If you are looking at individually owned properties (rather than apartment buildings), it doesn't hurt to ask the owner/property manager if they will negotiate the move-in fees. With our current tenants, we were willing to work with them. We initially wanted first/last/security but ended up taking just first/security. I don't know how the market is where you live, but here we were glad to get stable tenants even if meant not collecting the full move-in amount.

Thank you! I've been wanting to preview (and possible subscribe to) DES for awhile. I really appreciate the heads-up!

We have a 2006 Toyota Camry. It was the primary car for our family of five when my children were all three in car seats/high-back boosters. We were able to fit all three seats across but it was tight. Now we have an SUV as our primary car because we need the room for extra people and/or sports gear, or we want extra comfort (and quiet that the Dvd player/ headphones provide) for long distance trips. :) We still use the Camry for errands and general driving around. The backseat is roomy enough that even though my kids have grown they don't feel on top of each other.

Catherine Emily Ellis (Emily Bronte published Wuthering Heights under the pseudonym Ellis Bell) Tess Lucy Caroline Lydia Margaret

I've had these same thoughts regarding my 10 (almost 11) yo daughter. She will be going into 6th grade next year, which means at church and Awana she is supposed to be a part of the middle school/ high school youth group. I don't think she's ready for that, and based on conversations she and I have had, I don't think she feels ready for it. She is smart but still has a very innocent mind and heart, so I'd hate for her to be pushed to be more mature (especially by peer pressure) than she really is. She has asked to be a helper for the younger Awana groups next year so that somewhat solves that issue. For church I don't know what we will do. I've thought about asking to see if she can stay in Sunday school for another year, but I don't want her to feel like she is being held back. The church issue is compounded by the fact that her best friend at church is in the grade below (even though there's only about a 7 month difference in age). While I know she will make new friends, she will really miss this friend.

I helped DH with Whole30 not too long ago. He is allergic to almonds, so those were out for him. He is okay with coconut, so I did use coconut oil and milk. I myself hate coconut and the only oil I could stomach was Nutiva. If you absolutely can't do coconut for cooking, I would suggest ghee, either purchased or made from Kerrygold butter (or possibly just use plain Kerrygold or olive oil in a pinch). Besides using coconut oil for cooking, I found it was very possible to avoid coconut and almond. I pulled a lot of my meal plans from the blog Holly Would If She Could--here's a link to her 30 days of Whole30-compliant dinner plans. She also has other posts related to Whole30 that have recipes/meal ideas for breakfast and lunch. Another site I used a lot was Foodee. I also pulled quite a few recipes from Living Low Carb--her recipes don't necessarily follow Whole30 but I found them easy to adjust if necessary. My final favorite resource was the Whole30 book, It Starts With Food. I borrowed from the library and didn't want to return it. :) The Whole30 website and forums are also valuable for gleaning ideas and offering support.

Agreed. I just measured one of mine, and it is 2.75" x 4.25".

I say go for it! We did this very thing last summer. We've been using Sonlight for a few years and like it for the most part with some tweaks. I was looking into another program (PoE) that I thought might be easier to use, especially when adding in my youngest. I was able to get the first unit for free and use library books for the literature sections. We ended up back with SL, but I'm glad I tried something different. I gained more perspective on what does/ doesn't work for us, and my children appreciated trying something new (although they were certainly ready to go back to SL). From that experience my biggest suggestion is to not sink too much money into your trial run. If I'm not mistaken, MFW has great resale potential so that should make it easier.

