Softscrub cleaner and a non-scratching sponge (the kind that looks like a regular sponge but one side has a scouring material). Works great on my white enamel gas stove.

This doesn't address your concerns about her mental health, but here's a good resource for safety information and state laws from the New York Bicycling Coalition. The director of education, Ken Crandall, is a high school friend of mine, and I'm sure he would be happy to answer your (or your wife's) questions about a Buffalo-to-Albany winter ride. You can send a message through the NYBC contact page or PM me and I can get you Ken's email address.

You're welcome!

You're missing a Dressage event. There should be four: 1. Favor: No Kidding! +2, Princess +1 Penalty: Felicity: -1 2. Favor: Star +3, Crimson Fury +2 Penalty: No Kidding! -1 3. Favor: Felicity +4, Winnie +1 Penalty: Ragtime -1 4. Home Club Advantage: Dealer's horse has a +3 advantage Happy playing!

Grass snake in Gryffindor. :confused1: I suspect the warm/cold question was for warm or cold blooded.

You can find pictures of the front pages of US newspapers here, listed by state. Boston Globe: both Bill and Hillary above the fold with headline, "Historic Nomination Complete" Boston Herald: both Bill and Hillary (but Bill's pic is bigger!) with headline, "Hill becomes first woman in history to earn major party presidential nomination"

To my husband: "The kids must have eaten it." To my kids: "Dad must have eaten it."

You have my sincere sympathy. We nicknamed our son "Baby Destructo" because of the never-ending list of things he broke or damaged. He was (and still is) extremely impulsive, but--finally!--not destructive at age 12. Consequences rarely had any effect and he kept finding new kinds of trouble anyways. He really did require near constant supervision and awareness on my part about not giving him access to things that could be destroyed or used to damage other things. I made my husband aware that I could not get much done around the house when he wasn't home to supervise the kids and I took the time to shower and dress before he left for work. I'm sorry I don't have any miracle advice. It's hard and exhausting to have a kid that requires constant vigilance for 12 hours per day

My (almost 11-year-old) daughter sorted Wampus. Since we're in Massachusetts, the trip to wizarding school will be nice and short for her come September! Also, Mount Greylock is now most definitely on the hiking agenda for this summer.Not that we Muggles will be able to see anything... :lol:

I am an atheist married to a Congregationalist. While the congregation and pastor at my husband's church (also in MA) were very welcoming at both the Sunday services and fellowship gatherings, I ultimately did not feel comfortable being involved in the church as a non-belieiver. For several years, I was asked (not in a pushy way at all) if I was interested in joining and politely declined. Even though they have the same origin and many similarities, UCC is definitely feels like a Christian denomination as opposed to the more inclusive philosophy of UU. Here is a PDF about becoming a member. My husband takes the kids to church and Sunday School with my blessing. I'm very pleased with the focus on social justice both the youth group and the congregation as a whole, and I like that it's "open and affirming." I hope my kids will be able to participate an OWL program and go on service trips with the youth group when they're older. It is a great way to get to know people in your town. Good luck with your decision and your new home!

We've only ever had FIOS internet and a landline. Our bill is about $80/month.

Green, frog-shaped sugar cookies! We made them in 2012 and the kids asked to make them again. It's makes me sad to think that they'll be 14 and almost 16 years old the next time Leap Day comes around.

Probably cluster flies. We had infestations several years in a row, usually at the end of the summer. I vacuumed the little buggers, which isn't hard because they are more sluggish than usual houseflies. It lasted about three days and then they stopped coming in. I freaked out the first time it happened and had someone come check for dead things in our attic and vents. Cluster flies lay their eggs in walls and attics, so they have some kind of instinct to get inside all at once. Supposedly you can have a pest company spray certain areas of the outside of your house (under the eaves, I think?) to deter them, but it has to be done around July. My sympathies. It's gross, but doesn't last long.

Do you have a wagon that you could transform into a motor boat with cardboard? The guests could take "boat rides" to get ice cream (and spark plugs).

Take a tour at the Taza Chocolate factory! It's just over the way in Somerville, not far from MIT. Have a fun visit!

