7th grade winners: WWS - no teacher prep and she feels more confident. k12 Human Odyssey - She loves reading it and I have her do a few worksheets from the student manual. MUS Apologia General Science - slow start, but now she does it independantly and does experiments with a friend once a week. Lab kit well worth it! Jesus Calling - Daily devotions that are short and personal.

"Hey! Do NOT lick you sister's butt!" The youngster was pretending to be Clifford the big red dog - and giving "Clifford kisses." Thank goodeness sister just got out of the bathtub...

Yay! So sweet to see the photos!

His name is Li (Lee) for now - we'll rename him soon, and he 13 months old. I wish I could post a photo! Thank you so much Ladies! I want to cry with joy when I think of all the people praying for him!

We are adopting an adorable boy from China with a hole in his heart - VSD. There is a good chance it is much worse than we originally thought and we are trying to expidite the process to get him home and get him his open heart surgery before any permanent lung damage occurs. The US is said to be pretty good at speeding things up, but in China it's more of a rarity. For those of you who love the Lord, please pray that we will have favor with the Chinese officials that review his file and they hurry things along. Thank you ladies!

Try the Roosevelt Hotel. We stayed there and it was nice. We tried a cheaper one the first night there - about 100 bucks/night - and oh, boy! It was awful! The second night we switched to the Roosevelt. Muuuuuuuch better and right downtown!

When my migraines began coming on daily, I went to a bunch of bad neuros and finall found a great one. My hubby went with me. She looked at him and asked with a smile, "Does your wife have issues with smells? Can she smell things you can't? Does she seem to have a sensitivity to light? Do colors matter to her - do certain colors express emotion to her? Does she love certain textures over others? Does she often ask, "what is that" and hears noises you'd never notice?" He began to laugh! She told us that people who tend to get migraines also tend to be very sensory people - and migraines are often thought to be a kind of sensory overload. My hormones are the biggest trigger I have, and MSG. Smells dont seem to cause the headaches for me, but when I have a migraine (or about to get one) it's like all the sensory strengths I have become little annoyances and heightened somehow.

Just a FYI: A good book on migraines is "Heal your Headache" found here: http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Your-Headache-Program-Taking/dp/0761125663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362777798&sr=8-1&keywords=heal+your+headache It does a good job of describing different migraines and symptoms that are often overlooked - like smell. It discusses in detail food triggers (it really focuses on doing what you can with diet first.) Then if all else fails, it explains many medications that are commonly used. It's been years since I read it, but it's a good reference. I couldn't get anyone to talk to me about triggers - all the neuros just wanted to throw drugs at me before they even talked to me. By getting my triggers down, I only had a migraine for two weeks out of each month (previously it was constant.) Then, I began to take a preventative (beta-blocker) and now only get headaches for about three days a month and to nowhere near the intensity. I read a million books, but I remember this was the best for triggers.

When I go away to travel, I miss my husband at the end of day one. I miss my kids about the end of day 5. Doesn't mean I don't love them, or think happy thoughts about them, or wish (briefly) that they could be with me and see whatever it is I'm doing - I just don't miss them to the point of sorrow till day 5. I'm too busy relaxing and having fun!

I know this may sound random, but an oversensitive sence of smell can be linked to migraines. Many people have "silent migraines" where they are triggered by smell or light, no head pain, just the nausea and overall discomfort. Not saying he has that, just worth googling for future refernce in case he has more symptoms.

This made me laugh out loud - but I would def be hurt by it. Anxiously awaiting to hear how it all played out. ((hug))

Our house is 12 years old and the living room, kitchen, family room, and stairway are all open to each other with no good stopping points to change colors. We had it all tan but with the brown carpet and brown couches, we felt like we were living in a brown paper bag. So we picked a golden beige, soft yellow kind of neutral color. Hated it. Talked to a design specialist and told her we were thinking of painting it blue - and she begged me not to do it. Did it anyway and we loooove it. My advice, is pick the colors that make you happy - no one lives there but you. We have grey-blue everywhere, exept on one wall where we just made a faux white wood panelling - found it on this website: http://www.takethesidestreet.com/2012/06/diy-masonite-faux-paneled-wall.html?m=1 it was easy and fun! Finished it last night and it's beautiful! Brown couches and a red chair go great with the blue. Painted my hallway... orange - then decided it was too bright and changed it to red! I love sage green and have a bathroom in that color. Stick with the colors you love to look at and love to wear!

I find that many of the comments I get about homeschooling are unintendedly negative. They come from a total misunderstnding of homeschooling. When my friends (or strangers) say, "Oh, I could nnever homeschool..." I say, "Of corse you could! You'd do wonderfully. But each family chooses what works best for them." If they say, "Who oversees you?" I say, "No one. But that works out great, because no one cares more about their education than I do." When they say, "Oh, you do fine because you used to be a teacher." I say, "No, it's a different beast. And I have a good friend that has a HS education and is doing a better job of it than me." Sometimes it's good to kindly, through normal conversation, educate others that most people would do an amazing job with the curriculum and support that is out there. They just don't know otherwise. And I know a few people who through little comments like this that are now considering homeschooling. We must be full of grace and see through the negative comments to their need to understand better. As for people who make the comments to be negative on purpose. I just smile and walk.

