Make sure they have healthy teeth. Many, if not most, if not all, adult dogs and cats have really nasty oral health unless they are receiving good vet care including dental care. Dh is a vet, and does great dentistry, so our dogs and cats get great care as we can do them regularly. . . (He'll take one in and do a dentistry when he has a slow surgery day. . . They all get done once every year or two, as needed. . . Each pet varies in how quickly they accumulate dental issues.) But, honestly, we couldn't afford that level of dental care (say $400-$600 each pet each time) for 4 dogs and 4 cats if dh wasn't a vet. :) If you have fosters, I'd imagine they might have poor oral health, as the vast majority of rescue/rehab adult pets do. Sometimes the shelter/rescue vet does a "dental" which is a total joke and leave the pet with a mouth full of rotting, pus-oozing, decaying, bacteria laden teeth and/or root fragments. (Note, dh has done his share of dental procedures on pets who supposedly just had a dental somewhere else. . . ) If your foster/rescue program has a budget for dentistry, I'd look into that. Yucky mouths smell HOOOORRRRIIIIBBBBLLLLEEEE. There are dogs that walk into the room and you want to just vomit. My BIL and SIL once drove their 5 lb dog up to our place (8 hours) so dh could clean up his mouth. (They couldn't/wouldn't afford it and/or their vet said he was "too fragile") That dog smelled SO BAD that I literally wanted to vomit when he walked into the room. How they could tolerate 8 hours in a car with him just boggles my mind. He went home smelling and feeling MUCH better after having 22 teeth removed. Anyway, that's my guess. My house doesn't stink despite our zillions of pets. I think dental health is the reason. Bad teeth = smelly mouths = smelly saliva = smelly fur = smelly house = GROSS. (Dental disease is also very painful and damaging to the pet's overall health, BTW) Of course, we vacumm a LOT (almost every day) and have lots of hard flooring, and washable slip covers on the couches they are allowed to get on. . . and wash ALL linens (quilts, etc) very frequently. (Even the quilts get washed at least once a month.) Oh, also, a good quality diet is also important. I like a dry "premium" brand such as science diet. I think wet dog food is a generally bad idea and makes them smelly. Wet food is good for cats, however. HTH

naproxen (aleve) is the strongest as-labelled OTC for me. 800 mg ibuprofen also works quite well. (That is higher than OTC label. . . but it is often prescribed at that level.)

Only answer this poll if you have been hs'ing kids (K age and older) for at least 5 years. My thought is to offer some reassurance to newer hs'ers that, perhaps, many (??) families come around after seeing the fruits of hs'ing labor.

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

Just a thought. . . I typed up the practice sentences from the Paragraph Town TM (you know, the ones in the lessons 11ish-20) that have the answers right below. . . I did this so that my two dc could easily do them independently. I just typed them right up and put the lines below. Easy peasey. . . And, VERY helpful! I also retyped all the multiple choice grammar exercises b/c the TM has the correct answers bolded, so it is pretty useless for the child. . . Works for me. . . One could do that easily enough for all the Practice Town sentence, I believe. Then you could put your printed pages in your files. (And print one for each child.) I can't see how that'd be a big copyright issue, but I'm no atty. . . HTH

dd13 8th grade will be using: LoF Geometry SWO H Elegant Essay (IEW) MCT Voyage (Caesar's English 2, Essay Voyage, Grammar Voyage, Poetry) William & Mary's Utopia Literature (with the writing assignments) SL Core 7 (with selected LA/writing) Galore Park SYRWTL Spanish 2 Galore Park SYRWTL Science 2 Laboratory Science -- eclectic (TOPS, Kosmos Chem 3000, etc.) Story of Science Newton harp violin As you can see, I am focusing on writing this year. :) I realize it's more than most would want to do, but it's the focus of the year. All told, I expect her to be writing an average of two essays a week, which is not really that much for a 13 yo. . . We are just pulling things from multiple sources. Likewise, although I have several sources for science, it won't add up to an unreasonable amount of time (maybe 3 hours/wk). I know we have dropped formal logic & latin. Gasp. We do spanish instead, and we focus on writing and music and have let those other things go. Gasp. HTH

