Not knowing what's going on exactly, I'd probably not let him deal with academics at all. In fact, I might do whatever I could to get him out of the house so I wouldn't have to deal with him once he declared he was leaving me, but that's just my parents' multiple divorces talking. Personal baggage aside, can you have him just do special projects together? Purely fun self-directed learning type projects, and you can either work with the boys yourself 3 days a week or also on the weekends for 5 days a week? Maybe field trips, field studies, nature studies, etc? Other options include: Public school for a while (maybe with afterschooling); having someone else do the schooling besides your DH (maybe your mom? Older people tend to be good at teaching reading, and dote on grandchildren). Maybe a homeschooling friend? Nursing school can be very hard; you do have to study yourself; you do have to sleep and have time to love on your boys too. Give yourself some grace whatever you decide.

We also use EEBA. I don't like carrying around cash instead of a debit card; it makes you more likely to be a victim of crime and there is no protection if you lose cash the way there is with a debit card. I don't even use it as a debit, I run it as credit every time so if someone hacks a store's system they don't have my PIN. DH wanted to switch to cash and I flat-out refused. We compromised with the EEBA and it's worked very well.

First, it is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted. It sounds like this person was tempted to have unbelief, explored why, and chose God. There is no reason a temptation has to last for only a fleeting thought. It could last for decades. They chose right. Even if they spent a great deal of time away from God, the story of the prodigal son (amongst many others) suggests it doesn't matter. What matters is restoring the relationship with God. Are you certain that the person in question really knew and loved God to start with? Could it be that they got "saved" not because they had a heart of love and repentance but that they were doing what was considered the thing to do amongst the people in their life at that time? Your reference to 2 Peter 2 makes me wonder if the person you are speaking of decided (s)he was an atheist for a long time, and tried to convince Christians to walk away from their faith too? Hebrews 6 suggests to me that though that person may repent, it is impossible for us to induce him to do so. Isaiah 53:6 speaks of universal sin, not of individual sin. Heb 10:29 speaks of judgment; however in the context it does not seem to be warning of definite judgment as much as warning NOT to walk away because if you do and flaunt it you risk offending the Holy Spirit. The idea that having a salvation experience permanently binds you to a faith that you must take purely on faith (not reason) seems the antithesis of the context of most stories in the Bible to me - Adam and Eve knew God personally and still rebelled, many stories in the Bible are about rebellion and reconciliation to God. Finally, Jesus didn't get angry at repentant sinners. He got angry at religious leaders (who he had studied under) who were judgmental hypocrites. The reality is, we see through a glass darkly and we can't know the judgment of God. We can't see into someone's heart. No one knows if salvation is a once and forever thing or if it's a you have the freedom to come closer to God or stray from him thing because there are many verses to support both theologies. My theory on the confusion surrounding this is that it is a mystery because it doesn't matter. The Lord judges on the heart, and that is something we cannot see. What we can know is if we personally are repentant for our (daily) sins and if we personally are doing our best to know and love and serve God. We best know and serve God by first renewing our minds with the word, and then by loving and serving others. Especially others who do not know the truth.

With little kids (under 6) I would just feed them small nutritious meals every 3-4 hours when awake. With bigger kids, I'd serve bigger meals, make sure to include potatoes (they've been found to be one of the foods that make you feel full longest, also they have lots of vitamins and more potassium than a banana), and phase out snacks entirely. "You're hungry? Good, we're having dinner when your dad gets home!" Hunger makes everything taste good.

folded and kept in place with little drawer organizers.