Poetry Everywhere by Collom and Rose, Where Did You Get That Red by Koch are two of my favorite references for teaching poetry writing. Favorite anthologies: Poetry Speaks (expanded with audio CD) for older students; Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry and Knock at a Star by Kennedy for younger students (Sorry, can't do links from my ipad)

I have children in 5th, 4th, and 1st. We are studying the first half of US History this year using a combination of Sonlight literature (Core D) and Veritas self-paced. My youngest likes Veritas but it doesn't always hold his attention. For instance, we are studying the Great Awakening right now, and conceptually most of that is too advanced for him. I'm fine with letting him opt out of those parts of Veritas because I know he will study this period two more times through the history cycle. This time around is for exposure not mastery. I'm using Complete Book of US History and The Light and the Glory for Children for the 1st grader's spines and K12's History of US Concise Edition (Hakim) for the older two. In my opinion CBUSH is not detailed enough in certain subjects to be a spine for a 5th grader. I'm using library books ("Colonial Days" by King and "Colonial Kids" by Carlson have fun projects) and Scholastic ebooks (I like the "Hands-On History" series by Gravois) to add hands-on projects here and there, but I'm not super crafty so we mostly focus on reading and discussion.

We have one car that was financed but is now paid off and a small loan on our other car. DH wants to trade his car (the one that is paid off) for a truck but I've convinced him to wait until we have the other car paid off and have enough trade-in value + cash to cover the cost of a different vehicle. I'm hoping that we will be able to buy our future cars outright.

Way to go! They both did great! I have skaters, too, but they are of the hockey variety so I don't get to see much of that beauty and finesse on the ice. :)

My children are all pretty good at making friends wherever we go. They have friends from church, homeschool co-op classes, sports, and the neighborhood. I'm extremely thankful, but to be completely honest I'm a bit envious of how easy it is for them. :blushing: I have a hard time moving beyond acquaintance-level with most people.

Singapore Math is big on mental math. The process you described looks like a drawn out way to explain how to do the problem mentally using number bonds rather than algorithms. Rather than going straight for the algorithm, I would keep trying different approaches to mentally solving the problems since it is something that is practiced throughout SM. I would probably try a simpler number bond such as 6=5+1 --> 15+5=20 --> 20+the leftover 1=21. When we work on mental math I encourage my children to look for the easiest way to manipulate the numbers (such as getting to the nearest 10). If your DS works best with the 100s chart, you could use that for mental math practice. Have him put his finger on a random number (example: 43). Then ask him to what he would have to do to get to the next 10 (add 7) or to get to the lower 10 (subtract 3). Then when he gets a problem like 15+6 he will be able to figure out that 20 is the nearest 10, it takes 5 to get there, and since he is adding 6 total there will be 1 more to add which will make 21. An example of a more advanced problem is 28+17. You can definitely use the standard algorithm of adding the ones, carrying, then adding the tens. Or you can mentally do the problem by breaking 17 into 10+7, adding 28+10=38 (just an easy jump down on a 100s chart). Then you add the leftover 7, so you have 38+7, look for the next 10 (which would be 40), ask what you have to do to get there (add 2), break the leftover 7 into 2 (the number that you need to get to 40) and 5, 38+2=40 then add the remaining 5=45. There are other ways to do it, but that's how I would explain it to my DS7 (who also loves the 100s chart). Hope that helps. Math is not my area at all. I'm sure there are better ways to explain the whys and hows, but this is what has worked for us.

Baked apples with caramel sauce and whipped cream Rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon

I'm a severe over-pronator so without proper arch support my back and feet really start to hurt. My favorite flip-flops are from Reef. I can wear them for hours with no pain. I like the thicker (but not wedge) styles. I think mine are the 'Sandy' style. I purchased mine at Ross or Marshall's but they can be hard to find there. I've bought them for my children from 6pm.com. My son has the 'Slap' style--I've tried them on and they are very comfy as well. Edited to add: On sites like 6pm and Zappos you can view the side profile of the shoes. Look at the side view to see which sandals have good curvature and firm support in the arch areas.