Well, dd13 skipped prealg and went into ThinkWell Int Algebra (at age 11). She ultimately did very well, but the first 4 chapters were something of a bear b/c it was essentially pre-algebra in 4 chapters. :) It reviewed elementary level math. It also happened to be her first TW course (having done Singapore and Miquon for elementary math.) So, yes, it CAN be done, but I would have done it differently if I had it to do over. Indeed, when ds11 finished his elem sequence, I had him do TW PreAlg last year (age 10) in prep for Int Alg this year (age 11). It went very smoothly. I liked that it allowed him to get used to the TW way of doing things in a gentle way. It built confidence, allowed him to review, and prepared him for TW Alg to go down easier this year. (I hope & expect.) Personally, I've come to believe that it is advisable to use a Pre-Alg course from the same publisher as you intend to use for Alg if possible. I have found that making silly computational errors is the kiss of death for successful algebra. . . So, personally, I would spend your son's prealg course fixating on avoiding careless errors. Something along the lines of: Do these 5 problems. If you do them with zero errors, and show all your work. . . then you are done. If you make any errors or omit showing work (STEPS!!!!!!!!!), then you'll have another five to do. . . If you go into algebra w/ careless errors still in abundance, then he's going to have a hard time of it. My dc have been quite variable in when they seem to grow out of the computation errors. My two olders had lots of errors up until about age 12 (dd13) and age 10 (ds11). I held algebra off for ds11 until I saw he was done with the carelessness, as I had seen that make it much harder for my older child when she began algebra (around age 10/11 or so) and I didn't want to repeat that frustration. My youngest, dd7, seems to have already stopped making careless errorrs, or rather, never did make them. So, I could anticipate her doing algebra quite young. I guess it is just a personality difference, or else I have done a progressively better job with each child instilling the idea of being very accurate in math. . . So, if I were you, I'd find a pre-alg course from your alg publisher, and I would make huge Carrot & Stick incentives for your son to learn to be much more accurate. THEN, I'd move on to algebra. HTH

Just curious: To those who don't mix swim. . . Is there something inherently s*xual to you about water? What about sharing a pool or lake is specifically inappropriate? If both genders dress in ways that are suitable to your taste/moral code, then why can't they swim in the same body of water? How is it different from sharing a tee-ball field or croquet lawn or whatever? I find this intriguing! Thanks!!!!!!!!!

$3 - $5 /hr depending on how effectively she keeps your dd entertained. Perhaps set it at $3/hr and tip/round up if she does a great job. (This is based on $10/hr for a competent adult sitter in my town.) Also, have lots of junk food for the 10 yo to eat around, lol. That was my favorite benefit of babysitting as a 10-12 yo. :) (Within reason, of course. Natural popsicles and lemonade if the mom is particular. . . Hohos and doritos if she isn't.)

$20/person per week. Yes, I coupon.

In similar shoes, I dropped Latin, Vocab, Logic. (I am a bad classical educator, lol) Personally, I decided Vocab could wait (just really started it recently as part of MCT), Latin was dead (sob, choke, strike me down), and my kids are so logical they could out argue most lawyers. So, those weren't high enough on my priority list to make the cut. (Something had to go.) Looking at your list, I could also drop religion (he goes to church, no?) And Literary Analysis (read instead!) I'd streamline grammar. 30 min/day seems too much for just grammar, IMHO. Why do Singapore 6 AND videotext algebra? Do 6 first. When it is done, do Algebra.

Thanks, all, for the ideas and insights! The driving is a bit daunting to me, and I appreciate the input! Oh, thank you for reminding me of this! I think I will plan for schooling on the way there. . . and relaxing on the way home. That might be a great plan and would motivate ds to work on the way there as well.

Could you "run out" of diapers. Perhaps while you are car-less as the "car is in the shop" (even if that means you and dh arrange for an overnight oil change and tire rotation and then park it at dh's work or a friend's house)? Oh, dear, no more diapers! Look at that! Well, it's big girl undies or bare butt today. What do you want to do, little one? Nope, can't get more. Nope, not gonna happen. Oooooh, here's a popsicle! Have a lemonade! Want a soda? Oh, you need to pee?!? Well, if you get some in the potty, you can have another popsicle! :) Assuming there is no underlying psychological issue, I think the above might work well. If it doesn't, well, then, really, I'd ask the pediatrician b/c I agree that 3+ is plenty old enough!

