Ella. I like it!

I'm impressed! I rarely pick the no rush shipping but if I recall, it comes a day or two after the Prime shipping would have arrived. Now, used books via media mail - very UNimpressive! But, $4 for book plus shipping, I guess I can wait over a week. Often, I forget I order the books. Then, it's a little surprise when they arrive! Or, there was once when I ordered it twice because it took so long for the first to arrive, I forgot I'd already ordered it.

I would take the nephew to my house but I don't think I'd want my kids at that house, based on what you've described. He needs attention and if you can provide that, I'd make the effort to be there for him as often as possible. After working those hours, I can't fathom not spending every other second with my kids. Friends are meaningless compared to my son. I understand she is probably stressed and needs the break but the kid has to be the priority while he's young.

I'm a CPA, and I will kept my certification up. However, I'm not sure I'll go back into corporate tax accounting, which is about all I know (or used to know)! My DH will be retiring from his law enforcement job by the time my kids are in high school. We have to decide if we are staying where we are for the kids' college or we jump ship to Florida or somewhere else. If we stay, I'm sure I'll end up in an accounting job. He's not sure what his next career will be. If we get bold and pack up and move, we dream of running a dive boat. Not sure that pays the bills and pays for two college kids, but that's the pie-in-the-sky dream. My kids will be old enough to have an input at that time. One wants to be a vet now (at age 6), and there is a great vet school less than an hour away from us now. So, we don't really know but I won't be a SAHM because we will be cash-flowing college! We are sacrificing now by barely making it with me at home, in order to homeschool. The best of all worlds would be if I could find something where I could work from home nights and weekends to make extra and still be here with my kids - now. Easier said than done! ETA - for ego's sake, I might also go back to school for a PhD. My grandfather, dad, sister, and brother-in-law all have PhDs. I do not. So. But they all did science/engineering. I dropped the science major and ran to the business school my sophomore year. So maybe I need to mature above the ego. I don't know :) Graduate School vs Dive Boat - dive boat wins every day.

I couldn't vote. Texas has the best BBQ.

We do so primarily for academic reasons. We live in a less than stellar school district and cannot afford private school. However, avoiding school violence is another reason to keep them out of public schools. I would send them to private schools and public colleges if/when the school fits.

Oh. My. Some of these dinners sound good. It's another gymnastics night. Into the crockpot went chicken and bbq sauce. Served on buns with pickles and a side of corn. Boring but filled the bellies with no complaints. And fresh strawberries because it's strawberry time 'round these parts!

I would not be concerned at all. My kindergartners finished level 1 around December of the K year but we moved as slowly as they needed. The first half of Level 2 went pretty slowly, also. Just now, in the middle of Level 2, they both just clicked and are soaring with reading. Don't rush it, it's fine. Like the PP said, it is a level not grade! I can understand feeling a bit antsy because Level 1 feels so basic but it's a solid program and will work in time. Don't compare to others! I see kids who read at 4 and it's so tempting to compare. But, mine will get there and so will yours!

Given that he knows his sounds and is starting to blend, I wouldn't spend the money on pre-AAR. It doesn't provide any more of a foundation than what your son seems to already know. However, if you decide to buy it, I sold our used version on Ebay for most of what I paid. My kids liked Pre-Reading level but already knew their sounds. We went through it quickly, and they enjoyed it. My kids were young 5 when we started AAR level 1. For a 4 year old who is ready, I don't see why you can't start AAR 1.

My six year olds are never very hungry when they first wake up. My son wakes much earlier than I wake. We aren't big breakfast eaters but I've let them (mainly my son because he's up so early and my daughter sleeps nearly as late as I do {which is only 8am}) graze on healthier options in the fridge. They have a shelf with just their food they know they are welcome to eat - applesauce, fruit, yogurt w/o much sugar, cheese sticks. Sometimes I'll make them a smoothie when I get up. They like eggs, too, if I feel like making them. We don't eat much cereal or oatmeal but I wish mine would like oatmeal. If I've made a batch of granola, they'll eat that but they don't make it themselves. If they eat fairly lightly, they get nuts or another snack mid-morning at the school table. Or we just eat lunch between 11 and 12. I almost never make a big breakfast on the weekday (big to me means something requiring more than a microwave or blender). Sometimes we have leftover waffles or similar from the weekend. I long for the time when mine are self-sufficient for at least one meal.

my hair falls out when my thyroid gets a little out of whack. Even with "normal" TSH, if it gets a bit too high, my hair falls out. It probably has some connection to T3 and T4 but my current doctor dismisses all that so I'm not sure what mine are anymore.

