Bones, the Office, Grey's Anatomy, Ally McBeal, Friends, Good Eats (cooking, love him, I could binge-watch cooking shows). I just saw that x-files is there. My husband likes Blue Bloods. Orange is the new Black.

Yes, and so do zucchini plants. I've never noticed anything when eating or cutting the fruit. But the plants really make my arms itch.

I really like the older Firm videos - really old - early 90's - not the infomercial versions from the late 90's and 00's. Hard to find but you can still find them. I have them on VHS and converted to DVD. (Yes! I just went to Amazon and my favorite was there but very pricey for what it is. They are called Firm "Classic".) There was also a spin-off called Fit Prime that was ok. There are videos now from one of the former instructors Tracy Long. I also like Cathe Friederick but she is tough! There was a catalog of exercise videos that was fantastic for introducing and selling all the new videos. Unfortunately, they went out of business. I don't know of another alternative. My body will not budge unless I work out for at least an hour, with weights, so the videos I'm recommending are probably longer and a bit tougher than beginner. But the body adapts quickly, you won't be a beginner for long. Note - I'm old, apparently. The idea that there might be workouts online never occurred to me! PP might be on to something because free is good!

I don't use all of Right Start but we really like the AL Abacus. It really helped my kindergartners to see the numbers. We used it with Singapore. We did Singapore Essentials A&B along with MUS Primer (because I had a non-mathy kid but both kids liked it) then 1A for kindergarten. We just started 1st grade. My mathy kid is moving on to Singapore 1B. My non-mathy kid is doing MUS Alpha for awhile. Then Singapore. Since 1A, both use the abacus for all math except MUS (we do a lot of other miscellaneous math like card games, flash cards, mental math, play, etc).

I'm so glad! She's adorable. I wish I could talk my dh into a little lap dog for my kids. He likes big dogs.

I'm a CPA. Even I would hire a lawyer or CPA for help (I haven't looked at estate planning since school except superficially). I'd hire good help who knows what they are doing and can teach you. You shouldn't leave being confused.

We just finished AAR 2. I didn't really want to use AAS. So, I picked Apples and Pears. We aren't far enough along to say if it's a winner but I like it so far.

My twins were not ready for much writing at all in Kindergarten. We did one HWOT book that was very basic and nothing more. Now that we're starting 1st grade, they are writing a bit more. We've been doing First Grade since July, and I've only pulled out a handwriting book a dozen times - and I don't like it for them so I'm on the hunt for an alternative. I've also decided they aren't ready for WWE, although we are doing FLL with the writing pieces occasionally. We're slowly getting there.

Perhaps it happened around the same time that "ginormous" became a word.

Me, too. I blame the rest of society. I'm just getting old and crabby and stupid people in the world rub me the wrong way.

I purposely didn't mention my twins being preemies because I don't think it's the norm. I don't know the statistics but don't read up on problems. I'd say the norm is for two healthy full term twins! Just take it easy on yourself! And if they didn't make it to full term, they would likely still turn out just fine. My former 1#9oz girl is healthy as a horse today and right now she's practicing her gymnastics beside me while her former 2#5oz brother plays legos. Modern medicine is amazing and you'll do great.

My twins have no other siblings, so I can't help with the homeschooling. Their relationships is so special. I hope they always have that bond (they're only 6 now). I won't lie, it is so very hard in the beginning. But it does get better! Just treat yourself well, and many wishes that you hold those babies in for a long, long time! Taking care of yourself is so important, so don't try to do everything!

I'm a gymnastics mom, and I'll admit that I shop for leos for my girl too often. For dance, we kind of just get the basics. My dd is tiny so she almost never outgrows her clothes. For dance, you may need more leos but we get a new pair of tights every year at the recital so we're set on tights. Our place has the recital costumes included with the tuition amount. And ballet/tab AND tumble sounds fun! Warning - they are so very cute at the recital at that age!

Oh, and we played "go to the dump" from RightStart games many, many times before they learned what makes 10 backwards and forwards!

We use an AL abacus or snap-together blocks for Singapore 1A (just now finishing, moving to 1B). Once you get into 1A there are many more opportunities to learn counting on or making 10s for addition. Particularly over 10, the abacus is working well. Plus, there are mental math problems in the back of the HIG. That really helped my kids memorize facts to 10. Also, we use a 100 chart to show relationships like doubles, evens. You can pick a number at random and do the "what is +1, -1, +10, -10." It has taken my kids time to get a sense of numbers. And some days I still don't think they have a clue :001_rolleyes: Don't sweat Essentials, it will all be covered in depth in 1A. Hope this helps.

