Ann and SJ, Thanks for checking back! Dh fought for three straight night shifts. On the evening of the third night, dc and I had to leave, as two of our dc are asthmatic, and the wind had shifted the smoke directly over our area. Dd especially, was having trouble breathing. But the wind was also a blessing in disguise, as it was favorable for the established fire lines. So the firefighters really got things under control that night. The winds also brought blessed rain the next day, and that completely put the fire out!! Hurray! It could have been so much worse. 5000 acres burned, but NO structures were lost, and no-one was injured. The professional fire fighters took on the more dangerous jobs, and did a great job of keeping the ranchers in supportive positions (maintaining fire lines) and out of harm's way. So we are very thankful. And all is "back to normal" for us. There are so many fires going in other states, though. The firefighters there, and the victims of the fires, are constantly in our thoughts and prayers. Again, thanks for checking on us. :) With warm regards, Jackie

A little more info: The woman who represents the exchange program is an acquaintance of ours. We attend the same church. When she asked if we would consider hosting this exchange student, I told her thanks, but no; we're moving in December. She asked if we would be interested in being a "welcome family", and host the student for up to 6 weeks, until a permanent family could be found. After discussing it with hubby and family, I told her "yes". The student can share a bedroom. I feel like we have a little experience with having "strangers" as part of our family. We have fostered many children, adopted 3, and generally are very open and accepting. Anyway, thanks for all your words of advice. We have basically decided that we will go ahead with the application process. The facilitator is very confident we will be approved right away. If we didn't do this, this exchange student would apparently miss the opportunity to come to the US this year, as typically, they have already found their host family by this time. Thanks again, Jackie

We've just learned of a 15 yr. old foreign exchange student that's looking for a host family. There are 6 of us in our family. Everyone is in favor of hosting this young lady for part of the fall semester (we're moving in December, so she would be moving to a new host family before then), except for our 13 yr old dd. She has come out very strongly against the idea because she "doesn't want to share our family with a stranger", and because "everyone would be paying attention to her, and no-one would talk to me". We are not asking this dd to share a room with the exchange student, as our older dd has volunteered. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the French culture, and to practice our hospitality skills. I think it would expand the horizons of our entire family. Like I mentioned, everyone agrees, except one dd. What would you do? I think that dd's concerns are unfounded. I told her that she could be the one to introduce the exchange student to people we know. I told her she might make a new friend. I told her we would be doing some fun stuff together as a family because the exchange student was with us.... things we wouldn't normally do, because, well, that's how it works when you have a foreigner in your home. You want to make their experience a good one, so you do fun stuff. So hive, would you go ahead and host the student, and hope that the experience is great all around? Or would you pass on the opportunity since one dc says she doesn't like the idea? I am :bigear: Jackie

Yet another update. Dh is home, safe and sound. It was a long night. The state has taken over the fire, which hopefully means no more local night crews. But we will know in a few hours if dh will be called back out tonight. Right now he is answering the unending questions from our dc. :)

Yes! That would be me. ;)

About 4 more years, and then I'm going to work to start earning money for tuition. :)

Update: Dh is still not home. I called dispatch, and was told that the night went well and the crews held the lines! Yay for the ranchers! The fire has burned about 2000 acres, but NO structures. Thank God. The night crew has been relieved. Then they will attend a briefing, and hopefully be able to come home. They're expecting air crews from Omaha and Rapid City today. I have not heard a containment %. I can see the fire just blazing away from our house. It is in very rough terrain. I'm sure they'll be fighting it for many days. I'm expecting dh to be on night crew for the next few days. I will know more when he gets home. Thank you to all of you who prayed. Please keep all firefighters in mind. Resources are stretched thin with fires here, and in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

We named our oldest Isabelle. Then, over the last couple years Isabella became trendy. She is called Isabella all the time. It makes us crazy. She corrects people immediately, and rather loudly! I really don't like trendy names. :(

:lol: But surely they could come up with a ridiculously difficult dressing!

Well, I'm no expert, but when I was in France, we ate lots of raw veggies... straight out of the garden. Yum! I have family there, on my Dad's side, and they are mostly farmers. Most of the food they eat comes directly off the farm... meats, cheeses, and lots of veggies. We ate a lot of raw salads with tomatoes, green beans, various peppers, and onions. We also ate a lot of fresh fruit out of the garden. Maybe this is unique to an agrarian lifestyle? Maybe the recipes that make it into the cookbooks are more haute cuisine? My cousins in Paris ate a lot of processed foods. It was a bit of a status symbol. They had finally made it off the farm, and were fully embracing the urban lifestyle. Interesting question though. :)

Thank you Kalanamak. You are so right. This gives me great comfort. :001_smile:

Margaret, Are you near that Ft. Collins fire? I can't believe the magnitude of that fire! I heard it will be fall before they get it under control. Is that where your dd will be deployed?

