You might be able to make a skirt out of the ties for one of the girls.

I only have boys. The oldest is quiet. The younger two, not so much. My middle son has this high pitched scream/squeal thing he does that absolutely makes me feel like my eardrums are going to burst. My youngest talks and talks and talks. All.the.time. During school time I have to remins that other people are trying to work too, so would he please be quiet so they can concentrate.

That is so wonderful!!!! Congratulations!!!!! She is beautiful!!! I love the name Natalie. My first son would have been Natalie, if he had been a girl. He's Nathaniel instead.:D

This is the only recipe I have that uses pine nuts, although I would like to experiment with trying them in some other things, because my family really liked them.

We love TOG at our house. I do not think *I* could personally handle all the different subjects/topics if every child was doing a different core. That was the thing that turned me away from Sonlight. The "academic-ness" of TOG is something that my kids thrive on. It is tough, but do-able. They got lazy before, because we were doing something a bit easier.They need a challenge. There are light books that the boys are enjoying, not just heavy, deep readings.

We use paper plates very frequently. Not just on extra-busy weeks. My husband works for Chinet. He makes the plates. Chinet plates are made from recycled materials and are biodegradable. Besides that, it is job security for hard-working Americans.(in particular, my husband) So, no, I feel no guilt over my plates. So, I voted other.

:iagree:The school my kids used to go to was NEVER closed due to bad weather and it decided yesterday to be closed today and tomorrow!!

I normally bleed orange and blue, but today I am making an exception. My husband even got a "roll tide" out of me and our middle son (also for Auburn) today.

Dixon Ticonderogas. I love that the erasers are big, because my 2 perfectionists will wear down some erasers before the pencil is sharpened three times. My husband gets cracked up that we can have pencils all over the house (various ones from a business, or cutesy ones from a treat bag) and we will hunt down our favorite plain, black ones.

I fully agree. One thing I always hear is that MUS is "behind" other programs in the younger years. My kids are doing things that their ps friends are not in math. They are learning, they are understanding, and they are ahead of the curve. I see no reason to add something. We have a full day of school as-is, adding more would just be overkill, imo.

Some of the music that is marketed as CCM is not very God honoring. Look at some of the music you are allowing. Would a non-Christian listing to it realize the song is about God, or would they think it is referring to a girlfriend/boyfriend? Personally, I like to listen to Christian music. However, in the car, we can't always get a Christian station to pick up. There are some songs out there that are not to bad. If your family is actively researching lyrics, that is a good thing. If your teens are not trying to sneak around and get music that is not mom and dad approved I think that is showing you have done something right with them. I really think that if you give a firm no, they will be more likely to try to sneak music without you knowing. Kelli-who never watched the Bon Jovi video "Living in Sin" until someone told her mother it was vulgar and her mother then forbade her to watch it. :huh:

I love the American Heart Association Cookbooks. They do all have a section featuring fish, but there are plenty of recipes without it. My favorite is the Low Sodium cookbook.

Weirdo here, too! We do not allow video games/computer games through the school week at all. (computer can be used for educational purposes only) No Spongebob here, either. Actually most of Nick/Disney stuff. Harry Potter has not been an issue here. My oldest thought it looked dumb, the younger two have been scared by some of the movie ads. So no one has actually wanted to read/watch it. We're also weird that we don't have every video game system out there (just an OLD X-Box, not a 360 and a Wii), every person in the family does not have a cell phone, etc... Oh, we don't listen to a lot of popular music, either. Even those Kids Bop CDs have inappropriate music, imo.

My son's favorite beans. He loves these!

C J Mahaney's Worldliness. It is a hart-hitting book (I went and changed my Netflix queue after reading {and the only things in it were G, PG, and PG-13}), but an easy read. Great book!!! It really makes you think about the choices make.

We got one! We got Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Star Wars Clone Wars to go with it and the Wii Play game that came with a controller. It has been a huge hit! My parents and sister came over for Christmas Dinner last night. My sister AND my stepfather played it!!! Our favorite so far is the bowling on the Wii Sports game.

That is amazing!

My kids love this! They have memorized the majority of the song, and even do some some little kicks and rump shakes while they are singing it.

We had a similar issue with something a few years ago. Our kids' gifts just sat for several days in Kentucky, then went to Delaware. They still believed in Santa so we printed off pictures and put a note "from Santa" saying an airplane sideswiped his sleigh and their presents fell out. They were disappointed, but then they got excited when the package finally came a few days later.

We have always had super speedy delivery from MUS. I love those guys!!!

Plain white rice, cooked in chicken broth with little pieces of chicken cut up in it. And I'll second the BRAT diet. It helps my kiddos.

Am I a biggot that I avoid going to Wal-Mart right after school to avoid the "after school" crowds? ((ducking and running)):leaving:

:grouphug::grouphug:

I agree. I have friends who are doctors who shop at Wal-Mart, as well as friends who struggle to make ends meet that shop there. It's not just a "poor people" place. The atmosphere there is just different than the atmosphere at other stores. My local Wal-Mart has a few really good employees (like the lady who walked all over the grocery section trying to find matzo meal for me), but most of them are just there to get apaycheck and don't want to be bothered (like the guy I ran into most recently who said maybe they carry snow cone holders, but he didn't know. Or the woman who said she didn't know if they had cupcake liners)

What a great response your mother had.