Thanks for sharing. I used the first book with my older two and I'd love to use this with my younger in a year or two or three. :)

Thanks everyone. I have been wearing the night guard and doing exercises for my back and jaw every day. It isn't as painful as it was a couple of weeks ago, so that is good. I'm not sure how a PT works? Is this usually paid out of pocket or by insurance? I have really crappy insurance that will run out in a few months and I won't likely have insurance after that. Would my doctor have to refer me? She seemed to think this wasn't a big deal and was quite optimistic it would go away just using the night guard.

I was a kid in the 80's and I have to say almost everyone I knew had divorced parents. Marriage means very little to me. I am not religious. I've been with the same man since I was 17, I'm 32 now. We have 3 kids together. We are definitely committed. We may get married at some point if it matters for a specific reason, ie. taxes, insurance, etc. Up to now it just means very little to us personally. :) To each their own.

My doctor says I have tmj pain. She thinks I've been clenching my teeth in my sleep. I hurt my lower back 1 1/2 months ago and I suspect maybe I was clenching my teeth from the pain? Anyway for 3 weeks now I've had pain and throbbing in my ears, neck pain, headaches, and my neck and the lower back of my head feel like rice crispies, snap, crackle, pop. There's been some other weird stuff like face pain, tingling & numbness in my hands, pain in my wrists and lower arms, and I swear it felt like my arm popped out at the shoulder or something but all of this is not happening *right now*. I do have some pain behind my shoulder blades sometimes. She recommended a cheapo night guard from the drugstore (all of which say DO NOT use if you have tmj problems) and some exercises for the jaw and back. I've been doing the exercises and wearing the night guard for a couple days now. She said it should feel good after 3 days with the guard but I'm doubtful. I feel like my whole spine is jacked up and out of whack. Anyone have experience to share that might be helpful or advice? TIA!

I did watch the show, but it's been at least 4 years so I don't remember it well. I don't remember liking it, some parts where okay but overall I wasn't thrilled. I think it is important that people at least look at the issues surrounding being pregnant and giving birth in America. Our outcomes should be better, there really just isn't excuse for them not being better and I do believe it is because it is over done, medically. I am definitely ALL about natural birth *if* 1. the mother is fully informed of options/possible outcomes in as true a way as possible given her unique circumstances and 2. it is the mother's choice and 3. barring a true medical emergency that could result in baby or mom's death. My problem with choosing interventions is I don't feel most doctors present a true picture of the increased risks involved in a lot of circumstances. I just find uninformed consent wrong, wrong, wrong. I have no immediate thought that this is what has happened when someone tells me their story and they didn't have a natural birth. I don't assume, but more often than not, hearing birth stories they sound so similar. Doctor pushes induction (for non-medical reasons), there is pitocin, followed by epidural for pain, complications arise (baby's heartbeat, mother not progressing, hospital's time limit reached), then c-section. Sometimes the complications don't end in c-section, but a lot of the time they do. This is a very different story than someone having an induction or c-section for medical reasons. Though honestly there is one medical reason used frequently that I do question, gestational diabetes and the supposed too big baby. My reason? I've heard this story countless times and every time the baby is born under 6 lbs and has a NICU stay. I'm just not convinced this is what would have been best for baby and mom. idk? And I'll just chime in and say natural births are not the norm in my area. I've been lucky that my births have been very fast and with the first two there wasn't even time to suggest interventions. I was at the hospital maybe an hour total before giving birth both times. My last birth went a bit differently. My water broke first. I had two kids that needed transferred to a family member, and I had to wait for dh to get home from work so it took awhile to get to the hospital but I still wasn't contracting when I got there. I wasn't even in a room yet and the nurses where saying they would start pitocin right away. Um, no thank you. It came up again and again and again. I wasn't thrilled with the iv and monitoring, but at least I talked them into doing the monitoring intermittently so I could pace back and forth in the room. I politely declined pitocin, told them how fast my births were, let them know I felt everything was okay, I might as well of had three heads. I definitely wasn't happy they made me lie flat on my back when it came time to push, with my legs held up. stupid. But when you are at that point in labor there isn't much fight in you as you're sorta preoccupied. I really had the urge to be on my side. Also a nurse stuck her hand inside me while I was trying to push. Hurt like hell, worse pain of the whole thing. I was trying to ask her to remove herself and she wouldn't. So I just pushed like heck, and I think she did move at that point, and then baby was born. From the time I got in the bed and let them know it was time to the baby being born, less than 15 minutes. Baby was a bit bruised from my heavy pushing and quick exit, which wasn't really necessary. And another thing, the doctor who got paid for catching my baby? Came in after I got in the bed and sat at the back of the room in a chair. Yep. Told the nurses to handle it and said, "We'll just see how she can push." Anyway, after giving birth the nurses were amazed I had done it naturally. They literally told me they hadn't seen it happen. WOW. To be a pregnant woman and not even have it presented as an option to birth naturally? I just can't get with that.

