level) approached me last spring and suggested that I should encourage EK to participate. EK's not terribly enthusiastic about it; she doesn't want to participate in a "popularity contest" or a "beauty pageant", but I've spoken privately with the director, and she assures me that AJM/DYW is neither. We (EK & dh & I) went to an orientation meeting today, and it sounds like it would be a great opportunity. EK would be the first homeschooled participant (that I know of) in our area; everyone else goes to the public schools or one of the private schools. I'd love to hear the opinions of the program from any Hive moms whose dd's have participated.

Dh & I have been married almost 32 years. Unless we're teaching a class (we teach a 6-week couples class 3 times per year), we go out each week on Wednesday evenings while EK is at her Bible study. When we have a class going, we go out another night during the week. We usually go out to eat and then we either go window shopping at the mall, look around at Lowe's and talk about the planting or building projects we'd like do at home, ride around town just to see what's new, go for a walk downtown if the weather is nice, or just stroll around at Walmart or some other store. Some weekends when EK has weekend plans with her friends and ER isn't home for the weekend, dh & I will take a day trip together. We'll browse at our favorite coffee shop/bookstore and then we'll have a nice dinner out.

I had an HP OfficeJet 7310, which I loved. When it died after several years of frequent use, I couldn't decide between the Epson Artisan 810 and the HP OfficeJet 8500 Plus (the newer version of my old printer), but I finally settled on the Epson because the reviews were so good. I've had it for about 6 months, and I like it okay, but if I had it to do over again, I'd buy the HP instead. My HP was much more user friendly, and the copy quality was MUCH better on my HP.

:iagree: (said as gently as possible)

This one is on my wish list.

Oops! I voted incorrectly. :001_huh: I read the title of the thread and thought "NO, I do not like to see or to wear pajama pants in public", and I voted without reading the actual question with the poll. So please change one of the NO votes to YES. No pajama pants in public; yes, it bothers me to see someone wearing them in public.

I chose chocolate fondue, but I had a hard time deciding between that and the molten chocolate lava cake and the chocolate silk pie.

Thanks, and I agree. There's also a situation involving some neglected (IMO) children in my extended family, and I've been stressing over that as well. I'm powerless to do anything to help, but my heart goes out to the children. I'm sure that scenario played a part.

Well, FWIW, I agree with you. I think the teacher had a lapse in judgment but a reprimand should have been enough.

Thanks! I downloaded it and I'm going to suggest that EK download it to her Kindle too.

We just shopped at Aldi's for the first time last weekend. I like the baked chips we bought. I mostly bought canned goods, but I'm watching threads like this to find out what else I need to try next time we go.

Ugh. I had one of those dreams last night. I can't explain exactly why I found it so disturbing, but I've felt bothered by it all day today. :( It doesn't help that today's been cold and wet and dreary. I dreamed that my children were little again, but they lived with someone else, and my input wasn't welcome. I've been dealing with "anticipatory empty nest syndome" and that's been on my mind a lot lately, but this dream was just bizarre! Here's the dream: My mom & I visited the home where my little-again ones lived. They lived in a kind of condo/apartment complex, and the next-door neighbor was a woman who had 8 children, and she homeschooled them. The family with 8 children had a treehouse right outside their front door, and there were boxes of books right next to the tree, because their kids had been reading up in the treehouse. The mom told me how much she loved books. Then we went next door where ER & EK now lived, and their "other mom" was kind of ...I don't know... indifferent towards them. The living space was kind of plain--not dirty or even cluttered, just not particularly inviting--and somehow lacking in personality. Actually, I guess the "other mom" was the dc's step-mom because their "other dad" had apparently divorced their "other mom" and remarried. That part wasn't clear, because their "other dad" wasn't present in the dream (and neither was dh, for that matter). The "other mom" seemed to want us to go away so she could get back to whatever she was doing, which wasn't spending time with the kids. ER was about 4 or 5, and his "other mom" didn't want him to sleep with his beloved Baby Bear, which IRL, was his constant companion when he was very young. I asked him about it, and he told me that he hadn't slept with Baby Bear in a long time, and now it was up on the shelf in his room. I sat in a big chair with ER right beside me, just like when he was a little guy, and I hugged him close and said, "You are a good, sweet boy, and I love you very much", which is something I used to do all the time when he was little. He snuggled right up to me. EK was an infant, and she was asleep on the couch. The step-mom had left the room briefly, and EK scooted to the edge and fell off. She would have hit the floor, but I caught her just in time. She didn't even wake up, so I just cradled her and when the step-mom came back, I told her what had happened, but she seemed unfazed. Somehow, we got on the subjects of the dc's names, and the step-mom commented in particular that she didn't like ER's name. After awhile, we had to leave, and I felt so terrible leaving my babies there with this woman who didn't love them and wouldn't nurture them. When we left, it was dark, and it was cold and damp outside. The neighbor mom had taken her boxes of books indoors. I remember thinking that at least maybe I could see ER & EK sometimes, because in the dream, dh & I were thinking we might move into an apartment right across the courtyard. I woke up feeling like I was profoundly grieving. To top it off, dh was out of town, and I couldn't even wake him to tell him about it--which I certainly would have done if he'd been home! How's that for bizarre??? :confused: I think I just need a hug.

