Never heard of it either.

I wouldn't. 1) I paid the registration fee. 2) It is a commitment to a team, not just to himself, and it's not fair to the team. 3) It's exercise, which is good for him- and a lack thereof might make his attitude even worse. 4) It teaches good values in and of itself, in regard to sportsmanship, commitment, teamwork, respect (as the coach would likely not allow himself or anyone else to be disrespected) and so on. I'd find another way.

What I do is have my daughter read the (brief) lesson in the book first, to me. Then she goes and watches the lecture. Then she does the five practice problems at the computer using scratch paper. Then she does the actual lesson problems- she does these on paper one at a time (because I don't want her to write in the book, but I do like HAVING the book so I can see it at a glance), and then she checks each answer on the computer as she goes. This will allow her to get immediate feedback as to whether she got a problem right or wrong.

Almost always, although once in a while I do feed the kids an early dinner and eat separately with my husband or on my own later at night.

I like "Fridays With Fred" lol- I am totally going to call it that from this point on! That's what we'll be doing as I plan to start LOF in the fall and do it alongside TT6. We'll be doing TT6 4X a week and LOF 1X a week, so, yeah, "Fridays With Fred" will be perfect. :D

Alexa and I finished "The People In Pineapple Place" and are going to read the second book in that series, "The Prisoner Of Pineapple Place" this week.

I don't have a second grader, but when I do, I'll be using what I use for all the other grades- Oak Meadow. :) (I've loved OM4, I'm loving OM5, and I'm looking forward to OM6 next year with my daughter and (re)starting OMK with my son and going through all of the grades with him.

10 is old enough to tell, "You know, it hurts my feelings to hear you say you'd rather live with someone else than me. You probably wouldn't like it if I said that to you. But what is it she spent time doing with you that you wish I would do with you?" Find out if it was something special, or if she's just missing Grandma already, or if she's just missing not having to do school/chores etc. If it's the first one, you can try to do that special thing, too. If it's the second, that's at least understandable, but maybe they can become penpals or something in addition to talking on the phone. If it's the last- well, tough lol. She's got to get back to the real world even if she does feel like whining about it first. But she's old enough to know it's just, well, mean to say "I'd rather live with so and so than with you."

One More Time I can't believe. I don't believe. I simply, simply won't believe A rabbit comes at Easter time To bring us eggs- But then, I do believe that you believe, And there are others who believe, And so perhaps for one more time, I'll make believe again. -Margaret Hillert Easter Eggs Sing a song of Easter eggs- Betsy counted eight, Hidden in a grassy nook, By the garden gate; Two beneath the lilac bush, Near the pansy bed; Bob gave her a purple one; She gave Bob a red; Four beneath a wild rosebush, Growing in the yard. Let's help Betty count her eggs; It will not be hard. -Winifred C. Marshall An Easter Puzzle This morning, what do you suppose I found beside my door? A nest of colored Easter eggs- Five or six or more. I asked my own pet bunny, Who seems to love me so, To tell me where they came from; I thought perhaps he'd know. Yet not a single word he said, Though twice he blinked his eyes; But I believe he really knows Because he looked so wise. -Alice Du Bois The Easter Egg Hunt Early Easter morning, With Dorothy and Don, I went hunting Easter eggs Upon the grassy lawn. We searched in nooks and corners, And in the rose bed, too, And soon had filled our baskets With red and green and blue. I showed mine to my speckled hen, And do you know, my dear, She seemed to like her plain eggs best And think that mine were queer. -Winifred C. Marshall --- I got these from a book called "Poetry Place Anthology, More Than 600 Poems For All Occasions!" It covers nearly all the holidays and seasons with a section for "anytime poems," too.

I would tell them, yes. But I already know that there are at least a couple of people on this board that I do know in real life.

Just a heads up, be REAL careful about what links kids follow from that addicting games site- my brother and I used to let our kids play games there but had way too many computer/virus problems and eventually banned the site from our houses.

