Actually, it drives me crazy when our neighbor kids play in our yard. If they were friends/(even friendly) to my kids, or if my kids were playing together with them even occasionally, it would be no big deal. But to have kids that want nothing to do with my kids playing on our swingset, using our soccer goal, hitting a baseball into our yard every 2 minutes...well, I just don't like it. And I can't imagine letting my kids do so with someone else's yard/belongings...unless I was close friends with them and we had an arrangement in place. By the way...we now have a privacy fence so most of our neighbor issues have been taken care of! Yippee!

Well, this isn't a site to buy science items, but it does have a great collection of fun science activities for kids to do: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/

You could try some PVC pipe projects. There is cutting involved, but perhaps an adult could help ds cut the pieces out and then he could assemble them on his own. Here is a website with some free plans for projects (http://www.pvcworkshop.com/freePVCplans.htm). You could also just have a whole bunch of different sizes and have him build & take apart...

Just wanted to say that potty training makes me crazy, too. Hang in there! The hardest part about it is that each child is different, so what works for one may not work for the next. I checked out a few books from the library on potty training and each book said completely different things! I found a few different ideas and just kept trying them until something clicked. I am just so relieved to have it over with! My worry was when they kept holding it in for so long. Can you tell when he needs to poop? Does he mention it? Does he just squirm & you can tell he's holding it in? Maybe you can start going into the bathroom, putting a diaper on him when he needs to go #2, keeping him in the bathroom to poop...then having him empty the poop into the potty, flush it and say bye-bye. You can talk about the process that big boys usually use--they just sit on the potty and put the poop right in there. My dd had a hard time peeing OR pooping on the potty--she would hold it in forever and be dancing and crying, but couldn't quite figure out how to release it. I thought I was going to go nuts. She had no problem staying dry (unlike my other three in the training process). Finally I just put diapers back on her and talked her through the process when I could tell she really had to go. I'd just hold her (in a diaper) and say, okay, now you need to let the pee out. Did you feel that? Don't you feel better inside? Soon you'll be ready to let it out into the potty. After she starting being able to pee/poop in the diaper when she needed to (maybe a week or so), then we put on the big girl panties and she was totally done. Never had an accident after that...she was completely trained day & night. So, the upside to what it sounds like your ds is doing...he can already hold it! yeah! That is a huge step. Now you just need to figure out if he is scared to poop or doesn't know how to do it or what the problem is. One thing that helped dd was going to buy a new little potty that made music when she'd pee/poop. (We didn't really need a new potty...but I was at my wit's end and decided the $16 at Walmart was worth a try). She loved it...and then of course, when she pooped she got gummies, so she was pretty happy when she figured out that part. Good luck! Hang in there! It will come together...

That does seem early to me, too. Perhaps it's because it was because it was the day after the 4th of July? Here it has been a holiday with some businesses closed.

I'm trying not to fret too much...they'll grow back, right? My cute curly-headed dd2 cut several inches on one side of her head...thank goodness it's still long enough to put in a barrette!

Just the other day I found Joy Hakim's Story of Us (vol 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11) for $2 each at our local thrift store. I was pretty excited...and unfortunately had to leave before I had time to really scour the entire book section...I just know that volumes 4, 8, & 10 are there somewhere!

One idea is to take index cards--on each one write exactly what needs to be done; connect them with a little ring-thingy...so you might have 5-6 cards that say: Make bed & fix pillows on top Pick up dirty clothes & put in basket Put books back on bookshelf Put toys away Pick up any trash & put in trashcan Awesome job! You're done! You could also make a 'deep-clean' set of cards...for one morning a week when she needs to do a little more than a quick straighten. Perhaps these cards would say: Take dirty laundry to laundry room Clean off the top of desk & dresser Fix shoes in floor of closet & hang up any clothes Vacuum Change sheets on bed Wahoo! Way to go! Actually...you can do different sets of cards in different colors for different jobs...(cleaning the bathroom, family room, cleaning the guinea pig cage, etc). For my kids, I think it really helps to have just ONE thing listed on each card...and then being able to flip through them is a visual way to see that you are almost done.

