We also went to one of the best public schools in our state. We are homeschooling now because one of our kids couldn't hold his head above water academically. He needs some one-on-one attention.

Dave says never under any circumstances do you give them free access to your checking account. Like another poster said, you can open a seperate checking account that's "just theirs". The Dave Ramsey forum has a bunch of stories on there of people's accounts being overdrawn from the automatic withdrawal scheme.

I am moving right now, too. But, we are moving 800 miles away. Our stuff just left on a truck this afternoon. Moving can be so stressful - I was teary for about an hour this afternoon. I wouldn't unpack in the new house until after closing, but that's just me... :glare: Just in case something went down... Our first realtor told us a horror story about a mortgage company who just dropped the ball at closing and the family had to live in a hotel for 2 weeks while it was "sorted out". :001_unsure: I hope everything goes well for you! I know how stressful it is. I'm a nervous wreck just trying to make sense of my own situation!

I don't usually post, but I have to respond to this one. I know babies have someone watching over them. We also had something similar happen to us. Three years ago, I was cleaning in the living room about half an hour after putting my 11 month-old in the crib for a nap. I heard this strange noise in the hallway and saw the baby's bedroom door slowly creak OPEN. This scared the &^%$ out of me and I had the horrible feeling that someone was in the baby's bedroom and that someone was watching me. (This door had never just opened on its own before...) I walked down the hallway, pushed the door open the rest of the way and saw the baby teetering on her stomach on the railing of the crib. She was just a second or two from falling about 4 feet and smacking her head on the hardwood floors. Needless to say, I caught her and if that door hadn't just "opened"... I know someone watches over them. Thank God, too.

It's a scam. Be very, very careful. I had a store on Ebay for years and I refused to sell out of country or to sell off-ebay. My mom has a store also and had her entire identity stolen - her personal info, they were making purchases in Europe with her paypal card, etc. Be careful. :glare:

Hi. I don't post much, but I really want to help you. I have been on the Dave Ramsey plan through the TMMO subscription on his website (you pay like 11 bucks a month or something) for almost 2 years (not quite). During that time, my family eerily thought I had joined a cult or something. I started Baby Step 1, finished within 2 months or so and then started Baby Step 2. I paid off 2 credit cards, paid off my van and bought a $2,000 beater truck and was starting the 3rd credit card when husband lost his job. :confused: I am not kidding you...we were unemployed for 7 months before he could find another job and we did not lose our house. Of all the people we know who lost their jobs, we were the only ones who kept our heads above water and it was due to the stuff I learned from dave ramsey's TMMO subscription (I think you can take the Financial Peace University class and it has the same stuff in it - but I'm not sure how expensive it is). We paused Baby Step 2 during our unemployment (Dave Ramsey says to do this) and I've started some "snowflakes" onto the 3rd credit card, but I'm moving soon, so...trying to hang on to some money right now. As soon as we move, I should start Baby Step 2 and be finished within a year. Then, you're supposed to do BS3, where you save 3-6 months of living expenses in a money market account. Anyway...you can go on his website and see the list of steps and what you're supposed to do in each one. Also, for the first time in my entire adult life, I have NOOOOO car payments. I can't tell you how much money that frees up (like 800 bucks a month). It doesn't sound like a lot of money, but it goes a long way. :auto: OK, enough rambling, sorry... So, I would ABSOLUTELY recommend the dave ramsey program to ANYBODY who really wanted to get out of debt. It's really hard to cross that line when you first start (he recommends doing some really drastic stuff like getting rid of your cars and buying beaters - which is what I did at a huge loss), but when it's over with, we can call in on Debt-Free Friday and scream, "I'm debt-free!!" :) So, the book is ok, but the website is much better. Also, check out the Financial Peace University - I don't know anyone who has done it yet, though. As far as your credit cards, if you can pay 5 bucks on each one, at least you have made a payment. If you go into his website subscription service, DR has a "Ask Dave" section and he talks about what to do if you are harrassed by credit card companies. There are even pdf files of letters you can mail to them. Also, there is a really active forum where you can post all kinds of questions and there are a bunch of DR veterans on there. Good luck and I've been there!! :grouphug:

I never could afford the class, but I pay $10 a month for the MY TMMO portion of the dave ramsey website. It's a subscription that puts you in a personalized program that walks you through the baby steps. It has great budgeting software and a program that logs payments for Baby Step 2 (which is the worst of the baby steps). I really like it.

Don't forget Woodfield Mall (one of the largest in the Midwest) and Gurnee Mills (with the store that lets you tour the reptile collection - has that snake from the Anaconda movies).

