Could it be a boil? Except that boils usually are painful b/c they are filled w/ infection. If the infection doesn't clear completely, I could see that it might reduce and then come back again. Boils look A LOT like a pimple, and they can be anywhere on the body (usually in more private regions though). My other thought was a ganglion-type cyst. I'm not sure if ganglion cysts are on noses though? I would get it checked out though. A doctor will able to tell right away if it looks suspicious or harmless.

Why do you think that so many adults today struggle with their childhoods? There are so many people (myself included) who were fed and clothed and generally provided for, but something else was "missed" along the way. Why do you think that is? Is it because so many mothers worked outside the home and couldn't provide the nurturing? Was it because the family unit was reduced to *just* mom and dad (instead of living w/ extended family) and too many household burdens fell on mom and dad? Were the times-a-changing and the focus shifting from the family to self? Maybe that the generation that was able to provide for their children forgot about providing themselves.

YES!!! I guess my worry, too, is that the kids will just get sick of it. I was just thinking, too, that faith CAN be integrated into math, but by working hard without grumbling, with a good attitude and obeying Teacher!! On a side note, I was reading a favorite theological classic discussing the virtues of the Virgin Mary. (Stay with me, I have a point!) During that time in history, there wasn't a liturgy, the Rosary (duh), or even well-constructed prayers. Work was prayer and God's will was doing your work. Reminds me of "old school" Catholic education, for better or worse. Monks certainly followed this lifestyle. Botany, Astronomy, and nearly every other science was SCIENCE, and that study was turned into prayer, even though you can study botany for ages without a mention of Christ. See my connection!

For us, as Cathoilcs, sometimes it seems it's a ridiculous streeeeetch to make EVERY subject Catholic, i.e., My Catholic Speller, Catholic Vocabulary, Catholic Math. Does a picture of Jesus or St. Francis at the top of a worksheet make adding and subtracting more meaningful? To us, no. We integrate our faith into our work and play, but, in our opinion, math can just be math. The religious math curriculum we've seen seems a bit cheesy and not apt to increase our DC's faith our understanding. Math can just be math :)

I don't have anything to debate, and I haven't read through the entire thread because sometimes I get a bit miffed when I read about all of the misinformation people have about the Catholic Church. However, I just wanted to write, in case it hasn't been mentioned, that Kimberly Hahn's book Life Giving Love is an especially beautiful account of how NFP impacted her faith and marriage. It's not all rainbows and butterflies, and it's certainly not "have as many children as humanely possible." As a young Catholic mother conflicted with my own goals and child-rearing, her book gave me a deep peace and a lot of inspiration. Just wanted to share:grouphug:

I don't know if this question has been answered yet, but there are many Christian curriculums that are considered to be Anti-Catholic (to Catholics). Also, while Catholics are Christians, using a solely Christian curriculum wouldn't be adequate for many Catholics because many aspects of the Catholic faith aren't touched.

I had very ambiant music. Specifically, I had a college choir CD. The choral music helped my concentration.

Thanks! That's a great idea to do both, I always get stuck in the box where I think you HAVE to stick with one thing. The actual *WRITING* part of CW looks so good, and the students' work that people post on the CW forums is incredible, but I wonder if TPR is a more thorough program. Anyone else?

I've looked over these programs A TON, but I just can't seem to figure out which one would be the best fit for our family. I have HS friends who use Phonics Road and enjoy it. However, Classical Writing, to me, looks like such a neat curriculum. My hesitations with it are that: A) It's new and I don't know what the long-term effects would be B) You have to make decisions for supplementing. The idea of Phonics Roads is appealing b/c of the coordination of spelling/grammar/language. But CW looks really impressive, too. Has someone done both? Any preference? If you use Classical Writing, what kind of supplements do you use?

Greater Minnesota. Homeschooling is widely common and accepted in our area. It has to be. Oftentimes it's the homeschoolers who are winning the football, basketball and baseball games, not to mention the choirs and the bands. While I know many, many, many highly educated and extremely successful people who have been locally educated, the school systems here, at least in the last few years, are failing horribly and have an awful reputation.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

I would use my work money to buy pop or fast food. My mom didn't buy pop, and we didn't eat out, so this was fun. I'm generally a health nut and pretty slender, but I still indulge myself in a "pig out" with friends every now and then. Let's be honest, taquitos and french fries taste REALLY good sometimes!

