I think of the soul as the part of you that relates to the world around you... Essentially the mind, will & emotions. I get that from the Bible. But the definition of 'soul' is widely debated by Bible believers. That's partly because the Hebrew and Greek words for soul have a range of meanings...including life, wind, etc. I also believe that we have a spirit...a separate immaterial part of you that relates to God. The Bible teaches that when we're born, our spirits are 'dead in sin' - so we can't relate to God at all. When we are 'saved' from sin, our spirits are 'made alive' to God. So then we can have a relationship with God. I believe both soul & spirit make up the part of us that will live forever. Other Christians believe the soul & spirit are the same thing. Just the immaterial part of a person.

We took a big plate of cookies to our police dept this morning, just to say, 'thank you' & 'merry Christmas'... The officers were very surprised & grateful. One of them told dh, "Thanks! Not to much appreciation for us right now." Not diminishing at all the incidents of police brutality that are there, but there are a lot of good cops out there - and we definitely owe them a ton!

Did you see this yet? http://nypost.com/2014/12/20/2-nypd-cops-shot-execution-style-in-brooklyn/

I really like Cindy Szerekes's The New Baby. :) I don't know if there's a board book version. We also like her "Nice Animals" board book. Other board book favorites here: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? We're Going on a Bear Hunt The Very Hungry Caterpillar Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Good Night Gorilla Good Night Moon ... Pretty much anything by Sandra Boynton We also like Mouse Count, Mouse Paint, etc.

Granted. I did see that now. :) I'm also still seeing some things that keep that debate open... And now NK's denying it. We don't really know what the "Christmas present" they were threatening is. I mean, we can speculate. If it's just some dirty secrets about SONY execs, that's one thing. But if it involves bodily harm to SONY employees and/or their families, that's another. But anyway, SONY is insisting they would have gone ahead with the movie regardless - if the theaters hadn't refused to show it. I'm curious to see what the "response" is that the President promised. Any guesses?

I don't think I'd cry...I think I'd be in shock. :) My husband would really like to get that phone call. :)

I'm very thankful to be an American! I would think any 'toppling' would have to come from the inside out... With both China & the US willing to turn a blind eye? I've read some horrible stories about the work camps in NK.

From what I can see, the two big questions here are 1) Who did the hacking? and 2) What exactly are they threatening to do? Since we don't know the answer to either question - and probably won't for some time - I don't think we can pass judgment on SONY for what they did or didn't do. And any discussion about how the US should respond can only be theoretical, because we just don't know who did it. I guess I'm for letting the FBI sort it out. I can wait to learn the "what really happened" in a couple years. That being said, the discussion has been interesting. :)

Yes, I'm a sugar addict. And it bothers me. I do seriously go into withdrawal if I go without for too long... Any success stories on the Hive? I would love to hear from you! Where did you start? How long did it take? What are your favorite snack foods now? I don't have $ to spend on expensive things (nuts, dried fruit, etc.) - but I can up the veggies we eat... Feedback please. :)

I guess if I can say no to being filmed than I don't have a problem with it from that end. But the cops who are involved in bullying, etc. ... what's to prevent them from just 'forgetting' to turn the camera on?

We've been off for all of December. :) Well, except for History & Art on Fridays. We take 1 month off for a winter break & 1 month off for a summer break (although our summer load is a little lighter). I didn't think I'd like the break...but I have really enjoyed it, actually. And it's been good for the kids. I think we'll be ready to start again after New Years, though. With my time off... Today I'm baking. :) We made graham cracker "gingerbread" houses, painted Christmas ornaments, made a 'castle' out of gigantic cardboard boxes, and built a massive Lego city. :) We've been doing more read aloud time, too. And I'm taking lots of pictures. And shopping online. For my personal enjoyment, I'm rediscovering The Silmarillion (probably been 12 years since I read it last), and doing a lot of planning & organizing. I *love* planning. :)

If they have to ask permission, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?

Yeah, but I think there's a difference between a legal expectation of privacy - and having my every encounter with law enforcement aired on youtube. Not that I plan to have any run-ins with the police. :)

Creepy thought.

Christmas morning, I like to have a gift wrapped by each place setting (we don't do stockings). Don't know that the kids have picked up on this yet, but it's always a book. :) This year, I got dd4 a kids' cookbook, and ds6 has a book of science activities... Anyhow. Then we have a church service for 1 hour. When we get home, we read the Christmas story. Dh & kids sort everyone's presents into piles while I set out snack stuff. We usually have cheese & sausage with crackers (dh's absolute favorite) and other little family favorites. We snack throughout the afternoon, and regroup later for a light supper. We take turns opening gifts - the rule is 1) gifts from outside the family first, 2) relatives next, and 3) immediate family last. (We also open gifts directed toward the entire family before individual gifts.)

Oh, and my kids are in bed when I read. (Except for dd4, who's visiting in the boys' room, so she's on the floor.) They ask to sit next to me, but it doesn't work. So I make them stay put in bed. And we didn't gradually work our way into longer books. I think the important thing is find something that interests them. There are some *really* good chapter books out there. Our most successful chapter-books-as-read-alouds have been those that I absolutely *love* myself, and couldn't wait to introduce them to! :) (We did The Mouse & the Motorcycle, and it wasn't our biggest success story.) :) Some of our favorites: Charlotte's Web The Wheel on the School The Narnia books Thornton Burgess's Animal books The Tale of Despereaux the first 3 Little House books The Whipping Boy

I started reading chapter books to ds when he was 3yo - during nap time. He is very much auditory, though - so it was no problem. He *loved* listening to me read. Dd4 and ds2 are more visual & hands-on (respectively). I let ds2 look at picture books on his bed while the older ones listen. He's just now starting to listen on occasion. He actually picked up some things from The Chronicles of Narnia this summer and surprised me. :) Every once in a while, he'll ask, "Mommy, does this book have Peter? Does it have Susan?" etc. :) I would advise focusing on the interests of your 7yo. Try to find something that will interest him, and (if you can) do it while he's a captive audience in bed. Kids are *very* motivated to stay attentive if the alternative is to sleep. :) Maybe let the 3yo play quietly or look at books in bed until he's ready to listen in, too.

I love how *fun* multiplication is when we first encountered it! :) (I do have to wonder how much longer the fun will last... Maybe until we start drilling tables?)

Me, too! I didn't use Snappis, but I did prefolds with or without pins...until we moved this summer. Now I don't have space - or time - to do it... Sometimes I miss cloth diapering. It was fun saving the money. :) But after skimming this thread, I'm changing my mind! :) Especially now that I'm back to 2 in diapers...hopefully not too much longer!

If I was Canadian, I'd feel the same way. :)

I think 2nd grade is good...or whenever they've got a strong foundation in reading. Alphabetizing shouldn't be a tricky, laborious thing. It should be a "Hey, that's kind of neat & fun" kind of break-from-other-boring-school-stuff lesson. :) I'm looking forward to it. I'm using Rod & Staff 2, too - so we'll hit alphabetical order in a few weeks...but I agree with Coco_Clark that it doesn't have to be a long, drawn-out thing. You can teach it yourself pretty easily. Just make it fun. :)

This has worked so wonderfully for us...I just had to share. :) Monday thru Thursday: Bible, Math, Language (English, reading, writing, etc.), Science/Health, and Spanish (also I do Preschool with the toddler) Friday: Bible, History, Art, Music Monday-Thursday: Bible (approx 20-30 min) Math (30 min) Language (30 min) Science/Health (30 min) Spanish (15-20 min) Preschool (20 min) Friday: Bible (20-30 min) History (60 min) Art (60+ min) Music (15-20 min) I read to the kids before their naps - and sometimes in the evenings, too...so we're getting lots of good literature in... And the older two are always reading something, so as long as I keep the book basket stocked... I LOVE the variety in the week. Four days of Math & Language allows us enough continuity to get the flow of the lessons...by Friday we're ready for a break. Then we do an entire chapter from SOTW on Friday - including maps, notebooks, coloring pages, etc. I get library books for supplemental reading - and toss those in the book basket... The kids end up "playing" the history lesson during the entire next week, so retention has been excellent. I recently caught dd4 playing "Hatshepsut" in bed when she was supposed to be sleeping. :) We all look forward to Fridays as a break from the routine...and by Monday, everyone is ready to do Math & Science again! Anyone else have a fantastic schedule idea to share?

Snap Circuits? Dutch Blitz? The cookbook idea is great... I also like Battleship. Or an audio book...

Thanks so much! I'll definitely be checking these out! :)

Does anyone else use Bible Road Trip? I think it was someone on the forums that posted about it a while back... I really like her [i think her name is Danika Cooley] materials. Not as nice as a printed, professionally-bound curriculum, maybe, but I like that she has hands-on stuff to go with each lesson, and she's got the curriculum organized for multiple children at multiple levels to participate...and it's free. :)