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I agree with you.... It is concerning. I am conflicted about this, b/c how can you ever know if someone truely gave consent once they are gone? I think it's easy to minimize it b/c we see so much gore - bodies and all - on TV and in movies. But those are not REAL - still, we become desensitized to it. But those in the museum, those are real human being, who lived a life - who were born, had families, had mothers, loved ones. Ugh, a serious dilemma.... I guess I think there needs to be some type of video document or SOMETHING when the person was alive, showing their permission. I am very uncomfortable with this, without something concrete. HOWEVER, I can see how this could be a true learning tool, if used properly and respectfully. I don't know.... It's Sat. morning and I need another cup of COFFEE before I think too deeply - yikes! ;-) - Stacey in MA

You can make "pizza" on any kind of bread (we use either the premade dough from the grocery store, english muffins, or regular bread). Use any kind of sauce you have handy (pizza sauce in a can, even spaghetti sauce will work!). And any kind of cheese too (mozzerella is usually best, but whatever you have on hand can work). Add any other toppings you love (I like olives, leftover meats, canned tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc., on mine), and broil some quickie pizzas! In college, I used to make a meal of Ramen noodles, with an egg or 2 scrambled in, and some canned or frozen veggies added. I like it now too, but it is healthier if you use other kinds of pasta and nix the salty flavoring! My fav is cooked spaghetti in a pot, add 2 raw eggs and scramble them in. Cook them until all of the egg is done. Add frozen peas (thawed), parsely and parmesean. Any kind of meat, in small quantities chopped finely is a nice addition - bacon is my favorite! (Ok, turkey bacon if you want it healthier....) Stick some bread in the bread maker in the a.m., and have canned soup with fresh bread - yum! Soup with warm bread is one of my favorite meals. Speaking of soup...do you have a stick blender? You can make all kinds of quick soups with these buggers! I recently had a huge bag of carrots to use up, and made a fast carrot soup that was very good. I simply boiled the carrots, drained them, added a couple of cups of chicken broth, puree them with the stick blender (a new toy for me - birthday gift last month from mom!), add in seasonings like salt and pepper and nutmeg, also add a touch of cream if you have it. Yum! I love feta cheese in my creamy soups, so that goes along with it.... Anyway, that's all I can think of now. Have fun and GL! - Stacey in MA

I have found that my way of handling the "I hate school" syndrome is to simply trudge forward. I find they get most like this during 2 times - firstly is when we are OUT of routine - if we've just had a trip to Grandma's house, and we have to ramp back up into our meaty school routine, they balk. Also, if we've been in the routine too LONG (not having taken a break for a few weeks), then they get burnt out, and balk. Both are so important to the personalities of my kids that I have learned to pay attention to that. I can't take too many "breaks" or "field trips" too close together or we are forever getting back on track with the table work. Also, I have to plan an outing or something periodically when haven't had anything in too long. Once a month on Mondays, I allow "alternate day" - this is when we still do school, but we do it in some other, random way. So instead of Singapore math, DS8 might do math on a computer game. We might cover our much-neglected art lessons instead of grammar. We might watch a bunch of documentaries instead of doing science and maybe history (depending on what I have available to watch). Anyway, you get the idea. The kids do look forward to this, and I allow tons of input from them and try not to take the day too seriously. In terms of changing curriculum (and we have - subject here and there - not a complete flip of everything), I simply fold the new into or in place of what they're doing, but I don't start over. I have found that curriculum DOES make a HUGE difference in their interest level. And it also varies by child. We went through 3 other math curriculums before we found that Singapore was right for him (by me and by his style). Then along came DD, and I started her on Singapore, and it completely did NOT work. She couldn't tell me this, but I could see that her work wasn't measuring up to what I felt her abilities were. So I tried others. We ended up on Saxon for her - she needs the repetition, whereas DS could not tolerate it one bit. Anyway, the idea is that for me, it's nice if I'm able to match the style of the kid to a curriculum. But, if it's not possible, we still trudge through. So, lots of rambling here! But I just want to give you hope that some of us struggle with the "I hate school" thing too, and it can get better. Oh, and happy birthing to you!! ;-) Congrats on that! Give yourself a break until after baby. I had my last a year ago, and I was simply CRAZY with tiredness, hormones, emotions, etc. Hang in there! - Stacey in MA

Thank you thank you! You're awesome! And I wonder why it is I don't know these simple things - ha! I'm 38 yrs old and have never frozen lunch meat? weird! hee hee! thanks again! - Stacey in MA

Just got a large pack at Costco and finding I have ZERO room in the fridge for it. Can I freeze it? (It's sliced turkey, ham, and chicken). Thanks, oh smart smart ladies! ;-) - Stacey in MA

to the other kids when he gets the most attention and love from you because at some level he is "defending" that precious gift from you? He doesn't want the other kids to have it or steal it (your time, your attention) from him because perhaps it is so precious and uncommon to him. Of course this is sad, but it would seem normal for a boy who's not getting any love otherwise. He perhaps hasn't witnessed the normal and healthy expressions and interactions of love elsewhere, and this just may be his reaction to a new and nice idea - love. Anyway, just a couple of thoughts. Bless you for caring for him! Good luck.... - Stacey in MA

My crock pot chili is very mild, so that even kiddos will eat it. It's more like a sloppy joe, I suppose. You could eliminte the ground beef completely, or substitute it with ground turkey (I've done this, and like it even better!).... Crockpot Chili (in a 6qt pot) 2-3lbs ground beef, browned and drained ($6-$9) 1 28oz can diced tomatoes ($1) 1 28oz can black beans ($1) 1 28oz can kidney beans ($1) 2 14oz cans tomato sauce ($1.50) 1 can tomato paste (??) 1 bag of frozen corn kernals ($2) 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce (if it seems too dry; $1 or $2) chili power to taste garlic powder to taste So that's about $12 or $14 for a whole large crock pot full! (At home, we get at least 2 full dinners from this, plus a couple of snacks or lunches). If you eliminate the meat and make it vegetarian, it would be all the cheaper.... Another "trick" I do with this, is make it with whatever meat we have leftover. So, If I cook a turkey breast one night, I might do this chili the next day with chopped turkey breast meat in it instead of the purchased ground beef or ground turkey. The canned beans and tomatoes tend to be a little salty, so I don't usually add any extra salt. Also, I just read a recent article explaining how beans help lower cholesterol! (Most beans, but especially pintos! I will start using those next time...) Hope that sounds interesting! Good luck - Stacey in MA

Thanks for offering all of those suggestions! I will take a peek and see what fits. There is actually a lot out there, and I have gone down "curriculum road" a time or two, wasting plenty of money along the way! So having recommendations is a great way to avoid the bad ones.... Thanks! - Stacey in MA

I have done a maps workbook with DS8 last year. It taught basic maps essentials. He enjoyed it, and I find the topic valuable, so I'd like to continue with a another maps/geography workbook. I would ideally like the United States to be the center of this study - perhaps a study of each state. Do you know of any good geography books that are in workbook format for these purposes? (DS8 is 3rd grade age, but can work at 3rd-6th depending on the material). Thanks all! - Stacey in MA

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240411 I made this for Thanksgiving - yum! And several times since. Basic idea is carmelize some onions w/ sherry and sugar. Set aside. Add chopped raw sorouts to pan, sear them brown a little, then steam them the rest of the way. Mix the sprouts and onions and serve! :-)

Are you getting much resistance from your kids? Is it going to be temporary or permanent? I feel crazy just thinking of what backlash that would bring me! hee! Anyway, games: our 2 new favorites are Hyperdash (sort of like that electronic game Simon, but you have to run to the targets to hit them. You can be clever about where you put the targets in the room or even through the house!), and The New Touch Game (you put your hand in a large dome shaped thing and try to figure out which game pieces are the ones you're "looking" for). Another idea though - I've always though it would be fun to learn a hobby with my kids. I don't knit, so I thought maybe we should try that all together sometime. Or perhaps photography, video-making, scrapbooking, woodworking, or some other craft which you could learn TOGETHER. I think I'd like to do that at some point with my kids. Let us know how it goes. Good job! :-) - Stacey in MA

She has always had loose stool.... This past year she's complained more often of tummy pain too - every few days, I'd say. She was at the dr's recently, and I mentioned this. Dr. ran several blood tests since we were in, checking for iron level, lead, blood cell counts, thyroid numbers, and a few specific food allergies like wheat....I think that's it. All of those can cause stomach issues. Hers came back fine, thankfully, so we are going to try dropping milk. It's just very hard b/c we are a "very dairy" family.... eat lots of cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, ice cream, etc. Part of me hopes its this simple, and another part hopes she won't have to give up dairy. Anyway, if your dairy experiment doesn't solve it, I'd say a dr. visit w/ a blood work up might be useful. GL! - Stacey in MA

If old time stuff counts, I LOVE the whole series of Little House on the Prairie shows! I also used to love Fantasy Island and Love Boat. Brady Bunch, Laverne and Shirly, Happy Days and Seinfeld all rank in there somewhere too! :-)

