No, I would consider a year or two, possibly, depending on the circumstances. I was thinking about relocating for years, like for most of the kids' childhoods, for example. I would have a very hard time separating my kids and their grandparents for that length of time. But a year or two might be doable-- it would be hard for me to do, but I would consider it for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

That is a very odd comparison, imo. The Bible says this about relationships between believers and nonbelievers (not specifically about dating, but certainly the principle applies, and to what would it apply more than marriage, the most important relationship in a person's life?): Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? Corinthians 6:14ff I'm not sure how Christian parents, in light of this, could teach their children that the choice to choose a nonbeliever is perfectly acceptable, just as acceptable as marrying a person of a different race. Apart from this, there are many negative practical problems that come from a Christian marrying a non-Christian. Not sharing in your heart, with your spouse, the very most important thing in your life is one. Not coming at life with the same values can be a problem, as you seek to make decisions together-- one is seeking to honor and obey God, while that not on the radar for the other. The issues that arise with attending church, reading the Bible, praying, are often difficult. I have seen too many women sitting alone in the pew, week after week, weeping for the salvation of their husband (and children, who statistically are less likely to follow God in a mixed faith marriage), to ever say that this is an acceptable path for my children to knowingly choose.

This is a good point, and one that concerns me a bit as well. I don't want my kid to rush into marriage right away just because waiting for sex until marriage is so hard. I don't think it's generally great for kids to rush out and get married at 18, and it troubles me that so many of a courtship model do so. On the other hand, since I do believe that sex outside of marriage is wrong morally, that is a principle that can't be bent to avoid the possible consequences. And I have known many people who have waited for sex until marriage, and didn't marry until they were much older, so it can be done, and that is what we will encourage our kids to strive for. I also am not sure that being older and having emotional baggage from past sexual relationships upon getting married is much better for the success of a marriage than marrying young. So... our approach is that dating is designed to lead to marriage, that sex is meant to be within marriage only, and that it's best to delay marriage and sex until you are mature enough to make those kinds of decisions. We will definitely tell our kids that it would be foolish to rush into marrying someone just for physical reasons at a young age.

Family is very important to me, so that would be a huge factor. The only way I would willingly move that way away from our family would be if we really felt a very strong call from God to be a missionary or serve Him overseas. Other than that, nothing else compares with being near family for us, especially while we're raising children. Friends have scoffed at us when we've said that we wouldn't move away for any amount of money or position, but we honestly mean it. Living near grandparents is invaluable for kids, we really believe.

Yes, I will say that I think that homeschooling is almost always better than public schools, under certain conditions: 1. The family is a healthy, stable, loving family. 2. Parents have the ability, flexibility in their schedule, and commitment to be able to effectively teach their children. Since these two conditions are not always reality, public schools may well be the better choice for children in those situations-- however, I don't think this means that public school is as strong or effective a choice as homeschooling. And for #2, I think many homeschoolers agree with that statement. I think the only way that it could cause harm is if it gives the false assurance that homeschooling is best no matter what you do, no matter what kind of family dynamics, and no matter how little time or effort a parent devotes to it.

I would define a fear of man as deciding to do or not to do certain things based on people's reactions to you, rather than based on whether the Lord is calling you to do it. If someone is afraid to do something because they're afraid they might look bad in front of other people, that would fall into the "fear of man" category. Caring too much how they look in front of others. A lot of shy people do fall into this category, imo, but certainly not all. It all depends on your motives, imo. Two people could do exactly the same thing, and one might be sinning and the other not, based on what is motivating them.

Yes, I knew it (food stamps, free lunch, etc. were dead giveaways), but it didn't bother me much. I grew up with an only child, with just my mom, who was a waitress. She did everything she could to make life good and comfortable for me, while going without just about everything herself. I always had nice new clothes, good food, nice gifts at Christmas, etc. What I didn't realize until later was how much she was sacrificing for me. For a poor child, I actually was pretty spoiled... I didn't realize that until I was older. I don't think my kids have much concept of our financial state now. They know that there are many times that we need to turn to the Lord for help, and that He is faithful to provide, but I don't think they realize that some people don't necessarily need to do that to pay their bills or buy food. When they're older I think they might be surprised to realize how little money we had while they were growing up.

Have you read The Well Trained Mind yet? I read it when I was first getting started with homeschooling, and was overwhelmed with all the different options. It really helped guide my selection of materials, and give structure to the whole process in my mind. It's continuing to help guide me now, 9 years later!

I couldn't answer the poll because I don't think it's rude, but I personally would prefer to have the heads up because I and my house are usually sort of a wreck a lot of the time. But I feel that I *should* have myself and house decent enough to be hospitable anytime, so I can't put the blame on a guest who might drop by. It's something I really want to work on, because I don't want to be the kind of person that can't have people drop in because my home is so disorganized.

Update: We had everything ready to settle (yesterday was the closing date), but there is a lien against the house that hasn't been cleared yet, so the seller had to postpone until Feb 26th. We are hoping and praying that the lien will be cleared by then. We gave our 60 day notice to leave from our apartment, so we're moving *somewhere* in 60 days! :001_smile: The Lord has done so much in this process, that we're confident that He'll work things out, one way or another. Thank you for praying for us!

