We are also using MFW Exp-1850, For me the deciding factor is that I can teach all my kids together with just a few modifications. We did MFW ECC a few years ago and changed to something else for a few years, but honestly, the years we did with MFW are the ones my kids remember the most and had the most impact on them. So we are going back to MFW and I am excited for this next year!

I don't like my kids to wear the peace sign because to me it is a symbol of the hippie movement. There is pretty much nothing about the hippie movement that I agree with and I don't want my kids to promote that. Even if it is not associated with that today, I still feel that it is not appropriate. I had never heard of the broken cross thing and we are conservative Christians.

So, if she sent her kids to school and posted the picture with something like "If these are the back to school specials, I am a little nervous sending my kids to school on Monday!". Then it would be fine and sure not to offend? Double standard much?

My second DS is like that. He inherited shoes from my oldest that were in perfect condition and destroys them without even trying. And these are good quality shoes, Nike, Sketcher, etc. He blows out the toes and scuffs up the sides. Even the stitching comes out! I don't know what he does to them, but my third DS gets lots of new things because DS2 destroys everything to the point that it can't be handed down! :laugh: I have found that the best thing to do is buy shoes on clearance ahead of time. I have great luck at Kohls. Then when his toes start showing through his month old shoes, I am not so frustrated because I only paid $10 for them. I also get shoes at Once Upon A Child. They are cheap and choosy so I can get good deals that way.

Ah-lee, boy's name. If it were a girl's name, I would expect it to be a (as in apple) lee, and spelled Alli or Ally.

We did ECC with a 4th grader and a 2nd grader and my 2nd grader did great! I had to adjust a few things for her, but she got a lot out of it and I don't regret doing it. We did the Complete Book of Animals, and I let her copy things from the whiteboard instead of just reading it and her taking notes. I also would dial back the dictation of the memory verse unless your kids are used to dictation. That was a source of frustration for her. Don't skip the missionary read alouds. They were probably the best thing about the whole year!

My kids have some friends that live behind us and they want to come over all the time. I am usually ok with it because my DD1 doesn't have a lot of friends. But, I usually make them play outside in nice weather. If they are inside, they are making tons of noise and running through the house (I have a fairly small house). So the fact that the other parents have the kids play outside is not a big deal to me. I do understand being annoyed that they don't reciprocate, but maybe they just don't think about it. Some people are just clueless. You could just make the kids always play outside at your house. Then when she says something about it, you could say "Well, I noticed that you never have DS play inside at your house, so I thought maybe you would be more comfortable if the kids played outside where you could see them." I like what a pp said about making sure the friends help clean up. Knowing that things will be set to right when it is all over would make me feel better about letting them play inside my house.

I do love Christian fiction. I tend towards historical fiction (I love Gilbert Morris) and suspense/mystery. I used to read more secular fiction, but I got tired of the graphic violence and explicit sex. There are some authors who have predictable plot lines, but there are many who are great authors with wonderful stories!

I agree with this. I also think that he simply doesn't understand the reality of fibromyalgia. My mother has this, and people who don't have it or have never lived with someone who has it just don't get it. They really have no clue. I don't think he is trying to be a jerk, he just doesn't understand. I also think that if I had 2 kids who were the ages of your kids, the activities that he planned seem like a lot of fun. My kids would be begging to go to these things, and I would personally be grateful for these opportunities for my kids, especially since I homeschool and they aren't around other kids every day. (But that is just my opinion. If this is not your thing, that is obviously, totally fine!) I remember how much fun similar activities were when I was in youth group. I don't think his plans are out of line. I do think his pressuring you to be there is out of line. He needs to learn to take no for an answer. I would be using strong wording to make him leave me alone. When I was growing up we lived about 25-30 minutes away from our church. We had a very active youth group and we always wanted to go to the activities. We also had a lot of lock ins (over-nighters) with other churches. Many times my parents said that we could go to the events if we could get a ride, so we did a lot of bumming of rides. But, it was worth it to us because we wanted to go. My mom had fibromyalgia and couldn't always take us, and my dad worked long hours. So, if we wanted to go, we got a ride until my sister got her license. Do your kids want to go to these things? Is there any one who lives near you that could give your kids a ride? Is there an adult who would be responsible for them that you trust so you don't have to go yourself? Just some options. But, he really needs to back off!

If you are drawn to the Cavashon, you might just look at the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. My DH had 2 growing up and they loved them. They were great dogs! Always happy, well behaved, and easy to train. Good luck with your search! Your dd will be so happy!

