I second the chiro. My SI joint gets out of whack. I can FEEL that it's not lined up right. And it hurts, and causes my sciatica to hurt. Not as extremely as yours, but still. When it gets bad, I go see her, and she puts it back in place for me. I had PT as well for related issues [my back story is long and convoluted, I won't bore you with the details; suffice it to say, I WAS seeing another excellent chiro who also had PTs in office]. She gave me exercises to do to strengthen the muscles all around my core, and I do find when I do those, the SI joint doesn't' slip as often/much. I think they help hold it in place.

My first apartment out of college in the county I live in now was a major eye-opener. I honestly shouldn't have rented it. And the next year, I ended up renting something else. I haven't looked at rents for years, but I just did a search. In the city to the east of me, there are some for as little as $500 [not sure what if anything is included], but the cheapest in my county was $922. That was not over a business though. I'm not sure what those go for; my dh and I used to rent one like that, but I don't remember what we paid, and it was 10+ years ago. I think $400 is a steal, personally, but I live in a high COL area. :(

Well, he no longer does, but he DID. I will say, as his mom, I almost always understand him. Even when his father does not. One of his other struggles is slowing down his speech, which is one I struggle with too, so I find I'm able to follow it easier than other people who speak more slowly already. Ok, fhjMom, thanks for the help with wording. I will work on it today, and try to be open-ended. :)

My elder son receives speech services through the local ps. He has a service plan, not an IEP, because he's home schooled. He's up for re-eval, and his SLP has already told me that she's planning to release him, which I'm fine with. She just sent me an email asking me for a statement of his academic performance to determine academic impact. I don't remember doing this last year. [The first year he was attending the ps for kindy, so his teacher would have done that.] I'm just not sure how to answer her. He reads above grade level, writes below and has horrible penmanship. He probably knows more grammar than most of the middle schoolers in the local pss. He's probably on grade level for math, but we're sorta taking a math vacation right now. I do not believe his speech impedes his academic performance. At the time we first had him evaled, his attempts at spelling was impacted by how he mispronounced words, but not anymore [his spelling still isn't great, but not because of artic issues]. What say you, hive? How much info do I share?

Mine are roughly organized by the Dewey Decimal system. Most fiction is separate, but historical fiction or others I thought I would use for a specific topic was shelved with the corresponding non-fiction section. I made some accommodations for my own personal needs and for aesthetics [eg I wanted the gardening books and books on flora to be near each other]. I'm still looking for the best program so I can quickly check whether I own a book, and where it would be. I have a couple apps that will scan barcodes, but as my DH pointed out, many of my books don't have barcodes. So, still searching. :/

Next year should be interesting. I have a list of books I want him to read, but he tends to not be interested in books I think he'll like. I thought he'd love Percy Jackson--funny, mythology, fighting, etc., but meh. OTOH, he's loved Edgar & Ellen and some other series by that author Sage who did the Magyk series. Origami Yoda & Darth Paper. These are largely ones he's found on his own or were rec'd by other people [friends, librarian, etc]. Not ones I thought he'd like. :/ And not fine literature, obviously! :lol: I'm hoping that comes in time. So it will be interesting to see how he responds to my book choices. I'm still fine-tuning, and of course, hope to spark his interest so he'll go in his own direction, but still.

Thanks! I'll look into it!

Yeah, I don't want to do worksheets either. :/ Maybe I'm just thinking too far ahead. I just know there are certain books that I really enjoyed delving into: rereading, analyzing, talking about with others, etc. I want that for him, but maybe I need to wait a few more years? I like the "where were we" question. :)

Ellie, that is a thought. Do you even have informal book talks just to see what they have gotten from any of their books? Like, not necessarily what they learned, but how it touches them? ykwim? Anyone else?

Here I couldn't find it either; I finally had to ask the friend who had told me about it [Rivka, actually]. She sent me a link within minutes! Not sure what I was doing wrong!

My son is to the point that his decoding is pretty good, so I just have him read, read, read, but I feel like I need to do more to build and check for comprehension. I have a list of books I want him to read next year [and a smaller list of read-alouds], and I truly want him to read them and enjoy them and be inspired by them to want to learn more [many are historical fiction], so I don't want to "burden" him with too much "work" as follow-up, but I need him to do SOMETHING. And I want him to start thinking about what he's reading. So what do you all do? How often? How extensive? DS is 8 going into 3rd grade [-ish]. His writing is still minimal. I mean, he CAN write, but his penmanship is atrocious, and he rushes through any writing I ask him to do which just makes it worse, and he just doesn't LIKE it. :/

We're still on the elementary levels. The religious references are... a little annoying in my secular perspective, but bearable, and since otherwise it's doing the job of making math interesting and more relevant for DS, I put up with them. I'm curious if you could elaborate a bit more about the above? Here's my list, as far as it goes: 3rd grade LA: MCT finish Island level, start the next level if we get to it; a literature list based on our history studies, Getty-Dubay handwriting, poetry memorization and recitation [DS has speech issues, and this is one way to help him] chosen by me to accompany our other studies, Conflict Resolution through Children's Literature [this is a book I got years ago when I was a kindy teacher but never used; I'm either going to use it with DS directly or as a class in a co-op-like setting]. Finish our spelling lessons based on Phonics Pathways, then start Simply Spelling. Our history [see below] includes a lot more writing this year, so I think we'll focus on that and what is included in MCT for now Math: LOF supplemented with Math Mammoth [we're already in the 5th elementary book], and then maybe Beast Academy Science: REAL Science Odyssey--Chemistry, I think History: History Odyssey/SoTW Early Modern Art/Music: I created a list of composers and artists to study that roughly follows our history progression. We'll read biographies view and listen to samples, and do narrations. For art, we'll also do some inspired works of our own. DS is also taking piano lessons. PE: We finally signed up for the Y, and DS is taking a Homeschool PE class that he enjoys. We're secular, but UU, so I'm looking into UU Super Heroes as our "religious" studies. ETA: I forgot Latin! DS was taking a Latin class at the comm center we are members at, but I may take over that instruction at home and just focus on the more social things at the comm center. I've got Getting Started With Latin, but I also really like Lively Latin.