If you're willing to be an hour away from the city, and would like a more rural setting, I would highly recommend Bucks County. It is a beautiful place to live. Pricey, but if you can swing it, it's wonderful.

Well, yeah, a tiny bit of work is more work than none at all, of course. :tongue_smilie:However, with all the fear that goes around when homeschooling in PA is brought up, I think it's important to point out that it *is* only a tiny bit of work, as opposed to the huge burden that many outside the state may have heard that it is.

Having homeschooled in PA for 8 years, I just want to offer some reassurance that homeschooling in PA is EASY. I only spend a few hours per school year working on complying with PA homeschool law. It honestly is nothing to worry about at all. I always feel badly when I hear people ruling out PA as a place to live because of the homeschool laws-- because it is so, so easy!! It must look more difficult on paper than it is in practice, because I'm definitely not the most organized or efficient person and even I think that it is a piece of cake.

Yes, we lived in Elkins Park for five years and loved it there!! It is expensive to buy a home, but we rented a duplex and it was reasonable. We have fond memories of living in Elkins Park. It's directly north of Philadelphia, just a couple miles above the city limits, and has a great train system that takes you right to downtown. It's a family-friendly, culturally diverse area, with a lot of old homes with lots of character. We moved to Horsham after leaving Elkins Park, a few more miles north, and didn't like it as much. The area was pretty gray and bland, and was always congested with traffic.

What does that mean? That you think that only conservative kooks would imagine that homeschooling could ever become illegal? :confused: If you look at homeschooling in other parts of the world, you will see that it most definitely is possible.

Hmm, I hope this isn't always true! The house that we're buying is a short sale, and we're due to close next Friday, after just three weeks under contract. I do know that in our case, the house was already approved as a short sale before we made an offer on it. I wonder if that speeds things up? The IRS also cleared the liens against the house as soon as our offer was accepted. So I'm hoping that in our case, the short sale turns out to be a good thing. The house is selling for $50,000 less than the seller paid for it two years ago.

I did the same thing, with the same word yesterday!!! :lol: In third grade grammar, the phonetic spelling for bouquet was given, and I did a double take-- I always say "boo-kay." I had no idea it was supposed to be "bo-kay!"

What a mighty God we serve!! He really is able to do exceedingly more than we ask or think. Tonight God provided us with the money we needed. We did not do a thing besides pray, pray, pray, and ask a few people to pray with us. We are so humbled and grateful. Our faith, as well as that of our friends and family, has been so encouraged by His mighty acts in our lives over the past month. Thank you all so much for praying with us. Last night we were at a real low point, and felt that we needed to prepare the kids for possibly not getting the house. They are 13, 9, and 7, and have felt the limitations of our apartment much more than we have-- so they were very, very excited about getting a house. It was so hard for us to tell them about our situation last night. Their response was such a blessing to us. Our sons said it was okay, that they only wanted to be in a house if God wanted us to be there. Then our 7 yod said, "And I'm still thankful to the Lord, for giving us a really fun last few weeks even just thinking about being in a house!" It was all I could do to keep from bursting out crying on the spot, because of their sweet attitudes, and also because I wanted so much for those children to have their prayers answered. And now they have been!!! :party: I'm more sure than ever that the Lord is guiding us in this process, and that He will see it through to the end. Praise the Lord!

Thanks everyone. Still hoping and praying!

We have Rock Band, and love it. One reason that we chose it is because we could get the Beatles disc to go with it, and we love the Beatles. It also gives the kids quite a few more relatively "clean" songs to play. There are a couple of songs included with Rock Band that we always skip because they're inappropriate. But for the most part, the selection is good and our family definitely has a lot of fun playing it together.

Old Navy's jeans have been wonderful for me. They always fit me! It is so nice to be able to walk into a store, knowing for sure that you can choose from various styles of jeans that will all fit you. Any mid-rise, short jean in my size at Old Navy will fit me. As for the stretch, I can't imagine that not being flattering? Most of Old Navy's do have it, but a few don't. I would still give it a try, if you haven't yet.

We take a few field trips every year. Trips to places like Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Gettysburg, zoos, and museums have been our favorites. Sometimes we do nature hikes and walks, but I guess we're not as big into nature because the kids don't seem to enjoy them as much, or learn as much from them. (It's probably my fault because I am just not an outdoorsy girl, though I try to get into it for my kids' sakes.) My kids are 13, 9, and 7, and as they get older, field trips seem a little less important to me. I used to think that we should do at least one every month. Now 3-4 per year seems fine.

What about summer school?

Anyone? Please? :001_smile:

I need to order my two kids' next Horizons workbooks-- they finished their first ones before Christmas, and I've been stalling with printable worksheets since then! But I hate to spend $5 shipping on 2 $12 workbooks. :glare: If anyone has a free shipping code that you won't be using, would you please PM me? Thank you!