I would say that my mom is my best friend. Her and I are so close and I share the most about my life with her. I feel so lucky that I have been able to maintain such a beautiful relationship with her. I was going to say my dh, but I consider our relationship to be on a different level. And at this point in my life I do not have any other close friends that could qualify.

I actually wish I had a different response for this one. It is the one budget pitfall of our family. We just love to eat out at sit down restaurants. We eat out at sit down restaurants probably once a week and then order pizza/sandwiches once a week. And then if we are running an errand we might grab something at Chick-fil-a. I know it is a waste of money but are family truly enjoys sit down restaurant meals together. There is no preparation time and no clean up and we can just sit there and enjoy ourselves. We try and resolve to change this every other month but have no willpower. My dh does not really care to stick to a plan and I always figure he is the one working so hard for the money, if he enjoys it then we should go. Anyway, sorry for the long response, it is just something we were going to try and work on for the new year and I kind of disappointed we didn't stick to it.

What a monumental day in our history! Something you and your family can always remember really being a part of. Definitely go! But I know, it is easier sad then done. There are some cons but I still think it would be a fantastic memory!

Congratulations! I can't imagine, I have only just begun. But I am definitely addicted to this site, so someday!

:iagree:

We aim for 5 days, with Friday being lighter. We do not really have a set time frame everyday. But normally about 9 to 2 with a hour lunch/play break. Once it gets nice outside maybe we will readjust somewhat.

Another PA family. We are in Morgantown, which is in Berks County.

I finished my book, The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright, in two days last week. So I started and finished this weeks book, which was The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck. I really enjoyed them both. My books were light reads and I was engrossed and blew through them. So I am going to start my next book, Creating an Intimate Marriage by Jim Burns. I figured my as well stay ahead, for weeks when I will not be able to get as much reading done.

That is so funny! I am in the same boat. My ds wants to play every single night and is completely heart-broken if I suggest I might not have the spirit to play. And I have won every game we have played. My ds doesn't even mind like in all of the other games that we play. We all really love the game though. Can't wait until we have played a while and then upgrade to one of the expansion sets.

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to create the blog for everyone. It looks great. I have finished my first book, The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright. Let me know, how I can get involved. Thanks!

My book for this week will be The Wednesday's Letters by Jason Wright. I am excited to have this challenge to keep me plowing through the giant stack of books I have next to my nightstand.

I am also a fan of the Trader Joe's Jasmine Pearl Tea. The sachet it comes in just makes the experience all the more pleasurable for me. I normally drink mostly green tea. My favorite is the organic green tea by Celestial Seasonings. If you like loose leaf tea, all of the ones I have had from Teavana have been amazing. But I am not sure if Teavana is a national store or not. The have amazing tea pots and sets as well. Expensive, but beautiful. Oh, how I love tea!

Oh, that is easy enough! Thanks for responding. I thought I needed to change something in my profile.

Hey everyone! I have been on the forum every day for about a month. It is really quite addicting:lol: Anyway, my question is, how do I get my avatar box to say something other than just visiting. I have posted a couple of times and replied to quite a few posts, so that has not altered it. Is there a setting I need to adjust? Thanks for your help!

We are really loving Guitar Hero World Tour for our Wii. It was a gift to our ds. I like to think that I am moderately anti-video games, but this one rocks! My ds and dh were stunned that I was so into it. It is really fun for all of us because we can all have an instrument or sing. We can be our own mini rock band. And it is honestly quite challenging.

I am still nursing my 18 month year old. My dd nurses on demand. I always nurse on one side and have from the beginning. It has just worked out better for us. Of course, I will let her nurse from both sides if she wants. She also had the watery green diapers thru the first month. And then her diapers stayed runny for months. Our pediatricians always said that this was the norm for breastfeeding infants. Hope this offers you some reassurance!

I can't believe it is over already! The big hit for our DD1 1/2 was one of the fold-out mini sleeping beauty coaches with an mini sleeping bag. She got right in it and was laying around in it all morning. So cute! Our DS8 loved his civil war Playmobil's, a Steinbach nutcracker that was Stonewall Jackson. Amazing because he got Guitar Hero World Tour and a couple Wii games and he still picked other gifts as his favorite. I was really thrilled with something small the in-laws gave us- a Netflix subscription. My DH got a new Fender electric guitar. The look on his face was priceless, he never even suspected he would get another one, after selling his old one two years ago. Overall, it was a beautiful day! My DS was more excited than he has been in years on Christmas morning. I really think it is because he didn't ask for anything specific, so everything was such a surprise. I felt so proud of him, when he came down and saw all the presents under the tree and before he would open a single thing he insisted my DH and I open our gifts from him. Could he already understand the meaning of giving instead of receiving :lol: Sorry, so long, just a wonderful Christmas for us!

Just curious, has anyone found another online bookstore similar to Homeschool Library Builder? I'd love to hear about it if you know of another place to get used books. In response, another site I have been really lucky with is betterworld.com. You can find both used/new here and the shipping is free.

If you go on the TOG website and click on the Lampstand Press Link at the top left corner, you can read their newsletter that appears at the bottom of their page. The newsletter explains basically everything that has been going on. Basically, the economy really affected their business and so they had to make two new choices. The first is that they will only make printed copies of Year 2 and Year 3, when they reach 450 pre-orders of each. They will then send them to print. Their is a thermometer on their site that monitors the progress. The other new option is that you can buy the new DE version, which is an all digital option, that you print as needed at home, take to print somewhere, or utilize a print option that TOG will send it out to. TOG is still working on Year 4. Hope this helps some. But there are also a ton of posts on the Together Community link on the top of their homepage as well.

I have questioned giving up our SUV (thru the gas crisis). But couldn't do it. I adore my 2005 Honda Pilot :auto:. This is our second one. All of the features are perfect for me. Everything is designed ergonomically and there is alot of storage space throughout the car. I love the large sun roof too. There is a third row of seats. When we use them we can seat 8 comfortably or 9. The cargo area holds a ton and all of the back seats can lay down to fit large items. Another plus...we were in an accident last week where we were rear ended by someone in a large pickup truck going 40 mph. And our Pilot kept us all totally protected and really took the hit well. So needless to say...I am all about my Pilot and cannot imagine ever wanting another type of car.

We love the season! And try to make a whole lot of traditions. One that my son loves is: I wrap all of our Chirstmas books up in Christmas Paper. I put them in a plastic Christmas tub and each evening he picks one out and opens it. This is then our family bedtime story. Last year, we had a simple little Christmas party for my son. He invited a few friends over and we had a whole bunch of Christmas party games planned. They played toss the marshmallow throw holes in a cardboard Santa. Pin the nose on Rudolph. Made teams and some had a green balloon tied on their ankle and some had a red balloon, and they had to stomp/pop the balloon of the other team. And I just served Christmas cookies and punch. Two ideas that my son loved last year.