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lilbean05

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Everything posted by lilbean05

  1. I would TOTALLY stay on site, but I am also a major Disney freak. My husband and I have been more times than I should say and we ended up buying some Disney timeshare. There are a handful of hotels that Disney has that are honest to goodness suites with bedrooms and kitchens and such. They are very expensive to rent directly from Disney, but you can rent them from owners. This may seem a bit confusing, but in short, Disney timeshare holders buy a set of points that is renewed every year (sort of like an allowance). You are free to spend these points however you would like on the Disney resorts, with a few rules which we don't need to get into now because they shouldn't effect you. Disney rooms are assigned a point value. So you use your points to rent the rooms based on the point value. With a family of 6, you can stay in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit that has a full sized kitchen with stove, oven, dishes, dishwasher, fridge, the whole nine yards. There are different resorts from which to choose, some which are within walking distance to Hollywood Studios (1/2 mile ish) and Epcot (1/4 mile ish), others that require a car or the use of the buses to get around, and others that let you walk or take a boat to the Magic Kingdom. Prices run differently for each place. So, with all of this in mind, you can rent points from someone who owns the timeshare. Typical going rates these days for renting are $10 a point. At Old Key West Resort (requires bus or car to get places), the cost per night is as follows: Feb 1-15 on a weekday night (Sun-Thur night): 32 points a night (so $320) Feb 1-15 on a weekend night (Fri- Sat night): 52 points a night ($520) Feb 16-28 on a weekday night (Sun-Thur night): 36 points a night ($360) Feb 16-28 on a weekend night (Fri-Sat night): 59 points ($590) The Treehouse Villas are also quite similar in price and locaton to this, but they are 3 bedroom units, which would give some of your kids privacy. If you decide to go at the beginning of February on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, it will cost you $960 dollars. You will pay this money to someone who can rent the 96 points to you, and that person will make the reservations for you under your name. At Bay Lake Towers (walk to Magic Kingdom, newest resort) the cost per night in the lowest catagory room (interior view, I think) is as follows: Feb 1-15 on a weekday night (Sun-Thur night): 37 points a night Feb 1-15 on a weekend night (Fri- Sat night): 66 points a night Feb 16-28 on a weekday night (Sun-Thur night): 41 points a night Feb 16-28 on a weekend night (Fri-Sat night): 73 points a night SOOO, shew! It is a bit overwhelming, but really pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I would very much recommend it because nothing beats staying on site. Disney rocks!! :) (Plus, you can all stay in the same place AND have a kitchen) Oh, and as an aside, from what I understand you can't get free dining in February. That is typically something that is offered as a package deal for people who visit in and around September.
  2. Has she told you what they look like? I remember, as a kid, seeing spots mostly at night time when the room got dark and I closed my eyes. They were colorful and danced around and I felt like I could actually focus on them and they were a little circus (I sound like a whack job, hahaha!!) It was scary sometimes, which is why I made it into a little circus I think, but it was something that eventually just went away. I think this is a phenomonom where you can see the blood vessels in your eyes and lots of kids experience this (this is my guess as to what is happening).
  3. Another vote for Horizons! My 4 year old tested into Horizons 1 and so that is what we started with. She thinks it is fabulous and I can see that she is learning SO much. It is so neat to see their little brains work.
  4. What a great idea!! Ha! Who knew! Thank you very much! :)
  5. I consider myself a pretty artsy, creative person, yet I am having a KILLER time trying to create a name for my blog. I have been putting off starting one, but I think it would be a great thing to do because we live so far from our families, the kids are getting older, another one is due in a few weeks, and there are lots of changes happening. How in the WORLD do I come up with a blog name?! I know, no one can do it for me and I need to just brainstorm, but I was maybe hoping writing this would ease my "writers block" and help me come up with a good name I like. That's all, hahaha. Back to wracking my brain.
  6. While I understand the possible need to teach this to other cultures/nations/etc that need to deal with these sorts of topics at a much earlier age, I am back to my original question. Does anyone know if this is apart of the UN Rights of a Child Convention that the US has taken a new interest in joining? I know that with the new administration there has been a bigger push to ratify the US signing process which began years ago. I already disagree with much of the convention, and if this is apart of it, it makes me THAT much more upset about the possibility that my rights as a parent will be stripped from me. While I don't disagree with the importance of some of these topics, if anyone is going to be teaching them to my kids, it will be me and my husband. I understand the need for some countries to have a bit more regulation, but not our country. Again, more of why I disagree with the US joining the UN ROC convention.
