Paint everything first then floors. Congratulations!!!!

Have you thought about putting a "No Solicitors" or "Private property" sign in your yard? A few neighbors have one and I still field carpet cleaners, meat truck sales, security system sales(wo)men on a biweekly basis. Security people..I tell them to smile b/c they are on camera. Meat...I tell them we go to the grocery store and avoid buying mobile food. Carpet cleaners...I just said no. Other ones, I either get creative or just plainly say we're not interested. We did have an 18 wheeler drive through the neighborhood offering furniture from High Point NC. I asked them for their business license and said we weren't interested. It was the day after we moved into our house.

You take mental health breaks, get out of the house, get into some fresh air/sunshine. Get help from professionals if it lasts more than a week. Start exercising if you're not, a morning/evening walk can do wonders. Something needs to change for there to be change...

Dick and Jane and if that's too easy, Milly Mandy Molly (?) were what my dd enjoyed. Junie B. Jones is too disrespectful for my standards, I didn't like how she would call others' names but we each have our own filters. Elsie Dunmore books are great, there are so many to choose from out there, Lori D has some excellent reader lists. I have this on my blog and I think it was copied from posts here (prob some from Lori D) http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/11/stepped-or-leveled-reader-resource-list.html For my dd we focused on classics: Pippi Longstocking Winnie the Pooh treasury Frog and Toad Suess books

OOh I do miss the days I could prep and plan fabulous meals...I need to make a lasagna for next week now that I think of it. My prep/plan these days is defrosting the meat we'll eat or marinating something 1 day prior. Crockpot meals are done during my lunch break (open, dump, turn on). LOL!

are you doing any excursions in either place? This will be my first time out of the country.

Try going to the product manufacturer's website and sign up for coupons/discounts. I did that with Procter & Gamble and have $30 of coupons for cleaning products etc. that we use. I also went to Tide and a few other websites of products we prefer to use to get some type of discount.

That really depends on the sales/coupons and price per unit. If I have a coupon for $.55 off an item that is also BOGO, then I can get one of that item at half price plus the $.55 off. Store brands are usually only a $.10 to $.75 cheaper than brand name items. If I don't have a coupon, I do buy store brand, I don't see a difference between them.

True. We have time constraints that most of you don't. We get home around 5:45 pm each night and only have until 8:00 pm to eat, clean up, bathe, and spend time together. I use to really cook but our dinner menu consists mostly of crockpot meals, prepacked meals and quick fixes. A lot of the meals *I* enjoy cooking like Crab Cakes aren't a 'coupon' type meal. Completely agree with you!

On average, we are saving $50 per grocery trip just by using coupons and taking advantage of Buy One Get One Free sales at Publix and Bi-Lo. I know grocery stores are sometimes geographically different and I don't what stores are nationwide, I think Publix is... Anyways BiLo offers FuelPerks and the buy one get one deals each week, so if we shop there we also save on gas, on average it's $.75 to $1.00 off a gallon depending on how much we spend on groceries. I've saved over $500 this year in groceries and don't know how much on gas but I get a discount every time I fuel up. The gas station we use is Sunoco which uses BiLo's fuelperks but also has their own savings card. If you buy anything inside the store, coffee/drinks, snacks etc. you get so much off your next fuel purchase. This is such a budget saver for us, I know some of you use CVS rewards. I never did "GET" that, it seemed like too much work. All we do is get the Sunday paper and clip all the coupons we might want to use and then compare Publix and Bi-Lo's BOGO deals to see which store we'll go to. Publix has additional coupons at their customer service desk AND they are the only ones that take competitor's coupons. We bought 2 weeks of food for a family of four for $125 last week. I thought it'd be interesting to learn how others do this...

oh my...you sound like me "I would of course laminate with my much-adored laminator." At least you HAVE manipulative drawers...

Don't forget to use Bisquick for garlic/cheese drop biscuits...so good. See if the recipe is on the box. If you've ever had biscuits at Red Lobster, they are similar. YUM!

With a 3 year old that is undergoing so many changes, the more structured a routine you can provide, the better it will go. I would create a picture schedule for him, and just like in preK little stations with a timer. Make bed Eat Breakfast Block Time Book Time etc... Give 15 min or so for each activity, make sure he cleans up before starting another and it will benefit you both. He will learn stability, be actively engaged (hopefully less mischievous), and responsibility (cleaning up, time management) and you will be able to focus on your boys for a block of time. It will be a juggle, and hard in the beginning but it will payoff. Bless you for taking this on, it won't be easy. My mom/dad currently has my bro's 3 kids so I know. If they aren't rewarded custody back the kids will go to foster care and be split up. I know the heartache.

We have/had drawers for each type of manipulative. I guess it depends on how bulky they are. I don't know about the magazine holders at IKEA. GREAT job on the books!!!! I did the same and it was such a help!

