Hubby says to make sure your chimney cap is not clogged. Ash builds up along the holes and makes it smokey. He also suggests cracking a window. Sometimes it is related to air flow (especially if your house is newer) You should be able to call any certified chimney sweep and ask some questions over the phone. They should be willing to give you some pointers to try. Hope you figure it out.

My oldest used this with a teacher at co-op in junior high and they did most of the initial work over one week. They would turn in their work and the next week they would start the next assignment. Then they would begin alternating between the new assignment and a revision of the previous assignment. week one: do lesson one, skill builders etc through the week. turn in first draft of assignment. week two: do lesson two etc turn in paper and rewrite week one paper with corrections from checklist. week three: do lesson three etc, turn in paper and rewrite week 2 paper They got into a rhythm after awhile. I would follow the student book and refer back to the TM if you aren't sure what they are trying to explain to the student. My daughter still uses many skills that she acquired during her two years spent on write shop. Good luck.

I would recommend the teachers manual because each day you are working with the meeting book. This is where they practice the calendar, days of the week, skip counting, etc. The sevens arrive because we have been bouncing around the calendar and discussing how many days in one week, two etc. we've also been skip counting by twos which will help with the 2's times tables and they've introduced fives and tens. I think they introduce the easiest ones to understand first and then bring in the tougher ones. It worked for us. Eventually you learn them all. Just keep practicing the cards.

more protein maybe?

Could be a dairy intolerance. My daughter would get very plugged up for awhile until we removed milk products from her diet. She stopped having stomach aches and things slowly returned to normal. Her issues seemed to start around puberty as well. She had always eaten tons of dairy with no issues before that. Once things simmered we let her have dairy with a lactaid chewable supplement that she takes right before she eats dairy foods. Just a thought. Hope that helps.

Hubby and I finished 3 miles tonight. Love the cool California evenings. :thumbup:

My daughter is taking the education part on the computer...........$20.00 When she passes the test they will mail a certificate to take to the DMV. This will get her the permit I think. We are in ~California. I am investigating now to see if I can pass as an instructor with the local DMV to permit me to teach her the required behind the wheel portion. If not it is at least a few hundred bucks around here for the 6-8 hours behind the wheel with the instructor. If I can get around this somehow I'm gonna try. Then you have to log at least 30 hours of behind the wheel practice before you can take your test.

My husband and I actually received a phone call to be on the program once. They were looking for a chimney sweep family. I told my husband that there was no way in h*ll we were going to do that show. Not even for the money. I think it was $20,000. I knew for a fact they would make us look like idiots and freaks and I would not put my family under a microscope like that. I guarantee that we would have been paired up with complete opposites. Christian, homeschooling family paired up with ????????? I guess we'll never know.

How to Have Confidence and Power In Dealing With People by Les Giblin

I second the rent a car option.

I prefer to carry cardholder with atm card, Id etc and my keys/phone in my pocket. But I do have a big ol bag that I use too. currently: Book....Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence insurance papers invitations to a holiday event for our business to give to clients zippered bank envelope because I deposited moolah at the bank yesterday yellow lined notepad from meeting on Monday night educational business training cd gum two protein bars one protein shake rhodiola energy supplement 4 pens Artistry light up lip gloss sansa mp3 player usually a check book but not this morning A fun spin off thread could be what's in your car? If you are a messy like me that could be interesting.

After pulling teeth to get my youngest ds8 through LA and Math he is finally outside riding his dirtbike. I have just been paged......he crashed. Later everyone. He's fine.

Didn't walk much at all this week. But hubby and I finished a five mile walk tonight in about an hour. Back to eating right tomorrow. (my feet hurt though) Good luck everyone. Any movement is a good thing. Do what you can, when you can. :grouphug:

Amway claims to be made in the USA. I know most of there stuff is made here but would be uncertain without further investigation where some of the main ingredients come from. Just my 2 cents.

I used my newly acquired sore throat as a reason to curl up and fall asleep on the couch instead of walking with my hubby.

