Thanks again for all the responses. We ended up having to cancel the yard sale once we started trying to get our big items (furniture, woodworking equipment, power tools) moved into place. We evidently had more planned than the energy and available space to move them all. I think our big items multiplied while hiding in the garage and shed. I don't remember buying so much stuff and moving it into this garage. After much prayer and thinking about the young girl, I realized that if I had a relationship/history with her, I would have had no problem having her be a part of the yard sale and supporting her. That said, I have never been introduced to her and would not know her if she walked up to me. I only know of her running away problems, etc, from her mass emails from her parents and local news reports. Her mother is an acquaintance but not a close friend, which I think contributed to my being shocked that she would send her daughter in her steed to the yard sale. When we reschedule the yard sale, I will be more explicit in my expectations of those joining. What an interesting lesson to learn this week, on many levels.

Thanks for the responses. I really did need to hear other perspectives. Many of you brought things to light I hadn't thought of, especially since I don't have a 15 year old and am lost in knowing what they can/can't handle. DH and I will be talking more about this today based on things y'all have mentioned. In hindsight, I should have put more of my expectations into the original mass email to the group rather than assuming we were all on the same page. D'oh to me. Given that we will be hopefully having more people around and if the mom will come get her and the stuff, I can reconsider my stance after talking to the mom and getting a better idea of the daughter.

I detest holding yard sales but am holding a multi-family one this weekend. I invited fellow members of my local MOMS club to join in since around here "multi-family" guarantees people will actually show up to look and perchance purchase. I received an email today from one of the ladies in the group who will be dropping her 15 year old stepdaughter off, along with her items, Saturday morning for the yard sale. The mom has other meetings to attend that day and can't participate herself. I emailed back letting her know she was welcome to attend to sell instead of her stepdaughter. She responded with surprise that I didn't think her daughter capable of participating in the yard sale. I reminded her that the yard sale was open to club members, not their children since children are not considered members of the club by the bylaws. I received a very rudely worded response that her daughter was trying to help support her family and I was not helping them support their family as members in good standing of this club are expected to do. After another discussion on this with dh, I decided not to respond to her last email. I have several issues with her responses: 1-I don't know her 15 year old stepdaughter. I've never met her. 2-She is a very troubled girl with a history of running away at any opportunity where her parents are not present or able to keep tabs on her. 3-The girl could not be picked up until later in the afternoon, several hours after the yard sale was over. 4-The mother didn't ask if it was ok to send her stepdaughter in her place, she decided this was best for them. Please share your yard sale etiquette/wisdom/knowledge. I am starting to wonder if I am completely out of line with my response to her. Please, no tomatoes. My garden is full already.

My k and pre-k'ers LOVED Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. Now we're doing Trumpet of the Swan and they are enthralled. We finished Little House in the Big Woods, which they loved as well. But now they want to try to make butter and cheese like Ma. That's going to be messy.

Our old Victorian had a blue porch ceiling. Like other posters have mentioned, it keeps the birds and flying, stinging bugs from nesting in the corners. Plus, it is rather soothing when sitting in a rocking chair or porch swing after a long day of homeschooling and chores. ETA: It's actually a Victorian tradition rather than a regional or southern tradition.

I had no idea it ended at a 4th grade level. Thanks for filling me in! (I might have figured that out sooner or later, but given my current sleep-deprived state, I'm not counting on it.)

I had gestational diabetes with my 2nd child. A sweet friend brought me chicken and beef fajitas with the tortillas. DH and ds1 got the tortillas to go with the fajitas. I ate the fajita filling. It was delicious. She used only half of a seasoning packet and loaded it with onions, peppers, zuchinni, and squash. I can still taste it 2 1/2 years later. Oh it was such a treat since I would never had mad it for just me but having someone else do it was a treat. Plus, ds1 could take out the onions and eat everything else. He thought it was fun to eat with his fingers. She went heavy on the veggies since they were cheaper so we actually got a supper and 2 lunches (for me) out of it.

It is my responsibility to maintain my vehicle in all aspects. DH is responsible for his vehicle maintenance. Dh is vehicle-maintenance challenged and since I don't have the time to maintain both, to each our own. I learned early in our marriage that if I want to keep my vehicle running, I have to do the maintenance. Thankfully, my dad trained me well in that regard and I have been doing it since I was 17 with my first car (12 if you count dad teaching me how to maintain our family vehicles as a kid). Dh has many great qualities but if it has anything to do with cars, he is completely clueless.

It's my understanding that it's a 2-year program, kindergarten and 1st grade. At least, that's the way I've seen it presented more often than as a 1-year program. We're doing it as a 2 year program and adding lots of "reading to mommy" time to reinforce each day's lesson. We just started our K about 3 weeks ago and are in the mid-130's after starting it last August for pre-k and doing a couple of lessons a week plus taking the summer off. I'm shooting for daily lessons but the pg tiredness rears it ugly head more often than not. ETA: Some days when the lessons are shorter, we've done 1-3 lessons. If you're starting it as first grade, you might be able to do the same thing. Some lessons are only one or even a half page, especially the review lessons.

From what the rep on the phone told me, the association director is considered the principal. Since I am our coordinator, I used my address, with permission from our director. The reward checks will be mailed to the address on file so for our group, it's easier if it come to me as the coordinator. HTH! ~Mia

I am right there with you but my oldest is just doing kindergarten so our days are much shorter school-wise. I am so tired I can barely move. One thing that has worked well for us is to do our school work on the bed. Depending on if the other 2 are asleep and where they are asleep, we stretch out either on ds' bed or my bed. He also like to read his books to mommy so on days I can barely move, we stretch out on the bed and he reads his books to me after he finishes his lessons. I kept hoping the tiredness would pass after the 1st trimester but it's still kicking my tail. I hit the sack about 8:30p/9:00p every night.

Oh man, now I'm missing the State Fair something awful. When we lived in TX, the newest fried food was always our first stop. I ran into (literally, accidentally) Matthew McConaughey at the food vendor one year.

Here's a link to the BTFE website: http://www.boxtops4education.com/. You will have to call their toll free number (888-799-2444) to register your homeschool group. You will need to have the following info: School/association name; address; principal/director; director's phone number; no. of students, number of teachers; dates your school is in session (we just chose a 12 month period to use since we are all on different schedules); grade levels. They will give you an ID number then you will have to wait 5-10 business days for them to verify info and get your group into the system/on the website. You must have a minimum of 15 students for your group to qualify.

Thanks for the tip! I just signed our homeschool association up. We will be officially a BTFE recipient within 10 business days.

Water, water with lemon, water with lime, seltzer water, seltzer water with lemon, seltzer water with lime, strong coffee with half and half. I occasionally will drink a soft drink (only if I'm eating pizza since they just go together) and unsweetened tea. I had to stop with the aspartame, Splenda, and sacchrine after developing chemical allergies to them as an adult. It can make shopping for alternatives to diet drinks difficult but that's where the juice-flavored waters come in. As an adult, I developed chemical allergies to the fake stuff after years of ingesting it as a child.

I completely agree with elegantlion. Won't she also need a fairly detailed list of what was sold for tax/close of business purposes?

We have a French door fridge from Kenmore (made by Whirlpool) that's about 3 years old. I really love it, except now the 2 year old has figured out how to open the freezer and get out ice to chew on. And his 1 yo sister now knows big brother has this talent and gives him claps when he opens it and gets her ice :tongue_smilie:. I love having the room up top to put in platters and large bowls of stuff. We didn't get the ice or water in the door since it was so much more expensive. Otherwise, if we move, the fridge moves as well.

Our church uses the Shorter Catechism for our Wednesday night children's catechism classes. We are a small church and before the kids take the class, the preacher (also the teacher of the class) makes sure all the kids have been exposed to the catechism at home before he works with them on learning it. Glad to hear you were able to get in touch with the SS teacher and get the scoop.

1 can of apple juice concentrate 1 can of oj concentrate 1 can of lemonade concentrate 1 2 liter of ginger ale Mix together and enjoy!

I'd like to throw my 2 cents in for the Golden Isles of Georgia (Glynn County), halfway between Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL. The cost of living is a little lower if you go west by 1 county. I am 10 minutes from the beach and have 4 palm trees in my front yard. Granted, the beaches are not gorgeous white sand like So. and Gulf Florida, but they are beaches. We kayak 10 months out of the year through the marshes. We haven't had measurable snow fall since 1989 when literally everything shut down. Before that, it was the 1960's for snow fall. The one draw back is hurricane season but we haven't had a hurricane hit this area since 1898 (I'm knocking on wood, praying, everything that Earl stays in the Atlantic). We do get tropical storms occasionally but that's about it. Georgia homeschool laws are not too rough-keep and forward attendance records to local school district and standardize test every 3 years and hold those scores. Ok, so I am a little biased since I have wanted to live here since I was 12. I finally got down here at 30 and am doing everything possible to keep from leaving.

I'm waiting on NCIS. Mark Harmon makes me swoon.

We turn the ringer off on the home phone and put the "SCHOOL IS IN SESSION" sign on the door. Right below it is the "CRANKY CHILDREN FINALLY SLEEPING. KNOCK OR RING DOORBELL AT YOUR OWN RISK". We've only had one interruption in the past 2 years of the school and cranky children sign. Evidently the screams of children woken up too early from naps can be heard through the front door. :D (Personally, I think it's the cranky children sign that has more weight so it's now laminated. Some days it stays up until we go to bed.)

I have this only when I am pregnant. I wear the splint at night. It makes a huge difference. I don't have the patience during the day to wear it but I do limit my keyboarding/mousing time. Mine has typically gone away about 2 weeks after delivery. It switches hands with each pregnancy, which I find disconcerting. It was my right hand with dc1, left hand with dc2, left hand with dc3, and now right hand with dc4. I'm a righty so I have no clue how to explain the occurrence in my left hand unless it's related to the way I sleep at night. I don't take anything for it, either. I have taken a Tylenol or generic Tylenol occasionally if it tends to wake me up at night.

Oh yeah. :grouphug: to you. As my husband and I say when we get back from a "visitation", who needs enemies when you have family?

We're working on getting rid of stuff out of necessity and because I'm tired of so much stuff. We are probably going to have to move this fall thanks to escalating cost of living in our area and stagnant/decreasing wages for DH. We went through this last year and got rid of so much junk. But we still have more to go. It doesn't help that DH thinks he has time to be a handy-man and fix all the broken beach paraphenalia he finds on his job as a trashman. Do we really need 17 broken beach cabanas that "can be taken apart and put together to make one really good one"? NO! We don't even go to the beach enough to use a beach cabana. Hopefully our yard sale scheduled for next month will incite more purging in Dh. I've already got a room full of stuff priced and ready to move.