When we were in England my dd picked up a set that is very fun and cute. The first book is called The Worst Witch, and it looks like they are available via Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0763672602?qid=1437800469&sr=8-2&vs=1

I liked the post because I didn't know that...not because I can even fathom it:) still totally grossed out by it: And not as a topping, but actually scooping up the mayo in globs on the pizza itself. Nope.

That IS gross:) We had an adult friend come for an impromptu gathering this week where we ordered pizza. I couldn't believe it when he asked for mayonnaise to dip his pizza in! Eeww! And really? As if fast food pizza isn't enough on its own? For some reason he wasn't impressed by our veganaise:)

Making any of their regular treats 'fancy' might work. For example, I make rice crispy treats with vegan marshmallows. Nothing fancy there normally...so for tea time I used miniature cookie cutters to cut them into shape and then sprinkled a tiny amount of our candy sprinkles on top. Even veggies get special treatment with a garnish kit. I found these plastic toothpicks with colored beads that look very fancy, but you could DIY them by hot gluing pretty beads or similar to the end and making mini fruit skewers or putting them into tiny sandwiches cut into shapes. Same foods, just with creative flair:)

The Black Friday deal at RS is not worth waiting for unless you get really lucky. All it has been the last 3 years is a clearance of their slightly damaged or returned or overstocked items. Very hit and miss, and not a great deal anyway:( RS and AAS just don't really go on sale. On the other hand, they are often found used at good prices:)

I make easy, cheater petit fours because my dd is all about fancy and pretty. I take a simple sponge cake and slice it. Sometimes I do jam in between the two layers or just use icing. I usually make a quick icing, but you can also use a can of premade. Warm up the icing in microwave so that is is spoon able and runs. Spoon over the squares of sliced sponge cake and as the icing hardens I use wax paper to make it smooth and cubed. You can do a decoration on the top with a different color or candy, whatever. Very cute:)

Oh, and we wouldn't 'change.' As in all our friends who had kids and suddenly had completely other ideas, goals, and interests. Those friends that all of their conversations, weekend plans, and lives revolved around their kids. Vacations that suddenly involved Disney rather than youth hostels and backpacking, lol.

I would never have a minivan. Now I LOVE my van. It is a conversion wheelchair can with a side ramp I can roll into. The first seat is out which means a large open area to reach the car seats for the kids. I would also never let them eat in the car. Yeah. For the first week:) I would *always* answer every question my kids have. Yikes. I try, I do, but my child has an incessant supply and not all of them are even fathomable. Plus, must a question be asked 161 times?!

Did you ask the rental dealership about bringing in a vehicle from elsewhere? We once had to do that in an emergency. It was brought in from the next state. We had to pay a ridiculous surcharge, to the tune of $250, but it arrived the next day..

Do you have the Magic Schoolbus DVDs? They have a Spanish play option (I think they are on YouTube in Spanish as well) that I have been using with my dd.

Yes. I saw an allergist for years, had shots, all sorts of things...the most useful thing to come of it was the recommendation of baby shampoo for my eyes. I have since tried all sorts of expensive makeup removers and the like, but nothing works as well as baby shampoo in a cotton ball for eye allergies:)

Friday was a doozy... Said loudly at the side of the YMCA swimming pool by dd5: "MOM! Can you see my vulva?! (Opening her mouth as wide as possible) then confidently telling the shocked lady in the lounger that "we learned about vulvas during homeschool today." Uvula. It's a uvula. Please.

If your doctor agrees, melatonin may be a better bet if they have never had Benedryl. Some children, like mine, react exactly the opposite on Benadryl. My child went nearly manic. For four hours, she did nothing but run in circles and sing or scream. NOT what you want in a car:)

Hhmm, math manipulatives here mean I needed a specific manipulative or setup to demonstrate a concept...but my kiddo is not big on manipulatives anymore. If it is because you want her to have a hand in the construction, then it could be worth it. Especially if it gets a child excited about using it. What about place value? Do the cans have to be the same size? You could make it a version of the addition/subtraction 'house'. Same for multiplication.

I actually don't think they exist:( I went on the hunt a few months ago for my dd5 who loves the books. Our librarian even tried to track them down for us, and even on the Betsy-Tacy society webpage store they only have Betsy-Tacy. You could email them, as I am sure they would know for absolute certain:) http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/catalog/cd-dvd

Yeah, I KNOW that toilets can be sanitized...but that didn't stop me from replacing the seats, and, um, the whole darn toilets, when we moved in to our house😊 And the existing ones were under 2 years old! I just had to do it:) I felt absolutely guilty about it though, so we cleaned and scrubbed the old ones and took them to the Habitat for Humanity store.