I enjoyed these. :) Nice and light fun.

The Hunger Games trilogy (just finished the second book) and The Mists of Avalon (again)

I'm ThreeBlessings because... you guessed it, I have three kids. I don't post a whole lot, but I read on here most days for 15-20 minutes if I can find them. I decided to homeschool because my oldest dd wanted to stay home and do school with mommy instead of going to public school when Kindergarten time rolled around. The reason for homeschooling has grown and changed just about as much as our family and children, underneath the layers the fact that the kids want to be home instead of away still exists. :) I spent quite a lot of my childhood living in a trailer. My parents split up when I was 12. I was moved once or twice a year each year after that. My dad was a terrible influence, taking me to bars, drinking and driving, etc. He bought me alcohol for the first time when I was 14. At 15 I was working 30+ hours a week and going to high school. At 16 I dropped out of school to work full time and moved in with a friend. I didn't see the point in finishing school when I could be working. Yikes. I had a good work ethic if not much else. I had my first kid at 20. Changed my life completely, of course. From that point most everything has been about the family and the kids. Dh has worked hard to support us so that I could stay at home. We don't desire fancy phones or cars and we actually enjoy shopping for most things used, so it works.

If you haven't told him *why* wiping properly is so important, I think you probably should. I had this conversation with my ds after repeated incidents and gentle talks. He is also very sensitive. :) He did cry, but he is sensitive so I wasn't surprised. I was matter of fact and gave him information that is important to have. E coli can make people very, very sick and we need to take special care to make sure we are having good hygiene. I helped him research E coli and we read a bit about it together. Also personal comfort is an issue as irritation and rash can occur if we don't wipe properly. And I do think the wipes are necessary for some people. We buy them and we live on a fairly strict budget. We buy them in a bulk box and they actually last a long time. We probably save money buying them because tp is expensive too and they were using too much tp to get clean, clogging my toilet up too. :)

My children and I used the book and enjoyed it. They were 3rd and 5th grade. I found the explanations simple and sufficient. The kids never had any trouble 'getting' it. There is a short amount of text followed by exercises that actually allow the children to use the grammar. We always did so orally. :)

Yup. Agree with pp. Colicky baby is sooooo hard when life is enough as it is a lot of the time, yk? Give yourself a much needed hug momma and just keep keeping on. This too shall pass. And it is just fine to think it will be nice to be away at work. It is okay to look forward to working. Do not beat yourself up about that. :)

We use the CAT from Seton Testing Services as well. I've always been happy with the service. It is only $25 per child. The tests are administered by me and always returned quickly. We don't test for results though, but rather because it is required by our state law. I don't use any test prep book. I bought them one year from Seton and used them, but it was unnecessary for us. I would be more likely to use it if there was a specific reason *to* use them for an individual student, but I have no reason at all to use them with either of my kids. The tests are, imo, ridiculously easy for the average student performing at grade level.

