Last week my kids and I were at a bagel shop for lunch. Another boy the same age as my son came over when he saw my toddler playing with my phone. They all made friends with each other quickly. I was bothered but not surprised when the other boy kept saying to my son, "I can't understand what you're saying." This was the first obvious encounter where someone has said that my son's speech is hard to understand. One grandpa has trouble, but he also wears hearing aids. Others ask my son to repeat what he says, but they usually figure it out. We know that he has trouble with saying Rs and Ls (all sound like Ws). He whacked one of his front top teeth when he was two; tooth died and eventually had to be pulled, so he's spent most of his life with a gap there. So, his dad and I are thinking that speech therapy is probably needed. Now I need to pick a therapist, and I have no clue what to look for. Pediatric would be an obvious choice - what else do I need to know, expect, ask about?

Age doesn't necessarily have to be a factor. My three were born when I was 35, 37, and 40 years old (didn't start making babies until married at 34). I think we are done, although occasionally my husband and I have a "wouldn't another girl be great" moment. But the biological drive to reproduce has pretty much dried up. Add in other factors, such as combination of home renovations and homeschooling, and it just seems to be the time to focus on the munchkins we have. If you have any doubt, aren't certain for sure, then wait. As far as vasectomies go, I guess that I've always figured that eventually my body stops being able reproduce, but his doesn't. Be sure that your man is okay with never being able to have kids ever again. Friend of my husband had a vasectomy in a previous marriage, divorced, and then finally met and married a wonderful woman but wasn't able to have kids with her. Maybe as far as the traveling home issue goes, they could come to you instead?

I've never work boxed (still a newbie), but my thought is to actually measure the size/shape and depth of the books and papers that you'll need on a daily and weekly basis, and then compare with the sizes of the different organizing systems available. Measure the spaces where you would put it too, to make sure it fits before you buy it. Trying to make something fit into a place that's too big or small or out of the way, or even where it doesn't get used, would be a recipe for frustration for me!

Wow! What a lot of great replies! This has been something on my mind lately. Daughter is 22 months older than middle son; spent first year homeschooling bouncing back and forth between the two and feeling slightly frustrated. Now I'm sure that for the "3 R's" I'll be instructing them separately, but will do history and science together. After all, one of the main reasons I'm homeschooling is so that learning is at their own pace. They'll probably enjoy the one on one time with mom too.

Wow! What a lot of great replies! This has been something on my mind lately. Daughter is 22 months older than middle son; spent first year homeschooling bouncing back and forth between the two and feeling slightly frustrated. Now I'm sure that for the "3 R's" I'll be instructing them separately, but will do history and science together. After all, one of the main reasons I'm homeschooling is so that learning is at their own pace. They'll probably enjoy the one on one time with mom too.

Science Museum (had membership, took our young kids and we loved it too) Children's Museum Minneapolis Institute of Art Fort Snelling Try the Explore Minnesota website - I've used it a lot and I live here! :)

My daughter, now six, has had issues with not pooping, pooping her undies, painful pooping, and constipation off and on for a few years. We had seen the doctor about it, who prescribed some kind of stool softener. It helped, but the constipation came back. This spring the constipation was bad enough that we gave her half a Dulcolax suppository a few time since nothing was moving. We see an herbalist too, and he prescribed dandelion tincture, violet leaf tea, and ground flax seed. Violet tea was a bust, only because it doesn't taste good, even sweet. Dandelion tincture, daily dose in a little juice, works awesome. As long as she takes it, she poops daily without any problems. Ground flax seed (for fiber) helps, but she gets it mixed in with some yogurt and fruit. There's info on dandelion tincture on WebMD, and last time I bought the tincture I got it from Swansons online. I can't imagine that the dandelion would be habit forming.

"I'm considering moving his crib out of our room (taking it down completely), putting the play yard up instead, putting down a nice soft rug (small carpet), giving the kid a firm pillow, and calling it a day." This sounds just fine - you tried it before with him sleeping soundly and safely. You obviously need more sleep yourself, so give it a try! Then again, you could always duct tape him to the floor (JUST KIDDING!!!) My third child, also a boy, was a climber. He's now moved on to saying "no" or "whas happehn" about hundred times a day. Hang in there!

Mine give each other names/titles, and call me by something different as well. As in she will be Eagle, and he will be Falcon, and I'm apparently Mrs. Crow. They even correct me if I don't use the right name. They also do the action words as well, and tell each other what to say.

How about a combination, like Marianna? Or could even go with great grandmas, if that appealed to you. Or go to www.behindthename.com, which has just about every possible name you could ever think of and some other interesting name things as well.

Try this website: http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/ She is a homeschool mom and occupational therapist. She discusses gross and fine motor skills, and activities to do to improve both. Everything looks pretty simple to do as well!

It's normal. My 4 year old son knows the letters of his name, but writes them backwards "HCEZ" instead of "ZECH". My 6 year old daughter likes to write, but her handwriting looks sloppy and she still doesn't hold a pencil the right way. Neither one has any LD; daughter has gone to vision therapy for amblyopia ("lazy eye").

Here's a list of the kitchen stuff I seem to use on a regular basis: saucepans (large and small), my gigantic stainless steel bowl (I keep it in the oven when not using it), box grater, veggie peelers, cast iron fry pan (can bake in it as well as fry, and one of my pot lids fits on top), cookie sheets, toaster oven (for toast and reheating stuff, because we don't have a microwave), chef knife, paring knife, and a knife that's about in between in size, small knife sharpener, a couple of plastic cutting boards (because you can put them in a dishwasher), tongs, rubber spatulas, slotted spoon, metal spatula, ladle, colanders (two cheap ones that are plastic), and silicone hot pads for putting dinner on the table (no serving dishes). Measuring cups and spoons too. I have a blender, but use it rarely. I have a hot air popcorn popper, which I have lived without before but prefer to have. Get good knives and know how to use them. I have a big Kitchen Aid mixer - while it doesn't get used a lot, it can do a lot of useful things (have a meat grinder and grain mill attachment for mine, and a bread hook for kneading dough). It all depends on what you cook as far as what you need. Think of the recipies that your family likes, and what tools you need to prepare them. The more basic your ingredients, the more time you will be spending combining them into meals. Everything else in my kitchen is pretty much not needed. Cookie cutters are nice, and a rolling pin would be great too, but I've rolled out my dough and cut it into squares with a table knife! I also have a cast iron griddle that fits on one side of my gas stove; an essential in our house because it's easier to cook a bunch of pancakes or French toast on it than a few pieces at a time in frying pans (2 adults and 3 children). Some kitchen stuff is expensive but durable, like my griddle, and worth the initial investment if it's going to last forever. Hope this helps!

For my 4 year old son and 6 year old daughter, I have them do a "ten item tidy" - in other words, go pick up 10 things, put them away, and then you're done. Simple and seems to work so far. But they are by no means neat; "put things away" gets translated into their minds as "get it off the floor and stuff it at random on the shelf". Had another mom friend tell me just the other day(her oldest is past college and youngest is 8) that it helps to keep in mind the child's attention span too when cleaning up. So now I think that when I give them tasks, that each job that won't last any longer than 10 minutes or break up the job into little tasks. Too much stuff seems to mean too much clean up too!

...when you can identify food dropped on the kitchen floor by the way it squishes underfoot

How do you store your childen's toys, the ones they play with everyday? What sort of system (if any) do you have to keep their "stuff" organized, or at least from looking like a pile of junk? How many books do you have out at one time for them to read, sides any library books? And speaking of library books, what do you transport/keep them in? Pics, please, because it helps sometimes to see what people are talking about! :laugh:

FluffyBunny, from someone who has three children age 6 and under, would you mind sharing what you said on the other forum about what to do with 5 year old to help things along? Thanks!

