Do you have a regular doctor you can call and ask? Unless you wake up tomorrow with significantly less pain, I think you should call if you have a doc or go in to a new doc/urgent care if you don't. ~50 hours of abdominal pain is concerning. Try to keep track on a scale. If the worse was 10, where are you now? Ask yourself again when you wake up. If it's more than 2 or 3, take action.

Oven frittata: Salute some kind of allium (onion, leek, shallots), about 3 cups pre-cooked. Spray a 9x11 pan (I use glass) with cooking spray. Add alliums to the pan and spread evenly. Saute 4-5 cups of another veggie. I often use sliced mushrooms or broccoli in fall/winter. If you use mushrooms, saute long enough to get the water out. Put most of the sautéed veggie in the pan and spread out, reserving some veggies for top of frittata. Beat 10-11 eggs with a bit of cream (optional) and a TBSP of water (steam makes eggs fluffier.) Add 2 tsp salt. Add eggs to pan. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. I often use Parmesan or Gruyere but cheddar works well with broccoli. Don't use the powdery cheese; it doesn't melt well. Add reserved veggies on top. Bake at 375 for ~ 20 minutes. It should puff up a bit and brown. Convection works well too; use 350 for that. I usually make a salad while it's in the oven.

I kept a list of work missed when DS was sick in October and we're making it up this week. I'm a real meanie. Not really though; it's only taking a couple of hours day, plus DS's music practice. I've decided to spend part of the break doing this 1,000 most common words spelling thingamajig to get a bead on DS's true current spelling level. I fear I've spent too much time in fear of missing a spelling rule, allowing it to get too easy for him.

I think you've already gotten good suggestions. I personally would choose FLL and WWE because they are gentle, scripted, and "open and go" which is probably what you need right now. I had a friend who had to put her kids back in school due to family circumstances at about your daughter's age. They had basically done no school work for the year before they entered (but they could read at level, add double digits, and form letters) and a paid tutor was able to catch them up in about a month. I truly don't think you are behind but I agree it's wise of you to consider what might happen if you have to put your daughter in school. I don't think you can keep going the way you have been, but I also think you're fine right now. IOW, it's fine to be where you are but you have to take a new turn now. Add in the writing, and do a spelling placement test because often kids who are good readers and farther along in spelling than you realize. Ask me how I know. :blushing: It will be fine. :grouphug:

I agree with this. It depends who's asking. If someone is interested in homeschooling they probably want a more detailed answer. Someone who's making small talk in the bleachers at the kids' softball game is probably thinking about what to make for dinner and doesn't really care if the answer is 6 years vs. 7 years.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

If she wants to do graphic design a good trick is to be in the marketing department of a company in a growth industry. So if, for example, pharmaceuticals are going to grow, these companies will need lots of design and layout people for studies, brochures, web sites, financial reports, logos, folders, signage, booklets, packaging, etc.

Just to emphasize my point: You should first ask them for a suggestion before making one yourself. They have been through this before and you haven't. if it's not what you want to hear you can deal with that later, but try to get them to suggest something first and put the ball in their court.

What about lavender tripe stew?

Marney's email Marney speaks!

I wanted to add that the main thing that keeps us on track is what I'm doing and I am also the person who can get us most off track. If I answer the phone, get into the boards, call my mom, etc then the kids wander off, lose focus, and overall take advantage of the situation. ;) I unplug the phone during school time and don't answer the door unless I'm expecting a handyman or a package. Sometimes I put a sign on the door if public school is out and we're doing a school day because the neighborhood kids interrupt too often. I'm not saying you're doing that, I'm just suggesting if you keep getting off track you might examine your role in that as well. Modern life has so many distractions.

I would be upfront with the school and ask for their help keeping her options open. Explain the situation and ask, "What do you suggest?" She has an illness and hopefully they would treat her as they would any students who had a medical situation. It seems they want her to be there.

I have a checklist for each child generated daily by Homeschool Tracker. It took a lot of time to set up, but now it saves me time and ensures I don't miss things. Things take about the amount of time I think they will. Partly this is due to just setting time limits on some subject, regardless of how far we get. So "20 minutes of spelling" takes 20, "45 minutes of math" takes 45, and "one hour of silent reading" takes an hour. I rarely allow lesson lengths to dictate our day, except to sometimes cut a session short, for example I would't start a new math unit with 10 minutes left. There are some things I do by number: sentence diagramming (2/day), handwriting (1 sheet/day), WWE (1 lesson/day), critical thinking (2 sheets/day) but the rest is time-based. I work with one kid at a time at the same table unless I've sent one of them to do silent reading. But I alternate "talking" and "non-talking" topics for them. So I'll set up DD with a handwriting worksheet and because she's not talking I can work with DS on math. Later, once he's silently doing math problems, I'll read her WWE. And so on. Another big help has been 60 minutes of silent reading for DS and 30 for DD. I can send them off to do something productive while I work with the other child go get good traction with focus during that time. They enjoy reading and are happy to be doing a checklist item.

Deviled eggs (no sugar mayo, pref olive oil) Veggie platter or roasted veggies with dip Shrimp ring (no sugar cocktail sauce)

Also, check a local repair shop. It might be cheaper, easier to get to, and less crowded.

Absolutely I have had them repair things out of warranty, twice. Additionally they've replaced my charger out of warranty when it was our fault it broke. Other small repairs they have charged me for. I bought Apple care, which is a warranty extension, but it had expired already when these things happened. I'm not sure it made a difference in their mindset that I had paid extra at one point even though it no longer applied. I did go in person with an appointment to an Apple store and I was extremely polite. I'm not sure if you'd have as much luck trying to convince someone over the phone. It's probably a madhouse right before Christmas, though.

I'm going to say it doesn't make you bad because that would mean I'm bad too.

Bumping to see if others have ideas.

I got a new idea driving around town today. Just email back and ask them if they like original or extra crispy. Please (said in pleading whiny voice)...I kinda want to see what happens.

Agreed. The only dressed leafy salad I've seen stand up to overnight was either cabbage or raw kale. Jean, I've also eaten day-old sushi...once. Adding homemade soup with pasta. I would actually set aside the leftover extra soup ahead of time without the pasta and add pasta to the current soup. Then I would make fresh pasta to add when it was leftover time. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but the noodles would become mushy and bloated otherwise.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

For the little one in a couple of years, think about The Skin You Live In. My kids really liked it and it led to good discussions. The oldest one might soon be ready for the Young Adult version of Enrique's Journey. Consider also the Young Adult version of I Am Malala. It was written before she received this year's Nobel Peace Prize. It's nice to use it to open a discussion of the Peace Prize, why it exists, and who has one it in the past. The Hobbit has actually lead to some good social justice discussions around here.

Tangentially related, Ruth's thread on developing advanced reading skills has been my guide for advancing reading levels. Read past the initial post for more great info later in the thread.

Thanks. I forgot to add the kids couldn't resist the new landscape and hid some (washed) Army men toys in there too!

Aaargh. I do this for birthdays and such and it's so frustrating. Not to mention my closet is a mess so then I start feeling bad about that and it compounds. I feel your pain. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: