I really, really appreciate the orthodox perspective. I didn't intend to offend anyone and I'm sorry if I did. I'm glad HappyGrrl corrected me and I imagine she's correct as they are theologically sound in the areas I've looked into before. I think this might be the fit for you. If you read scripture there is certainly support for confession to others and in the presence others. It's obvious correct theology is important to you and imo Eastern Orthodox has solid biblical theology. It's worth looking into.

I was (taking a long time) to make the reply above while you were making the follow up post upthread so now I think I understand more where you're looking for. You want conservative but not reformed essentially. You do want some formal/liturgy though, is that correct? That's a tough spot! I can see why you're torn on this. I'm thinking that Episcopal and Methodist are going to be too liberal for you. Eastern Orthodox is still going to have the priest absolution part that you don't want. Edited based on information below: If Eastern Orthodox is confession but not absolution I think this is possibly a good option/worth investigating! As I said on the previous post we're not Orthodox so I'm not expert but everything I've ever looked into about their theology is biblical and you might be happy there.

I feel like I might be able to help more if I knew what wasn't a fit and what is important to you. Try to clarify (for yourself) what you're wanting/not wanting. Based on your three choices I'm thinking part might be the Calvanistic slant to Reformed Pres?? Do you want conservative or more liberal? Traditions and historical context? The Episcopal church in the US could be too liberal for you depending on your bent. Catholic is by and large more conservative. If you want conservative without a Calvanist bent Catholic might be your best place. If you want to avoid Calvanistic perspective but don't want the conservative necessarily Methodist or Episcopal might be a fit. John Wesley was part of the Anglican church so Episcopal. There will be a lot of similarity in salvation concepts between those two and also Catholic. They will have different hiearchy, history, liturgy. Catholic will be the most liturgical. I'd look Eastern Orthodox too depending on your goals. It's as historical as the Catholic church and has tradition as old. You would get that linkage if it's important to you. There is no Pope so you'll see more independence. The theology is going to be familiar to you as it's similar to Catholic in many ways. It's got the history that might be important to you. However, the theologens involved are different and so it's going to be somewhat different--more Eastern than Western perspective/not influenced by Augustine. So it will be the similar but a bit different and could possibly be what you're looking for. I'm not Eastern Orthodox but I do appreciate the perspective/theology. I wish you lots of good will as you search for the right fit for yourself. I hope you find it soon.

Interference with some cancer treatments if I remember right. no benefit, and then benefit with some. On prevention not necessarily--there was a study that showed DNA damage in a test tube (only test tube, not verified in people) with high dose vitamin C and another one showing the feeding of tumor cells. But I don't think we really know how it acts in people and I've not followed the current thinking. http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69413.cfm When I had researched it I found a lot of mixed information re: benefits. I think it's better to reserve high doses for when you need them and I decided to go another route. Vitamin C rich foods clearly are a good idea for immune boosting and the contain a variety of substances to do that. There is no debate on their benefit.

My priorities (based on research support for effectiveness) would be: High dose vitamin D3--whatever it takes to get adequate levels and then maintain. If you don't know your level adults can take up to 9,000 IU of D3 per day indefinitely. Vitamin D council has great information about vitamin D levels. Deficiency is widespread and good vitamin D levels has proven immune system effects. Probiotics. Particularly florastor (s. bouldardi) strain is proven to raise the immune system. I'd do that and one that colonizes too if I could like Klaire labs. But if I could only do one it would be florator daily. Colostrum. Zinc. I like optizinc because it's absorbed so much better (it's not impaired by phytic acid and doesn't deplete other minerals). If quality sleep is an issue, melatonin. Melatonin itself has immune boosting effects and I'd use it without hesitation if sleep is an issue. We do take C daily but not in extremely high doses. I would do high dose if I needed it for a short term boost/to fight something off.

I'm not sure what conditions you are dealing with but these are the ones our geneticist and allergist send stuff on. This is the system where your important medical information is engraved (i.e. asthma, anaphylaxis) and they store detailed medical information available 24 hours should medical personal need it. https://www.medicalert.org/join/KidSmartDetail.htm?selected=MedicAlert+Membership_MedicAlert+Kid+Smart Ack. I can't get the link to go anywhere but the homepage but click the kidsmart link on the homepage.

