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Barb_

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Everything posted by Barb_

  1. Be sure to take a hot shower first to soften the skin before you begin digging around. Barb
  2. Thank you! I'm about 8 weeks now and still in that twilight zone stage where I don't quite believe it. We're excited...my oldest is so happy she decided to go to school close by next year instead of heading back East. Barb
  3. Robin, I was with you until this part: This quote here addresses the above scenario, I think: Do I have to pay the rebate back? No. And here's why. Your rebate is a one-time tax cut - an advance on a credit you'll receive on your 2008 return. It's based on your 2007 income initially. If it turns out that your 2008 income and number of children would have qualified you for a larger rebate than the one you received, you'll be sent the difference. If it turns out your 2008 income was lower than in 2007 and you should have gotten a lower rebate, you get to keep the difference. "If you were supposed to receive a larger payment than you did, you will get the extra money," said Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza. "If you received more than what you should have gotten, you will not be penalized." Otherwise, the rest of your post is also how I understand it. Barb
  4. I don't think the problem is necessarily related to your homeschooling. Some people are just generally presumptuous. Their schedules are always going to be busier or more important than anyone else's. It's likely that if she didn't have you to pick up her slack she'd be mooching off of someone else. Back in PA, I used to have a friend like this that I otherwise loved dearly. She would call and ask if she could leave her three kids to play with mine so she could go shopping or whatnot. I have 6 of my own, so no, I wasn't okay with that. The only thing that worked was a firm no. No excuses, just "my free time is too rare so I can't promise I will be around all day." There is a lady who calls my daughter to babysit on the spur of the moment. She doesn't like to take no for an answer. She has actually shown up another neighbor's house while my daughter was babysitting there with her grandson in tow to ask whether she could leave him *there* for a few hours. Some people are just like that. Barb
  5. Allergy or just intolerance...who knows? But I reacted that way the only two times I've ever tried to take codeine. If she didn't have asthma previously, I vote for the codeine. Be sure to remember that in the future if asked for allergies to medications. Barb
  6. Since January 5th, Jenna has a standing babysitting job working 12-16 hours per week, so we've let a couple of things slide until she adjusts to the new schedule. She used to work 6-8 hours per day, but now it's more like 4-6 or so. She's in 9th grade in AZ. Approximations: Trig - 1 hour Latin - 1 hour Language Arts (inc. grammar, voc, comp. and lit) - 1 or 2 hours Logic - 30 minutes History - 30 minutes We'll pick back up with Biology later in the semester, but we've dropped it for now. I also have a 12th grader, but she takes all of her classes at the CC. Barb
  7. It looks like sort of like hives to me in the picture. What did he eat for dinner? Barb
  8. Ha! When you find the line, will you please let me know? Since she is doing story time out of her choice, that's a perfect opportunity to let her own her behavior. Before she goes, acknowledge how difficult it can be to sit still, but explain how her behavior is affecting the others. Turn the situation around for her. Ask her to tell you a story about something that happened to her, or to simply make one up. After a few seconds, interrupt her with a completely straight face about something unrelated. Try to to bust out laughing when she looks befuddled. Apologize and tell her to go on. After another second or two jump up to show her a book on the shelf or something. If you keep your good humor, this can really bring the point home of how it feels to be on the receiving end of such behavior. Explain that you know she wants to attend storytime, and that you want her to be able to go with her friend, but that she has to be grown up enough to handle it. If she makes a really good effort to behave she can continue to go, but if she continues to follow her impulses without attempting to control herself, she will have to miss a week. Then follow through...no fair threatening and then giving in ;) Barb
  9. Gwen, this is so encouraging. My daughter's heart is still back in PA. She has always seen herself at a small Eastern school with old buildings and lots of green trees to sit under, but since we moved to AZ, she had to let go of that dream. Neither of us wants her to move a country away when she has so many siblings still at home. She is eligible for a full ride (books, room and board and a stipend included) at ASU's Barrett Honors College, so she settled on that and never looked back. She didn't even apply anywhere else. Her thought was, ASU is a perfectly good school, it's an hour away, they are thrilled to get NM Scholars, and it's free. The fact that she applied *nowhere* else gave me heart failure, but she's a very head-oriented logical girl, so this is the right decision for her. I'll be so, so happy when this year is over. Barb
  10. Divorce his level from his grade. Go ahead and do the high school level work this year but call it 8th grade. Even though he may be doing Trig and Sophomore level English, enroll him in NARS as a 9th grader at the usual age. Once you get to junior/senior year, you can have him do college level work as either AP courses or at the actual college as a concurrent enrollment student. I can't see any other way around it if you're using a diploma program. Barb
  11. She's a wiggly 5yo. And some (usually boys, but not always) are wigglier than others. Is she ordinarily pretty high energy in her free time? If so, then expecting her to sit still for more than 5 min. probably isn't realistic. Unless she has a hyperactivity disorder, then this is something she will grow out of as she matures. Remember that we always expect our oldest children to act older than their years. Oh, the torment I sometimes put my oldest daughter through because she was acting like, well...a child! The best thing to do at this age is to control the environment while gently guiding the child. Maybe she needs to wait until she's a year or two older to do outside activities. You'll be amazed at how a year or even a few months will make this problem disappear. Hugs, Barb
  12. Our relocation reimbursements must be claimed as income this year, so we will be over the limit for the rebate. But if we were to get one, I would buy new couches for the family room. Ours are so threadbare the stuffing is escaping. Barb
  13. Jo, the only thing that helps my constant nausea is a great big burp. I bought some Mexican Coca Cola from Sam's Club because it's sweetened with actual sugar, not HFCS. Mmmm...tastes just like I remember growing up. I also buy this: http://www.reedsgingerbrew.com/brews.html Reed's ginger brew has a high concentration of ginger and is sweetened with fruit juices as well as sugar, so the overall sugar and calorie content is lower than most soda. I get the extra ginger version at Trader Joe's, but I can also find it at the local BevMo store. I think their website has a locator. It only takes 4-5 gulps to bring up the trapped gas that I never believe is causing the nausea, but always is. Pg sickness is very much like motion sickness for me in that tummy gas is usually the secret culprit. Barb
  14. I don't get scared on my own but there have been times in the past when I have been. Since this is a new thing, it could be tied to the general free-floating anxiety that goes along with moving into new surroundings. Women evolved to have a pretty hair-trigger response to strange surroundings, so it could be that you're just more on alert because deep in your brain, your limbic system is screaming "Strange place! Danger!" I would do whatever you do to deal with generalized anxiety. I distract myself, run a white noise machine, do deep breathing, and take fish oil. Barb
  15. My two most active babies in utero were without a doubt my busiest kids. My 2nd daughter even kicked me as she was being born...she was half out and still doing scissor kicks. The 4th one kicked during my entire 26 hour labor, DURING contractions. When she was born she passed out cold and didn't even cry. I think she was more exhausted than I was. Contrarily, my 5th girl was so quiet in utero that days would go by without a peep. I spent my last trimester worried to death something was wrong with her, but she's still as quiet as a mouse. Barb
  16. Lilith represents independence, feminism, and female sexuality. Here's an explanation: http://fth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/36 Barb
  17. We actually just used ALEKS as our main Geometry course. My 17yo had used Merrill's years back and was okay with it, but my 13yo wasn't so much into Geometry. We began with ALEKS to pique her interest and never really got around to doing the text. She got to 97% mastered in about 3.5 months. In general, I don't believe ALEKS is sufficient as a stand-alone curriculum, but I make the exception for Geometry because it is so concrete. ALEKS includes more proofs than I expected it would, and in recent months they've upgraded the proof section to make it more involved. ALEKS is ideal for learning the material for the SAT without spending hours on construction after construction. If getting through it painlessly as possible is your goal, I'd give it a try. Barb
  18. ::::Groan:::: First we have to locate all the stupid art supplies that are supposed to be organized in the cabinet but never are when we need them. Then we have to locate paper to cover the table. When we don't need paper, it's everywhere, but as soon as we start an art project all the paper scampers into boxes or behind furniture or wherever paper likes to hide. The middle guys get set up to do the art project, the 2yo decides to help, and the big guys' attention is drawn to whatever we're doing, so they're distracted and not doing what they are supposed to be focusing on. Someone turns over water or squirts paint on a favorite shirt. They are not careful artists. They like quantity over quality, so we have 4-5-6 art projects per kid within 20 minutes. Now kids begin drifting off with excuses and trying to get them all back to clean up the god-awful mess is like herding cats. There will be teeny tiny pieces of paper turning up on barefeet for the next 3-4 days. Anything that take 3 times as long to set up and clean up as it does for the actual activity is banned from our house. Put me on the payment plan for the lifetime membership. Barb
  19. Love, love, love the red. Makes me want to get rid of this blue in here. The blue is depressing somehow. As for the wall, I think I'd get some pretty, wooden, Pottery Barn-ish frames in black or possibly to match the bookcases (but I think black would stand out more). You can get them at Michaels. Mat them and rotate kid art in them. Barb
  20. On one hand, I completely agree with the others. Dh is the adult and must do the adjusting. On the other hand, it's reasonable to ask a 15yo for 2-3 hours of silence each day. Maybe you could drop him off at a coffee shop, library, or bookstore for a couple of hours each morning for his independent work so that dh has some time he knows will remain sacred? Barring that, you could set aside a certain time every day that he works quietly in his room...as long as it is the same every day so that everyone knows what to expect. Outside of that concession, I think I would put my foot down at the outset that I wouldn't police my son's normal activity. Setting boundaries at the beginning will avoid much strife. Barb
  21. GreenKitty, did you have a different name on the other boards? I'm trying to get everyone straight. Barb <-- Still feeling like I've walked into Bizarro World WTM Boards
  22. As others have said, Community College will be your best bet, particularly in your state. Classes are $77 per credit (or about $240 per 3 credit course) which is about half the price of most online high school programs. She doesn't have to take the SAT or ACT in CO, just sign up for the placement test. They also have a distance learning option here: http://www.ccconline.org/ . At 19, your daughter should be able to get a job waiting tables or something to help offset the cost. She shouldn't do work study if she can help it because the jobs they offer pay a pittance. It's not going to be easy, but if she's motivated (and you said she was), then she should be able to buckle down and do it. My 17yo has been working as a busser and hostess at the local grill in order to pay for her college classes since she turned 16. It began as a sort of punishment for rebellion...long story...but paying for her classes has been a huge motivator for her to do well. We pay for her car insurance and gas, but her classes are her responsibility. She paid for 14 hours last semester and is paying for 17 hours this semester. Colleges almost always offer a payment plan option, so this is entirely doable. Honestly, at this point in time, I don't think putting high school together at home is a reasonable option. She needs to get out there and stretch her wings and take on some responsibility for her education. Barb
  23. Robin, I dearly love that picture of you and your daughter in the rocker. So beautiful! It's the one I always think of when I read your posts. Barb
  24. Happy Birthday to your baby. Mine will be 3 in April and I remember being pg with you on the boards back in 04-05. You look so beautiful in your new picture! I know you've been trying to drop pounds for some time now. It looks like it's working. Barb
  25. If you mean what I think you mean, this is a good idea. That way the history is there, avoiding confusion. Barb
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