My family loved this recipe for "Stacked Burrito Pie" from Family Fun Magazine: Stacked Burrito Pie recipe Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 pound lean ground beef 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup water 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels 4 (10-inch) flour tortillas 1/2 cup sour cream 1 cup salsa 8 ounces cheddar or Monterey Jack, grated 1. In large skillet over med-low heat, warm oil. Add onion and saute for 5 min, stirring often. Add garlic and saute another minute. 2. Increase heat to medium, then add ground beef, chili powder, and cumin. Cook mixture until beef is browned, stirring often. Add the salt, water, black beans and corn, and bring mixture to boil. Allow it to continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates, about 20 min. Remove mixture from heat and let cool for 10 min. 3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using the rim of a 9-inch springform pan (or 9-inch round cake pan) as a template, trim 3 of the tortillas to the size of the pan. Leave the 4th tortilla untrimmed. 4. Butter the bottom and sides of the pan. Press the untrimmed tortilla evenly into the pan's bottom. Spread 2 tablespoons of the sour cream over the tortilla, followed by 1/4 cup of the salsa. Spoon and spread a quarter of the beef mixture over the salsa, then sprinkle a quarter of the grated cheese evenly over the top. 5. Place one of the trimmed tortillas on top of the cheese, then repeat the layering of the sour cream, salsa, beef, and cheese. Continue this way until all ingredients and tortillas are used up. You should end up with four layers, topped with the final sprinkling of cheese. 6. Bake the pie until heated through, about 30 min. Allow to cool for 10 min, then remove the rim from the springform pan if you used one and slice into wedges (otherwise just serve like a lasagna). Serves 10.

Oh my gosh, BIRTHDAY CHILD ONLY! :)

Ugh, that is vile. I hope he gets a lot of backlash for this, the sick *8!@#$@! P.S. Didn't he call the girl he was beating "Hilary" at one point? I think SHE herself leaked it these years later, not the sister.

In my case, I'm not Christian or particularly religious. If you asked for prayers, I wouldn't say I'm sending prayers, because I'm not, really. But if I still want you to know that I care about what you are going through and I am thinking of you and hoping for the best possible outcome for you, I will say I am sending positive thoughts.

You can try buying OM used, either here or on vegsource or I think OM has an "OM Seconds" category on their site? They have wonderful customer service. If you called them and explained where your daughter is at academically and asked their input on going into 6th you will get good advice from them, I'm sure. They tend to be big on the philosophy of childhood being a valuable period and that nothing is to be gained by hurrying through it (when you read about their philosophy and so on) but they will be willing to talk to you about what may be best for YOUR individual child. Do I think a smart kid could skip grade 2 and do just fine with grade 3? Yes. The only thing you have to consider is that as you get further on in OM (4th, 5th and 6th grades, for example, which are the grades I've used so far with my daughter), they start to get a lot bigger on various reading and writing assignments. Your child is going to be expected to read more books, do a LOT more writing assignments, start doing more research and so on. So what was a relatively 'easy" curriculum in say K-3 starts requiring more from a child in the later elementary and middle school years. So what you want to ask yourself is: 1. Should I do 2nd grade now even though it's 'easier' so that my child doesn't miss out on some of the projects, activities, foundation building etc and just supplement as desired/needed, or should I just skip it and move on to 3rd now... 2. And if I skip it and move on to 3rd now, the following year/s will my child be developmentally ready to start doing much more writing or will she be likely to struggle some with that? OM has great topics, writing assignment choices, reading materials and so on- and they are great about tying it all into several integrated subjects rounded out with fun hands on activities and projects- which is what I love about it- but you might have to consider that to get the most out of the assignments and put the most into them, a somewhat older child may do somewhat better than a younger child (when you get to the later years involving much more reading, writing, research, etc). Just some things to think about! As for supplementing- I am supplementing OMK with Funnix beginning reading lessons. As for what I supplemented OM4 and OM5 with I already linked some sample schedules in your other OM thread to those grades, and within those I'm pretty sure I mentioned what types of things I supplemented with. OM6 is a different ballgame altogether for us since we have decided for various reasons to spread 6th grade out over a two year period and therefore are doing more supplementing this year than we otherwise would have, to round everything out. Nance