My kids were preemies and pretty sick for awhile - so much so that our doctor told us to get a nanny rather than any kind of day care. We stayed home most of the first two years. So, I'm used to sheltering my babies from even the suggestion of sickness. However, in this situation, I would not have thought a healthy adult would expose the kids. It wouldn't be any different than being near an adult in public who happens to have a sick kid at home. Seems to me both sisters were reasonable and, unfortunately, the kids got sick. Hope they are on the mend as quickly as it sounds your niece was.

I feel for you. I'm in a similar situation - stuck in a place I despise for dh's job. I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel because as soon as dh retires (9 years!), the kids will be gearing up for college. I'm sure the fairly near state school will be the best choice for them. So. I'm making the best of this lousy place. It's hard work, especially with no family around. I do a lot of driving to a town 35 minutes away (four days per week, five total trips in, minimum, for kid activities or therapy). What about requesting within his company to move to a different plant? Is that possible?

The only thing that ever worked for me was intense exercise (weights and cardio - think old school Firm videos - building muscle) for at least 1 hour daily. Drinking nothing but water. Maybe lemon added but no artificial sweetener or anything else. Water. Load up on fruits and veggies (probably not in that order) and add some protein and fat. Let the rest sort itself out. Cut but not eliminate sugar, which will always be my weakness. That's all that worked for me. If I tried to diet or eliminate a major category of food, I would not have been able to lose weight long term. I don't do well with never being able to eat something. An interesting book is Gary Taub's Why we get fat. Not a diet book at all but an analysis on medical studies over the last 100 years or so. Very interesting w regards to calorie in/out idea. I think the punchline of the book is low(ish) carb is probably the best take away from the studies. I don't do "low carb" but I do try to limit carbs now. When I lost weight, I was not limiting my food other than liquid sugar.

My 6 year old son has apraxia and has been in speech therapy for almost 4 years. He's doing well with AAR. His therapist is not exactly a fan of homeschooling but she does answer my questions about reading problems. Have you tried talking to her therapist? My son has trouble with r still, including blends. R and R blends are too common to skip in reading. At first, I let my son say "r" however he was going to say it. Now that he is working on r in speech, I make him say r words correctly. The pp who mentioned tongue placement is correct. Those r sounds aren't going to happen without training on tongue placement. In the beginning it was a big smile as he says r and I think the therapist physically showed him in his own mouth where his tongue must be placed. It's work. I wish you luck.

My kids took off after about the first third of AAR2. They can easily read the beginning level early readers from the library, as well as math problems and bob books collection 2 and 3. We are two lessons from finishing AAR 2. AAR 1 seemed to drag but 2 takes off. Also the fluency sheets became no big deal as opposed to drudgery. You'll be surprised at how advanced the readers w AAR 2 seem. Also, my kids read the readers from the library even if they don't know some words. I'll help them w words they haven't covered. And sometimes they pick them up with no help.

AAR has worked well for my kids. We are finishing up AAR2 as we are starting 1st grade. It is scripted and very easy to teach. Works for us.

We never really used either, although we own both. My kids really latched onto the AL Abacus. They use it with Singapore almost exclusively, although I demonstrate with and make available other manipulatives. RS games are very good. If you go with c-rods, check out the Education Unboxed videos. RS was a bit all over the place for my kids. They love their Singapore workbooks, and they cheered when we abandoned RS to return to Singapore.

Same as usual for me: Am I doing the right thing for my kids? Am I covering enough? What about ... (Latin, Spanish, Music....)? Will I have to go back to work and the kids to a school? Will I ever fit in science (everyone's favorite that always gets overlooked)? How will we manage with all of the extra things we have this year - three nights of gymnastics, dance once, speech therapy, cub scouts (all 20 minutes away on different nights/times). When will I make dinner? I'm a professional worrier. Underneath all that worry, I think we are doing pretty well.

We are always waiting on my dh. He futzes with things. It's obnoxious. However, if I were having to go car shopping, I'd dawdle, too. Torture! Good luck!

One more thought - it won't appeal to most - but my dh was k-9 for awhile. That was very rewarding for him. The dog was a member of our family and the best friend and partner my husband could have. We still haven't been able to get another dog because our grieving for him hasn't passed. To the right person, having a k-9 is a lot of fun. Oh, and ride-alongs are very possible and probably essential.