I don't remember the model number of our Sleep Number, but we bought it when we got married in 2006 because my husband needs a hard mattress and I need a soft one. We love it and definitely would buy another one, probably will eventually when our daughter is old enough for her mattress to matter. One of the great things about it is that the pieces are independently replaceable, so when we damaged it in a move, we were able to replace just the part we damaged, not the whole thing. Ours has a wireless remote control. I will say that we preferred the old style of pump over the new style, which we had to replace after it sustained damage in a move. (No, the mattress and pump are not that fragile, but movers who are determined to break things do find a way ...)

Penzeys. With or without mint. Yum.

Practical Paleo was my first, and it's a good one. I also own and like Against All Grain and Well Fed 2. (The first Well Fed would probably be good, too, bit I can't vouch for it personally.)

Maybe it's a little of both--you're expecting too little, and the pastor is expecting something that isn't age-appropriate. In my experience, teens can get into deep theological truths, and many Bible studies for 20s (and older) are not so meaty spiritually. So depending on how meaty you're talking about the pastor getting with them, it may be well within their abilities to handle, and it may be good for them to be expected to handle it. However, I'm not sure I've ever been to a Bible study even for adults that didn't have snacks of any kind (even a lot of Sunday schools have doughnuts and coffee!), and usually devoted at least some time to social fellowship. For teens especially, I think the fun stuff is important. If youth group is all meat and study and no fun at all, I wouldn't be surprised if the teens stop coming.

I think that if high school teachers are expecting their students to need parental help with writing papers, there is a problem. I'm pretty sure that my parents never even read one of my papers in high school, much less helped me write it ... of course, that may have something to do with the fact that I'm a good writer and neither of them are (I once made an "emergency" trip home from college--only 1 hour away--during my senior year to proofread my then-10th-grade brother's paper the night before it was due). I remember being taught how to write all along in school, with a unit in my 8th grade English class specifically on how to write a research paper. I don't recall if the other subject teachers taught me how to write one or just assumed that I'd been taught in English.

I have a paper cutter similar to the one at: http://smile.amazon.com/Westcott-Trimmer-Titanium-Bonded-Blades/dp/B000GP5L3U/ref=sr_1_6?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1416770327&sr=1-6&keywords=paper+cutter . In addition to the cutting blade, it has a scorer that makes a line along the line where the cut will be if you go over it with the cutting blade. Something like that also would work for what you need, I think.

No words of advice--last time I needed crutches I was in jr high school--but I do want to wish you a speedy recovery! ... Ok, one word of advice: you do have kids who are old enough to help out with any tasks you can't do safely right now. Allow (or compel, if necessary!) them to help. This is your time to recover, not to stress out about how you're going to accomplish XYZ without further injury.

Does she have a Kindle? (I know, library down the street ... but sometimes it is nice to have 300 books in your purse ...) Any bigger, more interesting science kits? Maybe a telescope or microscope? It sounds like she has a great thing going--not a materialistic bone in her body, which is awesome, but it would make it difficult to shop for her. If she prefers to save her money, actually ... cash or an investment account may not be a very "fun" gift, but it may be just the thing for her. A contribution to an eventual car fund, maybe?

The really nice thing about your situation is that, once you start homeschooling and then your situation changes (you move, in your case), you always are able to say: "Well, we started homeschooling because it was the best option for us in the situation we were in at the time [go into as much or as little detail as you wish; if you go into more detail, give whatever reason you wish--primary reason if you prefer, or a secondary reason if the primary one might be perceived as offensive], and then when our situation changed, we'd already started homeschooling, and it was working for us, so we decided not to try to fix what wasn't broken." If you ever decided to put your kids in school, that's easy enough to explain, too: "In our new situation, we thought it might be a better fit for our family, so we decided to give it a try." All sorts of flexibility in easy answers once you get that initial reason out of the way, and you're in a new situation so that the people you're interacting with at that time won't feel judged by whatever decision you made in a situation that they've never been in. Anyone who pushes for more detail after you've skirted the issue a couple of times is the one who's being offensive at that point.

