BBQ Pork Sandwiches...we buy the pork all ready from Sam's club. Each package says it feeds 20 people and it costs around $10. This is my easiest, low-stress, food for a crowd meal. I make a huge pasta salad the day before, cut up veggies for a veggie tray the day before (or buy them in bags at Sam's if I'm really stressed), open a few bags of chips. Throw the meat into the crockpot a few hours before. Easy peasy. If it is something nicer, I'd do a casserole of some kind...it's easy to assemble two or three of them at a time (just make sure all of the pans will fit in your oven together). Lasagna, salad, french bread. Enchiladas, salad. Chicken & stuffing casserole, salad, rolls. Maybe several crockpots of varying soups and rolls. Assembly line type of meals...Hawaiian Haystacks, Taco Salad, Potato Bar

I bought six-packs of the bottles of Orange & Grape Crush to hand out as a party favor before. (We never buy soda...but with it being in the bottles versus cans, my kids loved it even more). I also bought a package of crazy straws and tied one to each bottle with ribbon. I think it came to less than a dollar each. I've also done the big boxes of candy (like movie theater size) from Walmart (between 88 cents to a dollar)--just tied a ribbon around it. I put them all in a basket by the door, as they left, they choose one to take with them. The backwards party sounds fun. Hmm...maybe you could attach a silly card to a treat that says, Welcome to the party, We hope you have fun. Or write Thanks for coming in backwards print. Or package the soda upside down in party favor bags. Or create your own label that says the name of the treat backwards...like HSURC for Crush. Have fun!

Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (especially if he's read any of the books--but you don't have to have read the books to 'get it'). It is kind of like James Bond type movies, but geared to kids and family friendly. There was still a lot of action (my dh loved it, too) without the adult content. James Bond movies have more adult content than we're comfortable with our kids watching. My ds12 has enjoyed: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, City of Ember, Race to Witch Mountain

Thanks for the info...this would save me a lot of time hunting second-hand for books. Hmm. Another question--there are SO many books listed on there--do you find that yours sell easily?

Interesting. I'm usually too cheap to pay postage...yet, if the book is free, paying postage might be okay. About how much do you spend on postage to mail books?

Okay, so I had the title of the game a little wrong. It's Memoir 44, not Memoirs 44. http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/ I looked into it at the above site, but purchased it at our local family game store, Funfinity (for $50). (Ouch...but it was worth it...we were studying WWII together...) I highly recommend it. If you have further questions, let me know.

That's great! Which schools has he applied to? So now you're relieved that he got into one...but what if he gets into them all...then you have to make a decision! :001_smile: Good luck--(we're neighbors by the way...well, I'm in Mapleton)

My ds12 has been enjoying the board game Memoirs 44. It's a WW2 game, where you set up actual battles from WW2 and then re-enact them. He loves it. There are also additional add-ons that you can buy to keep the game exciting. The only downside is that it is pricey.

I'd recommend checking out the Zoom website--show from pbs (although it's not on here anymore...I miss it!). There are all kinds of science experiments/art projects/fun things to do! They have printables with the instructions all typed out written directly to the kids. I taught an 8-week after-school activity called ClubZoom using all activities from the website. All that I did was gather materials (most are things around your house), print off the instruction sheets, demonstrate at the beginning of class, and then walk around and help them. Tons of fun! They have film canister rockets, marble runs, newspaper towers, etc. Check it out! (That's what they say on the show all the time...check it out, then turn off the TV and do it!) :001_smile: pbskids.org/zoom/printables/activities

My ds7 likes them. I just saw in the new Rainbow Resource gift catalog (that arrived today) that they have a fun game with them...you move around the board collecting pieces to make your Zoob creation. I thought it looked great! (OF course, that's because it reminds me of our family's favorite game of all time...Lego Creator...it was a great way to teach our boys how to build lego creations in the beginning). So, I thought I'd mention it in case you are interested.

What curriculum will they be using? Is it uniform throughout the school (for example, do they start with Saxon math & stick with it...or switch at some point) Is there a reading program? Is there a writing program? Is there a scope & sequence for instruction at each level? (Are there specific books that each grade level reads, specific writing skills, specific history topics they cover, specific science topics they cover...do these concepts build on each other in following years?) What are the requirements for parent volunteering? How many students do they plan to have in each class? Will there be teacher's assistants? How do they plan to differentiate for students who need more help and/or more of a challenge? Will a student be able to move ahead to a higher math class if needed? What specialty classes will be offered? (music, art, computers...) Will any foreign language instruction be offered? Are parents able to choose which teacher they want their students to have? Are they willing to have part-time enrollment for homeschoolers? Will students need to take part in any fundraising efforts? Are there going to be extra-curricular activities offered? Will the students be attending field trips? If so, who drives? Is there a lunch program at the school? Some of these things are less important than others, of course, but these are all things we considered as we looked into placing our children at our charter school. (And would consider at any school, actually).

