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

I was raised Protestant (Unity church until age 10, then Congregational). My husband was raised Catholic. I converted after we married. We renewed our vows on our first anniversary. I love the Catholic church. It was always very important to me that my husband and I be of the same faith, attend the same church, and raise our children in that same church. DH was tied more to his faith than I to mine, so I switched. It was a wonderful decision and I've enjoyed every minute. I raised a few eyebrows, but to most everyone it wasn't a big deal. Lots of support. Congrats! P.S. Our RCIA class was a riot. The teacher, a man who converted from the Baptist church, had a habit of mispronouncing words. He spoke of the GARGYLES on the old churches, VIEPMANESE people, the book of the ACROPOLIS, and VOLTIVE candles. DH and I were dying trying not to laugh.

Option #2 has a $1440 deductible. You pay $4500 max out of pocket. Everything after that is covered at 100%. Add those two together and that's what you have out of pocket per year maximum. Also keep in mind that that $4500 is what you save (either pre-tax or above-the-line deduction) in your HSA every year. It's usually saved in even monthly amounts. So $375 a month is put into the HSA and whatever you don't use rolls over into the next year. You keep it. This is unlike Flex spending accounts -- with those you lose what you don't use (which is ridiculous!). HSA contributions allow you to not have to come up with a chunk of money all at once and they give you an inherant discount since you get either a deduction from that money on your taxes or it's pre-taxed. Above-the-line means you deduct it from your gross income. It gives you less gross income from which your tax is calculated and (sometimes) can move you into a lower bracket. With option #1 your out-of-pocket expenses are after-tax money. You can itemize them (sometimes), but that's it. With option #2, that $4500 is really equal to approx $3500 (give or take) in after-tax money. If the the $4500 is pre-tax money she's contributing to the HSA (assuming a 30% tax bracket), that's equal to $3150 in after tax money. If it's not pre-tax, she can reduce her gross income on her tax return by that $4500. Assuming again a 30% tax bracket, that saves her around $1000 in taxes paid. See?

If last year was a fairly typical year for your family, run both scenarios and see how you win out. Take into account the following, though: - I don't know what medical conditions you and your dd have that cause you to have those meds. If it is something that could result in a prolonged hospital stay or expensive surgery, option 2 is a much better place for you to be. -HSAs are GREAT! They are either pre-tax or above-the-line tax deductible money and you don't lose what you don't use. It rolls into the next year. No matter what, the most you're ever out in option 2 is around $6k. period. If you only spend $4k, you have that extra $2k for the future years to add on to. Pre-tax money, in essense, gives you a 30% discount on everything (what you would have paid in tax). KWIM?

My mom has been receiving and reading "Our Daily Word" for years and years. She's always enjoyed it, but finds that it's becoming (in her words) "too kumbaya." I looked online at "Our Daily Bread," but the samples were not the supportive stuff she was looking for. She's fighting cancer and wants uplifting and spiritual as opposed to educational. Do any of you ladies and gents know of any other booklets like these two she could subscribe to? I know she wants something in print. She reads it before she goes to sleep at night so a web site just isn't conducive. Mom is a Christian, but non-denominational. She's pretty open. Thanks in advance.

I sell a grammar curriculum that starts no earlier than 4th grade. I have this discussion A LOT.:001_smile: I don't think doing what I consider "informal" grammar at a young age is detrimental at all. In fact I recommend FLL all the time to those who want to cover basic (again, informal) grammatical topics earlier. I do think, though, that trying to do the hard-core, analytical, logical stuff too early is just time wasted. I'm not saying a younger child can't learn it, but it does take longer. I'd rather wait until their little brains are ready and then get it over with. Grammar is not a big body of knowledge. You can either start really early and spend YEARS covering it, or just wait until they're old enough and do it more quickly. The point is to get it mastered so you can move on to literature and writing. Those topics are MUCH more vast and MUCH more difficult and time-consuming to teach. What I unfortunately see sometimes are homeschool teachers who start in 1st grade with big grammar books that are done every day for the whole year and consider their language arts covered!:confused: WHAT??? There are SO many things that need to be taught in elementary school.

If you really want to treat yourself, the FPEA convention is held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. Google it; it's gorgeous! The offer a really great rate for convention attendees. I think the speakers there are pretty nice, too. The resort has a lovely spa ...

That's a great idea. Just make sure you're not giving him things he doesn't know how to handle. Has he mastered infinitive phrases, noun clauses, etc? If he does know all the advanced stuff already, try this one: See Spot run. It looks simple, but it's not. (evil grin)

Diagraming is a means to an end. Endlessly diagraming sentences without learning anything new is pointless. Learning to diagram simple sentences allows to you truly understand the more complex parts of sentence (phrases and clauses) when you get to that level. It's a teaching tool. Once a student has mastered grammar, he shouldn't need to keep diagraming over and over. BUT, at least he knows how so he can figure out a complex sentence when faced with it.

Go to FPEA in Orlando and you can do Disneyland. It's bigger, better, and NOT Los Angeles! :tongue_smilie::tongue_smilie::tongue_smilie:

Wondering if any of you teachers out there have found any really fun computer games (online or CDROM) that are good for little ones to work on phonics. My daughter knows her letters and sounds (for the most part) already. She LOVES playing games on the computer. Any suggestions?

