This is kind of a weird question, I guess. And I'm sure everyone has their own definition of what a Mom dresses like! But I am curious as to your age and the type of clothes of you wear. I just turned 32 in April, and I look young. I mean, YOUNG. My 14 year old daughter looks older than me! Plus, she's 5'5" and I'm 5'2". Anyway, I still shop in the Juniors/teen section of the most stores (JC Penney, Dillard's, Target, etc). Sometimes, I feel like I should start dressing "my age", whatever that means! Like, today, I'm wearing a pair of olive green Old Navy Chino shorts (3.5" inseam) and a maroon flowy top that was from the junior section of JC Penney and Birkenstocks. I could seriously pass as a teenager but I don't WANT to. My mom was always stylish and beautiful, but she dressed like a MOM, kwim? We could have never shared a closet, like my daughter and I could (we don't, she's thinner than I am, but we could style-wise). I guess I'm just wondering what's the norm, and what are you wearing today?

Funny, all the weddings I've been to had the reception AT the church! It's crazy how things differently according to tradition and expectations.

Yes! My son, who will be 7 this month, had also struggled. He can decide, but struggles with putting words into sentences. He's also choppy, great for a few words, messing up on the next few. We took a four week break (hope to start back next week), and he is reading everything!! Road signs, menus, book titles... He is doing so well, I'm excited to see how he does when we pick up his phonics book. I told my husband I think a break is what he needed!

This is a fascinating thread to me. I'm from rural northeast Louisiana, and I've never NEVER been to a wedding with a sit down meal. For the dress rehearsal, the wedding party and close family are served a meal - sometimes catered (usually BBQ), sometimes a potluck style. After the service, there is cake, punch, and snack-foods - nuts, cookies, dips, crackers, maybe sandwiches, meatballs, lil smokies. There's sometimes music, sometimes dancing, and the bride and groom always leave for their honeymoon several hours after wedding service. There is never alcohol or a bar, as most people marry in a church. This must be a regional difference, because I've been to many weddings in my area, and they are NOT focused on food, decor, expensive things, but rather on the couple marrying and the friends, family, and good time their having. My daughter is 14, but has already "planned" her wedding. Thankfully, it sounds like she wants a simple, inexpensive wedding with a fun party afterwards. No alcohol, because we don't drink. So I'm hoping a couple thousand or less, and then we will gift her and her husband with money we didn't spend on a wedding. And for what it's worth, I do not think spending huge amounts of money on a wedding is wise at all. Think of where that money could go - down payment on a house, new furniture, pay down debt. My husband and I went to the JOP and do t regret a minute of it.

This. I HATE goody bags. I like to buy inexpensive books or coloring books in leui of goody bags for birthday parties. Goody bags are a waste of money and usually get trashed quickly. The picture of the team is a GREAT idea.

I may be the oddball out (and I actually usually am, haha), but I've never liked being expected to pay for a party or contribute to a coach gift. Personally, a picnic would have been good. Each family bring food for your family, kids play, and all is fun. If I feel compelled to give the coach a gift, I would do so on my own. I've helped coach before and never expected or even wanted a gift. I did it for my kids and for fun. Usually, the gifts are not even something I would want.

Here is my review on WIR - http://myfullhandsandheart.blogspot.com/2016/04/writers-in-residence-tos-review.html Hope it helps!

I need to try these! I'm not overweight, but I'm not thinking, either. I love skirts, and sometimes I don't wear them if I'll be walking a lot (the zoo, the mall, etc) especially in hot weather (we live in Louisiana). Good price and I'm sure they're comfortable!

We love it at our house. My daughter and son used it in 7th and 5th grades. I am using Readers in Residence now with my 4th grader. It's very similar so I know we will love it too. Also, it's $57 on Christianbook.com.

My youngest will be 5 in July, but he is very immature for his age. His older brothers and​ sisters have babied him! (I guess I have, too.) We started My Father's World Kindergarten and love it. He doesn't understand the blending yet, but that's fine with me. There's not much math in it, so I'll be using some games and worksheets, too.

I ordered the generic, and it didn't print very well. It was a blue color instead of black. It also didn't last long. I ordered from eBay, and it has me nervous to order generic again, even though it's much cheaper and I print a ton.

I love Adrian Rodgers, David Jeremiah, and Charles Stanley - the oldie but goodies in my opinion. Adrian Rodgers has a wonderful voice and I love his sermons.

I homeschool my five kids, ages 14, 11, 9, 6 and 4. I know ZERO homeschool moms with kids older than 8. And I don't see her because we don't live anywhere close to each other. We met several years ago and keep in touch, but... It is so hard not having anyone to discuss homeschooling with other than my husband. It is so hard not to have anyone to talk about summer reading lists for an upcoming high schooler or what middle school math is best... I guess I'm feeling lonely and out of sorts now. I wondered if any of you have this problem and what you do about it.