I have a Shark Navigator Lift Away Pro. I purchased a refurbished one from Overstock for around $140. I know many people love Dyson; it wasn't in our budget, though, so we looked for an alternative in our price point with good reviews. We've only had it for a few months, so I can't assess its longevity (which can be a big issue with vacuums). It does have great suction, though. We have a spiral staircase that leads up to our loft, which makes it difficult for me to carry anything heavy or cumbersome up there. This vacuum is light enough to carry the whole thing, or if I want I can just carry the lift away part upstairs. One big negative to this vacuum is that the hose isn't very long, so to reach high places you have to use the lift away feature. This usually isn't a problem, but it can be difficult to do ceiling fan blades because you have to try to hold the lift away canister in one hand, hold the hose in the other, and then try to keep the fan blades from rotating away. For that, DH and I work together or I set the canister on a high stool to have a hand free to keep the blades in place.

Costco. We had both Costco and Sam's last year, and I decided not to renew Sam's this year. Costco has a better selection for the kinds of items we buy, either comparable or better prices, more organics, better quality, and great return policy. I also appreciate how well Costco treats its employees. We have a BJ's in our metro area but it's far enough away (and Costco is so close) that I've never given them a try.

I'm upset to see that Google is shutting down Reader. Any suggestions for alternative RSS feed websites to keep my blog reading quick and organized?

I wish there were separate categories for 'unemployed, seeking employment' and 'unemployed, not seeking employment' to convey when an unemployment status is by choice. I don't really like the term housewife and rarely use it to describe myself or others. I'm not sure why, maybe because it doesn't really describe what I do. I usually say I'm a homeschooling mom. For the OP I would probably say I'm a newly retired home educator. That conveys what you have done in the past and hopefully would show that you are entering a new phase in life.

If any adult in my life called my DD that, they would be out of my life *immediately*. Don't let the financial ramifications scare you away from doing the right thing. Don't make excuses for your fiance because he isn't your DD's bio dad. No adult should ever talk like that to a child. Ever. Any adult who does needs serious help.

We are okay with tankinis that have a longer top (cover the belly area). With that said, DD10 usually wears a short sleeved rash guard and board shorts. She doesn't ask to wear anything else because a ) that's what most of her friends wear and b ) it's super comfortable/easier to play around in. She also sees that I wear fairly modest swimwear--tankini or rash guard and a short swim skirt. I hope she always maintains the attitude that one can look and feel good without all of one's lovelies hanging out.

I'm so sorry. I'll be keeping your family in my thoughts and prayers. Please don't beat yourself up over what you did or what you could have done. It sounds like you have had tremendous strength and fortitude in a very difficult situation. (((((Hugs)))))

My sons play hockey but are not at checking age yet. My older DS did play in a tourney (not USA Hockey) where checking was allowed at lower levels. We had him take lessons beforehand that specifically taught how to properly receive a check. He did fine at that tournament, none of the players on his team were injured, and the play really wasn't that different at his level. That experience aside, I'm glad that in his normal team play checking isn't allowed. Once they reach Bantam, DH and I will have to assess the risks and make a decision as to whether or not our sons will continue. I agree that the right equipment (both good quality and proper fit) makes a huge difference in minimizing injuries.

I don't consider myself a foodie, but I do try to cook from scratch as often as possible. Here are some staples in our house: Baking: flour (bread, all-purpose, whole wheat, brown rice), sugar (white, brown, powdered), baking powder, baking soda, cornmeal, chocolate chips, baking chocolate, local honey, maple syrup, oils (olive, coconut, vegetable) Grains/legumes: Rice (brown, white), quinoa, dried/canned beans (black, pinto, northern, kidney), oatmeal, dried pasta Seasonings: Salt (sea, table), pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, Tabasco, soy sauce, vinegar (white, apple cider, wine, balsamic), garlic, onion, shallot, cinnamon, vanilla Canned/jarred: tomatoes (diced, crushed, puree, sauce, paste, Ro-tel), pineapple, pumpkin, milk (evaporated, coconut), pasta sauce, salsa, diced green chiles, chicken broth, peanut butter, jelly