Wow! Very artistic...I could never pull off something like that!

I buy each child a new set for $0.25 each school year. It makes coloring so much more fun (at least for the first several days:glare:). Old crayons go into an old wipes box.

:iagree: If you could find an RV cheap or rent one on site, this would even be fun for the kids...especially if it has a swimming pool, playground, etc. It would be like having a country house AND a city house. That is what we would do. We could see dh after work on those 4 nights and then all commute back home. Sure would be cheaper than buying a house, like someone else said, and then have to worry about losing your job due to the economy.

I am the same way! I have 22 large plastic totes in the attic of clothes not to mention all the accessories. I feel like I need to have another dc just to make use of the clothes.:glare:

We use a kickboxing workout video which is great for my little energizer bunny. We also do squats, lunges, jumping jacks and situps throughout the day, usually in between subjects. My dh put up a punching bag that we use too. All these things will build up great muscle strength and burn lots of energy. I have seen slider shoes for carpeted areas (we only have concrete floors), which are advertised for "energetic" children.

We were married and in college (I was 20)...after 6 months of being careful, we decided to not use any birth control methods for Valentines day...our first time was THE right time!

:iagree: Guene is 20 min from me...beautiful, historic little town to shop, float the river, listen to live music, etc. They have some really nice B&Bs. Very close to New Braunfels (Schlitterbahn) and San Marcos. San Marcos has a HUGE outlet mall. Fredriksburg is also very nice too...bigger town than Gruene, but lots more little shops and they even have the National Museum of the Pacific War and a Pioneer Museum if you enjoy museums.

Here in the Texas Hill Country it has been 104 for the past few weeks. Our grass and gardens are all dead and we are trying to keep the outside pets shaded and watered.

My mom nursed my little brother and is very encouraging of it. My in-laws on the other hand are completely opposed. They have always given me the evil eye when nursing around them and my sil refused to nurse her 3 dcs. Having said this, I have always felt completely embarresed nursing in public and would seek out my car, dressing room, etc. This also led me to stop nursing after a couple of months with each dc. Now that I am a little older, I think I could nurse in public with a cover-up. I might add, that my dh was completely supportive!

"We do not eat out of the garbage can" said as my ds(1) at the time was looking for a little snack "We do not eat what mommy has swept up off the floor" as ds(1) and dd(2) were fighting over the cheerios in the dust pile "We do not poop in the bathtub" "Don't carry the dog by his head" "Stop fighting over the potty"

I called Susan Barton's number, here is the scoop: Levels 1 and 2 have been updated. Level 1 has minor changes and Level 2 has significant changes. If you are planning on tutoring children that are not yours, i.e. to make money, you need to buy the updated versions. You can tell which version you have by looking at the discs; they should say "v.2". I plan on buying the updated versions since I am starting from the beginning.

I am looking to buy Barton Reading and Spelling and have heard that they have come out with new versions. Does anyone know which levels have new versions? I know for sure Level 2 is now version 2, but what about level 1 and the others? Also, does anyone know what the differences in the versions are?

So, are we permantly damaged...memory, concentration, decrease in intelligence? Kinda wierd...since I quit working 2 years ago and now stay home with my kids, I use the microwave alot more. I have a Chemical Engineering degree and have had lots of issues with concentration and memory loss. I also feel like I am not as smart as I once was. Hmmm...microwave damage or just not enough mental stimulation at home?

Through dh's work insurance, the kids and I are around $800/month. This is with a $1200 deductible. To save money, I opted for a private policy that does not cover maternity that is $124/month. Now that we are considering another baby, I would have to switch to dh's insurance and pay an extra $300/month.

I am not a very fancy cook, here is mine... Roast thrown into crock pot, seasoned with Tony Chachere's covered with Cream of Mushroom soup. Add in diced potatoes, 2 cans of green beans, onions, carrots, whatever your family likes to eat. Add some water press low heat/6-8 hours. Presto...super easy. I also make rice to go with it and sometimes bread. I think the first reciepe sounded excellent, but I don't even have time to sear it!

