I think this link to the story will work: Greatest American Cheapskate He lives in Vermont, and it is ridiculous! Cheap and gross!

I got my link to work?:confused: Rainbow Resource has the "Plants," "Animals," "Insects," and "Weather," available. They don't have "My Body," and "The Solar System." Try the link again and click on, "Add to cart." Blessings! Dorinda

I agree, and I want to add, our used piano is a Wurlitzer and it's fine. It's no Yamaha or Steinway, but it was $500 and worth it. Don't feel like you have to spend a fortune on a used piano for the name. Take a tuner to make sure it's in decent shape, but it doesn't have to be a certain name when you're starting out. Michelle, my mother doesn't play her Yamaha. My sister calls it her expensive curio cabinet. The next time she goes out of town, I'm going to hire movers, break into her house, and take it for my dd. Yamaha rocks:D

Here's my take on it: 1. Buy the cheapest keyboard you can find and let her try that for 6 months to a year. 2. If she shows she likes it and you want her to continue, consider renting a piano until you can find a good used one. My daughter started off on a $100 Casio Keyboard a little over a year ago. Once we realized how much she loved it and that she would continue it, I started looking for used pianos. She loved the Keyboard so much, she broke middle C off from use!:lol: I was ready to rent a piano, when a friend sold me hers used for $500. It's not my Mom's Yamaha, and it's not concert quality, but it's a piano. Some day we'll get a new one, but this does fine for now. FWIW our first teacher wasn't thrilled she was on a keyboard, and really had a hard time with it. We found a new teacher who loves music so much, she wants everyone to experience it, even if they can't afford/accommodate a full piano. She even lets her students with keyboards pick, "voices" for recital. DD played Edelweiss with an organ sound to it and it was perfect!:001_wub: I just want my kids to love music as much as I do.

I love your blog! I've been over there a couple of times just to look at the pictures. Did you keep it?:D

Did anyone watch 20/20 Friday night? Now THAT is frugal. This guy digs through the garbage cans in GAS STATIONS! He's never even bought his wife flowers! She said the one time she received flowers from him, they were from a funeral home's dumpster. AND he eats what people leave on their plates at restaurants. YIKES!!! I call that CHEAP, but he calls it frugal. I guess it reall is in the eye of the beholder:eek:

We read a lot of living books, but for a spine we used, "Made By God." Plants. They have a whole series that I own.l It was cheap, and exactly where we were science-wise that year.

We've did FLL 1 and 2 for first grade, Rod and Staff 2 for second, tried Primary Language Lessons, and now we're doing A Beka Language 3 for third:lol:. It's not that we didn't like any of them, or that they didn't "work." A Beka just fit best with the rest of our curriculum for this year. It is quick, easy and to the point. We can get it done in 15 min and she retains it beautifully. Blessings!

We've gotten 2, but we're not mailing cards out:blush: It IS the economy. Once you spend 20-40$ on the cards, then you still have to mail them all out! We have about 50-75 people on our list. That gets REALLY expensive. We did a slide show on animoto for $3 and emailed it to everyone. Some people liked it, some didn't. Oh well! You can't please everyone:001_smile:

This is what we've been doing. She only corresponds with a pen pal right now (I'm good friends with the other girl's Mom). But, she gets mad that I've read the e-mails. Not that I care:D, I am the Mom:D. But this brings up a good question. She wants it for more privacy, I'm not willing to give her that privacy yet. UGH! I wish I lived back with Ma and Pa Ingalls (haha!) What I'm seeing from the responses is, it's not necessarily whether you give your kids their own e-mail or not, it's the expectation of privacy that's the issue. If you give a child their own e-mail under your account, you will still be able to read it, so it's like not giving them their own. But, they FEEL like they have their own and FEEL like they have an expectation of privacy. SO, when should kids be allowed privacy? Do you open their letters (snail mail and e-mail) until their teens? Or do you allow them privacy until they lose your trust? What a can of worms! Am I making sense? :001_huh: Also, what do you tell your child about e-mail? Do you say, "I'm the parent and until you're 18 you have no privacy," or do you say something else? We haven't decided what to do yet, and the responses have been a big help. Please keep them coming! Dorinda whose 9 year old is OBVIOUSLY going through a growth spurt mentally (just last month we were still playing with stuffed animals:glare:)

