I SO want an Emu! I think that would throw my DH over the edge though.

I use eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary and lemon in an almond carrier oil.

My son has high functioning autism. He was seven before we had a diagnosis because I didn't want the "label" even though I knew something was off with him. Well, that label opened up several doors for him. He qualified for speech, OT, PT, behavioral therapy etc all at no cost because of that label. He went to a private school for kids with autism. In our case, homeschooling would not have been a good fit with him. Public school was a nightmare from day one, but the private school was awesome and he thrived. He is now 22, a published poet and in his third year at college working towards his bachelors degree in animation art. Labels can be a good thing sometimes :)

I really need to dismantle my incubator. I have 21 eggs cooking in it right now. Is there a 12 step program for incubator addicts? When we moved to the country DH and I agreed on 4 chickens. I have about 50, they are hard to count so it could be more. That is down from over 60 before a dog attack took out several. I'm a little out of proportion with my roo to hen ratio, so that is why I am hatching more. I love my chickens, I get a basket full of beautiful eggs each day :)

I bought the blue glow in the dark medic alert bracelet from Laurens Hope. She loves it. http://www.laurenshope.com/products/259/glow-in-the-dark-medical-id-bracelets

I don't know about anything scientific but I can tell you my experience. I have suffered terribly from allergies since moving to the south four years ago. I LIVED on medication, decongestants and couldn't go anywhere without a box of tissues. I bought EO's and an almond carrier oil and had my DH rub my feet every night. He was beyond skeptical and called it my "snake oil". I also bought a diffuser and put the same oils in it at night while I slept. Within a week I felt much better. Three weeks later and I was off ALL medications. I no longer sneeze all day long and I can breathe all night long. It's been a few months and even my DH has to admit that there is a big change in me. I wear a medallion around my neck with a few drops of the EO's on it when I am at home. I don't care what anyone says, I no longer suffer from allergies. My daughter had major surgery (b00ks reduction) in November. The doctor gave her gave her three different creams to put on to help the scarring. She wasn't healing as the doctor expected. I researched EO's for scarring and gave her a roll on bottle of it. A month later and the doctor couldn't believe how much better she was healing. She told him about the EO's and he said just keep doing what your doing, it's working. Like I said, I don't know the science behind it but for my daughter and myself they work.

Exactly! It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but it did let my DH see exactly where she is academically. I teach most of the subjects while he is at work. He helps with math and grammar when needed. He isn't in the trenches daily like I am. He is a black and white numbers guy. It's not that he doesn't trust me or what I say, he just likes to see it on paper. Bubble tests give me bad flashbacks! We tested on the computer where it's multiple choice and a click of the mouse which my daughter had no issues with what so ever.

I'm one of those over 40 yr olds (well over!) and I do not like testing. DH helps teach math and grammar to our 8 yr old. He has not been a strong supporter of homeschool although he isn't totally against it. He still feels she should be "in school", because that's where kids belong. Our daughter was struggling with some of the grammar which prompted him to ask about having her tested. I went through all my reasons why I didn't feel it was necessary, but he said it would put his mind at ease. If it were anyone else requesting testing I would have shut them down without another thought, but as her father he does have the right to such a request. I found the CAT test online and was able to have her take it at home, doing each section and able to take a break in between. It was $25 and the results came instantly to me, and only me. I printed out the results for him and he was flabbergasted. She is well above grade level on everything. He is happy, my daughter is happy that she did so well (and has it on paper to prove it) and that makes my job of homeschooling her that much easier. I will test her again when she is in middle school and high school, but for now DH is satisfied.

We moved from NJ to SC four years ago, I'll never go back. I LOVE living in SC. My mortgage went from $2,000 a month to $425 and my taxes went from $8,000 per year to under $700.

We are doing Swimming Creatures next year, I bought the lab kit for it. It's all stuff I could find around the house or easily in the dollar store, but knowing me the labs will get put off because I forgot to get the supplies together. For me, it was definitely worth the money to have everything on hand, sorted and individually bagged for each lesson.

We had Fathead pizza tonight. BEST pizza ever! My kids ate it, and so did my DH, who normally will shun anything he thinks is on my diet.

