I have had great success with manuka honey (as a mask) for mild acne. Unfortunately, it doesn't help my rosacea, so I'm working on other treatments for that. But the honey does seem to help prevent the cycle-related acne I was getting. It's more expensive than regular honey, but at least you can eat it if it doesn't help your skin. :001_smile:

My 3rd grader will finish over the next few months: CLE 300 Math CLE 301-305 Reading (we just started this a couple of weeks ago, so he'll only do half of this level as a 3rd grader) R&S Spelling 3 Cursive workbook ABeka History (already finished science) Piano (hopefully he'll finish the book he's in so he can move to the next one) Summer: we will hopefully only take a few weeks off before starting our new school year, so we won't do any schoolwork during this break. Next school year as a 4th grader: CLE 400 Math CLE 400 LA CLE 306-310 and 401-405 Reading ABeka Science Geography (combined with the other dc) Piano

I have sealants on my molars (done when I was about 12 or 13) and I never had a single cavity.... until..... I was in my late 20s and one of the seals cracked, forcing me to get a filling as if I had a cavity. None of my dc have had any cavities. But even my oldest (14yo) is still working on getting all of her 12yo molars in, so the dentist hasn't brought up the sealants yet. I'm wondering if they will recommend them. Our dentist is pretty conservative about stuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if they said we don't really need to do them. We'll see!

My oldest 3 are using Fix-It Nose Tree this year; we have finished through week 19, I think. They like that it's short and easy. I have enjoyed the break from grading long, intense grammar lessons. That being said, we are going back to CLE next year. :)

My pastor (dh) does NOT do this.

Mine were 9 lb 7 oz, 8 lb 8 oz, 10 lb 12 oz, 10 lb 13 oz, 9 lb 5 oz, and 9 lb 0 oz. So, the thing about them getting bigger and bigger with each pregnancy didn't hold true for me. It was more related to their individual genetics. Yes, they started off big, but 4 of the 6 (all of the ones who were under 10 lb at birth) ended up down around 10% on the growth charts by the time they were a year or so old. The 2 biggest ones are above average for height. BTW, I was working almost fulltime during the 1st pregnancy, then about 10 hours per week during the 2nd pregnancy. I didn't work outside the home for any of the others. I gained an average of 45 lb every pregnancy (which I was able to lose while bf'ing.) My body just likes to gain a lot and make large babies! The smallest was born 4 days before his due date; the rest were born within a day or two or their due dates. ETA: No diabetes here, though I've been told now that I've had some huge babies my risk of developing it later on are higher. I'm not sure if that's true or not.

When I have stinky towels/washcloths, I add several drops of tea tree oil to the wash, and it works great. I get my tea tree oil in the vitamin section at Walmart.

I'd want more socks than that, but that's because I change my socks multiple times per day. I walk around the house in just socks, and if I step in a puddle of water in the kitchen (from the dc letting an ice cube melt on the floor, for example), I change my socks. If I slip on boots or garden shoes to go outside and work in the garden, I change my socks when I come back in because they get dirt on/in them. I'd want more underwear than that too, in case I couldn't do laundry for several days. You can re-wear jeans and shirts if you absolutely have to, but underwear should be changed! :)

I had a ds with an Oct birthday and he did CLE Learning to Read during his official K year (when he turned 6). (During his PreK year he did some Explode the Code). Then when he was officially in 1st grade, he did CLE LA. After a certain point in LTR you are supposed to add the LA, but we just waited. I have another ds with an Oct birthday; he just turned 5. I'll probably start LTR with him sometime next spring or summer. He has a lot of preschool workbooks to keep him busy until then. I'll wait on the 1st grade LA until he's actually in 1st grade; there's no need to get ahead in that because it's plenty challenging later on!

I'm online right now because I'm avoiding cleaning up my house. I have found that the older my dc get, the harder it gets to declutter. I have 6 dc, so there's so much STUFF around here. A couple of them are very neat. The rest are still learning. The 5-year-old is a tornado. I was just telling the dc this morning that it was so much easier to declutter when they were babies, because they didn't care that I was getting rid of some of their stuff. I do need to take some of the advice on here though, and start with something of mine. I'm in control of the books around here, and I can do some decluttering there. Dh has a lot of books too, but I can carry his piles of books over to his office for him. :) Really, the biggest issue is the toys. With such a wide range of ages, just about every thing we have has SOMEONE interested in keeping it. I keep reminding myself that they are growing up fast, so this isn't a permanent issue. We just need to manage our stuff a little better. I need to teach my youngers how to clean up EVERY evening before bed. I used to stay on top of that with my older dc when they were younger, but have been slacking a bit.

You can make a cheap ukulele sound a lot better by restringing it with Aquila strings. :)

My 2 oldest dc are both in Algebra 1 this year. dd completed CLE through 807 and ds completed CLE through 707. Both tested as ready for algebra.

I haven't seen much about this one. Where does it fall rigor-wise?

I saw that, but unfortunately it's a different version/edition of P/H. I'd be all over those lesson plans and quizzes if they were for the same book I already have. I might still consider getting the MP package; I probably should have waited before buying the P/H books off of ebay, but maybe I can get most of my $ back reselling them if I decide to. Thanks for all the ideas! I have lots to think about.

