Oh, thank you for this information. I would have been quite confused!:confused:

This looks great! Thanks Angie.

Dd scored very low on the math portion of the SAT. Happily, she scored very well on the reading and writing portions.;) If she could bring up her math scores, she would have a wonderful overall score. She will re-take the SAT next fall. Does the hive have any suggestions for what she can do over the summer to prepare her for the SAT math? She is taking Pre-Calc right now, and struggling! Math is just very difficult for her. I would love it if she could just shore up on basic Algebra and Geometry over the summer. FWIW, she took Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II at the local public schools, and got "A's". (I thought she would benefit from a "real" teacher!):glare: But that's a different story. Now that she's in an online Pre-Calc course, we're finding that the PS math was really "dumbed down", and her A's meant almost nothing. So, what would you suggest over the summer? She really needs to bring her score up! Oh, in preparation for the SAT this spring, she did practice tests in The Princeton Review book. Apparently, that wasn't enough. :confused: :bigear:, Jackie

Well, I'm pretty sure this isn't dating, but we do spend a lot of time, just the two of us, out on the ranch working together. We might drive out and check or feed the cattle together. Better yet, sometimes we ride horseback together for hours at a time just looking at the feed conditions and checking the cattle. Sometimes during the summer months, we get caught in a thunder storm and have to race to the nearest grove of trees for cover. We wait out the storm together, talking and laughing. Sometimes we even leave the ranch for our dates! :lol: We go to cattle sales or stock shows. The kids usually want to be there for those, so it's great family time. Occasionally, we might go out for dinner, but we're really better when we can be moving and talking at the same time. Like building fence and talking, or feeding and talking, or picking up hay and talking. :lol::lol: Oh, and did I mention that we never stop talking?? About anything and everything. The conversation and laughter just flows. Thanks for this thread. It reminds me that my dh and I are wonderfully compatible. When we were dating we went to symphonies, and plays, and sometimes skiing. Then we had 4 children and a ranch and working "dates". It doesn't matter. We just love being together! :tongue_smilie:

Isn't it nice to get a positive response once in a while? I have also received a few. It seems that whenever we're in the grocery store during traditional schooling hours, we get the inevitable "And where do you go to school?" question. On more than one occasion, when my dc have answered "we're homeschooled", I've heard, "Oh, aren't you lucky!". That feels so good to me. I feel that we sacrifice a lot in order for me to stay home and homeschool, and it's so nice to hear something positive once in a while. I think my dc ARE "lucky". (Even though there's a lot more hard work involved than "luck"). :tongue_smilie:

Yeah.... me too. ;)

I find this whole thing very interesting. I've noticed that some of my friends have difficulty with other, mutual acquaintances, over things like homeschooling and child-rearing. I have 2 friends that have been verbally abused about their homeschooling and housekeeping skills. It's weird. The people that are abusing my friends have never abused me. I think they know that I would never put up with it. It's as though they can smell weakness, and go in for the kill. Truly. Now I don't know if this is the case in your situation, but can't you just give this lady the "knock that crap off" look? And if she's oblivious, can't you take her a safe distance from your child and tell her "knock this crap off"?? I'm all for grace.... I've been in need of it many times in my life, and have also extended it to others. But this person isn't a candidate for grace, imo. She's just acting like a jerk. Don't let her treat you that way.

They never mentioned the term "twilight", only "general". I just don't remember being awake as being a big deal. Dd has a high threshold for pain, and a fairly low threshold for needles in her veins. :blink:

Yes, good point. This is not a dentist, it is an oral surgeon..... that's all he does. But I didn't think to ask if there would be an anesthesiologist administering the meds, monitoring the patient, etc.

Just back from the oral surgeon, and he wants to give my dd, age 17, general anesthesia when he removes her wisdom teeth. There are no difficult aspects to the surgery.... in fact, three of the teeth are already starting to come through the gums. Besides the fact that the surgeon "just prefers it that way", is there any reason for general anesthesia? I would rather do it with locals (that's how I did it, with no complications), rather than stand the risks associated with general anesthesia. Comments? Words of Wisdom? Answers? I am :bigear: ETA: My dd is asthmatic.

Seriously???? Your relative needs a life! Or a job. Or both!

((Jenny)). Me too....

My dd started swimming in 8th grade because she needed to do "something", and gymnastics was no longer an option for us. She chose swimming. She was pretty slow, and most of her competitors had been swimming since before they could walk. It was kind of discouraging. I told her "hard work pays off". She faithfully went to two-a-day practices starting in 9th grade. It was hard work. I took her to her practices because I was not about to tell her "hard work pays off", and then not do my part to make the hard work possible. Fast forward to her junior year, age 16..... she blossomed. She was 6th in the state in the 100 free. Even her coach was surprised. She now loves swimming. She has seen that hard work pays off. She is going to choose a private college where she can be competitive. She will not, in all likelihood, get a swimming scholarship, but she is a very good student, and if it is between her and another girl as to who gets the scholarship, maybe her swimming will swing things her way. Yes, she has given up other things, like a 2nd instrument, and FFA. But she has experienced some success, and knows that she is able to do hard things. In a nutshell, I wouldn't trade our choice. What's a few early mornings, if your child can learn such an invaluable lesson? Best wishes to you in your journey, Jackie

Congrats! I'm still taking classes towards my degree.....:(

No advice. I just wanted to say that I think it's nice that you and your husband are such a team with respect to the business and the homeschooling. It looks like a great system. If I was trying to decide how to simplify my life, I might ask myself.... "10 years from now, when I look back on things, in which area of my life will I be glad I put in the effort?" Also, is there any time for you and dh together? Are you setting apart any time for your marriage? I'm the worst at this, but I know it's important, and I'm trying to change. Cheers,

:iagree: My marriage is not a business transaction. My vows are sacred.