There are 6 of us in our family: Myself (38yo SAHM), DH (45yo techie engineer type). DS8 doing 3rd grade DD6 doing 1st grade DD3 Baby DS-almost1YO. We live near Boston as of about 2 years ago (Central CA before that, and upstate NY way before that!). We homeschool for a whole BUNCH of reasons, and came to use the WTM when DS8 was 1st grade age, and been sold ever since. In fact, I used to buy "this and that" curriculum to try out, and often wasted money on things that just didn't work, weren't what we wanted or expected, or were low quality. But all of SWB's recommendations in the WTM have always been right on the money! So now, I mostly stick to her pre-thought and tested choices. FWIW, I find that there are lots of un-schoolers in our area. I have met very few classical homeschoolers. I wonder if that's true of my area specifically, or generally true through the homeschooling community? I started following and posting sometimes on these WTM boards about a year ago. I am not interested in much cyber-debating. I simply read and consider other people's answers and experience, ask when I have a question I think you all might have help to offer with, and offer my experience and ideas when I think it might be useful. Anyway, pleased to be here! Regards, Stacey in MA

I am a little bit.... With me it's more about finding one set of books, or style, or author, or publisher that I LOVE, and then going nuts buying all that I can in that category! But what stopped me lately is simply time. I don't have TIME to shop, and I don't have TIME to get through stuff we have (which I do like). It is easy for me to do it though - go shopping-nuts - b/c I have 4 kids (w/ only the older 2 officially "schooling"), and I always think "oh, the younger ones will use it if I don't get to it with the olders!". Funny thing is, I am NOT a home-library person! I hate owning "reading" books - I prefer using them from the library. But I LOVE having curricula and reference books around. Weird, huh? Anyway, keep yourself busy and your (and your kids) schedule full, and you will have less reason to go out looking (and fill that obsessive shopping nerve!) hee hee! Good luck! - Stacey in MA

My first thoughts are - 1. They are an inconvenience. 2. They are work 3. They cost about $30 every 2 months for bedding, vitamins, hay and pellets (they also eat fresh stuff, but they get scraps from our fresh veggies, which isn't costly really. Tonight she got the tops from the green beans I snipped!) 4. They aren't the cuddly critter I had hoped my kids would love. (My kids were just too young to handle them safely, without hurting the piggies. The kids were 4 and 2 when I got them.) We had 2 (and now 1 - one recently died) piggies for the last 4 years. I found that they are more fragile than I thought originally, and so weren't good pets for my then-4-year-old. I think an 8 or 10 year old could be trained to properly lift, hold and care for them though. They have been a bigger commitment than I originally thought, as well. They ended up not getting handled as often (because of the age of the kids), and so sort of are the "thing that sits in the corner using up space". I know that sounds mean, but just the way it is. One interesting thing that has come from owing them though, is that DS now does NOT want a dog (he used to wish for one). He sees how much work we have to do for the piggies, and knows a dog would be even more, and so doesn't want to deal with that! We often go away for the weekend. If we are going only one night (and 2 full days - say leave Sat. morning, come home late Sunday night), they can make it in the cage at home without help. Otherwise, we either ask a neighbor to come over to feed and water (2x/day is ideal, but once will do), or just bring them with us in a small pet carrier. We have a cage in Grandma's basement where we keep them when we're visiting. FWIW, I've heard great things about rats too! I think I would consider getting one if we were "in the market for a pet". The preschool DS went to a long time ago had two, and they were sweet, friendly, hand-trained, etc. They rode around in the pockets of the teachers' aprons half the day! It looked fun, and the kids loved them. They did get out all of the time, though - they were SMART and DETERMINED! ha! Good luck and hope that helps! - Stacey

Crock pot cookbook, bread maker cookbook, Vitamix cookbook. I also love my Bon Appetit, and Gormet cookbook.

I hate doing toilets! I recently taught DS8 to do them, and so now the toilet itselt is his Sat. morning chore. He doesn't love it, but is happy to get it done and go out to play! He's cute - I've lectured him about the dangers of chemicals (we use powdered Ajax in the toilet, and Clorox wipes for around the rim and such), so he wears rubber gloves. I don't trust my younger DD to do that and be careful yet. DD6 and DD3 get other jobs, like dumping the small waste bins, replacing the extra TP stash in each bathroom, and making sure each bath has a supply of clean hand towels, etc. Regarding sheets - I also hate doing that! We have 2 bunk beds, so those are tricky and a pain. BUT I have taught the kids to remove their sheets and bring them to the laundry room on Sat. morning. DH, myself and DS8 all do laundry, so those get put in and dealt with through the day. I just hate putting them all back on! (often my job, though DH helps too). Good luck with the chores! Hang in there.... - Stacey in MA

I second ebay - I bought some there recently for my DD's. Cute and cheap! One set was an LLBean jumper dress, 2 turtulenecks to go under and tights for $2.95! If you only want new items (don't like used stuff), do your ebay search with NWT (new with tags) in the search criteria. Good luck! - Stacey in MA