Not sure if anyone noticed, but the site had a few internal errors as I moved servers over the week. It was a minor problem that caused major page display errors, but it's all fixed and no data was affected at all. So all your stuff is still intact. Thank you for patience. If you like techie info. I moved the site to cloud servers which have proven more secure and reliable than the shared servers they were previously on. That means we're a movin' on up. So tell all your friends to come on over and hang out at LFR. I'll be updating the blog here with some new article. I've also got

http://www.wishtracker.net I wasn't sure if anyone had seen this site yet, but my family has been using it, and we love it. We setup our wishlists on the site. I can go in and see each member of my family's wish list, and mark an item as purchased or whatever. However, the person never sees what has been purchased, so the surprise is never ruined. I have found that this is a HUGE time saver, and I'm a lot less stressed about getting the perfect gift! Ha ha. Hope this helps

Q: ok.. Iive tried to cut down the basics but can't get under 150 and not run out of milk or bread by the middle of the week.. need help on this one..

Q: what about diapers are they included in the groceries as well.. unfortunately no aldi here in the southern end of tn at least not where im at..

A: Do you have a Save A Lot? I used to get my diapers and wipes from them, but only if they didn't leak for that particular child. 2 of my kids could only wear Huggies and not leak. It really depends on the kid. And it's worth the extra money to buy the brand that works best for that kid or you're

1. Are you regulated by the state re homeschooling? Do they dictate your curricula or make your kids submit to standardized testing?

Answer:
(taken from http://tnhomeed.com/HSLaw.html)
Tennessee laws regarding home schooling are varied. There are choices. In Tennessee you have 3 options for registering as a "homeschooler":

* with the Local Education Agency as a n " independent homeschooler"
* with a Church Related School as a "homeschooler"
* with a Church Related School that considers your home a satellite campus of their school. You're considered a "private schooler" as noted

How do you avoid an US against THEM attitude when there are so many people who think you are backwards?

I was recently involved in a discussion about overpopulation. Boy, large families really offend some people. See the comments on http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102005062. Careful though. If you've made the decision to have a large family for whatever reason, you may be offended. I was. I am.

Now, no one likes their choices attacked or described as "whack", but perhaps we can help dispel some of the conflict by walking in love rather than taking on a battle attitude. The

Question:  Do you have to sacrifice creativity in order to gain structure?

 I think about that movie, "Yours, Mine And Ours". There's a scene where the extremely creative leading lady throws a fit because some of the children organized her work room. It had looked like a mess, but it was one she was comfortable with. In fact, she felt paralyzed by the rearrangement.

I also think about a foreword by Jim Henson's daughter I read once. She said the house was always a wreck - a creative chaos. 

I've read that creatives thrive in in an environment that would torture an organized and structured

We've all heard of Back to School, but occassionally I go "Back to Schedule"!

Today is that day for me. I've been having urges to recreate our schedule, but the final straw was really the dog. She keeps pooping in our closet. It's totally gross and it's because we don't get her out first thing in the morning. When talking to the kids and warning them that we'd get rid of the dog if this kept up, I realized it was MY fault. Yes, the dog is THEIR responsibility, but I was not keeping and enforcing a schedule to help them remember. 

So I got up today at around 6am and took out my trusty Managers

There's a surefire way to get your kids to do something - tell them they can't. We laugh about this sometimes, but it's a truth we, as parents, ought to heed. 

There's a story about a study being done in an elementary school. The researchers planted some flowers on the playground and let them grow. All school year the flowers bloomed and the kids barely noticed them. Then one day near the end of the year, one researcher came into the class and said, "Now kids, see those flowers out there? Whatever you do, don't spit on them. We want them to keep growing and it's really important that you don't

Stories of identity theft are scary to say the least. They are increasing in both quantity and spread. Anyone is susceptible. With the rise of technology comes convenience, but it also makes it convenient for criminals to do their deeds in some cases.

I'm writing a series at www.technichick.com on how to protect yourself online. I am very active in many online communities. If you enjoy meeting people or shopping or researching online, you need to take certain precautions just as you would in the real world. 

In the real world, there are places with bad reputations, and you simply don't go

I ran across some interesting articles today that pointed out several uses for baking soda. It got me thinking about the many, many products out there that we overlook in favor of convenient packaging and marketing gimmicks.

Also, with the "D" word being thrown around lately. I've been teaching the kids about how people lived during The Great Depression in the 30s. It stretches the imagination a little to think of ways to provide for your family in difficult financial times. I've been there, and so I hope to bring to the discussion some tips that may help folks batten down the hatches. 

As I