No advice, just :grouphug::grouphug:

"If it's Not Food, Don't Eat it!" by Kelly Hayford, C.N.C. I'm reading this book again to be reinforced in good food choices. A couple things: I am of French descent, and although I was born and raised in the USA, I was also taught to "live to eat". We enjoy our food, and put a lot of love and interest into meal planning and preparation. The family garden has always been a huge part of my life. The freshness of ingredients is always key. We raise beef, and have never believed that animal protein is unhealthy. Just the opposite. Furthermore, if we don't get enough meat in our diet, it is difficult to get an honest day's physical work out of any of us. We just run out of energy. I've done the other extreme too. Macro-biotic diet in my marathoning days. Works OK when you're goal is to be fast and light. But it didn't work well long-term. It was too blah, and didn't mesh with my "live-to-eat" mentality. :) Life is too short! So we eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. We eat lots of meat. Good, finished, home-raised all-natural stuff. Yummy! We eat whole grains when we eat them, and we eat our share of full-fat dairy. We get lots of exercise... no sitting on your duff around this outfit. And that is the key. Eat foods that burn cleanly, and then burn them off with physical activity. We also focus on strength and vibrancy, and not weight. Yatta.

No. Right now I don't like it. I LOVE my dc. I don't like homeschooling anymore. I've been schooling my dc for 12 years, and I'm just burned out. The toughest part is that dh works in a different state, so I am also RAISING my dc solo. We see dh maybe once/quarter, and we're all together during the summer. I am exhausted. Sometimes I think that homeschooling is ruining my relationship with my dc. Daddy is fun; I'm the bad guy.... always hounding them to get their work done. But I also know that NO ONE loves my dc as much as I do. And NO ONE cares about their education and their future as much as I do. So I feel trapped, and compelled to continue. But almost every day I dream of going back to my professional career, and dealing with adults. No, it wasn't perfect. But at least I could feel some success there. There. I said it.

...... and I've made several :001_huh: But the one I most regret right now was trusting the public school system to teach the subject I felt most unqualified to teach: Math. I'm terrible with math. I can do Algebra, Geometry and the like, but I really didn't feel qualified to teach it. So I sent dd part-time to the local public middle school and high school so she could receive the benefit of "real teaching". Big Mistake! :glare: She received A's all the way through Algebra II. I thought "all is well", right? Then because of certain extenuating circumstances, I needed her to do her Pre-Calc online. This is when I found out how terribly "dumbed down" the public school math was. I don't know if it's like this everywhere...... but it is certainly the case here! ARRRGGGGGHHHHH! Wish I could take that decision back and have a "do-over". :tongue_smilie: How about you? Are there decisions you've made that you wish you hadn't? Maybe something that could be of benefit to the rest of us so we don't go down the same path?

This post could have been mine...... today, and many other days over the past years. I too, am tired of the daily battle. DS, age 10 just got out of a timeout. I told him to go to timeout because he started to angrily write random numbers on his math sheet because he didn't want to put any effort into the assignment. This was AFTER I had been sitting next to him, giving him one on one instruction for the better part of 1/2 an hour, while my other dc worked busily at their assignments. He sat in timeout for about 45 min. I told him he could be done with the timeout as soon as he was ready to come back and complete the assignment. 45 min. later, he is working on it. 45 MINUTES!!!!! Hard-headed little guy!! On days like this I fantasize about putting them all in school and getting a paying job. This job is thankless!!

Amen to this! It is NOT always the teacher's fault. There are many things I know I've covered with my youngers (all average students), and when I quiz them and they give me the "blank stare" it drives me nuts. If they had been in public school, I would have probably blamed the teacher, LOL! But sometimes our students are just in la-la land and not paying attention!

I just started using this one: http://www.amazon.com/Pilates-Beginning-Workout-Ana-Caban/dp/B00005M1XE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325640774&sr=8-1 It was very doable for me, and I am NOT good at this sort of thing. Good luck!

I would definitely allow it in Western Europe. We have family in France, and I would want my son/daughter to be near enough to family in case they needed any sort of help. lol, I guess I've heard too many horror stories about the "host family from he**". Our oldest dd is currently looking at colleges, and one of her most important criteria is the quality of their study-abroad program. I can't wait to go visit her! :tongue_smilie:

I'm so sorry Ellen. It is tough when our family behaves in hurtful ways..... I say this gently..... please comfort yourself with the wonderful memories you have of times past. That's how I get through it. Just trying to be thankful for the good times.... I'm praying for you.