:w00t: Do I need to search up a thread on this, or does anyone have comments on whether Wii Fit is an exercise program that works? Blessings, Lucinda

Yes, I love it that he includes our daughter and my mom. We all feel so special! My mother is a widow and would otherwise feel lonely and left out on Valentine's Day. Dh and I go on dates pretty regularly, so we really don't need Valentine's Day to be an occassion just for us. Blessings, Lucinda

A few years ago my dh planned a special dinner for his girls - which includes myself, our 10 yo dd and my dear elderly mother who lives with us. Dh blessed us so much that first year that it has become a tradition for us every Valentine's Day. He plans the entire meal and it is always a surprise. We all get kicked out of the kitchen for hours and aren't allowed to peak. Every year it is different, and every year we feel so special and loved. Today we had lunch after church instead of the usual candlelit dinner, but it was so nice. He set the table beautifully with china and fresh flowers. He prepared delicious steaks, roasted potatoes with salad and steamed veggies, and he served a special dessert with fresh strawberries and chocolate in heart shaped ramekins. It's been a long winter and dh is out of work due to a company layoff, so this was good for all of us. He splurged just a little on us because we got our tax refund this week -- but it was so wonderful! As much joy as he gives us, I think dh is full of joy from doing it. I just had to share about our Valentine's Day, and hope that you all had special surprises and cherished moments with your loved ones too. Blessings, Lucinda

We finally decided to purchase Wii Fit Plus and were gung-ho about getting it this week due to our tax refund arriving. Well, we ended up going to FIVE stores today and could not find a single one! :driving: We went to: 1. Costco 2. Target 3. Game Stop 4. Fry's 5. Fred Meyer (Kruger's) The word we got from one department mgr. was that a "certain online company" bought out all that were available from the manufacturer, causing a shortage to all the other stores. This made sense when I heard it, because I had found exactly what I wanted from Amazon.com, but the price was significantly higher than the price that was listed by all the other stores. Bummer! The word is that stores will be out until some time in April. And I do not want to pay the higher price from that certain online company - especially since I'm mad at them right now. Sometimes I just have to hate capitalism! :rolleyes: Blessings, Lucinda

We have completed 19 weeks out of the total 36, and we're ready to start on week 20 on Tuesday. I am going to give dd President's Day off, because we really need to do some chores. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: :glare: :iagree: :glare: :iagree: :glare: :iagree: Hmmmmmm. I'm in the same boat and have the same question. Lots more surface to cover in a kitchen....but I like the look a LOT and certainly the price! What a great job you and Uri did! Fantastic! Blessings, Lucinda Blessings, Lucinda

I read too late that the poll was multiple choice, so I would have checked that my husband also sleeps with his watch on. Yes, I do sleep with my watch. Always have and always will. It has come in handy many a time! Blessings, Lucinda

We are meat eaters too! We eat mostly chicken, beef, fish and some pork. We also have meatless days on a regular basis where we eat legumes, eggs, nuts or cheese. Our philosophy is that we should eat a variety of foods from all the food groups and that it is not necessarily beneficial to all people to give up meat. Blessings, Lucinda

I said yes based on the huge selection of hs curriculum that is out there. There are choices for every family, enough so that whatever skills (or lack there of) a parent may possess, there is a program that will most likely work. Whether a person has to pull books out of boxes and follow a script, or put together their own lesson plans from scratch, most people with a desire should be able to homeschool with success. By all means, a person with mental illness or highly impaired judgment would not be able to take on the challenge successfully regardless of their desire -- that would be an obvious exception. And (imo) a person that is highly impatient would never be able to make it either, but my guess is that those folks would not have the desire because they know that they are impatient. I also doubt that people with a lack of communication skills would want to homeschool ANYONE'S kids. So there you go....All considered, I guess my answer of yes would fall in the "generally speaking" category. Is that as clear as mud? Blessings, Lucinda

I wanted another snow storm on the west coast. At this point, it looks like we are heading into an early spring. We've even had days recently where it is warm enough to go without a coat all day. This has been an entirely too-short winter! Have fun in the winter wonderland. Blessings, Lucinda