I'm homeschooling my spectrum kid but every kid is different, every family is different, etc. so of course what's best for us isn't best for everyone. Do you want to homeschool? If it's a case of want to vs. have to (I can't tell from your post) I'd encourage you to try it and see how it goes. What have you lost if it isn't a right fit? My biggest hesitation would be the apraxia. Would you be able to do private speech therapy for the apraxia or a plan to handle the speech? You said public isn't an option and you can't afford to continue private. That doesn't leave any options! :grouphug: So I'm wondering if it's desire to homeschool or no options? You said you can't afford to keep doing the private school. Would that be the best option if you could afford it? If so does he receive SSI or disability already (that could help pay perhaps)?

We have an air mattress. If it's our parents (so "oldish") we take the air mattress and they take our bed. Kids sleep on couch cushions on the floors or couches.

He's young. I'd wait a (long honestly) while and come back to it. When you do come back consider I See Sam readers using the cursor. They cured my kiddo of the guessing problem. What I would avoid at all costs is anything that makes learning to read seem like a chore to him. He's very young and it's not coming naturally at this point and it's not important that he learn to read now. I'd drop this and just keep enjoying great books together for now.

You clean them like any other vinyl flooring except it's important not to over-wet and certainly not to leave water on them. You don't want liquid under those tiles. I just sweep and then mop. I like my steam mop but I'm not sure that's the way to go for a church situation.

Thanks for writing this. I always avoided showers/washing dishes/corded phones during storms because my mom made a deal of it. But it never occurred to me that the computer is a problem (duh...we even lost all our phones and computer modem once due to lightening but yet I never thought of it).

It sounds like depression to me. His life circumstances can certainly do that. Job insecurity is associated with major depression in men--he's at high risk in other words--and his responses sound consistent with depression to me. http://jech.bmj.com/content/62/1/42.abstract http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20031104/job-strain-insecurity-hurt-health http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1652155/men_suffer_greater_depression_during_unemployment/index.html I read somewhere that the risk in unemployed men is 1 in 7. In the previous article it shows that when those men move into work situations that they see as insecure/uncertain they don't improve in depression. I don't know if hubby is now work secure or not. I do know that depression can be really hard to climb out of though regardless of circumstance changes.

Oh, so incredibly sad. I'm praying for Ben and the family.

I get concerns about pre-writing. I want to caution you though that a child who is drawing scenes like that and writing copiously at four isn't typical--particularly a boy. So maybe the comparison is making this seem bigger than it is. If you think there are fine motor delays I'd look into working on that apart from handling a crayon--things like picking up stuff with tweezers, playing playdough, stringing beads, etc. I know there are good books on amazon for ideas. There is also a curriculum with materials that come in a box for pre-writing fine motor development created by an OT. I can't remember the name though. He might like snipping with scissors (makes a mess of course but good for fine motor control/work) and Kumon cutting, tracing, and other books might appeal to him as well. Basically, I'd come at developing his pre-writing skills from a different angle. Also have lots of paper and crayons available all the time so if/when he does develop and interest it's there for him. I did find HWT Pre-K good for my kids.

We're going with six year olds in June and I'm interested in input too.

Niether of my boys liked to draw at that age. One got into drawing around 5.5 to 6. The other still rarely draws. Just not his thing I guess.

Bumping you for other ideas. edited to add: I'm not necessarily right or saying this is the case/just that it has potential and is serious enough I'd want it ruled out if I were you. How long has this been going on? If it's new I'd wonder about your heart. Signs of impending heart attacks/heart issues in women are different than men and consistent with what you describe. Women experience symptoms sometimes for quite a while before a full heart attack. http://www.ynhh.org/healthlink/cardiac/cardiac_12_03.html I'd want my heart checked out. Did they already do that? If not I'd push and I'd google signs of women and heart attacks. http://ppbnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/nurses-heart-attack-experience.html Outside of that--reflux causing asthma?

Many of my friends are PS teachers (I'm a former teacher) and all have been supportive. I think/hope you'll find it's not a big deal.

Kari, I'm so very, very sorry for your loss of Timmy. I am praying for your family.

