I feel this way about WTM too.

You're welcome everyone. You know, it's really fun sharing yummy recipes. Shawna, I think any of the variations you mentioned might be great - except maybe the marshmallows. And yes, you want the topmost layer to meld a bit with the chocolate chip layer. My sister also does not like coconut. If I recall correctly my stepmother would sometimes leave out the coconut and use peanut butter chips so that my sister could join in. I'm also going to try to use some chocolate cookie crumbs in the bottom of the pan as a variation sometime soon. Just an idea if anyone is interested. Enjoy, CookieMonster

Several people asked about the cookies featured in my blog header. Well, I finally got the post up with the instructions for making them. Magic and Mocha Cookie Bars Man, now I want to make some more...:)

Yes. I am generally happy. But, my hormones fight me on this constantly. So, though I am generally happy, I have frequent bouts of hormone-induced intrusive thoughts that invade my blue skies.

I really hate being contradictory. I like peace and quiet. But, I have to say that this does not work with a child who isn't already talking. A child at the 9mo developmental level does not have the skills to produce the word "milk". Requiring him to do so will not help matters. In fact, it may slow down the speech process because they child may refuse to participate in speech related activities. And it takes time to learn a sign. If the child doesn't already know the sign, you need to teach it before you expect it. Now, if he's learned the sign or has started producing sounds consistently, you can try this intervention.

:grouphug: I had the same diagnosis with my two year old (IIRC). I felt soooooo guilty. I also coped by looking for information and plunging ahead with therapy. :grouphug: I have written a synopsis of our two-year-long journey here: OurJourneywithSpeechTherapy I am very surprised that the evaluating therapist suggested an hour a day of "homework" on your part. Very! My excellent therapist recommended no more than five or so minutes a day working on whatever skill was the current focus. I believe I've read the same advice ad naseum as I researched speech therapy. Above all, trust your therapist and your instincts more than me. But, I think that trying to do an hour a day of specific intervention will prove to be incredibly frustrating for your child. Now, that isn't to say that we didn't try changing some overall things about how we interacted with my son: things like repeating back to him mispoken words with emphasis on the misspoken parts (once he was actually speaking). But, specific skills were only worked on once or twice a day for five minutes. I'm not sure that more than once a week would be very beneficial. Developing speech is a tiring process. For the first few months, in the beginning when he was just learning appropriate eye contact, my son didn't even make it past the first 45 minutes of a session before he completely tuned out. It was a lot of work! If we had had two sessions per week I'm certain he would have shut down earlier for both sessions - and therefore we would have gained nothing. We even took "therapy breaks" about three different times. The first was after the first three months of therapy. He was just frustrated and tired and needed a break. So we skipped two weeks of therapy. It was a great decision. After those two weeks he was happy during sessions and participated for the full hour - and continued on in progress. The other two therapy breaks we took were unintentionally so: they were visits to out of state family. They proved to be very beneficial though. After them my son would return to therapy with gusto. I just wanted to give you a heads up on these things, in case you encounter the same scenario with your son. You know your child best, so don't take my advice as gospel. All the best, Katrina

I miss watching launches from my front yard (or out the car window as I'm driving home from work, or out the restaurant, or etc.). It's really neat. It's an experience I wish my kids could have. :hurray: I'm stoked for ya!

Ok, I was having trouble with flat chocolate chip cookies myself. I tried mixing completely by hand because I was told I might be whipping the butter too much with an electric mixer. Still flat. I tried making sure the butter was room temp - not hurried up in the microwave - and mixing by hand. Still flat. Then I got out of my pregnancy-induced fog of the past five years and remembered how I made cookies before I was popping kids out. I reduced the sugar. The recipes I have call for a full 3/4 cup of both white and brown sugar. I went back to not using that much. I didn't get quite as low as 1/2 cup each, but I definitely didn't reach the top of the measuring cup. Viola! Fluffy cookies. I sang and danced and ate the whole batch. I actually think they taste better with a wee bit less sugar. Several batches later I'm still popping out fluffy cookies - and eating too many - by following this plan (even if I soften the butter in the microwave). So, if the hand mixing thing doesn't work out, try reducing your sugar content. Happy Cookie Baking, Katrina

Great pictures!

What a cool spider picture!

:iagree: with Danestress

I love having a girl. Here she is all set up with a tea party: Can I just say... Thank you to her aunt for getting her the tea set. I thought she was still too young. ha! I wish I had more time to take and edit photos. Oh, and I wish I was better at both!

Buy a $10 box fan, now in the summer, if you don't already have a fan. Turn it on your clothes in the winter. They'll dry much faster (a couple of hours). A fan doesn't use the energy a dryer would. And you'll have no risk of mold/mildew. You might think about relocating your clothesline to a warmer room of the house. I know if I used my laundry room, the clothes would take much longer to dry. YMMV

This was my thought also. I have a brother with migraines. And a friend. Your 10 day migraine is not normal. And my first thought was meningitis. Hoping I'm wrong, Katrina

I got the same type of response when people found out I was breastfeeding. "But, you'll have to feed him all the time!" "It'll be so hard on you." "You'll change your mind once you start." "I tried that. It didn't work." I am now breastfeeding my third child. ;) Does that put the naysayers comments into perspective for you? Listen, some people have "looked at" or "tried" classical education. (The use of air quotes is intentional). And it isn't for them; they don't understand it. My own stepmother is one of them. She doesn't get classical education (WTM style or otherwise). In my opinion it's because she 1) doesn't see how it develops long-term 2) doesn't want to teach so much stuff herself 3) get's overwhelmed by the high-school stuff when she's only teaching 2nd grade 4) is more than happy teaching textbook style Maybe those are some of the things the people you have encountered think. And by the way, when she talks to people in her homeschool co-op about her textbook approach to homeschool she gets sneers. I am very happy for her that she is happy teaching from a stack of textbooks. And she's very happy for me that I'm happy teaching my son grammar and Latin.

:hurray: Isn't it exciting!?

Thanks for clarifying! I thought she was referring to the hardbacks.

*drool* I love school supplies. I love this time of year. And I need a globe, so thank you!

Actually, the way I understand it is that WWE is set up as a teacher manual. The student is supposed to do the work on a completely separate sheet of paper. No photocopying. This way you can use whatever handwriting paper your penmanship program calls for - and then eventually just lined binder paper. In other words, you don't have to buy the student workbooks at all. Those were created for parents who didn't want to have to do the above. Does that make sense? :)

Yes.

Young-earth creationists' view of dinosaurs is well explained in this article: What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? by AiG If you want even more articles with more specifics about how they view dinosaurs try this: Get Answers: Dinosaurs. HTH Eat dino-shaped cookies! Katrina

I started out much like you. I am now entering into the realm of Kindergarten with my son. It's still fun to teach my kids. Not that it is fun every day. But, overall, even after the down spots, it's still fun. Curriculum choices will get easier as you research and find your philosophy. They'll get 100 times easier when you actually start teaching your first kid and realize both how they learn best and how you teach best. All the best - and eat two cookies everyday, CookieMonster

We went recently, too. It really is neat. This was our second trip there. It's hard to exit the Walk-thru-History through the bookstore, though. :D It was really hot when we went. None of the animals in the petting zoo were very friendly (would you be in that heat?). The gardens have grown up beautifully - I wish I could have spent more time in them (but the heat!). I loved the planetarium show. But, now that I've seen it three times I'll be excited when they come up with something new. We stayed at the same hotel twice, two years apart. I thought it was undergoing renovations the first time we were there so I went ahead and booked again. It hadn't changed. So I'll book elsewhere next time. I don't think my $126 was well-spent. I have every intention of getting my trip posted on my blog. But, I'm still working on posting a cookie recipe I promised. ;)

I was nodding my head reading your entire post. :) I had a similar experience. The difference between my situation and yours is that before I moved to the country I didn't have any money. I used to walk around malls (when I did) wishing I could buy this, that, and the other. I would have loved to get tons of Christmas ornaments every year, or even a new pair of jeans. (I had one pair of jeans that I wore all through high school. That was it. When I got my own real job the first thing I did was buy two new pair of jeans - from the clearance rack - that fit.) After moving to the country the desire didn't go away, but the opportunity to sit around wishing did. And now I was married and had a home to take care of. Money was still tight. I lost touch with the latest and greatest, like you did. The best Wal-Mart in the world (Salem, MO) was my only avenue of shopping. We didn't have much, we didn't buy much, and we were fine. Then we moved to suburbia. And I was bombarded like you were. My perspective on all that stuff I used to long for was changed like yours was. Even when our income increased we knew we didn't want to spend it on more stuff. We started actually saving money toward things. But, I do understand more now why there is so much stuff. It's not all consumerism. A lot of it is just the natural urge to build a nest. In a more populated area you have more people and therefore more nests. I'm not saying that it doesn't get a little crazy, like with people buying more than they can actually afford because their slaves to slick labels and sale signs, but I understand better the root of it. Even on the frontier when women lived with dirt floors, they would - as soon as they could - line their shelves with pretty cloth and hang up curtains. We now make enough money that even after all our tithing, giving, and saving I can buy a little bit of stuff. So I do. I don't buy helter-skelter whatever-has-the-coolest-advertising though. I don't buy it because it's a "great deal". But I do buy a few seasonal decorations, or an extra-special hair bow for my daughter, or a neat toy for my son. But, I'm still very middle class in my spending habits. And I'm conscious of filling my house up with stuff. I always ask myself if I'm willing to actually take care of something before I bring it into my house.

I get freaked out by the giant bugs. But, you know what is even more freakish? The gray-haired IKEA lady who haunts people - I mean narrates commercials. I cannot stand those commercials. I change the channel - always.