Bake? Why go through all that work? Just EAT it! :tongue_smilie:

:grouphug:. We just had to have my ds9 hospitalized b/c of his violence and rages. I won't even try to compare it to your 4yo fc b/c at least with our 9yo who is our bio son...we know our family history and know that there wasn't any drug/alcohol use during pregnancy, any abuse (phys. or sexual) as a child, or anything that could be causing his violence. I'm so new at this myself, and we are still in the middle of trying to figure out what is going on with my son. I will pray for you and your family, that the right diagnosis is made quickly and that he will be put on the right medication and receive the best possible therapy. You do need to take care of yourself and the rest of your family and if hospitalization is the only option...please do it. I hated doing it to my own son, but we had no other choice. None. And my hope is it will be the beginning of healing for us all. Has any professional suggested a mood disorder (bi-polar)? Sounds like it could be a variety of disorders coming into play. Praying you find answers very soon.

Thank you everyone. Sorry I haven't updated. It's been a whirlwind. I took clothes to him last night and couldn't see him b/c he was having a real tough time adjusting (tantrum, crying, screaming, etc.). He was really upset. It took everything I had not to break down the door and run to him. :crying: I spoke to him on the phone when I got home and he sounded better. He was watching a movie and had cake and ice cream for some other child's bday. He made a friend. I was so encouraged. Dh went to visit him this am and said that after only 1/2 hour ds9 said he should get back to his group. I'll go see him later this afternoon. Sounds like it is a good place. The staff has been great. Still don't know what's wrong, but somebody there mentioned mood disorder. I've always sustected bi-polar but just couldn't wrap my brain around a 9yo having bi-polar...MY 9yo having bi-polar. Somehow ADHD or ODD or something like that was easier to swallow. Bi-polar (undiagnosed) runs in my family I think. My Dad likely has it (undiagnosed). I likely have it although have always been treated for uni-polar depressions...wrongly I suspect. I now have to call my OWN psych to discuss more vehemently the possibility that I do have bi-polar and start correct meds. Ugh. It's a struggle and I am tired. Thanks for all your prayers and hugs and encouragement.

I am heartbroken. We put him in a day program yesterday and last night his behavior was just so violent that we had to call his psych and ask about full hospitalization. I know it's the best thing for him and for us all, but my momma's heart is breaking. I'm afraid for him. I'm afraid for us. I'm feeling tremendous amounts of guilt. I can't function today except to make the necessary phone calls for him and take him a change of clothes and such. I, myself, just want to curl up and pretend this is all a nightmare and I'll wake up tomorrow. :crying::crying::crying:

We took a needed 3 week break for Christmas. I needed it. My plan was to get back to work on Monday. It didn't happen. We played board games, read some of our History book. My ds9's behavior has been getting worse by the minute, so much so that we took him to an urgent assessment psych. and he started a day program today for extreme anger issues and ADD (no H). It's an hour drive to and from but thankfully dh works near the hospital so he can take him and probably pick him up as well. I'm hoping with him gone we can get some work done tomorrow and Friday and start back full-swing next week. But my kids fight so much and fight me about the work. I'm depleted and feel so defeated and part of me wants to just send them all to school...but that won't fix the problem. It will make it worse. I don't know how to get my motivation back. Any ideas?

Have you had your Vit. D checked? When I have low D (which I almost always have) I am tired and more depressed. I have to take a D3 supplement. Might want to try that. I struggle with depression all year but it is worse during the winter months. Lower energy, lower motivation, more tired, etc. :grouphug:

I can't say for sure if this is advisable or safe or what but I will say that I have a friend (an adult) who says he has ADHD and self-medicates by drinking Coke or Mtn. Dew or something with caffeine and it helps him. I give my ds9 a 1/2 cup of my half caff. coffee in the am and I started to notice it did help his concentration for a while. But he has other issues, too. Caff doesn't help with those.

7 kids and we have a 15 pass. Ford Econoline. We used to have a Dodge Ram 15 pass. I hated it. Would not recommend it. I LOVE the Ford Econoline. It drives so much nicer than the Dodge. 15 pass. are hard to come by and we looked for a long time before finding this one. Hard on gas, but what do you expect for a bus like this, right? Plenty of room for our family plus several other kids when necessary. :001_smile:

Got Qwirkle for Christmas and the kids LOVE it. We also love Blokus.

