Wow. What kind of a lizard is this? Is there any way you can put something to block his escape when he comes out, or is he just too fast?

I love my cats! There is almost nothing as fun as a kitten. They are so entertaining. As for names, I don't know. Mine are: Simon, Miranda, Twink, Pandora (Dory) and Tasha. They all have middle names because we are strange like that. :D I've also had: Jasper Milo Sophia Sammie Gabriel Galadriel Faith What are you studying right now? Any cool names from that? Favorite movies or books? I like to get names from things like that. Honestly, their names just seem to come to me when I meet them. Post pictures and maybe that will help. :)

Mine is public. It never occurred to me to make it private. I don't think we are that interesting. :D I started it to keep family updated with what we're doing, but I don't update it very often. I don't have time and I rarely get all my pictures together for my posts, which frustrates me so I don't do it. Also, I am not living a shiny, happy life, and I don't want to represent myself that way on my blog, so I hesitate to post much because I don't want to seem like a whiner and I probably am. I confess that I originally wanted to have a fabulous homeschool resource blog like Trivium Academy used to, but that was really not something I could do. So, it sits there, and I post occasionally, and I'm trying to be more comfortable posting without pictures. :)

What a great idea! I was thinking of the door out to the garage too. All our other doors have too much glass in them. I wonder what dh would think. I could also do the door to our bonus room since that is theoretically our school room, if I ever get it cleaned out. The only issue is the carpet... I'd have to limit the chalk in there to white because colored chalk really stains carpet. Ask me how I know. :D I think the garage door is a great idea though! Let me ask you this: is your door flat? Ours is not. I don't think it would bother the kids though.

I was recently talking with a woman about preschool and pre-handwriting, and she told me that she used to run a preschool and would have kids do lots of activities that involved pinching. She would have a sand table filled with rice or beans, put little items in it, and have them use tweezers to get them out. Another thing I got from Confessions of a Homeschooler is getting large push pins (I found giant ones at AC Moore, I think) and poking holes in paper. Another preschool director I knew when the girls were little told me to do the same thing with push pins on the back of a carpet square. You trace designs on it and have them poke in the holes. Play dough is also supposed to be good for handwriting muscles, as well as doing monkey bars. I'm in the same boat you are, lisamarie. My son is 4, and goes to preschool, but his handwriting is just terrible. We haven't worked on it much at home, but he has a really funky pencil grip. I actually took one of those grips for proper pencil position in, and his teacher has him use it when they use pencils, which isn't often, but at least it helps. My son does not like to color. It would be great if he did, but he doesn't. That's yet another reason on my list why he won't go to kindergarten. :)

You know, I am not a big fan of CLE yet either, but that's because I don't know their style and TM. I feel like I need to get the TM's for 4th grade because we aren't familiar with how they do things - we've been using MUS. Thankfully, my 10 yo dd is good at math and likes it, so she is able to figure it out, and my dh has been good to help as needed. I like the idea of having them in separate math programs anyway, because they are so competitive, and my 11 yo really does not like math and "feels stupid" when her sister is better at math than she is.

Thanks, folks. I do think the visual and auditory instruction from TT would be really good for this child. She is really *not* the type to look at an example and then figure it out. We just spent several long, teary minutes trying to get her to understand how to reduce fractions, which her tutor assures me she knows how to do. Sigh. I have one more day, I think, to decide if I want to return CLE. That's why I'm trying to make the decision. I think I will go ahead and get TT. She loves LOF, thinks it's fun, and understands it. We can go over the problems and she gets it. I think she would enjoy TT, too, and it would make math more enjoyable for both of us.

I don't get over here much anymore, but I'm hoping someone will remember me and help me think through this math issue. Emma has a wonderful math tutor an has come a LONG way in her math since spring. I had the tutor test both girls in CLE math, and they placed into 5th grade, so I ordered it. Actually, I ordered 6th grade and then 5th because I messed up but that's another story. :D I also got Life of Fred for Emma, because I wanted to see how she would like it. She loves it! It seems to be working really well so far. I wanted her to work through CLE alongside, just for the extra practice, because she really does need it. However, I am not sure it's working out like I'd hoped. I had originally thought I would have her do TT6 alongside LOF, and my gut tells me that is the better choice for her. I've heard so many wonderful things about CLE math though that I wanted to give it a try. Any thoughts? She doesn't like math and she and I have a difficult time working on it together. I thought TT would give her more independence and instruction that wasn't coming from me.