We have had two used/new to us Town and Country minivans. First was a 2008? One we have now is 2011 (would still have older one if I hadn't wrecked it! :glare: ) Did have minor electrical problem on older TC with radio controls on steering wheel and heated seat getting hotter after it was turned off. Other than that, we were pleased with it. New one gets decent gas mileage, about 19 mpg. Husband went through a perosn who goes to the auto auctions - he gave the gentleman a list of what we wanted, they both were able to go the day before the auction and look over the selection, and then that gentleman bid on the ones we were interested in. Wish I remembered how much the newer one cost, but husband is EXCELLENT about pricing and getting a good value for our money. I'd check out these sites: http://www.autotrade...under-20000.jsp, http://usnews.rankin...sed/minivans-1/. Any brand/make of vehicle, even a reliable one, can have the occasional lemon. Look while you're driving and see what other people are driving vs what's not on the road. Something that might cost more money might save you more in the long run if you have less maintenance and problems with it. EDIT: Backup camera on new van is WONDERFUL...and how do I know this? Because the day after we brought it home, I was pulling it out of the garage for the munchkins to see. The mini-toddler somehow got out of the door and I would have backed over him if it hadn't been for the backup camera!!

Aubrey Organics Unscented Ultimate Moisturizing lotion, or Everyday Shea Moisturizing body lotion (a good deal because it's a big bottle for good price); both available from Swanson Vitamins online.

DD to DS: "Yum - rotten deer meat mints, my favorite!" They were playing Dinosaur Train goes to the candy store...I think! :bored:

Took me forever to cook a decent "dippy" egg, as we call them here. Not really a sunny side up, but here's how I try (but don't always suceed!) cast iron skillet on medium to medium high, melt butter in it when butter is hot and melted, gently crack egg into it put lid over pan after 1-2 minutes, turn off burner; let egg sit in hot pan until white is set/congealed very carefully flip egg to cook top side, another 1-2 minutes Or try this way, which I think my husband does when he cooks his own egg:

...for K student who is almost through OPG? DD 6 has read a few Junie B. Jones, one Angelina Ballerina, a couple Ramona/Beverly Cleary, skimmed and hopped her way through some of various Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Any other suggestions? "Girly" ones would be preferred. Not sure what is out there, and last time we were at the library I spent half the time wrangling the toddler!

Try this article on this website: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pickin-the-right-frickin-chicken-guide-to-picking-backyard-chicken-breeds I've been looking over the chart; apparently there are some chickens that have more predator awareness than others. There's info about coops on that website too. Having a good rooster helps some. I remember hearing one of our roosters make a strange sound one day, then saw all the hens go running in a clump in one direction while the rooster was facing the opposite direction towards the dog that was coming into the yard. Our Nankin bantam rooster was the best. Having said that, we still have lost tsome to dogs and possibly a coyote and who knows what else. They free range, some wooded and some open area. But I am thinking of having a very large fenced area connected to the coop. Ours have pretty much fed themselves at least half of the time or more during the summer on whatever they're finding while they're roaming around. Eggs are nice too when the hens are eating a lot of green stuff (lovely deep yellow yolks). But if you let your chickens in your garden, they will peck at the same stuff you like to eat or scratch around where you just planted your seeds.

We have in the past. In-laws had remodeled their house (before dh and I met) from single family into two family house. Husband was living in upstairs house while mil and fil lived downstairs. Fil was not in best of health, and they went to Florida every winter, so having my husband there made a lot of sense. Everyone respected each other's privacy, but if help was needed it was just a set of stairs away. I moved in with dh when we got married. Once we started having children having grandparents close was great, especially since my parents have always lived far away and my grandparents were far away too. Then again, my mil is a wonderful person who I get along with very well, so that made for a good experience. After my fil passed away, she remarried a couple of years later and moved out. We bought the house; I'm keeping the floor plan downstairs, kitchen included, in case one of my parents have to move in with us.

Sit on a rock, and pose like a mermaid? (Okay, I'm giggling and hope you are too!)