Maybe it's that a boy from church used to kiss my hand and cheek when I was 3, but I guess I don't see why the other mother is making such a big deal of this. I take it from the "not alone in a room together until 18 & married" statement that both families are pretty conservative Christians? Is this mother of the variety that believes only in courtship, and not in even having crushes until the boy is of courtship age? They didn't even kiss on the lips. It's normal. Your daughter's mortification about the other mother's reaction is normal. If you are going to continue to have her spend time with families with rather fundamentalist views, you perhaps should inform her that *other* families do not see this as innocent. And maybe limit your time with them unless you want to risk her adopting the same sort of views. Since you haven't seen some of the other threads about middle schoolers, some public school kids are having sex (or versions of sex) at 11, and there are some instances of 9 year olds having babies (though there was an issue of whether or not that would have to have come from abuse). You probably don't want to look at those threads.

I did a sort of a mix: I found some instructions online for taking in the waistband of jeans and did so. Also, belts. I only wore the jeans when I needed to go in public, mostly with hand me down shirts that some family members gave me. I went to a discount store and stocked up on sports bras with stretch and wore those for bras most of the time, and Old Navy and bought a bunch of yoga pants, and wore those with old oversized tee shirts around the house. It was a little sloppy looking, but the healthy exercise-induced flush and happy smiley look I had atoned for that a bit, I think. When I had an event that I needed to look good for, I shopped. When I was close to my goal, I shopped hard. It was wonderful.

Honey, the Christ-like perspective is that not all people are good. It's clear that however controlling your mom is, your parents love you and your children. They are who you're thankful for this year, and they are who you and your children need to spend the holiday with. Have you read the book Boundaries? It helps Christians to figure these things out. There is nothing wrong with ending interaction with an abusive person who has done little but hurt you. Tell her to go through her son and to stop calling you. Then stop taking her calls. He left, his family is no longer your responsibility, for the good or the bad.

I haven't read the other responses, but I wouldn't take her calls. She's already been verbally and emotionally abusive to you, and she would do the exact same thing with the kids if given the chance. She's clearly unstable and doesn't care about the children (or she would already have a relationship with them). My guess is that Bill doesn't understand why she doesn't have a relationship with them and she's now feeling judged, but does not suddenly care. If she wants a relationship with them she can reconcile with her son and deal with it that way. No way would I EVER let her see them alone, even through him, and even if you do manage to get a divorce, you might want to put in the papers that his mother is not allowed unsupervised visitation.

What changed is corn syrup and convenience food loaded with chemicals that make things with no nutrition taste better than real foods. Kids end up hungry for real food, and eating empty calories. Interestingly, I read somewhere that the rise of corn syrup consumption exactly parallels the rise of autism.

Be careful with sandbox sand if you're buying it new - a friend installed a sandbox for her kiddos, and only afterward found a warning on the side of the sand bags that said "Play sand is not for playing." And went on to give this warning that it was not natural sand, it was manufactured, and it had fine dust in it that may cause lung cancer! If you've got access to a bit of natural sandy soil, or maybe a creek bed or something, grab some, bake it to sterlize, and that at least won't have cancer-causing fine dust.

A teaspoon of baking soda in a couple ounces of water. Tastes disgusting, but works fast, and it doesn't have aluminum.

I've been ignoring the ridiculously large percentage of my facebook friends who use it, but I have noticed that those who have talked about it for the longest have, if anything, gained weight. In a couple cases, about 40 pounds. If you want whey protein powder, mix it into your own smoothies. Ones made with actual fruits (and maybe a few greens), and whatever liquids you want (milks, juices, yogurt or kefir, etc). Probably healthier because it's real food.

