I am jealous! We have five hickory trees, but I've never gotten a ripe nut because the squirrels get them all. They start digging into them as soon as they are big enough to eat, so we end up with a yard full of shells, rather than whole nuts. I asked the hickory nut seller at our famer's market how to keep the squirrels from getting them, and his answer was "pellet gun." Not safe here, as our house and trees are too close to the neighbor's plate glass windows. It's probably illegal, anyway. :mad:

I hate the idea of bail-outs. I hate that people who made stupid financial decisions are going to affect the rest of us, whether we like it or not. Unfortunately, those that want the bail-out are probably right that no bail-outs would mean a major financial catastrophe for the entire nation, as one collapse leads to another, from one industry to the next. I have my doubts about our nation's ability to handle that on such a large scale. Too many people have no concept of what it takes to live within their means. Too many people have no concept of personal responsibility, much less civic responsibility. It's good for them to learn these lessons, but so many learning at once? It's going to be a mess, one way or the other, either with or without the bail-out.

I think I must be really tired, because what you wrote made sense to me. I'm hoping that a good night's sleep help me decide you are just being silly. Hoping, hoping....

Thanks for the tips! The library actually has the book you recommended, so we'll get it and try out the tips and the brush on the dolls we have. I appreciate your help! Thanks to everyone else, too! You've convinced me!

What do you mean by "really bad?" Was it just tangled, or did it look matted? Do you know what they did to fix it?

I do that, too. I split a cow with a friend, and she takes all of the organ meat. She serves her family tongue, brain, heart, liver, kidney, and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. I keep thinking I should try it, but I just don't see it happening unless she serves it to me!

Some schools in my area use the 90-100, 80-89, etc. scale. This scale is used in some other schools in my area: 94-100 A 87-93 B 78-86 C 70-77 D 0-69 F

I've always looked at ETC as phonics practice, with improved spelling as a side benefit. I don't think it's set up well as a speller. However, if you want it to be a spelling book, maybe you need to give him some extra spelling practice. I think having a list would make clearer to a child what he/she needs to know. However, if your dc is doing okay with SWO and he likes it, you could just keep doing what you have been. Reinforcement is always good.

:lol: I would do this, too. Somehow, it seemed funny coming from someone else!

I would definitely wait to know if your dh will have enough income to make the payments on a house. Until then, sock away whatever you can toward a down payment. The right house will come at the right time.

I've heard the AG dolls have hair that gets tangled and ruined easily when it's brushed. Is the Target doll the same way, or is brushing safe? If you've had an AG doll re-haired (is that a word? New hair put on), how much did it cost, including shipping?

I've found Wikipedia to be helpful, as well as Amazon reviews.

:iagree: One of mine is middle school age and gets nasty comments and treatment from peers at times. I've been amazed at how a humorous response turns the situation around. The other kids usually laugh and relax toward my dc, and the nasty ones usually lose their bite when they see no one is going to join them.

I googled "best colleges for political science" and I got this link to a discussion about this topic: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/147364-best-political-science-schools.html Maybe something there will help.

:iagree: Even on the phone, though, I would be very careful. I have a friend that still thinks I don't like her dh, just because when he dumped her once while they were dating (20 years ago) I expressed that I thought she deserved better because he didn't treat her well. She took that to mean I didn't like him, even after he started treating her right later, and it strained our relationship when they got back together and married.

At our house, fun reading time happens whenever the dc can squeeze it in - in the van on the way to activities, in the bathroom, etc. They can read anything they want then. The assigned reading happens during rest time after lunch. The dc feel so happy about getting to just lie around reading, they are usually thrilled about whatever I give them to read! FWIW, I pick books from the Activity Guide list, SL lists, and Veritas Press lists, so they are very good books. Whatever looks most appropriate for that individual child gets on the list. Sometimes I order more from the library than we will need for a given time period, just to be able to pick out the best ones. We have very few books that the children don't want to finish, and they often ask to put them on their Christmas wish lists because they enjoyed them so much. One thing I found with my ds when he was your ds's age - if I read the first chapter or two aloud to him, he would want to find out what happened next and would be more willing to read the rest of the book himself.

Just one thing, for those of you who are now considering trying caffeine to help your dc focus - caffeine can increase anxiety in those who struggle with it.

Bad, bad idea. So, your older sis gets the baby she always wanted, but she also gets to house the baby's mother/her younger sis, as well as that sis's other two children? Umm... can you say, "Stress?" Having a new baby is stressful enough without having all the extra family involved, especially with this kind of situation. She would be better off adopting in some other way than to be forced into housing the birthmother's family. Encourage her to stand her ground with younger sis - she'll adopt the boy and will gladly feed it younger sis's pumped breast milk, if she wants to go that route, but no living in and no breastfeeding. ETA: Actually, the more I think of it, the less I'd even want her breastmilk. No contact. No milk. No anything. If the birthmother wants the baby to go to her sis, great. Nothing more. There needs to be a complete emotional break from the birthmother, and the birth siblings need to have that break, too. It would be very hard for them to live with him and treat him as a sibling, then be forced to leave him at some point.

LOL! Am I the last person to find out who Amy Poehler even is? Anj, you may be out of the loop, but at least you know where it is! :)

In my homeschool library there are shelves for the children and shelves for me. Within both sections, the books are located by general subject (science, history, fiction), and within the subjects they are grouped by topic. The children's history books are pretty much in chronological order on the shelves, but I do have US history and world history on different shelves. They have several hundred history-related books to read whenever the urge strikes them. SOTW texts and activity books aren't something I want the dc to peruse randomly on their own, so they are in my history section.

I love my cast iron pans! I am careful not to drop or scrape them, of course. The pans are heavy, though, so you'd have to evaluate your dc's ability to move them safely.

Are you sure the store won't take them back? I've known people who returned things at stores with the tags off, and they were accepted back. If that's your first choice, call to find out!

You just described it! I get past it in several different ways. Honestly, I think the most important one is to be sure I'm doing well in the other areas of my life - God, friends, sleep, exercise, food, etc. If I am, I seem to be better prepared to have a good attitude toward homeschooling. As far as how to improve things in school, we may shake up the schedule a bit, add in something fun, do a project, let the dc plan the school day, etc. The best day I had last year was when we scrapped the plans for the day and did a one-day unit study on Africa, simply because the dc were excited about a movie they had seen. It made us all feel better. I hope you find just the right key for you!

:iagree: I used to have a motion detector alarm on my apartment door when I was single, and it made me feel much safer. When I travelled I attached it to hotel doors with velcro tape. I would seriously make calls tomorrow in an attempt to find someone who can help you fix your lighting situation. You need the broken one fixed, of course, which you can take care of yourself, but you also need motion detector lights. I'd get one for every side of the house, if possible. Also, I would call the police department before it gets dark to ask them to make extra passes by your home because of having trespassers in your yard two nights in a row. Do you, by any chance, remember the name of the helpful officer that called your ex when you had a problem before? Maybe he would be able to help you with this. Praying for you right now. :grouphug:

I'd like to know what kind of instruction they provide - lectures, explanations of how to do homework problems, or what? Thanks for any information you can provide!