THANK GOD FOR YOU! I am so dense sometimes!:lol:

This reminded me of my oldest, and how she tried ONE time to cross a road without me. We were meeting Daddy at a restaurant and I would always walk her to the other side of the car and make her hold my jacket, pantleg, whatever until I got the baby out. She looked across the parking lot and saw her Dad. She started to run and a truck was coming at her. Within a split second I reached out and grabbed what I could. It ended up being her hair. I literally almost snatched her bald to keep her from dying:lol: I tell the story for humor because we all still laugh about it today. I was HORRIFIED, but it all happened so fast. She NEVER did that again,but I think it's because when I grabbed her and pulled her back, the truck came to a screeching halt right in front of her, not because I yanked her by the hair. My youngest was always (and still kind of is) so afraid of getting "squished like a bug," that we never had to discipline her for it. It just goes to show you, you never know what will impact your kids. A story about bugs, or almost getting snatched bald. :lol:

Here it is! HAHAH! Disco Charlston The person with the glasses is my sister :D

OH MY GOSH THAT WAS FABULOUS!!!! I'm doing mine right now!

Well said Joanne. my thoughts exactly. All the Biblical verses for and against have been given, but what it really boils down to is, the heart of the parent. If I spank my child, and I am spanking them because I'm angry and I'm trying to bend them to my will, I am doing so in sin. (James 1:19; Ephesians 6:4; Colossions 3:21) If, however, I spank my child because they are young, and need a discipline that is an "experience" (for lack of a better word), but I do not do it because I'm angry and "THE MOM" and "I can't take it anymore," then I am not in sin. does that make sense?:confused: Oh well, it makes sense to me :) I guess I'll give an example. If your child is a toddler, and they keep sticking a fork in a light socket, spanking is appropriate. A simple swat on the bottom will get their attention and they'll know, "hey, I do this and I get hurt!" However, a 12 year old lies to you for the 100th time and you haul out the spoon or whatever and give them the spanking of their life, that's a sin. If he hasn't stopped lying after all the other spankings, why would he stop now, and how is spanking him more and harder going to help? KWIM? In that case you're not helping him and you're probably causing him to grow bitter and angry. Blessings! OH, and I guess I forgot to add that I don't think the verses about the rod were a MANDATE for spanking. I am totally opposed to churches saying if you don't spank, you're in sin. That's taking God's word out of context. God often speaks in parables meant to teach us how to live. My eye offends me all the time, but I still have it intact because I know he didn't intend for me to litterally take it out. If I started cutting off all the body parts that "offended," there wouldn't be much of me left. :LOL:

Obviously, if we decide to give the 9 year old princess her own address, it will be UNDER ours, I will have ALL parental controls intact and I will be double checking to make sure no, "junk" is getting in there. I'm not sold on this idea yet, but some of her friends have their own accounts (under parent's) and she wants her own. I am really pondering the necessity and the benefits of this. I thought I'd bring it to the "hive" and see what everyone else has done (I'm all about research), while I pray and thoughtfully consider whether she's ready or not. Thanks! Dorinda

Not to be contrary:D But I found the opposite to be true. We NEEDED the blacklines and used them because my daughter needed more practice. The flashcards made her break out in hives. OK, not really, but until you know how your child will learn math, I think it's good to get it all, and then just not use what you don't need.

This is the first year we've done school past Thanksgiving. Usually we're overcommited to outside activities, and I am so stressed out I can't take it anymore. This year, we moved in October and ended up taking the whole month of September off to prepare. Because we knew we were moving, but had no idea when the house would sell, we did not sign up for even half the activities we usually do. This year has gone so smoothly, it's apparent to us that less activities=more peace during the holidays. We are going to school until the 18th and then my oldest will do Math on the 19th :) I'm so proud of us:thumbup1: Merry Christmas!

