We teach online from home. My DH's full-time online teaching job is about to be cut though, he is the highest paid and it is a For-Profit school so he must go. We are considering some e-commerce options since he absolutely does not want to move back to CA, the only place he could practice law.

It was about 65 today. I'm in the Phoenix area. Keep warm and stay safe if you are in the path of all the cold and snow!

I have found my only complaint with e-mealz is that more often than not, I need to alter the recipe to make it work for my family. Which I guess doesn't sound like a big deal, but I do not like cooking dinner (I cook 3 meals plus snacks every. single. day.) so having to adapt recipes at 6 PM isn't my thing. I found taking the time and going through the process of designing my own meal plan, based on my what my family eats and enjoys was much easier in the long term. Once it is done, you can just flip it around, rotate the meals, gives you more breathing room if you want to try a new recipe. I hope you find the system that works for you and your family, meal planning is just not much fun!

Hake has been a lifesaver here! I'm thrilled to bits with his retention this year. He still struggles a little on prepositions, but he has so many other things down perfectly. His writing has really improved too.

We have spent $51 on groceries (all food and a roll of paper towels). We are hanging in there.

No. We only know our neighbors enough to say "hello" as we pass one another in the driveways. I don't even remember their names.

We used the whole series for 5th grade.

Yes, my son has a cell phone. He is 12.5 and has had one since he was 10. He flies back and forth across the country (alone) to see his dad so he really needs a phone to reach us. We do not have a land line so we all rely on our cell phones pretty heavily.

My son is allowed, but he is only texting with his dad who lives back East.

Oh so beautiful! Thank for sharing!

We are doing this! It is going to be tough. My 40th birthday is this month and I was looking forward to going out and celebrating. We need to detox off of having lived in Chicago for 2 years, we ate out all the time, we spent money insanely, mostly because we were so unhappy. We are super happy in the desert! So I am working hard to get the family back on track with our thrifty and homebody ways.

We had grass-fed beef for the first time! We made the switch completely away from processed, GMO, CAFO foods the 1st of the year and decided to try grass-fed beef today.

Congratulations!!! Great way to start the new year!

We started allowing our son to type out his notes and assignments this year and it has made a huge difference. He no longer spends time focused on the quality of his printing to the detriment of everything else. We are still having him practice simple printing, he'll have to handwrite his essays on the ACT/SAT (I think anyway) so we'd like him to keep practicing. He isn't very independent, at all. I think part of it is that he likes the instant feedback on knowing he is doing well. We are going to try and wean him a bit this spring semester.

Saxon math and Hake Grammar have really worked well here.

We are using WWS with it. I have my son do the Hake writing assignments too, they are boring, but essay writing for exams or school is often boring and tedious. I have seen dramatic improvement in his writing this year and I attribute that to the Hake grammar portion. It is so much like the Saxon math, drill, rinse, repeat. It has really worked here.

I'm considering sending my son to a BASIS school for 7th grade next year. I love the accelerated academic focus. I'm not sure about the potential 3 hours of homework a night though. I'm not sure how my 12 year old will handle that but I think we may give it a try. I love what I have seen and read about the schools. This is a huge decisions for us, we swore we would never send him back to a public school, but the results at BASIS are remarkable. These days children need every advantage they can get to compete in what is an increasingly global economy. It is a tough decision. We love having him home, but it looks so good.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: This was an entirely uneventful Christmas with our Aspie. I think maturity is helping. He didn't throw one gift or even make one snide comment about any of them. That is a Christmas miracle in and of itself. We spent yesterday at my H's relatives here in AZ which he had never met. He did really well. They are all older, no little kids running around making my son crazy. Just a bunch of older, quiet adults which made the whole day so much easier. He played horseshoes and Bocce ball with no meltdowns. We are so proud of him. He has come a long way from the child who was throwing desks and having violent meltdowns everyday when he was diagnosed 6 years ago. We take our victories where we can get them and try to build on even the smallest achievement in his "social growth". Keeping things low key has made the most difference for him.

I have a checking account and student loans that are in my name only. All other accounts are in his name only, all utilities, HELOCs, bank accounts and so on. We do not have any credit cards.

It is so beautiful! Enjoy your new space!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I'm sorry and thank you.

No, it looks fine. My 12 year old whines too. It has to be the age.

We have 2 cats, Lucy and Abby.

It is crazy. We have been house shopping in the Phoenix metro area. So many of the HOAs do not allow cars to be parked in the drive-way of the home. ALL cars must be in the garage, no on-street parking either, no cars in the driveways. I guess guests just park outside the subdivisions gates and walk-in? Crazy. :confused:

Another issue is job opportunities. I would would suggest you go for the RN simply to open up job opportunities. It is a very tight market out there for nurses looking for jobs. As a LPN you may be very limited in where you can work. Many hospitals no longer hire LPNs. You may be limited to working in a nursing home. Which isn't a bad job but if you get in a bad place, you could be stuck. I always suggest that people go for the RN, in fact via the BSN route if they can. It saves time down the road when/if you want to move in a different direction. I'm a NP and if you had asked me 10 years ago when I entered nursing school if I would end up going that route I would of said "No way!". Things change, desires change, it is so much faster to change once you have the RN-BSN. I started with an ADN-RN, had to do a RN-BSN program, then a MSN, now a DNP. You have to consider opportunity costs of needing all that extra schooling down the road should you choose to do something different in nursing.