You know those are fightin' words here in Hawaii! Spam, for some mystical reason, is a staple in the local diet. We had a Sunday brunch at our church on Easter morning and my son came to me extolling the virtue of this new food he tried....:glare:. Blech. Jo

Are you saying the public schools *can* teach these values, or they *do* teach them? If you consider my specific criticisms of our government schools "bashing" then perhaps you would be surprised to know that I am huge supporter of public schooling. We all should be. We have a vested interest in the education of all the children in this country. But the school system at present is broken. I can't soften that reality for you. Do I believe it is possible that children are learning the connection between their individual choices and the effect those choices have on their community in relation to economics? It is, of course, possible. Do I think this is happening in any sort of wide spread way? No. Emphatically no. If you take offense to this post than I can offer you no solace. I believe the wish not to offend is perhaps why we aren't telling our children in the public schools that certain behaivor is right and wrong. I won't perpetuate the problem and temper my opinion, because I believe it is sound. Jo

We are experiencing, not a recession or economic collapse, but the hangover after a long night of revelry. We have been drunk with wealth for a while and the hangover sucks. But I'm glad. We have been in the mindless McMansion phase for far too long. It is not a stretch, or Olympic leap, to say that these times reinforce our decision to homeschool for primarily value driven reasons. We have wonderful opportunity to teach about the dangers of greed, envy, and pride (at the root of our economic drunkeness). We can stress self-control, living within your means, looking to the interests of others, and many other morals that are undervalued in society and unacceptable in the curriculums of our state schools. Societal problems almost always stem from the root of personal problems. Therefore, top-down solutions are rarely effective. If homeschooling continues to be a revolution I hope it will be for it's ability to instill values as well as unfold intellects. Our entire country would benefit. Jo -my lack of blog has punished you all with this little early morning (for me on Hawaiian time) essay. Thanks for giving it an "ear".

Yes, yes, yes! You're, once again, my hero. Thanks deary. Jo

Thanks. I can't use the edit function for this one. It has to be the Ctrl key option. Thanks. Jo

:lol: Oh that is wonderful! Good laugh! Jo

When I see posts that say school is from "8am to 2pm" or some other parameter. :001_huh: Because of the ages of the younger kids and the constant interruptions we pretty much "do school" from 8am to 8pm. But the older kids take longer chunks of free time during the day. We checked math at 5:30 tonight. My daughter read me her phonics lesson standing up at the counter while I made a snack and a bottle for the baby. I had the older boys read a National Geographic article and write a narration this afternoon while I took a nap. It isn't always pretty, is it? We have, surprisingly, been getting everything I schedule done for each day, but never in a Charlotte Mason type- formal studies before lunch- manner. You have my understanding girlfriend :grouphug: Jo

Whoa. You must feel socked in the gut. I hope it turns out benign. Prayed. jo

A bit counterproductive, eh? Especially if you had positional contractions. However, I have seen so many women walk out of the triage room without any invasive intervention all for a pitcher of water. FWIW- I've ended up with contractions from dehydration many times [head smack], you'd think I'd learn... Jo

if you had walked into my L&D triage room would give you a pitcher of water to chug-a-lug in a matter of 15 minutes. You'd be surprised how often uterine irritability settles down with proper hydration. Just a thought. Push those fluids girlfriend!!!! :lurk5:Keep us posted- we're thinking of you. Jo

Less vomitting (thank God) than nausea and diarrhea. I am having the same struggle with food selections. A couple to add to the list--- My kids snack on pretzels throughout the day. For some reason it is really bad for their tummies to get empty. It's almost like they all have morning sickness. :glare: That's my job, thank you very much. Alphabet vegetable soup has also been successful. I hope it clears out quickly. Jo

I agree about the crime rate and selective enforcement. But look out if you are a foreigner and you commit a crime. My brother ran into a woman on his bicycle and they hauled his butt down to the station. He had to pay the woman for "damages" even though she was essentially unharmed- I do think she was knocked to the pavement, but there were no injuries requiring medical attention.

I arrived on "board" in 2004. I was Joanne in VA for a couple of months then changed to battlemaiden. I sometimes think I'm missing someone, but then I find out they just have a different board name. That confuses me to on end. As for the great historical events on the board, I'm not sure anything has been as traumatic as the JaneAustenfan trolling scandal. I still remember my dh looking at me when I gasped, thinking that I was having some sort of medical emergency. ;) That was a doozy. Jo

This has been my argument against low-carb diets from the beginning! Do you remember seeing the National Geographic photo essay showing the typical school lunch of various countries? That made such an impression on me. Japan's school bento versus a typical American lunch tray! Ugh, is there any wonder? I lived in Japan in Jr. Hi and I remember the meals being very low fat and unprocessed. The portions are also reasonable. Jo

I would assume that too if one of the saved items wasn't a 1998 Horatio Hornblower disc. My other saved item is the new John Adams series by HBO. Obviously both saved items are "series", could that make a difference? Jo

If I request a DVD and it goes into a saved category instead of my queue, what does that mean? Thanks. Jo

Oh Rebel. I'm so sorry you and your family are going through this. Prayed. Jo

We haven't had our household goods (stuff) for four months. I don't have the things I love. Surprisingly, I miss my stuff more than I thought I would. I'd like to say I haven't missed a thing and I'm ashamed at how easy it is to live on so little, but that simply isn't the case. I miss our books, my kitchen supplies, my paintings/tapestries/rugs. I miss the beautiful things. I miss my bedspread and my children's quilts. I even miss a good portion of my children's playthings (but not all;)). I would grab our Bibles, my purse (was that one of the p things?), our camera and digital recorder, and my laptop because those are the only things of value we have in this rental house. Good question. Jo

Some kids lay in the grass and look up to the sky and find pictures in the clouds. Ahhhhh. My boys have begun, thanks to our five yr old, finding shapes in the toilet bowl...after using it, iykwim? :glare: I can't even appreciate the creativity in this one. Just gross. They will grow up, they will grow up, they will grow up... Jo

Countess Jo the Euphonious of Midhoop St Giggleswich I find the "Midhoop" particularly giggle-worthy in my current condition. Jo --speedy recovery

but it wasn't pretty. ;) We had just arrived in Hawaii and I was...um...well...shocked. We've all recovered from the surprise and I'm as near to sane now as I'll ever be! :001_smile: It didn't take long to become thrilled with the idea of another child. I'm due in late Aug/early Sept. Now if only I could get into permanent housing and get our household goods delivered. I NEED my maternity clothes **poof goes the belly*** :blush:. Thanks for the congrats. Jo

We routinely go through the animals (dh and I, never with the children) and weed out the lesser used or liked stuffed animals, but remarkably all those little fellas are fairly well loved. We finally started boxing them and allowing a certain number out per child. We allow them to switch them out whenever they want but they can never up the allowable number. I know, I know, I'm a big meany but I have a daughter who would fill her entire bed with animals. Every now and then I'll dump the whole kit and kaboodle out on the floor and let them have a few hours of free for all. Then they go back in the bins and into the utility room. Jo

They returned my email to state that they expect the 2nd edition to be available later this week. There are no details regarding changes on the website and it is yet unavailable to purchase. I thought it may be of some interest to those still trying to decide on science for next year [me, me, me, me, me.....]. Jo

I just went back to the same Apologia website I was looking at last night and now they have a 2nd edition! Unbelieveable timing. Unfortunately there is still no date of availability.:001_huh: I guess you can disregard this post. Jo

why on earth would it cost over $26 to ship a textbook and paperback test booklet? This was what the actual Apologia website would have charged me....Sheesh! Jo