We found one on craigslist, and she got it for her 6th birthday. She loves it.

My six year old kindergartener has taken both ballet and gymnastics for two years. Next year I've allowed her to take both again, but after that, only gymnastics. At least in my situation, it is very obvious in which sport she excels. She's a gymnast through and through. She's old enough to realize it. She loves gymnastics. But she likes ballet because of the other little girls she's met. And, my daughter is a join-er. She'd be game for anything. But, it's obvious she has no grace for ballet. Honestly, I don't think she's learned all that much in ballet. It just seems like a fun, sort-of athletic get-together for little girls. I think to excel later, you need the basics class, but the real work doesn't start at the level my daughter is in. Now, gymnastics is hard work. She works hard and enjoys every minute of it. In fact, she got a bar for home and spends all of her time on it. I'm not sure I offered much help but to say I think gymnastics is much more rigorous but I also think certain girls are built for either one or the other. And, there is a lot to be said for the other participants - friendships if those are hard to come by otherwise. I am right there with you needing to limit one or the other. As it stands, we do one day of dance and two days of gymnastics. I just hope gym doesn't go to three days in the fall. I fear it will.

"Can I have a snack?"

I get to sleep late and no one is allowed to ask me to make them food. Best day ever. Otherwise, it's a normal day. And I call my mom.

Well, I was born in the 70s. However, Jennifer was already taken by my older sister! :lol: So they let her pick my first name. She was three. She didn't do a very good job. The middle name was a popular name at the time, too. Unfortunately, I go by a even more popular nickname of the middle. I should add that my sister claims that my first name is the name of Holly Hobbie's best friend, and she thought I'd be her best friend. So, kind of sweet, except I can't stand the name.

I have a Grace, too :001_smile:

Good luck! I know it is exciting. She is a cutie. She could be my beagle's twin. They look exactly alike in the face and those velvety ears! ETA - mine didn't howl. Well, about five times in her entire life she did a half howl, half bark thing that shocked her as much as us and made the cutest little "o" with her mouth. So, you are right, all dogs have positives and negatives.

Yep. My beagle's glands needed it a lot! The only dog I've owned that needed that except once in a blue moon. I'm repulsed just remembering! Oh, but I loved my dogs and miss them dearly. We lost our last dog, a sweet Belgian Malinois, last year. We're not ready for another but I long for a dog again.

No. I am called by a nickname of my middle name. My middle name is nice but I am not called that often. I'm not sure why my parents decided calling a child by a nickname of her middle name made sense, but here we are. My kids have nice names. However, I didn't know my daughter's name was so popular. I guess I should have done research but I just had my heart set on that name and didn't think that other people did, too.

I had a beagle. I loved her dearly but I would not have another beagle. She tended to smell more than other dogs - just an annoying hound odor that was hard to shake. I had a cocker spaniel at the same time and have had many other dogs. She was the smelliest. Also, she was sweet but I wouldn't have trusted her with my young kids (she died when my kids were babies so she was never around children). She'd snap if she didn't want to be touched. It was rare but enough not to trust her. She shed a lot more than other short haired dogs I've had. Also keep in mind that adopting an older dog is great but you would be getting into Big-Vet-Bill Territory.

We did kindergarten but it has been very light. My kids enjoy sitting down and having school (most of the time). They beg for the extras - history and science. They are doing AAR to learn to read and Singapore math - we started with the Essentials K workbooks - they flew through them and enjoyed it. They take pleasure in knowing "1st grade math" now at the end of their K year (they are finishing up SM 1a). They also love reading now. Some days we skipped school, some days we did school on Saturday if nothing else was going on. And, we only did school in the mornings; they played all afternoon or went to activities. We also have read alouds all the time - have since they were babies. So kindergarten wasn't very official, but we still "did kindergarten". Well, we're "doing" it now and will just keep going with what we're doing now after a short break in June (then they can call themselves first graders). I don't think one can go wrong with kindergarten - either not doing it or doing it very lightly - as long as is isn't overdone and read-alouds are plentiful.

I just bought a new washer and dryer from Lowe's. Delivered less than a week later. I'm happy with them, in general. However, read the reviews online, even if you order in store!

I think I might prefer that to what I hear all day long. DD6 - Let it Go DS6 - hums the Imperial March from Star Wars ALL DAY LONG. And I'm the fool who taught him. I created a little Star Wars monster. My nephew did teach them some annoying Christmas songs (think Batman smells, robin laid an egg) but those have faded now.

Yep. I'm amazed at the size of the packages she will shove in my box. And then the effort it requires for me to extract the package.