In my siggy..... Blessings, Lucinda

We have had our dd in lessons for the past year, and it has been a huge boost in her life. She has a fantastic instructor, a young college-aged woman who is passionate about horses, and who teaches dd about horses as well as about how to ride. If dd wants to get into showing, her instructor will help and support with that. If dd is happy just to come over and ride and get experience, that is okay too. A helmet is provided with the lessons, and we just made a decision during the winter that dd needs to get riding pants finally due to the seams of her jeans rubbing on her inner legs and hurting. Her instructor is going to take us to a consignment shop to look for a good, gently used pair before we shell out for brand new. All in all, I think riding lessons are wonderful for a girl as long as she is interested in them. We've also learned that introducing horses to preteen girls often times delays their interest in the opposite sex -- an added bonus that we really hope will be the case for dd. :D Blessings, Lucinda

We are using Easy Grammar (which we love), Spelling Power (a great fit because if dd knows how to spell words on the list we know we don't have to waste time on it and move on), and a combination of Writing Aids (part of our TOG program) and Writing Strands for composition. All of these programs are working very well for my dd, so we will continue at the next level for 6th grade. As to language, this is dd's second year with LFC and she has really blown through it with both ease and enjoyment. LFC is wonderful for young children! Next year, however, she wants to take Spanish and we'll either go with SFC or take up my friend who has offered to share her A.C.E. Spanish course. Blessings as you explore all the options. Lucinda

Hey Tracy - Sorry to read of your illness and the challenges you're faced with. I was just wondering about a few things... For one, have you received any sort of prognosis at all from your doctor? Is this going to be long-term do you think? What sort of hours does your husband work? Is there any chance he could temporarily put in some teaching time, even in the evening? If not, do you have anyone that could give you some support for awhile? (A sis, friend, mom?) I guess I'd suggest that on rough days I might teach from the couch and ask the older children to help with some specific tasks with the younger ones. What if you called the family together for a meeting to discuss ways that everyone can help Mom during this difficult time? I bet your family would rally around you and do everything possible to keep school going. This is life, and life skills are just as important for children to learn as any of the other subjects we're teaching them. Blessings, Lucinda

Powell's is very near the Pearl District, a section of the city that is very eclectic, artsy and fun. If you love art galleries, window shopping in cool shops, and eating lunch in small, intimate cafe's -- then the Pearl's for you! You could easily hit Powell's and the Pearl in the same day. If you opt for other activities, then there is a nice little homeschool bookstore on the east side called Exodus Books that is quite popular. Or you may want to go up to the NW hills above downtown Portland to see the Pittock Mansion -- a real favorite of mine since I was a little girl. (You should see the place decked out for Christmas!) Here is a great city guide that will give you more info on just about all of the sites that have been mentioned in this thread. You have a LOT to choose from in the City of Roses! Have fun, whatever you do. Blessings, Lucinda

I forgot to mention that the KAF 200th Anniversary Cookbook is the most frequently used, the most loved to death, dog-eared, batter-splattered cooking manual in my kitchen! If you don't already have one, it would be a real treasure to own. Blessings, Lucinda

Same here...I've always had good experiences with buying from KAF. I started out years ago when we could not purchase the regular flour in our local markets. Yes, I had flour shipped to me from Vermont in those days because we loved the quality so much. Over the years I have also purchased numerous other gadgets, mixes, flavorings, ingredients and the such that are not available to me locally. I've never had a single problem or regretted a purchase I made. These are good folks, and I only wish I lived in New England so I could visit the Vermont store once in awhile. (But then again...I DO live near Bob's Red Mill and am able to go there.) :~) Blessings, Lucinda

Yes, absolutely yes! As we go through the process of forgiveness, we do have to assess and consider the lessons that come from whatever situation we experienced. And forgiveness does not mean that we have to renew friendships or go back to any association. It just means that we let go of the need for revenge. This is a great thread! I appreciate the great insights that have been shared. Blessings, Lucinda

