I also do the price list in my head thing. I was an extreme couponer( :leaving:, I used to get free diapers, toothpaste, tp etc) back before I got pg with the twins and was on bed rest. Now I looked into getting back into it, but it's not worth it with all the changes they have made to the system and my being busy with 4 kiddos. So now I know my stock up price and I load up when it hits there. Like I just loaded up on Whole Wheat macaroni at one store here because it was .48 per box. I only shop 1-2 stores a week. I also price match at Walmart because it is one of the few stores around here with decent produce. Many of the local produce places, it is questionable (as in I'll buy it and it will go bad in 3 days, walmart's produce usually lasts the week). Just a hint for those who want to price match at wal-mart (my local store knows me and the cashiers love this trick): I make my list and make a sticky note for each item with description, price and store name. I then put all my price matching items last and she just goes off the sticky note that is on each item. They know me so well now that they don't even have to check the ads because they trust me. It really doesn't take any longer at the register (unless you get the new cashier, which has happened a couple times, but they laugh it off as their lesson for the day).

Lanny, thanks for the link...I will look into that possibly when we travel (probably next year). How are they in working with you since you are located overseas?? Also, I perused their site and didn't see an answer, but do you happen to know if you have to be a us citizen or GC holder to attend? A friend is looking for options to get her ds in an american HS.

Oh, I totally know we live in a great area for buying produce. I was just comparing non-organic to organic in my area. It's 4x as much. The strawberries just got ripe here. The other stuff is what gets me. The smaller packages are in everything:

Ok, now i feel much better about our $700/mo for 6 of us! I just meal planned my whole next 4 weeks and I think it will be much easier to stick to my budget this month. I know that feeling of just meandering through the store and then get home with a car load of groceries and no idea what to cook! I do not buy pre packaged much. Shop local produce places. I can't afford organic. Today I bought 8 lbs of oranges,2 lbs strawberries, 5 lbs apples for $6. Organic that would cost closer to $24. This will be snacks for 4-5 days. I would love to find some meatless meals DH would eat, but he (for a long list of reasons I understand based on his childhood) associates meatless meals with poverty and since he has a decent job thinks we shouldn't have to go there. I spend about $100 per month on meat, which I don't think is much. I would like to hear about buying in bulk. We go through lots of raisins, etc. Anyone want to link a website they have used?

We tried many times to by a house through a foreclosure auction. Each state is different. Is this a foreclosure sale or a sheriff's seizure sale(usually drug related etc.)? It is possible for a house to be under a short sale contract and still be listed as going to auction on xx date. But in our cases the court usually delayed the auction. The bank was still trying to negotiate terms for the short sale, but didn't want to lose the option of foreclosing through the courts. Make sense? I would see if on the website they have some contact info, they may have basic info available on their website somewhere (a FAQ or the like). Otherwise google " buying a house on courthouse steps in XX" , we had an agent who was helping us, but he is a friend of the family and does this for himself and turns them into rental properties.

I would go with the nook color and root it. Just google "how to root a nook color on sd card". If you can transfer files from your compter to a usb drive, you can root a nook. They sell refurb ones from b&n for about $100. I'm on mine right now. And if you remove the card, you go back to the factory set up. You can use flash on it, my kids visit pbskids and other websites on it.

Leftovers are usually lunches. Dh takes his to work everyday, and the kids and I finish up the rest at home. If there is a really large amount, I miight freeze some (usually the chili, maybe some soups) so no one gets bored. UmMusa, thanks for the recipe. I make a slightly different version of carrot soup. And thanks for starting this thread, I am so happy I have a whole month planned.

Just updated my post above, but I am gonna lurk for some good and easy soup recipes.. I need a couple new ones... And lunch ideas.

Ok, so I'm not alone. I don't recall much pre high school to be honest and even not all of that is crystal clear.

