My mom had me when she was 35. She's 73, I'm 38. (Her mother lived to be almost 97.)

How exciting! Hope the initial meeting goes well and that you all have a good time!

Nixon. 1973!

Keep him home! You've planned for this. You've researched this. You've been excited about this. You have all sorts of great plans, and most importantly, you were going to get to bond with him, spend more time with him, etc. And you're obviously not thrilled about turning around and sending him off for a full day every day at this point. So don't! Just because the slot opened doesn't mean you have to take it.

I'm pretty sure they are more like $45, but hopefully I'm wrong and the other person is right lol.

I started Funnix with my son last year but he wasn't ready- too wiggly, not enough of an attention span to finish a lesson. But I did like what I saw of it and thought that it would work well if I waited a while to try again- so I may try it again this fall in conjunction with OMK. (I had downloaded it for free back when it was available. I had also downloaded the free math program but haven't even looked at it yet. My son seems to like numbers and "math" (even though we haven't done any formal math whatsoever yet), so maybe we'll try the Funnix math this fall, too. We'll see!)

We do SOTW narration orally. Nobody writes it down.

I think it can wait! ETA: Not sure if I'd wait til 5th but til 3rd or maybe even 4th? Sure!

I bought mine used last year and had to call TT to ask them to help me register it. They were super nice and it only took a couple of minutes, and then it worked fine all year!

Here they start back on August 29th. We will be starting back on September 5th.

Yep. And I figure it's PM rather than here because it's either on the personal side or might be on the controversial side or whatever. It never bothers me.

I have an older version but it doesn't seem to give a supply list. There is a list of resources for further study in the beginning (telling you what books you might want to get for further study of each chapter), but no supply list. If I flip through the individual lessons and get to the bolded parts where it's telling you what to do, it will tell you what you need for that thing. Like, lesson one says we'd need two identical growing plants such as ferns, a ruler, some classical music and some rock music. Then they tell you to choose a project to do. And there are 9 different choices. And some of those choices require NO supplies (such as "Write a story or play about a "mad" scientist. Create characters with as much detail as possible. What experiments does he or she try? If you write a play, try to get people to act it out with you."). And some of the choices DO require supplies (such as "Clay boats. For this experiment you will need modeling clay that is not water-based and a basin of water" and then it tells you what to do with that stuff). Another choice involved just going to find things outside to do the experiment with, and another involved making "Oobleck," which requires corn starch, food coloring etc. So I guess a supply list would be hard since some of these things are going to depend on what the child chooses to do. In lesson 3 (of my older version of the curriculum) it seems like nothing more than a notebook is really required, (that was so for lesson 2 as well), but again there are a list of projects to choose from and some would need supplies and some wouldn't. The ones that would aren't major supplies- a shoebox if they want to do a diorama. Materials to create a board game. Lima beans and non-fertilized soil. In lesson 4, again, some choices require supplies (materials to create puppets for a puppet show featuring characters having to do with cells, tissues, and organs; or a jar with a lid so they can make a model of a cell in one, or a gelatin dessert mix so they can make a food model of a cell, or they can just do a story/writing assignment.... one of the choices is "for those who have access to a microscope" so I guess you might want one of those if you are able. In lesson 6, some vegetables are required. And only one of the 5 project choices requires materials, the most major one being plaster of paris. Anyway, it would take too long for me to look through all 36 lessons in this manner but you get the idea, hopefully. Most of the stuff seems to be small and easy to get so that if your child chooses a certain project (or you do) you can always look just a little bit ahead and get it prior to needing it, such as the seeds, beans, ferns, whatever.

Which reminds me of a VERY funny joke: ---- I had to take my son's lizard to the vet. Here's what happened: Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?" I put my best lizard-healer expression on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do. "Honey," I called, "come look at the lizard!" "Oh, my gosh!" my wife exclaimed. "She's having babies." "What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!" I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I said accusingly to my wife. "Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I think she actually said this sarcastically!) "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed. "Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm!) By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience," I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth." "Oh, gross!" they shrieked. We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later. "We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "It's breech," my wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged. "Okay, okay." Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results. "Should I call 911?" my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?) "Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged. The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass. "What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested scientifically. "Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside. "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked. "Oh, perfectly," the vet assured us. "This lizard is not in labour. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen. . .Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um . . um . . . masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back." He blushed, glancing at my wife. We were silent, absorbing this. "So, Ernie's just, just . . . excited," my wife offered. "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood. More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to giggle and giggle. And then even laugh loudly. Tears were now running down her face. "It's just ... that ..I'm picturing you pulling on its .. . .. its. . teeny little . . " She gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more. "That's enough," I warned. We thanked the vet and hurriedly bundled the lizard and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay. "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you did, Dad," he told me. "Oh, you have NO idea," my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter. Two lizards: $140. One cage: $50. Trip to the vet: $30. Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie: Priceless! Moral of the story: Pay attention in biology class. Lizards lay eggs!!!!

