And what a beautiful name she has. I'm so sorry for your loss and heartache. :grouphug:

:iagree: A person who is depressed can't 'snap out of it' or pull themselves up on their own.

A visit to the doctor and psych is in order. The doctor can check for thyroid imbalance, which can trigger depression and moodiness, plus the sleeping a lot sounds 'off'. Depression is a strange thing...and manifests itself strangely sometimes. When I was at my worst, I could be happy go lucky one minute and super down the next (and I'm not manic). It may not make sense to those who've never been depressed. But it is easy to be depressed and still be able to have fun and laugh and play. The times of quiet, inactivity, boredom, doing difficult things (like school work), being tired...those times were the worst for me. Your dd said this to you late at night when she was tired. She was probably laying in bed thinking for a good while before coming in to tell you. That tells me that she needs help. She may or may not talk to you or your dh honestly simply because now it is the daytime and she has things to do and will be busy. She has things to think about besides her feelings. Don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me because I've btdt. Your dh seems concerned and has suffered from depression. That is all the more reason to get her to the doctor. 2 of your dearest family members are telling you something is off...please listen.

We went through influenza A about 9 years ago. It.was.awful. And all of us were caught too late for tamiflu. I will second the recommendation to keep an eye out for other stuff that can crop up...my dd ended up with pneumonia and a hospital stay after her bout with influenza....not said to scare you, but to help you be aware of the possibility of other illnesses sneaking up on you. :grouphug:

I feel your pain and frustration...we just bought a house in February and had to put $3000 into plumbing repairs the week after we closed.

I understand. My dd is SO sick of people telling her she is skinny. She is in the underweight category on standard charts and is naturally very thin.

Speaking from our experience with SL through Core E, I recommend reading all the readers before handing them off to your student. I also recommend at least previewing the read alouds unless you are good at editing on the fly. The opinions on the SL forums vary A LOT about what content is disturbing/troubling/too mature. So if you are concerned, it would be better for you to pre-read/preview them yourself. There were several instances where I was glad I read them myself and didn't take the word of others... : )

It is easy to find a few books to drop if it becomes too much...once you purchase and have SL forum access, you can look on the forums for recommended book drops by those who have already been through the core. In all the cores we have done (except the preschool cores), we never read every single book in every core. :)

I would jump in where she fits in the MFW cycle...that will be Adventures. Then you could do ECC in third. I would not use Creation to the Greeks with a 2nd grader.

MUS. We used it for almost all of dd's third grade year and it set dd back. There just wasn't enough review and she forgot key concepts that she had already learned. TT. Ugh. Dd was 3 problems from passing on to the next level, so I used the recommendation of TT and placed her in the level she tested for. She got to lesson 80 before she learned anything new. Wow have I made some math mistakes. And we are still trying to get back on grade level. ...almost there...almost there...so close I can taste it. lol! Dd has worked really hard and been patient as I push her through math so she will be ready for pre-algebra next year.

Rosetta Stone language programs. :confused: It is a big guessing game, imo, and a big ol' waste of money. Math-U-See. The year we used this, dd was in 3rd. It had very little review and set us back 6 months or more in math. Spanish for Children. I could list a ton, but those are the biggies.

The 'messiest' art projects we have ever done included chalk pastels. :) I do not allow glitter in my house. Or finger paints. Or poster board paints. or tiny little stickers that end up everywhere. watercolor paints are a stretch for me and even then, they only use 1/4 cup of water because we have had cups tip over before. yuck. The kids have never complained and they do plenty of messy crafts in sunday school classes, vbs once a year, Christmas parties etc...and they always end up in the trash within a week anyway because they fall apart. I don't want to clean up huge messes (by my 7 y.o. ds--13 y.o. cleans up after herself) only to end up throwing the project out in a week because it gets squished or stepped on or... No guilt involved. :) It is what it is.

Oh boy have I btdt! It took me nearly 2 years to come to the realization that we had made the right decision. We ended up living in that town for 13 years. Regarding the OP, we have made 2 long distance moves (in the U.S.) in the last 2 years. It was tiring and we are SO glad to be settled permanently, Lord willing. What helped us the most was getting rid of lots of stuff and being very organized with what went into what boxes. IMO the hardest part about moving is getting to know people, getting involved in church, discovering what to do in the community etc...