I don't have experience with multiple neurological issues, so I guess my first suggestion would be talking to an occupational therapist to make sure there's not another undiagnosed condition going on. We have ADHD in my family too (DH has it and I haven't been diagnosed but I fit the criteria so I'd be surprised if ALL of our kids don't get diagnosed with it sooner or later), but I wouldn't dismiss bad behavior such as being so rough that others get hurt as something that shouldn't be punished. Pushing those boundaries to see how far he can go until someone gets hurts isn't really okay. Also, we don't allow roughhousing inside. We're also working really hard on attentiveness (in terms of considering how our actions affect others, after having read an article by Michelle Duggar on how she thinks it's the most important character trait to teach children - I'm not so delusional that I think I can change the way their brains are wired with a few days of character training). Having said that, I wouldn't punish this incident because it's already passed, and because unless you set rules for such things before it wouldn't be fair to him. I would sit down with him individually, and later with the other kids in the room, and tell them that you are going to have some new rules: you must be careful of others, only gentle touches with others, no roughhousing inside, and if anyone gets hurt as a result of not being careful, that will be punished from this point forward. Then I would give them all, but this kid in particular, more exercise. He's got to run off that energy somehow. And you might consider getting rid of artificial dyes, sugar, and limiting screen time to a few hours once a week. There's some anectdotal evidence that those things can help. The GAPS diet might help with multiple neurological issues too.

Could it be allergies? I went through a period of vomiting before I was diagnosed with allergies as a child, the doctor took one look at my throat and declared it was allergies and that the drainage was bothering my stomach at night. ETA: Drainage wasn't bothering me during the day because I'd blow my nose. At night, it would run down my throat instead.

Thanks everyone! Does anyone know if Kansas homeschooled students can use any school district resources?

Donated to a bank for others, did not choose the option to store it for our family for many reasons, primarily after reading up on cord blood storage online.

well... I made my own wedding cake (gluten free), so I can probably answer. There is no reason you need to use fondant. You can use regular icing, though to get the flat look like that you need paste or gel food coloring to shade the icing and a pastry bag with an icing tip (a tip with a long narrow shape often used to put a base layer of frosting on the cake). Regular icing with candy (maybe something like fruit roll up)? could give a similar effect for a lot less money than buying pastry tips and bags and fancy gel food coloring if you don't have any of those. I like to go with the best tasting icing (almond buttercream - salted butter in place of shortening, powdered sugar, almond extract in place of vanilla, enough whipping cream to get the texture I want, and whatever food coloring you choose), but real butter based frostings melt in heat, so unless you're having the cake inside in an air-conditioned room, go with regular shortening based frosting instead. Gel food colorings take a LOT of time to mix... Really overdo it, or it will separate out and get a spotty look later. I would just decorate the top of a sheet cake, as layers of different shapes will probably need dowels to hold them together, and it would be too much cake for one party.

What's Stop the Thyroid Madness?

IDK exactly what "liberal" means (I'm mostly libertarian - is that conservative? I'm never sure), and am definitely Christian, but I also believe women belong in ministry, being gay isn't a sin and that if abortion wasn't discussed in the bible it has no place in church or political discourse... so I joined. I hope I belong!

If it's in your ear and not your eustacian tube, I second the peroxide in your ear. Pour in ear, keep it in until it stops bubbling, dump out on a washcloth, repeat until no more bubbles. Beware though, this WILL make you dizzy. It cleans out all the wax quickly. If it's a eustachian issue, take Sudafed (or better: Advil cold & sinus) and fill a sink with hot water, cover your head and the sink with a towel, and hold your face in a horizontal position over the steaming water. The steam and horizontal position will move the clogged up fluid, the Sudafed thins it enough that it can move. ETA: a little vaporub or eucalyptus oil in the steaming water helps a bit too.

I hate honey myself. It's too sickly-sweet, it's almost bitter it's so sweet. DH thinks I'm crazy, but once when we were TTC and I was taking royal jelly in honey I had to hold myself back from gagging everyday. I just hate it. And I love sweets. I also love cilantro, and tons of people hate that.

This really depends on your family dynamic (my sister is super serious and does not take teasing well at all; she considers it abusive and will hold a grudge for decades); but if teasing is acceptable in your family, comparing the kid to Eeyore or Debbie Downer (depending on their age and TV exposure) would probably be the way we'd let the child know that while that may or may not be true, it's not socially acceptable to express.

Unfriend & unfollow her.

So happy to hear this!