What an awesome forum! Thanks for all who do upkeep and moderate the forums! I haven't been on since it's been updated. Thanks!

I actually just posted this on another thread about insomnia...but thought it was also very appropriate for this topic. Neuroscience is a company that offers tests for kids and adults to measure neurotransmitter levels. I was struggling so much after the birth of my third, and my naturopath suggested doing a test. You give a urine sample and send it away to them. They test it and send you the results...like real numbers(!) of your serotonin, gaba, epinephrine, etc. They also provide a regimen of supplements to help correct the imbalances. These imbalances can cause many problems in our bodies from insomnia to anxiety and depression. The website is neurorelief.com where you can do some research. It was amazing the difference once I started taking the supplements. They are full of B vitamins and amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks for neurotransmitters, and oftentimes we just aren't getting the balance we need. For the tests, you can search for a local provider in your area. I think the cost may be different depending on what area you are from. The supplements aren't inexpensive, but honestly, it's the best money I've ever spent. I took them for several months until I felt like I was at a good place and then slowly stopped taking them. I then took a Max Amino supplement to help keep my available resources ready to build happy brain chemicals! Amber

Neuroscience is a company that offers tests for kids and adults to measure neurotransmitter levels. I was struggling so much after the birth of my third, and my naturopath suggested doing a test. You give a urine sample and send it away to them. They test it and send you the results...like real numbers(!) of your serotonin, gaba, epinephrine, etc. They also provide a regimen of supplements to help correct the imbalances. These imbalances can cause many problems in our bodies from insomnia to anxiety and depression. The website is neurorelief.com where you can do some research. I know how terrible lack of sleep can be. I pray for rest and peace for your family. Amber

I have also struggled in the area of bulimia both with vomiting and exercise. Long story short, these disorders are a manifestation of anxiety and depression. Everyone in my family is either on anxiety or depression medication. I highly recommend having her brain chemicals checked through a company called Neuroscience. www.neurorelief.com This was the best money I've ever spent. You give a urine sample, and they test everything from serotonin to dopamine to GABA and beyond. Brain chemicals have a delicate balance, and many times one anti-depressant or anti-anxiety does not treat the whole system but focuses only on one. They are all interconnected and dependent on one another so they give you a plan to treat the system as a whole using natural products like amino acids and vitamins. There is a great info section on their website. I couldn't believe the difference once I was on the program for a few weeks. I stayed on them for awhile but am now off b/c the imbalance was corrected. I do take some amino acids regularly that help with "calmness" b/c I know my tendency is to be anxious. Once you can get a healthy balance, then you can really focus on the thinking patterns behind some of her problems and pain. But when your chemical levels are out very of whack, it's difficult to nearly impossible to just "change" your thinking. Praying for recovery and restoration!

Good read on the subject The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It by M. Gigi Durham

I'm so sorry. My heart is aching.

neurorelief.com is a website that offers great info about neurological imbalances. You can actually have your neurotransmitter levels tested to give you a baseline, which I think is wonderful. They use Targeted Amino Acid Therapy to correct imbalances as a whole instead of focusing on only one neurotransmitter. You can do a search on the physician finder to find a local person who can help you.

I am so happy to hear the news! Will continue praying!

Journaled about it this morning and praying for life! Verse from today: LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. Ps. 10:17

I have chills hearing the news that the abortion is postponed. The Lord is at work. This is so amazing how the family of God works. Most of us really don't even know each other yet our hearts are full of His love to save this child and be an encouragement to his young mother. We are uniting together in prayer from sea to shining sea (and maybe across seas...who knows?!) She has been on my heart for days now. Am asking others to join, especially a mom I know who has had two abortions. Keep up the prayers! BMW, if you are reading this, as I posted on the other thread, though we are far away, we welcome this young girl in our home and would lovingly raise her child. So glad she has you and your daughter in her life!

My uncle lives outside of Phoenix and b/c of several incidents in his neighborhood, he now carries a gun. I'm not sure what the law is, but I know it's ok as long as the gun is not concealed. A man out for a walk was shot and killed a few blocks away from his home, which prompted him to buy a gun. SCARY! I live in a small town, but this thread is making me think I should carry pepper spray or something... Could you maybe call the newspaper office and see if they make the delivery people describe their vehicles? That may be a way to find out more info.