In the USA, I don't think that HS is under any threat. Like many posters have said, it may be the future of schooling in general. There are some countries where Hs'ing is illegal. Sweden comes to mind. From what DH has told me (attorney who has worked w/ NGOs on this subject), that countries like Sweden with a 0% population growth rate can't "spare" a single Swede to be educated with anything but their system. The demographics of places like Sweden (or Germany, France), as well as the education system are much different than they are in the US, i.e. no immigration, fewer workers, putting pressure on the younger generations to be educated for the specific needs of the country. We have friends in Norway who are pleased with the education system. I don't think that many of those smaller Eurpoean countries have the same education issues that are present in the US, the cultures and belief systems are not widely varied like they are in the US, and thus there isn't a conflict of values within the education. In the US the curriculum can't be offensive to ANY culture, race, religion, etc., but if you have a small little country full of the same (generally) race, religion, values and culture, the curriculum just can't be offensive to THEM. This is essentially what Hs'ing tries to do in the home. I'm not a lawyer or an expert, but this is just what I've heard by word of mouth. It seemed like a good explanation to me and has capsized any fears I've had about my rights as a parent and a teacher taken anyway.

Take it from Caroline Bingley and Mr. Darcy. "No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved.†“All this she must possess,†added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.†I'm joking, of course, but reading this post made me think of it :).

I understand, and I know there are plenty of babies that I feel bad for myself on a (nearly) daily basis. I wasn't trying to play devil's advocate, more so just thinking of how excited I get to visit with adults after playing patty-cake all day. Of course, each situation has it's "feel," and this one was just not right to you. I get it now. And while I might try to pawn off a little one so I can get a three minute conversation in, I'm always carrying a bag of tricks and plently of snacks with me in case there isn't a willing taker. ;)

Both of my babies have been fussy from birth until over a year old. Needless to say, no one ever wanted to hold my baby boys, and I was so gracious when dear friends and family insisted on taking my bundles so I could take a shower, go out for coffe, or visit when at a family gathering. So...thank you for giving a busy and probably overwhelmed mom (and GM)a break! My high-needs infants needed CONSTANT stimulation, and if they weren't stimulated, they fussed. So, every.single.day.all.day.long it was me entertaining the infants. But, honestly, if I had moment of adult interaction at an event, I think I would put the infant stimulation on the back burner for a few hours, knowing they get it all day from me. Maybe that was the mom's logic?

I'm HERE!!! I'm a big lurker and post searcher. I love to search for curriculum threads so I can make the best decisions possible in the years to come. Perhaps I'll be more active when we delve more deeply into schooling. Happy Sunday!

:iagree: One of my favorites. I also like Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

The Sandlot Beethoven Rookie of the Year

:iagree: Bob's Red Mill carries brown rice flour. Amazon.com sometimes carries obscure GF food. Often if you buy in bulk w/ "Subscribe and Save" (you get a certain amount every 1, 3, or 6 months) you can get up to 35% off. Shipping is almost always free, too.

:iagree:

I just found my mom's last birthday gift from me hanging in the laundry room. I guess this means she didn't like it. *tear*

DH bought me a Wal-Mart bike two summers ago. We went biking together and I absolutely could not keep up with him (he has a Trek Mtn bike). It wouldn't pull our bike trailer, either, it was way too hard. DH returned the bike and then got me Raleigh hybird (about $360). I think I'll have this bike forever. I couldn't believe the difference!!

Music. I play multiple instruments and have a deep *need* for music. I would count my iPod as my most valuable possession. The most difficult part of me having young children is that I can't play an instrument without kids all over me! Reading and learning in general. I love, love, love books. I dream of the day when I can read from morning 'till night... Nutrition. I grew up in the 90's when my parents thought that Spaghettio's were a good source of nutrition and fruit roll-ups were a good source of fruit. Now with my own children, I'm trying to undo my own bad habits and really delve more deeply into healthy eating, cooking, and whole foods. Each year I get better and better, and I'm always excited when I finally start to LIKE a new fruit or vegetable after forcing myself to gag it down for so long. Childbirth. I've had two hospital births. The last one went so fast that we barely made it to the hospital on time. DS was born completely unassisted with a nurse standing by not knowing what to do. Now I can't stop reading about homebirth. If/when we have another, I really hope to go through with a homebirth. I still have many fears, but I'm hoping that if the time comes to make that decision that I'll be manned with the education I need to make a confident choice.

This is *exaclty* what it's like in my family. It's very child-friendly, to say the least, and I am the odd one out who gets very irritated by it. Dh's brothers and sisters all have big, big families, and since they were all married and started having children before us, this is all I've ever known. Actually, I'm really glad to see this post, because for a long time I thought that *I* was the weird one who was always annoyed to have every single family event be absolutely centered around the kids. Since becoming a mother I've actually thought that I was a *bad* mother for insisting my children not talk over me when trying to have conversations, because in Dh's fam, everyone would *politely* listen to what every child had to say. I'm all :bigear: for this one. This is something that has ALWAYS bothered me, because growing up I would have been A LOT of trouble, or greatly embarrassed for interrupting my mother during a conversation with another adult, but in my family circle of many, many HS'ers and very attentive parents, it's commonplace.