Happy Birthday!!!! :D

Very cool Earth Science resource!:D

Nice! I'll join you in said coffee! :iagree:We're lazing inside in the air conditioning after an exhausting day at the pool yesterday. It was 105.:glare: The sun/heat/water really took it out of us and the kids slept in until 10am this morning!:001_huh: I like this thread. Maybe I'll hide in here awhile!:D

I am about to embark on my first year with CC, so I am by no means an expert. But I've been learning a lot and talking to a lot of people. Yes, Essentials is a complete program. You can certainly still do exercises from R&S if you desire, but it could be overkill. But I'd still do it, if for nothing more than IEW and the classroom setting for the writing skills. I'd discuss these thoughts with the director for your campus. Foundations is simply memory work. We intend to use it as the spine that directs our further studies, but it wouldn't be enough in and of itself. So I am going to flesh out the topics from history and science in more depth with outside sources of reading, movies, projects, etc. I have heard of numerous people who use different math in Challenge. They simply have their child sit in on those lessons, or if it's too disruptive to what they are currently learning, they can sit elsewhere while that part of the program is taught but join in on the rest of it. I think if you were doing that with numerous subjects in Challenge it would defeat the purpose, but I think for math it'd be easy. Hopefully you will get more responses!

That article linked above said oats have gluten. I had no idea. I thought gluten was a wheat thing. A few of you said you avoid all grains, but some still eat oats. I might try going GF, but I don't want to have to give up the oats! I have finally gotten DH off his high fiber bran cereal and into eating steel cut oats for b.fast. Do I have to switch him to eggs?

I DO NOT understand how labs can have the reference ranges off for something like this. I just pulled my last bloodwork out, done in Oct. (BTW, I am convinced I have hypothyroid based on symptoms). My TSH was 3.94 but they have the reference range listed as .4-4.50. How is it possible that the lab still has it wrong, so therefore the doctor also dismisses it?! :grouphug: I hope you get some answers soon! I know I am going to pursue help.

I know I can find good sales on meats if I look at the sales circulars and am willing to go to different stores, but then I have the challenge of no extra freezer. I have very little space in my freezer and it's making me crazy. But my real question is how to I save money on produce? My local farmers market is practically twice as expensive as the grocery store because it's supposedly all organic. I want to buy all organic but honestly I just can't afford it. I have a Sprouts in my area, as well as Whole Foods (I never go there!) and Costco. I don't have a Costco membership...should I get one? Would I save enough on food to justify the membership cost? I keep hearing people say "we only eat local produce and no prepackaged stuff", and I am trying to do the same, but the items on my shopping list that cost us the most are produce and dairy! I have no idea how to save money on those things!:bigear:

Here, let me help with this.:D

No outside help, never have, probably never will. I wish tho. Or at least I think I do. I think I would feel the need to straighten up for the housekeeper to come.

The "house" ones, right? Colonial House, Manor House, Frontier House, etc.

What I don't get is how you all get your kids to eat all these veggies! My kids will eat salad, but ds is not really eating it as much as scooting it around. I have tried all other veggies in all kinds of ways and we are just not there yet. That leaves making sure there are plenty of carbs and meat on the plate, but I am trying to limit refined carbs. And even if I could get my kids to eat lots of veg, it seems like fruits and veggies are just as expensive as meat. And let's not even go down the path of trying to make it all natural and organic.:svengo: I am going to try to be more frugal but part of that for me is limiting our eating-out budget. So that means I have to do more with what I cook. Be prepared. I will be using my crock pot a lot more, and making meals that really make 2 meals. There is no way my family can eat a casserole from a 9x13 pan without being sick of it the next day, so instead I divide it up and freeze 1/2 so we only have to eat it once and the next time it's not really leftovers. I made a really good spinach and chicken lasagne from the 365daysofcrockpotcooking or whatever it's called and it was really good. Only 2 chicken breasts and it fed the 4 of us for 2 dinners.:tongue_smilie: I also could use some good recipes for beans and lentils. It'd be hard for me to convince my family to eat them more than once a week, but maybe in combo with meat to stretch it. We also have eggs for dinner once a week. A great protein source and pretty cheap.

What a cutie, and your oldest has a great eye!