That can be a difficult one, especially depending on your social group. I'm lucky in that because we move every couple of years, it's easy for me and understandable to my peer group if I simply say "I'm teaching my daughter at home so we can have stability in her education since we move so often." I think if I didn't have that excuse, it could become difficult to explain our choice without others feeling like we're judging their choices or putting down the schools that are educating their children. I think I'd say something along the lines of, "We haven't decided yet what we're going to do about school. The schools available here are good [if you think they are], but we really want a classical education for our kids, and none of the schools here offer that. So we're considering teaching them at home." I'd leave it at that unless I was asked more specific questions. Throughout any resulting conversation I'd probably try make copious use of the phrases "what's best for our family," "what works best for our kids," "every family is different," "what works for us isn't necessarily what will work for others," etc.

I'm so sorry your cousin and his family are so insensitive (I'll leave it at that, though "insensitive" seems a pretty weak word for what they are). I agree with the others who are saying to tolerate them, being polite but distant, as long as you have to, then drop the relationship. These people are not healthy for you to be around. And I would take the suggestion above to speak directly with the bride and groom to explain why you will not be attending their wedding, and then don't go. If your father wishes to go, that's up to him, but it would be beyond disrespectful to his wife to insist that she go if she does not feel up to it--maybe if your father feels strongly about it, you can convince him to go as the representative of the family, while the rest of you justifiably boycott. In any case, depending on the history with the bride, I could see her not knowing the date is your sister's birthday, or accepting her fiance's statements that it's a way to honor her, but I would make sure she knows that isn't the case. (Of course, she could be just like her fiance, and if so, you may already know that.)

No idea for dealing with the root stubbornness (mine is a stubborn one too), but for the diaper ... put her in pull ups. She can do that much more easily than a regular diaper. It'll make it annoying to change her without waking her in the night, but she can put it on herself and maybe even start prepping for potty training.

I have not done that--my dh has chosen a job that allows us to explore the world but that does not allow a lot of time for a slow, relaxed pace of life. However, when we were posted in Cambodia, one of my friends there was an American woman whose American husband was a stockbroker. He could do his job from anywhere, so they chose to do it from Cambodia for a few years in order to enjoy the slower pace of life, the low cost of living, and the climate. They're still there, after I first met them there 3 years ago, so I'd say they like it well enough :) However, their daughter is still early elementary aged, so I can't speak to the almost-college aged child bit.

Oh, I wouldn't say "consistently" just yet ... she can read through the words she first saw a couple of days ago pretty easily, but the new ones still took a little effort. A couple of months ago, we had to put OPGTR away because she just wasn't ready for blending. Now I think she is, but after only a couple of days, and with her getting tired and going off the rails halfway through a lesson (she starts guessing wildly when she gets tired--"at" becomes "tip," for example) ... we'll wait until she's able to make it through a whole lesson, at least :)

Ooh, ooh, me too! I'll be back in the States next summer for a couple of months. I am all ears on this one. :bigear: :bigear: :bigear:

I'm so glad you posted this today! My own daughter is in the *very* early stages of reading--we both were SO proud of her today for reading "cat," "fat," "van," and other similar words today, after starting with "at," "an," etc., a few days ago. I was beginning to wonder when I should pull out the BOB books that I have waiting in a closet ... I think I'll wait a while :) Congratulations to your son--and to you!

We bought our daughter a personalized version of The Night Before Christmas from I See Me! this year, and we've bought her a personalized growth chart from them as well. Your post made me curious what else is out there, so I did a quick Google search--I'm amazed at how many options there are! Just looking at one web site (PersonalCreations.com), I'm seeing backpacks, dolls, step stools, comfy chairs, backrest pillows, the same books that are available from I See Me ... all sorts of great stuff, with options from very inexpensive to very expensive. Personally, I'm tempted to buy my daughter a rag doll customized to look like her, though maybe I'd put a different name on it because I know she wouldn't want her doll to have the same name she has. And the super kids t shirt would be a big hit with my daughter, as well. You're making me wish we had a much bigger Christmas budget and hadn't already decided what we're getting our daughter :) Maybe I'll have to start looking at personalized gifts for my own niece and nephews ...

