As I'm watching this story unfold, I'm seeing a lot of Christian bashing. A "let's all lump all Christians together and say they're all wrong" mindset. Here's what I've noticed. There are really two sets of Christians. Now, this isn't to say one is going to heaven and one is not. I've just noticed two different mindsets (actually a lot more, but let's stick with two for now). There are Christians who love Jesus. They love Him and their morality is an offshoot of that love. Just like I wouldn't cheat on my husband because of love and commitment, I wouldn't purposely "cheat" on Jesus - basically doing something I know would hurt our relationship. There is grace for people where they are at because we have been saved by grace while we were still sinners. The second group is law based Christians. The mindset is this, "If I do xyz, I will be acceptable to God". You see it in Christian denominations where there are blanket rules -- you don't watch movies, women always wear dresses, you don't dance, you don't drink...basically a lot of don'ts. The Duggers / Gothard followers etc. would fall under this. For some reason, you will find sexual sin more often in these groups. So, when you notice a religious group that has a lot of rules that people must follow in order to find favor with God, you can almost expect there to be some sexual issues in those groups. I feel sorry for his wife to be honest. Here she is - a stay at home mom- moved to DC, uprooted her life, is away from her support system, and now has no future there with a husband who will be bashed by all who see him, and a husband who is currently unemployed by both TLC and his previous job. Personally, I would want to crawl in a hole. She's a public figure who stands out with her conservative dress. It would be very hard. I also can't figure out that the Duggers didn't protect their family from becoming TV personalities. I can't fathom that they believed this scandal would remain a secret.

See if anything interests her...Her favorite fast food, her favorite ice cream, just something to get over the fear and hurt. I wouldn't expand it at all until she starts eating. Sure, it will make the process longer, but at least she won't have the pain also. My daughter has a cleft also and the expander didn't bother her. It was across the roof of her mouth. My son also had an expander, but it was a wire that fit behind his front teeth but he had to have full upper braces with that option. A lot less invasive. It didn't clog with food and I didn't have to turn the key every day. Go to this page and scroll down for an image of what my son had. If things continue, maybe ask for an alternate plan.

Use it for taping the edges of paperback books like the library does. I've done this to a bunch of those paperback textbooks I use for multiple children and the edges don't get as messed up. You can thank me for giving you a good reason.

Where we moved to, homeschooling is pretty mainstream. If I told you all the options the numerous charter schools around here offer homeschoolers, it would make your head spin and you would soon be my new neighbor. I'm not sure what's in it for them, but I will happily take part.

We use Potter's school for writing and those subjects that require more interaction from kids/teachers. My 14 year old has done a Narnia English class and this year is doing an English 2 class along with Apologetics/ Logic. They have classes starting in 4th (?) grade. I think that's a bit young to start farming out subjects but when my next child reaches 6th grade, he will do some sort of writing program. I have only good things to say about how my ds's writing has improved the two years he's done Potter's school. They can be a little nitpicky at this age, but I figure if they learn to really look at their writing closely at this age, it can only serve them well later on. For us, Potter's school is our affordable option for a private school.

I've realized very quickly that I don't like grading papers either. So, my solution is to have my soon to be high schooler do a majority of his work with an online school. He is mostly independent. I've also decided that once the rest of my kids hit 6th grade, I am putting them into online schools for writing because that is my weakest subject. My guilt mostly stems from the lack of field trips and "fun" stuff. I'm good at going through the curriculum and even to a point enjoy it. Field trips, crafts, projects...ARG! So this year we moved and I found a charter school that has a homeschool day. They do the field trips, the messy art, messy science, and all the stuff I never get to do with them. I feel guilty about that! I should not be so excited to have a free drop off program where I can have a day almost to myself right?

My husband had one (not burst) and thought he had gotten food poisoning. He even told me to go to an all day activity with 3 of our children because he would just lay around and take care of our oldest. Before we left, I said, "Please tell me you're not going to call me from the hospital". He assured me it was food poisoning so we left. Sure enough, 3 hours later, he calls from the hospital with appendicitis. Mommy sense rules! My son also didn't have classic symptoms. He had what I thought was the flu. The next day, he was in a lot of pain because the stupid thing had burst apparently 24 hours before. Absolutely no symptoms beyond what I thought was a 24 hour flu. He had no tender spots and no pain before the thing had spread infection all throughout his abdomen.

The science museum in St. Paul is really not that exciting. Maybe my perception is skewed since I am used to the science museum in Chicago. It's small and made for more of the elementary school set. The watermark near the mall of America was fun for my teen boy. The amusement park in the MOA has some thrill rides, but don't expect a full sized amusement park. They do have some ropes courses up high and a zip line. I wouldn't go to the MOA with teen boys.

There are laws about when you can consume alcohol and/or marijuana. Also laws about drinking and driving. Marijuana is legal in our state so this is a real discussion. Past that, I explain that they may have an addictive personality/ body type. What that means is that some people may consume these products - especially marijuana and walk away. Others may consume marijuana for example and get hooked. You never know which personality you are until you go down that road and may wind up regretting a simple "just try it" decision. I also explain that there is a family history of addictive personalities / body types and they may have inherited that disposition.

I know---I'm being snarky....Let's all talk about a Thomas Jefferson education now and derail this posting...(Please don't - still being snarky).

If you read the D'Aulaire books, Lincoln spent part of his growing up years in a 3 sided cabin in Kentucky (I think that's where the 3 sided cabin in his life was) and was homeschooled. He obviously did well. Maybe that's what they're going for.

We just bought a home also with silver fixtures. I'm more of the black/dark bronze variety of people. There are a lot of people who have spray painted brass fixtures. I am considering doing this with a couple of my light fixtures. http://www.mandalayimages.com/2013/03/diy-oil-rubbed-bronze-spray-painted-faucets/ http://entirelysmitten.typepad.com/entirelysmitten/2011/11/rustoleums-oil-rubbed-bronze-spray-paint-obsessed-1.html Try it out on a cheaper fixture and see what happens. I figure a $6 can of spray paint beats a $100 light fixture.

I had it on order at my library. I just got an email two days ago announcing it was here...only 12 days short of our move to another state. ARRG!!! Now, I'm on the waiting list at #130 at our new library. Big Sigh.

Colorado Springs

So, I recently moved from a small town with around 30-40 homeschool families to a city/metro area with I don't even know how many hundreds of homeschool families. I don't know how to find them. Here's my brief background - I am used to doing homeschool without any supplementary classes. If there is a PE class or art class, you jump on it because that's really all there is. The most thing that is ever organized is "cottage schools" - basically a few friends getting together to do a speech/science/writing class. Cost - free to cheap. I had a monthly support group that I loved going to. Mostly 20 people or so came each month and we had a lot of fun discussions. We now live in a metro area with co-op classes organized to the max! Mostly all I want is PE and art classes for my kids and a way for them to get to know other homeschool kids. I figured for just two classes for 3 of my kids each semester will run us around $1000. Not to mention that if they don't get into the limited classes I really want them to take, they will wind up with classes like knitting or crafts you can make with household materials...which I will not sign up for. So, we again don't have the opportunity to know other homeschoolers. Also, the only group I can find has mom meetings during the class periods - so basically, no classes, no mom support group. So, what do I do? I'm trying - even to the point of seeing kids out during the day on the sidewalk behind our home and visually following them home to see where they live. Homeschoolers! Either that or they had some communicable disease and were home from school for the day. I've even considered joining Classical Conversations again just for fellowship to meet other homeschool moms and kids and there are definitely some aspects of CC I don't like. Any suggestions on how to get this introverted mom into some fellowship for me and some friends for my kids?

He sounds like a youth pastor who is still in a "college" mindset and is seeing these kids as his buddies. For example, a college student would think nothing of going with his friends to an all night diner. He's not thinking as a parent. Most likely he's closer to these teen's ages than a parent of a teen's ages so he will identify more with them. That being said, he needs someone to help him know what's appropriate.

Low thyroid most likely. I have thyroid issues and when I was pregnant, thyroid hormones can take a beating and be lower than they should. Nothing really to be too concerned about.

May I suggest you find someone you can trust and outright ask them to be there for you? As in, "I am going through a really tough time right now. I need someone I can rely upon for emotional and possible physical support". I did this to someone when we adopted our youngest. I knew it was going to be a tough time and I asked a little more than an acquaintance friend this question: "I am going to really need someone who can be there for me - watch my children sometimes, give me a shoulder to cry on, be like a sister to me. I can never repay you. Can you do this for me?" She said yes and we've become really close friends. I know in theory that people should step up and figure out how to help, but I've learned through the years you have to outright ask for support. I would also suggest that you make your outside commitments as sparse as possible for a while. You can always add stuff back in later. I have discovered, especially when your dealing with exhausting medical stuff, to keep your outside commitments to practically nothing. Let stuff roll off your back. They'll get used to you not stepping up and find some other person.