I don't know. Some might find it tacky... but maybe you can let the grandparents know something like: I wanted to let you know that the kids really have WAY too many toys. We are running out of room to store them, and the kids are running out of interest in playing with anything for more than a few seconds at a time, because they have just too much stuff. We have decided to start donating to Toys For Tots if they continue to receive a bunch of toys we cannot store or use. So please consider buying books or clothing instead, or taking them out somewhere fun to celebrate instead of buying them more things. Thanks, and hope you understand.

Cool, thanks! There are similar programs for fireflies, bees/sunflowers (and probably others that I don't know about, too)! http://www.greatsunflower.org/ https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/ ETA: Here's a website that gives more information about various citizen science projects: http://scienceforcitizens.net/

It sounds reasonable to me!

ON the actual birthday, we usually let birthday child pick where they would like to go out to dinner, and we take them. And we will usually give them the gift/card from us. Then, usually on the Sunday closest to their birthday, we have a birthday party. It's never been a problem! (And once we even celebrated midway between two kids' birthdays so that they could have a joint party if it was something more expensive that we thought they'd both enjoy- that went just fine, too, and we actually plan on doing it again this fall).

Love the picture!! Congrats on the cover! :)

Are you using algaecide? We use shock, chlorine and algaecide regularly in ours. And we try to keep it covered when it's not in use. And if it's been especially hot or it's been used a lot, we use the shock and algaecide a bit more often than it says to on the container. Also try to leave the filter running during the hot parts of the day as much as you can. And make sure you're cleaning the filter or replacing it periodically.

:) Show him this link, too: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/203635.html (Unless livejournal stops working again...guess it's having problems recently and has been down for a while due to hackers or something)!

Here are a few of the pics I took on our camping trip- we picked our Fresh Air Fund kids up from the bus Monday around 4 and went right over to the campground where we stayed for three nights, getting home just before noon today. We stayed in a really nice cabin, which we all loved. So far things are going very well. The little boy, Malachi, is only 6. He loved the pool at the campground, although he doesn't like water in his face. He's very sweet and affectionate and loves to play with my kids and nephews. His second day with us, he spontaneously hugged me and said, "I love you." lol. He's afraid of our kitten and he asks me all the time if he can take things home with him hehe. But he's just too cute. He's looking forward to when we go to the lake, where there is a small sand beach area, because he wants to dig for a pirate chest. The little girl, Kamryn, is 9 1/2. She and my daughter are getting along extremely well. She has already asked if she can come back next summer and if she can "just stay two more weeks" (they are here for a total of 8 nights this summer). Our first night at the campground, she told my husband and I, "You guys are really nice to take me here," and she told me, "You're pretty, Miss Nancy!" (Yes, she calls me "Miss Nancy" by choice lol). She loved trying to catch butterflies in her butterfly net. Anyway, they enjoyed the camping trip very much. Today we just hung around home. Tomorrow, we're going to a small zoo that has a really cool safari ride where you go out in open air buses and it will stop at different locations to see the animals- and various ones, some huge, will come right up to the bus so you can lean over and touch them and feed them. There's also a reptile house, a petting zoo area, and stuff like that. The kids are looking forward to it.

Can somebody tell me what the grade levels are for these books? Like, is apples 1st grade, butterflies 2nd, cats 3rd and dogs 4th...?

If it's math, I put a little x or checkmark or something in pencil next to the ones that are wrong and ask her to go redo them. If it's writing, I don't really "mark" it. I call her over and we proof read it together and I point out errors (and make positive comments as well) to her as we go.

You should check out the site http://www.kidshealth.org. It has a free health curriculum for different grades- It looks really cool and I plan on using it with my daughter this year. There's also a book called Growing, Growing Strong which at first glance looks like it's meant for a classroom approach, but it has some really fun ideas in it that you can easily incorporate into a homeschool (and it's geared for like K-4th grade, I believe). It offers ideas for books to read, hands on activities to do, and even suggests some field trips and stuff.

Oh. Well that stinks. I hope they fix it soon. Thanks for letting me know!