We have gone back and forth with this one. After 5, dh was going to have a vasectomy. It was scheduled and re-scheduled for a variety of reasons when lo and behold I end up pregnant with #6! So, we cancel surgery for good. Again, dh says he is done and 2 years later #7 comes along! :D #7 is now 2yo. Dh and I had talked about more and about 6 mos. ago decided to just let God decide if we would have more. Well, fast forward to last month when I "though" I was pregnant. Dh freaked out. He decided NO MORE. He can't handle any more. He's done. I am devastated. I want one more. I believe there is one more child that "belongs" to our family. Don't ask me why. On the really tough days when ds9 is melting down and all the kids are fighting, I think dh is right after all but I quickly feel remorseful somehow and go back to wanting that one more. Anyway, it is ultimately in God's hands. I told dh I am opposed to a vasectomy and he agrees. We will do NFP. I was late again this month and was so hopeful. But nope. I am 38 and don't have many years left. This could be it for us anyway. But I'd rather leave it in God's hands, kwim? I'm angered that dh wants "his way" and not "God's way". See, I'm fine if God doesn't bless us with another but I am sickened in my spirit and my "gut" that we are using any means to prevent that blessing. Does that make sense? We have our hands full. I know. But, I believe God will give us the means and the strength to take on more if He gives us more.

I wish my mother had been there for me emotionally. She wasn't. She wasn't comfortable with "negative" emotions and always withdrew. It made me feel so alone and unloved. I wish she had engaged with me more when I was sad and hurting or angry or frustrated. I wish she had talked to me openly about s*x and told me I was worth waiting for. I wish she had trained me better to be a keeper of the home. I wish she had tried to take an interest in what interested me instead of always criticizing my choices in clothing, music, etc. I'm suffering now as a result of a lot that my mother did wrong and it's hard to think about what she did right although I know there was a lot she did. I'm sorry if this sounds negative. I love my mother. I have a 14yo now and I am probably doing a lot wrong, too.

We always have extra bananas b/c they get over-ripe so fast and the kids won't eat the ones with brown spots on them. :glare: I peel them, break them in half and put them in ziploc freezer bags (the small ones..sandwich size). 2 bananas usually fit when broken in half. We use them for smoothies! Try 1 banana, 1 cup milk and 1 cup pineapple juice for a sweet treat! Add some flax seed or protein powder for extra protein. Our favorite is strawberry-banana smoothies...just add some fresh or frozen strawberries, 1 frozen banana, some plain or vanilla yogurt, honey (as much as you want to sweeten to your taste)...yum, yum! If it's too thick, we add some milk to it. Anyway, lots to do with frozen bananas!

Well, if it were up to my boys we would have an xbox, a PS3, the Wii and every other game system under the sun. ;) My SIL gave us her old GameCube several years ago and that was the ONLY system we owned until a friend gave my oldest son his used GameBoy Color (that is a real dinosaur, huh?), and then a year later his used DS. Then we acquired another newer GameBoy. Ugh. My dd14 then found a very old model DS on Craigslist for cheap so she has one of those. Ugh...takes us to present day when we now have a GameCube, PSP (ds12's) and the old DSs and Gameboy. Dd14 uses her iPod Touch for games. Making this long story short..I won't buy any more. Kids know they must buy their own games, systems, etc. from now on.

Would love to do AK but I can't afford the program. I have 7 kids (6 who would use it) and if I just got one for ds9 the others would want a kit for them, too. I thought about just getting the book and designing my own cards. Has anyone done that?