Mine are 4 years apart and different genders, so I anticipated some fighting. Most days are pretty good. My little guy is sweet and usually compliant, and my girl is bossy but loving. So mostly as long as he does what she says, they're good. :D I'm surprised because my brother and I fought to the death almost as kids and don't speak as adults. It's one of my great regrets but I'm glad to see my kids are not following in those footsteps! And I agree, homeschooling helps. They are together more, so more opportunities for fighting. But back when dd was in ps, he and the rest of the family only got her exhausted, burt-out side when she was home from school. So this is better.

I've never done it but did do them in the microwave. I put in 4 (poked with a fork) for 12 minutes, then flipped them over and cooked another 10. They came out perfectly! I don't know why I haven't done it sooner!

I'm sorry it seems that you have met people with this attitude. Most I have met are truly humbled by God's grace in choosing us to be saved. We are to spread the Good News because it's not up to us to know who God will call to Himself. There is no mark on our foreheads so that we will all know who is a Christian already and who will eventually become one. He uses his people as instruments of His glory and part of that is obedience to the biblical mandate to spread the Word. I have a *huge* problem with the thinking that if we can't understand why God would have chosen to do something, well then He must not have meant it that way. Who are we to think we have Him all figured out? We know the way to Him is narrow, but the way to Hell is wide. That's clear to me that few will accept and trust in Him, and many will not.

You absolutely should NOT pay rent to anyone right now. The law is on your side. You are the victim here. That landlord has been pocketing your rent and not paying the mortgage for many months now...eventually resulting in foreclosure. As much as you might think this has happened very quickly I can assure you their bank has given them many, many months to work this out, apply for hardship, yada, yada, yada. The foreclosure departments of most mortgage co have 300 files on each employees desk, so this is not something that happened out of nowhere. If I were you? I'd start putting aside whatever you can each month in anticipation of the move. Start now keeping an eye out for properties, but don't snatch one up. Think about it, if you have 6 months to stash away rent that will pay the moving costs and new deposits elsewhere! And no, the new new owner (bank) does not want your money. They don't have a way to process that as someone said, and they will have written off the loss by now. The house will be transferred from Loss Mitigation to Recovery and they will attempt to sell it. But it will be a while and in the mean time you can save your money. There is absolutely NOTHING morally wrong with you in this situation! See if you can find a nice local realtor to help you find a property. Not a locator service, but someone who will care about you and what you are looking for. Long term good tenants are hard to find, and you will be an asset to the next landlord!

I see homeschooling growing as a result of the economy. An influx of new families that used to private school now can't afford astronomical tuitions and will homeschool. Some of them are trying out univ model schools that seem to be about 1/2 the cost of full time private. Those are the ones that are probably not in it for the long haul, but who knows.

Sorry if this was posted already! I thought it was a neat story! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128674314

We use Explorers too, the Discovery level. You can download the weekly lessons for free. I get an email once a week alerting me to the next weeks lessons which I then download. The link I get has all the levels on it so I assume you could download multiple levels, but I just chose to use the Discovery level. It's a great study! There are 30 weeks with 5 lessons per week. Pretty short too, so you can add prayer time or more study as you see fit. I am working on encouraging a personal relationship with God in my kids, so we like to have some good prayer time.

:iagree: Daisy, I have to give my dd Dramamine for long rides that are hilly and curvy and she always does just fine. No reaction whatsoever, except not getting sick. She doesn't get drowsy, or dizzy or thirsty or anything. I'd try it this week and wouldn't hesitate to give it to her for the ride to camp if she reacts okay. And I also get the non-drowsy Walgreens brand.

My mom is in CA and I'm in TX, and we both wish it was not so. We usually only see eachother once a year and it's becoming a pattern that we have to go there because she and my step-dad have developed a fear/hatred of flying.:confused: But we talk once a week or more and I think we are close.

My very straight, very fine, very lifeless hair has given me fits all my life. I just think curly hair, and long like yours and Dawn's and Nakia's is so sexy and feminine. Then Dragon's hair is so adorable and modern and looks so easy to wash and go. So, yeah. Jealous. Of all of you. *sigh*:tongue_smilie:

Will you come to my house next? Please. Seriously. :D

I'm SO jealous.:angry::drool: