Canada! :D ETA: Some of you live in such interesting places!

DH and I got married just after we finished univeristy. I was 20, he was 22. We'd already been together for four years, lived away from home, and were mature young adults. I know many young marriages end terribly; I'm thankful to say we've been married for 16 years and are very happy.

I'm in the "it's torture group". On the bright side, I get lots of other things done while avoiding calling people. I'm definitely an introvert.

Yes. Of course, I'd have to know and be comfortable with the adults and other children, but assuming those aren't issues I would definitely let a mature 15yo go.

A few years ago I heard a Jewish man on the radio argue for calling Christmas trees "Christmas trees". Jews don't have Christmas trees, so from his perspective saying "holiday tree" was only offending the Christians and not appeasing the Jews.

:iagree: Congratulations! :D

:grouphug: The Amy Welborn's books are wonderful, and Catholic! Some of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity might also be appropriate. But more important than reading a book, no matter how good, is discussing your beliefs. I've been in a similar position to your daughter, although I was coming from an agnostic/nominally Christian family. I found myself believing in God, but kept thinking "How can smart people believe in Him? Have I lost my mind?" In the end, I found that there are logical, compelling reasons to believe. My kids have asked hard questions too. Answering can be so difficult, but if we want our children to be strong in their faith, we must answer their questions. I encourage you and your Dh to have some good discussions with your DD. They will be difficult, but I'm sure they will be rewarding for both you and her. :grouphug:

Advent is preparation for Christ's birth. I've got to go, so I'll just give you a few links, but if you have more questions I'll be happy to answer later. Advent Advent Wreath Jesse Tree All the above links are Catholic. Other liturgical churches such as Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran, celebrate Advent as well.

:iagree: I've never used a BJU book so I have no idea whether the books themselves containe offensive material. It is BJU's overall beliefs about Catholicism that make it a company I will not support.

:lol: Although I could have written the same thing and it's not always funny. The other day I actually said, "No, you may not practice Mendelssohn at 10:00 at night, even with a mute on!" DD 15 (violin) practices whenever she can; she spends about three hours on weekdays and more on the weekends. DD 13 (violin) does 1.5-2 hours of practice. DS 10 (cello) 45 min-1 hour DD 8 (violin) about 40 min DS 6 (violin) 20-30 min. ETA: They all practice daily. The younger three practice in the morning; the older to practice whenever, generally in the afternoon.

Yes, Dh's degree is in engineering and he's now an engineer.

I have a link to all my children's curricula, including links to the curricula, in my signature. I have an 8th grader and a 3rd grader. Some of the curricula are in French.

I love them. I had to do lots of practice before hand because the old translation is so ingrained in my head, so I can understand why some are resistant to the changes. The thing is, these are not really new translations; they are more accurate translations of the Latin, which is very old. So while this is a change, it is a good one because we are going back to the original.

:grouphug:

:grouphug:

:iagree: My first thought upon reading the title was, "It's not even Advent yet!" To each his own. :)

All of Ancient Faith Radio's From the CBC: "Vinyl Cafe" and "Quirks and Quarks"

:iagree: I've learnt that I'm not one for using just one math curriculum (my DS 10 is currently using six :lol:), but I think Miquon can stand alone. I use it without much supplementation, maybe a few living books, for K.

DD 15 did HOAW last year and is using HOMW now. She loves both of them. As other posters have mentioned, although the writing is narrative, it is not SOTW. The books are much denser and contain references to more mature topics that have shocked some readers. We're also reading the great books (using an adapted version of the lists in WTM), which DD loves even more than HOAW/HOMW.

This is what I do too.

The essentials: My name; my DH, he's an engineer and I love him; my kids and their ages A bit about homeschooling: I use way too many materials to list in a signature, so I just have a link to them. I included the English and French part because we're a bilingual family and our curricula reflects that. A quote that I like.

I've gotten way behind on this. Oh well, I guess I'll start again now. I'm thankful for my DH, whose been with me through think and thin.

Activities: Music lessons (all) Quartet (DD 15) Orchestra (DD 15) Shakespeare Club (DDs 13 & 15) Hobbies: Music Reading Cross-country skiing Art Crafts Knitting Baking Cooking Stamp collecting Hiking Board games Imaginative play Computer programming

He is beautiful! Congratulations, Imp!