I can relate to feeling frustrated with kids who just want to sit and watch tv or play computer. I just decided we are going electronic-free for a few weeks until the kids figure out how to occupy themselves without gadgets...lots of grumbling, but that's okay, I can handle it. Dd11 seriously doesn't know what to do with herself if she is not playing with a friend or using an electronic device. It drives me batty...I just don't get it! I've tried providing lots of ideas & making sure we have some fun, new, exciting things to do...but she after a few minutes of it, she is begging for a friend to come over or to watch a show or play the computer. My goodness, what have I done that this girl doesn't know how to just 'BE'! One thing that I have started this summer that I thought I'd mention is a Bingo chart--I wrote in lots of different ideas of productive, fun, educational, or necessary things for them to do. For example: Memorize a poem, build a fort in the backyard, play w/little sister for 30 minutes, read a specific book, weed in the garden, learn a song on the piano, do an art project, ride your bike for a mile, etc. As they cross things off there are different rewards--1st bingo might be a candy bar; four corners is a family movie night; blackout is a family trip to mini-golf. As for encouraging them to earn money and/or be productive--it is a motivator for my kids--we don't do allowance, they have required chores and then I always have chores available that they can do to earn money. If they want to buy something or go somewhere, they have to pay for it and so they have to work for it. Hope you find some ideas to help!

Oh my goodness! This thread is timed so perfectly--ds12 got home late last night from scout camp...I just saw him this morning and I have been feeling depressed because the vacation is over! Suddenly there is contention and arguing and pestering and crankiness in our home again! I feel bad for saying it, but this week was SO nice!!! (I agree with pp who said it doesn't matter so much which one is gone, but with one out of the mix, things just seem more peaceful....) Hopefully an afternoon nap will improve the situation at our house!

I keep going back & forth with the itching & the satisfaction that we are done with four...it is quite an emotional roller coaster for me! I am taking down the crib today, actually...my dd2 has been in the toddler bed for a few weeks and today is the day. I'm expecting a few tears (of mine!)...and yet...she's potty-trained, she's talking, she's so much fun to watch as her little personality emerges that I'm excited about the next few years of discovery...and trying to think of the stage ahead rather than feeling sad about what stage we're leaving. But then I'll have a friend tell me she's expecting or I'll watch a stinkin Johnson & Johnson commercial or I'll peek through some photos and see my sweet little newborns...ah...sigh...will my arms always long for a wee one to be in them?

Enjoy the journey! She's got a passion for writing and you're doing great to encourage that! You might also want to create a 'word wall' (posterboard) or 'word book' where she can write new words to use in her stories. One challenge my little advanced learners have had with writing is that they can tell the words aren't spelled correctly, but they don't know how to do so--so they get incredibly frustrated. My ds would run off and find a book that had the word spelled correctly and then copy it into his story. I found creating a fun word wall was a great help to him--if he ever asked to spell a word, we'd put it up there (and maybe draw a picture of it nearby). I'd also add words that I noticed he mispelled--not as instruction, but simply to provide a correct example--and I found he would then use it in his stories.

We also loved Portofino...we managed the walk just fine, although it did seem longer on the way home as someone mentioned! We also stayed at the one that looks like a castle--with knights & armor & stuff (might be the Carousel inn you have listed). Not that the rooms looked like that at all...hmm, it wasn't as nice as Portofino, the walk was shorter than Portofino, it was cheaper. Overall it worked fine, but I still would have preferred Portofino. Ah...have fun! We'd love to go back!

I also have a hard time getting rid of things--and feel like we have tons of toys! And yet...we have four kids--boy, girl, boy, girl--all at different stages of 'toys'--so we DO have a lot of variety which makes for a lot of toys. Does that make sense? If we had only girls who loved baby dolls & playing house, we would certainly be able to limit things more...but with four of them with different interests/likes, it's going to mean a lot more in quantity. I'm also hesitant to get rid of things as one outgrows them, because in the long run I don't want to purchase similar toys again when a younger one gets to that stage. So...our solution is to do a toy rotation. When one outgrows something, we box it up and keep it in a storage room--so the playroom isn't so packed with things, but we don't have to spend money to buy something again. I've even presented some of these previously used toys as birthday/Christmas gifts (sometimes needing to remind the older that s/he's outgrown it and now it is a surprise for the next one). We do have certain toys that I keep out of reach and then bring out occasionally to find the kids are excited to see them again--such as a marbleworks set, train set, etc. It sure helps in keeping the playroom/bedrooms picked up not to have too many things available at once. However, if you really do need to get rid of stuff, I agree with pp that say to do so while the kids aren't there! Or perhaps you could allow them to fill certain baskets with their favorites and encourage them to donate or sell the others (mine are usually quite eager to sell to get money for something else!).

