I have communal art supplies, but pencils and paper are a daily personal responsibility. Part of their morning habits/checklist is to sharpen two pencils for the day for their use. If they put them back in their top drawer, as they are regularly reminded, they have less to do. If not, they go on a pencil hunt. One has learned keeping track of a pencil or two is much easier than hunting down the pencils he used the day before. The other, not so much.

It is! The badges are fun too. They work on habits and trying something new, rather than needing to be "smart enough." There are many reasons we like it.

If you want to do any thing in Tacoma, it doesn't require always require a car. You can use the commuter train/bus system down to Tacoma and use the local bus that goes from downtown out to the park or elsewhere in town. Assume you'll make a day of it, and will walk A Lot, but it's absolutely doable without a car. The Washington State History Museum is a short light rail trip from the Sounder (commuter train) at the Tacoma dome. There are bunch of cute shops just across the street that I loved wandering. The Brew Five: Beer and Blues Festival is August 5th (Sat) in Tacoma. Plus some other stage events in Tacoma. They tend to be less expensive than Seattle events. http://www.broadwaycenter.org/events/upcoming-events Also check out the Pike's Place Market Theatre. It's down in the Chewing Gum Alley. They do improv like "Who's Line is it Anyhow?" They're pretty good, but I'm not certain if minors are allowed.

Mainly, as bribery for getting school work done and a healthy form of competition between brothers. Electronics are very regulated in our home, so access of any kind is a huge treat. After work is done and corrected, they are allowed to work on Khan Academy. They are required to do five minutes each of at least two subjects. Math: at or below grade level for fun reinforcement. If there is a lesson that they are having a hard time grasping, they will watch the video. This is rare, however, as Math is my specialty. Computer: programming and computer science. DS11 is interested. I am not, nor do I have any experience in these areas. He watches and works along in those areas as time allows. Grammar: DS11 loves the Grammar. He listens to DS9's grammar lesson in FLL3, but watches the videos and completes the practice roughly 30 min a week. It's sticking well.

We've used all of the levels of Math Mammoth, 1-3 for one, and 3-5 for the other. Honestly the biggest reason I bought it was because I'm cheap. Between a sale and a discount code I had, I got the first 6 levels (all that was out at that point) along with the links for printable worksheets, for under $50. I just print the books at the beginning of the year and put them in a three ring binder for each kiddo. As for the program, I liked that it works with the Common Core math standards without the extremely confusing questions that many of the public school programs contain. DS11 was in PS for 1-3, so continuing math in the same manner seemed reasonable, plus I wanted to make sure that if they needed to return to PS, they wouldn't be majorly out of sync. The way it is taught its the way my brain intuitively manipulates numbers, but was never explicitly taught. DS11 wanted to try something else when he was 9 despite my disagreement. I offered Saxon since I could get a used 2nd ed 5/4 set for $20. After I showed it to him, and he agreed, I purchased. Within a month he realized his mistake. Eventually, I relented and let him switch back.

This sounds like what I did after DS#1. DS#1 was posterior and spun in labor, leading to a triple cord wrap. DS#2 was anterior, but I don't think his huge head would have fit any other way. I did use the Webster Chiropractor often, though, and unknowingly used the spinning baby positions naturally. DD was posterior as she had an anterior placenta. (I was told that with an anterior placenta, there isn't much you can do before labor.) She was posterior through early labor of three days. We used baby sifting, lunges, side stair climbing, walking curbs, etc. to help turn her. After that, active labor was about four hours, but she still ended up with a double cord wrap.

Our children are same aged so hopefully this helps: Each one is required in the morning as soon as they get up: Get dressed. Tidy bed (even the 4 year old can pull sheets straightish) Put dirty pajamas in hamper Wash face/Tidy hair Ask about breakfast. If I am making a hot breakfast, they are to read quietly until it is ready, otherwise they are given options. Evening: Reverse it! Dinner Dishes. (one rinses/stacks, the other washes, mom or dad come in and do the pots and pans and check for jobs well done) Baths/Showers/Faces as needed Teeth Pajamas and get out clothes for the next day Read Lights out Mom reads from e-reader Chores are as needed, but they know that they are expected to do 30 minutes of chores. If they are not completed before a free choice activity, because I am still working with someone else or otherwise have not assigned a job, that activity is opted to be interrupted as needed until their time is done. It works because of our needed flexibility.

