I think it depends on your budget. We only use cash and so with 7 children...our under the tree gifts are minimal. Usually one gift per child and little stocking stuffers. It usually adds up to about $60 for the older 2 and under $50 for the younger 5, with the baby having a small gift or 2 adding up to about $40. This year, I'm really trying NOT to go overboard. My kids have so much and don't appreciate any of it or take care of any of it. I warned the older ones that we'd have a "Little House on the Prairie" Christmas if they didn't start taking care of their toys and being grateful. You should have seen their eyes! "But Mom...all they got was a handmade doll and a candy cane!" LOL! My reply? AND THEY WERE THRILLED TO GET THAT! Anyway...I digress. Spend w/in the budget you set. All families are different.

My husband was just like that and it turns out he had pnemonia. I'd go to Urgent Care and ask for a chest xray. Praying for you!

Chris, praying for you and your son right now. Please update us when you can. PM me if you want to talk or call Dana to get my number.

Well, thanks so much for all the replies! Seems that you either love the heat or hate the heat. My uncle said the heat was not as bad as on the east coast b/c there was no humidity. I don't like the heat and I love being outside with the kids. I suppose I could get used to that, though. I'll check out the neighborhoods you all suggested. Dh has been job hunting and sees opening for special ed. teachers near Phoenix (he has taught special ed before and enjoyed it). Salaries are low so I was wondering if salaries jived with the housing prices and cost of living. KWIM? I'm tired of living one step above poverty. Seems though that from Oct. - May the weather is beautiful. I could handle that! And, I'd prefer heat over snow...can't stand snow. Brrrr.... Anyway, thanks for all the info!

Joanne, Chandler is one of the places we were looking at. My family lives in Goodyear and a friend of mine just moved to Chandler where her dh is pastoring a church. So, you liked it in AZ? I'm quite fond of the Fall here in PA (leaves changing, falling, etc.) but not of snow. I like grass. I don't mind heat if I have AC to escape to or access to a pool or pond to cool off, kwim? I think i'd love the mild temps all year. It's the desert climate/scenery that might bother me having grown up around her where the seasons change quite dramatically.

I've been feeling rather stuck in a rut lately. Dh as well. His job is getting more and more demanding and has never provided enough for our family. I grew up in MD until I left for college in Gettysburg, PA and then returned to MD for a while and now am back in PA. So, it's either been MD or southern PA. I want a change. I have family near Phoenix. Dh could pretty easily find a teaching job there, but the pay would be substantially less than he makes now. However, I suppose the standard of living is less? Can you tell me about the: 1. Weather 2. People 3. Cost of living 4. Housing prices 5. Good neighborhoods around Phoenix 6. Homeschool laws..friendly or not? 7. Anything else you can think of that I should know before considering a move to AZ. Thanks!

I second the free curriculum from http://www.guesthollow.com. I'm doing that with my 8yo son who also has weak LA skills. You do have to gather the books yourself and plan a bit, but it is FREE and FREE is good! The author mentions that her family is Christian, but that most of the curriculum is secular (or doesn't contain outright Christian bent). The parts that do, or the books that do, you can skip. I'm liking it so far.

No suggestions...just sympathy. NONE of my kids like history. NONE. My ds9 can barely get his core subjects done w/out worrying about history or even science. I would just present it as one of the subjects he must do. Have him listen to the lesson/story for the day and do a narration. There are many ways to do narrations so be creative. Writing is only one way. Orally is another. Does he like to build? Draw? Sculpt? Write news articles or poetry? If he is not creative, don't include him in the creative stuff. Remember, he'll get more in middle and high school and perhaps by then he'll have some sort of tolerance or even a fondness for some aspect of History. Me? I HATED history until I started teaching it to my kids! Now, it's my favorite subject! I wasn't scarred b/c I didn't love history. I learned the info. and got the grade and promptly forgot. Now, I love it so I remember it. I keep reminding myself that if the kid's not into history, it's just not his "bent". We'll do it to say we did it, try to have some fun and learn something, but other than that...I have resigned myself to the fact that I don't have history loving kids. Good luck!

Thanks, Tina. I have him write out the sentence each day for his copywork. Still doesn't stick. Guess I'll just leave it up on our white board as you suggested. I've lost DVD #1 and so I'm not sure I'm even teaching this right! AAAGGGHHH!

I feel your pain. We are in a similar situation, minus a screamy baby. But, we have an ornery toddler who is in to everything! Luckily he does take fairly good naps. Could you try a program like FIAR? That has everything...science, history, geography, some math, some literature, art, etc. Plus, there are great books to read. You can all cuddle together and read, do the activities with each book, add in your own math and perhaps some gentle la (like PLL) and have your older dc read a bit each day. Done. FIAR is a great program.

