Oh my, I think my brain cells are dying - I get 5/6

Sorry, no time to read the other suggestions, but I dress them in overalls put on backwards for a little while and soon they forget about undressing themselves. In my experience, if they won't keep their clothes on when you tell them to, they won't use the potty either. Spring/early summer are terrific times for toilet training..less clothing to pull up and down. Good luck :)

:grouphug: When mine is at its worst I make an appt. with the physical therapist. They know how to work out the trigger points and get me some relief. Recently, I set mine off pushing a recreational toy out of our pasture...I should have left that chore for the older boys, but I had a buyer coming for it and I was so glad to be rid of it! I haven't made an appt. yet and still hope that it will ease on its own, but I can empathize with the lack of sleep and how it just hurts all over :(

Aw, I gave everything away HOPING I'd need it and it didn't work.

There was a news report just a few days ago of a family expecting two babies with different due dates. They hope to have the first close to the EDD and the second will be a couple of weeks "early." I used all the NFP rules to help us conceive. I give my girls their own copy of the book and discuss it with them after they begin mens. so that they have an opportunity to know their cycles before they have to worry about the consequences. I also didn't need a pregnancy test to tell me what a high basal temperature could so we saved $$. The ladies in our family have wild cycles and could conceive anywhere from 14 days to 28 of a cycle. Body awareness is very helpful.

Land's End are good, but they were better a few years ago :( We buy most of our boys' jeans at Walmart until they grow into the smallest size of Kirkland jeans (Costco brand). Kirkland are very good for the price.

:grouphug:

We soak ours overnight in salty water, drain them, pat them dryish with paper towels, fry them(cast iron or stainless steel frying pan) in olive oil stirring a bit(it sizzles away any water that didn't drain or pat away) until they are browned, spread them onto cookie sheets and move them to the oven for another 7 - 10 minutes to dry/crisp. It seems like a lot of fuss, but they are delicious.

Our cabin's walls weren't one piece, but dh assembled them quickly side-by-side with the next wall so the spacing was perfect.

Ducking....little kids seem to really like the parrot (Fur-Real).

We built the Dura-Craft Shenandoah Log Cabin kit for our children a few years ago. We started out with enthusiasm, set it aside for awhile, and then forged ahead and completed it. That is how we are with many projects :glare: The kit was not really that difficult to assemble and it is very sturdy. I just googled it and the kit is still being sold. Our log cabin has had several "families" inhabit it. Currently a family of bears. We had a group of Precious Moments dolls whose hair all fell out :( I think that the cabin has been a worthwhile project and the children enjoy decorating it for Christmas.

My email spellchecker is kept "off." It has a problem with several of our children's names and I shushed it. I know that you have the option of adding a spelling to the accepted spellchecker list. I believe that "homeschool" will end up an accepted spelling in modern dictionaries eventually. You can be a pioneer :D

The new ones were identical to the one my sister had years ago. My kids kept turning off or removing the battery, lol

Our kids never played with the Erector set :( and the track we bought for their Hot Wheels saw little playtime. In a nostalgic moment I bought two Drowsy dolls and the girls couldn't stand them after just a few days. I have since donated all of the above toys. The children enjoy their Lego and Playmobil sets for years and years. (although I mutter about the constant mess) The Electronic Snap Circuits was a huge hit and every couple of years a child will take it out and go through the book doing every project. I honestly have no idea what to get the dears this year...they don't "need" anything.

We have copies of Nursery Rhymes, Egypt, Explorers, and Greece. The children love doing them on their own after reading from many of the books suggested in the Veritas Press catalog. I just print out the pages and turn them loose with construction paper, glue, markers, staplers, etc. Just today they were gathering black and white beans to play Senet.

We borrowed the Andrew Lang books from our local library when a couple of the children were interested in fairy stories. The children had different favorites so it is difficult to suggest which one. Gutenberg.org has the books online, but they aren't illustrated and the line drawings shouldn't be missed. Books.google.com has full books with photos if you would like to preread any of the stories.

It sounds allergic to me, too. My own chest tightens and it can feel like a "swallowed pill is stuck in my throat" for hours. Eggs, peanut butter, and chamomile can do it to me along with other allergens.

Not wordless, we put a few photos to Woody Guthrie's "Riding in my Car" for the grandkids to enjoy. http://brierywood.blogspot.com/

I think the same thing is going around Oregon. Some complain of headache and tummy ache along with the sore throat, coughing, and runny nose. Low fevers for some and the thing just hangs on. We haven't gone anywhere in a couple of weeks :(

Just to make a little trouble, I prefer to say we home educate our children or that the children are educated at home if anyone asks.

Glycerin jumps out at me as a possible stool softener. I'm allergic to chamomile, so I couldn't take this formula myself.

We have a 3 1/2 year old Giant Schnoodle (1/2 Giant Schnauzer 1/2 Standard Poodle) that we groom ourselves. Maybe the grooming is similar? We have a wire brush for him that he loves. I scissor cut him two or three times a year. I'm not usually bothered by his hair except when cutting it, then AHCHOO! We bathe him outside with pre-filled buckets of warm water for the rinse-wash-rinse phases. The worst part of his grooming is the hair that grows filling his ears :( His ears hang down and the hair makes for a warm moist environment that encourages yeast infections. We clean his ears with alcohol on cotton balls. The hairs should be plucked regularly, but it hurts him and then we let it slide. There is a powder made to aid the ear hair plucking and it does help some. We trim his nails with people nail clippers and that is simple enough.

We've been through the 12 - 14 stage five times now and have one in the middle of it now. Both boys and girls suffer emotional/hormonal ups and downs and we try to be very sensitive to it. I usually recognize the monthly pattern long before mens. started with the girls and I would gently point out that the noise of younger siblings didn't bother them last week, but this week the difference is with them. This is something that I have had to remind myself for years battling pms. The boys get moodier, more prone to anger, more prone to tears, and they need to be reassured that it isn't anything wrong with them. I give my teens more physical work to do, more cooking chores, and they REALLY enjoy painting the house or barn :) All of ours have come through all right. We only have three to go.....

In my own experience, traditional MD's are very quick to prescribe medication to treat the symptom and not search for the cause. Our own pediatrician correctly identified a strange form of eczema and prescribed a strong ointment (that didn't work). I researched eczema and its causes on my own and through elimination diets discovered the many triggers that our affected children have. We have completely cleared their eczema and they are learning to live corn, wheat and soy free. I'd give the naturopath more time to determine the causes. The advice above sounds very wise. Vitamin D, women's supplements and epsom baths are very safe. With our food supply so sadly lacking in nutritional value it is a wonder anyone can grow a healthy body. Best wishes