I have bought Finitie smartshells for all our kindles. No stand, though. http://www.amazon.com/Fintie-Kindle-Paperwhite-SmartShell-Case/dp/B009S2CXLK

My last three relationships started online (not dating/meet-up sites), one of them on xbox Live (Ghost Recon). I met each one for the first time by myself in an airport. :-/ Two in different states, one in a different country. I am not recommending this, I'm just saying. Only the first one was nutso--incidentally the one I travelled internationally to meet as a freshly turned 20yo--but so was I, obviously. Have been married to the last one for 11+ years. Oh and my best friend (of 16 years and counting)! I met her online also.

Xbox one plays 360 games. Or at least some? I can't remember ... (Ok ... I googled and got this, "Now you can play a growing number of your Xbox 360 games on Xbox One at no additional cost.") ... Anyway ... DH bought the Xbox One from Costco over the weekend for under $300 with the Lego Movie game and then went by Gamestop to pick up three more controllers (was looking for used, ie cheaper and Gamestop will take returns if there is a problem) and the Master Chief Collection (Halo 1-4) because we are all Halo fans (the new Halo 5 has no local multiplayer mode!! The tragedy!).

DS recently read The Witch of Blackbird Pond and would like a similar book but with a male main character. He likes historical fiction and in this one specifically he was intrigued by the courting and would like to read more about that but from the perspective of a male character and emphasized, "Not too much romance,". Does such a book exist? also, please complete this analogy: Dracula is to vampires as __________ is to werewolves. IS there such an iconic novel for werewolves?

Ok, this is all good news. I have calmed down. Thanks, ladies!

My nine year old was invited by a friend's parents to go out to lunch with said friend (and a few others) in celebration of friend's birthday. Afterwards they will go to some game place at the mall. This is all new territory for me so I had no idea what was expected (and most of this was arranged via DH who wasn't home at the time of pick-up and was personally persuaded no money was necessary but hadn't mentioned the gaming part of the plan to me) and so I asked if DS needed money but was told no ... But then I worried ... Maybe it was just poor etiquette to ask about money right as they were leaving and the obligatory "right answer" was no? Or was DH right that no money was required? We did send DS with a gift for the birthday boy (and I stuffed a little cash in his pocket just in case .. but I am still freaking out that I didnt give him "enough" and that he doesnt have a cell phone and I can't call and text him every five minutes .... I am not usually *THAT* mom-- not in the slightest --but today I am). (If you can't tell, I am neurotic and truly, innocently clueless. Be gentle with me!)

I just didn't want to get out of bed so early. HA! I'm jesting. Sorta. Actually I do appreciate us all getting plenty of sleep and keeping our own schedule. It goes along (in my mind) with the liberty to personalize the educational experience of each child and education being a life and and an atmosphere and all that jazz. I am also privately protesting age segregation.

I want a degree in physics but I won't have the time for school for possibly up to a decade and although I had a heavy higher math and science load in high school, I have been out of school long enough that I am starting my own re-education back with pre-algebra. My success with writing papers was always all or nothing (as in high grades or incompletes) because either inspiration hit or it didn't and I never developed the relevant skills or truly understood what I was doing so papers always felt like blind and glorious leaps of faith or they failed to fire at all. That has always made writing feel high stress and out of my control and it makes me nervous about eventually entering college or university. Before I begin an official course, I want to feel competent to tackle those required general education courses I watched my husband go through (he did great but I was horrified by all the writing--even thinking about it makes me want to cry). So, all these things considered, what would you suggest--a general progression and/or specific course recommendations--for my self education in thorough preparation for future university? What would YOU do?

We won't start for at least a couple more weeks. This was our first summer off, also, plus an international move that I am taking quite a while to settle from. Definitely not hitting the ground running. Still have books to order. Grammar books arrived yesterday and instead of the pleasure of the past over new school books (even grammar), I cried. It's okay. I know I will find my feet again. Everything is just still so out of order. No doubt trash service and livingroom furniture will make a ton of difference. Practicing patience with myself and the universe.

I miss Mexican food, country breakfasts with bacon and biscuits and hashbrowns, and breakfast burritos.

I'm tempted. I love a completely fresh start.

I actually shut down my FB account last week but was thinking of reopening it but after this thread I think I will leave it shut down. It rarely makes me feel good, often wastes my time, and there seems to be nothing one can safely post/like/share without irritating or offending someone. .. but I am missing PHP funnies!!! :crying:

[removed, on second thought]

I learned to say No. To recognize, value, and assert my own limitations and needs.

Thanks for linking! I picked up How to Teach Art to Children. I used to own the book but it was one that didn't make the cut when we moved overseas.

I read (well, skim, tbh) through this thread (and the other planning threads) and start twitching and hyperventillating. *breathes into paper bag* I just need to stop. :tongue_smilie:

I'm purging, too. I'm not sure yet how severely. We move back to the States this summer, into a much smaller house, and I have to pack for one trip there after accumulating books over three trips here. I was showing my husband a great book I have and asking him he thought a certain friend of ours here could use it. He agreed that it looked good and asked, couldn't I use it? I said I could. BUT .. It has been my habit to make decisions based on what I "could" do, what I would like to do—I need to make decisions based on the reality of what I actually do. The reality is that I have owned this book for years and done nothing with it but crack it, flip through it, and move it from one shelf to another, one continent to another. And it is literally weight—and I feel the burden of it not just as I load up suitcases but psychologically as well. My obssession has left me very scattered, and I feel two years of tiredness in my brain. I need, weight limits aside, to travel light this trip.

A good portion of my collection was bought out of insecurity. The rest was just obsession and greed (must have all knowledge, on all things, available at my fingertips at all times .. whether I read/use it or not -- I have it whenever I want or need it and that is the point).

I don't want to talk about it. :ph34r: math .. science .. writing .. spelling .. phonics .. history .. :leaving:

Wow. Things sure have changed. Almost twenty years ago I was getting $6.50 at Target (adults were $13) and McDonalds was paying my friend a lot less than that. ..not that it's relevent now.. just .. feeling old. :lol:

I'm thinking D for DS alone this coming year. Then, if that goes well, try running a second guide for the younger ones the following year. Thanks so much for the list, SebastianCat. That effort was above and beyond my expectations. I appreciate it. :) I am continuing my pre-reading with Carry On, Mr Bowditch, which I happened to have on hand.

I am now half way through Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry to get a better feel for these book lists because am not familiar with any of the books in the American History cores. Can anyone suggest another title or two for me to read from D or E that may trouble sensitive children?

I do my own copywork. I have a book where I copy out favorite quotes and passages from my own reading. I love reading back through it. My child appreciates it more when he sees it is something I value in this way. It encourages him to consider the words he is reading in a different way, also .. you know, like noticing that something was worded in an interesting way or that a statement is worth writing down .. things like that. It is exciting to see it carry into his own writing (the fruit of both the reading and the copy work, I suppose, which seems to sear the model more clearly on the mind than reading alone — at least for me because my mind is a sieve).