NPD is so hard to deal with. It sounds like she could have some of the early signs of Alzheimers. There are helpful meds for this but getting her into a good Dr as soon as possible is critical. :grouphug:

We do all the big stuff on Sunday (wash sheets, vacuum house, mop floors, brush dog etc). That way the house is clean for the new week. During the week dh does the laundry (he likes to do it-go figure) and I get up about a half hour before the kids and do some tidying. During the times when the girls are doing their work alone, I do a task (like loading dishwasher, cleaning a bathroom, smaller and short jobs). The kids are a great help too. They don't have a chore list. They are expected to keep their rooms and bathroom clean and the playroom tidy and do chores as we assign. I think the key for me is to have a routine and I'm a big believer in 'clean as you go'.

We've been working through ours little by little. It is pretty intense and unless the child is good at following detailed instructions, it does tend to be parent intensive. I am doing it along with my girls and we find it fun doing it together. Educationally, it is very good. We're learning a lot. I do like it but building things isn't my forte but we're getting there.

Works hard and loves our family including all the pets, supports our homeschooling, never gripes about my curriculum junkie extravagances, does the dishes at night and all the laundry because he thinks he does it better and that is ok with me :) , always has time to listen to me and the children and just generally he is a joy to be around. :D

We did dual enrollment with our son since 10th and he got 3 yrs of college for only the cost of books. Many hsers in my state do this too. :thumbup:It is a great way to go! After grad he applied his Bright Futures scholarship and his dual enrollment classes transferred with no problems. I did need to provide a HS transcript but that wasn't a problem either.

:grouphug: One day at a time. :grouphug:

You can take classes as an independent student. You still have to pay for the class (not a lot at all compared to their full enrollment options). We use TIP for enrichment courses and they are awesome! You can see them at: http://www.tip.duke.edu/independent_learning/index.html We've taken the mythology and the King Author studies. We're going to do the forensics this fall. Can't wait!

You read my mind! My daughters qualify with their SAT scores and I scoured the site to try to figure out why I should pay the registration fee. I've yet to figure out how it will help them. My friend has a child in school and she said the school system gets funds somehow so I can see how it may benefit them if that is true. For us? A mystery. I do have the girls taking the TIP classes though. They are great! :)

We used Wordly Wise. Ds liked that it was short and fast. That was all he needed. We required a lot of reading when he was in HS so that also developed his vocab as well. He did 2 yrs of Latin via FLVS so that most likely helped too.

:lurk5: Thank you for this thread! We're looking at Apologia Biology for fall and a good microscope is on my mind. :)

My son is past the teen years and we never had any problems with him but I really don't attribute that to homeschooling. I think that it could be helpful ONLY if you move far away enough that she is out of contact with toxic friends and has limited and supervised contact with the grandparents. As hard as it is to wrap your mind around it, you both need to give serious consideration to the amount of control your parents have over yourselves and by extension your daughter. You need to become self-sufficient. Your daughter may unintentionally be seeing you as less than parents and more as her peers and dependent on the grandparents. You can undermine yourself by accepting their charity. Everything comes at a cost and accepting their generosity is not helping you. My advice-MOVE away. Then instead of taking things away and giving back, have her get a job and buy her own things. It will teach her appreciation for what she has and will keep her busy. She needs to be redirected in a positive way. Homeschooling is not the magic key. It would only work if she WANTED it at this point. You can't use it as a way to get control. She would only resent it and homeschooling is about education and not behavior management. Good luck....and MOVE. :)

We have these! They are called Farm Stores. It is a chain and they are all around Florida. I was so happy to be able to drive through and pick up milk and other quick items when I had two babies in the car. Many years ago I remember we had one in California too. My mom used to go to it a lot. The only thing I wish was that they had everything like a Publix so I could email my grocery list and then drive-thru and pick it up. I've thought about that and think it could work with a system of conveyor belts etc. Would be cool! I'd 'shop' at that store!:D

He is in my thoughts. :grouphug:

Kari, my heart is aching for you. You and your entire family are in our thoughts. :grouphug:

My girls had this problem with their Blythe dolls. Here is what we did: http://www.jaszmade.com/blog/2009/03/washing-blythe-hair/ It worked but wasn't permanent but as long as the girls didn't change the hair too much it kept it pretty nice.

:thumbup: All this!

Whew! I'm so glad you are calling the fence company and fixing it! I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through what my friend did. It was a migraine inducing nightmare for her...expensive too. I'm glad you are going to court too. Those people need to do the right thing!

I would take this very seriously if you are planning on selling. I had a friend who put up a fence within their property line which gave the neighbors more room (we're only talking inches) and yet when people were interested in the property it became a MAJOR issue. They ended up taking out the fence and moving it back to the right property line just to sell the house. You wouldn't think it would make such a huge difference but it does. I'm surprised your fence company didn't tell you about that. When we put in our fence they were very exacting about it being right where it should be because of those issues. Your neighbor could turn into a raging lunatic and demand that you come over and 'trim and maintain' 'your' property. Do you really want to deal with that? Ask around about this and I think you'll find that it would be wiser to put the fence right to the property line. My recommendation: Have the hacksaw crazy neighbors dig up the stumps (they started it-let them finish!). If need be, take it to small claims. Once the stumps are gone then put in the fence.

I have 4 and they're all indoor. One wants to go out but we don't let her. They have a screened in pool to lounge around and they catch an occasional lizard so they're happy with that. They think they are getting to go outside when we let them out on the lanai. :)

So sad for those children! They probably worked really hard on the routine and because an adult in charge wasn't thinking clearly about the impression the moves and costume would generate, the children will suffer. They look talented and that routine was IMO a horrible way to showcase their dancing talent. Now there is a viral YouTube that has all their pictures all over the net. Just horrible. :sad:

How is it that a minority are making all the decisions? It seems that it would be more fair for everyone to have input. The alternative is having your own memorial. I would do that.

I always get a chuckle out of : Napoleon Dynamite, Young Frankenstein and the Airplane movies.

:lurk5:

This! We love ours and a discount makes it even better. The homeschoolbuyerscoop is great!

The closest I had to good fish n chips was at the English Pub in EPCOT. Bubba Gumps Seafood had some good fish but the 'chips' were nowhere near what they should have been to be called real 'Fish n Chips'. Good luck with your search and please post if you find a good place. I want some too!