I have come to realize that the traditional chore/school charts or check-off lists do not work for my ds9 who has ADHD. I think it is just too "busy" for him and overwhelming. I'm imagining he would need some sort of system that isn't so overwhelming...sort of like note-cards with one chore on each one. I have a system for school subjects that seems to work. Somebody on the boards here posted the idea to go alone with the workbox system but I tweaked it to use alone since we don't use workboxes. I'm thinking of just adding his chores onto this and seeing how it works but am interested in other alternatives if you have any! Thanks! Pics welcome. :D

I like the idea of playing games and reading. We've been off for 3 weeks and I am soooo not ready to start back. I keep telling myself it is a fresh start, but...I'm terrified! We had so much attitude the past semester that I just don't want to start. My 9yo was diagnosed with ADHD (formally diagnosed) and school is NOT happening for him at all w/out major battles. I need to try something new but what? I'm thinking Time4Learning. OR, Abeka DVD. I do like starting slow. Games, reading, crafts, writing thank you letters for relatives who sent xmas gifts, etc.

About 4 or 5. In Ocean City, MD with my family and grandparents. I got sucked under the water by a huge wave and my grandfather (PopPop) reached under the water and pulled me out. He was my hero. Age 4.5: brother born and Mom calls my grandmother on the phone to say it is a boy. I get on the phone and start crying and told her to take him back b/c I wanted a sister. (Our relationship was doomed from the start!).

There is a wonderful book out by Cheryl Carter (a wonderful, Godly woman who is a friend of a friend) called Organizing Your ADD/ADHD Child. Available at Amazon I believe. I am ordering it for my ds9 to help him get organized b/c we struggle in that dept. as well.

I know that there is no "best" curriculum in that not every ADHD kid will respond the same to "x" curriculum. However, I am just wondering what curriculum has worked for your ADHD child. My son is 9 and we are/have been having a tough time with him. Math is the worst. We use Singapore and have tried MUS and Saxon. I have Horizons and want to try that b/c it is in color and have read that the color helps some ADHD kids. Any others? What about grammar? We use R&S and do most of it orally. It works, but I'm game to try others. Thanks.

I don't get everything done. I used to feel tremendous guilt about that but I'm learning to let that go. I am one person as are you. None of us can do it all no matter how many kids we have! I would suggest enlisting more help from your 16 and 10yo. My 14yo dd is a lifesaver to me. I trained my children young how to do their own laundry, wash dishes, vacuum and cook. A 16yo (boy or girl) should be able to cook a nutritious dinner on his/her own even if it is just spaghetti, jar sauce and a simple salad. Delegate! Have 16yo train 10yo and 8yo and even 6yo to do laundry...it is possible! Can 16yo take on some of the teaching to the youngers? All this being said, I do agree with all the pps that at 6wks. post pardum you should just be easing back into to things. Books on tape, reading aloud, math games, DVDs, etc. can keep the learning going while you get your strength back and re-group.

I do. Every year. My husband even recognizes it and "looks" for it! This year it hit on Christmas Eve. Kids were fighting and being horrible and I didn't even want Christmas morning to come. I was tempted to keep the presents hidden away. So Christmas am came, kids opened presents and were happy for all of an hour and then the bickering started. Anyway...I am rambling. Just wanted to say that you are not alone. I feel like I spend so much time and effort preparing only to have it all over in a matter of minutes in a flash of wrapping paper and bows.

Beautiful, Kari. I just got finished reading Mary Beth Chapman's book, Choosing to SEE, and I thought of you and how difficult it must be for you. I pray for you often and would recommend this book if you haven't already read it. I can't say it will make your grief go away but it might help to hear another woman's story of grief after the tragic loss of a child. :grouphug: and many prayers.

Cookies (of course) to give to friends, neighbors and family. Simply candy made by pouring melted caramel and chocolate over almonds, walnuts, cashews (or whatever nut you like!). The kids did some neat winter tree watercolor drawings that I am going to reduce in size and print on cardstock to make notecard sets for relatives. Didn't make anything for the kiddos.

Welcome to the Hive!

We've used varying kinds over the years. I love the underbed plastic storage. My younger 2 lego boys are constantly playing with theirs and prefer to put keep them spread out on the floor. :glare: The older lego boy is a neat-freak anyway. He uses a rolling square box I had purchased from IKEA. His legos are mostly in use though as well. I'm a mean mom so if I find extra pieces lying around my house I toss them or suck em up in the vacuum. They've been forwarned...in my defense. :D If it were up to me...I would sort them in one of those cool, color-drawered lego sorters as pictured in a pp. Our toys r us has them but way overpriced if you ask me.