I have not heard of the BJU writing test. Could you tell me more about it or link me to a site? This is one area in which I feel inadequate to evaluate. How do you use it? Do you send it away or is it a set of standards to follow? Things like that. Thanks for mentioning this. It is off my radar.

I only have experience with the yellow powdered variety so I would not have a clue about the red. Sorry.

I'd just cook some plain rice or noodles in it and add meat (leftover ham?)or veggies. Curry would be a great addition. Sounds like a great recipe! To bad dh won't eat coconut. Personally, I love it.

This has been rolling around in my head for a while. I seem to have a weird mixture of confidence and insecurity. I know it is not unusual for young homeschoolers to feel insecure and for me it is getting more infrequent but I oscilate between the two. So when you are feeling either way, where do you go for *objective* feedback? These are the thoughts I have. Standardized testing does not evaluate things like character, emotional health and creativity. Family can be an odd mixture of biased and ill informed, especially if they are ps teachers or live distantly. Casual aquaintances and public school families are often not on the same page philosophically. Close friends are, well close friends, and potentially not willing to be critical if there are weaknesses. I hate putting friends in uncomfortable positions. More mature homeschoolers are just too busy to stop and take notice. Yonger homeschoolers just do not have the experience to judge. So, where does that leave a person. Ftr, I am not feeling bad about where we are and for this time of year that is miraculous but I feel insecure enough to wonder if I'm being objective. :huh: Anyone have wisdom they would like to share?

Thanks for posting this. Unfortunately, I have known about this gene for several years now. Several members in my family suffer from this gene disorder, both older and younger. Comforting. Now, I know I have a perfectly good reason for it. :blushing: My poor daughter, you would not believe the combinations she comes up with!

Have you thought about closing the vents in the rooms you are not using? We close off the vents in the basement in the summer when we are a/cing because it gets cold down there fast. Could you do something similar by closing off the vents to bedrooms during the day to force the warm air into the used parts of the house? Just a thought. I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

This is Mediteranian Soup. I have made it in the crock pot. It works well but you would probably want to stir it a few times. A package of dried Minestroni soup mix (Knorr or some other brand) 4 cups of water...you can water it down later as it is a fairly hearty soup. 3/4 cup red french lentils 2 cloves garlic crushed 1 teaspoon cumin Mix all these together and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Add one can drained chickpeas and simmer for 10 more minutes. This is a thick soup that tastes good with crusty bread and butter. You can garnish with sour cream and/or chopped parsley but I don't usually. I'm not sure what you are loking for in diabetic recipes. This has very complex carbs that can be eaten without a refined starch like rice. Serve without the bread if you want....I just cut and paste the recipe from another thread.:001_smile:

Excellent point. I have a bs with a cell phone but you would want there to be a phone when you leave.

Cathmom, I hear what you are saying. I am sorry this has been your experience.

We gave up our land line about a year ago. Our initial concern was using up all of our minutes. That ended up being unneccessary as none of us are chatters on the phone and I think many contracts are unlimited minutes now. Sometimes I wish we had a land line in our master bedroom for emergencies. It *is* a bit of a pain to remember each night to bring up the cell phone. But... We don't ever have any problems spending the extra $70 each month. ;) We have not missed our land line.

I think this is giving demons much more power than they possess. I have heard of the yoga concerns, I don't do yoga and have no real convictions either way. The stretching one is new. I have even heard about how balsamic vinegar is New Age, thus a tool of the devil. :glare: hmmm I think these things can indicate a spirit of fear. I would talk with my kids later if someone was encouraging them to be afraid in their faith. If this was a person in leadership at my chuch I would have much to think about. But that is me, I can be faulted for erring on the careful side when it comes to church leadership.

I swear it is the OmergaBrite. Thanks to who ever recommended it. It is saving my Christmas spirit this year. Anj, I know what you mean. Many years I have given up before it has even started. I looked for the least amount of work to do and cut the list in half. I felt tired of daily routines and too tired to make special holiday routines. I could never afford what I wanted...even though we had so much. These were the things that kept me going: focusing on helping one person that was not expecting it, limiting my time out of the house to avoid the commercialism, letting myself take time off and caring for me. We all survived and found that Christmas does too. It became the meals shared and the memories made and it was good. Maybe next year will feel better, then again maybe not. But it passes and January brings new days without the hoopla.