Mmm. Cute sundresses? Cute pjs? Surprise undies? Surprise pjs? Paint your nails before you go. Do your hair up cute. Plan to go out with just your dh for dinner at least once. Plan to take him on a nice moonlit stroll on the beach -- just you two. Bring a bottle of massage oil and/or some valentine's style presents for dh. Put a ribbon on it. ;) Be sure to go to bed early. ;) Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough said. Trust your gut. Stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:iagree: Personally, I would minimize my dc's relationships with the family. Personally, I wouldn't want my dc over there at all w/o me in attendance b/c and I'd wonder what other weirdness was coming down the track. Hopefully you have other friendships to foster for your dc. . . I wouldn't bar my kids from being friends with them, but I'd put more effort into OTHER relationships.

My ds11 is going to be spending 8 hours (4 hours each way) every 2-3 weeks commuting to his new guitar teacher for lessons. (He is something of a prodigy, and this is the ultimate teacher. . . and yes, it will be worth it!) So, I want to have a solid plan for car schooling for him. (The dds will be at home, they can easily school independently that day.) Can you help me brainstorm subjects? He get car sick reading, so unfortunately, he'll be limited in reading. A few minutes at a time of a worksheet or flashcards would work fine, but any lengthy reading will make him queasy. His curriculum includes: SL Core 7 (includes SOTW 3 & 4) Galore Park Spanish SYRWTL level 1 Thinkwell Int Algebra Galore Park Science SYRWTL level 1 MCT Voyage Level -- all subjects So far, I plan to do: 1) SOTW on CD & related tests -- 2 or 3 weeks worth. We could do 4-6 chapters this way, doing 2 or 3 each direction. That'd use up about an hour each direction. So, we still have 6 hours to use up! 2) music listening -- say an hour each direction. So, now we're down to 4 hours to fill up. 3) Maybe some MCT vocab flashcards. 15 minutes max. He usually learns them all well just doing the exercises/reading, so this is going to be limited. The only other things that are coming to me are literature on CD/mp3, maybe some spanish flashcards, and, umm, well, I can't think of much else. I will get some of the SL7 titles on mp3 and I already have some other good lit on mp3, so maybe I should just focus on doing that for the remaining time? Any brainstorms I am missing? TIA!

Another thought: On rent. I would go straight to my bank and start a special savings account. Put all your rent monies in there, on time, every single month. Do that until a lawyer or agency you trust advises you otherwise. If you are lucky, you'll get to keep that money and pay it towards your next home. It might just add up to quite a lot. Best case, you'll also get some spare cash from the new buyer of the foreclosure as incentive to move. If you are unlucky, you might have to pay much of the "saved" rent to whoever you owe it to (who knows!) But, in any case, you'll have clear evidence that you are acting in good faith by essentially setting up your own personal "escrow" account for the rent monies. . . not trying to get away with "stealing" it. I wouldn't tell the landlord or new or old owners about this handy savings account until/unless directed to do so by someone you trust. I'd just tell all the new/old owners and bank(s) that you are awaiting instructions from the government/sherriff/lawyer on what to pay to whom before you pay any further rent. . . And, of course, you will be expecting compensation for moving expenses/etc as permitted by the law. . . and so you are withholding the rent for now. . . Obviously, this runs some risk, which is why I'd really want to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. good luck!

http://www.michigantenants.org/foreclosure From the above, it looks like you get at least 90 days after foreclosure OR the terms of your current lease. It also sounds like AFTER foreclosure, the old owner has a 6 month "redemption period" before the ownership is actually transferred to the new owner. It looks to me that your 90 days starts AFTER that 6 month redemption period. So, that looks like 9 months total to me. Here is a listing of MI legal aid organizations http://www.michiganlegalaid.org/findOrgAll I would start calling whichever one seems most applicable/local. If they can't help you learn what your rights are and what to expect, then ask them who else to call. Hopefully, one or another will be able to get you the information and guidance you need. I'd just call one after another until I got help. Eventually, you'll luck into a really helpful person. Obviously, you are not alone, so someone will probably be able to direct you to an excellent resource soon enough. :)