That's a good point, Laura. One thing to consider, though, is that were many of us to wholesale on a large scale, we'd have to increase our retail prices to make up for the lost income. Selling direct keeps costs down.

Wow! What a nice compliment, Bill. Thank you very much! :001_smile::001_smile:

Put some of that grading on your student. For AG at least (it's my program, so I know! LOL), it's VERY important for the student to be in on the grading. They'll learn a lot more that way and it'll make your life easier. Blessings,

Here I am! LOL

As a vendor, I thought I'd chime in here. I think more and more you'll see vendors not selling through stores (like Amazon or RR). In the age of the Internet, it's SO much more cost effective for us to sell our own material. When we sell through a store we usually take a 25-40% hit on the retail price of our products. Before the Internet, publishers had to sell in stores to be able to get their products in the hands of consumers. That's not hard to do now, so it's usually not worth it to wholesale our materials to stores.

Amber, I'm a vendor, so I've been to about 12-17 conferences a summer! If you want to have a large selection of workshops, speakers, and vendors, I would go to one of the following (these are 2009 dates, but they will give you an idea of when they are held): April 16th through 18th -- MidWest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio -- downtown location, well-run convention May 21st through 23rd -- NCHE Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- not a very nice venue, but it's a great convention May 21st through 23rd -- FPEA in Orlando, Florida -- held at a GORGEOUS resort June 11th through 13th -- HEAV in Richmond, Virginia -- held at a downtown convention center The links will send you to the Web site. They usually have blocks of hotel rooms at a discount rate if you book early. Blessings,

How sweet! Thanks, Polly! Now she's bald and has an oxygen tube, but she's still smiling! LOL

It's a deal worked out between the two companies. Most companies pay to have their toys included in the happy meals. I'm sure that BaB got a "discount" from McDs for cross-promotion of the restaurant on their web site.

I'm so sorry I haven't updated everyone. Mom is still in the hospital. She had a bronchoscopy yesterday (camera into her lungs). She's feeling a little better each day. They've pretty much ruled out lymphatic spread of the cancer (thank the Lord!) and are thinking it's either a reaction to her chemo or a weird virus. Thank you all for your prayers; we can't tell you how much it means to us! They expect her to remain at Rex at least through the weekend.

This is why the teacher is counting "there" as a pronoun: there - 6 dictionary results .sponsored_Img{ background:transparent url('http://4.afs.googleadservices.com/images/partners/CPnl2bLpup0CFdZL5QodfA1P2A/aj-lexico-dict.png') no-repeat; float:right; margin-top:4px; width:91px; height:12px; cursor:default; } There Create an Avatar &choose from over 2million virtual products. Join now www.IMVU.com .shd_hdr1 { width:100%; } .sep_top1 { position : relative; } .citesourceseperator{ border-bottom: solid 1px #E4E4E4; margin-top:15px; margin-bottom:7px; } .sep_top1 table{ margin-top:-2px; margin-bottom:-3px; } .results_content ul, .results_content ol { margin-bottom:-3px; } .LImg{ background-image:url("http://sp.ask.com/en/i/dictionary/AddThis_v2/sprite_icons.png"); } .Lsentnce{ margin-top:6px; margin-bottom:-6px; } there   /ðɛər; unstressed ðər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [thair; unstressed ther] Show IPA Use there in a Sentence See web results for there See images of there –adverb 1. in or at that place (opposed to here ): She is there now. 2. at that point in an action, speech, etc.: He stopped there for applause. 3. in that matter, particular, or respect: His anger was justified there. 4. into or to that place; thither: We went there last year. 5. (used by way of calling attention to something or someone): There they go. 6. in or at that place where you are: Well, hi there. –pronoun 7. (used to introduce a sentence or clause in which the verb comes before its subject or has no complement): There is no hope. 8. that place: He comes from there, too. 9. that point.

I also have the $10 a month subscription to the TMM website. It's VERY helpful. I also bought his envelope system with the black wallet. That has really helpful. Sometimes a few aides can really give yout hat extra hand you need.

That's right! Thanks. I'm very proud of us and am VERY grateful for DR. His plan is just what we need.

Okay, here's where we are :001_huh:. We've been on the Dave Ransey plan for three months now and have paid off $5000 worth of CC debt. We still have $80,000 to go. Yup, $80k. That doesn't include mortgages or the car loan or student loans. We're doing well but have a long way to go. Sigh. I like typing it out sometimes; it's like testifying at an AA meeting. It keeps you motivated and honest!

My mom is Robin Finley, the author of Analytical Grammar. Many of you know that she has been fighting stage four sarcoma (cancer) for 1.5 years now. Her new chemo is working; the tumors have become smaller. Unfortunately, the chemo has left her immuno-compromised. She has been admitted into the hospital with typical, bi-lateral pneumonia. They're still trying to find the right drug to kill off whatever virus/bacteria/fungus is causing it. Please keep her in your prayers and also hold the docs in prayer that they'll be able to dose her with the right drug to cure this lung infection. She's totally coherent and talking, but needs an oxygen mask to get her breath. She's been at the hospital since last night and hasn't worsened, which is good. Thanks for the prayers ...