Dh and several other ranchers in our community have been called on to fight a forest fire tonight. They are not trained fire fighters. This has been a drought year for us. The fire flared up today, and it is a very fast moving fire, driven by dry, hot winds. This is a small community and everyone helps wherever they can. There are many crews fighting the fire, but they felt they needed to call on the ranchers of the community to serve as night crew. They will be given safety gear, and a quick training on the how to's of fire fighting, then sent out to fight the fire. While I am thankful for ALL the men and women risking their lives to fight this fire, I am especially concerned for these ranchers who have not been formally trained. I would truly appreciate your prayers.

Thank you Sharon. It's nice to hear that you liked the Catholic community there. Dd and I will probably visit this summer. Though she doesn't like the fact that Creighton is so urban, she is keeping an open mind since 4 of her cousins have gone there and done well. Best wishes to you and yours as you journey along.

Thank you, Creekland. I will definitely keep that in mind. I told dd to give me a "final" list because she just has not come any closer to making any decisions over the last year. I need to have a place to start. She needs to understand what the application process is like. For example, she just added Princeton to the list this month. Princeton requires two SAT subject tests, so she will spend a lot of time studying for those this summer. Nov. 1 is their suggested deadline for SAT Subject test score submission. So I'm glad she realized she wanted to apply there now, kwim? But I truly appreciate your advice and will certainly keep an open mind about last minute additions to her list.

We looked briefly at Carroll college for Dd. My SIL went there and recommended it. But she was pre-pharmacy, and Carroll is known for it's sciences (especially nursing and pre-med) more than anything. So Carroll has dropped off the list, since Dd really wants a school that is recognized for its Liberal Arts. I did tell dd that I want her final list by July 15th. That has made this all very real. She's going to have to quit jumping around from this idea to that, and actually make some decisions!

Well, we'll be going through this for the first time with our oldest. I will be lurking here often, trying to learn how to get through this from everyone here who has so much wisdom on the subject. Dd is not entirely sure where she wants to go. She is strong in the Language Arts, and she would like to attend a Catholic school, (but it doesn't HAVE to be Catholic). She visited Princeton last month, and would like to apply there. Creighton, Steubenville, and Villanova are also on her radar. She will have her last high school season of swimming in the fall, so things are going to get very busy, very fast. I'm worried that I might let something fall through the cracks. I think I will ask her to have her final list of potentials ready for me in July, so that we will be ready to apply in August. Yikes~! I'm nervous about this!

Hi Melmac, My dd just finished taking Rhetoric II with Veritas. She took Rhetoric I last year. In the Rhetoric I class, (10th grade for my dd) they used the "Ancient Rhetoric for Contemporary Students" text. In Rhetoric II, they used several books that aren't even in the catalog. These are some titles I can remember: "Say it Like Obama", "Aristotle's Rhetorics", "Here Comes Everybody", "Principles of War", "Rules for Radicals", "Protocol Matters", and "Game Change". Clearly these books used for Rhetoric II were chosen by the instructor, and he is very familiar with teaching from them. I think that in these upper levels, Veritas tends to list several books, and let the homeschool parent decide how to go about establishing a scope and sequence for the course. I hope that helps in some small way. The whole thing seems kind of nebulous to me. :001_smile: Cheers,

Other. I think that in general they are trendy, and that there are much better ways to express oneself than permanent body markings. I'm not judgmental enough to label a person as trashy because they've chosen a tattoo.... more like short-sighted and having poor judgement.

Thank you for posting this. Your story IS helpful to me, and I take all your comments in the spirit in which they were intended...... FWIW, I think your dd will flourish wherever she goes to school, because she obviously has parents that are paying attention and want the best for her. I wish you the best with your homeschooling next year.

Yes, that would be the time I BLEW UP a "Sole a la Meuniere" that I was making to impress my then fiance. :tongue_smilie: The recipe is Dover Sole, minced mushrooms and shallots, white wine, butter, and Swiss cheese. It's yummy. I had actually prepared the meal and presented 2 servings for the two of us. When I went back to check on the fish that was still in the oven (in case we wanted a second helping) I noticed it was kind of dry. Yeah, you can probably see what's coming next. I added a little cold white wine to the dish and put it back in the oven. Kind of hard to eat fish with all that Pyrex SHRAPNEL everywhere! :D He married me anyway. :D :D

Thank you Musicmom! Dd has taken Omnibus 1 through 5 with Veritas. I agree with your opinion on the History. She would really have to study for the non-western stuff. Since my original posting, I looked at a practice test, and I think the other thing she would really have to study is Geography. Omnibus does some map-work, but certainly not enough to cover what is on the test. I also looked at a Literature test, and I think dd would do OK there. She has had a fair amount of Lit analysis. I think it has been in a combination of Omnibus classes and Composition classes. Anyway, if her desire to apply to Princeton is accompanied by a willingness to study, I will certainly follow your advice and get the Official Study Guides for the tests. Thanks for posting! I appreciate it!

shameless bump

Did Omnibus prepare your student well for the subject tests? Which additional resources would you recommend? Just thinking about this since dd is *suddenly* interested in Princeton, and they require 2 subject tests @ application. :tongue_smilie:

So I guess the rubber doesn't ACTUALLY meet the road until somebody hires them? :confused: Hard to believe. Surely, a lot of them shake out during college. :confused: Apparently this problem is ingrained throughout our education system. I am overwhelmed by the scope of it. :001_huh: