My older sister once requested a jar of maraschino cherries for Christmas. She not only got them that year, but every year thereafter. It became something of a Christmas tradition to wrap them so they weren't easily identifiable and see if she figured it out before unwrapping.

Neat! I found a doctor/nurse medical "on the go" type bag on Amazon, so I added it to my list so she would have an official doctor bag to keep all her new things in. Ordered her a set of pink scrubs (her choice) and a personalized lab coat tonight. She is so excited!

Yes, I've used them and got exactly what I paid for and was happy with the vacation. We do exactly what you're talking about and have for years now - 5-7 nights on a warm, sunny beach in January. We've been to Cancun a few times, Los Cabos, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. We just booked our hotel in Cozumel for this January. I highly recommend signing up for the TravelZoo Weekly Top 20 email list. Best list of cheap travel deals I've found anywhere!

I spent a few nights reading through the standards bit by bit a while back. My general feeling is that the goals are set a bit high for the very early grades, when kids are at such varied developmental levels, and a bit low in later grades, when kids can usually handle more. I'm far from being an advocate of "better late than early" but do wonder what is going to happen with kids not prepared to move forward at the pace given for kindy and first grade. Schools have not been historically great at differentiation or remediation. When looking at curric for my daughter, I couldn't care less if it is aligned.

Thanks!

I remember in college that students pretty much only got the sweatshirts if their parents bought them, so that's a great idea. I don't know much about the D.C. Area, but do the tourist attractions typically charge admission? Assuming so, possibly passes so that she could see the city. The other gift I loved in college was anything food-related. I'm sure there are restaurants or coffee shops where the students tend to hang out. If she's like most students and spending money is limited, a gift card to a local hangout to allow her to spend time there with new friends would probably be appreciated.

My daughter is getting more advanced than her Fisher Price doctor kit allows for. I'm putting together a "real" doctor kit for her. In addition to the below, is there anything else I should include? - she already has a digital thermometer - stethoscope - pediatric blood pressure cuff - reflex hammer - maybe a "Dr. Mom" otoscope? - Ace bandages She also wants to be a doctor for Halloween, so we'll get scrubs and a lab coat for that. Am I missing pieces that might be of interest to her?

Ooh, I also just discovered the site shopyourshape.com and I'm loving going through their suggestions. They link up to actual clothing that works for each body toe so I don't even have to apply rules myself!

I'm more of a pear than an apple, but I found this Wiki that breaks down how to dress for an apple figure: http://m.wikihow.com/Really-Dress-an-Apple-Shape-Body I've found that khakis and many dressier pants don't create the muffin top that many pairs of jeans do. They also look nicer for out and about. Honestly, if I'm not leaving the house at all, I dress pretty sloppy. My standard work clothes actually consist of yoga pants and t-shirts, but in my previous career I had to dress much more formally. Though I gave away most of my office clothes, I kept the ones more appropriate for mom-around-town. I have an outlet mall near me and a lot of my clothing money goes to Ann Taylor and Banana Republic. I do have to remind myself at times to open the closet and pull out a dress or a nicer top instead of the usual jeans-and-nice-tee from my dresser. I have found that regularly decluttering my wardrobe makes this easier. If something is too worn to look presentable, I get rid of it. If I bought something and realize it is unflattering on me, I put it in a bag to go to Goodwill. I hated to get rid of a lot at once (after all, I don't have a $5000 clothing budget) but at every season change, as I switch out summer and winter clothes, I go through everything that I'm putting away and take out the pieces that aren't working. I also go through everything that I'm getting out for the new season even though I did it when I put it away and take out pieces that I know won't work. I then usually hit the clothing sales on Black Friday and Memorial Day to round out my wardrobe for the coming season.

PJs. DD and DH left this morning for a weekend camping trip, I have no errands that have to be run, and I've spent all week looking forward to the first day in months when I don't have to look presentable on some level. Slept in, touched up the color in my hair, showered, dressed in my PJs, and have barely moved from the couch. This is my version of a luxurious day :)

We used this one and loved it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W5RT9Q/ref=wms_ohs_product_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My daughter is only 3.25 years old, so I have no idea how this will work long term, but we are doing a hybrid. When she is playing around doing art or trying to write numbers and letters independently, I don't mess with her grip; she is mostly using a pronated grip currently. We do the Kumon fine motor skill workbooks, including the tracing and mazes ones. For those, I ask that she hold the writing implement correctly and I've explained to her that it is so she will be comfortable holding her pencil correctly when we do more letters. She was having problems with remembering the correct grip, so I bought some of these and put them on a few of her markers or pencils and she likes them: http://www.amazon.com/The-Writing-Utensils-Assorted-TPG-21106/dp/B003BNJB94/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380916993&sr=8-2&keywords=claw+grips. I drew a star in Sharpie on the part where her middle finger goes, because the way these are built if you put your middle finger in first everything easily lines up from there.

LOL! My favorite "what!?!" moment from my preschool-aged daughter came a few months ago. She's extremely verbal and talks like a mini-adult most of the time. She was poking at her ear and I asked if something was wrong. "No. I just have an earwack." "An earwack?" " Yes. I have an earwack I need to get out." "Do you mean earwax?" "No. I don't have earwacks. I just have one earwack." I about died laughing before I could explain that "earwax" was not the plural of "earwack".

