Yup. Lily is memorizing the countries in N America. The first day I asked her if she knew any of the countries, her first response without hesitation was, "Texas!" When I pointed out TX is only a state, she looked incredulous and asked, "Are you sure???"

:lol: :lol: :lol: I know, right!?!

I am so very sorry for your loss.

It wasn't for us. I like Starfall.com much better or Funnix Reading if she's actually interested in learning to read.

Mia is like that. Her first time sleeping through the night was when I put her just in a onesie under a fan (in December!!) instead of a footed fleece sleeper. She just turned 1 and she's still like that. I'm like that too, but I didn't realize before she joined us that babies can be hot-natured as well.

I would get it checked. DD has 3 heart defects, discovered at birth because of a significant murmur. I'm so glad that we know what her issues are and that they won't affect her quality of life. Incidentally, the cardiologist cleared her for any and all sports activities, but she has a list of activities that require prophylactic antibiotics to ensure that she doesn't get a heart valve infection. I would find a good *pediatric* cardiologist and make an appointment ASAP.

Woohoo!! :party:

We have this pencil sharpener. We've had it for about 3 years and it works awesome. I can find a pencil that works worth anything though. I got it when they had one of those "20% off anything you can put in this bag" sales.

You can see what we're using in my siggy. :). For reading I assign books and she's doing CLE Reading. For LA, we use CLE LA. For writing, we use a bit of my own creations, Bravewriter, and CLE. Spelling is covered in CLE. And yes, she knows most of her multiplication tables. We're working on the last ones now. Her PS friends are either just starting or haven't yet started.

We're those "cool" homeschoolers. It takes a lot of hunting to do it without breaking the bank. - We do sports through our local YMCA. We're members so any sport is $35/season. It's a good, cheap way for the kids to discover what sports they might like. We've tried baseball, basketball, soccer, and kickball. - Lily takes ballet and hip hop classes through a local studio. John is starting Kung Fu classes in a couple of months (he wants to take it with a friend, but his friend broke an arm and is still in a cast). Call studios and ask if they offer a discount for homeschoolers or for multiple classes. Lily gets a price break for taking 2 classes. John can take 1 day of Kung Fu for $60 or 5 days for $90. You never know unless you ask. - Our city offers science classes for homeschoolers - $7/class. It's 1 class/month so both kids take science classes each month. Every place you go, ask if they have classes for homeschoolers, if they offer tours, etc. That's how I stumbled across the science classes. - Looking through Yahoo, I found a couple of homeschool groups. One only organizes field trips for homeschoolers. The other sends out invites to things like park days. We joined and are active in both. We've toured planetariums, brick factories, ice cream production facilities, etc. as well as park days and skating days. - Lily is also in Girl Scouts, which offers a TON of opportunities. It's $12/year to join and then you can do any field trip or any class that's listed on your council's website. And you can join a troop (which offers a slew of other opportunities). Lily is going on an overnight trip soon to a planetarium...for $35 dollars. - Last, if you want to do something and it doesn't exist, create it! A friend and I are doing Classical Conversations together because we wanted to do CC, but couldn't afford it. So we decided to do CC "at home," but together. Hope this helps!

:party: Wonderful news!!

Thanks! I'll check them out!

My kids really want a scary read-aloud for Halloween. They're 8 and and almost 6 and they like to be scared. :) Anyone have a good scary (but not too scary for their ages) story to recommend? Thanks!

It looks ok to me?

Begin single crocheting in the 2nd chain. :)

All 3 of mine slept on their tummies. Bad, I know...but they were through the night sleepers on their tummy and literally wake-up-every-30-minute sleepers on their backs.

My favorite is an old book - Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold! by Terry Brooks.

I had a mesioden, as did DH when we were children. Mine was removed when I was 4 as soon as they discovered it during the normal x-rays they do at cleanings. DH's was removed when they took his wisdom teeth out as a teenager. His was inverted, mine wasn't. Neither of us had a CT and neither of us had complications from the surgery. I would drive somewhere else to get a second opinion. Or get them to explain exactly why it's necessary. If they can't convince you of the necessity, do they really deserve to be allowed to operate on your child?

We're Hill Country Classical Academy...because we live in the Hill Country. :)

That is awesome news!!! Remember, a measurement of by as little as a mm can be the difference between 7 weeks and 6 weeks. So try not to worry and know that you are being held up in prayer.

I vote for not rude. I do it all the time though so that's my caveat. :)

I've potty trained 2 kids, one at 20 months and one at 23 months. With both of them, I took them to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Literally. Once I managed to catch them go the first time, I made a HUGE deal out of clapping and cheering and gave them 1 M&M or Reece's Pieces. The first day DD had 7 or 8 accidents. The second day DD had 2 accidents. The 3rd day she was completely potty trained. DS took a bit longer, but he was completely trained in 5 days.

I read it a couple of years ago. I've also read The Hunger Games and The Giver. Let me preface my opinion with three things: 1) I love dystopian/apocalyptic literature. I've read a TON of it. 2) I've read a lot of Stephen King, Dean Koontz...psychological thrillers are a genre I like. (I also like psychological thriller movies.) 3) Given 1 and 2, I don't consider that I scare easily. Things that I read/see don't really bother me. They don't give me nightmares, etc. Now, having said that, I found this book incredibly disturbing. Way worse than either of the other books you mentioned. I had nightmares for the better part of a week after finishing it. I can't think of that book a year later without it affecting me. * Spoiler Alert * The story is about 3 kids and is set in a time and place where abortion is illegal, but you're allowed to "unwind" a child between 13-18 as long as all of their parts are put in another person. The main character, Connor, has been sent to be unwound by his parents because he's too much trouble. He's not a bad kid, just a kid in a bad patch. He befriends Risa, who is being unwound because to save money because she's a ward of the state. And they befriend Lev, who is has been raised that it is his honor to be unwound as a tithe. If they can survive till their 18th birthday, they're safe. Connor doesn't make it and is unwound. The scene where he is unwound is very graphic and intense. Connor must be awake for the entire process in order for them to harvest his body. He's begged and pleaded not to be unwound, he's fought for his life tooth and nail. And he's forced into a room, strapped down, and describes the feelings he has as he's cut to pieces, beginning at his toes and working the way up to his head. He has a "nurse" who is assigned to sit next to him and reassure him throughout the whole process. They have pain drugs so he's not in pain, but he describes each sensation...the loss of his toes, of his arms, the loss of his sight, of no longer being able to answer the nurse (because his tongue has been removed), no longer being able to feel the nurse holding his hand...until he begins a thought and is unable to complete it because he has been completely unwound. * End Spoiler Alert * The writing is great and it's a good premise, but it's so incredibly detailed and graphic that I was dry heaving and sobbing when I read that part. And, like I said, I just don't get upset over books/movies. The only other book that's ever had that sort of effect on me was when Dumbledore died in Harry Potter, LOL! And that didn't upset me in the way this did; that was more of a "my grandfather just died" upset. :) I would have a REALLY hard time recommending it to a tween/teen. And if I did, I would read it with them and be fully prepared to deal with any psychological fallout from it. Feel free to ask anything else you'd like to know and I'll try to answer from what I remember.

SOTW meets comic strips at our house today. :)

We use CLE. I know it's not secular, but there's not a lot of religious material in their LA...a sentence here and there is about it. It's an excellent program in my opinion, it's cheap, and you can see free samples of it online. I hope you find something that works for both of you.