Ok I have to do this tonight as I go shopping in the am. I'm posting here so I will remember ;). Ok, So I did enough for the rest of Jan. and all of Feb. Not in any particular order, I'll work on that now. I do need to fill in with some different soup ideas. (DH loves soup, I don't) and sides. I also want to work on lunches. We are in a rut. Lamb & hummus beans with rice, yogurt, salad Homemade mini pizzas, carrot/raisin salad, clam chowder Shawrama, hummus, tabboulei Kafta ball stew, rice Shrimp alfredo, ceaser salad, toast Lasagna, garlic toast, salad Skillet stuffed peppers, rice, salad Kung pao beef, rice, chinese corn soup Meatloaf, mash potatoes, corn pudding, carrot soup Lahmi bajeen, lubyah bil zeit, soup Chili, baked potatoes Lamb kabsah, salad, yogurt/cucumber sauce Black bean and garlic salmon, rice, hot&sour soup Fetaih with lamb feet Baked ziti with meatballs, ?, toast Bean & cheese smoothered burritos, spanish rice, soup? Leban eya (Yogurt and lamb stew), rice (makes enough for 2 days) Salmon, brussel sprouts, rice, tomato and bean soup Hamburgers, cole slaw, baked beans, fries Stuffed cabbage rolls, ?? Curry beef with couscous, lentil soup Bbq with lamb and beef, hummus, salad (weekend) Fajitas, sweet corn cake, guac, black bean soup Taco bar (night dh is working) Speciality pizza night (alfredo pizza, bbq pizza, mexican pizza), soup, fruit salad Lo mein, egg rolls, soup Kafta bil tahini, salad Fish baked in the oven, roast potatoes, salad, corn chowder Rice with lamb and veges pilaf, yogurt & cucumber sauce, fatoush Fasoulia, rice These are the things I plan for breakfasts: Whole Wheat pancake muffins, WW peanut butter bread Malneesh (cheese and zaatar) Eggs and lebni cereal toast w/pb or nutella Lunches are usually: Quesidella (sp?) PB sandwich or Nutella sandwich, Macaroni w/sauce buffet (PB,apple slices, wheat thins, fruit, pretzels, cheese sticks/cubes) but this one is messy with the 3yos. Leftovers I need more ideas in this one.

We looked into this for quite some time and got close several times. We had contracts and land pending inspections close. I would second investigating that land throughly. Too cheap, too long on market. Some sellerscare not very forthcoming. I could tell some stories, claimed was zoned for x, but wasn't. Get the assesor's parcel number (or whatever your county calls it) from the listing and call and speak to the county about it. Are there zoning issues, flooding, right of ways? Just tell them you are interested in buying property xyz and what can they tell you about it. If you go forward, make sure you put a contingency on the contract and have an construction person who knows local ordinances come out and take a look and maybe even quote you. Google the Owner-Builder book online for info about managing the building yourself. I would check into also doing a prefab house with the land purchase. (I saw pre fabs starting at $12k.) They sometimes have financing sources just for that. You could always build later and use that as a guest house if zoning allowed u to. Oh and check utilities, all of them. Those can cost you big time if they need updating, etc.

When someone says they eat a whole food diet, what do you mentally picture in that? I am looking at our diet/grocery list and not sure where we fall. I do not bake bread from scratch (me and yeast don't work well together LOL). But I do buy 100% WW bread with no hfcs or preservatives. The only really packaged things I buy (ready to eat) are: cereal, DH's protein bars, tortilla chips, whole wheat tortillas (both from a local bakery so no preservatives, hfcs), salsa and chinese sauces. Are canned veges and beans excluded from whole food diets? What about ww pasta? Rice? Frozen veges? Just trying to see how close we already are and how l could add more whole foods. I already cook most dinners from scratch, don't buy any pre packaged mixes and spend a lot on produce each week. But DH thinks we should eat less pasta (even if it is ww). The kids eat it maybe 2x a week for lunch or dinner. Snacks are fruit, cheese, maybe an occasional box of wheat thins(maybe 1 a month). So, what else should I know about whole foods?

I did in my pre kids days. It is draining, but works. I would do 48 hours when I hit a plateau in my weight loss. I could lose 5 lbs in those 2 days. The weight will come right back on if you back to eating regularly. But the day after my appetite would be less. Oh and don't go to far from a bathroom ;) .

If you are dealing with custody issues, I would wait for legal advice before she moves out as having a built in support system (grandparents) might work in her favor.

Double post...

I didn't have till the twins, but then I had it big time. The smoothies tums taste great and work fast. Also slept sitting up from about 20wks,

Thankfully I am not the only one who thought of Dr. Suess!

Just a suggestion, are you working with a bank or a mortgage broker?? We had a unique situation and found that a mortgage broker was much more helpful as he worked on OUR side, not the banks. AND we paid the same int rate and maybe an extra $200 in fees, but TOTALLY worth it. Just an idea :)

Midwest here, and I grew up with caddy corner.

Can your older ones do some computer work? When we were moving, I used some online (some pay, some free) sites to keep up with them. Time4learning, others have monthly plans. Also what about using headphones to block out the noise of the baby. Is it the noise, or you being distracted? Did they work independently pre-baby? With the twins keeping me busy, workboxes were my sanity saver. Even my 6yo (1st grade) can work through some easy things on her own. She calls me over for spelling, etc. For my 1st grader I have 10 boxes: 1. math page (from MM or other source), I go over with her, we do some together if needed.. 2. Logic/puzzle page 3. addition drills 4. reading comprehension page 5. WWW (sometimes needs my help) 6. ETC page 7. Map workbook (directions, reading map symbols) 8. Grammar worksheet 9. Math puzzle (from ebook from scholastic, like word problems) 10. AAS (she calls me over to do) She can always ask for help/clarification when needed. But my being distracted by the twins is less of a big deal...

