The title says it all. I am looking for anyone who has found a correlation between typical seasonal allergy symptoms (runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes) that do not seem to follow "seasons" to a specific food or foods. If anyone is out there, I have more questions for you.

Cross-posted in the Logic Stage board. Has anyone's child taken the Lukeion Latin classes as early as 6th grade? If so, I have more questions for you but will refrain from asking until I know there is someone out there to ask.

Cross-posted in the High School board. Has anyone's child taken the Lukeion Latin classes as early as 6th grade? If so, I have more questions for you but will refrain from asking until I know there is someone out there to ask.

Skis, snowshoes, and ice skates too!

I chuckle at the water. Where I live it would be frozen solid for 6 months. It is very snowy and cold where I live. We do not see pavement for months on end. I keep in each car: a sleeping bag a well-stocked first aid kit ice scrapers in various sizes for both inside and outside windows washer and radiator fluid a few granola bars a shovel jumper cables extra bulbs for a lights (in heavy snow, a missing light can be very difficult) We also all ALWAYS travel, whether on foot or by car, with headlamps and cash. The headlamp can be set to flashing red for using as an emergency "flare." Remember that floor mats can be used for traction in a pinch.

I check each writing assignment for spelling and have dd correct the misspelled words. I figure it will eventually work itself out. I dropped spelling as a stand-alone subject after 3rd grade because we simply ran out of time to do it. I require dd to look up each misspelled word in the dictionary, even if she knows how to correct it. Since spending the time looking up the word is torture to dd, she is motivated to pay attention to words she should know already. BUT, I also do not want to discourage her to use "reach" words just because she does not want to have to look them up. So as she is writing, she can ask me to spell a word for her if it complicated or she has not used it before, and I will spell it for her.

Awesome!

When I am feeling lazy, which is most of the time, I feed them Nature's Variety brand food. My feed store carries it and it comes in little 1 oz disks. I feed them 1.5 oz each twice a day. The food comes frozen and I just portion out the bag into single day servings into old sour cream containers and put one in the fridge every day. They get a chicken, lamb, or beef. When I am feeling more ambitious, I buy a few whole chickens from a local farm and grind them up myself. Then freeze in individual portions. This is far cheaper and probably higher quality, but also a pain and really gross. They seem to like the homemade stuff better.

I second this. Our always-at-the-vet cat with urinary problems is now 100% healthy after switching to raw food two years ago. I was amazed. We have two cats and they were both on multiple medications. Neither require any meds anymore.

I'm with you. If someone ever tried to sell me stuff at a kid's birthday party, that would be the last interaction I would have with the family, period. I am sure I am not unusual in this regard. If you can not find a way to prevent this, I would strongly consider canceling the party.

I say just do it. My dd has had three birthday parties like this and frankly, I really don't care if it offends someone. It is a nice thing to do and makes gift shopping easy. I just don't understand why anyone would care. I normally follow manners rules to the letter but this is one area I think needs serious reform!

While I do not own one and never have, it is very common amongst the homeschoolers in my area. So, it does happen in some places!

Yes.

As others have pointed out, this issue is location dependent. I live in an extremely snowy area. We have snow 5-6 months of the year. For perspective, we just went over the 200 inch mark this year. No one clears their roofs. Ever. And there is no rule/law about it. Windshields, windows, and mirrors must be cleared and you can be stopped if not, but roofs? Nope. Despite living in this area for 20 years, I have never witnessed a sheet of ice/snow fly off of a car.

We also used Latin for Children (LFC). My now 10 yo dd is finishing up LFC C and I was able to learn right along with her. It aligns very well with FLL grammar. I think it is a tough program and we have slowed it down here and there over the last three years. But I do think it is a very solid beginning.

Thanks! This is good to know. I did NOT know that about WWE4 - which we did do all four years of. Ugh! I should have read that whole thread, eh? So, it sounds like there will be a WWS4, but it may not be necessary? I am/was concerned WWS4 would not be out in time anyway since the roll-outs have been behind schedule.....

It will only be a 3-year program? I assumed 4. If I know it will be 3, I would like to stretch it out more now. We are 2/3 through WWS1 and I would not mind backing off and stretching it through 8th grade.

We went straight into Analytical Grammar with my 5th grader. It was a very smooth transition.

I second the Therm-a-rests! I think they are far more comfortable than air mattresses or cots and they take up so much less room. Ours are 20+ years old and still work great. I find them as comfy as my own bed at home.

I know the OP only camps once a year so this advice might not be good for her....but cheap tents do not save money. I cannot tell you how many Colemans, Ozarks, and other Walmart tents we have seen collapsed after moderate wind or rain. We have friends with a big family that bought a 10-man Coleman in the hopes that it would last for years. A pole broke during their very first trip. Coleman replaced it....along with the six (SIX) other poles that broke within the first 3 years they owned it. After that, they had to trash it because the zipper broke. On top of that, it leaked during heavy rain. So, they bought another Coleman because that is all they can afford. However, the amount they spent on two Colemans could have bought them a very nice tent that would work for decades. Kelty makes decent-qaulity tents that do not cost a fortune. We have two. Our oldest (20 years) one has been set up over 150 times and is still going strong. I had to re-waterproof it after set-up number 90. The newer one is of cheaper construction (IMO) but still has protected us during the worst of storms without any after market waterproofing. Skimping on tents can be quite costly. In the OP's once-a-year situation, I would be tempted to go cheap since the likelihood of a major storm in low. But know the risks and be prepared to sleep in the car should the worst happen.

A 5 man at least, maybe more with mattresses. I am pretty sure they measure the number of people by melting them down and pouring them in. We have a 4-man for 3 people and we take up all of the floor space without gear....no mattresses/cots. There is just a tiny sliver left for shoes. Luckily, dd is still short enough that we can stack our clothing on the end of her sleeping bag. We use a shade/rain tent outside of the regular tent rather than a screen porch style. The bigger and more complicated the tent, the flimsier they seem to be. More parts that can break and more complicated designs. Plus they cost so much more. We withstand a lot of really hard rain and storms, so sturdy is important to us. A smaller, but higher-end tent works better for us. REI makes a shade tent with removable rain walls that is modestly priced and very strong. It is big enough for a picnic table or if we are expecting a lot of rain, we set it up right next to the door of our tent to make a make-shift "vestibule." The extra bonus is that we can use the shade/rain tent for lots of other things other than camping.

NM. I was wrong. They no longer carry 30:(

The cat in question was surrendered by her former owner so it is possible that the former owner gave false information too. I really want to believe that no shelter anywhere would purposely misrepresent age. The vet said it was quite obvious. 10 years was a best-case scenario. He thought probably more like 12-14 years old. She had arthritis and a lot of trouble grooming herself:( She only lived for another 5 years and was VERY elderly when she passed. I am still glad we adopted her. We had no children, a quiet house, and enough cash to have her seen to regularly. If we had done the same thing years later with a toddler or a lot of activity, having incorrect information could have made life miserable for her.

We adopted a "5 year old" cat many years ago. When we took her for her first vet check-up the vet said there was no chance she was a day less than 10 years old:( She was an awesome cat and we would have adopted her anyway, but I still feel like the shelter was dishonest. The vet said it was common practice for older cats. She had a very happy senior citizen life in our house and I don't regret getting her but we had to say goodbye far earlier than we thought we would.

I am wondering the same thing. I have not shopped at a Target in at least 5 years so I am confused.....