So adorable!:)

We grow our own vegetables and are learning more about how to freeze and can. I stay away from anything GMO if at all possible so no processed corn at all! Which means no HFCS! It is difficult on the budget (five of us on a teacher's salary) but it works. I try to find deals and then stock up. I bought 15 loaves of organic bread at Kroger one day b/c they were marked down to $1.50. Our friend raises chickens so we buy those in the summer and freeze them for the rest of the year. Looking for some local beef raised naturally. Where I live we don't have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Makes it difficult but thankfully a few grocery stores carry organic. For those talking about the USDA labeling, is it better to buy the USDA Organic than just to buy regular? I know they sneak little ingredients in like soy lecithin...what else? Can someone post a few links on the slow food movement? I'm interested in learning more about it!

No global warming here either! I'm in WV and we haven't even played in our little pool b/c it's not hot enough! Went to the beach in NC and my babies' lips turned blue a few times! The 1yo was shivering at times!

I voted Sonlight, but we use a combination of it and FIAR so that we can stretch cores out. Want to keep my two kids on the same core and need my 4yo ds to mature a little bit.

These are SO much fun! I still have great memories of doing something like this for a friend's birthday party. The theme was from the movie Hunt for the Red October and we had clues, etc. to solve before moving on to the next place. Great memories!!!

They definitely progress in difficulty from 1-4. Yes, the drawings are a little dated, but overall, we liked them. I could see how much my 5yo daughter improved over the year. At the beginning some of the pages were really difficult for her, and it was great to see her development as time progressed. Some of the pages she liked more than others, but it was fun to sit down together and do some of the pages (hiding letters, objects, etc.). FYI-Several pages they can do on their own w/just explanation of what to do, but others you have to sit down w/them in order to finish.

homeschoolshare.com has tons of great lapbook resources!

Karen Andreola's Charlotte Mason book-still reading!:D

I second the response about the FlyLady. If I actually do what she says and keep it up, then yes, my house is very much in order and tidy. Problem is, I'd rather play, play, play doing stuff w/the kids or play on the computer! Um, guess that means I should get off of here and get dinner....:001_huh:

I of course am not the ex-abortion provider that was speaking. I was just paraphrasing what was communicated. Yes, I'm sure mini-pills do work in many cases. Everyone's system is different. As for abortion or PP being non-profit, I don't quite understand b/c billions are being made by someone. Abortion is a multibillion-dollar industry, Government grants and contracts provide $305 million to Planned Parenthood annually! Another $139 million annually is revenue from abortion! Entrepreneurial business types, hired doctors and clinic employees profit handsomely from the abortion industry. An abortion doctor is paid cash, up front, before any service is rendered. Working only four hours per day and only four days a week, a doctor performing thirty first trimester abortions per day, each costing $500, can easily gross $60,000 per week. Imagine the profit for second trimester abortions costing $1,000 and third trimester abortions costing upward of $3,000 each. http://www.catholicnews-tt.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=418:lt260409&catid=73:2009&Itemid=73 I keep thinking about the young girl and wondering what is going through her mind and heart. Keep up the prayers everyone who is praying for her. Miracles can happen!

I'm so sorry. But glad that nothing bad happened! I've felt the same way at times. While visiting some family outside of Richmond, VA, I went walking and had a fellow in a car meander through the streets following me. I was in an unfamiliar neighborhood which made it a little more scary. It was very obvious. When he would turn to go down a block, I began cutting through yards as quick as I could to make it home and get closer to the main road too. I eventually made it home and hid between two cars as he drove past so he wouldn't see what house I was going into. No one was there when I arrived at home so I locked myself in and tried to calm down. I know there must have been angels watching out for me. Looking back I realized I was pregnant w/my first baby at the time but didn't know it! Hope you can get out there again soon and enjoy your time!

Thanks! I thought it was quite expensive myself. I hope the "bug" of it will pass soon...;)

Has anyone ever used any of the inquiry-based hands-on science kits from Delta Education? They have a pre-k to k set of materials as well as a grade 2-6 set called “Science in a Nutshell.†My husband really likes them but wants to know what other people think about them before spending a ton of money on them. http://www.delta-education.com/productgallery.aspx?subID=1&menuID=16