When I think nutrient dense protein foods I think guacamole and cheese with crackers, granola and yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwich with milk, other full fat dairy, etc. I'd try more for balance of fat/carbs/protein. Eggs/meat are pretty much protein and some fat and I personally wouldn't want that as my always available option. Kids need carbs for energy. I like the idea of choices/basket for him. That gives him some control.

It may be something bigger but my initial impression was he likely needs more calories (and he likes junk...which isn't that unusual among kids or even adults). Are you certain he's getting the calories that a nine year old needs? I'm asking because he's small (as are my kids) and boys of this age seem to eat tons of calories. I was shocked, absolutely shocked, when a nutritionist told me the average intake of a six year old boy (1600 calories) and I'd assume nine year old is way more than that. It's more food than I need. You should be able to google and find calorie needs for his age. I wouldn't absolutely restrict sugar (say at church). I'm not sure why you would want to especially given his sneaking it. I just wouldn't have the stuff I didn't want him to eat at home. But given his size and behavior I'd encourage him to have a substantial snack when he wakes. I would have something with carbs, fat, and protein if at all possible he could eat when he gets up. I'm thinking peanut butter and jam for example or granola. Not fruit alone. My guess is he can fill up in his early morning hours and then he'll eat again at family breakfast. Try it and see what happens. My son has low blood sugar in the morning. He gets some juice very first thing when he wakes.

That's a good question. My kids do actually. But here's the thing--he was still low in fat. All I mentioned put him up around 30% of calories kind of low. I think a food record would help figure out exactly what's going on--calorie intake or malabsorption. If his calorie intake is good you test for malabsorption. Another thing you want to know is if he's getting enough protein. He probably is/hopefully you've already got replacements but he's missing the most common dietary protein sources (as are we) so it's worth checking. But this post reminded me--keep a balance in calorie sources. A portion of kids (including mine) aren't going to handle a diet too high in fat or protein especially.

Minerals don't belong with other minerals. Generally there isn't an issue between vitamins and minerals though. So the iron needs to be by itself (or with the B's and C's actually would be good because both of those increase iron intake). The calcium needs to be three hours (both directions) from the iron. Switch your iron--really, even though it's wasteful--since it's causing digestive stuff. Switch to Gentle Iron by Solgar or another form of ferrrous bis-glycinate. It's absorbed at least 3 x's better and won't have the digestive impacts. I highly recommend you switch. You'll be much happier and have better iron levels faster as well. The calcium is good with vitamin D. I'd take more D3 and/or have my level tested. I believe (check) 6000 IU should be safe for pregnancy. It's what's recommended for breastfeeding. Vitamin D council website may have information about vitamin D and pregnancy. I'd do iron and b vitamins/C in the morning. Then I'd do calcium and D at lunch or night. Consider magnesium at lunch and before bed too or just before bed (some controversy with magnesium and calcium together at the same time though we do that..but you need magnesium to use calcium). Remember also that calcium is absorbed about 500 mg. per time. So if you're eating calcium rich foods you'd take the calcium pill at another time.

We struggle with weight gain in my food allergic child too. He gained nothing in the past year. I always let him eat as much as he wanted (which seems like a lot) and we do three meals and two snacks so I was upset by it all. We kept diet records and he just wasn't getting enough calories. It seems like dairy and nut are common staples of kid diets and what they provide are protein and fat. We had the protein covered in other ways. But we had to up the fat calories to get enough calories basically. Fat is calorie dense compared to carbs and protein. So, instead of a pat of ghee (he tolerates ghee, I know not all dairy allergic kids do) on toast he gets a tablespoon now. I use about double the amount of coconut oil in my granola now (tropical traditions so tree nut trace free). I put a smoothie in as an extra snack and put fat in it. That sort of thing. He gained 2.5 pounds in a month (average weight gain at his age is 1 pound per month). So...I hope we're on our way. My recommendation is keep a record of what he eats for about three days. I hated it but the pediatrician insisted and I'm glad we did.

You might be ok but I believe the time does vary from pill to pill--check your package information. It should be in there pretty clearly. If you didn't get that it will be online and/or the pharmacist will be able to tell you. I think most are seven days (assuming it's started at the right time) but I had one that was a month. I'd make sure for the one you're taking. Personally, I'd use back up a month no matter what my packaging said. That's because as time went on some pills made me extremely sick (which lowers the effectiveness). I'd want to know it was going ok before I counted on it.