I just had my dd(7) tested for Dyslexia, etc. The IQ score showed she was very gifted, but is having an "output" issue. They say it is a simple fix. If I had not had her tested, I would have gone on to believe that she was Dyslexic. This will really help to change the way I teach (right brained) to the way that she learns (left brained). I think it is important to know because I know that she is capable of accelerated learning, and will help her to reach her potential. Alot of the time she is lazy and I was allowing her to get away with it becuase I thought she wasn't capable of learning the material, now I know better! :glare:

I too did the calculator two different ways. #1) Pay off car, then snowball th credit cards would take 25 months. (This means I only typed in the 3 cc's into the calculator, but gave it the additional $370/month to pay towards them). #2) Pay off #1 and #3, then snowball car and #2. This would take 27 months. (I only plugged car and #2 into the calculator, but gave it the minimum amounts from the 2 already paid off cc's). Since we both did the calculator and got two different answers, I wonder if I am using it correctly. :glare:

My electronic account has a listed pay-off as of 6/23/09 as $10,700. Too bad, I was getting kinda excited.

I also worry with the economic situation, if the $370 in my pocket would be better. I think about: what if dh gets laid off, grocery items cost more, or utilities go up in price. I would still have the cc debt, but would have the $370 cushion to keep me from charging more to my cc's. I am loving all the advice, please keep it coming.

I just looked it up, the car has 2 years and 9 months left (33 months). If I paid of #1 and #3 and reallocated the money to pay off #2, it would be paid off in 19 months.

Ok, I know all of this is pretty personal but I am so afraid that we will make the wrong decision and end up putting us in a worse situation. Here are the facts: We just sold a few large items and will have $11,250 in cash. We are trying to pay off our debt and can't seem to decide where to put this money. We have the following: Credit Card #1 $6200 at 6.65% interest with $96 min payment Credit Card #2 $4350 at 6.24% interest wih $88 min payment Credit Card #3 $3800 at 13.99% interest with $62 min payment Car Line of Credit $10,800 at $9.69% interest with $370 monthly payment (We do have more debt - student loans and mortgage, but we are not concerned about those right now) We have no money in savings, but have a fully funded HSA (Health Care Savings account). So, we don't have to worrry about any health emergencies. I think the best thing to do would be to pay off the car and take the $370/month to save up $1000 at first for emergency savings, then pay off credit cards using the snowball effect. Dh thinks it would be best to pay off the CC with the $13.99 interest and put $1000 in savings and the rest on the car to help pay it down. This would only give us $62/month to put on the other CC's. Please help us, we are NOT financially minded people and I would really like to do what is best. I would like some advice from a non-personal point of view. Thanks!!

Oh, I love this idea. We tried to do the allowance thing, but whenever I added something to the chore list I would get the "do I get paid for this" thing which got really old. I will definatey have to try this one. Thanks!

We have had rattlesnake warnings circulating around this area, Texas Hill Country. I guess I need to mow the grass to be able to spot them easier, it's always hard to see anything when your grass is 2 feet tall. :lol:

I went to a private school from 2nd through 12th. I switched towns at 5th grade. I did not fit in with the new school because everyone had known each other for years and although private school was expensive, we were not rich. I went to school with all the doctors, lawyers, etc kids. Junior high was HORRIBLE!! I was very quiet and a book worm. I had great grades and no real social life. High school was better beause we went from 60 students to 160. There were more kids like me. I never had guy problems, always had a date to the dance, etc. but my bff didn't and I know it was hard on her. I still claim to this day that I hated school, but the education was far superior to the public schools. Academically, the first few years in college were easier than high school. I love the study skills and extreme thinking skills that we learned in private school, but the social scene was just very hard (we had 3 kids commit suicide in high school due to the pressure of good grades). I homeschool because of the things that I saw when we put my dd in public Kinder. There were special needs kids mainstreamed that did things such as screaming while the teacher read to the kids, smearing poo on the bathroom walls and more. My daughter was bored with the material, she was advanced and already knew what was being taught...bordom led to talking and the talking led to notes home daily and a poor attitude about school. The last straw was when a kid on the bus put his hand down my daughters pants...she bent over and he put his hand down her crack. Too many bad things in such a little amount of time. I love that we are free to teach our children whatever religion we wish and we are able to incorporate it into all of our studies. I just hope there are enough of us out there to add morality into an increasingly immoral world.

One or two pictures I would think about Google or a realtor, but 5!! Hello, I would think it was a safety issue for my kids and myself. I have seen enough movies of stalkers taking pictures of little kids before they kidnap them. I would call the non-emergency police number and give a license plate number and car description. At least they would have something to go on if anything horrible ever did happen. Better safe than sorry!