For something fun, I highly recommend the videos/songs done by Peter Weatherall. He puts together all sorts of extremely detailed math and science videos and songs. No fluff in his math and science:). Not to mention very affordable. I think you can buy all of the math and science series for about $20! The chemistry set is pretty good, and fun. The human biology one is awesome too:) I have a video of my then 3 yo singing a catchy tune about red blood cells: 'oh, a red blood cell is a tiny disc, with a dent in the center! With heemogwobin near the suwface so oxygen can easily leave or enter!!' You can also find many of his videos on YouTube:) http://kidsinglish.com/video_clips/chem_vids_short_clips/chem-songbook.html

Yes! I couldn't figure out why a little girl at gymnastics tonight was dressed like a little cow, complete with a mask and tail. I just thought it was one of those kid things, *shrug*. Wear a princess dress, a superhero costume, a cow costume. But when they were leaving I saw her 3 brothers all had black spots on their tshirts, as did mom...and she had a TAIL! Now I know:)

We have JUST finished researching and making this decision. I just had a baby 3 months ago after a very difficult pregnancy that resulted in life-threatening complications. There will not be any more pregnancies out of necessity. I had hoped to have a tubal during the scheduled c-section. Unfortunately, the hospital here is a Catholic hospital that will not do this. You must schedule a separate, invasive surgery at least six weeks later at much greater risk and expense. Genius. Because of this, my OB recommends vasectomies hands down. If you cannot get a tubal during another surgery or birth, a vasectomy is by far the safer option...not to mention A LOT cheaper with much faster recovery time. With proper follow up care for counts the outcome is virtually the same.

I thought I was the only one! That bread is on my list of top ten revolting things. We are vegetarian, and cannot do fast food...whenever we are with friends and they are trying to come up with somewhere we can all go, inevitably Subway is suggested. I once vomited in the parking lot when I thought I would attempt to be polite for friends sake!

Thanks, I like the look of this. I ordered it, but I have a feeling dd is going to be upset at what she will percieve as 'not fancy' enough:). She is going to want to jump off into the deep end first! I am hoping that she will see the possibilities, and I ordered a few books for inspiration. Hopefully I can convince her that perfecting the basics before moving to more elaborate flourishes is the way to go...

Yes, my dd5 really enjoys vocabulary and especially playing with Latin and Greek roots. I have both sets of Rummy Roots cards and they are fun:). The simplest game is Go Fish style where you pair up the root card with the definition card. Sweet and simple enough even for the youngest of kids. There are several other games of various levels of difficulty that can be played with the same cards and it is simple to make up your own as well.

This is how we did it too. My dd5 came to my us appts, but she knows that not all embryos develop into healthy fetuses and that not all babies are born healthy. In fact, at every appt she kept trying to pin my OB down with questions on whether it was a healthy embryo then fetus:). After multiple late miscarriages she wanted to KNOW:) That US was when it first became real to her and I am so glad she could share it. I would just speak to the tech and let themknow your concerns.

I think it totally depends on your child and how you approach it. If your kiddo has a desire to write, go for it. And a curriculum can be as much, if not more, for YOU than them. *I* needed a curriculum to follow for several things, but that doesn't mean that I sat my 3/4/5 yo down and forced them to do every bit of every one. At that age you can follow a curriculum but modify it to make it more fun and age appropriate. We did a lot of writing in windows with special effects window markers for example. Curriculum does not have to equal dry/boring/forced work:) Myself and several posters mentioned Draw Write Now, and the books are a lot of fun. One thing you might check out is the Confessions of a Homeschooler site. She made printables and traceable pages of various levels of difficulty for the Draw Write Now books, and I believe they are free:)

Ooh, I didn't even know calligraphy markers existed! It looks like there are so many to choose from. I think she would be ridiculously thrilled to get an assortment of them. She has a huge art table in her room and can spend hours with markers. In fact, her hands are multicolored and stained most of the time. 'Special' calligraphy markers just for school time would also fill her need for new 'school supplies.' Any specific book recommends? I guess it is too much to hope that a HWT-type calligraphy book exists:). I searched Amazon and found a Calligraphy for Kids book, but am still looking for additional resources. I think this kid will end up embellishing and inventing her own special flourishes immediately as she is all about the 'fancy.'