I've used Oak Meadow 4 and Oak Meadow 5 in their entirety with my daughter. We are currently using Oak Meadow 6. I'm also using Oak Meadow Kindergarten with my son this year. I have to say, I'm a big fan. I love it for a lot of reasons and I'm committed to using it with both of them at least through 8th grade (and then I'll look into their high school stuff). I do supplement some here and there but don't go crazy with supplemental stuff. I could go on and on about why I love Oak Meadow so much but it'll be easier if I just link you to the review I wrote on my blog and you can check it out if you want to. :) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124071.html P.S. It says "OM Kindergarten" when you first click on it but a little further down the page is the review for the rest of the "grade school years." Aside from the review, you can also check out these links if any of them pertain to whatever grade level you'd be doing: A sample Oak Meadow Kindergarten week (schedule and pics) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/125979.html A sample Oak Meadow fourth grade week (schedule and pics) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/126472.html A sample Oak Meadow fifth grade week (schedule and pics) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/126296.html If you look at my most recent main livejournal entries (link in sig) you will see what OM6 is like for us these days, as well as OMK with my son. Hope this helps!

Yeah, Alexa and I are up to lesson 22 and are really enjoying it. We're doing it together and both picking it up pretty easily. I like how they combine the free online/downloadable pronunciation sound clips (by the author who is a native Spanish speaker) and the downloadable "author's commentary" (where the two authors discuss and go over each lesson) with the book format. The lessons in the book are short and easy, the sound clips really round it out, and it moves at a good pace, introducing just one new concept at a time but laid out in a way that really gets you speaking sentences before you know it. We plan to finish this and then if we want to continue with Spanish, we will move on to Visual Link Spanish (I think :D).

The first books I remember loving were the Nancy Drew book series and the Happy Hollisters book series.

I started SOTW the summer before my daughter started fourth grade. We only did it on an as-we-get-around-to-it basis and only over the summer as I didn't want to pile anything onto our main curriculum over the school year. We picked it up again the summer before fifth grade, and again this past summer, the summer before sixth. Probably averaging only like 5 chapters er summer lol. This year we're continuing with it over the school year and my daughter, who turned 11 this month, is continuing to really enjoy it. My son, who is about to turn 6, would have NO interest in it at this point.

I can't recommend Teaching Textbooks highly enough especially for a child who struggles with math! Here's my detailed review on it: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html And here's a fantastic thread on it: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259625&highlight=teaching+textbooks+standardized+test (P.S. We're on our second year of using TT as our main curriculum and still loving it. This year we did add LOF Fractions just once a week for fun- I thought it sounded interesting and wanted to check it out with the mindset that if my daughter hated it, we'd drop it. She does enjoy the story portion of things but there's no way it would ever have taught her enough math to be a stand alone curriculum, it seems more like a different/fun way of practicing things you've already learned. Not enough instruction, whereas TT really shows and tells what to do and how to do it).

I think she meant to just tuck a scrap of paper in so she wrote the note, ripped it off, and tucked it in her little tooth fairy pillow, but then she decided to draw a picture too and added the other scrap. (And I confess that I found myself thinking: "Really? I KNOW you know the difference between your and you're, why didn't you spell it right?!" but of course I couldn't say that to her because I wasn't supposed to see the note LOL). That's priceless! Aw that's so cute! Our tooth fairy only "forgot" once and it was while we were on vacation, so we told her that it must be that she only comes to your own house and would probably come after we got home. Which she did, of course.

I voted 6. It's usually anywhere from 5-7. We have kids ranging from age 4 through teens living on our street and cousins who live right on our street, and my kids play with their friends and cousins most days after school, in addition to scheduled activities throughout the year, and field trips and gatherings with our homeschool group, etc.

I'm in the "any age" camp. As long as they still want to go, dress up, and are polite about it, they can decide for themselves when they want to stop. I think the last year I myself trick-or-treated was the year I was 16. I'm glad nobody told me I had to stop before then. My special needs daughter is 19. This year I encouraged her to just walk along with her brother and sister with a little face paint on for fun and said they'd share their candy with her, and she was fine with that. Last year when she was 18, I let her trick or treat one last year. My younger two are only 11 and 6 but I will let them decide when they want to stop. I expect it to be anywhere between around 14 and 16 but we'll see!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

:lol::lol::lol:

We just watched the first one last night and liked it!

I enjoyed the pilot!