I've been trying to be a CM homeschooler for years. I have anxiety that I don't do it very well, but we keep plugging away. :D When we first started homeschooling, we found MFW K and LOVED it. We did not love MFW 1 as much. We've tried LBC and didn't love that as much as I'd hoped. This year, we finally took the plunge into AO and it's been our best year yet. I wish I had not been such a coward and had taken the plunge earlier. I was so sure that I needed everything in one nice tidy box that I didn't listen to what I knew we should be doing. I am blessed to live near Gardner-Webb University, where they have a wonderful CM conference every summer. I have been able to go for the past 3 years, I think, and it's been amazing.

Lovedtodeath, I have a 12 year old Persian cat who stays in our master suite all the time. He's not allowed in the rest of the house, because he will pee, but he does perfectly in the bedroom/bathroom and is quite happy as far as I can tell. He is quite overweight, but always has been. Sometimes he gets out because Schmooey doesn't always remember to close the door, and every time, he finds something to pee and poop on. He started this at our old house, and kept it up once we moved here. I tried putting him in the laundry room, but he was VERY unhappy. He does well in my room because we're in and out of there all the time and he gets to sleep with us. He can still get up on our bed when he likes. This is a silly thing to consider, but could you put a step by your bed that would allow him to get up on it still? People do this for their dogs all the time. Our Siamese cat is a puker and always has been. I don't think he throws up 4x per week all the time, but he certainly has his weeks. Lord help me if he sneaks out and eats grass! :eek::svengo: And, my two Persians are quite regular pukers of hairballs, even with hairball control food and all that good stuff. We had some friends who kept their elderly cat in their bathroom. I didn't think I would ever consider doing that, until Simon decided to have issues. I tried to have him put down, but the vet didn't want to do it so they left me alone with him until I changed my mind. :) Honestly, I am glad he's still here. It's not the life I would have chosen for him, certainly, but he still gives and receives love and purrs like no other cat. He is the son of our very best cat ever who died young from kidney failure, and we have quite a soft spot where he in concerned. It seems a little ridiculous from time to time, but he is happy and I am happy and dh is happy that he's still here, so we deal with it. :grouphug: It's so hard when you're trying to decide if your pet's time has come. It nearly kills me every time. I'm sorry.

Wow! That is REALLY expensive! My kids will either do virtual dissection or dh will do it. Ick, ick, ick. Good for you though!

This sounds really good! I have not been to Chipotle's but I'm always looking for tasty recipes. Thanks for posting, Dawn, and for reviving, Kristine!

It's more her general attitude that concerns me. I'm OK with not overscheduling; actually, the amount of stuff we did last year nearly drove me mad. She is apathetic about everything, and shows no interest unless it involves horses. She did NOT want to take piano lessons, but I believe music is important so I want all the kids to know how to read music, and now she likes it (or at least doesn't complain). Is this just a "tween" stage? My other dd, who is 10, is willing to try anything. When I told her Emma didn't want to try the flute, she said she wants to, except we've determined that she really wants to play the violin. They don't teach that instrument in the homeschool band, so we won't pursue that. I *am* concerned about her getting enough social interaction. My girls are so close in age, they have some dynamics between them that I think would be better if they had more separate activities and met some other kids. Before we moved, we had neighbor friends we saw every day. We don't have that here, and it takes quite a bit of effort to get together with other people. The tendency is to have them do the same things, but I'd like Emma to try something on her own. It's OK to tell me I'm worrying over nothing. I just want her to be able to try things, and not to refuse to try anything ever because she's... lazy? Afraid of failure? I'm not sure.

As I was typing, I thought, "This sounds like a lot of stuff already. They're going to think I'm nuts." :lol: By check it out, I mean she would try it for a year (or maybe just a semester if she truly hated it but had given it her best shot). She did love ballet, and agreed to give it up when we were going to try to focus more on horses, and I'd like to see her do that again. I must confess, though, I am not sure how we afforded all the stuff she was doing before (her sister does different stuff) and have not one clue how we're going to manage horses this year, much less anything else. My younger dd, who is already in a great choir at a local college, is willing to try the flute. I might let her do that. I loved band so much, I would love for her to try it! I just feel like we drive all over the place for one child, when the other one doesn't want to do anything.