I love this idea. Plan six weeks at a time, take a week off and plan the next six weeks. A great way to prevent burn out, too! I am going to start doing this.

I haven't used the geometry, but we tried algebra 1 with the DVDs. The videos were long and boring, and the lessons were long and hard. I'm talking 2 hours + a day. Way too long. We dropped it.

I always try to think what would *I* pay for it? If I paid $40 for a book, and it is in good condition, I would sell for $20. I would go down based on condition. I always try to sell things cheap because I know how it blesses me to find something I need for a good price. This is just me though!

MyY kids each have their own box with pencils, scissors, glue stick and crayons or colored pencils (depending on age). I also keep communal boxes of glue sticks, scissors, markers, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, etc. I find it easy for each child to grab their box when it's time for school.

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Thank you for this. I think doing this will work. The chapter review and cumulative reviews seem so superfluous to me. The questions don't even make sense sometimes. I don't like the tests, either. I may can have my kids use notebooking instead of the question and answer type activities. I agree that it is designed to fill hours. Some of it is incredibly long!

This was so helpful to me. I think we are going to go back to literature based history, and combine the two in life science. I'll also watch the lectures with them so I can know what's going on. We will skip most of the busy work, and since I'll be in on the lessons, I'll have a better understanding of what they're learning and what their mastery should be. This is excellent advice.

The physical science in BJ is so advanced and difficult, and her career goals are not science related at all (cosmetology). I was trying to read her lessons and answer the questions, and it was tough for me. Like, I had to look in the teachers guide for the answer. It's ridiculous.

Yes, you are so right! Reworking their curriculum is not ideal, but being miserable isn't good either. I picked BJ because I didn't think I had the time or desire to "teach" them anymore, because I wanted to concentrate on my three youngers ones, and because I was so afraid they would be missing out on some important educational concept. But BJ is so not what I expected it to be. Especially since we are using all subjects. I wish I wouldn't have ordered it at all, but there's nothing I can do now.

Thanks for all of the replies so far! I do feel a little better. We school year round, and they just started BJ in November. We are only 1/3 of the way finished. The physical science my 9th grader is taking is HARD. I think I may combine her with her 7th grade brother in life science, which is the only class I really like. She would do well and be challenged, and she's never had life science this in depth. The writing and grammar is almost over as it's only 90 days worth and then 90 days of literature, and I thought about skipping it (it's very thorough, too much so I my opinion) and moving on to the literature. I found a free American history program for high school and think I may modify it with living books and some mapping for them to do together. I also have an awesome book on church history that I wished I could use with them ... I may make a course for their Bible lesson. The Bible in BJ is dry. What does that sound like? What do you think?

I have 5 children, but only my older 2 are using Bob Jones DVD program this year. They are in 7th and 9th grade, and I bought the entire 6-subject curriculum with DVD instruction for both of them (over $2000). They just completed Day 64 out 180 days. I am unhappy. They are unhappy. The DVDs are not very engaging to watch for one. The textbooks, workbooks, and activity books are very long-winded, boring, and (in my opinion) too full of information. I feel very disconnected from them, because I am not involved in their school days. I check their work, grade their tests, and help them study some, and from the work I've seen, I don't know how they haven't pulled their hair out yet. It's a ridiculous amount of busy work, and it seems more geared toward a classroom than a homeschool. We've already dropped the math for both of them and switched to the Key to ... series. This made a tremendous difference in their days knocking off about an hour of work for them (and I make them work for at 30 minutes in math). I chose BJ because I felt like they needed something totally independent. I felt like I needed to concentrate on my younger 3 children (and I still feel like this). I thought the BJ would challenge them in a good way, but instead it's making us miserable. They do the work, but there's no creativity or fun in it. They have never been unhappy schooling before, and I don't know how much they're actually learning. I know they don't like it. We've always schooled in a fairly Charlotte Mason way and this is so opposite everything we've ever done. I want to quit and switch them to something different SO BADLY. I feel I am doing them a disservice by making them do this school every day. There is no joy in their learning. We are so used to reading together, learning together, and doing together. I have three younger children, who are each doing their own thing (a 4th grader, a 1st grader using MFW, and a K'er using MFW), so I am pretty busy, but I still feel like I need to make some changes. I think my husband will die if I quit using the BJ because it was expensive and I did just spend almost $1000 on the younger 3 kid's curriculum. What should I do? Am I silly for feeling this way? What do you do for middle/high school CM way? Is there anything free or nearly free I could use? Any advice?? Please??

She does her work well, and doesn't rush through it. Her history and science have activities scheduled. Next week, we will be making and baking fossils, dissecting fruit to examine the seeds, and writing a report on an Ice Age animal. The main thing I'm worried about is the language arts being enough.