:hurray: Your schoolroom looks fantastic! First the stove and now the bookshelves. Can you come over to my house? I have a room (or two) for you to work on. ;) I'm cleaning out the gift closet this weekend. WOW! It is amazing what you find when you clean. I could stop buying for Christmas right now and we would be set. Unfortunately, I won't. :tongue_smilie: Congrats on your cleaning out!

Thanks Pandor99 and Ria. If it is as easy as it sounds I might just start shopping on ebay again. I knew it was put there but I did not know the name. It's a good idea, now that I know it. ;)

Someone told me that there are computer programs that buyers use to make their bids more competative. Not sure how it works but I know I don't have it. I noticed around the same time as being informed of this advantage (which I do not have) that I was losing *all* of my bids. I mean every one. Which was unusual. So I gave up on ebay. I'm sorry you lost yours...if your going to do alot of buying on Ebay you may want to look into this software. It changes your outcome.

It is heaven. Our first year of marriage I worked all day Thanksgiving and dh was planning to be at home all day doing nothing. So, he got the turkey job. He was *so* good at it that since then he does all the big meaty things. ;) We all love holidays as he gets to do something different and I get some time off. I gush over it alot which helps. You dh sounds like a perfect candidate. Smoked Turkey. :drool: Enjoy your new found freedom!

Happy Thanksgiving !! We are Canadians living in the US so are alone tomorrow. Dh does the turkey so all I have is the veggies. I'm sure I'll be tired tomorrow as well. It's a nice feeling isn't it.

I don't know but I found this sample page. http://www.marmeedear.com/uploads/FreebiePDF_Files/SugarNSpice_cloves_Eversion_3.pdf It was not easy to find so I thought I would send it out to you.

I actually hate pumpkin pie....except when I'm pregnant. For all three of my pregnancies I craved pumpkin pie. Twice it started before I even knew I was pregnant! Something in my body needs whatever pumpkin has to offer. For a joke once, when I was not pregnant, I told dh that I was wanting some of the stuff (ick) and he got this funny look on his face. :lol: I let him off the hook pretty fast. Thankfully, he does not seem to miss it. I love pumpkin muffins though. Go figure.

My dd loved Hero Tales ...but it is a love it or hate it kind of series. We have read George Muller from the series Christian Heroes: Then & Now. I second the recommendation made by a previous poster, the series is great. We read the one about George Muller several times and it was such a blessing. However, I have heard that you need to pick them carefully for the younger ones as some of the stories are graphic.

I'm breaking my record this year-ours is usually only up for a week. We put up a two foot paper tree today. It has the decorations but it was only about a half an hour of kids work. It looks cute in a kids kind of way. Our real tree, what ever form that takes this year, will have to wait. I'm usually a wreck at Christmas. :crying:

Yes, it does require some planning and cleanliness. But, I think of it as stuff I *should* be doing for myself and my family anyway. So it gets done for several reasons now. We have three floors to our house and the homestay room is far from our master bedroom. So the mess tends to collect in my room. But, then I just tidy it each night and try to walk away in the morning. It is something to consider for some families. We did not think we would be suited to it either but it worked out for us after the initial adjustment. I hope you find something that works for your whole family.

We make a few extra dollar hosting an international homestay. You need an extra room and regular meals. Ours have had all different levels of independence and English skills. We live close to a university but I have heard of high school level homestays. We are accustomed the lifestyle but it did require some adjustments years ago.

WOW! Ours gets 14-16 around town. You are lucky! In spite of the mileage, I like our T&C. Ours does have the possessed feeling about it with the electrical. The doors have a tendancy to "bounce" open when closing automatically. It is odd but not a problem. Good luck on the buying. Now should be a good time for a steal.