My 11 yo dd is very smart and not very motivated. She does piano lessons because I made her take them, and now I think she likes them. She loves horses and goes to riding lessons willingly. Other than that, she has no interest in activities. We do participate in a homeschool co-op, and she likes that. We do quite a bit at church. It's not as though we stay home and stare at each other all day, LOL. There is a local homeschool band, and I would love to see her try it out. I have a flute she could play, and would be willing to consider other instruments if she'd like. She says she just doesn't want to do it. She didn't want to do piano, either, and if I hadn't required it she wouldn't be doing that. She used to take ballet, but we stopped when we moved because both girls were supposed to take more riding lessons. Due to various behavioral issues, they haven't been taking lessons for several months, but did go to camp this summer and I am hoping to get them back into lessons. I heard her tell her cousins that she'd like to do ballet still, so perhaps I should sign her up for dance again? I guess my question is, what do I make her try vs. let her make her own choices? If I let her make all her own choices, she would do nothing. I don't care if most things don't turn out to be her passions, but I would like her to check it out, at least.

Yep, if I don't wear mascara top & bottom, you can't tell I have eyelashes! It's pretty silly. If you have lovely, dark, thick, lashes, you night not need to wear it on the bottom ones, but I sure do. I've tried not putting eyeliner & mascara on the bottom and it does not work for me.

:iagree: This is what I was thinking of, too.

Michaels/AC Moore/Hobby Lobby often have great sales on picture frames. You can get them for at least 50% off, maybe more. Watch for a sale. Kohl's is another place that has good sales. You just have to keep an eye out. You might check Penney's, too, or maybe Kirkland's.

Oh, man, it makes me wish we had a Borders here! I wonder if I can send someone to get some for me!

Oh, Tina, I'm so sorry. How is she doing?

We love iPhones at our house! Dh has one, and I will get one in the fall when the new ones come out. I really think you will like whatever you get used to. After using the iPhone/iPod Touch, I could not stand using a Droid. Other people I know have Droids and didn't like the iPhone. I will say I hated my Blackberry, but it didn't have a touch screen, and after the iPhone there was just NO WAY. So, find out who has the best coverage in your area, and see what they have. That's excellent advice from Chucki, except iPhones are better. :D

YOU ROCK! Buttonholes are not easy! You keep on keeping on, sweet friend. It's not easy - take it one step, one breath at a time. :grouphug:

For music - Have you listened to Sonicflood? Blue Tree Fee I found this blog about living simply. I haven't read it, but it's a place to start. I have no clue about an online Joyce Meyer study. Sorry!

We love Netflix! I thought it would be hard to give up cable, and I do confess that I miss being able to watch dog shows, but overall it's been really good. We can watch tons of TV shows on Netflix, as well as movies, with the instant streaming option. We get 1 disc at a time, because with all the instant streaming available, we don't need more than that. We watch through our PS3, or through AppleTV (I think, not sure how dh has that set up). It's very easy. We, too, cut cable for budget reasons, and for the most part haven't looked back!

To me, this is how submission is supposed to work. Each person is treated with respect, and gets to share what they think, and then a decision is reached. Submission does not mean the husband gets to dictate everything. My dh and I were just talking about this. The only time I can see submission maybe being an issue is when we would have to agree to disagree, and his word would be the last one, because he *is* the head of the household. Rarely, he has told me "no" when I thought I REALLYREALLYREALLY wanted something, and in retrospect, he was right, or at least it's no longer a big deal. Most of the time, decisions are made based on the person with the most/best information. For example, I do not have much input on our investments. I have no interest in that kind of thing and really don't want to be involved. Dh is really good at it and has a good relationship with our financial advisor (if it were up to me, we wouldn't even have one). Dh does not have much to say about the curriculum I choose, except when I ask him to help me figure out where to go next. If he were to come home one day and start dictating that kind of thing, I would be certain that aliens had possessed him. I really have to go to bed! I should not be reading and participating in these threads.