I'm so very sad, and so very sorry, to hear this. Dear, sweet Moira. Oh, how you will be missed.

The "Story of" CDs are a bio of the composer, along with selections of the music. The Classical Kids CDs are stories set to the music. Check out a review of them here: http://www.thecurriculumchoice.com/2009/07/classical-kids-cds/ My kids have enjoyed them both. I agree with BoyOBoy that the "Story Of" Cds are a bit drier in presentation, but my kids have learned a lot from them.

I didn't think I was a huge fan of poetry either, but I'm learning to like it more. I felt a need to do more this year. We're using Ambleside Online, and they have poetry recommendations for each year in the early years, and then each term in the upper years. Since we haven't done much previously, we're using their Year 6 anthology, and it's been great! We read a poem per day. I look up a short bio of each poet, and if I don't really get it, I try to look up the poem too in case the girls have questions about it. We also have a small CM co-op, and we're studying Tennyson this term. We did Emil

We moved to NC from MI when dh got a new job, and it saved our marriage. We both grew up in Michigan, and if we had stayed there, we would not still be married, I don't think. Every time we've tried to move back, the door has been firmly closed. His parents are very toxic to our marriage. We do all right with them just seeing them a few times a year, but I don't know that I'm ready, even 14 years later, to move back to the constant stress they would add to our lives. Raleigh was OK; I don't care for where we live now. We moved here 3 years ago so he could work for Apple, which was a dr

I'm so sorry, Luanne. Both of my mom's grandmothers lived well into their 90's. They were both lovely woman and it blessed me so much to have known them. Not just a vague memory, either; I saw my Great-Grandma Witchell every week for years on piano lesson day, and she always had her famous sugar cookies waiting. My Great-Grandma Palmer was a neat lady, too; very into geneaology and published several books on her family. I didn't know her first husband, who would have been my great-grandfather, but her second husband, George, was a wonderful man and treated all of us like his own. My own grandm

I would guess a financial advisor - someone who can help you crunch the numbers and see what you can afford. If your neighborhood isn't bad, and you want to travel, I'd do that. Can you do an online mortgage calcluator to help you figure out what your payments would be in a new house, and compare it to your current budget? When we lived in Raleigh, we had a nice little house in a VERY convenient location. It was perfect for the 4 of us, but when Schmooey came along, we were getting REALLY cramped. We didn't move, though, because we could not beat the location. Now that we live somewhere el

We have a 2010 Sienna, and I have really liked it. It has had some interesting quirks, but overall, it's a great van. We chose it over the Odyssey because it has more headroom, and because the interior felt less claustrophobic to me.

I have tried to figure it out a couple of times, but it's not remotely intuitive and I have given up. The other issue I have is that it's a PC program and I try to run it in Virtual Windows or whatever on my Mac, and it just doesn't want to play nicely with me. I'd love to have a computer planner. HST+ makes me want to throw things. Dh said he would figure it out for me but hasn't had time, so I am going with Excel plans and the Ultimate Homeschool Planner for me and the Student Planners for my girls. I am pretty sure I will be happier.

I don't know why MFW K gets lots of bad reviews - I used it with both my girls and LOVED it. I think it's the best K program out there and it's a great value! I loved that it was all integrated, and it worked so well all together. My girls both went into it knowing all their letters, and Schmooey does too, but it was a great review and really built their confidence. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a great program. I am in a bit of a dither about what I want to do with Schmooey this fall. The girls and I finally jumped into full-on Ambleside Online, and they love it. We've f

There are lots of printable options, if you Google. Butterfly life cycle booklet Butterfly Garden book - free to print, real pictures from a butterfly house of all the stages of the life cycle, very beautiful! Butterfly life cycle wheel Frog life cycle printout Frog life cycle wheel I also found simple life cycle puzzles at a teacher supply store. Lakeshore Learning has a Life Cycles Sequencing Kit that I think is really cool. Rainbow Resource has a mini bulletin board set that includes frogs, butterflies, horses, chickens and sunflowers that looks great. They also ha

I have the Scotch one too, and I love it! I also have the Xyron cool laminator, which is nice. The hot laminator (Scotch) makes things that slide nicely/are slippery. The cool laminator (Xyron) makes things that are tackier, so they don't slide as much. The nice thing about the Xyron is that the lamination stuff comes in rolls so you can do a lot at once without messing with the sheets, and you can get different cartridges, like magnet backing, to go with it. It's expensive though; the cartridges run about $40 I think but you can always use a coupon at the craft store.

I know I took Trig and I remember random things from it. All I remember about Algebra II is "i" and thinking it was very strange. I could have taken calculus, but I would have had to go to a different school and give up band, which was not an option. :D

I haven't tried them yet either but I REALLY want to. :lol: I was just over here looking to see if anyone had used the Wonders of Old timeline from Knowledge Quest, because they have some on their scratch-and-dent sale for cheap. I guess I could get the KQ ones and see what I think, since they are inexpensive, and get the AAC ones if I don't love them. The AAC look like the ultimate timeline to me - exactly what I would love to use. You're right, though, they are pricey and I hate to spend over $200 for 2 of them only to find that we won't use them. Argh!

And another vote in my book for a fake tree! Ack! I found this link: Debug Your Christmas Tree Basically it says that nothing harmful is going to come in on your Christmas tree. Most bug require humidity to live, and there isn't much in the air at this time of year, so they should all "dessicate" within a few days, and they won't have food either, so they won't live long. They say DO NOT spray aerosol bug sprays because those are flammable. If they are creeping you out, vacuum the little critters.