I have a Bosch Universal Plus and really like it for making bread. It can mix several wheat loaves at a time. It's not cheap, but I think it's less expensive than the DLX. There is a mill attachment for it here that I've been thinking about buying. I'm not sure how well it would work compared to a stand-alone grain mill. If money was no object, I would go for one of the KoMo mills as seen here. The WonderMill is another alternative; I have friends who use this brand and while they say the WM can be somewhat messy and loud, overall they are satisfied with it.

I read cover-to-cover for the first time last year and am reading my way through again--both times using the Bible in 90 Days program. Before that, I'd read most, if not all, of the Bible in chunks here and there rather than straight through.

We are a pretty healthy bunch. My DD had a strep infection last year, other than that we haven't had to go to the doctor due to sickness in years. It was the second time in her life she'd had to take antibiotics (and she's 8yo). Occasionally one of us will start to have cold symptoms (runny nose, sneezing, coughing). I treat the children with homemade chicken soup with lots of garlic and with orange juice and fruits. DH and I have the same, plus Emergen-C. We aren't dirty, but we certainly aren't obsessively clean. I'm determined that we will not be afraid of germs. Our children play outside regularly. We try to eat 'clean', but we eat at least one fast food or restaurant meal a week. We don't eat a lot of meat. We don't do certain vaccinations, including flu. The kids take vitamins and Omega supplements, but we aren't always regular with that. We try to get most of our nutrients from our diet. We homeschool, but we're still exposed to other families at church (1-2 days a week), community classes (1 day a week), sports (1-2 days a week), and the Y (1-3 times a week). We try to get plenty of rest and allow ourselves to sleep late when necessary. I don't think there is any one secret to staying healthy. I think it is such a complex combination of genes, environment, diet, exposure, etc., that what works well for my family may not help or impact a different family.

My children like Nordic Naturals 3.6.9 Junior.

I've used wet detergent made by a friend, and I made dry detergent twice--once with Fels and once with Zote. I didn't care for the scent of either one, but especially the Zote. I had to stop grating it a few times because it gave me headaches. The dry detergent left a scummy residue in our washers (which are less than a year old, good brand, and work very well--iow, not the washer's fault). I used the Tide washer cleaner to remedy that, which wasn't cheap so negated the savings of homemade detergent. We also started get the itchies from our clothes. I didn't realize how bad it was until I stopped because I wanted to try out Dropps (laundry detergent packets) that I'd gotten for a great price. As soon as I started using the Dropps, all itching issues went away. My DH does have skin sensitivities, but I have never had any until I used homemade detergent. I have some purchased detergent that I need to use up, then I'm going to try my hand at homemade again. But this time I want to try using local-made goat's milk soap in place of the Fels. I also might do the liquid to attempt to keep residue from building up inside the washer. None of this addresses frugality, other than to say sometimes homemade isn't the overall most frugal choice. You have to take into account other factors, such as how much time it takes, does it suit your family, do you have the equipment to make it, do you have room to store it, is it harming your washer or clothes, can you use coupons in conjunction with sales or buy in bulk (Sam's or Costco) to get a similar reduction in detergent costs? In our case homemade wasn't financially the best choice. I'm going to try again, only because I would like to use a more natural product. Editing to add: My favorite household goods frugal tip is to use less paper products. We try to use cloth napkins and towels as much as possible.

I'd be interested in suggestions as well. We hosted two Chinese women over Christmas break. We had some interesting conversations regarding their culture and lifestyles (for example, both were married but their husbands lived in China while both women were working in the US. One woman said it was not uncommon for husband and wives in China to live in different cities. They would go wherever their career dictated, even if it meant living separately.) They were both Christians, so we also had wonderful talks about our faith.

Knee hockey set. We got 2 goals and a few sticks used from Play It Again Sports. It's a big hit with both of my sons and the neighborhood boys. It's a great way to use up energy when weather doesn't permit playing outside. Tabletop ping-pong has also been keeping my boys busy lately.

Better 'tootor' than 'toot on', right?