I think Peela said it best (I'm finding that on all the threads you respond to Peela:D). It is all a matter of perception and priorities. And, that doesn't make your priorities wrong because they don't match up with mine, and visa versa. Here's our example. We have been struggling financially for all 11 years of our marriage. My husband has been laid off twice, both times after the children were born, and both times for 7-9 months. Both times he had to start over with a wage of about $11 an hour. We had a house and two cars, student loan debt, and credit card debt. This year, we decided enough was enough. We were tired of trying to hang onto the house, we were tired of car payments, and we were facing yet another unemployment in October of 2009 (Govt Contract work). We had canceled EVERYTHING, even the cellphones (paid to get out of our contract), but it simply wasn't enough. He hadn't been able to find a job to avoid that looming unemployment so, we sold the house, sold the cars (we have one with no car payment), and sold off whatever we could in a garage sale. THEN - he got a FABULOUS job, making more than we've ever made and we started over. The funny thing is, we are so different than we were! We are better off, yet I would consider us less frugal in some areas and more frugal in others. I looked at apartments and said NO!!! So, we rent a house. But, to replace the furniture we sold:lol:, we went on Craigslist and hunted. I had to buy curtains for the rental - I had a price in my mind and stuck with it. And, we have no desk and desperately need a new one, but I can't bear to part with $500 for a piece of particle board! So, the printer is on my bedroom floor, and all the files are still in boxes (my bedroom is a riot, let me tell you). We are getting pressure from EVERYONE to buy another car so, "Dorinda won't be stranded all day" (PULEEZZZ!:glare:). AND EVERYONE feels the need to tell us we are wasting our money renting, even though we have a BIGGER house than the one we just sold, in a BETTER location and the utilities are about HALF the price! However, I also have a shiny new laptop that was a "necessity" when the computer died two weeks ago. My children wear new clothes and shoes because I can't ever seem to find them anything to wear at the thrift store, and I spend $60-$100 getting my hair done every quarter:eek: And I buy a lot of organic groceries because I have a child with a very sensitive stomach who is also lactose intolerant, even though I have some well meaning friends who tell me I waste my money doing that. So, I think you are probably as frugal as you can be where you need to be, and, where you don't need to be, you aren't. Blessings! Dorinda PS Good thread! Made me think!

YEAH!!!!! :party: That's so great Pam! It was a rocky ride, but it was all worth it. Blessings! Dorinda

I said color because I always think of, "It's not easy being green." I love Kermit - God rest Jim Henson's soul

Ruthie, Then I would DEFINITELY go to the leadership and address the issues. All the co-ops I've belonged to have parent meetings once a quarter, or even every meeting. During those meetings, we've been allowed to address our concerns. I think ALL co-ops experience these kinds of problems, it's always how leadership and the individual mothers handle it. If you're met with the attitude that it's your problem, not theirs, AUGH!!! However, you may be surprised to find that other Moms agree with you, thus forcing the leadership to deal with the problems. Blessings! Dorinda

I agree with all the recommendations and wanted to add, "Anne of Green Gables" for your 11 year old. I LOVED them when I was her age. The other series my 9 year old likes is, "Judy Moody," and the "Warriors" series. All I really understand about "Warriors" is, it's about feral cats that live in tribes. Yes, it's twaddle, but I think everyone needs a little twaddle in their lives sometimes.:D And, both my girls LOVE the Tinkerbell series that the movies are about. We have the original hardbacks, but my girls said the paperbacks are the same stories. Merry Christmas!

OOHHHH! You should totally get her "The Prairie Primer," and the "Little House Cookbook," and there's a TON of activity books that tell you how to make corn cob dolls and such!!! :w00t:Can I come over and play too?

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. :iagree: Also, for History, just make your own! Since you're going to be there for just a short time, do "Hawaiian history." One of the years I loved history the most was when I was in 4th grade and we did California history. My parents kept laughing because we literally lived there 10 months and that was my Social Studies that year. But let me tell you, every weekend excursion we took was fabulous because I was so knowledgeable, and it was so much more meaningful. Blessings!