  7. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543203,00.html I have nothing to say. I am speechless. Anyone know if this falls under the Rights of Child Convention? I have already sent mail to my senator about the convention and this is more fuel for the fire.
  8. Yes, we will be! We just started, actually, with all of the local kids going back to school. I am due Oct 15th with our 3rd and just last week we started being really extra careful about going out. We stopped gymnastics for my 4 year old, which was a hard decision because she was just asked to join the mini pre-team. My husband runs to the library now, and today will be my first time going out in 10 days (yikes!) so that I can go to my prenatal appointment. We are a bit nutty about it, but with my due date right around the corner, I feel like I can't take any chances.
  9. I would also agree with either anxiety and/or acid reflux and heartburn. I have previously suffered from anxiety that worked itself into panic attack because I thought those pains were heart attacks and I was going to die. It took a lot of talking with important people in my life (grandmother and father in this case) to really pinpoint what was causing my anxiety so that I could overcome it without medication or "therapy" (though I would argue they were my therapy). After lots of soul searching, the anxiety is under control. Shew! Hopefully I don't have to do that again! NOW I am pregnant with baby number 3 and have been suffering from the worst acid reflux/heartburn imaginable. It sends my chest into crazy pain, I can't eat, I can't sleep. It is really very bad (but almost done! Just a few more weeks left!). Having suffered both, I think that it really could be one of the two. When it starts to hurt next time, try to find some alone time where you can do a variety of things to relax (even though you might already feel relaxed, just try it anyway). Don't overthink what is causing the pain. Try and visualize it going away through your fingertips or toes, almost like meditating. Some people try visualization of waves in an ocean or rain falling to help them relax. I know it sounds cheesy, but hopefully this will help you!
  10. My thought is that they invited all of her preschool class, all of her ballet class, and all of her sunday school class (or something like that). They probably had some friends from each group that they wanted to invite, but didn't want to exclude anyone else in the class. I have ALSO heard that lots of schools have a rule that says if you had out party invitations at school, you must hand them out to everyone in the class so no one is left out. You can mail them to just a few people, but no passing out in class allowed unless everyone is invited. Maybe this is what happened and that poor mom was thinking, as the people were pouring in "What did I do?!!? What are we going to do with all of this STUFF!!" Hahah!
  11. These are all very great ideas, and it is very interesting to see how you are all supplementing in different ways. We have only been going for a few weeks with Horizons 1 AND this is also our first year homeschooling, so I am sort of winging it. We haven't done much of the manipulatives-thanks for all the links! I have seen that the CWP is going out of print, so I better get on that or just wait for the newer versions to come out sometime next year. It is encouraging to know that some of you who have done this for awhile have found that using just Horizons has taken your child into high school math without gaps. You have given me lots of points to discuss with my husband later tonight! :)
  12. I was reading the thread about how people use their Horizons Math program and saw that some of you choose to supplement Horizons Math with another math program. I started discussing this with my husband, to see if he thought we should look into adding Singapore math or something else, but several questions came up that I am hoping you can answer! 1. Why do you supplement? 2. Would it just be a bad idea to do Horizons for now and a few years down the road try to supplement? Meaning, would we be so far behind in the OTHER program that we should supplement now if we want to stay on track? 3. How does one supplement? We already spend a lot of time on math everyday. Are you actually doing two math programs at the same time? Thanks!!
  13. What do you all do for picture narrations? Do you just discuss the picture and that is it? Do you write things down? Do you cross reference other pictures outside of the FLL book?
  14. I have not heard of the carbon, though that sounds like a nice idea! I second the tablespoon of liquid at a time, but I would use gatorade or something else that is more than just water. He is losing a lot of electrolytes that water can't replace. I hope he feels better soon!
  15. The best way to see the Disney Princesses is to go to the Akershus Restaurant in Norway (Epcot). You don't have to wait in line, you have to eat anyway, and the princesses come to your table and spend some time with your kids, more than just snapping one picture. You are also give a posed picture at the beginning of the meal that I believe comes with the cost of your meal, so you have a photo to take home outside of all of the ones you snap at your table. You can eat here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Breakfast is American food, lunch and dinner are more traditional Norweigan menus--tasty! You need to make reservations, which you can do by calling 1-800-WDW-DINE. They just changed reservations back to 180 days in advance as the EARLIEST you can make a reservation, but you can call anytime before your vacation to make a reservation. We are Disney freaks. :) I hope you guys have a good trip!