She got a lot more than a quarter lol. More than what I would have given her. My husband is actually way too generous a tooth fairy lol. But then again she doesn't really get "allowance" often either so the tooth fairy money is kinda special. Her note cracked us up though. She got worried! Haha.

So my daughter just turned 11 this month, and I have no idea if she really still believes in the Tooth Fairy or if she just plays along because either 1) she thinks we think she still believes and doesn't want to ruin it for us, or 2) she wants to keep getting money for her teeth and is afraid if she lets on that she doesn't believe, we won't give her any more money. But anyway, two nights ago, she lost a tooth at bedtime. She came in to our room to show it to us, and my husband joked, "Oh, that kind of tooth isn't worth much...you'll probably only get a quarter for it." "Is that true?" she demanded of me. I played along and joked, "Well, I don't know, teeth lose their value. The older they are, the less they are worth, probably. But put it under your pillow and see what happens!" So, my husband went up in the wee hours of the night to play Tooth Fairy as he always does since I go to bed earlier than he does, and he found two scraps of paper along with the tooth. See photo, attached.

Check into Getting Started With Spanish.

We don't have Skype but my husband and I both have iPhone 4's and he will sometimes "Facetime" instead of calling from work and the kids go ape**** crazy whenever he does this, dancing around, being loud, making goofy faces, trying to thrust silly things in front of the phone, cackling like hyenas. It makes me nuts. Sometimes I "refuse" the Facetime call and just call him back instead because I can't stand it lol.

Our rules are: You must be actively homeschooling to be a member You must pay dues on time New members must attend at least one meetup within 30 days of joining so we can get to know them Too many "no shows" may affect your membership so treat your RSVP's like any other commitment No soliciting our members other than posting in the "member businesses" thread Your home must be reasonably clean and safe if you are going to host events at your home and complaints to the contrary may result in you not being allowed to host again Profile pics on the meetup site are required for identification and risque pics and content are not allowed (These are all a bit wordier but those are the main points). Our "Bullying" and "Drama and Disputes" sections read as follows: Bullying: Please note that bullying will not be tolerated in any form. We realize our younger children may simply get carried away at times, but we cannot allow an out-of-control child who continually hurts other children or who continually puts others in harm's way to remain in the group. If this becomes an ongoing issue with one of your children, your family may be asked to leave the group. Drama & Disputes: If you ever have a dispute with another member, please do not post negative or aggressive comments to or about that person on our group message board. You should attempt to email the member privately if there is a problem (do not email the entire group about it). It would not be fair or mature to involve every person in the group in a problem between two individuals. Should you find yourself unable to resolve the issue on your own, and if you feel it warrants discussing it privately with an organizer, you may contact one of us. As far as differences of opinion go when it comes to lifestyle or parenting choices, we need to ask that everyone follow the "golden rules" (treat others as you would like to be treated, and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all). Respect the viewpoints of others, do not be rude when offering your opinions, and try to refrain from posting about issues that are likely to be "controversial" or cause heated debate. This isn't the forum for that. That's about it. We do mention up front that we are an inclusive/diverse/welcoming group with members of different homeschooling philosophies, religious backgrounds etc and that all are welcome. If it ever becomes an issue/problem, I'll have to include something about the focus of our board discussions, emails and get togethers not being on politics or religion but so far it hasn't really come up, except for one time when a few members wanted to attend a paranormal thing at the library and another (former) member decided to lecture everyone on inviting the devil into their lives or some such and she was told that while she could believe whatever she wanted and didn't have to attend the event, it wasn't appropriate to email everybody else in the group about that.

Yes, of course.

Mashed potatoes (and candied sweet potatoes) are my very favorite part of Thankgiving! Like someone else said, I would rather skip the turkey than the potatoes! I'm in the just be frank with him camp which would consist of telling him "I'd rather make the mashed potatoes myself this year, could you please bring X instead" or "If you are bringing something that is going to be part of the main meal, I really need you to get it here on time and already prepared. Do you still want to do potatoes or would you rather do a dessert instead?"

We do not do "grades" over here. I pulled my daughter out of school toward the end of third grade and homeschooled her for the rest of 3rd, all of 4th, all of 5th, and we're currently doing 6th and I've never graded her on anything. I don't see a point to it, other than for a high school transcript. When she does an assignment, we go over it together, discuss any errors or problems, and she fixes them. Easy. (Actually, we use TT for math and that automatically keeps grades but that's about it).