My oldest 2 dc are currently using MUS Algebra 1. I have decided that we need to pick up the pace on MUS since it's a light program, and then do something else for Algebra 1 after that. I have Prentice Hall Algebra 1 here, and like the looks of it (it's more thorough than MUS, anyway), except that I have to figure out scheduling and problem assignments (between the text and the workbook that came with it, there's way too much to assign everything). I love open-and-go programs where there's no guesswork on which lesson to do each day and which problems to complete. For example, Saxon. It's clearly broken down into daily lessons, and you are supposed to complete every problem. The problem is that I hear over and over that some dc take 2 hours for a lesson and are in tears over it. There's CLE's new Algebra. I actually had it but sold it. I seemed a lot like Saxon to me, plus it doesn't go beyond Alg 1 right now, so I'd be finding another publisher in a year anyway. Books like Lials that are meant for a semester college course rely on the teacher to decide how to break it up and what to assign. What other Algebra books are clearly marked with approx. 180 lessons for a year? It seems like most of the ones I have looked at rely on the teacher to decide what to go over each day and how much work to assign. Is there such a thing as open-and-go, "do the next lesson" high school math, that is more thorough than MUS? I prefer real books. Some DVD is okay, but no computer (unreliable internet speed). And yes, I could go through my books and make my own schedule and assignments. But if there are other programs that are just as good, AND already have all that done for me, I would love to know about them! (And I have done multiple internet searches trying to find schedules already done for the books I have, and I have not been able to find any.)

My daughters (age 13 and almost 7) only own boys' jeans. They like Wranglers carpenters or cargos. Neither one is interested in the tighter, low-rise jeans sold in the girls' department. The best part is, when the outgrown them, they can pass them along to their brothers. :)

I really think it's from a sting of some sort because his hand is swollen. I don't really think it's food related, though we have been thinking about that. We are in a rural area, so after-hours medical options are limited and quite far away. He is doing okay right now though; he just took a bath and had a great time playing with his toys. He's eating his leftovers from supper. I'm going to have him sleep with me so I can keep an eye on him overnight. Obviously, if he develops respiratory symptoms, we will seek immediate medical treatment.

That is possible, I suppose. It sure would be nice to know for sure so we can be prepared if he gets stung again.

We have "brown widows" where I live. They look just like a black widow except they are brown. Your picture does look like a widow, but I'm not a spider expert.

I posted earlier today about my 4yo and a rash he has. Dh and I really think it's hives (he does still have a low grade fever too). This afternoon ds's right hand swelled, and we remembered that he had gotten stung by a wasp (or something similar that does not leave a stinger) on August 4th. That's 18 days ago. At the time he cried a lot and I put some salve on it, and within hours all redness was gone and he was totally fine. It could be a coincidence, but his hand is red and swollen and there's a small hard spot that looks like where he could have been stung (even though we didn't see any evidence of the sting once he was better). I've done some reading and it's not impossible to have a delayed reaction to an insect sting. So far his breathing is still fine, but now that he has swelling on his hand, I'm going to keep a really close eye on him. The hives have spread down his legs more too. Why do these things always have to happen on weekends? But other than something stronger for the hives/itching, what would a doctor do? ETA: He was outside yesterday helping in the garden, so it's possible he got into something there. But based on how he screamed when he got stung on the 4th, there's no way he got stung yesterday without anyone noticing!

Thanks everyone. The spots do blanche with pressure, so that's good. I'm convinced this is viral. Ds is laying on the couch watching a movie, and I can tell by looking at him that he's not feeling 100%. His appetite is fine though and there are no respiratory symptoms at all. I'm going to take the pictures down now; I think we're fine with waiting this one out for the time being.

Good idea on the pictures.

I don't think it's pityriasis rosea, but thanks for the idea. (The spot he was scratching a lot didn't show up ahead of the others, plus it really doesn't look like the picture.) If he's not better Monday I'll take him to the doctor. If it's just viral like I'm thinking, I suspect he'll be a lot better by then. I'm keeping him out of Sunday School and nursery at church tomorrow in case this is contagious.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for me. My 4yo (will be 5 in Oct) woke up this morning with a little bit of a rash on his back (big brother noticed it). Over the next few hours the rash got worse; he has quite a bit of red, slightly raised spots of various sizes on his tummy, back, bottom, neck, chin, and legs. He feels like he is running a low grade fever. The rash is itchy, especially the spots on his leg; one of those spots is a round red circle that we initially thought was a mosquito bite because of how he's scratching it. He is also scratching his chin, I noticed. A few minutes ago I looked him over and it looks like the rash might be spreading to his hands as well. I have ruled out roseola because he already had it, plus there was no fever leading up to this. I have ruled out 5th disease because he already had it, plus there were no cold symptoms or fever leading up to this. He is vaccinated for chicken pox, plus the spots are all different sizes, so I don't think it'd be that anyway. It's not scarlet fever. I told dh I suspect it is just "some virus" because of the low grade fever. I can remember my other dc having random rashes on occasion. But I don't remember them being itchy. So, allergic reaction comes to mind. Yesterday ds helped us outside in the garden. He picked some basil and peppers and helped carry some wildflowers inside. He really wasn't outside much, plus the rash didn't really get going until this morning. So, I'm not sure it's that. I bathed him with Epsom salt, I'm washing his bedding, plus I gave him some Benadryl. I also rubbed Eden Salve from the Bulk Herb Store on the rash. Is there anything else this could be that I haven't thought of? ETA: He does not have any food or environmental allergies that we are aware of. Thanks!

I've been thinking about this a lot today, and I think it would be best to pick up the pace on MUS and just finish that first, and THEN start the Prentice Hall. A lot of people seem to use MUS Algebra as a pre-algebra course, so I could just use it like that without trying to coordinate lessons between books. I'm not necessarily concerned with finishing Algebra 1 this year, especially for my 7th grader since he's on the young side for it. Regardless of whether or not it drives my dc crazy to mix and match the math programs, I think I will drive MYSELF crazy trying to schedule it. I'm thinking it will be easier to accelerate MUS and just get through it a lot sooner. Then we can revisit everything in a different way with P/H. So, I think I have my plan. But if anyone else has any wisdom, I'm all ears. :)