  16. We moved to Las Vegas two years ago and everyone we met told us to get a water filter for our home because the water is very very hard and full of all sorts of junk. I have a friend who doesn't have a filter and all of their faucets, dishes, really anything that touches the water is corroded with calcium and red build up. It is sort of gross. It also tastes really bad. So, we got a whole house filteration system and an RO system for drinking water. The water tastes SO good and we haven't had any problems with our faucets or dishes. I really didn't do a lot of research before getting the filter. I figured an RO filter made the best water, but now I don't know! I was raised on tap water and I am sure when we move again next year we will go back to tap water, but in the middle of the desert we decided to use RO. Hopefully we aren't frying our insides with acid water and losing all of our minerals!
  17. We have an RO system that we have only been using for 2 years now. After reading all of this, I might just switch back to our Brita! I know that old Brita pitcher systems were carbon filters (I think..), and I also think that there is now a GLASS Brita filter available for purchase, but I don't know if it is still a simple carbon filter, or something more complex that might remove the minerals. Anyone know?
  18. Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! I guess I sort of thought that I needed to teach very by the book, the way schools teach, but just on the levels that match my kids--and only because that is the only thing I know! You have all given me such great suggestions--how fun would pudding in a tray be! How about making homemade pudding first and THEN getting to play with it in a tray. Sweet deal, and very creative! This is SO helpful! It is really nice to hear about someones experiences with similar learning styles several years down the road from where we are. My daughter does this exact same thing, though we have only recently seen the "regression" part because we just started doing everyday learning thing. Up to this point, though, she would see something, or we would talk about something and about 3 days later she shows up and has perfected whatever we were doing. It was an amazing trick!! So, we decided to homeschool her because we didn't think that schools would really "get" her or be able to keep up with what she was thinking or what her abilities were. I REALLY need to learn to adjust to the "different paces in different subjects" thing we are going to face. I need to cross stitch that flexibility mantra and hang it above the school desk! Thank you all so much for your kind feedback and support! I am so thankful to have you all here to talk to you!
  19. Yikes!! Hurray for the wonders of internet speaking and relying on our words alone to convey a message! I know that there was no flaming at all!!! :) At all at all! I actually love the stay flexible mantra! :grouphug: I was actually prefacing the fact that I was revealing how young my daughter was with "please don't flame me, but she is only 4..." kind of a thing. I was really nervous to tell you (collectively) that she was only 4. I was hoping to keep that a mystery so to avoid a discussion on her age and to keep the conversation focused on how to have patience when homeschooling a child who has this sort of up and down kind of a week. I didn't want a huge outlash from other people that I was pushing her too hard, that I was a psycho mom for expecting too much, or anything along those lines. That is all--but so far, no flames from anyone! Thank you all! You have all been so very kind in your responses and I was really just afraid that if I said she was 4 some of you might get really upset with some of our choices. :)
  20. brehon: Thank you for the kind reply! I will toast my water (I am 32 weeks pregnant--maybe I will toast some chocolate milk) to having very challenging parenting days like today. Like you were saying, I don't want to run a Von Trapp family, but we don't want to be pushovers eithers. We don't quit when things are hard, but we don't want to set goals that are too high at any given point. It is all about balance and it is hard for me to find. elegentlion: Please no flaming me!! My daughter is 4. While that sounds crazy young to be doing the things we are doing, she is actually working at the appropriate levels for her intelligence and even her own ability to sit still and concentrate. We will take play breaks, jumping jack breaks, cartwheel breaks, and dancing breaks. She has even recognized when she needs/wants to take a break. She says that she needs to do some cartwheels and then she can go back to her workbook page. It is actually quite cute! Her motor skills (so, handwriting) are not as advanced as everything else is, and I think this frustrates her. She has mastered writing numbers, so now she is able to fly through her math book. She is still having (it would seem today!) a hard time writing letters, which makes it tough to do Spelling Workout. She says the work is so easy, but then she is held up by the writing on days like today. She asks to read the directions on her own and pretty much does the entire lesson by herself. She spells all the words in a snap and can answer the questions very quickly. But, on days like today, she doesn't want to write. I am guessing it is because it is boring. She already knows the answer so why should I have to write it. Maybe? Maybe not though. I don't know why she just decided to quit. So I do try to have much patience in this area, but it is when she succeeds multiple days in a row, and then out of no where here eyes glaze over and it is as if we took 10 steps backwards that I begin to find that I am at a loss for what to do. She is smart. We don't quit when things are hard and we follow directions in our house, even if you don't feel like it right now. We are strict, but loving. And most importanly, she is only 4, which makes it more difficult. She acts like she is 6 or 7. Sigh. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for HER if it is this frustrating for me.