It doesn't necessarily mean that it's their love language, but it's a good indicator. If they go more for the cards with thoughtful messages, then it may be more words of affirmation than gifts. If gift giving is a person's love language, then it means that their natural way of expressing love is to give gifts to people. They feel most loved when they receive a gift--it doesn't have to be expensive, but something that shows that they were thought of. In many cases, the more thoughtful/meaningful the gift is, the more loved they feel, no matter how inexpensive the gift. They may also appreciate other expressions of love--someone doing a chore so they don't have to do it, someone giving a compliment, someone hugging them, or taking them out to dinner--but the thing that makes them feel most loved and appreciated is receiving a gift, even a very small one.

Part of the job--part of what he signed up for, what he agreed to, what he accepted--was secrecy. By coming forward, he puts a target on himself, his family, and anyone who has ever admitted, or who does ever admit, in any kind of public setting to having served with him. There may be men who served with him in the past who now are at risk if anyone follows the trail from him to them. I appreciate his service and the sacrifices that he and his family have made, but his decision to go public was a bad one. He went back on a very important agreement that he made when he accepted the training and the respect given to the Special Forces. The secrecy surrounding them protects them, and he breached it.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I hope that your communications with them help them to see their errors--or at least the one error of not making that requirement explicit, even if they don't see that excluding Catholics and other non-Protestant Christians is wrong.

I grew up in the South. If asked, my family and church members would say that the assumption was that whoever brought the food would take home the leftovers. However, the unspoken expectation at family events, in particular, but also at smaller church events, was that if the person brought a lot (which everyone always does), so there's a lot left over (there is), that the person will look at the amount left, exclaim "Oh we won't eat all that! Who wants some?", and proceed to semi-force everyone present to take some home. Singles and sick or elderly people get double portions, as do families where one of the members is known to particularly love a certain dish. It's a complicated little social dance that no one really leads but to which everyone knows the steps ;) Usually everyone ends up leaving with their own container, some of their own food, and some food brought by others. The host always has plastic bags, throwaway containers, or paper/plastic plates and foil for this sharing of the leftovers--but no one ever plans to have those things on hand specifically for this dance; they're just always on hand. Occasionally you do get someone who doesn't know the dance, or who for some reason wants to take home all their own leftovers, and I'm pretty sure no one thinks badly of them. It's never discussed--nothing related to this dance is ever discussed; it's just part of the culture.

I would not thaw on the counter--room temperature is not cold enough to keep bacteria from growing, though you're *probably* safe enough since you'll be cooking it so soon. However, I do often thaw chicken and other meat in a sink/bowl/ziploc bag of cold water. It's safest to change the water every so often to make sure it stays cold, though I usually don't do that. I find that the heat that's transferred from the water to the meat is enough to keep the water cold enough for my comfort levels.

I know you've deleted your original message, but I follow this forum by email, so I saw it anyway :) I'm so sorry your son experienced that situation. I agree that the other mom probably will want to know and probably will be saddened but, from the way you described her and their family dynamics, not surprised and not defensive. I think that if you approach her with empathy--knowing that this event will sadden her as it saddened you--then even if you struggle with word choice, it will all work out with her in the end. As a suggestion for your son--maybe it would be a good idea to tell him that he can go play with this little girl only when she does not have other guests, since it seems that the presence of other children is a trigger for her "prove that I'm all that" behavior.

My main priority for a crockpot was that it was 220V, since I knew I'd be using it outside the U.S. Mine is a Crock Pot brand. I'm not certain of the model number, but it's 220, it's big, and the timer feature is pretty nice--I can't set it to turn on automatically, but I can set it to go to a "keep warm" setting after a set amount of time, which is a particularly useful feature for me. It's also easy to clean, but it would not work well for transporting dishes to potlucks. I think it's probably this one: http://www.crockpoteurope.com/Product.aspx?cid=1787&pid=8816

Do you check your email regularly? When I need a reminder, I send myself an email. I check email compulsively, and I leave emails that have outstanding action items as unread, so they draw my attention in my inbox. Whenever I do whatever the email was reminding me to do, I delete it.