Well, my daughter does a weekly Judo class Saturday mornings, so I count that as P.E. She was doing a once a month homeschool P.E. day at the Y, so I counted that as P.E. Next week is the last week of her homeschool bowling league, and I've been counting that as P.E. In the summer, she always takes swim lessons and I count that as P.E. But other than that... she runs, she plays, she rides her bike or scooter, she goes to playgrounds or indoor play places, she puts on music and dances around, we sometimes go for walks, and when she wants to, I let her borrow kid's exercise videos from the library- and I count all of that as "P.E." :) With my 5 y/o son, he's been doing the homeschool bowling league, too, and he takes summer swimming lessons, too; but other than that he just plays.

I'm going to be 38 next month and we're currently on our third month of trying for one last baby. I don't feel too old right now (although if you would have asked me this question ten years ago I would have been like "I want my last baby before age 30" lol. (I had my first at 18). I do worry a little bit, though, about having problems conceiving, carrying to term, genetic abnormalities and all of that stuff, though, now that I'm over 35. ETA: But I will say that my mom had me when she was 35 and my brothers when she was 37 and whenever she came to school functions when I was in elementary school, she always seemed like the oldest mom there!

Never. It's all been positive or at least neutral.

Me, Me, Me!

Well thank you for that nice comment. :) You can use any wine you want (I think lol)... I'm partial to blackberry myself haha- or something sweet! Passover begins at sundown on Monday the 18th so you could have it that night after sundown. The first day of Passover is Tuesday the 19th... you could always do it that day if you want to. We are going to be doing it Sunday the 17th just because that is what works out for getting our family together. :)

Me, too! :D

My 10 y/o still likes bubbles. Heck, so do I. :)

It's supposed to be a series as far as I know- they showed clips of a girl letting a guy know she's pregnant for instance...

We use parsley dipped in salt water but some people use celery. I don't see why you couldn't use celery left from whatever else you use but I may as well tell you that we are not very religious Jews to begin with so we may be a little loose with our observances! For the bitter herbs we use horseradish and we eat it on little squares of matzoh. The charoset is some sort of apple, nut (walnut I think), and wine mixture- I've never actually made it myself, my sister-in-law is always the one to make that and bring it over. It tastes so good, though :D We eat that on little squares of matzoh, too. Oh, I just looked for it, here's a simple recipe: http://www.jewishrecipes.org/jewish-foods/charoset.html

Feel free! :D

And a bonus joke, just for the heck of it: WHY MEN SHOULDN'T WRITE ADVICE COLUMNS Dear Peter: I hope you can help me. The other day I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV, as usual. I hadn't gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with a neighbor making mad passionate love to her. I am 32, my husband is 34 and we have been married for twelve years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. I don't feel I can get through to him anymore. Can you please help? Sincerely, Mrs. Sheila Usk Dear Sheila: A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the jubilee clips holding the vacuum pipes onto the inlet manifold. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber. I hope this helps. Best regards, Peter

OK it's probably already been lightened judging by that 90 page thread, but, still, it's a funny joke, so read it anyway. :P --- A car was pulled over in Pennsylvania. The trooper walked up to the driver's side window and tapped it with his nightstick. When the driver opened the window, the trooper smacked him in the side of the head with the nightstick. "What was THAT for?" The driver demanded incredulously. "Son, you're in Pennsylvania," the trooper said. "Here, we expect you to have your license ready before we get to the car." "I'm sorry," the driver said. "I'm not from the area." The trooper checked the license and it was clean. He handed it back to the driver and let him off with a warning, but before letting him pull away, the trooper walked around to the passenger side and gestured for the passenger to open the window. When he did, the trooper smacked the passenger in the side of the head with his nightstick! "Wh...What are you doing?!" the passenger gasped. "Making your wish come true," the trooper replied. "What wish?!" the passenger exclaimed. The trooper rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. You and I both know that before you get a quarter mile down the road, you're going to say to your buddy here, 'I wish that a$$hole had tried that sh!t with ME!'" :D

The significance of oil has to do with Hanukkah. We fry latkes in oil on Hanukkah. :) I don't think it matters how you cook your chicken though for Passover. We use horseradish for the bitter herb.

Aside from the seder plate, we make homemade chicken soup with matzoh balls.