  21. We read the first chapter of the Adventures of Reddy Fox and it was actually very bad for us. My daughter has a deep sense of trust in adults and morals and it REALLY bothered her that Granny Fox (the caretaker who is supposed to nurture and of all people, the one person Reddy could trust) would trick (re: lie--my daughter pointed it out) to Reddy. She was really really upset that Granny lied to Reddy, just to get him to cross the bridge. She told me there were many other ways that Granny could have helped Reddy, but not lie to him and scare him. Why would the Granny lie and scare him? She was SO upset. So, we don't read them. They don't seem to jive with our family.
  22. I am going to explode with frustration. We have cancelled the rest of our school day because my daughter refuses to pay attention and concentrate. There is no reason to try and continue, because she just isn't paying attention one bit. We have only been doing this for a few weeks, and she is pretty young, but she has proven herself time and again on most days that she is wanting and capable to do the work we are doing. Then we have days like today, where she decides that with all of her handwriting, she is going to forget everything she knows and make a big mess of her letters--lower case g that has a TINY circle and a HUGE big hook at the bottom, a lower case j that starts, eh, somewhere in between the top and middle line and ends somewhere below the middle line. Just because. While this is understandable in trying to have fun, be creative, etc. it shouldn't happen once I tell her to now do it properly, and I give her specific direction.. "put your pencil on the middle line" Where does she put it? She puts it wherever she wants: sort of by the middle, but not where it is supposed to go. She isn't doing it purposfully to get a rise out of me, but she also isn't trying her hardest to listen. She can see that she needs to now buckle down and do well, but it is like she has shut her brain off. Yesterday all of the letters were great! Today, it is like she pooped out all of her brains this morning and there is nothing left. So, I feel like that while I do need to have more patience, she also should have a bit more concentration and we need to meet somewhere in the middle, and I am not sure how to go about doing this. I have always had low patience and it has improved greatly over the years, but I have no tolerance for goofing off when you are supposed to be concentrating, for not being able to follow explicit simple directions (once one has proven they are capable of doing this) and I am sometimes wondering if it is going to be best for me to homeschool because of this. I am going to put crazy pressure on my kids because I know what they are capable of doing, but in the same breath I don't think good discipline is to give direction and not expect it to be followed. How many times should I say "put your pencil on the middle line"? Then what do I do if she doesn't listen? Do it for her? I don't know why I should because she knows how to do it, she is just choosing not to. Send her to her naughty chair because she isn't following directions (school or unschool related, you follow directions in our house)? I don't want to be a pushover because then that will become the norm. I don't want to be a hard bottom because that isn't fair to the kids to live in a Captain Sound of Music household. I am at a loss for what to do.
  23. The Easton Press books are quite lovely--we do enjoy them very much. My husband and I dug through our bookshelves to find the other random nice books we have that are unabridged and we came across two that we had sort of picked up along the way. One is by The Franklin Press. They went out of print in 2000, and they aren't as nice as the Easton Press books (paper inlays instead of fabric, no bookmark) but they are unabridged and less expensive than the Easton Press books. You can find them on Ebay and you can piece together the ones you want. The other is State Street Press. These also seem to be out of print, but you can also find these on ebay. Finally, if you have a chunk of money, and are happy forking it out for a whole collection, you can go to Ebay and buy someones set of books for, overall, less than you would pay if you did it monthly. I think you can find the 100 greatest books of all time for about 30 bucks a book instead of 45 if you bought them new. It might be worth looking at if you have the extra money!
  24. I come from a family history of Marines, and my brother is serving active duty in the Marine Corps right now. We are now an Air Force family, but I have to say that this story rocks and is very much what makes the Marine Corps so awesome. Ohh Rah!
  25. If you have the extra money to swing it, there is a FABULOUS set of books called "The 100 Greatest Books of All Time" sold from a company called Easton Press. It is a book company and their books are all leather bound with gold leafing fabric in-lays, and all sorts of things that make them very worthwhile and archival quality that you can pass down to your grandkids and their grandkids sort of a thing. It is ABOUT $50.00 a month, including delivery, for each book. http://www.eastonpressbooks.com/leather/product.asp?code=0001 My husband and I each bought each other one of these different sets on our first anniversary (paper anniversary), which was sort of funny because we didn't talk about it before hand. So, we are about half way through the 100 Greatest Books and we just finished the 50 Modern Classics series. They really are great--expensive, but great. We do budget for these now that money is tighter than when we were first married (I don't work anymore) but we cut our cable before we cancelled the books. Oh, and our library looks FABULOUS!! :)
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