It sounds like an early miscarriage to me. :grouphug: I'm sorry. I've had several of those. You shouldn't need to see a dr. unless you do not stop bleeding. It sounds like your bleeding is tapering off and so the miscarriage should be complete. I've never had to see a dr. for my misscarriages. I am so sorry for your loss...I'll be praying for you. :grouphug:

Feeling your pain. :grouphug: I just finished a good half hour cry over my 7 kids (well, 6 if you don't count the baby) not getting along. Not just not getting along, but all.day.long. being outright NASTY to one another. Hitting, poking, tripping, calling names, bickering, putting down. It is AWFUL. Only my dd4, ds6, ds8 and ds1 are home during the day but they still fight. When ds11 and ds9 get home, the stress level is upped by at least 200% b/c ds11 starts in on ds8 RIGHT AWAY! Dd12 is home before ds11 and ds9 and tries to start her homework right away but can't b/c of all the bickering! I'm at my wits end. I've read the books, tried just about everything from punishments to rewards and nothing works. They really hate each other. Somebody told me that they might act that way at home but when push came to shove, if another child were picking on one sibling, the others would jump in to rescue him/her. Not in my house. My kids would all join in on the teasing/bullying or look the other way or worse...just laugh. They really hate each other. I'm sorry I don't have advice. I just feel your pain. I'm still crying over it and just begging God to help us and do something. I'll pray for you, too.

I hope Tina chimes in but here is my experience so far. Ds6 is using PR right now. He is also using The Reading Lesson for phonics and learning to read. He is having difficulty with simple CVC words but getting better. I don't know what I'm doing wrong with PR, if anything, but we got to the r controlled vowels (er, ir, ur, ear, wor) and he can't remember them. If I put the AAS letter tiles in front of him and ask him what the sound is, he can say it...but if I say write a sound for 'er" like in the word 'her", he's stumped. Can't get it. I'm dumping PR for him right now, using AAS and Reading Lesson and revisiting PR after Christmas. OTOH, my ds8 is doing very well with it. He already knew a lot of the sounds, but even the new ones he is getting. Continue with what you are doing and just go slowly with PR.

Has anyone ever used the notebooking pages from HTH? I have the US Geography CD and we used it 2 years ago with some success..although we didn't use ALL the pages. Too tedious for us. I LOVE the looks of the History pages to accompany our Amer. Hist. study since we are not using a box curriculum as I would have liked. Has anyone used these? How about any of the others? Thanks.

I am using MFW K w/ my dd4 who also reads CVC words w/out any problems at all...she just "gets it". But, she is only 4. So, she loves doing the worksheets, cut and paste pages, coloring, etc. Sometimes she will do all her pages in a day or 2...b/c she loves to "do school". We do the math part very quickly. She loves to be read to, so we make sure to get a ton of books on the topic of the week. We do the experiments and I look for extras on Learning pages or Enchanted Learning. I try to find things for my ds8 and ds6 to do as well to go along with each topic. Keep at it...it's not all about the learning to read part. MFW K is so much fun...I regret not planning better last year to do it with ds6. We love to do the badges and memorize the verse. Dd4 also does the ETC books for extra enrichment, ETC online and Starfall. For reading...we use The Reading Lesson b/c I use it for ds6. if it helps, I put little Flag Post Its on each of the different lesson pages for quick reference and put on in for each topic we are on (each week i move it). Don't beat yourself up if you don't do EVERY activity...just pick out some of the more fun ones and read, read, read!

Well, not necessarily 2 person, but I got hooked on Bejewelled Blitz for a while. You compete for high score with any of your friends who are playing that week. I also got hooked on Farkle. Same sort of deal where you compete against your friends who are playing that week/month, etc. Both are easy...and addicting!

I highly recommend Christian Kids Explore series. The Biology and Earth and Space cover one MAIN topic (Bio or Earth Science) but several sub-topics. For example, you'll cover human body, plants, animals, sea creatures, birds, etc. in Biology. In E&S you will cover landforms, astronomy, volcanoes, rocks and minerals, etc. VERY pick up and go, hands-on but EASY (read: easy for Mom!) activities, bite-size lessons and perfect for your ages. Put out by Bright Ideas Press. I recommend it over God's Design for the variety in topics. God's Design spends more time covering each sub-topic (an entire book on Plants for example). HTH

Praying for him...also agreeing you should get him a chest x-ray. My dh started out with the flu, cough, fever. The fever laster for a few days to a week but his cough progressively grew worse. Finally after 2 weeks, he went to the dr. who did a chest x-ray and lo and behold...pneumonia. H1n1 seems to morph very quickly into pneumonia in some people. Antibiotics have really helped my dh, although he still has a lingering cough. I'll be praying for your son but go see the dr!

Major discussion about this topic in our house this year...fed by my ds11's desire to go trick-or-treating with his friend in our neighborhood. We did H-ween for many years, even after we became Christians. Our old church used to do a "H-ween alternative" party...but not on H-ween night (which we found ridiculous!). We stopped the trick-or-treating part when we moved to this neighborhood that is very, very dark (no street lights, houses far apart) and we don't know many of our neighbors...just those in close proximity. Call me a worry-wort, but I worry! So, our reason is mainly safety. We will take our kids to our church or friend's churches for Harvest parties, "trunk-or-treats" (the rage around here the past few years) b/c it is SAFE and b/c we KNOW the people. As for whether celebrating H-ween is wrong in God's eyes...I think God looks at our hearts. Do we participate b/c we want to engage in cultish ceremonies or worship another god? Or, is it as most have said...just for fun and candy? Trick-or-treating just scares me around my neighborhood and most...you just never know. Paranoid? Perhaps. Better safe than sorry. This year, we didn't have the money to buy 7 costumes...our kids made their own for the church party and trunk-or-treat. Around our house if it isn't a "heaven and hell" issue...we try not to make a big deal of it.