I am grinning ear to ear :biggrinjester: and Michael and I had a good laugh at this thread! 4th! Oh my....:eek: I've always been an open book with y'all no matter what judgments/criticisms, comments came my way. No one could judge my decisions worse than me and no one else is LIVING my life. :) I miss y'all!!! Lol. Michael (my hubby) knows how much I miss you guys too. He's been encouraging me to blog again or participate in the boards. I just felt like since I got out of the loop, I should stay out. I'm not up to date on the curriculum out there, in fact I have TOG Redesigned sitting in a box (anyone want it? can you come pick it up?) with tons of homeschool stuff that I didn't sell. Plus with becoming a non-homeschooler that has her kids in public school, I know how some on the board frown upon those who post who aren't actively homeschooling. I didn't want to create any waves...:chillpill: Michael keeps looking at me and grinning as I type this post. We're going on a cruise in just 3 weeks to Belize, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Roatan for our 'honeymoon'. I'm working at a bank, I just got promoted to a manager position and I'm in line to be promoted again as soon as the next level position is available. The district manager wants me to become a branch manager in the next couple of years. Of course, work comes with its challenges but I really LOVE my job. My scheduling, organizing, networking skills are shining and I feel very lucky/blessed to have found a company that promotes/encourages those who work hard. I'm living in my OWN home! A lot of wonderful, fabulous changes have happened in my life in the last year, a lot of things I never would have believed could happen.... The kids are happy, they love school and Camille was able to start in 3rd and move up to 4th within one year at the private school, she's now in 5th and on track. I held Danny back due to speech/maturity issues so he's now in Kindergarten and doing well. We're in a great school district, thankfully. Yes, my ex is/was a pastor. He's remarried, she's nice- he's still not. This board was such a lifesaver for me, even when you beat me up for not agreeing wholeheartedly with you. :) You helped keep me sane and strong. My life is completely different than it was before. Good/bad...I do miss the ability to GO DO anything, anytime with the kids. I miss the adventure of homeschooling but I am so grateful someone else can be their teacher now. Anyways, Hi again everyone. I'm now going to look at the boards and see how I can participate...:auto:

I'm going to add my 5 cents in from my perspective as "planner"... I planned curriculum down to the nitty-gritty, I enjoyed it. I made my own forms b/c nothing on Donna Young's website really helped. What I've realized about my time hsling and this MAY help or it may not (if not, ignore and jump to the next brilliant opinion in line, :D ) 1. Time spent planning and doing/teaching should be equal if not less than. Planning should not take more time than teaching or doing the actual work. Granted research takes time but is it beneficial to research for 1 hour and to do a 10 minute activity? IMO, it's not. 2. Skip or ignore parts of curriculum (unless they are critical!) that you don't like. Learn to like them for the ease of use and appreciate that someone has done all the work for you. I spent WAY too much time planning but then again, I was using my planning as an escape from a bad marriage- a way to spend my time in a useful way. If I were to start homeschooling again right now, I'd pick up curriculum and use it. I did piece together our own learning plan by using different curriculum. I would not be spending my nights pouring over the Rainbow catalog and reading reviews on websites/blogs till all hours. My advice, pick curriculum that fits your teaching style, their learning style and just use it. Another thing I forgot along the way is that although homeschooling is a way of life, it's not life. There's so much out there outside of the concentrated teaching time, so many opportunities. A child's day does not need to filled to the brim with learning activities. What I learned, no reflection of what anyone else has said. Getting out of here to get ready for work (Woo-hoo!) Have a good day!

I looked on my computer and I realized I have it saved as a Mac file, can I email a Mac file (Appleworks) to someone to convert it to a PDF? Otherwise, I'll get my mac out of storage and save it as a pdf...please someone volunteer. :D

I'll answer then slink back off to my life again... (lol). I have a voice, an opinion and although *I* may not be asked directly what my opinion IS, I get to freely express it on a forum such as this. No one has to agree with me and I CAN change my opinion later on but I will defend my opinion if I feel the need. Now, I do agree with you about wasting time. If you're getting opinions to weigh the pros and cons to make a decision, then I think reading/debating/discussing opinions is worth your time. If you're doing it for entertainment value, then it's up to you how you spend your entertainment time. I have to say it is hard to beat an experienced homeschooling parent's opinion, although EACH of our children are individuals with different personalities and learning styles. Have fun y'all! By the way...is Colleen still here? Lol...

Just dropping by to answer someone's private message and figured I'd say hi. :seeya: We're happy and healthy. Who could ask for more? I hope you're all coping with the Jan/Feb slump well. The kids are doing well in private school which is based on the Core Knowledge stuff. Camille is learning Latin and Spanish instead of Latin and French and Danny's preschool teacher has a bachelor's in speech pathology. I don't spend hardly anytime online anymore, go figure...no need to. take care everyone, I hope your holidays were filled with fabulous memories! Love, Jessica

http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-method-planning-tog-unit.html http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/Y2Unit1_Week6.jpg hope these help

I worked out for an hour at the gym and wore my sexy black heels to work and didn't get too upset at myself when I was out of balance (I'm a bank teller) at the end of a very busy day. The out of balance thing is pretty big, I've been in balance every single day since I've started and while it's normal to be occasionally out of balance- I really didn't let it bother me. Of course it doesn't hurt to be over instead of under...and I know where I made the mistake- I transposed some numbers in one transaction. Usually I would have allowed a mistake like that to ruin my mood, my day. Not today though!

I am! I meant that in a playing way. ;)

Amazingly, I cannot organize my thoughts enough to be a writer, I have NO idea how others do it...

Nope. It's always good to check that stuff. There is only one way to find out my last name (and I'm not telling how) and while you could find my ex, you wouldn't find any contact information for me. Google your name every now and then to also make sure what is out there...

But I know I don't really belong here anymore, sniff, sniff. Our life has taken a completely different direction and while you're contemplating curriculum and time management, I'm budgeting for school uniforms and figuring out after-school child care. I've been extremely busy with college, I have 8 week terms and I'm in the 3rd week- with 3 classes. I've written 8 papers so far and read over 1000 pages of textbooks. All being done after work, after the kids are in bed and during any free time I had previously had like during my hour lunch at work. I miss the conversations here and your personalities. These boards are such a wonderful place for support and a wonderful way to connect with others who are like-minded. I miss that but I realize I'm not so like-minded anymore.