This year we made & canned vegetable soup with potatoes, carrots & onions from our garden. (adding barley, celery, and seasonings) It was awesome to know that we grew most of the ingredients ourselves. Talk about feeling domestic! I now have 21 quarts of beautiful vegetable soup to last through the winter. I left them on the kitchen table for days just to admire. :001_smile: As for tomatoes--I never seem to get enough at one time to can them--it just seems like more work than necessary. But I do blanch and freeze them--and then add them to soups & chili & spaghetti during the winter months. It is so easy. I've canned applesauce, salsa & peaches--and it's lots of work, but if you have a group working together it is really fun. If you have to buy the fruit/vegetables, it often does seem cheaper to just buy the cans from the store. Of course, peaches don't taste near as good! If you can get the fruit/vegetables for free (or cheap from your own garden), the biggest expense is buying the jars. I've picked up my water bath canner at a garage sale for a few dollars; can sometimes get the jars for 25 cents apiece. We borrowed our neighbors pressure canner. All in all, I think there is an initial expense in getting the jars and equipment...but in the long run, if you grow the fruit/veggies yourself, it is worth it economically.

We had about 7 or 8 boys over when ds turned 11. Best party ever, according to my ds. We had several nerf guns, but asked a few boys to bring theirs. I bought tons of darts--could have used even more. We also asked everyone to bring sunglasses--eye protection. We set up a few places to hide behind in the backyard (used big boxes, trash cans, chairs covered in blankets). The boys divided into two teams and went at it. My dh joined in...I think he had more fun than the boys. If you have a Wii, they also have a Nerf gun game.

My ds7 did this about a year ago...started with sniffing his nose all the time. Soon that stopped and he started turning his head like he was trying to stretch out a muscle in his neck or something. A little while later he would crack his knuckles. Oh, somewhere in that he would blink his eyes--like squeeze them shut--a lot. He seemed to do one of these for a few weeks and then move on to something else. All of this drove me crazy. One night after we first started noticing it, I looked on the internet and found all this stuff and was convinced he had a tic. And that he'd be weird for the rest of his life. Seriously, I was picturing him as this grown man who did all of the above at the same time every few minutes and nobody could stand to be around him. Ah...it all went away. I don't even remember when. I must have had something else to worry about. I'd recommend NOT doing a google search on tics. :lol:

This has always been a topic that bugs me a little bit. I have two ds who have been academically advanced...but with late summer birthdays. I still put them in kdg that fall. They were both still far ahead of many of their peers. I cannot imagine having them wait a year. I have had several close friends who chose to hold theirs back a year...for sports reasons. That just bugs me to no end. One said it was because her son was 'immature,' and I said, of course he is...he's 5...they are all immature...to which she responded, well, my husband thinks it will be better for him in sports if he's bigger than everyone. I'm not sure when the 'trend' to hold kids back started. But it seems to me that this is the problem...and the 'playing field' will never be fair because of it. I realize there are times when holding a child back are important & would be best for the child...but I am opposed to those who do so based on maturity or size for sports. Don't mean to offend, simply stating my opinion. :D HOWEVER, having said that, I am experiencing the effects of this trend....we are now at a point where ds12 is playing football with other '7th graders' and most of them are 13, a few even 14. So it has become an issue...as ds12 is not the most physically gifted in the world as it is (not that I tell him that...he has a lot of passion & desire to be good, but not a lot of natural ability, iykwm)...but adding to that that he is one of the smallest & youngest doesn't help matters much. Just the other day I helped him make this connection--had him imagine he was playing with the 6th graders--and he was like, wow...I'd be pretty good, wouldn't I? So for the first time, I started wondering...hmm...how would things have been different if we had held him back a year. He might have been the first string quarterback rather than the 2nd string qb sitting on the bench. He also might have been bored out of his mind sitting through the letter of the week when he could already read chapter books. I guess it all depends on the individual child--as they will learn life's lessons regardless of which route they take. As I mentioned, our biggest reason for not holding the boys back was because they were academically ahead. But our perspective on age at graduation also played into our decision. Our boys will be going off on two-year missions for our church when they turn 19...if we held them back, they'd leave shortly after graduation--seriously like 2 months later. If they graduated at 17 & soon turned 18, they'd be able to get in a year of college & working to save money before they left---and we feel that is a crucial year to grow up a little bit before going off to Taiwan or Brazil as a missionary. (By grow up, I mean experience living away from Mom & Dad when they can come home every weekend if needed...and they learn to be a little more self-reliant while we are still reasonably close--as compared to half-way around the world!). Good luck in your decision-making process. I agree that one of the benefits to homeschooling is you are able to teach them at whatever level they are on and not be so defined by the grade level. And I can really see why you would be considering the grade level change. I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your situation! There are so many factors to consider here...and I suspect the answer will be different for each child...so take all of these opinions, consider the ideas that apply to your situation, and you'll know what would work best for your family.

I know it sounds crazy, but I've kept mine home an extra day (yes, I know that makes another day of missing assignments), to give them time to make up all the work. It's amazing how much you can get done in one day at home versus going to school all day & trying to do extra work at night. I also think it helps to really get over the illness rather than jump right back into things. I'd also suggest emailing teachers directly to explain the absences, find out assignments now, and see if they have any alternate assignments. It would probably be helpful to express your concerns to them and see if they are willing to be flexible. Good luck! Hope it all works out okay for your guys.

I really appreciate the suggestions...I will look a bit more into these. I spent too much of my afternoon checking out smilebox.com. It was very easy to put my pictures into cute scrapbook pages and I can easily post it on facebook or a blog. Now I just have to figure out the best place to print, if this is the route I decide to go.

Thanks, I'll look into Shutterfly. And I hadn't even considered anything about the photo quality/size, so I'll have to look into that some more, too. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm trying to decide what it is I want to do. I have scrapbooked for years (although I'm still several years behind). Since all of my photos are digital, I figure it's time for me to make the switch from paper to digital. Ideally, I'd like to create digital scrapbook pages (with cute backgrounds & graphics), have them available on a blog for faraway friends/family to view, and print them out into nice looking books...with the pages appearing as scrapbook pages typically would. I've looked a little into blogging--and I have seen a few websites where you can print out your blog into a book...the one I looked closely at it seemed that when you print out, it is just white pages with photos and blog entries. I've seen a lot of fun backgrounds & graphics that make the blog look cute...but it seems when you change it, they all change? Is that right? Do the graphics change all of the pages in the archive? It seems to me that either I blog (which seems so easy & would be fun to do with photos & entries) or a I start digitally scrapbooking (which would also be fun, because I love the final product and love the backgrounds & graphics). Am I missing something...or is there a way to combine both? Forgive me if I sound totally clueless!

One of those fold-up baby strollers and a baby doll. A blanket and bottle for the baby. My little girl was 16 months for Christmas last year and when she woke up and found her stroller w/baby, she was so excited! You can get each for about $10. Wooden puzzles Board books Nesting cups

I also find it hard to fit much more in. Luckily our elementary school is doing a pretty good job of covering things (except writing instruction). They do have Saxon math and spelling homework each night. They are also expected to read 20-30 minutes (I give mine a basket of books that they need to read 2-3 books from each week in addition to their free reading). And then they each have 20-30 minutes of violin/cello practice. Of course there are the lessons, sports teams, trips to the library, etc...and of course they need time to just play outside with friends...and it is hard to find time to do anything more! My biggest problem is that the kids don't WANT to do anything more...so sometimes it's hard to battle that part of it. I am thinking of creating a type of workbox situation--just one box for each of mine or one for us to do together--to rotate through the things I want to do with them afterschool. I've read of how a lot of those trying the workbox method are finally able to do all those great extras they have hidden in the closet (geography games, mindbenders, art projects, etc)--and I feel like I've got some great ideas, but we're just not organized enough to do it. I'm still in the brainstorming stage, but I'm thinking to have something like Mondays we bake a treat together, Tuesdays we play an educational game, Wednesdays we do an art project, Thursdays we read stories & do narration, Fridays we go on a field trip or the park (my kids get out early on fridays). I'm also planning on doing a Sunday afternoon time where we read stories from William Bennett's "Book of Virtues" and have them write down a narration from that. On top of this, I do plan on finding a grammar workbook type of program to have my ds12 be doing--I plan to just assign it on Sunday and he can work on it anytime that week before the next Sunday. We typically only allow computer/screen time on Fridays and Saturdays. I'd like to create a list of those educational websites that I find mentioned here and assign my kids to visit those sites--typing, geography, history topics, math facts practice, logic games, etc. Years ago I had seen a mom who put together a website/blog (??) where her children could go and just click on the Sesame Street icon and it would take them directly to the games. I'm not computer savvy enough (not even a blog) to know how to do this, but I'd like to figure it out. My kids are definitely old enough to get online and find the games they want...but I'm talking about having them go to the places I want them to! And if I let them do it during the week, they would probably be excited. Of course, even with the best plan in mind...violin lessons, football practice, friends over, library trips, scouts...there is just too much to do sometimes and something's got to give. I try to just remember that I'm doing all I can to develop life-long learners. I get a lot more done in the summertime--I look at that as my homeschooling time where I can really get some work done. During the school year, I just try to enrich and add to what they are getting at school. I do try to use our time in the car with educational CD's--I'd love to get SOTW, but for now just do books on CD or math facts or Schoolhouse Rocks. Oh, and my dh isn't involved in very much of our afterschooling. Not that he's unsupportive, it's just that most of it is done while he is gone. When he is here, he is amazed at how much we have going on in those hours after school and before dinner...and then he understands why I need chocolate chip cookies. I'll look forward to reading ideas on here! I love learning on these forums.

We watched both episodes last night on hulu...looking forward to tonight! We're hooked also! I love shows that make you think....

This looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing the link.

You go, girl! :party:

I was hoping it would be good; thought the storyline was okay. A little intense in some places, but dh liked the action. But then we were turned off by the sex...another show we won't be following.