So, my life has gotten crazy and I haven't even lurked in a long, long time, but now I have a rising senior girl and I am coming back to THE source of wisdom that has been consistent for me during our homeschooling experience. I do remember fantastic posts by Kareni. I have done a little bit of looking, but can't seen to find the right thread. Would someone be so kind to share the links to that for me? This crazy busy Momma with a nasty rain pressure headache would be very grateful! Thanks, All! (I haven't updated my signature in FOREVER either, so ignore that if it shows up.)

Keeping you ladies and your families in my prayers. Sending hugs.

Well, at this particular moment it looks like me dressed in cozy sweats on my bed eating a Hershey's chocolate bar (that I squirrel away in my bedside table and refuse to share) while seeing what all of you guys are up to this evening. You gotta take it where you can get it.

Totally undone by the movie. Loved it. Loved that the singing was not perfect and recorded "live" instead of in a studio separate from the emotion of the moment.

Seamstresses, My 12 yo has had some basic sewing practice with a neighbor. I'd love to stick a great beginner sewing book under her pillow for Christmas morning so that she can continue on her own. She can't depend on me for any gifts or talents in this area. She loves making/giving gifts and she would like to make some of her own clothes. She has difficulty finding clothes that fit her. She is big boned and very solid. Sleeves are an issue, chest/rib cage area is an issue waist to bottom ratio is an issue. The poor kid can't win. She's a beauty and wants to feel beautiful. I looked at Barnes and Noble last night and very quickly got overwhelmed. I know you guys can help if you have time to respond. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I don't know how cool it needs to get. My girls' rooms are upstairs. We have electric heaters that we run when it gets cold. I would say that it may have gotten down to upper 50s inside on VERY cold days when my girls may have forgotten to flip their heaters on when they went to bed. My girls are footy pajama girls and whatever temp it was, it was warm enough for them to be just in their footy pajamas playing in their rooms. One of the hamsters was a teddy bear and we had had her about 2 years when it first happened. So she was old. Now that I think about it, Biscuit (the teddy bear) had it happen twice. Chloe was between 6 months-1 year at home when it happened to her. Snowball was maybe a year. So four times all together. It could be that they were in a drafty location. It is an old house. We didn't feel a draft. We had a wire cage that was not near a window and was on the top of a dresser. I'm guessing it had more to do with sudden changes in exterior/interior temps. We have guinea pigs now. I did not mean to make you worry about this last little hammy. I'm so sorry if I presented my information insensitively. IF...IF...IF the little guy was hibernating and was not actually dead, he did not suffer. He just went to sleep. It is very likely, I would think, that something else is going on if the other two are fine and are located in a similar area/situation. :grouphug:

This may be random because I think you said the hamsters are all in the same area, but just in case it helps.... We live in an old house and we keep it fairly cool in the winter. Two of my girls have had hamsters over the years and at different times ALL three of the hamsters have gone into hibernation overnight because they got too cool. They looked dead and felt cold BUT they were not, in fact, dead. I was so glad that I had read about this possibility before we ever had hamsters. The first time it happened, the article I read came flooding back to me and we worked to rewarm her and wake her up. It took different amounts of time for each one. It's important to re-hydrate with warm water through a dropper as your re-warming. We put a little sugar in the water to help jump start the process. Anyway, in case there is any chance that this could be an issue, I though I'd mention it. We only had one hamster at a time, so they didn't have other warm bodies to cuddle with. I'm so sorry this has been happening and I hope you figure this out.

I am SO THANKFUL for the women on this board who take the time to thoughtfully answer questions and go above and beyond in the process. THANK YOU!! I am printing and saving everything that has been shared here and I promise to share the love when I am more versed about the process. Have a great afternoon!

First time parent of a 9th grader this year. I have not read all of the responses but I really look forward to doing that and to gleaning wisdom from those of you who go before. Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences! Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful year of life and schooling!

Good evening, All! I wish all of you who are thick in the college application all of the best. I will be following your discussions and posts in an effort to learn from your experiences. I would like to invite any of you who have the time (likely those of you who are not sending a child to college next year, but who have done so in the past) to pop in here and leave any tips you may have for us. What can we be doing NOW that will help the application process in the future? What do we need to be keeping track of? What types of activities/experiences were the most powerful for your child's profile? What do you know now that you wish you had known at the beginning of 9th grade/high school? I'm sure there are many of us who would be grateful for any wisdom that you are willing to take the time to share. I confess that I have not searched for this info on this board yet, so I apologize if I'm asking a question that you guys have already answered. I'm good with links to those discussions as well. Have a great evening. Thanks in advance. ((Realizing as I post this that I haven't updated my signature in a long time....hmmmm, wonder what is out of date. Off to update.))

Thank you for the tip on the distance. We are aware. I'm leaning more to a rental car and hotels, the hubby is curious about the RV thing. I appreciate the weather input!

Thank you, Sara in AZ! Very much appreciate that you took the time to respond so thoughtfully. I'm got more to google now!

*Bump*

Thank you, Liz! Off to google.

DH and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary in August. We had always hoped to spend it in Europe (he's never been), but we just can't swing it financially. So, we are looking at Phoenix/Grand Canyon/Bryce Canyon/Zion in Utah with the whole family. I have found some flights that are doable, which has my head spinning with excitement that this might actually happen. I am in need of some insider tips. (Hotel suggestions/locations--clean, but CHEAP, sites (see below and make other recs), car rental vs camper (hubby thinks we could do this more cheaply with a camper and we have NO experience whatsoever with camping, so this makes me nervous). Travel would be in early October. 7 days (because that's when flights are cheapest) We're interested in: Sedona Grand Canyon Bryce Canyon, Utah Zion National Park, Utah other sites that are MUST SEES/EXPERIENCE This dreamer wife would be so grateful for any input to help make this as cost-effective as possible without sacrificing cleanliness/safety. Thank you, in advance, for any suggestions.

I am very sorry for your family's :grouphug:loss.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas might work! It's been a while since I watched that, but there may be select scenes that would do it. I'm not interested in a book right now because our family is actually studying Ancients and we've got a lot of reading going on. We watched the Diary of Anne Frank with the neighbor girl who is studying WWII in her homeschool and she was staying with us for a few days and that was scheduled for her. Therefore, just looking for a short follow up/through for my girls. I will likely give the recommendation for whatever I do to her mom. Thanks for all of the responses. Any other ideas?

(Oops--I know that it should be Jews' arrest in the title....I just didn't catch it before I hit submit.) My girls (14 and 11) and a neighbor girl (12) watched The Diary of Anne Frank this weekend (newer version that was available on Netflix). It ends with them being taken away from the annex and shows text telling us who died when/where and who survived. I'd like to show them what came next. I'm looking for video that is succinct (not a 6 episode documentary), shows what happened to families after they were arrested all the way through to the concentration camps/gas chambers. I want them to understand what came next, but I'd like this first exposure to be informative and not over the top visually/emotionally graphic. Two of these girls are pretty sensitive and, though what happened was horrific and graphic, I'd like to give them baby steps for drinking that truth in. Suggestions? Movies? Documentaries? Thanks. Will check back in tonight.

I have sponsored kids through Compassion for over 20 years. I have friends who have worked for Compassion longer than that. I have also had the extreme privilege of visiting my child multiple times. I have been very impressed by all sides of Compassion that I have seen. The center director where our child participates has been very open with us when we visit. He happily showed us our child's folder, which contains records of the money we have sent for gifts and how that money was spent (receipts and everything). It also contained info about how the child has done in school, medical and dentist updates, etc.

Compassion will take your requests into consideration, BUT the local project director and the family will make the best decision for what the family's needs are at the time of the receipt of the money.

Such a fun thread to read through! 14dd Famous singer (NOTE: she doesn't like to sing in front of people though she is very musical and has a great voice. So, not sure how that's going to work. :lol:) 11dd One of those people that help in retirement homes....you know, reading to people, pushing them around in their wheelchairs..... (Hmm. Ok. She has recently also talked about being a pharmacist, CSI person, anesthesiologist, post surgical/recovery nurse, or a physical therapist. She's got options! ;)) 8.75dd Professional ballet dancer or an artist, but I don't want to make sculptures, I just want to paint. (Note that she takes 1 dance class a week and it's a musical theatre dance class, not ballet. :001_huh:)

Yes! This! Kairos!

Thanks, Lisa! Do you use yours for ice and frozen fruits? The one we killed was an Oster....beginning to wonder if we had a "lemon" as we only used it with ice/frozen fruit MAYBE 10 times before it died.

Which one do you have? For that price, it had better blend anything I ask it to!! However, that said, if something really works and will continue working for the long haul, it's an investment that's worth it. Will it blend.....too funny.

So, for those of you who use your blenders for making smoothies.....would you tell me what you use? In the other post I confessed that I killed my blender by trying to use ice and frozen fruit in mine. Wondering if most people DON'T use ice/frozen fruit. I LOVE the really cold, frozen kind of smoothie. Maybe I just need to get over that? Would love to know: What kind of blender you use/how long you've had it. Do you use ice AND frozen fruit? (If not, what do you do?) Would love it if you posted your family's favorite smoothie recipe. My girls are begging me to replace the blender so that we can have smoothies. The girls and I would have them daily if we had a reliable blender. TIA!