Yes. Totally agree with this. Having helped my friend through a terrible ordeal - kids were taken overseas by now-ex-DH and not returned... Absolutely talk to the attorney about temporary custody. Especially since soon to be ex is going to be working in India - there is potential for what amounts to kidnapping. While it's great that there's not a lot of conflict, that may not last. And even men who are disengaged from their kids can suddenly become a lot more interested in the kids when they are looking at child support and/or garnished wages etc for a long time to come. By the way, my friend's kids *had* passports, and the ex-DH took them without friend's knowledge. Which is why I suggested locking up any passports now. There are laws regarding needing both parents consent to get a new passport for kids, but they can be overlooked. Unfortunately, I know that from family experience. I would really encourage your sister to discuss her options regarding that with the attorney, as well. To protect her kids.

Glad to hear there've been some successful challenges here. DS's allergist doesn't encourage an at-home challenge for DS, since he's had full blown anaphylaxis in the past. So we are looking at scheduling an in-office challenge - which will take 4 - 8 hours. All I know is that they will be giving DS tiny amounts of his (hopefully previous) allergens and slowly increasing them throughout the day, while monitoring for reactions. DS remembers prior epi-pen injections and hospital stays, and of course - so do I. Dr Wood (the peanut allergy guy) says it's a bit like PTSD, which I can believe. I think I'm more worried than DS, though (not surprisingly). DS is hopeful, and a bit excited about trying everything. :) I, on the other hand, am apprehensive about how this will all take place... How do they administer these tiny amounts? How do they monitor him? And what on earth will we do in one doc's office almost all day long??

Yay for de-cluttering! We are on a roll here, too. :D I'm stealing the tip about black trash bags for trash - that's a good one. I also do boxes or dark bags for donations, so once I've decided it's a donation, I don't re-think it.

Taking deep breaths here. It looks like we are finally ready for an in-office food challenge on some tree nuts and banana. Still severely allergic to peanut, sesame and walnut. Have any of you allergy moms done this? How was it? Can you share the experience with me? I have no idea what to expect, or how to prep DS, so any practical tips would be appreciated! Cautiously optimistic that all the years of strict avoidance have led to DS outgrowing some of his allergies...

I have not read every post on this thread, so this may have been said before: Lock up the kids' passports. If he is soon going to be working in India, she would not want him to take the kids without her consent. I have a friend who's been there, done that. Not fun. Lock up those passports, and if they don't have passports for the kids already - she can call the state dept (I think that's who to call) and put a watch on the kids' names so soon-to-be-ex cannot get them passports without the mom's consent. At least, there was once an option to do that, hopefully there still is. Aside from that, I agree with everyone saying to get a kick-butt attorney, pronto. Stay in the house until talking to the attorney. Given the medical situation, I would ask the attorney about getting health coverage for mom and kiddos for as long as possible. :grouphug::grouphug:

So sad. Such a beautiful voice. I went to many of her shows, and they are all fond memories. She'll be missed.

I loved Amsterdam as a kid. Haven't taken my own there yet, but the short list would include the Anne Frank house - amazing place, the outstanding art museums and gardens, and a canal tour. Lots of walking, lots of time to just experience it. You will love it!

I'm not sure of the height of our ceilings, but DH tells me that we have low ceilings. :) Oddly, we were just discussing this earlier today, and he mentioned that fact.

We have one. We usually don't turn it on while eating, or doing art projects at the table (depending on the craft). Other than that, we like it.

I agree with Hilltop. We are using RSO now - we did Life in 1st grade, and are in Earth and Space for 2nd. We plan to use Story of Science (among other things) once we've finished up with RSO. You could supplement RSO for an older child, but I think it would need quite a bit of supplementing.

Our local schools require epis and inhalers to be locked up in the nurse's office. Which in turn is locked if the nurse is not inside. Too many locks for life saving meds! Ambulances - in several states, only advanced life saving ambulances carry epinephrine. NY just changed that in May, 2010: http://www.foodallergy.org/page/emergency-medical-services PA and VA were 2 more examples, and I have not heard that they've changed, although it's possible. Per our allergist, we are to request ALS ambulances when we call 911. Hoping that my info is old now, and that all states require epinephrine on ambulances, that NY was the last to change... But just in case, people do need to be aware that some states may not carry epi on board.

Yes. ...I just re-read my post, with the story of the little girl, and that wasn't clear. That is absolutely true.

Oh, this is great news. Thank you for posting this! I was just looking at TT. :) Now there's another option, and much more appealing to a kid, I think.