I am thinking about purchasing this instructional dvd program called "Learn and Master Guitar with Steve Krenz" for my dd when we get our tax refund. It has been marketed to homeschool families, and from what I can tell it looks pretty good. (They also offer piano and drum lessons in this format, along with dancing and painting.) We just cannot afford music lessons on top of riding lessons right now with dh out of work, so it seems like a good second choice. The marketing claims that there is the equivalent of two years worth of lessons in the package. Has anyone else used this curriculum? Is it worth the money? Comments? Blessings, Lucinda

We were not well off at all, especially when I was a young child. I remember having fried potatoes or corn meal mush for dinner on occasion because that was all there was. I was lucky if I had a pair of dress shoes to go along with my other day-to-day pair. As I got older things got better, but we were never wealthy. My father was a blue collar worker that had dropped out of high school and joined the military during WW2 and my mom was a retail sales clerk. Even though we did not have much money -- a fact that my brother, sis and I were well aware of, we did not feel deprived. Our parents loved us, and that was the most important thing. Blessings, Lucinda

I've been on a journey of forgiveness over a period of years myself, and have pondered often over the fact that as time moves on we learn and relearn at different levels of understanding. I believe that forgiveness is a process, one that may sometimes take years. I wonder if sometimes we don't have experiences like the one you described as a kind of check point in which we are able to see how far we've come. This was the case for me personally. Many years ago I was wronged, and despite the the fact that I accepted the reality of it all and actually moved on with my life, the hole in my heart was still there. I had just learned to live with the pain and ignore its presence. It took an odd situation (similar to yours) many years later to open my eyes and understand this better. When it happened, I was amazed to realize what I'd been carrying around. The work of forgiveness was still in progress and God was ready to do a deeper work in my life. (I could share a lot more about what happened from there, but I think I'll save that for my blog sometimes.) My point is that something I was ignoring and thought I'd forgotten came to the surface again through seemingly strange circumstances that I recognized was a work of God. Because of this I was able to check where I was at spiritually and examine my heart, and finally come to a place of forgiveness. It was a beautiful, unexpected thing. Rev. Mark Brown of Australia recently wrote an article for his website, "Journey Deeper Into God's Word" that really spoke to me about forgiveness. Here's a short exerpt that drives the message home: "Yesterday I was reading and reflecting on Philippians 2:12b-13 which reads: ‘continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.’ And what struck me is the ‘fear and trembling’ bit: I am to respect our great and glorious God, a God who blesses, and takes blessing away. When I forgive someone, actually what I am doing is handing them over to God to deal with. In practice, God will deal with them regardless of any decision I make!! But still, for me to take that mental step is key, and then rather than be angry at someone, I find myself praying for them that God is merciful with them." I pray that you continue to grow and move forward on your journey of forgiveness. May you find the ability to hand this man over to God to deal with, and may the God of Heaven grant you the deepest peace you could ever know. Blessings, Lucinda

I'm with Cheryl. Once you learn stick, you never forget....kinda like riding a bicycle. ;) My dad insisted I choose stick shift when I took driver's ed because he said that if I could drive a stick, I could drive anything. He was right! I still enjoy driving a stick, but seem to have given in to the easier way for the past several cars. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: I wish I'd have said this too. Well put! Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: I agree with this post whole heartedly. We are using TOG Yr. 1, which is a study of the ancients. TOG presents a thoroughly Christian worldview, so that helps a great deal. But even without my teacher's notes I can easily point out to my dd that the Greek and Roman mythology we are studying is totally man-centered rather than God-centered. My dd and I have wonderful discussions regarding the differences between the cultural beliefs of these ancient people and the people of Israel. So for us -- like others that have replied -- this is not an issue at all. Granted, my dd is older than yours, but we could have made the same points in the younger years. Blessings, Lucinda

...My mom purchased the Easy Read Measuring Cup Set before Christmas and I have to say they are great! You read the measurements from the inside of the cups, and they are quite easy to read (as the name implies), and they wash up nicely. I never would have thought to buy these myself. You have to use them or have someone show you to realize just how nice they are. Blessings, Lucinda