Zulilly currently has a few Evan Moor workbooks on sale, including several of the "Daily" series. It's not always cheaper than Amazon - especially if you have Prime - but if you're already ordering something they're worth putting into your cart. (not an affiliate link) http://www.zulily.com/Evan-Moor+Educational+Publishers?ref=autocomplete&fromSearch=true&searchTerm=Evan-Moor+Educational+Publishers edited because it's Moor not Moore, durr!

Or by the beach :) Am I the only one who feels like I pick up the SAME THINGS all day long? Today it was scissors. How many times did I pick a pair (or three) of scissors off the floor? If I didn't know better, I'd think my preschooler is gaslighting me.

Yes! We used to buy Whole Food's fragrance-free shampoo and conditioner. My husband was confused, because it definitely has a smell - not a strong one, and not exactly pleasant either. It was just what shampoo and conditioner would smell like, before adding a bunch of other odors.

I'm so sorry. This sounds terrible. I'd be irritated and angry, too.

Good perspective. I'm pretty involved in the catechetical side of our parish, so I know some of workings and players involved. I'll try to drop a few leading questions our Transitional Deacon's way to see how this transpired. The service is the same as it was last year, but I was bogged down in PPD and transition to a new parish to really feel the disconnect.

Right! It's not the fact that changes were made within the liturgy, but the types of changes that were put into place. The sacred liturgy isn't the place for entertainment.

This is what I came to recommend. I love Dr Bronner's, but it's pricey. Kirk's Fragrance-Free is truly unscented (not just "lightly" scented) and reasonably priced. I'm not sure if I've seen it in the stores, but I don't really look for it. I tend to get it with the rest of our supplies on Amazon or on Vitacost. The regular Kirk's has a light enough scent, too, so that if you were OK with the previous formulations of Ivory you may be OK with it as well.

I'll be glad when Easter is over, because then I can stop buying Easter candy that I'm supposed to use to stuff eggs for the church egg hunt but instead use to stuff my stomach. So. Many. Jellybeans. And I wonder why I've not lost any baby weight? A steady diet of candy canes, conversation hearts, and marshmallow chicks will do that to you...

My kids love sheet music, too! They have some interesting compositions :) You can print sheet music at home from free online sources.

YES, YES, YES! I hate that there are so many (artificial) choices, I hate that there's no real transparency in pricing, I hate that you can haggle for prices, I hate knowing that there will be a sale the week after I purchase. I've started buying used things. I don't have as many choices, and I don't feel as badly when things stop working in three or four years. Our washing machine broke mid-wash a few years ago, and I posted a sad lament on FB about the broken machine in our garage full of dirty water and dirtier laundry. A friend of a friend was getting rid of a machine for $45. We picked it the next morning. It was the same model we had, and the transition was so quick and so painless that my husband totally forgot about it until I reminded him a few weeks ago. (Him: "We bought that washer in 2007, right?" Me: "No, this is the one we bought to replace that one." Him: "Ooohhhhh yeah....") We needed a new vacuum, so I bought one from a neighbor on Craigslist. I paid $30. Half the time I use it, I think about how we got this vacuum two days later with just a little research and a walk around the block. It's lasted us for 2.5 years of near-daily Cheerio duty. This doesn't work for everything, of course, but I find so much freedom emotionally, mentally, and financially from buying my appliance from whatever subset is available on Craigslist at any given time.

We used Faber when we did lessons at home, but when we switched to a teacher she started the kids on Alfred's. I REALLY, REALLY like the theory books in Alfred's series more than Faber's. It feels more like music theory than playing worksheet games. It's the notespeller series: http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Piano-Prep-Course/dp/0739008498

I live in Coastal California, where a lot of unusual activity flies as normal. Last night's liturgy was too much, however. I've drafted a letter to our Bishop. The liturgical dancers were from our Filipino community, so at first I'd thought perhaps there were cultural reasons they were included,but a quick Internet search tells me probably not. We'll be getting a new pastor in the summertime. (Sigh of relief!)

Basically what the title says. I'd love to be a fly on the wall on my church's liturgical committee meetings. From tonight's Holy Thursday service: There was no hesitation to use the term "liturgical dancers" in tonight's program. Our visiting priest ad-libbed the Eucharistic prayer. Our altar was replaced with a fully-set banquet table, around which sat 12 "apostles." I'm not, in general, a super-traditional or conservative person. I do, though, think that centuries of serous, prayerful thought about what constitutes a valid liturgy shouldn't be discarded just because someone thinks it would be fun to pirouette the oils up the aisle.

I just wanted to add that my daughter hates shoes and takes them off any chance she gets. After losing TWO (!!) pairs of Keens, she's only allowed the 2/$5 flip-flops from Old Navy. Wouldn't you know, she doesn't lose those :)

This is what we use. It's engaging, easy enough to intuit, and you can find lesson plans online by poking around the website. http://pianoadventures.com/guide/index.html

We go all year long, because we take breaks along the way. It's easier to stay in the habit than to take a long break and get out of the habit. Our neighbors don't understand this, which causes some confusion. Despite the fact we've lived next door for two years, the school-aged kids will knock on our door on school holidays (like MLK Day) and then act astonished when we're doing school. They're doubly befuddled in the summertime.

I can't. At all. I use the analogy of a balloon when I talk about this with my husband. Our life's chaos is a balloon, and when I tackle one area it just bulges into another. The house is clean? We've not done school in a week. Lots of fun kid projects? You can't walk on the kitchen floor without sticking in something. I hope this is a phase (little kids, busy life), but my fear is that I'm doomed for a lifetime of disaster. What's worked is - getting rid of LOTS of stuff, paring down responsibilities/needs/tasks to the minimum, and having good routines in place.

LOVE Keens - they last forever. We also really appreciate the close-toe styling. It's safer on our toenails when it comes to bike riding, hiking, etc.

I struggle with this, too - getting rid of something we "might" need later. My deciding factor is knowing that there are families who really would appreciate having the materials, and for whom getting them at a low price (or free) would be a huge blessing.

Another INTJ. My husband laughs at me when I say things like, "I have to figure out if we'll have the kids take math at (local community college) or (local university)." My kids are all 7 and under. But I need to figure it out.

Re: LATCH, there's a very low weight limit for the LATCH. I believe it's 65(?) pounds total weight - child AND carseat. The LATCH isn't necessarily safer, just easier to install correctly. It's a good question about the middle seat, though. It might be worth looking in the car's manual to see if carseats are even allowed to be installed there. Some models of cars don't allow carseats to be installed in the middle rear seat.

We do a lot of "put it on the backburner." It changed math for my K'er in a big way. Instead of giving up, negative attitude, "I can't!," she'll ask to put it on the backburner for 15 or 20 minutes. It's enough time to finish some other lesson, and often when she comes back to her work she finds it's easier than she'd thought. Often, not always, because it's not a magic trick. For activities that my kids have wanted to quit, I'll often agree that they can quit after we finish our commitment (month paid in gymnastics, month paid for piano, etc.). I think knowing that they can quit helps them when they're feeling frustrated. We've not quit anything - yet. Sometimes, I tell them that we've got to "keep our heads down and power though," but Arrested Development quotes fly over my kids' heads.

Watch your mouth forming sounds, watch his mouth forming sounds in a mirror. If he says "rat" and "wat," can he hear the difference? Does he mix these sounds in his speech, using "r" when he means to use "w"? Would he use an "r" instead of a "w?" (The opposite of the examples you gave.) So, for instance, would he write or say "rater" for "water" or "rait" for "wait"?

Discs have a layer of plastic covering the data layer, and scratches in the plastic make it difficult for the lasers to read the data. If the scratches aren't too deep, they can be polished off. If you look at a CD on its side you can get a better sense of the anatomy.

I'm planning for next year, and I'm having problems discerning if we really need a grammar/writing/spelling scope. My school aged children are either fluently reading or will be soon, so we're moving out of the phonics-intensive LA portion into...nouns? I'm just not sure my heart is in it. I also have two other, smaller kids at home, who offer lots of fun and distractions. We'll do Draw Write Now because the kids love it and I have the books. They also like Explode the Code, so my daughter (rising 1st) will finish this series while my son (rising 2nd) may start Beyond the Code. We do weekly journal entries, though I aspire to do more. I also hope to move letter writing and practical writing (making grocery lists, etc) from our schedule to reality. What's the benefit - or, more directly - what's the drawback of not formally doing grammar/writing/spelling, assuming that I'm reinforcing proper mechanics in journal writing and spoken language?