Okay, 35 yrs. old started 188 lbs 5'4" tall switched to high protein, very low carb for two weeks.....this is week two Had to do shakes and bars to break the food cravings cycle. Shake, 1/2 bar and veggie, shake , half bar and veggie, dinner of 300-400 calories mostly protein veggies and a little carbs. snack and fruit. This pretty much cuts out the sugar, the flour, the starch, salt etc for the first 2 weeks. Then I can start bringing back in more real food. Started September 11th. Weighed in this morning at 184.0 Walking with husband at night. That turkey has dropped 10lbs as of Sunday night. :glare: Trying to remember to drink a lot more water. It seems to help. And if I want to splurge I choose icecream. This is the only thing that has ever worked for me. Good luck everyone. Stick with it. You just have to find the right formula that flips the weight loss switch. :grouphug:

My husband and I have recently begun walking and changing our diet. So last night 9-20 we walked about 3 miles. Takes about and hour or so depending on our pace. The night before we did a whopping 4 miles. :hurray:

a minimum of 3 days sickness here for us before we consider the doctor. It takes your body awhile to fight things off. That is what the fever is for. I control the fever by meds, lots of fluids etc and keep an eye on them. If by the fourth day the fever is still there we take a trip to the doc. If it is a virus by that fourth day the kiddo usually seems to be heading in the right direction and the fever usually has broken. Even if it is strep you'll be okay for a couple of days.

I second the motion for a cat..............or two or three. They can keep each other company, sleep in the garage and triple your threat against the vermin. No vermin, no snakes. :D

People forget sometimes that your daughter might still know someone in the troop. People know others from all kinds of places....church, sports, hobbies, family connections etc. These guys are silly and ridiculous. Just a wee bit of a power trip wouldn't you say? :glare: My homeschooler did a million activities in the community and knows tons of people that don't go to the local school she would be attending. What ever. I say do it yourself.

My daughter and I just watched a show about the after effects of the workers who spent time near ground zero and their health. I was just curious if you dh has had any lingering health concerns after being there?

Just a thought. My daughter was diagnosed with juvenial rheumatoid arthritis when she was 2. She had been fine and never had any problems. One day her knee was swollen and she had a fever. She coincidently had hand and mouth disease at the same time. (or whatever it was called.) They said that many people may carry the gene for arthritis but they aren't sure what triggers it in some but not others(possibly a virus ). Who's to say that something in the vaccines or your bodies reaction to them doesn't somehow flip a switch in susceptible people? There is still so many unknown factors regarding dna that they are only beginning to scratch the surface of. Both sides of the argument could be right and not know it yet.

I try to look for ones with a combo of protein and fiber. Anything else is off my list. So.....Kashi with the berries, frosted mini-wheats blueberry or strawberry ( we like a little frosting on our fiber), occasionally honey nut cheap brand cheerios. And for a treat now and then we get Oh's. Love the Kashi:hurray:

Maybe I am gullible or always think the worst is going to happen...but our sources are counseling us on being debt free. The rumor is that we will be entering into a major depression if we haven't already begun it. The economy should take another major hit and the expected upturn wont be until 2017 or later. So if you can sit and be content, see what the economy really does in the next 3-4 years than make a decision? Getting debt free with no mortgage means freedom for you and no stress. That is priceless. Just my 2 cents.

I may get blasted here but for me it is most definately not all about the academics. For us less is more. Only now is my oldest dd 15 really hammering into her grammer, but she was a good writer before and the grammer has helped enhance what she does. I think a knowledge base of many things is great, if you can dig into your interests that is great too. I believe in being sure that my kids can express themselves both written and orally, have math skills to take them through college if they choose and have a soled set of study skills. But we have always had friends that could barely study a subject and it sticks in their heads. My children require a lot more effort and study for things to really take hold. In the long run I want them to have great people skills, loving relationships, know how to work hard, etc. I keep an eye on the California state standards but don't really care too much about them. But there is a game to be played. If you don't have the basic knowledge than you cut your options for college. We will never produce Harvard attendees at my house but they love one another, treat people well and will continue to develop the skills they are good at. They know how to work hard and that will open many doors. I'm definately not expressing myself well here but anyway.....even though we aren't classical I love this board.:D