My BIL/SIL have the Fisher-Paykel dish drawers. They do a minimal amount of dishes (no children, frequent travel & work). They think the dish drawers work okay. I've used them and find them to be overly complicated, noisy, and not spectacular at washing or drying. We have had two LG dishwashers (one in our old house; one in our new house) and really like them. They are very quiet and generally do a great job washing. Rather than a heating element, I believe they use steam and air for the drying cycle; sometimes items on the top rack won't dry completely, especially if they have a recessed area (like the bottom of a plastic cup or bowl). I would suggest looking for a standard d/w that has a top-rack only cycle so you can do a load of cups if needed.

Wow! I've never seen this site but have been hoping to find something similar. I hate cleaning so I need a schedule to keep me accountable. But my family has a schedule that can (and does) change at the drop of a hat, so I have a need for flexibility as well. I love that the monthly calendar has catch up days and that the monthly tasks can be completed at any time so I can work it with our schedule. I'm actually excited to be bookmarking a cleaning schedule! Thank you!

No. My daughter took it to treat a strep infection last year. It gave her terrible stomach cramps. Less than a month later she had another strep infection, took a different antibiotic, had no side effects, and no recurrences.

I'm right there with you! I've been researching and gradually making a list over the past two weeks. I'm debating a big switch from Sonlight to ??? as we start our American History studies in the fall.

I will do it if I have to, but I try not to put myself in that position! :) Most of my 'dress-up' wardrobe is made of materials that don't wrinkle easily, and I don't care if my casual clothes have some wrinkles. DH is very picky about his uniform for work, especially the shirts, so most of the time he has them professionally cleaned. Our dry cleaner recognizes us and immediately says, "Heavy starch, creased sleeves, right?"

My littlest (just turned 5yo) uses this exact pencil. My older two use the .9mm Pentel Sharp (yellow barrel), which I decided to try upon seeing recommendations from this board. They are pricey but have held up much better than any other pencils we've used. I don't like the tiny erasers they have, so we use this pencil in tandem with the Clic Eraser, also from Pentel.

Wow! What a beautiful and thoughtful gift! That your DH crafted it for you makes it even more wonderful.

Rather than the typical 'girl' movies, my DD loves adventure and comedy. National Treasure and Night at the Museum are two of her favorites. She is 8.5, so a little younger than the OP's target audience. Editing to add: For movies I'm not sure about or don't remember thoroughly, I look up the detailed review on pluggedin.com

DH and I did a budget getaway to Paris last August. How we kept it cheap: We narrowed down the area in which we wanted to stay after reading Rick Steves' guidebook, then went to TripAdvisor and read lots of hotel reviews and compared prices from that area. Because we went off-season, we were able to stay 2 nights, get the 3rd free, plus free daily breakfast. We ate breakfast at the hotel, purchased snacks at the local grocery to stave off hunger throughout the day, and splurged on nicer meals in the evening. We walked or took public transportation everywhere. We did a lot of free sight-seeing (aka walking around and people watching) and used a 2-day museum pass. We have traveled to Costa Rica and Belize on the cheap as well. Again, we went off-season so prices were better. For Belize, we flew into Cancun and took a bus to the Belize border. That itself was a memorable experience! For vacation packages, you might try http://www.gate1travel.com/. My BIL/SIL recently took one of Gate1's tours to Spain, thought it was a good deal, and enjoyed it.

If it isn't financially necessary for me to work at that point in our lives, I would like to do some mentor or volunteer work, travel, and spend time with family. If I did need to earn money, I'd like to have a low-key job (not a career) where I can finish the day, go home, and leave work at work. Perhaps organizing library stacks or folding towels in a department store or filing TPS reports. :)

Highlighting as a way to 'share' chores is a fabulous idea! I tried MM last year and failed miserably, not due to the system but rather user failure. :blush: We were preparing for an upcoming move, and more of my energy was devoted to the move than cleaning our existing house. We are now moved and somewhat organized, so I'm ready to give it another go!

We have the kiddos use small cloth towels. Ours are barmops but washcloth size would work just as well. As the children get less messy, we'll have them transition to using the cloth napkins that match our tablecloth. Right now each child usually uses one towel a day. My BIL works for a linen service and gets these towels for free and passes them on to us, so we have an abnormally large supply. If I had to buy a new supply, I would probably get 8 towels for napkin use and at least 8 for cleaning.

I like http://www.myrecipes.com/. It has recipes from the archives of Cooking Light, as well as other magazines from the same publisher. One of my all-time favorite recipes is on there, Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup. I rarely have roasted chicken breast on hand, so I will poach a few breasts and use them and the water in which I cooked them, in the soup. You can also omit the milk and still have a hearty meal. I have made this for our family and guests many times and had many raves, and as a bonus it is very easy to prepare. My favorite food blog is Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I made Mel's Lasagna Primavera for the first time for our Christmas Eve party, and it was yummy. (I made my own ricotta for it--if you've never made ricotta it is so easy and is worlds apart from the storebought, and made this lasagna fantastic.) This blog has some rich food and killer desserts, but also has plenty of family friendly recipes that are made without highly processed ingredients.

DD--Monchichi doll. She thinks it's so cool that I had one when I was little. DS7 & DS4--Playmobil airplane. This was actually DS7's 'big' gift, but DS4 is having just as much fun with it. When one of them puts it down, the other is playing with it. Everyone (adults included)--electronic 20 Questions game. It's been fun to see what it guesses correctly, especially the less common words such as ceiling fan.

We only own carry-on size luggage. DH works in the travel industry and likes to only check bags if absolutely necessary. We are really light travelers, though, so that may not work for others. If you do decide to get four suitcases, I would recommend two larger/check-in size and two smaller/carry-on size. That way, if you could still nest them for storage but would also have the flexibility of having carry-ons (less $$ for bag fees, plus no lost luggage concerns, good for smaller trips such as road trips or if you are not traveling all together for some reason). My favorite carry-ons are from Samsonite and Travelpro. Both have held up very well for us. DH used the Travelpro bag for several years of heavy use and the only problem he ever had was from chipping one of the wheels on an escalator. We had it repaired for a few dollars and it was as good as new. They are both traditional black, and on the few occasions I have had to check a bag and wait for it on the belt, I've never had a problem recognizing which bag is mine. If you are concerned, you can attach a ribbon, put colored duct tape around a handle, etc. I prefer black because it doesn't show dirt or wear as easily as lighter or patterned fabrics.

We consume dairy products without fear or trepidation. :) I usually buy organic milk because DH prefers it and organic yogurts because they seem to have the simplest ingredient lists; otherwise, all other dairy products I purchase are conventional/non-organic. When my DD was young and starting to drink cow's milk, my MIL insisted that I was destroying DD's health by allowing her to have any kind of dairy. I'm more of an 'all things in moderation' kind of person, so I proceeded to allow DD (and eventually her brothers as well) to have dairy as one part of a varied diet. My family is extremely healthy--I can count the number of times we've been to the dr due to sickness on one hand--so I guess dairy hasn't done any of us in yet. With that said, I realize there are people who are extremely sensitive to dairy products. If any of us had ever shown signs of intolerance, I would have adjusted our diets accordingly. Another perspective you might look into is that of the Weston A Price Foundation, an organization which supports the health benefits of dairy products in their raw (unpasteurized) state.

I have had a KA Artisan for about 3 years and a Bosch for a few months. My KA can only handle the dough of one loaf of whole wheat bread at a time. Any more than that and it really strains and is jumping all over the counter. I have used my Bosch for 4 loaves of WW bread with no problem, as well as multiple batches of cookie dough. I'm keeping my KA around for single batches of cookies and for more delicate batters such as cakes, but I think my Bosch will get much more use over time. Some size considerations: the Bosch does have a larger/wider 'footprint' than the KA. The KA I own has the tilt-up head, so it needs adequate space above or it won't raise up properly. Both are fairly heavy, but I find the KA more awkward to lift as it is top-heavy.