In addition to the great suggestions above, take a ferry out to the Boston Harbor Islands if the weather is nice. There's a Civil War era fort to explore on Georges Island (bring flashlights!) and great views of the skyline. You could also take the commuter rail out to Concord or Salem if you want to get out of the city for the day. Both have lots of historic sites and small museums to visit.

You have to buy separate books to get the fully worked solutions. The workbook and textbook have the answers only. I don't think there's much teacher support at all. The "teaching notes" are very brief (a page or less per chapter). It wouldn't be a good fit for someone who needed more support or scripted lessons. I don't think it's any more difficult to teach than Primary Math, but I think I'm comfortable with the program because it is similar to how I learned math myself.

My fifth grade son started DM after finishing 6B last year. He has done very will with Singapore and wanted to stay with it. We are going at his pace it will probably take about a year and a half to finish 7A and 7B. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the books.

We do six weeks on, one week off... roughly. It goes: School: 3rd week of August to end of September Vacation: first week of October School: 2nd week of October to Thanksgiving Four-day weekend for Thanksgiving School: Monday after Thanksgiving until December 23 (or earlier if Christmas is a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday) Vacation: Christmas Eve to New Years Day (or later if New Years Day is on a Thursday or Friday) School: January to 2nd week of February Vacation: 3rd week of February School: 4th week of February to 1st week of April Vacation: 2nd week of April School: 3rd week of April until Memorial Day weekend Four-day weekend for Memorial Day School: Wednesday after Memorial Day to around June 21st (whenever we hit 180 days) Summer vacation: last week of June to 2nd week of August We only take four-day weekends instead of full weeks off at Thanksgiving and Memorial Day because there are only three to four weeks after that until Christmas or summer vacation. We also do school work on many of the Monday holidays so that we have the flexibility to take other days off as needed (birthdays, sick days, grandparent visits, etc.). HTH!

That's correct. Singapore.com says: "Due to trademark issues, we will have to stop carrying Discovering Mathematics and Discovering Additional Mathematics after December 31, 2014. This will affect all the Discovering Mathematics titles that we now carry. We currently have no plan to replace these titles. Please note that this will not affect the Dimensions Math CC series. This will continue to be available."

My kids are in 4th and 5th grade. Math (daily): 45 minutes Copywork (2x/week) or journal (2x/week) or vocabulary (1x/week): 15 to 20 minutes Independent reading (daily): 60 minutes Spelling (daily): 10 minutes French (daily): 20 minutes History (3x/week) or Science (2x/week): 45 minutes Other language arts (free write, poetry tea, grammar) or project work: 30 to 45 minutes Latin (daily): 20 minutes I also have a read aloud going, usually while they're eating lunch or before bed.

My son is using 7a this year. There is some algebra in 7a (three chapters, focusing on algebraic expressions, distributive property, simplifying expressions, and solving single-variable equations). The rest of the algebra topics, including quadratic equation and graphing, are in 8a and 8b. I use some worksheets from mathdrills.com to provide extra practice as needed. Between chapters, my son might do some of Zaccaro's Challenge Math and Math Counts "problems of the week" just for a fun break and to keep up arithmetic skills. We like the book so far. My son really wanted to stay with Singapore, although the format is quite different from Primary Math. The text and workbooks don't have spaces to write in them, so he writes the answers on loose leaf paper instead. There were some topics where he needed more practice than was in the text and workbooks, but that also happened during Primary Math. It's a bit pricey when you add up textbook, workbook, teacher's notes/solutions, and workbook solutions but they can be reused or sold since they are all non-consumable. As the PP said, it's slow going so far. It will definitely take more than one school year to complete 7a and 7b, but he's only in 5th grade so I'm happy to go at his pace.

My 10-year-old's stocking will have: Lego minifig mini LED flashlight winter gloves magnetic poetry kit wind-up toy I also considered a Rubik's Cube and Smartwool socks. In past years I've put in laminated foldable maps, colored pencils, small stuffed animals, and small Playmobil kits.

I have The Irish Dresser by Cynthia Neale on my list for when we cover the Potato Famine later this fall. I haven't read it yet, but it's listed for ages 8 and up on Amazon.

The Secret of Kells