We too are nearing the end as I usually start early so we can actually enjoy the short spring we have around here. Add the mix that we are moving 950 miles away next week and I'm thinking to myself, "Do I REALLY need to finish the book?" "So what if I skipped the last 20 lessons in math?!?" Then reality hits me and I really don't want my kids to have a 4 month summer break so we'll take a week off to move and then continue the routine. I keep saying that a common routine will help with the chaos my home/our lives will be in for a while. Routine will help... Routine will help...Routine will help...

I went shopping with a friend who grew up in Beverly Hills for a while with a fashionable mom. I grew up with a mom who had no problem wearing holiday themed sweaters. This is what you do (why I never figured this out, I don't know). You go into a store and find something you like. A shirt, a sweater, a skirt, etc. You look for the cutest dressed sales lady (maybe even with your similar body type) and ask her to help you make an outfit. For example, I liked a skirt but had no idea how to make it into a cute going on a date with dh outfit. The sales woman paired it with a simple long sleeved black t-shirt, a glittery gold scarf (on very reduced clearance I might add), told me to wear it with black tights and black boots. Bam! A non-frumpy outfit! I got some cute outfits on that trip that I never would have picked out on my own. I have learned that the sales women are your friends - not just annoying people trying to "help" you so they can get commissions.

Pjssully, I think for the classical track and all the classes they are supposed to take for it is around $1500. It includes 4 class times. I think that comes out to around $10 a class period. For that, he gets discussion, assignments, graded work, and someone else to keep him accountable plus a fairly rigorous prep school quality of work expected of him. For this kid, the more I can be hands off with him, the better he does. He very much likes to be in charge. I find it hard to know for the high school levels what should be expected in terms of work and quality of work. Sure, I can give a test in math and grade that easily - the answer is either right or wrong. English and history are much more subjective and I have no idea what is quality and what was slapped together randomly. Potters school also has just history classes and English classes. You don't have to just do the classical track - there are so many other options at different price points.

I read the full quote. I do see the point he is trying to make but he does it in a divisive way. I guess it's his filter.

Then why does he state it in the way he does? Say something to the effect that we need to have an educated populace and we all need to support that. The way he quotes it is divisive and seems to imply that unless we make public schools the center of any places sense of community, we are vandalizing the very fabric of society. That's what bugs me. I saw this first on a friend's Facebook page. One of the people who agreed with it was a person who's daughter was very traumatized for weeks due to high stakes testing (according to her). Looking into the quote, it has been used on numerous sites as a way to show how alternate public schools (charter, private, homeschooling) are wrecking society's community.

“When you wage war on the public schools, you're attacking the mortar that holds the community together. You're not a conservative, you're a vandal.†Garrison Keillor So, the public school not only is supposed to educate the masses, but also provide the glue for our community? That's a tall order. Reading further into this, it seems to be that the argument is that charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling splinter society into different factions. If we all bonded together around the public school as is, we would be a more cohesive society. When my kids were still pre-school, I saw how the public school in our community became the center point for everything. EVERYTHING seemed to revolve around the school. When I first moved to our neighborhood, a lot of people had preschoolers. We would have community block parties, Easter egg hunts, Halloween parties, stuff like that. One guy even had a birthday party for himself and invited the neighborhood to watch him shoot off hundreds of July 4th type rockets. Then, all the kids grew up and started going to school. Suddenly, the neighborhood stuff fell away as the people with children started going to family movie nights, carnivals, and other fun nights for families at the public school. So, the people with older children or for example our next door elderly neighbors with no children lost their "community" because it had shifted to a public school center. The community we were building got taken over by the public school schedule. It splintered our "community". Now, I see how much the public school schedule controls families and their time. Honestly, it's really sad to me. Remember when the church used to be the center of a community? My Greek friend across the street told me when she grew up, every neighborhood had a church at it's center because in that culture, the church was the "glue". Now I know there are some who have had bad experiences and I don't want to debate this here, but a church encompasses all age groups from singles to parents with babies to senior citizens - not just families with kids who are all the same age. I know that the church itself is also splintered, but really- the public school should be our community glue?!?! And since we're not supposed to get political here, the whole thing that somehow conservatives are to blame for our fractured community just strikes me as odd.

YES!!! Did you know that part of the plan all along on how to pay for subsidies is money from people who chose to pay the penalty? Who are those people? The poor. The rich can afford health care. The people who figure out paying the penalty is cheaper than the actual insurance are the poor/ lower middle class.