I convinced my oldest, and most vocal, child to submit to a blind taste test. I fixed two smoothies, one with strawberries and bananas and ice cubes and the other the same with added spinach. She tried both, I asked which one had the spinach, she picked the pretty pink one. Now they all love them and make them all the time. We use whatever fruit we have available, but I feel like there always needs to be a banana or two. If you add frozen bananas, it comes out just like a milk shake.

Store bought honey or do I need to find raw honey somewhere? How quickly did you see results? I would LOVE to quit spending all the money for my daughter's skin stuff. Thanks

Just going from my memory - sorry if it's reversed. Either way, they're usually done together. But you're certainly right about retirement being more important - I have a 401K for myself and my kids are on their own for college. That's just how it is.......

Dave Ramsey is so much more than just being debt free. Paying down debt is only step 2 of his 7 baby steps. I'd recommend either or both of his books, The Total Money Makeover and/or Financial Peace. They guide you through complete financial security, from budgeting and being debt free to all types of insurances to investments to retirement. Short version: step 2 - paying all debt except house step 3 - fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses step 4 - start putting aside for college step 5 - start putting aside for retirement step 6 - pay off house (steps 4-6 are done simultaneously) step 7 - become wealthy and give lots away

This. We've tried lots of stuff that just didn't work for my boys. But with WP, I felt lied to. I never minded or got upset about the stuff that didn't work, but I hated the other.

I'm an RN and currently work weekend nights. I plan to earn my Masters Degree in Nursing Education online and then teach. I'm not near a university right now, so if I'm ready to teach while kids are still at home, I'll teach online. But I'd love to find a quaint little college town somewhere.

I used to put my Sunday lunches in the crock pot and turn it on right before going to bed Saturday night. When I left for church, I'd turn it to "warm" and we'd have a nice lunch after church.

YES there is!!! Sonlight sells (although, I'm sure someone else does as well) a book called The Boy's Body Book - everything you need for growing up YOU. It's by Dunham/Bjorkman and it's absolutely wonderful. I've also used God's Design For Sex series. It includes four books, though I didn't use the first two. I handed those to my oldest to read, and then we discussed. My boys don't have a male to discuss this stuff with, so these books were the best I could come up with. Luckily, they're not scared to ask me questions. But they're not really for younger readers, so I don't know if that answers your second question or not. But I can recommend these books for you or your husband to read along with your child, either boys or girls. But I really highly recommend that first book I mentioned. It talks not only about body changes, but also how to care for your body - like general hygeine that my boys hardly ever think about! And it also brings up changes with friends, feelings, mood swings, parents, safety, etc. It's just a really good for new tweens.

I've only made it once and it was a LLOOONNNGGGG time ago. I remember not really caring for it until I added vanilla ice cream, or maybe it was cool whip. I don't recall exactly which, but it was just what the pie needed. Very rich. Sorta so sweet that it wasn't really sweet. More strong than sweet. Does that make any sense?

Wow, I don't recall writing this!! This is my answer, word for word. My older son uses SWO and my younger son NEEDS AAS. The time that I take for AAS is THE most productive 20 minutes of my ENTIRE day. SWO is a great program for Steven, he reads through it, does it, and has it down. Seldom doesn't make a 100% each Friday. Jack and I love AAS - it's just exactly what he needs. It's improved his spelling, writing, and reading - I could go on and on about it, but you get the picture? ;)

GA Henty's book about the American Revolution is written from a Brit's point of view. Very interesting read. True To The Old Flag

The way Dave Ramsey explains it is that the banks have so many short sales on the books and not enough employees to work them. It isn't that the bank WANTS the house to foreclose, they just don't have the manpower to avoid it. He recommends lots and lots and lots of persistence, like daily phone calls. Good luck.

I don't think you did. You can stretch and breathe and worship Buddah, or you can stretch and breathe and worship God. The fact that you're stretching and breathing has nothing to do with who you're worshipping. I've stretched and breathed for years and love my Lord. I've trick-or-treated for years and have never built an alter to satan. I also know lots of people who put up Christmas trees, but that doesn't make them Christian. Being a Christian means that I believe that Jesus is God's son, that he died for my sins and rose again, that I'll spend eternity with Him in Heaven. The position I'm sitting in doesn't matter.

This. One of the articles I read this week quoted Goldman as saying that this isn't about custody, it's about abduction. Horrible what they did to so many innocent people.

Like this idea and look forward to reading responses.

Dave Ramsey has some real good stuff for those ages. www.daveramsey.com

Sorry for asking what everyone seems to know, but what is CW? I see it all the time, but no one ever spells out the words. Thanks.

I keep the ones that I've received the current year along the fireplace mantle. Each year, there's usually one or two that I especially like, so I frame them to hang next year. I remove a few of my regualr pictures each Dec and replace with the Christmas "pictures".

Yes absolutely. Both caffeine and ADD meds are stimulants. A doctor explained it to me this way and it really clicked: ADD occurs when your neurons are firing, but the impulses aren't getting all the way across the gap and getting picked up. Can't you see that in your ADD child? All these impulses just flying around aimlessly? Well, the stimulants (meds or caffeine) cause your neurons to fire harder, more effectively, so that the impulses can get to the other neurons and therefore get picked up. It made perfect sense to me and my son has had coffee or mountain dew every morning ever sense. Yes, it works. -Anne

just started week 17

My Father's World uses Dangerous Journey in its Rome to Reformation package. I haven't used that year yet, so I can't comment on that particular book, but it's said to be for 4th-8th graders. It might be worth a look.

Seconding the kid idea. I'd toss my youngest in there in a snap. He owes me a few clean-ups anyway!

Thou shall not lie Thou shall not lie Thou shall not lie Thou shall not lie Thou shall not lie You get the point?? Love my boys. :grouphug:

My boys use them to reenact battles that we've been reading about. Probably not what you had in mind?? :)

I think AAS moves too slowly to be used as phonics teaching. It would take several years to get through all 6 books. But I think it's absolutely fantastic for review and it has greatly improved my younger son's reading ability - nice bonus.