I have always wanted to do something like this. This is kind of how I envision Sonlight working, although I've never used it. :iagree:

:iagree: This was the topic of conversation yesterday between the girls and me, and I said exactly the same thing--most people don't eat like that every day, but only on special occasions.

Way back when EK was in 2nd or 3rd grade, we did the American Girl curriculum. We tried the posole recipe in Josefina's Cookbook, and it was a HUGE hit with the family, so we've made it many times since then. This recipe from Epicurious is very similar to the one in our book.

I think you should go ahead with cursive. I taught my ds to write in cursive in the second half of 2nd grade. He was doing well with phonics, was reading well, and could write neatly when he put effort into it. For my dd, I waited until the beginning of 3rd grade because she was struggling with phonics and spelling, and that seemed to take so much focus that I didn't want to add something else new. You said your ds is doing well--it sounds like he's a bit "ahead" academically (compared to his agemates in the public schools)--so it's time. ETA: The local private Christian school doesn't teach manuscript handwriting at all. They begin with cursive in preschool. My niece is in first grade there this year, and she has been writing in cursive since she started preschool there two years ago at age 4. FWIW, the school uses all ABeka curriculum. ABeka's beginning penmanship materials for kindergarten are available in either cursive or print. From the ABeka website: A Beka Book uses a traditional approach to writing. Before the 1940s, schools across the nation took this approach and, as a result, most American school children developed beautiful handwriting. Ball-and-stick manuscript came about as part of progressive education reforms in the 1940s. The change was made primarily to help children recognize the letters in the “Dick and Jane” look-say readers. By starting with cursive writing rather than manuscript printing, we help the child develop good writing habits from the very beginning. This means that habits acquired from manuscript printing do not need to be unlearned.We also strengthen the child’s reading skills. By joining letters, cursive writing reinforces the blending of sounds within words.

:grouphug: Vent away! I have an extended family member who sounds a lot like your sister. It's hard when you have to draw the line, but ultimately, for your own sanity and for the sake of your children, sometimes you have no choice.

8:30

Yes, this sounds like us. I've found that my teenagers would sleep as much as I'd let them. I believe in keeping a schedule for school, so I insist that they go to bed at a decent time and sleep no more than 10 hours at a stretch except on weekends. It used to be so easy to manipulate their sleep schedule when they were younger. But It's HARD to get them to bed on time when they're teenagers! They tend to want to stay up late and sleep late to make up for it.

:iagree: Getting dressed is part of our morning routine. I always expected the kids to get up, make their beds, get dressed, eat breakfast, and brush their teeth before we started school at 8:30. I believe that getting dressed is part of being prepared for the day. I like to think it sends the subconscious signal that it's time to get to work.

:lol: Southern belle here!

I visited the computer lab with dh when we were in college (sometime between 1980-1982) and he was taking a computer class. Dh had to write a program in BASIC and then go to the computer lab to run it. Nobody I knew had ever heard of a personal computer before; computers were something that only NASA had. LOL There were some advanced computer students in the lab that day working on a project. They were using a modem--they kind that you had to insert the telephone receiver into--in order to communicate with another university about 150 miles away. Our first personal computer was an Apple IIGS, bought in 1987 or 1988. We used it for word processing--no Internet. Dh was in seminary and had to write papers, and I was working as a teacher. About 9 or 10 years later, when dh was serving as associate pastor of a local church, there was a computer in the church office, and that was my first introduction to the Internet. We bought a an Internet-capable computer for our home sometime in 1998. We used it mainly for e-mail. Dial-up was so-o-o-o-o s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w!

:iagree: