Thank you!

Finished The Strange Library. Boy was that a quick read! Interesting too. Are all of his books like that?

Finished reading my 11th book - Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay. I'm liking this series and will be checking out the second soon. Started my 12th book this morning - The Strange Library.

I'm still here! Just moving along verrry slowly. :rolleyes: Last night I finished Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. It was the book that I had put on hold at my library but then couldn't remember why. Science fiction from the 1950s. Apparently, Mr. Clarke is well-known. Anyway, I really liked it - very interesting. Easy read. Oh, and there supposedly a mini-series being made and premiering this year. I've started Books Can Be Deceiving, the first book in A Library Lover's Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay. I read #3 Book, Line, and Sinker a couple of books ago without knowing it was a series. Now I'm starting from the beginning. Still working on La Casa de los Espíritus! Almost fifty percent of the way through... We love Wayside School! There are two or three aren't there? I liked them as a kid, and now my kids love them too. They're super silly. This looks great!

This year. (2nd grade and kind of sort of K) It's only our third year, so it's probably that I finally feel like I know what I'm doing... But my kids just keep amazing me this year! It's SO enjoyable to watch them learn and make connections! And I love learning new things with them.

I love your site! Thanks for sharing!

Ahh, I understand. For myself, I also sorted my book list by the age-level at which I thought each would be appropriate. I didn't share that part because I know that with each parent it would be different. I agree that the 1000 Good Books list is good.

This is a link to my blog post where I share the book list that I've compiled for my own kids. Classics and contemporary, literature, living books, a couple of textbooks, etc. I ordered them by AR level as best I could. Basically, I just merged a bunch of book lists that I had found over the years. May or may not be what you are looking for. Good luck!

Electronic. I use google calendar for appointments/social obligations/meetings etc. I have an app that keeps track of when it's time to do recurring tasks. I put everything on there because when I get busy/preoccupied, I forget the simplest things. So I have things like "change toothbrushes," "exercise," "study Spanish," and even things like "read current book" and "play a game with kids." All are set at intervals that I want to do each task. I use OneNote for homeschool planning/records, as a Home Management notebook, a notebook for our nonprofit, a notebook for my Spanish notes, and as a digital Bullet Journal. http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/softwarewebapps/fl/How-to-Use-OneNote-as-the-Ultimate-Task-Manager-Notepad-and-Journal.htm

I have double piercings. I don't often wear earrings in the second set of holes, but I do in the first. The first set was pierced as a newborn. The second set (and the stud in my nose) I got in my early twenties. Dd got her ears pierced at three (we waited until she asked for them), they got infected, we let them close up, and she got them redone the next year at the age of four. This time it turned out fine. She wears them sporadically (a couple of times a month).

My plan for the summer is boring, but easy for me: 30 min Khan Academy One Duolingo lesson 30 min independent reading 30 min read alouds Every weekday that we don't have something going on already.

I am very similar. Dh and I have some friends from high school that we hang out with a few times a month. I really enjoy it, but I don't like one-on-one stuff as much. It's very hard for me to just chat with one person for more than a few minutes, especially women. I get nervous and have a hard time finding things to say. I enjoy days where the kids and I stay home all day, working/playing in the back yard, reading, playing games, even doing house work. I don't have the same need to have long talks with my girl friends that it seems like everyone else does. It makes me feel mean, but I can't help it. I do like hanging out in groups, especially of mixed gender. But not more than once a week. And seeing the same people/person several times a week drives me crazy. ETA: Texting has been great for me! I can answer when I feel ready, and it doesn't drain me like face-to-face time does.

I do about 70% of the cooking, but Dh is the better cook. He's better at throwing stuff together and making it seem fancy. I am not creative and my stuff is simple. Also, I don't like cooking for guests - too much pressure. Dh does most of that.

I can so relate! Except this is only our third year, and I was hoping that the latest change I made about three months ago (planning/schedule-wise) would be our last change for at least a few years. It's working so well right now. I've realized that, for us, very simple is the way to go. But reading this thread is a bit discouraging...

We loved Brain Games!

I am not an artsy person either. This is what we've done for art: I bought a Scott Foresman Art book on Amazon for maybe $10 including shipping. There's one for each grade (through sixth maybe?), but we used the second grade one for two years. I just now need to buy another. Anyway, because M reads well and loves all things art, I let her read the book and do the projects herself. I also pick up living books from the library about famous artists. Next year, as a third grader, M will be able to participate in our homeschool charter's art workshops. That's it. Unless you count piano lessons with Daddy.

I'd like to know too. I have a ton of old cartridges.

I'm starting Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. No idea why I ordered it from the library (that seems to happen a lot), but I'm going to give it a try. So far, at page 15, I'm liking it. Not usually the type of book I'd read. But that's what I love about this challenge: I'm reading (and actually finishing!) all sorts of books. :-)

I finished Catcher In the Rye today. I don't know what I expected, but it was different. I made myself wait until I was finished until I allowed myself to research it a little. I knew nothing about it except that it was a famous book. I went through a short phase of not feeling like reading this past week. No idea why, but I'm back to it. I don't know what I'm going to read next. Probably the library book that's due the soonest - I'll have to look it up. Right now I have to start thinking in Spanish as I meet with my tutor in a few minutes. Still reading La Casa de Los Espíritus and enjoying it.

We use OPGTR. I haven't used 100EZ with my own kids, but I did use it when I worked with kids with high-functioning autism. I like OPGTR better (it seems more thorough), but 100EZ wasn't awful. It worked for the couple of kids I used it with.

I voted "to each his/her own, but I disagree." I don't care much what others believe. The only thing that does bother me is what kids are being taught.

I chose every six weeks, but it's actually every 5-9 weeks.

It took some getting used to. Also, I eat a moderate amount of fat and protein and my lunch and dinner (and usually a snack) are bigger. So probably the same amount of calories in the end. It's not for everyone, but helps my stomach.

If you fast from, say, 7PM (after dinner) to noon (lunch) the next day, that's 17 hours right there. I do that almost every day. It feels good to give my stomach a rest. I'm mostly eating between noon and 7PM. (Except my morning coffee with one tablespoon heavy cream.)

No sugar, no grains mostly for the last year. (although I recently had a setback and today is my first day back - wish me luck). running 1-3 miles twice a week I have others (in bed by ten, stretching daily, etc.) that I haven't been doing lately. :( I've not been very healthy lately.