Hmm, I was kinda under the impression that one had to finish or do some of WWE to move to WWS, but looking over the WWS samples, it might fit. I like the idea of handwriting the outline than typing the assignment. Any other suggestions??

In CA, most home schools are private schools. Homeschooling is not officially on the books here in CA as I understand it. Your choices here are: Public, Private (which anyone can open a private school for kids 5+ yo), and hire a licensed tutor(ie a teacher with credentials). Private schools in CA are not required to hire credentialed teachers or submit any paperwork other than an paper stating address, who is in charge of records, number of students per grade and then they agree to keep attendance records. There is a list of subjects that must be taught (basics), but no paper work needs to be turned in. It is a very hands off state. I don't see this ever happening here in america. Just the other day, DH did ask what I would do if they did this. I laughed and said "not gonna happen " too many things stand in the way. I am originally from Kansas City and saw what happened with that mess. My mom's BF was a teacher there. It was a MESS! And as far as getting rid of the religious exemption, that won't happen either, because there are too many things in text books (math, science, history, reading) written from one perspective or on a topic that I would have issue with religiously, as would many others. How would the remove ALL of that??

So I have read and read some more, but I still am undecided as to what writing program to use for my ODS. About him: He JUST turned 9, so here he would be in 3rd grade. He HATES the physical act of writing. He can dictate a novel, but needs direction to keep things flowing and characters developed, etc. Seriously he could dictate to me for hours with elaborate plot lines. We do copywork off the board each morning (part of our religious studies, so this will not be changed). His handwriting is improving, but slowly. I accommodated his dislike for physically writing till now. Now I force him to write out the words in fill in the blank type worksheets. For history, he dictates to me a summary of what he read. I want to move to him taking his own notes. He has strong grammar skills (we are using Easy Grammar) and his spelling is good when he slows down and takes his time (AAS). We are using WWW for now as it was not expensive and thought it would ease him in to writing a paragraph. He is reading at 5-6th grade level and reads willingly. His reading comprehension is strong and vocabulary large. As far as narration, he can retell a rather long chapter from a book we read, or what I read in a science book or history book. He could use some help in putting it in logical order, but he gets the main points. Sooo... About what I need: Something "complete" , open and go, similar to AAS, etc (I kinda dismissed IEW for this reason, I don't have time nor a place to watch a dvd by myself. A list of needed reading would be fine.), Something reusable for later kiddos (Buying a replacement workbook would be ok, i rather do that than photocopy), PDF format is OK, I can print and put in binder, Grammar review not needed, ok if mentioned in editing process, but instruction not needed, Secular only (I do not want to spend time editing or trying to find a replacement assignment or passage to use), Not toooo expensive(I guess I could always resell it if need be, but I never seem to be able to sell for any where near I paid for it) Does this exist??? I saw Classical Writing and was intrigued, but is it secular??? Would WWE be a fit if we already do copywork, and his grammar is strong? If so, what level? I looked at IEW, but I don't really like the dvd thing. Mom involvement is ok, but would love to go over it with him and then he work on it himself.

I totally agree about having a plan for getting seperated in big cities. It actually happened to me in Rome. I was in college and went there for spring break with my friend. We went to the station to get the train to the airport to go home. Long story short, I stepped off the train to check departure time and train took off without me! My friend had our luggage and her purse, luckily I was wearing my purse which had both passporys, plane tickets znd some money in it. I grabbed a taxi and raced to the airport to try and meet her there. Unfortuantly, her train got stuck on the track and she was 2 HOURS LATE getting to the airport. She was in tears and freaking out. I had travelled a lot, it was her 1st time outside the usa. Sooo have a plan for everyone, not just kids when travelling in a big city. Bathrooms, depends on the city, I found lots had indiviual bathrooms. Defintly carry the paper with info and some local currency, maybe a few phrases written out in local language they might need if it is not english.

LOL, my DD is 3 and "complains" daily that she can't read. She wants to be like big sister and read "big girl" books also. I agree, get him some alphabet books and work on letter recognition. If they really WANT to read early, they will. Formal instruction can wait a bit. DS was reading at 3.5, but DD took longer. I expect DD3 will read early.. and DS3 will be later like his older sister.