I have made several websites. My current website is hosted through Bravenet and it's relatively cheap. I can't remember how much I pay, but it was about $25 every 3 months or something. They also have a wizard that walks you through making the website. I also had GoDaddy before, but I kinda prefer Bravenet for some unknown reason. Oh, and on Bravenet, if you learn a little html, you can tweek your site without the wizard, which is cool after you've been doin' it for a while. Hope that helps!

I don't like to spread panic, but definitely be careful with your kids playing outside alone. I (have degree in Biology) did watch a documentary of an attack on a small boy in broad daylight in a situation where the people didn't even know the cat was there. It appeared out of nowhere and went after the kid (maybe lighter prey?). Also, there was a famous attack in CA in '07 (? I think it was '07). I know your Angst. Here in Missouri, we have coyotes, killer spiders and bears... :cheers2:

We started when our daughter just turned 5 (about 1 1/2 yr ago). She still takes violin lessons and has written a couple of songs :tongue_smilie:. She's playing in a recital next weekend. It depends on the child...we had to take our son out of it because he would rather figure out how to use the violin to battle aliens crossing over into our dimension than to pay attention to his teacher.

:glare: If these are going to be two separate files...I usually save the original document and then close it. Reopen document from saved files and change the content in the cells. Go to Save As and save it again with a different name. This will give you two separate files without having to go through the formatting junk. I hope this works for you...

I just reread your post and saw the ages... They are young! Don't worry about their attention span at that age. They're not supposed to be able to sit and listen for more than 10 seconds (actually 6.3 seconds is our 4 year-old's record and if I read a book to her, she would listen while swinging from the curtains). We just finished our second year of public school and there are 7 year-olds who can't sit still and listen for more than a few minutes. You could still wait a year before starting with the 4 year-old and you would still be ahead. Are you using the P3/4 program?

I'm also getting ready to use the same SL Core for two kids who are 13 months apart. I think I'm pretty finalized about what I'm going to do...but they recommend using different Readers/LA and Math for both students (since they are most likely on difft levels) and they can do the Core and Science together. My 2nd kid is actually almost at the same math level as the 1st...not sure what ages/grades your children are at. I plan on supplementing the LA with CLE and HOP. Not sure what direction this will take us, either. It DOES make you nervous, but I'm sure everything will turn out Ok. :tongue_smilie:

OK, so I did the wizard on SL because I have two kids 13 mos apart. It told me to do Core 1+2 with both of them and then buy separate Readers+LA. So, it told me to buy the Readers 2 Advanced for the oldest and Readers 2 Easy for the younger one. However, I think the younger kid would fit more into the Reader 1 catagory. :confused: (Oldest kid scores in 99th percentile on state tests and reads constantly. Second kid scores lower in reading than 1st kid, but is math/science whiz.) Yeah, and what is up with the HUGE IGs that need to be put in binders? :smilielol5: Still thinking SL is a good core curriculum, though...

It is confusing. :iagree:

:tongue_smilie: We are purchasing the Sonlight 1+2 and we are also very confused. The catalog is a labyrinth of materials and I'm still trying to figure out if you can buy Readers 1 with the 1+2 curriculum. The wizard keeps trying to get me into the Readers 2 for some reason. I hope someone comes along and answers your question...

I never post to forums...I usually just read threads, but I gotta tell ya', what's happening to you JUST happened to us. :grouphug: We have 4 kids under the age of 7 and it has been very traumatizing for them also. My husband lost his job last summer and it took him almost a year to find another one. When he did find one, it was halfway across the country. Now, I live in Missouri with our 4 children and my husband lives in Texas. :crying: We're both in a horrible situation and we gotta realize that it won't last forever. We're going to be OK. :sad: My advice to you is to take your time moving. We also kicked around the "long-term camping" idea. My husband decided to rent a $300/mth apartment for about 6 months until we can get back on our feet and have our ducks in a row before the whole family moves (yep, we have dogs AND cats). To keep the traumatization to a minimum, the kids and I are still in our house in the Land of MO. :( Just as I reached the point where I was wondering why God was PO'ed at us, too, my 4 year-old daughter threw 2 quarters into an elephant fountain and told me that the quarters were asking God to help Daddy get a job (yep, that sounds strange - I know). That was our last weekend unemployed (so apparently, a combination of quarters, elephants and 4 year-olds talking to God works). Anyway, my point is...God won't give you any more trouble than you can handle...he knows you can get through this...so don't despair...it'll be OK. :grouphug: Lotsa hugs from the Land of MO.