I used that calculator and I'm not understanding the results. Is the yellow number in the box the calorie intake to strive for or the number above that? Thanks! :) eta: Duh, never mind I *think* I get it now. I went back and actually read the text above the calculator like I should have done to begin with. The yellow number indicates what would be a very low calorie intake? The number above that is the calorie intake to strive for?

Here's my blog post about planning for this coming year with some printables. :)

Julie- thanks for the feedback. I will check the ruling on the lines as I'm not sure. I don't think they are as small as college, but I doubt they are wide ruled. When you say you prefer the teacher and student pages together for a pdf, do you mean together in one book, or together as in teacher page with corresponding student page directly after throughout the book? I plan to have them together in one pdf, but with the student pages bulked together first and the teacher pages bulked together after the student pages. Thanks for your time!

Thank you for your feedback. My dd has made some slightly depreciating remarks as to the color choice. :) I will definitely take your advice!

Thank you for your time. Do you mean MS Sans Serif? I will try that and see how it looks. It is somewhat boring text too, being so condensed and informative. I've read it probably twenty times by now and I thought that was why my eyes gloss over when I try to look at it, lol. :) I googled serif fonts and found some more, thanks!

Thanks so much, I appreciate you taking the time. :) I'm taking notes. I think you're right about the margins. Do you think it would be better justified too or no? I'll try out some other font choices for the title. Thanks again!

I don't like Comic Sans either. What font would you recommend? What about Verdana? I'm writing my own Spelling curriculum (here's a BETA sample-I've made a few minor changes since posting) and I'd love a critique from any of you if you want to take the time. :) The student pages are first, then the teacher pages. I *think* it is better to lump them this way. I have two students I'm using it with and need to print two copies of the student pages, also I figure some people may not want to print the teacher pages at all but read them on screen. I've attempted to keep the pages simple, clean, and low ink friendly because that is what *I* desire for my own use. I had a hard time deciding what font to use. Verdana seemed pretty plain and fairly close to handwriting print. If I could do anything at all to improve, let me know! I'd be ever so grateful.

I love it more than I hate it. :) I think shaking a funk would be highly dependent on finding out what exactly is causing it and identifying if there is anything specific that can be done to remedy it, even a bit. So, why are you feeling panicky? What buttons are getting pushed? For me, I started not enjoying it all the time when the kids got to be about 9 and 11. They don't always have stellar attitudes (which is fairly common in kids I hear). It isn't always easy to deal with and sometimes I let it get to me emotionally. I can help this with self talk and trying to make sure I eat enough and rest enough (I'm not so great at this!). Then it's easier to love.

I probably wouldn't in this case. It sounds like she just doesn't have good grammar. I doubt you pointing it out will help her obtain it, especially if she thinks she has it so right she's mistakenly correcting you.

Yes I did. Thank you again for clarifying, as I've been wondering where one would wrangle up an air of solemnity in a first reaction to that man's death and how one could expect that from his fellows.

I appreciate the further clarification you've given because I honestly must have misunderstood your intent in other posts. If you are a man who would do what was needed to protect his children you are worthy of respect for it. For a lot of people, in the immediacy of hearing of something like this, the stronger emotions of shock, hurt, anger, and sadness on behalf of the victims will outweigh any solemnity at the death of the perpetrator. It is soul wrenching. As for the father who was put in this unfortunate position, nobody here is 'in his face' and I highly doubt he will go searching the internet for personal responses to his actions. He will have enough to deal with in the aftermath.

Beautiful, wonderful story! So happy for your daughter! :party:

Talk about distorting positions. I don't think anyone here was breaking out the champagne. It is important to stand up and voice a strong opinion in matters like this. I wouldn't take someone saying "Way to go!" as celebration of anything that took place, rather as a abrupt call of support and voicing they have no condemnation of the action taken by the father to protect his daughter.