That's a good question. As a mom of a kiddo with LTFA (life threatening food allergies), and a daughter of of someone with LTFA, I would personally like to see epi-pens more readily available. I can say that I know of a 5 year old who gave herself her epi-pen just to see how it would feel - and other than getting the shakes, she was fine. There was a trip to the ER, to be sure she was okay, but other than that - she was fine. That said, though, I do believe that if a person has certain conditions, an epi-pen injection might have potential effects that are not healthy. Tigger covered that well. No idea whether kids can get high somehow though. Our choice to homeschool was not based only on epi-pens in classrooms, but finding out that our local school did not allow them in the the classroom was a huge factor. I haven't read the other threads, so this may have been pointed out already... but at a bare minimum, it would be nice to see epinephrine on every ambulance. In some states, when calling 911, we have to know to let them know that there is anaphylaxis, and that epi may be needed. Such a basic life-saving med should be available for 911!

This looks like fun. Is it more of a supplement for extra practice, or does it provide any instruction?

We did it. We would not do it again. Wait... I would not do it again. DH and DS might. Well, let me back up to say that ours are not litter mates. We got our puppy, and he was a handful. We kept running into people who suggested that we get him a puppy to herd. So, yes, after a while, we got our 5 month old puppy a puppy. :D We'd always been a 2 dog family, and having lost both our older dogs, it didn't seem a big leap to have 2 puppies. Boy, were we wrong! It doesn't just double the work, it quadruples it somehow. We went from one handful to, oh, the equivalent of four handfuls. They did bond to each other, but they are each absolutely bonded to us. We do things with them separately and together. It's okay for each of them, but the older pup (they are 3 yo now) is definitely focused on DH, even goes to work with him. The younger pup is DS's dog, all the way. I wouldn't change it now, but wouldn't do it again either. It makes training harder. We took them to long-term obedience classes separately, to get one on one time with each. That's also why we often walk them separately. The older pup went on to agility, but the younger never excelled that way. One of the first commands they learned together was, "Take it outside!" for those puppy wrestling moments. :) They hear that and tear to the back door to go do their wrestling matches outside. We probably should have named them ... Search and Destroy. Or, lately, with the way they've been getting into things, DH has pondered calling them "Idi" and "Yot" :D ...privately, though, because we don't let the kiddos hear us calling the dogs names.

Thank you! Hitting myself over the head here for not thinking of using the chapter tests as a gauge when I think he's got something down. Silly me. This is good. I will lighten up and we'll probably fly through, now that I'm not going to be the do-every-problem police. :)

First, let me just say that I hate math. (There. I said it.) My DS, however, doesn't hate it, and I don't want my attitude to spoil his experience with it. I am not math intuitive, but DS is, and so it's hard for me to gauge where he is on a lot of topics, and how much practice he needs. He tends to grasp things quickly, once he's introduced, so lots of review gets frustrating for him. We have tried a few options (MUS, RS, and MM), and what I have finally realized is that we are just going too slowly for DS. I have seen several people mention that they have moved through MM fairly quickly, and that they have skipped portions when they see that their kids get it. Can someone hold my hand, and give me an idea of how that looks? We have the light blue series. What/how much do we skip, if anything at all? Going through each and every problem is creating havoc in our lives - DS is grumbling, and I am frustrated, and frankly, I'm not even sure it's necessary. Help?

Art class is every day. For at least 2 hours. Science is daily, and there are experiments each day. The rest of the day consists of recess, lunch and singing songs. Like the OP, all the children are kind and supportive, and they are all close friends. He hasn't mentioned this, but I suspect his vision of school also includes the sun shining every day, except for a few perfect snow days a la Frosty the Snowman. :tongue_smilie:

I clean once a week no matter what, spot clean with lysol wipes as necessary, and check to be sure everything is tip top before guests arrive. Fresh hand towels are a big one for me, a la an old Frasier episode. :) The bolded - oh my! I never thought of that! I had a hysterectomy in my 20s, and *never* think of feminine products. What a thoughtful idea! Guess what's going on my next shopping list? (That will really make DH go hmmmmmm...)

We must live in the same place. I could have written your post, word for word. [sigh.] We have attended a few of the non-religious Parks and Rec type homeschool events, and even those have been disheartening. There's only so much I can say when other moms are discussing their churches endlessly, though my son has enjoyed the classes - so we keep going. There is a clique-ish feel, and a definite sense that non-Christians are not accepted, which even my son feels from the other kids. It's like a wall that we'll never be able to climb. It's hard. I am not going to start our own group (my resources are too limited for that, on a lot of levels), and even if I did I fear that I'd still feel like a fish out of water, because our local homeschooling community is heavily religious.

Oh, that is so cool! Open adoptions are wonderful. My heart is smiling for you. :) My kiddos' great grandmother sent a heritage book, with hand written stories of how the family immigrated to the US... It is so, so special.

Mapquest has a free GPS app with voice directions. It reroutes you, too. I never use our "real" GPS anymore! And you can't beat the price.

Pro. For the DVD drive. But now I am pondering an Air, for next time. I don't use the DVD drive that often.

Have you had her Vit D levels checked? When my D is low, the migraines increase.