Academics for DD4: Hooked on Phonics Confessions of a Homeschooler's Daily Learning Notebook for Preschoolers (Free!) Tag-a-long: Story of the World 2, trebuches, electrical experiments, Lego castles, and other crafts. Life Sciences Outside time/Nature walks

Yay! :party: :hurray:

I had great skin, and facials helped the little problems I had. I didn't see the results for a few days afterwards though. Unfortunately, whatever skin issues I had were external environmental factors. Now they are internal health issues. A dermatologist told me that when facials don't help, it's an internal issue that needs to be addressed. Hormones, food reactions (not all allergies show in blood or skin tests), chemical sensitivities, and other issues can develop without warning. ETA: Your gratuity was fine.

Considering how often I have and will have these, I'm going to absolutely disagree with your entire statement.

Usually 12 hours, but it depends on the medication. You will definitely need a ride home. Ask your anesthesiologist/nurse/dentist about it. And if they don't know, your local pharmacist once you get the name of the medications they will use.

For my easy, going little guy that isn't so little and just turned 9. Language: WWE 3 FFL 3/4 (we may finish 3 over the summer, maybe not until fall) SOTW AG literature and TBD 4th grade reading list Spelling Workout D ZB 3/4 Language studies on Mango: Spanish and French Math/Logic Math Mammoth 4 Weekly fact tests Logic puzzles printed and bound with the worktext for fun breaks! History: SOTW 2 with big brother Horrible Histories as he finds the applicable books in our library. Science: Interest led or Quark Chronicles: Life Science or Mr. Q Life Sciences Swimming lessons Guitar Lessons Typing from one of multiple options Hopefully an art class or two. At least working through some art lesson books with me, since he loves it so much.

Not absolutely. I marked which ones I knew we had to do, but if I wasn't feeling well, youtube was our friend for that lesson.

Just to add to this: there is now a printable notebook that you can use for your kids and it helps to provide a frame work for their lab notebook. My then 4th grader had a hard time with just a composition notebook, but my now 3rd grader is willing to write just because of the thought organization it provides. I just printed, hole punched, and added to a 1-inch binder at the beginning of the year. https://www.bereanbuilders.com/mkt/res/nb/9780989042406nb.pdf Also Rainbow Resource does sell a supply kit for the program if you really don't want to have to collect/shop for the materials throughout the year. http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=019074

If you are looking for materials that are Common Core aligned because that is what they are used to, I'll put in a plug for Math Mammoth Light Blue Program. If you're avoiding Common Core because of the crazy stupid problems they put in PS curriculum, don't let that scare you. Maria has done a great job making a program that is fairly workable. There are probably twice as many problems as a child may need. I thus use 1/3 or half of the problems as examples to work through after the very-well written instructions. (Saxon was a disaster here because it is nothing like PS anymore. It was used in our district the year before my DS11 started school, but he hated it when we tried it at home.) I love the digital edition because I can print the pages over as needed, as well as using 3rd and 4th grade for a second time. It's been a great value and huge money saver for our homeschool, but don't let money be the only motivator. Try printing some of her samples (she has tons!) and see if it looks familiar to your children, and if they find it interesting or repulsive.

One thing I remembered. Talk to a CPA first before you do this to look at all of the ramifications! But. Compare how they will calculate Income Based Repayment if you consider both of your incomes and loans vs. if you file married-filing single and individual loans. If one has no income, but high loans, it may be worth considering until the year of the last payments.

Unfortunately, pretty much. Depending on when the loans were made, you can sometimes get an income based repayment program or another similar program. Your loan servicer (if it was a federal subsidized or unsubsidized loan) will be able to help you through it. Check on their websites to check. Otherwise, snowball. Pay the smallest off first and then roll over the payments ala Dave Ramsey. We've been doing that with ours and it's going down faster than if we hadn't added a bit each month.

:grouphug: :grouphug:

Working: Homeschooling! We finished testing this week, and despite working six weeks on hard, then six weeks of light work, they have both tested above 80th percentile in every subject. Play mornings, work for three hours in the afternoon. I get more housework done and the same amount of school work gets done. Go figure. FLL 3 for both DSs. DS11 wouldn't focus while I was doing DS9 grammar lessons, and learned three poems, the definitions and how to diagram. WWE 2. DS9 is doing really well. We actually ended up skipping 10 weeks in the process because he was doing so well. Spelling Workout. I adjusted it and have the boys re-write each missed word as many times as their grade (3x or 5x), write sentences for each of the spelling words, plus the activities. We discuss the why of the spelling rule addressed that week and it seems to be working. They score better than 80% on their tests, usually over 90%. They are using them more in their writing, both for school and for their notes to each other. Math Mammoth. The boys were in PS until 1st/3rd grades. MM is like Math Essentials, so it was familiar, and explains things the way my mathy brain works. SOTW aloud for all, with Kingfisher/Usborne outlines and timeline for DS11. It's enough to spark his interest, which he will then craft/pretend/read as much as he could find. Interest led science. We were finishing up Science in the Beginning, but somewhere in there everyone lost interest. I have always required two non-fiction books for the boys where we go to the library. They often find books that have related to recent questions and they have learned quite a bit about plants, animals and other random subjects. DS11 even learned about electricity on his own. COAH Pre-school Learning Notebook/Hooked-on-Phonics for DD4. She just turned 4 in March and has been showing reading readiness signs. A little bit of 'real' school work at first means she will go play on her own for a bit while I work with her brothers. She runs to collect her materials and is learning quickly. Not working: Science in the Beginning. We love the curriculum, but with two years of life craziness it got dropped. Life is settling, I'm learning their learning styles, and I'm not so sick (gotta' love chronic illnesses). I am debating continuing the interest led, for DS9, but using a middle school Life Science course since that is what he is begging for. IEW-SWI A. DS11 likes Mr. Pudewa, but he was having a hard time not re-writing verbatim. He and I have very good memories for language, so the outline would trigger the memory of the original paragraph. I dropped it after he could write a decent paragraph and have had him writing a paragraph once or twice a week. It's working okay. Anyting electronic. He gets distracted and then accesses games/websites without permission, tries to argue, etc. until everything breaks down. Exception: Khan Academy Grammar and Coding, and Mango Languages when he is right next to me. Even then, though, it's a bit of an issue at the end. I need some type of computer guard, but not sure how to do it. Anyone can help?

Test. Because everyone knows that just taking the test triggers the period to start when it's negative. :laugh:

tori729, I'm having much of the same dilemmas here as well. I actually had my boys in public school and it was a relatively positive experience until we switched to the neighborhood school. Then it was bad. The stress of the kids being in a bad/stressful school was worse for me than homeschooling is on a daily basis, but having them in the better public school was less stressful than homeschooling. I was still very much in touch with their education since I spent two afternoons a week in the classrooms. I just had more time to attend to things without *all the people.* It's more expensive to have them home because we qualified for free/reduced lunch, but DS's were sick from the much higher amounts of sugar in their diets. Also, there are some classes they might get in public school that I can't afford. Curriculum is less than $500 a year, but is still a stretch for me to get it all in time for a new school year. Music lessons other than trombone/tuba/baritone (because I have played them for 20 years), or special sports leagues are not possible. I refuse a co-op because locally they are not terribly inclusive. If DH doesn't want the kids in school, then he needs to pick up the slack in other areas so you get some down time too. You need a chance to recharge by pursuing your own interests rather than constantly working for someone else's needs and wants. He must be a partner, or else you need another one in the form of an educational institution. DH found out the hard way that he needs to take the kids, all of them, to the store when he goes. He needs to do more chores on a DAILY basis. DH must participate in bedtime routines, and not sit in front of electronics. He works 50 hours a week, but he is still a husband and father. When the job was interfering with being a husband, father, and unhealthy for his mental health, the job had to change. (He had to change industries because it was such a problem.) That's no different than what you need now. If the job of homeschooling your children is interfering with your ability to be a wife and mother, or unhealthy for your mental health, then the job needs to change.

Agree with mathnerd. One option would be Aloo Gobi. Ever watch "Bend it Like Beckham?" The director and aunties cook it as an extra on the DVD. And definitely do the Riata. (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/212882/aloo-gobi-masala-cauliflower-and-potato-curry/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%204) Samosas are a typical app if you want to include the Indian flavors early in the meal, and you can find them premade in the frozen section of Trader Joes if you have one near them.

Mpix or Costco. Everyone else uses a process/program identical to shutterfly.

Patient is coming home today!! So that means DH is back to work. It did make an impact on him though, so he is looking at a course that will allow him to take other positions. Our table has two leaves in it, but they store inside the table. The crease is pretty tight, but also easy to part to wipe them. It has recently gone down in price, which was a big consideration. The legs are so simple, so seating chairs from end to end is easy, thus the choice for a bench on the wall side of the table. I decided to go with one that can expand because we are renting again. I want to make sure it'll fit in most homes we could be living in until my children are grown. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70116262/