Ditto for me too! I don't do NASCAR but I am a hockey mom!

I was just watching the news and I saw footage of her w/ soldiers. It looked either Afghanistan or Iraq. Did anyone catch where she was and my other question is has Obama every visited Iraq? My somewhat smug guess would be no so I would like the correct answer.

:iagree:

I think he's, for the most part, gotten a pass when it comes to experience. Obama's campaign just came out w/ their official reaction to Palin's nomination. "John McCain has picked a former mayor of a city with the population of 9,000 people w/ no 0 foreign policy experience and she is now a heart beat away from the presidency." I guess they missed her 2 years of executive experience as governor of Alaska. This statement is petty, mean-spirited and completely dismissive of small town voters, in my opinion! It makes me wonder if Obama has really taken a good look at himself in the mirror.

She's a hockey mom so she's one of my peeps! :D McCain has always considered himself a bit of a maverick so this choice fits right with that. It would have been very easy to pick another Washington insider (note to Obama.) On the news however, they're already talking about her inexperience. I guess experience only counts for VP, not president! The hypocrisy of the media never ceases to amaze me!

She's a hockey mom so she's on of my peeps! :D McCain always considered himself a bit of a maverick so this fits. I'm also excited that she's not the usual "Washington insider."

I found it high on style points but low on substance. He speaks that he is the "agent of change" yet I heard only re-treaded policy ideas. If your employer won't give you healthcare, that's ok...the government will. If you know the government will provide insurance, what's the incentive for employers? I also think taxes will increase. My husband owns his own business and usually employes 25-40 people. I heard nothing in his speech to indicate that his policies will not put an even greater tax burden on the small business owner even though small business employ the majority of Americans. Bottom line: I am always troubled by any candidate that speaks of bigger government.

Beth, I purchased Easy Classical's Animals, Human Body & Plant unit after reading some threads here. Unfortunately, I'm just getting ready to begin this week so I can't really give a thorough review (yet.) It does seem very easy to use and it's in line w/ the philosophy of teaching science laid out in TWTM. I appreciate that there's not a lot of supplies need for experiments. It also seems pretty teacher friendly; not too much prep (which I really appreciate.) Have you searched through old posts yet for more feedback?

Oh my gosh...I almost had ice-T come out my nose. Too funny!:lol: and yes...I thought Doric as well!

Who can identify the columns; are they Doric, Ionic or Corinthian?

I was wondering where the vestal virgins come in but now I'm confusing my ancient civilizations :D.

:rofl:

Has anyone seen pictures of the stage that Obama is using for his acceptance speech tonight? Some are referring to is as the "Barackopolis" or the "Temple of Obama." I've read that one of biggest criticisms is his "celebrity-like" status (I'm not agreeing or disagreeing) but it seems that this is just playing into that mindset. I did read one humorous comment that basically said that even the gods must come down from Mt. Olympus once in a while to interact w/ the mere mortals. I'm not trying to start a political debate...I just find this very interesting!

We had an astronomical bill one month. The city just assumed we we had a leak underground but a plumber confirmed there was none. We had a city worker come out to check the meter and he found that from the time since the last meter reading, our usage was normal again. We tried to convince them the meter was faulty but they wouldn't replace it. The worker said they receive 2-3 complaints/month re: usage issues that they just can't explain! They tried to make us pay the entire bill but we fought it and wound up paying about 65% of the bill (still too high in my opinion.) I would suggest you ask them come out again and check the usage to see if it's still high and go from there.

anyone, anyone....

We're getting ready to begin SOTW 2 and I'm considering incorporating the Book of Centuries. Lapbooks are too labor intensive for me so I thought this might be a good alternative. Has anyone used this w/ their history and if so, did you kids enjoy it? I'd appreciate any feedback.

My boys enjoy the Dragon Slayers Academy series; light-hearted & funny. They also like the Time Warp Trio series and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

It's about time. The Chargers are going all the way! :hurray::hurray:

I guess I should have looked at the table of contents first :D. Thanks for all the info!

My oldest son is just beginning multiplication in Gamma. I introduced the 1st lesson yesterday but I was a little confused. He's used MUS all along and understands how to use the blocks. He also can skip count well using 2, 5 or 10 so for example, he quickly understood the concept of 5 x 5 =25. I'm confused however on how to have him solve a problem that he cannot skip count; like 6x3=18. He understood to make a rectangle, go over 6 and up 3 but he then counted all the units to find the answer of 18. Is this ok? I didn't know if I should have him add 6 three times or simply allow him to count. The TM gave great detail in setting up the equation but didn't really give any specific instruction on how to have them find the answer. Do I just allow him to continue counting...any suggestions??

I'm going to use the Puffin Classics version by Geraldine McCaughrean. It has condensed versions of the tales and the language doesn't seem too difficult. I have a paperback copy so there are no illustrations. This version was actually recommended somewhere...I just can't remember where. :001_huh:

In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education." This is in total contrast to the ruling earlier this year that basically tried to outlaw homeschooling. I think just as positive as the ruling was seeing all the CA homeschooling support networks (Christian & secular) as well as HSLDA work together to defend homeschooler's rights and appeal the decision. It's a good day :party:

I find it makes a nice compliment to some of the chapters in SOTW. Also, the stories are fairly short so it's a good read aloud for my boys.

Ooohhh...I do love tomato & mozzarella salad. I have heirloom tomatoes that I'm specifically saving those for!