I usually appreciate my kids. I do. They are quirky and imaginative. But they live to find loopholes. Did you know that on Mavis Beacon typing you can press down one key and get amazing words per minute with little accuracy? The adjusted rate is low, but a tired mom might think ok, just need to work on accuracy. But no, they haven't learned anything. There isn't a game or any other benefit to this, than knowing that you can game the system. We can never play a board game the way it is designed. The Game of Life doesn't actually restrict the number of children, they assume that you will fill up your car not have 24. That is what they read anyway. But 24 gets so many added benefits in the game. That is only one example. The housework and grooming( for the boy) have many others. They are wearing me out. I need something to engage their heads. Anybody know of a game for loophole seekers?

I used to have both. I wish I still did. Are you talking about the second video of B? The continuation course? Sorry I can't do acronyms at the best of times, and i haven't had enough coffee to try. IEW has a lot of acronyms! B and C were pretty similar. Perhaps you could do B now, and pick and choose what parts of C to do when it is available? I think it was section 8.. Report writing? I would probably do that in both levels. Other than that, you could look at the difference in teachers pages to see if there would be anything else. Could you borrow her teachers notes for a weekend and look at the differences?

Yay! We found level 4 to take a looong time. We loved 5. Levels 6 and 7 weren't bad. There is a lot of material in 8, and I remember it being a bit choppy. Level 8 still seemed better than 4. perhaps because we sort of consider ourselves done at level 8.

We used to use this one, that i keep finding at thrift stores , but doesn't make enough for all of us. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EX16RY/ref=psdc_16012141_t1_B002KBFO6C Love that Walmart is carrying the new yogurt....now if they would only make it organic :)

I have to make mine, because it is so difficult and expensive to find organic yogurt , but organic milk seems readily available all of the time. I use this yogurt maker http://www.amazon.com/Euro-Cuisine-YM260-Yogurt-2-Quart/dp/B002KBFO6C/ref=sr_1_1?srs=2591476011&ie=UTF8&qid=1464639851&sr=8-1&keywords=Quart, and the same company's starter or store yogurt starter, as well as the strainer upthread. It almost always turns out. I would rather buy it, if I could , though.

This is what our nutritionist recommends.... A 3-5 oz serving once a day.We have homemade yogurt for breakfast ( greek or regular for smoothies) , fruit for snacks ( 3 x a day),a big salad and starchy carb for lunch ( potato/ sweet potato/ rice based) and meat or fish for dinner with veggies and wild rice or quinoa. Most of my family's food intolerances have been cleared up eating this way. I never thought it would be filling enough but it is. We do eat all organic though, so I am still working on how to budget for that.

We graduated my daughter early, but even the three CCs required a high school transcript as she transferred credits from one to another. Maybe with an associates degree that would be a non issue? Sometimes the transfer applications are online . State schools here tend to require the two years in high school and no further- for BS degrees. BA require much more.

I think you could use this ambiguity to your advantage. Were his DE classes stronger than his high school grades or than the ACT? Does he want to / did he take the SAT? I was just reading College Confidential and a student was denied acceptance to University of Texas ( he was't in the top 7 percent of his class by ranking), and appealed as a transfer student based on his DE classes (24 credits, I believe). He was accepted as a transfer student with only DE. The one credit class after graduation you mentioned might be helpful if he wants to apply as a transfer student. There are distance learning PE 1 credit classes in my area.

I have been both. Like others have said, it will depend on the parish. The masses I attended were similar to the Catholic . As my time in the Episicpal church went on, i noticed more and more differences. It was similar on the surface, but the more I became involved, the more prominant and severe the differences became. I would am confused as to reason for the switch. The Catholic church is pretty welcoming to gay people, maybe you have another church in you parish?

I am so sorry for your losses. I know how painful that can be. I have lost a few early babies and we named them and pray for them daily like we do for our other children. Older people and people not in my Catholic church are sort of ..just forget it and move on with their mentality. Why do people say stupid hurtful things when you have a painful loss...I don't know. I don't think it is just when you lose someone young,though. I heard a lot of it when we have older family members die as well. They are in a better place.." Well I hope and pray so, but that is not the most super comforting for those of us here on earth. It is comforting, but I think most of us are grieving because we miss the dead. Probably just looking for an ak owledge ent of our pain. I think people who comment this way just don't know what to say , or at least that is what I tell myself. I know women who when asked if they have children will answer yes, 8 in heaven, 3 on earth. We are having a funeral this week for a 12 week gestational baby in my church. Some people get it, it is painful and grief involved. I always got a few sympathy cards and hugs and amzing support from women who also miscarried (that I had no idea until then).

Sorry , I did not mean that you need or should miss your hypothetical 14 year old . I was just sharing my family's experience , not trying to tell anyone else what they should feel/not feel. I know that women hurt each other on this all the time. I have seen it, they have definitely been vocal to my family. I am tearing up picturing that happening to you. How could anyone one do that to another person? I am so sorry. Wow.

I tried to double quote, but it didn't work. I took it to mean a retorical question. Did she really think there was long term data or there ought to be on the children of those women who changed their minds? Should we be tracking these families? That is kind of creepy. Who could actually know what happened to those families? I have many of the same thoughts of possiblities of what might have been in my family,Sadie. My mom aborted her first child. Maybe I wouldn't be here if she didn't , but I wouldn't choose to be alive at the expense of another person. My Mom has had to live with wondering how things could have turned out if she made a different choice for a lifetime. It has weighed heavily on her. My sister made a different choice in similar circumstances. Sometimes, it looks so hopeless because we try to do it ourselves. Our moms group often routinely makes meals and watches kiddos of pregnant women. That helps a little. Maybe it is just the compassion. I am not arguing any points about abortion. I am pro-life and I just have compassion and love. The last thing women need is to hurt each other. My heart breaks for women making this choice, and for their children.

Alive.

One more idea for family transitions: occasional family video games with cell phones blaring. I don't know if this helps, but my two ds are almost ten years apart. They set up occsional video game play where they play a multiplayer games with either just the two of them , or the whole family (civ 5). My ds spends thirty minutes or a few hours with us on the phone, chatting as we all play against one another. It is something that we can still do together even living apart. It is silly, and I am not a gamer, but I treasure just spending that time together.

Lots of hugs! I second the texting. We still text frequently, often about silly things. I think it was more difficult anticipating life without him home on a daily basis, than it actually was. As one of my friends kept reminding me, "he's not dead, just in college. " Texting is great because you can text when something funny happens, and they can get used to their new life and read texts when convenient. At first , we did text daily. Two hours away is not too far for a mom/son lunch date. After a few weeks, maybe he has time for lunch in his schedule. Over the course of a year, they really start to appreciate visits more( maybe it is getting off campus food)? We didn't make time for this because of a younger sib's activity and i really wish I would have. I did drive up once in a while, but a bimonthly or monthly lunch would have been great.

We used this : Secrets to Successful Colleege Apps for Homeschoolers by Jeannette Webb (kindle book) https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Successful-College-Apps-Homeschoolers-ebook/dp/B00GIUTC3C?ie=UTF8&keywords=jeannette%20webb&qid=1463058320&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3 This is a pretty good article from Homeschool world. https://www.home-school.com/Articles/087-college-application.php We also liked the How To Get Into the Top Colleges by Richard Montauk and Krista Klein http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Into-Top-Colleges/dp/073520442X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463058243&sr=8-2&keywords=How+to+get+into+the+top+college This one has a few chapters that we found extremely helpful in avoiding/dealing with stereotypes of applicants in the essay. All of these materials focus on developing a plan for admissions that involve the essay and using the essay to convey the talking points about the student. I think they are good quick sources before reading Bauld's book.

Submitted before coffee.

I have to redo the color about every 3-4 weeks , which is typical for any color on me. I use the light brown color, and it covers the grays well. I find I do leave on the last step about 5 minutes longer than required. The second time, it actually came out better than the first. Brown hair can get that artificial color look, and this looks so natural. It has stained my shower, and anything else it touches, though. You are supposed to put it on like using a spatula, not dab it on like other hair color. Definitely have oxyclean spray on hand for spills and a cape and use kitchen sprayer if you have light tile. So much work that I decided I wouldn't do it again, but after I finished, I loved the color. Haven't gotten color this nice in a salon, ever.

I tried hairprint because of thie thread. The color is so natural, but it is messy and takes an hour and a half. The color is so nice though.

nm, didn't add much to discussion.

I enjoyed Homeschooling to Open Doors. It is a quick read, but also a $2.00 kindle book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Open-Doors-Choices-Thinking-ebook/dp/B00GGZSVHM?ie=UTF8&keywords=Homeschooling%20to%20open%20doors&qid=1462270988&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1 If i had to pick one book though , I would pick Called to Influence:A New Appraoch to Life, Education, and College Admission by Jeannette Webb. http://www.amazon.com/Called-Influence-Approach-Education-Admissions/dp/0984462309/ref=la_B00FAVQYJK_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462271319&sr=1-1

Even the Chrisitian oriented martial arts tend to have bowing as respect to opponent, and entering the room. They don't bow to the photo of the schools' founder though. Ths was our family's expereince, yours might be different.

Does this class end next month or does it go through the summer? I might be inclined to try the above strategies and keep studio number 3 in my back pocket for fall. Hopefully it will all work out. I wouldn't spell out any particular difficulites in an email, though. If your daughter gets into studio number 3 in fall,she can work on establishing friendships, having the girls over ect, so if MG joins..MG will have to behave as she will be the outsider. Your daughter might feel more comfortable to be able to stand up for herself in a supportive environment I shared a bit about my daughters,but didn't mention that we have worked on not being a victim for many years. We role played, and talked about this kind of thing for years. They developed their own strategies over time. They both had MG in their life, and were bullied in a martial arts class. They were very timid, and one has some anxiety. Hugs for you too OP..not an easy thing for moms either.

I would go another route, if she can't engage with MG, I would encourage her to cultivate friendships with the other girls. She needs to let some friendly other girls in on what is going on and have them listen for the whispers. She needs a group of peers to handle this , if she can't on her own yet. The adults might help a little, but ultimately they don't usually fix the problem.

My daughter has been in those situations. I'm trying to think what she would respond with. She uses "that's hurtful" with exaggerated facial expression, or "that's hurtful ..or it would be if you were someone else",followed by a chuckle. When the mean girl says insuluts out loud, my daughter would address each one by using the "Wow,that's really hurtful. Teacher, did you hear that, so hateful. I bet you aren't going to allow that right?" Using humor and being vocal with some standard comments seems to work well. " Teacher, I believe she has just hurt my self esteem, you know I will carry the scars for the rest of my life , right? Maybe she needs a hug? Should we all give her a hug?" If the girl is Christian, sometimes she might say something to remind mean girl of her church or religion. After the "I don't like you," she might say ,"Where do you go to church..yikes.." Or "way to be like Jesus", or "Is that your favorite bible verse?"My daughter is not mean back ,usually. Since the girl is whispering and invading personal space, my dd might ramp it up a little. She might ask the mean girl ,"when last time you brushed your teeth..wow". Teach your daughter how to handle it, but know that quitting is not handling it, nor is taking no action. If she can't be bold and verbal, then she needs to enlist the other girls . I don't like this well, as it can become a witch hunt full of gossip. Adults rarely deal with bullies. Being confident and having humor is the way to stamp out the bullying behavior.