Yes, they are just finishing up their 1st year! I graduated high school on the Eastern Shore. :)

:D Yes, I was thinking of MPNL. I get what you're saying about it being inclusive; I just think a lot of people looking at your website [at least last year when I looked at it] might get a different impression. But, yes, everyone I've ever talked to who has been a member has said MPNL is very inclusive and very unschooling-friendly! :D In the end, I went with Maryland Homeschool Review, because I was already going up to BHCC for classes and know the reviewers, so it just "felt" right. :)

I just wanted to add, in MD, yes, umbrella schools are technically church-affiliated, but there are at least 2, and I think I heard of a 3rd, secular umbrella groups. One is run by the Society of Ethical People, another is affiliated with an earth-based faith but it is not a requirement to be of that faith to participate, and I'm not sure of the 3rd. I've also reviewed with the county [Howard] and it was fairly easy, I just didn't like the principle of it, and felt like I was doing more record-keeping than I would on my own, or maybe "different" is the better word. I have friends who have reviewed in Baltimore City that get crappy reviewers who make up stuff that they "need". :/ It really does vary county to county, but the law is fairly straight-forward: show instruction not progress in the key areas. Honestly, I think MD is pretty easy.

I make my own with equal parts cornstarch and baking soda, cut with enough coconut oil to make it the right consistency. I usually add some essential oils for scent. I find it works pretty well. During the summer, I often apply morning and evening, but I still am usually able to go without a shower every day. I never found a commercial natural deodorant that worked for me. oh, I live in MD; not as hot as TX but we do get hot and humid.

:lol::lol::lol: That is too funny: Pas****io... huh, ok, I see the word now: a form of b00Ks. Past-it-sio but without the hyphens. :lol: So yummy!

Pas****io, which I do believe is Greek as well. Yum, haven't made it in a while cuz it does require several steps, but so good, and a good source of protein. The nutmeg in the béchamel sauce is such a twist on the usual baked pasta dish. So good. Wonder how I can make that more Paleo? shredded zucc instead of pasta?

Salt & vinegar Cheese &/or gravy ETA: and I forgot: mayo!

Ok, you don't have an other, so I voted "south but outside of TX because that's where I was born and spent many of my formative years. BUT, I was a military brat and lived in England [on base, but some of my teachers were British] for 4 years. I've also lived in CA, and now live in MD. But the "t" isn't as completely unvoiced as it would be in, say, top. Hard to explain.

I love baby-naming!!! I scoured baby-name books for meanings and all. When my first son was born my husband and I agreed on a name that was a variation of his father and grandfather's name, and a middle name that was his other grandfather's name. It happened to end in an -m just like mine and my husband's [or at least our nicknames do]. So when I got pregnant again, we realized we would have to find another name that ended in an -m, so this second child wouldn't feel left out! :lol: This was surprisingly hard. Confounding the issue, 1) we wanted a name of a particular heritage and 2) I wanted to honor my grandfathers [or grandmothers if it were a girl]. We finally chose a name that fit those criteria, loosely in the case of the honoring: his initials are the same as my paternal grandfather's and his middle name rhymes with my maternal grandfather's and honors his occupation. The girl's name we chose before knowing the sex did not end in an -m, but had a strong M sound in the middle and could be abbreviated to end in an -m. It was my maternal g-ma's first name and my paternal grandmother's maiden name. I'm sorta wistful that she never came to be, though I would never trade in either of my boys. <3

Know that I'm coming from a place of having to lose weight several times. And doing so many of those times. And then gaining it back. I've been reading Taubes, "Good Calories Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat and What We Can Do". His analysis of much much much data indicates that carbohydrates NOT fat are the problem, and that for many of us reducing sugar and flour is the answer. The other issue he brings up is that while there are many good reasons for exercise, it isn't necessarily the answer for weight loss because 1) it doesn't burn that many calories and 2) it makes many of us hungrier either the same day or the next. Just thoughts. Good Calories, Bad Calories is a dense read, but very convincing. Why We Get Fat... is a much simpler explanation of GC,BC, an easier read, but still thought-provoking. Good luck!

Does anyone use a good carb-counting app? I'm not looking for anything TOO fancy, just would like to be able to look up and track net carbs, and maybe my weight to see the correlation. Barcode scanning would be nice, but not a deal-breaker as long as the database is decent and/or adding isn't too hard.

Ok, I see I have to clarify. I don't think it's GREAT! but I don't see a problem either. A small nose stud is fine. I'm not meh, I like them, but I'm not necessarily "dancing in the streets" happy, yk? I got my ears pierced at 10, fwiw.

No, I totally see that as well. But I've also been having weird issues with Youtube being jumpy and/or not tracking correctly due to buffering or something, so I thought maybe it was just ME! :lol: