I'd make it a matter of prayer. If God tells you you're done, then that's good enough for me. For myself, I don't think BC is a problem if I've had that message. We only have two and I expected more, but we got a clear message that we were done. And right after that my desire for children, which was always very strong, was taken away--which was a confirmation to me. So we went ahead and my husband got snipped. We feel that has been right for us. I can't word it very well, but I guess I kind of feel like we shouldn't expect God to perform personal womb-closings for us if we've already had our answers and we know what His will is. We know how our bodies work and we know how to avoid too many pregnancies, unlike our ancestors who so often died because their bodies were worn out. Now your answer might be very different for you, but at this point I'd say to make it a matter of prayer, and if God tells you to have another child, then OK. But if he doesn't--you may need to be taking care of the ones you already have and know you've been blessed and it is enough.

My 9yo is on ch. 40 this week--the end of the Cold War and the fall of the USSR. SWB made me very happy by quoting Boris Grebenshikov's "Radio Silence" in the text! I have loved the Radio Silence album since 1989. I told DD the song would be familiar to her and played it for her--now we're all listening to the whole CD. So, for everyone reading SOTW4, I give you...Radio Silence, one of the great Russian songs about the end of the Cold War.

Have you seen the Rainbow Fairies easy chapter series? My daughter who just barely turned 7 loves them, they're twaddly but easy and cute. There are about 40 of them, since there are 7 each of rainbow, weather, and jewel fairies, plus pet and holiday fairies! Yes, there is a hamster fairy. :D And now there are sports fairies! Ha!

Enchanted Glass and a housekeeping book. I'm not quite sure what happened, but my week 17 post got lost in the mix somewhere, so here it is. Weapons of Mass Instruction.

I will be 46 when my youngest goes to college. I plan to do a lot of fun sewing! Travel would be nice. Probably I'll go get a job--maybe the libraries will have better budgets by then, ha ha.

No. BUT I was eating at the Blue Nile on Telegraph the night of Jerry Garcia's death, and there was a guy outside yelling "Jerry's dead, man! Jerry's dead!" That's the closest I ever got. I'm more of an Oingo Boingo/Sarah McLachlan girl.

True enough, but that still doesn't mean I have to like them or own them. :001_smile:

We don't have Barbies, and my mom never let me have one because of the body image/consumerist stuff. When my kids have asked, I just say that I'm not a fan of Barbie because she doesn't look like a real person and I prefer dolls that look more real. My oldest girl noticed the large breasts and tiny waist/hips by the time she was 7 and pointed it out without my help. :001_huh: They have AG dolls and Polly Pocket-size things instead of 9" fashion dolls and that seems to have been just fine for us. I can sew a lot of things for the 18" dolls, which is a big plus.

I don't even know how many times I've read it, but several. It was what hooked me on homeschooling.

Kasha, cooked in milk, with walnuts, dried cranberries, and a little bit of honey. Yum!

We have quite a few books in the bedroom, but if I was going to install a lot of proper bookshelves I'd want the glass-fronted kind. I have a hard time with dust, which isn't actually all that great since I'm a librarian...

Yes, I'd call it a classic, esp. in the YA section. I think the genre is called dystopian.

My grandmother loaned us some money so that we had enough for a good down payment, which helped a lot. It was a real loan that got paid back early--it was a big help as we bought in CA in 2000, right before all heck broke loose in the local housing market.

I still don't see why the local state college is not among the choices here?

Well, I do think that time at a university is time well-spent. I did a couple of semesters at CCs as well as most of my time at a large university and the difference in atmosphere was huge. Before I went to the university, I didn't even know how driven some people were, how serious about studying, how exciting college could be. So it really did make a big difference in my life to go to a 4-year college. I found CC to be pretty stultifying, though I know it's great for many people. Do you feel that he's too directionless and easily-led to spend a year at the local state college? Do you feel that he'd be too vulnerable to the drinking culture? Because that would sure be a lot cheaper, and he could get an apt. in town. It's a perfectly decent school, academics-wise. Why would the expensive Christian school be superior?

MOTChores spends several chapters discussing the importance of chores and child training, and puts a lot of effort into scriptural justification for the ideas. They're good principles, so you can skip those bits if you like and just read for the ideas.

Here's one for you in California. It's quite the party.

Thanks. I'm just wondering, if you don't eat meat and can't eat beans, what do you do? I'm presuming that 'beans' includes all legumes, maybe it doesn't. My daughter is allergic to all nuts and legumes (and some seeds), so we've always figured that vegetarianism/veganism was not a real option for her, unless she was willing to put a lot of work into researching nutrition.

Somebody should totally make that movie.

We've also done this and it's been great.

Sorry, I took it the wrong way I guess. I don't think it's a big deal either way, but on the whole I think it's a good thing to put a little more thought and care into how we dress for formal worship. Not because God needs us to, but because perhaps we need to remember that it's an important thing we're doing and worth putting some care into. It's a special part of the week, and deserves special treatment IMO.

Then I was not addressing you and I don't see the need for sarcasm.

The standard thing at our church is dresses or skirts for women, slacks and tie for men--generally it's "nice, neat, doesn't have to be fancy." I would feel pretty weird going to church in jeans! :001_smile: I don't get many chances to wear dresses the rest of the week, so I like the chance to wear something nice and look more graceful than usual. I usually buy one or two a year and have maybe 5 in rotation, but it's been over a year since I bought anything. No one makes a fuss or anything if someone comes in casual clothes--it happens. I don't really buy the 'too poor to own a dress' argument. There are many, many people in our church who have very little. I know women who have worn pretty much the same one or two outfits to church for a long time. The outfits may well have come from a thrift store or Walmart, or they may be hand-me-downs. But in this country, where clothes are cheap and plentiful and very few people are actually starving, it is not impossible to find one skirt to wear on a Sunday.

My husband says he needs to know what your husband eats for protein. :001_smile:

I love Wentworth! I collect those, they're so hard to find. This week's entries are Demon Ex Machina by Julie Kenner, which was fun, and The Tartan Pimpernel, which was great and exciting. The link goes to my reviews of both. I just now finished Diana Wynne Jones' new book, Enchanted Glass, so watch for that to appear soon--as usual it was wonderful.