Get a referral to a neurologist. I went through the same thing with my son and it took until seeing a neurologist to get a dx of high functioning autism. He was seven years old and the neuro said he had a classic case of autism, which the pediatrician missed.

EXACTLY! Not everyone is "college material" and there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Another CLE fan here! We started in 1st grade and at the start of this year (3rd) we switched to Teaching Textbooks. She hated it and begged to go back to CLE, so that is what we did.

This is exactly my story too. I was not homeschooled. I don't think it was legal back then. My PS experience has affected every area of my life as an adult and I do not want that for my kids. I wish homeschooling had been on my radar when my oldest two kids were in school. My oldest son has seen my two youngest hs'd and I know he would have benefited immensely from hs'ing. He has made it very clear that he will homeschool his children when he has any. Like someone else posted, marrying someone anti-homeschooling is a deal breaker for him.

NO. If something says it is aligned to Common Core I won't buy it. If I wanted my daughter to be common, I'd send her to PS.

My prescription is very mild also. I really didn't realize I had vision issues until I got the glasses lol. I don't wear them all the time. I do wear them for driving because I need them for distance. The only time I don't wear them is when I am reading, on the computer or not needing to focus on anything at a distance. If you have your prescription and your pupil distance (PD) then you can order very inexpensively from Zenni Optical. I have ordered from there for years and they have good quality glasses.

We tried AAS and A Reason for Spelling, both bombed. I found SpellWell and that has been our saving grace. My daughter is not a natural speller and colored workbooks are too distracting. SpellWell starts out with a pre-test, the kids can check their own work and then the rest of the week are different ways of using those words. My daughter has come really far with her spelling since using SpellWell. And.. they are not expensive at all.

I solved the laundry issue by making those things left laying around disappear. When my kids were younger I used to have a clear bucket that I kept up on a top shelf. If they left a toy out, fighting over a toy or refused to clean up their toys, they went into the clear box. Clear is the key. They can SEE the toys, but can't touch it. That was a reminder that if they want to keep their stuff, they need to put them away or not fight over them. I did that a few times with my daughters clothes. When she wanted her favorite pair of jeans, she found them in the NO TOUCH box lol.. It didn't take long for her to pick her clothes up off the floor.

LOL Same here! I moved to get away from stuff like that happening. The only things that run across my yard uninvited are raccoons and foxes. At least I can shoot those if they become a pest.

Modesty was never an issue with my older daughter. She developed early and became very self conscious. She is now 18 and still prefers to dress modestly. My younger daughter is 8 and although I have never really set rules, she knows there are certain things that would be pushing it. Short skirts, short shorts, revealing tops (although at 8 there is nothing to reveal) and bikini's are not something that my DH or I would approve. My fear with her right now is gaudy, tacky, bright and sparkly colors.

My daughter was a 36DD, 5' tall. We had her swimsuits custom made here: http://modestlyyoursswimwear.com/index.html It was not cheap, but the suits are made to your measurements and fit perfectly. They will alter as you please. My daughter had the leggings cut mid calf, sleeveless and a U shaped neckline. I bought it for her when she was 15 and she wore it for three years. She could wear her own bra underneath. When she turned 18 she decided to have a b00ks reduction and even though she can fit into something off the rack now, she still went with a suit from this company because she likes the modest look.

I'm not familiar with the stuff you are using either but I can tell you that if it's not a good fit, scrap it. We started out this past year with an all-in-one curriculum that I really liked, but it didn't fit my daughters learning style. About six weeks in we scrapped all of it except math and started over fresh. I can honestly say that because we switched things up that this past year has been our best year yet.

We bought our land that came with a four bedroom double wide on it. Our plan was to live in it while building a house on the back acres. Well, it's been almost 4 yrs and as of now we have scrapped any plans of building. I really like my double wide. No, it's not fancy and not really well built like a stick built home, but it serves our purpose. The thought of having a bigger mortgage just to live in a stick built home sounds silly to me now.

This link will tell you which publishers are aligned, going to be aligned or won't align. http://www.hsroadmap.org/common-core-project/