My teenaged boys have always chuckled at Sister Wendy for this very thing. They make comments about her being overly focused on sensual things for a nun (in teenage slang of course!).

Oh my goodness. I totally understand. All my IL's are coming in on Wednesday night for my son's wedding on Saturday. They called to ask me what was for dinner Thursday night. :confused: They have rented a huge house with a kitchen (there are 30 of them) and I am supposed to cook them all dinner?? They are all invited to the rehearsal dinner Friday night, so I guess I thought that was my obligatory "feed them while they visit." It may just be me, as I know I am overly sensitive/stressed right now because I have had to be mother of the bride AND groom for this wedding and I am exhausted. But I totally get it about the ILs. My MIL came to visit in the fall and I broke out in hives. I don't understand how my wonderful dh came from these people.

Jean, have you looked at enotes.com? Their subscription for a year is $49, but they have almost every book you could think of for elementary up to high school. They have summaries (so you don't have to read ahead), author bios, quizzes, critical essays, etc. You can look at the beginning of each section they offer for their study guides before you purchase. I have used enotes quite a bit.

:iagree: This is what I would do (have done :001_smile:).

Yes Jennifer, you qualify! We installed hardwood floors this summer ourselves (with a small amount of help from a friend who does it for a living). Even the kiddos helped.

All three of our bathrooms get cleaned every morning before school. The tubs/showers are cleaned twice a week. It is scheduled in our rotating chores. So are the baseboards. I'm not sure how to handle the hair stuff. :confused: My daughters are black and when their hair is not braided, I am constantly picking up hair after them. Thankfully, most of the time we keep their hair in braids.

Oh my goodness! It is just beautiful.

Of course, doesn't everyone who reads her books? :001_smile:

I do. I did with my first two and my third son is now a junior. I love doing it this way. I bought TOG last year thinking it would make it easier and ending up selling it. I have been doing it my way too long to change. :001_smile:

:iagree: Me too! I have read all of them three times and can't wait for the next one.

I vote 17yo. I have a 17yo. :001_smile:

I agree with KidsHappen. If you are going to have to take the foreign language anyway, I would go ahead and get started.

Yes, it's the same series. I have used several of them, some of them with my oldest kids before I had even read TWTM!

It costs $49 per year, but enotes.com has just about any book you can think of. I have definitely gotten my money's worth out of the subscription price.

What about Reader's Digest How the Universe Works? I have used that in the past and my kids learned a lot and seemed to enjoy it. The experiments were a little involved, but we used Young Scientist Club kits instead.

I don't think you should be concerned. I had two that starting losing their baby teeth at four.

I hadn't thought of that. :001_huh: He actually picked the Apologia text over the Saxon one (which we also have). He will be using Saxon unless the Apologia one shows up! Maybe I should tell him that and see if he "remembers" where it is.

:grouphug: Praying for your family.

I cannot find my Apologia Physics textbook or solutions manual. You have to understand, all my books are well organized and in their place. I have always said it would be more likely to lose one of my kids than one of my books. :001_smile: I had it out a couple of months ago showing it to my 17yo ds who is supposed to start using it in two weeks. I have great faith that one of you will tell me where it has gotten to. :D

My 2nd and 3rd sons are lefties. I am a righty, but do almost everything except eat and write with my left hand. My dh is a righty, but plays all sports, including golf and baseball, left-handed.

How wonderful! We used R&S math up to 5th grade with my oldest two and loved it!

Funny! http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100811/od_yblog_upshot/behold-americas-educational-system-captured-in-a-single-photograph Sorry, I haven't figured out how to rename links.

Those prices are on the low side. I paid more when my daughter started a few years ago. If you choose gymnastics, be aware that if they show talent and drive they may end up on the competitive team. If I had known then what I know now, I'm not sure I would have ever started. What we pay in gymnastics now is a mortgage payment. :confused:

My son joined the Marine Corp at 18 after being homeschooled since 2nd grade. He had no problems at all and will be getting out any day now (he's done his four years!). Good luck!

Impish, you expressed my thoughts more eloquently than I ever could. Good job!