We came to the realization about 6 months ago that our daughter was disrespectful. We pulled in the reins quickly and without leniency until we gained back some respect. We required her to respond with yes mom or yes dad every.single.time we asked her to do something. We took her phone away and would give it to her only when she had earned it by being respectful. We made her answer to us for things that we previously wouldn't have...such as using her computer time, reading time at night, etc... It was hard. But it didn't take long to see a turn around in her attitude and respect toward us and her brother. We have been able to loosen the reins again, but she is still required to give us a respectful answer of yes mom, yes dad. In our situation, respect did not beget respect. We are respectful towards our kids...but I guess we were also too lenient. Better to get a handle on it now rather than when they are in the teen years and more independent... :grouphug:

When I go without excercising for awhile and start up again, it always affects my cycles.

Since I started homeschooling almost 8 years ago, we have lived in 3 different states. All of them were/are very relaxed regarding homeschooling accountability. One state only required that I submit a copy of birth certificates and a letter stating we were homeschooling. The other two, nada. Nothing was/is required of me. In the last 8 years I have not met one single homeschooler who did not properly educate their child/ren.

My ds will be 8 in a couple of weeks. Most humor/irony/figurative language goes right over his head too. We joke a lot around here and I just explain stuff to him when he doesn't get it. Oh, he was a bit language delayed because he didn't speak or hear any English until he was nearly 3. He is finally starting to make some real progress in his reading ability, which is refreshing. He does very, very well with mathematical concepts, has been doing 100 piece puzzles since age 3.75, and has been putting together complex lego sets on his own since 4.75. So I don't attribute his lack of understanding humor to his language delay...I attribute it to the fact that he deals well with concrete concepts better than abstract concepts which vary (humorous is different to different people). I hope that makes sense...it is late and I am tired. : )

My dd wears a tankini top with regular bikini bottoms (no tummy showing) or she wears board shorts. Are you looking for something that covers the legs and shoulders? If so, a rash guard shirt and long board shorts would work. Only problem...if she need to wear a br@, the rash guard shirt will not work unless you can find something for her to wear underneath to give the support she needs.

Ahhh...selective vision! My kids suffer from it too. :) My ds is especially prone. When he tells me his room is clean, I have him go check again and tell him that anything is left out, I confiscate it for a week. He goes back in and double checks. This has always worked. I have never had to actually take anything away. I also remind him to look carefully for legos because they will be vaccumed up.

Thanks for all these great ideas!!! We had thought about getting a second car and keeping the Yukon parked in the driveway unless we need to tow...the fuel savings 'could' make the car payment if we were to buy say a Prius that has excellent mileage (50 mpg). It still may be an option. I guess it will depend on what we can find. We will keep our options open.

We own a 2005 GMC Yukon and own it outright. And we are spending $400 a month on fuel! This is being careful...combining all trips, only going somewhere when necessary. My kids don't have any extracurricular activities because of fuel cost. It is our only car, and because we don't have a payment, we have been justifying spending that much for fuel. However, my kids really want to be able to do some extra curricular stuff. So. We want to trade in our Yukon for another vehicle. The musts: It must be able to tow 3500 pounds. It must be able to hold 4 passengers with shoulder belts (preferably at least 5) And it must get at least 25 mpg average. Any ideas?

My impression was different about the can-do attitude. :) But yes, there were a lot of setbacks which reminded me a lot of the television series.

We read that book about 6 months ago or so. I did not find any objectionable content. However, on another forum I frequent, one poster mentioned that she didn't want her kids reading the book because when taking their wedding vows, Laura tells Almonzo to have the preacher take out the 'obey' part of the vows. I really liked the book because it showed Laura's spunk as well as her determination to make it through difficult times. And it shows Almanzo's great love for Laura in the things he did for her. I thought it was a neat book and I'm glad we took the time to read it.

Yep. I know how it feels. Last year when we were selling, a lady stayed for less than 5 minutes. And the previous house we sold, one person stayed for over 2 HOURS. While we were parked down the street waiting to go back home. She didn't make an offer. I hope your house sells soon!!

Thanks for sharing in my new adventure. :001_smile: I thought about expanding our flock next year with some chickens that say various colored eggs. The kids would sure enjoy that.