What age would people recommend the sets for? The website lists both the regular kits and the Junior kits as ages 8+, but I'm wondering at what age people actually use the junior sets?

I'm a massage therapist. It is what I decided to do when I decided to homeschool my daughter and needed to shift away from my previous full-time career. Pros: - the schooling in most states is straightforward and can easily be completed in less than a year for a pretty reasonable cost. - If you work for someone (in a chiropractor's office or fitness center, for example) then your hours are set for you, but there are a lot of situations where you can set your own hours. - Flexible hours makes things simpler if your son decides to go to college or some other trade school while working as an MT. - it is fun. I get to figure out the puzzle of relieving someone's pain and I like seeing a lot of different people. - it is very low stress. (Very important to me as I was leaving an extremely high stress field.) - good pay for hours worked Cons: - it is not a typical "full time" job. Most MTs consider full time to be 18-20 hours per week of actually having a client on the table as that is all your body can handle. You can go up to 25 hours for short term if you are taking care of yourself. - if you are in private practice, you will need to spend a lot more time than just table time - massage schools all say they teach business skills, but they don't. If in private practice, he will certainly need help in learning to run a business. Plus there would be the startup costs of the business. - because full time is 18-20 hours/week of client time, and you only get paid for table time, the total pay is lower than what some people expect when entering the field. I know some people support families on this career, but I am very grateful that my income is not our main income. - getting started can be slow going while you find clients As for being an 18 year old male... Male therapists in general find it harder to find and maintain clientele. Clients most often request female therapists. The two areas I've found this to not be true are deep tissue/therapeutic work (clients who need this really don't care who the therapist is if they do a good job) and sports massage. If he wants to do this, I would suggest you look more at the area in which you live - is it saturated with MTs? What is the likelihood of finding a job? What is the going hourly rate for massage? It varies by area and contracts, but for most sole practitioners or independent contractors, half of that hourly fee goes to expenses. With the other half, there will be both the usual income taxes and the self-employment taxes.

135! Yay!

I followed the directions on this site the first time I made brussel sprouts and absolutely loved them. It is now my go-to method: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2011/03/30/how-to-make-brussels-sprouts-delicious/

I use the Accelerated Reader lists to give me an idea of grade level. I just run titles through arbookfind.com and look at the book level.

I usually aim to do 1/2 a lesson at a time with my pre-k daughter. Anything more and she just walks off :)

When I had someone coming regularly, we actually decided that for the first few visits, I would continue with all the "surface cleaning" I normally did and she would do only deep cleaning. Then when the house had been thoroughly deep cleaned, it was ready for her to take over the regular cleaning, usually adding one special task per visit so that the deep cleaning never again had to be done in a big 10-15 hour go again. I'll be honest enough to say I don't even know what deep cleaning really consists of. She had a lot of experience and I just let her go to it. I did notice that my utensil drawer was no longer full of crumbs, the inside of my dishwasher no longer looked scummy, and the cobwebs all disappeared. In fact, I think she washed my walls entirely. And I know there were a few things hauled outside to be washed down thoroughly. I tried not to pay too much attention so I could go on living in my denial and believing my house had always been "clean".

I can't say there is any any subject I passionately hate, but there are several I just don't understand. Even though I was always an honor roll student, it was often because I played the game of school well and not because I "got it". So now as my daughter nears school age, I am facing science and history. They were both always taught to me as such dry, lifeless subjects and I retained NONE of it and certainly have no love for either of them. I don't hate them, but I do dread them. I've been working to find good curric that will teach them differently. I am excited now about doing science as lab-based from an early age. Even though I've never been a "project person", I will happily do all the projects I can find if it gives me hope of installing a love for science in my daughter. I still can't say I'm excited about doing history, but I am more interested in being able to follow along with a story-based history and maybe finally start making all the connections that I know are there and just have never followed before. DH offered to basically take these subjects over for me if needed, but I refuse. The thing I probably have most on my side in this is my stubbornness. I WILL learn these, darn it! And I know if it turns out to be too much for me, I can outsource. Possibly to DH.

We have the ikea one and it is awesome. Neutral and sturdy. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49874533/

Either boots or Converse.

I third (fourth?) the Kumon fine motor skill workbooks. Also, I would add Mighty Mind or some other tangram type set or pattern blocks with pattern block cards.

If the main goal is to keep up with a standard pre-k program, then I would focus on fundamental math and reading and writing, plus some problem solving skills. Kumon fine motor skills workbooks or HWT A good recipe for homemade play dough If they have Internet access, then the website for Progressive Phonics The Singapore stuff should be fine. Structured pre-k usually tries for a good concept of numbers 1-100, beginning skip counting, and single-digit adding and subtracting both with manipulatives and written equations. Not all kids get all of this down and they aren't expected to. Set 1 of the Bob Books (have you looked through the pre-reading books? I used them when DD was younger but wasn't so impressed with them. I will, however, forever remember and love the line "A nest of noodles in not natural for a nightingale.") Leapfrog Letter Factory Rush Hour Jr Blokus or Blokus Jr A marble run