My dd sucked her thumb until age 11. She would do it everywhere because she was unaware that she was even doing it. Good thing we homeschool. ;) We tried everything - thumb guard, nail polish, bandaids, chewy toys, and even went to therapy (she has sensory process issues.) Nothing helped. She got braces for a year - A YEAR - and she never once put her thumb in. I thought it was gone... but the very day the braces came off... thumb was back in. The braces themselves have her the sensory input she craved and as soon as they were gone, she used her thumb again. That is when i realized I was treating this like a habit instead of some kind of sensory need that she was going to have to CHOOSE to overcome. We finally gave up. She would have to do this herself with great maturity. Then I read a post here on the WTM site. It was suggested to find the one thing she wants more than her thumb. For that poster, it was a massive Star Wars toy. For my dd, that was a Kindle Fire. So, for the first few days, we put a 5 dollar bill around her wrist with a scrunchie to remind her that if she made it the whole day, she could put the money in a bucket on her dresser toward the Kindle. Then she stopped wearing it and we just put it on her dresser. In the many, many days it took to earn the money, she only messed up 4 times. She REALLY wanted that Kindle! And we told her, that if we see the thumb after she earned the Kindle, it would be a week of no Kindle until she could show us she had control again. Never happened. Issue gone. I wish I could just hug that OP - because we never thought it would go away and she gave us a true heart incentive to give her instead of just foul tasting stuff to paint on her thumb. If you are reading this Star Wars Thumb Lady: I love you!

You might want to try on the For Sale board. :) I use abeka phonics for all my kiddos - love it!

Hi! We are looking at a referral to adopt a child with a heart defect. It doesn't give us any details, just says "hole in the heart." No label of vsd or asd or pda or anything. He is growing well, no surgeries or anything yet. Those of you who have kiddos with a heart issue, can you share your story and tell me what to even ask the orphanage? :)

Here is a bit of encouragment from a mom of 4 girls. They are all so different, but it will come! DD age 5, cares what she wears - but desperately only wants to wear her one favorite pair of jeans and a black t shirt so she can match her best friend next door (a boy.) We are currently trying gently to "girlify" her a bit more :) She grumbles everytime I brush her hair. DD 9 takes great care of herself and wears only things that are flattering in fit, but will only wear colors that don't "bring attention to herself." Lots of navy, white, grey, etc., no red or bright colors. So much like my hubby! DD 11 wants to be a fashion designer and has matched her outfits since about age 2. She is currently wearing 80's lace gloves with a bright striped dress with matching shoes at the breakfast table. DD 13, now she is a different story. Her whole life she has been a fashion disaster. Knit pants that are too short, mismatched shirts, ugly slippers that she begs to wear outside. She hated to brush her hair, sighed deeply when I told her to shower, and had to have daily reminders to clean her room. (how does it get so messy in one day? - And I'm' not a perfectionist by any standard!) A few years back, i started making her change into something that matches in order to go out. I'm especialy strict when it comes to youth group. I can't help her "fit in" but I can help her not to "stick out." Suddenly, just over the past few months great change has taken place! She is brushing her hair (allmost constantly) matching her clothes, changing them when they get the slightest spill on them, showering regularly, keeping her room clean, and transforming before our eyes - all without any prodding from me! I think youth group (it's jr high and high schoolers together) has been the real motivator. Don't worry, just love them for who they are - they all develop at their own rate - but it will happen! :)

For six years I struggled with migraines while homeschooling three + a toddler. I spent two weeks straight every month flat on the couch with a pillow over my head. Then, I had two weeks to try to get some schooling in. I felt like such a failure. My friends' kids were busy memorizing the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt and mine were gluing buttons on a piece of construction paper. :) But I learned, from necessity, that the younger years don't need to be as "academic" as I had been shooting for. When the been-there moms on this board tell the newer-to-homeschool moms to just focus on reading fun books, cuddling with your kids, and occasionally do a low-mess art project, they are speaking from experience (and often regret) that they didn't slow down and chill out in the early years. While I was worried about them being behind, my girls are all "current" in their reading and math now, even ahead, and I am so glad I was forced to lay on the couch and cuddle. I agree with the earlyer posts, just take the time to adjust to the new life and have some fun. You will ease yourself into the academic years and be surprised at your success.

Night does make a difference to me. Most of the crime I hear of is at night. And boy vs. girl makes a difference to me as well. Girls are more of a target. Growing up, I had a stalker that would call my mom and I constantly from 8th grade through college, just to let us know he was watching and knew when I was home alone. Now, I live in one of the nicest neighborhoods with friends as neighbors. But you just never know who is around - a few years ago I learned my backyard neighbor was arrested for crimes against children! None of us would have guessed. Anyone who drives by regularly knows I homeschool and have tons of girls - so I'm not leaving them home alone for long periods of time or with any regularity that someone could know our scheldule. I do leave them for an hour or two if I'm not too far away and a trusted neighbor will be home. But not longer. It's not a matter of trusting my oldest, I know they do great and could handle anything within the house, it's a matter of no, they are not big enough to fend off an intruder. I know that's overprotective, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Most of my friends leave their kids home alone day or night at age 13. Each parent has a level of what they are comfortable with.

I can't get it to work either.

yes yes yes - this is the book to use. my daughter read it/followed it herself and learned so much!

No. Don't do it. It not only stretches you too far, it's not safe. You don't know these people and if the kid gets a bump on her head or something, you don't know what they will accuse/sue you for.

I'm Honik. I'd loooove to joint in with you all! I'm new with my fitness pal - how do I find you?

your post unintentionaly made me giggle - I thought you meant a rebound relationship - like "being on the rebound." hee hee hee...

I just downloded MFP to my Kindle. You all wanna start a group? :)