Yes, I know about going through a congressman. I'm hoping that we can get a date in April so the weather will be nice. I'm so frustrated about what to do with strollers and diaper bags, that I'm thinking we need to hire a college kid to stand outside with our stuff while we tour. Is that too desperate?

I am organizing a group tour of the White House with some family members for the spring. I am concerned about the policy on no handbags and strollers. There will be a couple babies/toddlers in the group, so it would be really hard to go and carry only wallets and keys. It's not any easy place to park near, so we would probably have to take the Metro. The W.H. web site says there is nowhere nearby with lockers. Any thoughts, suggestions, BTDT?

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: This is the only thing that works for me. I can't stand not being able to eat what I like, but I can choose a lower calorie version of something I want.

I keep attendance by marking on a calender each day we do. I number them as I go (Day 1, Day 2, etc). I start early (we just started this week) so there is lots of flex time for days off. I count it a school day if we do all the required subjects of a normal day. Every once in a long while if we have 2 days where there's a little bit going on, but still a little time for school work, I will do 2 half-days (half the days work one day, half the next). I count the 2 days as one school day. HTH!

LOL! He would be entertained, but I don't think dd could do her work with 2 toddlers running around! :D

I say, if you can afford it, do it. Think of it like a co-op, but you don't have to teach or stick around. I'm sure your child will love it.

I'm hoping to spend some of ds' birthday money on some kind of educational toy set that I can set aside for the days when I need him to be entertained while I help dd with schoolwork. I really want to find something that he won't be quickly bored with or outgrow. So, if you only had about $25 to spend, what would you buy?

Roll-ups. For some reason it becomes soooo great to eat when you roll lunch meat with a slice of cheese and put a toothpick in it. :D

Here's a great one on parenting that I recently read. Your Mama Don't Dance by Glenn Colley and Cindy Colley They are Christian homeschool parents and are not afraid to tell you the hard-to-hear stuff to help you do better. They've written on marriage also, but I don't remember the titles.

Great post. It helped motivate me to get up and going on some things I keep overlooking. 1. Moved dh's stuff off the table and cleaned it so we can all eat together! 2. Got laundry from dryer/put next load in. 3. Cleaned up some clutter in the dining area. 4. Carried a box of stuff for dd to her room so she can unpack it. 5. Put dd's foam art project from a few weeks ago on her bedroom door.

What does she consider a "real" teddy bear? Would a Build-A-Bear do? My dd "made" one for her 6th birthday. We went as a family for her to make and get an outfit for the bear, instead of a party, since they are so expensive. It's still a favorite toy.

My ds is involved in a research study for celiac disease with the Univ. of Maryland. Every 6 months he has to have blood drawn. I have to have a medical person (dr, nurse, etc) to draw the blood, then I send it Fedex to the univ. for anaylsis. This was never a problem when dh was in the military. Their lab gave me no trouble with this. Now we are out of the military and I can't find anyone to do it! The nurse at his pediatrican's office said she was willing to try, but she doesn't do it very often and if she can't get the blood, she will have to ask the doctor to help and then I have to pay for a doctor visit (not covered by insurance or the study). I've tried Labcorp and Quest Labs and neither will do it without doctor's orders. I've even tried talking to the few medical people I know at church and no one is able for one reason or another. So unless I can find someone to do it soon, I have to either go to his Ped and hope the nurse can get the blood, or drive 1 hr each way to Baltimore to get it drawn at the Univ. Anyone care to give their thoughts/advice?

Thanks for posting these! :001_smile::001_smile::001_smile::001_smile:

A year ago or so I had to teach dd the correct words to "When the Saints Go Marching In". You know the verse about "When the happy ages roll"? She thought it was "When the happy age at school".

We haven't actually taken a particular approach to spending/saving, but we aren't too far from where you are. We pay the bills, have a little fun, but that's about it. I would like to save more, but it's just not going to happen right now. Thanks for the post, it makes me feel better about where we are financially!

When dd was 3 we had an aquarium on a table right behind the sofa in our living room. One day as I'm watching TV from another spot in the room, dd apparently sits on her knees on the sofa and throws her head back, busting a huge gaping crack in the aquarium. Water is pouring out all over the sofa and carpet. I scream for dh who is upstairs taking a bath and check quickly to see if dd has cracked her skull. No blood or anything so I start to deal with the still gushing water, while still calling for dh. I move the sofa away from the water and still no dh. Finally, in frustration, I run up the stairs to the bathroom, fling open the door - and there is dh, calmy soaking in the tub reading a book.:glare: Thankfully he made it down in time to save the fish and we were able to dry the sofa and carpet with no lasting damage.

I usually do dishes in the afternoon when ds is asleep and dd is doing schoolwork at the table. She always has a couple questions and wants me to be close to answer them. Kills 2 birds with one stone. :D

But don't you see that they are protecting your choice to spank/not spank, be gay/straight, teach Christianity/Catholicism/Hinduism/Islam? They protect your right to choose. You don't have to choose what they do.

Dd fell and sprained her ankle yesterday. It seems to be a minor sprain, just some swelling (no bruising) and she doesn't like to walk on it, but can limp along. We didn't take her to the doctor because it doesn't seem that bad. Then this morning I start to read about ankle sprains on WebMD (I so need to quit reading on medical stuff), and it says that with a sprain in a kid, there can be damage to the growth plate and it can cause later pain and problems. So do I need to take her to a doctor or is a few days of staying off it with some ice and an ace bandage enough? Help me know if I'm being paranoid or not please!

Just a small word of caution - I've heard that when you unplug a fridge and leave it with the doors closed it will smell really bad after a time. Not sure why. My realtor told me to leave the doors open if we unplugged the fridge at our house we just moved from or no one will want to buy it because of the smell.

Don't you all see that when HSLDA or any other organization pushes so hard on issues such as spanking, homosexuality, UNRotC, etc, that it protects homeschooling? Once you let the govt tell you how to run one part of your family life, it's only a short time before they tell you that you must send your children to a sub-par ps. To protect us as homeschool families, they must protect the rights of families/parents to make their own choices.

For dessert, you can get the new Betty Crocker GF cake, cookie, or brownie mixes. The brownies are the best. My dh normally won't eat GF baked goods, but he said the BC ones tasted just like "normal". I will warn you, though, it's about $2 more per box for GF, so you might do some GF and some regular, just be sure to let everyone know which is which.

My can't-live-without GF product is Gluten-Free Pantry's Beth's All-Purpose Flour. I don't do much baking, but we make lots of other things with it, like fried chicken. When you use it, it subsitutes 1 for 1 to regular flour, so you don't have to stop and work a bunch of math to figure out how much to use. The texture is not grainy like many GF flours.

I buy lots of schoolbooks and other stuff on Amazon. The few times we've had problems they have been very good about correcting it. Like the time I bought dd's new handwriting workbook and it came with scribbles all in it. They replaced it at no charge.

My solution to toys in a 2-story is to require most of the toys to stay and be played with upstairs. I keep 2 baskets downstairs for ds2 - one for toys and one for books. He has a few other things like is toddler ride-ons that stay downstairs also. That way he can play and still be with me when he wants to be near. Dd occasionally brings down a doll or bear to play with, but otherwise plays upstairs. HTH!