I can only tell you what I am doing and how it is working so far. I started ds8 in Level One of PR. It was recommended to start at the beginning (on the website) and move quickly forward which is what we are doing. He is also using AAS so we alternate days. PR and AAS use a different sequence to teach letters, blends, etc. so they compliment each other and I know what he knows and doesn't know. I will be starting my dd12 on the Latin Road as soon as my book arrives. She has never done PR and think she will be just fine with LR. She will start with Level one, not Bridge, b/c she is strong in English grammar. HTH a bit. I can let you know how it is going once we start! Oh...FWIW..by ds8 also did LLATL Red, is a strong reader and we still need to review some blends in PR.

ETC online does it that way...much like the books. But, it does cost money to join. I think homeschoolbuyers coop still has a group buy for it.

Let me clarify....I am not judging my mother. I know it sounds an awful lot like judgement, but it isn't. I understand her feelings and desire to eat dinner w/out my sister. She's never been shy about her feelings re: my sister. My sister and niece are also a bit overweight and my mother has never been shy about her judgements about their appearance, either. My mother is a very judgemental person. I grew up with her judgements...I know. SHe is also very kind-hearted and would give you anything. My not wanting to eat with them isn't to "get back at my mom". I just couldn't do it out of compassion for my sister. I would just feel sick to my stomach. It's not out of judgement against my mom.

I just love this series! We've used only Biology so far (which included a unit on the Human Body) but have Earth and Space and plan to implement it very soon. I love how the lessons are laid out, very 'bite size' and yet plenty of ideas to "beef it up" for older studens. There are hands-on activities, scriptures to memorize, etc. I found that I preferred it to Apologia b/c my kids bored easily of just ONE topic. CKE explored one area of science, touching on the major parts (Bio included plants, human body, animals, etc.).

Thanks so much for the responses. Some of you asked if I knew all the history. Actually...I DO know all the history btwn the 2 of them b/c my mother never lost an opportunity to tell everyone w/in hearing distance. I can't give details, but there IS a lot of hurt. Dad had a very dysfunctional family before he met my mother. His kids were mostly grown by that point and my sister and 2 half-brothers lived with them for a time (less than a year I think) b/c Dad's ex had some mental health challenges. Anyway, I know Mom put up with a ton of junk from sis. My sister, a few years ago, wrote Mom and our Dad a letter of apology for specifics things that she did, said and anything that she couldn't remember or didn't know had caused any hurt. I remember Mom laughing at it and saying, "too little, too late". I'm torn. I want to support my Mom. I love her. However, my God tells me that we are to forgive as He has forgiven us. I don't think I can eat dinner with my Mother knowing that my sister and niece are eating alone, having been told they are NOT invited to eat with the family. My next step is to talk to my father alone and see what he wants to do. Thanks again for the replies.

Here is the situation in a nutshell. My older sister (half-sister from my Dad's previous marriage) and her daughter (now 28 yo) had been estranged from our family for about 10 years or so. She is much older than I am so we never really grew up together. Anyway, about 4 mos. ago, out of the blue, she called our Dad and we have all since been back in touch. We meet almost every Sunday at our Dad's house (where my mother lives as well...my mother..not hers). Are you following? My mother has some bad history with my sister. As a youth, she didn't treat my mother very well, had stolen from her, etc. My mother has never forgiven her and it is her personality to harbour resentment. She allows her into her home on Sundays mainly b/c of Dad. On to Thanksgiving. My mother said they would not be invited over for Thanksgiving. Her reason was we already had too many people (our family of 8, the 2 of them and my grandmother) and not enough food. Well, it was an excuse and I knew it. My sister emailed me and said she had a huge turkey she could bring to Thanksgiving. I related that info. to my mother and she said, "she can keep her turkey, she is not invited!". I pressed her and she said she still had such bad feelings toward her that she only tolerates her on Sundays b/c of Dad (as I thought). Well, I am elated to be back in touch with my ONLY sister. She and I had some bad history (long story but she had issues when I was younger and accused me of some horrible things), but I have forgiven and thanked God for allowing her and my niece back into our lives. We all need healing. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to do that, IMO. WWYD in this situation? I really want to be with my sister on Thanksgiving. Should I press my mother to invite her? Should I have my Dad talk to her? Should I invite them HERE to our house and have Thanksgiving here? My parents wouldn't come b/c my grandmother has trouble traveling (it's an hour drive). I'm just so torn. I love my mom...but I think she is acting like a child. FWIW...all the "bad stuff' happened over 35 years ago! WWYD? Thanks.