:iagree: He is certainly old enough to understand the value of money. Maybe losing some of his own will directly affect him enough to cause him some remorse and remind him to be more careful in the meantime. Besides, buying groceries for the family DOES directly benefit him. He wants to eat, right? So you were using the certificate to buy something for him.

We did MFW ECC last year and didn't care for it. It did move kind of slow, and I felt that I could have done a quick geography lesson over the summer and gotten the same results. I really struggled with whether to stay with MFW or use something else, but in the end I chose to continue on to CtG. I am told it has a different feel than ECC and I really hope that is true. I am excited to study the OT and ancient culture next year and think the kids will really like it. I learned to tweak some of the things they wanted us to do (like copywork and dictation) to fit my kids' specific skill level. This makes a big difference for us. Another poster recommended buying the Parent/Teacher supplement and just playing the geography game, and I think that is a good idea. I hope you find what you are looking for. It's a hard decision! :grouphug:

Yay! Congrats!:hurray::hurray:

I wondered about this. I will call them today. One of our friends from church works there, actually in the stitching room, and he said the guy who did it was the best they had! I don't know how that makes me feel about it. :confused:

I want to thank you all for sharing your experiences and advice with me. I will do the Mederma, sunscreen, hat thing and pray that it is minimal. I am not so worried about a line as a scar, more about the fact that it didn't heal together and there will be an indent. Again, thank you all! :001_smile:

I am really upset right now! I just went to have the stitches removed from my 17 month old ds' forehead and learned that the stitches didn't hold and there is a gaping wound that will scar right in the middle of his forehead! :confused: OK, here's some background info. 10 days ago my 4 yr old dd was running through the house (which, of course, she's not supposed to do) and ran my 17 month old into the corner of the wall, which split his head open. :banghead: So, after washing off copious amounts of blood, we took him to the local Children's Medical Center ER to have 7 stitches put in. They told us to have them removed by the ped in 5-7 days. This is a Friday. So, I call on Monday to get an appt and they told me that their guidelines say 7-10 days for head wounds, and my ped isn't in on Fridays (7 days after the incident), and I don't really like any of the other drs in the practice, so we make the appt for Monday (today). Ds won't keep a bandaid on it. We went through 2 boxes before I gave up. He had a pretty nice scab over the wound by Wed or Thursday. So, I am doubting the 7-10 day thing by now, but they are the doctors, and this is my first experience with stitches. None of my other kids have needed stitches, so I am new to this. We go in today and they have to soak the scab to even get to the stitches and when he removes them (which removed the scab) I find out that the stitches pulled out and were only stitched on one side! It didn't hold the wound together at all! The ped said that the ER didn't stitch it far enough from the edges of the wound to prevent the skin tearing, so it healed basically the way it would have if we hadn't had stitches put in at all. :mad: This is right in the middle of his forehead! I am afraid that he is going to have a huge scar on his face. All that to ask if there is anything that anyone knows of to lessen the scarring. The ped put steri strips on it and said to leave them on for 5 days. Anything else I can do once the steri strips come off? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

You could ask what, if any, nicknames they plan on using. Since the names are so similar it must be difficult to come up with nicknames. Might make them rethink it a little without you saying anything that would hurt their feelings. Some people just don't think before they choose names. I don't mind sort of matchy names, but that is really close.

I understand! I have a friend on Facebook who uses no punctuation or capital letters at all. AND she's a homeschooling mom! Drives.me.CRAZY!

That is too funny!

My son uses it and really likes it. It is the only LA program we have used that he doesn't groan and complain over. :tongue_smilie:

I iron my husband's work shirts daily. I suppose if I were prepared, I would do it once a week, but I am a procrastinator. :tongue_smilie:

We are using MFW 1, Horizons 1 for math, and FLL 1.

We used K12 through OHVA for K this year, and I have to say that I thought the math was good. My son liked it and did well with it. The only thing I thought was odd was that they taught estimation in K. I think that in K kids are still learning what actual numbers represent, so I just skipped those lessons.

The one I thought of was James, but I like Jameson as well. The others don't seem to flow as well. I have a Luke Benjamin. :001_smile:

We just use our cell phone, but are considering getting Magic Jack or something. My oldest DS is getting to the age that we leave him home by himself sometimes and I would like to have a phone for him to use in case of an emergency, but I am not ready to give him a cell phone. We have also thought about getting a basic cell phone and adding it to our plan and just leaving it at home for those situations.