I also love OAMC...although I tend to do it in a few days rather than one day. I usually prefer it in the fall/winter--most things I make I heat up in the oven and hate to do that in the summer. The nice thing about it is you figure out what's for dinner in the morning, take it out to thaw, put it in the oven around 4:30 and it's ready an hour or so later. Throw together a salad, cook a veggie, and I feel I've done an amazing job...and yet the dinner hour isn't so crazy. I typically cook up a bunch of ground beef & assemble several casserole type of things on one day: enchiladas, tator tot casserole, lasagna, spaghetti pie, pizza casserole, taco meat, minestrone soup, chili, meatloaf. I usually do 3-4 of each recipe. I don't bake the casseroles--simply assemble them and freeze them in the foil casserole dishes w/tinfoil on top. The same day I will put a whole bunch of chicken breasts in the oven and crockpots to bake for awhile. The next day, I shred/dice the chicken and assemble my chicken recipes: chicken enchiladas, chicken & stuffing, chicken & rice, white chicken chili. I'll also bag up uncooked chicken w/sauces that I plan to throw in the crockpot (bbq chicken, chicken licken, chicken noodle soup). When I plan my weekly menus, I don't use a freezer meal every single night; I kinda throw in a few meals of baked potato bar, grilled cheese/soup, french toast, leftovers, etc. So I usually use perhaps 3-4 of my casseroles a week. If all of this seems too overwhelming, I'd suggest at least preparing your meat all at once...browning the ground beef & separating into bags; baking or grilling the chicken, shredding/dicing & separating into bags. It is so nice to just grab a bag of prepared meat and throw it in to whatever you're in the mood to make. (Maybe it's just me, but I just hate that part of it...). (My dh says the ground beef has a funny taste when I do this, but if I'm adding it to a sauce w/good seasoning, I can usually hide it). I was using my side by side freezer and storing things in freezer bags, but finally gave in and bought an upright deep freeze. Only thing I can say about that is I wish I hadn't gone with the smallest one. I can't even describe the excitement I feel when my freezer is full of casseroles...oh, my goodness...I open my freezer sometimes just to look at how beautiful it is!

tennis

Maybe I'm joining the thread too late for anyone to read this, but we had a funny one at church a few years ago-- This very old lady in our church stood up to share her testimony--she has major health problems, and she breathes *very* loudly & when she takes a breath in it sounds horrible. My ds was 3 at the time, sitting down coloring. When she started breathing in the microphone, he stands up, looks around & in a very loud voice says, "It's Darth Vader!" Oh my goodness, we laughed so hard I almost wet my pants. Everytime this sweet lady talks now, I think back to that moment and cannot control my laughter. I feel so bad, but it was so funny, because he was right...she does sound like Darth Vader!

We always have applesauce & a veggie tray...carrots, broccoli, & cucumbers w/ ranch.

I think a Boredom Jar is a great idea. I think it's hard on kids not to have a routine and then suddenly have tons of time that they're not sure how to fill up with productive things! Mine just want to do electronics all day and that's what I'm trying hard to prevent! I found an idea online that looks fun, too--http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2008/06/oh-what-do-you-do-in-summertime.html. (sorry that didn't come out in a link for some reason). My sister is doing something called an ABC list...she had her kids work together to come up with a fun thing to do for every letter of the alphabet (you could say free, at-home things or you could include five outings or whatever)--then each day they do one of them. Like for P it might be make homemade popsicles or O might be build an indoor obstacle course together. For my kids, it really helps to have a calendar scheduled out. Then they know what is coming and we seem to do much better! I've decided to have something fun to do everyday...not always elaborate or crazy, but me doing something fun with the kids every day for at least a little while. I'm kinda weird, so we named the days like this: Marvelous Make-It Monday....we make something together (arts & crafts, cooking, etc--today we are building with toothpicks & gumdrops) Terrific Traveling Tuesday....we go to a park, museum, library, bike ride Wacky Water Wednesday....we go swimming or play w/sprinklers Theater Thursday....we go to a dollar movie or watch it at home Fantastic Friend Friday....they can have friends over to play I also created a Bingo chart for each child--with fun and educational things for them to do (memorize a poem, build a fort in the backyard, ride their bike for 100 minutes, read a specific chapter book)--when they get Bingo they can choose a treat, when they get black-out we're going as a family to a nearby mini golf/laser tag place. When they say they are bored, I remind them to look at their Bingo card and see if they can check something off.

Ah, this brings back memories. A few years back, I was hugely pregnant, had a ds4 and dd2...and on a trip to the library neither one of them was behaving at all. I finally dropped my basket of books (oh, you know how long it takes to find them all...I had to leave it and get away!), picked up the screaming-hitting-mommy two year old...pulled the fit-throwing four year old beside me...with my huge pregnant belly & red face...finally made it to the exit of the building...thinking my ordeal was almost over. But guess what I found there? A news crew was filming right outside the front entrance of the library! :lol: (I'm sure they had to film their segment over again, because we were quite the spectacle...either that or someone may have turned it into Funniest Home Videos!) I'm so glad a kind lady helped you out! I'd probably start taking the double stroller and strapping them both in...or find a way to go by yourself if you can! Hang in there!

Yes, yes, these are fabulous!

I just told dh the other day that one of the most useful gifts we got for our wedding 15 years ago was the set of trays--y'know, so he can serve me breakfast in bed & I can bring him chips & salsa in front of the football game. :D

One thing that worked really well for us on a long drive--collect a bunch of funny kids jokes, type up, cut up separately, fold & put in a little baggie. Every time you stop somewhere (restroom, gas station, lunch, etc), each child gets to choose a joke out when they are buckled back in and then we read them together. (Often our kids didn't really want to get back in the car again...so this helped make it a little fun). One trip I made little cloth bags for each child and every thirty minutes they'd get a 'surprise'--it might be smarties or stickers or a matchbox car or a new small toy. I'd generally find toys in 'sets' and give each little part separately...and I did go to thrift stores to find little new things, too. Of course, the rule was they weren't allowed to ask if it was time for the surprise yet...because that would have driven me crazy! Happy traveling!

Wow, I'm afraid the Mama Bear in me would have had to come out in full force! I can hardly believe this type of attitude--with a 7 year old! Hey, you're paying money for this...I think he deserves better! Are there any other options for ds to continue gymnastics but with someone different?

Laundry is a never-ending battle, isn't it? I've changed a few things recently that have helped around here... I have found it makes a huge difference to have fewer clothes for each person...jeans/jean shorts that are worn multiple times and around 5 or 6 shirts each, a few pj sets (that are worn multiple times), but plenty of socks and underwear. I also like to have hooks available in the bedroom to hang jeans or pajamas on so they aren't rumpled up and dirty-smelling the next day. My biggest challenge was keeping up with the CLEAN laundry--I'd fold it on the couch, have piles everywhere and then dd2 would mess it all up or we'd move them around a few times before they actually got put away. My laundry room is basically a hallway to the bathroom, not much space. But I put a little bookshelf in there, with 6 large washtubs (about $3 at Walmart)--each one labeled with a family member's name. Then I keep a large laundry basket on the bottom shelf for towels/linens. I also put a hanging rod and bought a bunch of hangers. Now, we either fold the clothes right from the dryer and put them directly in the correct bin or hang them up. One of the chores at the end of the day is to empty your bin & return your hanging clothes to your closet. We have a chore assignment of Laundry Assistant that rotates between my older three kids. They check with me to see what needs to be done that morning and then work for 15 minutes or so--perhaps gathering dirty laundry & sorting it, putting away the towels/linens, starting a new load, folding a load, gathering empty hangers, etc. This is working a little better than having specific laundry assignments--because the stages of our laundry process are ever-changing and I need them to just jump in and help no matter what stage we're at. Hope you find some ideas to help you!