Did they culture her to choose an appropriate abx? If you are having "bounce back" infections (within a couple weeks), it suggests that the strain is resistant to whatever abx was previously used. Or, that you didn't complete the abx, or that she is reinfecting from a toothbrush or other source. I learned the hard way to insist on a culture and sensitivity being done for all infections. It needs to be taken before ABX are started. I INSIST on every infection having a C&S done before taking the first dose of abx. (The results won't be back for a few days. . . when they are back, the DR will call you to change the ABX if the first one chosen is not one the strain is sensistive to.) Also, be sure to follow hygeine rules. . . throwing out toothbrushes after a few days on ABX, washing all linens in hot water/dryer frequently while on ABX, cleaning surfaces thoroughly, putting any drinking cups around the bathroom or bedroom through the dishwasher daily, etc. I've also learned to take ALL the kids in for throat cultures when one has strep. One time only one kid had symptoms -- stomach pain and fever only -- but all three kids had strep!! FWIW, if your doctor has treated multiple bouts of strep within a few months (or UTI, or other bacterial infections) and is not doing C&S at the representation, I would find a new doctor. It's (very common) malpractice, IMHO. HTH

Well, the books are very inexpensive, so I wouldn't bother to laminate as I'd imagine it would be much more expensive that way as there are many pages. Also, the pages are double sided but each side is not neccessarily related to the other side. I've just rebought them for each child -- I think they are around 5 or 6 dollars each. This is how I did it. . . I simply introduced the child to the orange book and played with the blocks with them, working through the first 5 or 10 pages of the orange book. Those first few are the only confusing ones. By page 10, you'll both have the hang of it:) Then, after the child and I have the hang of the blocks and how to solve some of the basic pages. . . I explained how the books are organized -- showing them how each letter is a new topic. We looked at many of the pages to increase interest. I'd show the child how within each topic/letter, the pages get harder with increasing number. And, how SOME of the topics build on earlier topics. (Not all!). I.e., if (these aren't the real letters for the topics) topic G is multiplication/division/addition/subtraction combined, then it naturally builds on topics B (add), C (subt), D (mult) & F (div). So, I explain to the child that if a page seems too hard, they'd be well served to do either an earlier page in that topic (B1 instead of B5) AND/OR earlier topic(s) (A or B instead of G). So, I tell the child that if they want the pages to be easiest, they can start at the beginning of the book and work forward. OR, they are free to skip around if they don't mind a bit of confusion and the occasional road block, but I'd tell the child to remember to go back to the earlier pages if they run into trouble. I reinforce this explanation periodically as needed. Some of my dc wanted to skip around all the time; others chose to pretty much work in order most of the time. So, each day, I'd ask the child to "do your Miquon" which meant "do two pages -- any two." The first few times, you'll want to hover a bit and remind the child of the organization of the book if they are trying to go to something that is too hard for them. Once they pick an appropriate page, they are good to go. (Don't be surprised if they are soon successfully skipping ahead to topics that seem too hard for them! The explortatory process can be quite valuable! Just coach them to pick an easier page IF they want to and seem to be struggling.) After the child completes a day's work, I check it and make sure it is dated. I use the chart on the inside of the back cover to keep track of completion. I put a check mark and date in the little box as each page is successfully completed. At the left side margin, I put a bigger check mark by the "A" or "B" or whatever when the child has mastered that entire topic. I will do this when the child has EITHER completed all pages in the topic OR mastered it to my satisfaction (i.e., completed the hardest several pages in the topic) as I do allow the child to skip some of the sheets if they are very easy for the child and do not present novel information. (Miquon was not designed to be a program in which the child did every page.) Some of my dc want to do all the pages, and that is fine. The ones who skipped around more ended up completing more like 80% of the pages -- skipping some of the easier pages in some of the easier sections. (We did Singapore simultaneously, so needed less practice than one would who was using only Miquon.) When the child had completed the entire book/color to my satisfaction, we celebrated. . . and then I offered the new/next book. This process has worked exceptionally well for my 3 dc. Hope this helps!

I second the vote for Shar. I buy, don't rent, but have been very happy with Shar overall. I've bought many violins from a number of places, and the most recent from Shar. I was very happy. I have never taken lessons through a music store. I have always found individuals. Have you sought out teachers with their own studios? Where in VA are you? If you are in NoVA, then the rudeness might just be culture shock. NoVA folks are just ruder than most other places. (I grew up in NoVA, so I can say that, lol)

:)

Like!!

I think either Core 2 or 3 would be a fine fit. I'd chose the one that is most appealing to you content-wise. You can also spend some time looking on amazon at book descriptions, etc to see if the books look great to you. FWIW, the 2-Advanced readers seem comparable to the 3 readers in challenge level. I'm doing 2 w/ my 2nd grader this year. . .and look forward to 3 again in 2011-2012. 3 & 4 are awesome cores, IMHO. Faves. I wouldn't want to condense it into one year b/c they are so wonderful I look forward to savoring them again.