:grouphug: Rose. How difficult this is. We had a friend who did this. She just refused to go to the doctor's even though she knew something was really wrong. It was hard on everyone else but it preserved her final weeks as normally as possible -- without hospitals, treatment. She was surrounded by family and friends and not medical staff and equipment. Enjoy these moments as much as you possibly can. And grieve now too. Sorry I don't have good advice for keeping it from the kids. I'm not sure how you do that, do they know she's sick at all? :grouphug:

I'd vote no. Kids grow up fast enough. Maybe there's not a lot of graphic violence, but scenes like this in the cantina, Vader choking people, etc. are full of menacing characters and surprising scares. Mine are very visual so I'm still careful. But even so, at the age of 4-1/2, I'd let the little guy stay "little" a bit longer. Like others here, though, I know of other families whose kids have seen SW, even LOTR and more before the age of 6. :001_smile:

:grouphug: :grouphug: Oh Kari. I will pray for God's comfort to surround all of you and give you peace. :grouphug: :grouphug: What a gracious soul you are to post this reminder for all of us in the midst of your pain.

Oh Brittney, this is heartbreaking! Will pray for a miracle. :grouphug:

We have a ds like this. He's got a sweet tooth and he's trying to get away with more than we'd like him to eat. I limit buying those mostly. He's getting better as he's gotten older. I would remind mine of the ants and bugs that will come to find his remainders if it would help (ds here doesn't like bugs). They do reach an age, about where yours is now, of requiring more protein and earlier in the day. One solution I came up with is a breakfast sandwich. We make an egg (usually over medium with broken yolk -- so it doesn't squirt), cheddar or similar cheese, and sometimes bacon or ham on a toasted bagel or english muffin. We did this one day before running off to a field trip and they started requesting these. I also encourage yogurt. Homemade pancakes, waffles, cold breakfast cereal don't hold them long enough without a hard-boiled egg or some dairy. Your ds just may be hitting that voracious pre-teen boy stage. Mine could be a hobbit, wanting to eat every hour or two. He's also very lean. Of course, homeschooling with it's easy access to the kitchen lends itself to these habits. (I remind mine of how hungry their gradeschool counterparts must be...) Good luck, Aubrey.

Sorry, my vote is -- it depends on the guy and the location. Well into his late 40s, dh was still looking pretty hot in his speedos. But he only wore them when he was diving into the pool to swim like he belonged in speedos. So....definite connection there. ;)

Sanguinella -- blood oranges. I've seen them in groceries in the past couple years but they are a bland relative of the real thing. Carambola -- star fruit. They're available here now.

Dh and I have been watching since the beginning, loved that theme music! We also watch SVU but never got into CI. That said, it's been pretty lame the last few years -- we still like the actors but the heavy message and telegraphing the bad guys had to effect their ratings. It got redundant and wearisome. But it's been great fun. Really liked when Jerry Orbach, Jill Hennessey and Carey Lowell were on, when "Adam Schiff" and Fred Thompson growled around. More recently, missing Sam Waterson and Jesse Martin.

:lol: Apparently the parents have defended the costumes by pointing out that bikinis the girls wear to the beach are skimpier than what they wore here. They also didn't feel the dance moves were that bad. (Didn't see the parents being interviewed directly.)

I know. But wasn't it also trying to say that the little girl's inappropriateness was less inappropriate and more acceptable in a defiant kind of way than the little pageant barbie-doll-wannabes? Either way, the mini-adult look of that video reminded me of the movie.

Bingo. Ends justify the means, even if it's dressing up your 7 yo in a burlesque outfit. It reminds me of the movie Little Miss Sunshine that people raved about. Parts were funny but the dance routine created by the foul-mouthed Grandpa was just sad and inappropriate for a little girl. I get that they were making fun of the whole little-girl pageant industry making girls into tiny barbies but ....

:001_huh: How about Candy Suggars? Star Slick?

Or grow up in the hey-day of the Alou brothers, Manny, Mattie and Jesus, IIRC. :001_rolleyes:

I'd welcome a pm too. I've read parts of Gatto's works. :001_smile:

:grouphug: and a prayer. I know just how you feel. I love the w.h. auden poem that addresses just these feelings....that time and activity should stop to acknowledge this passing. Peace to you and your family.

As an adult, I love peonies. But when I was a kid, they creeped me out with the ants all over the buds! My mother had a whole row of them. :tongue_smilie:

Wow, congratulations. There are a few designations in the Navy that are considered super-smart and the sub community is certainly one of them. Hope your dd has a great career, whether she goes with subs or not. Getting into the first job with the enlisted sailors and day-to-day operations will be among the challenges. Subs present very unique challenges because their mission and requirements are unique within the Navy. For the sake of security (first, the crews involved) and the Navy, I too hope that this change goes well. And if it's not going to work, I hope the PTB will have the guts to revisit the decision. Congrats on your grad.

Or with the World Trade Center parking garage bombing in '93, actually. That was like a test-run, if you will.

Hi Ms. M. I didn't say they weren't [denouncing]. Haven't heard any support for the guy who flew his plane in the building....but I don't live in TX. Besides funding and munitions, I was referring to organized radical groups and schools that are working in a concerted way to train and equip radical jihadists....worldwide. I imagine we would be surprised if we knew the actual numbers involved. But for OP's Q, I was mentioning it in context of the scope of world history over known time. Kwim?

Yes. Mine are younger so we haven't covered much of the 20th century yet. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and on and on. Hundreds of millions of people dead from the leadership of these few men. But we have covered much of the ancient and medieval worlds. They understand that part of this is the human condition.....wanting territory, power, people....and the ebb and flow that "naturally" occurs because of it. Yes, without horrific details, we also discuss the victimization of people by evil leaders that force them or coerce them to actions they wouldn't take otherwise (a couple recent: grade-school age martyrs for Palestinians, and women suicide bombers that are raped and disgraced so that they have nothing else but to die). These Ugandans are "christian" about as much as Hitler might've claimed to be. There are very fundamental differences between Islam and Christianity but I know that many mainstream Muslims are chagrined by the acts of the radical jihadists, which should be denounced just as Christians denounce the acts of a few violent religious fanatics. The difference currently, I think, is that for Muslims there is a concerted effort in groups around the world to organize, fund and execute their radical plans. But for OP, taught in the ebb and flow of history, evil must be confronted and resisted wherever it is found. eta: I try to stay current so that I can answer questions. We have a variety of friends so this helps dc see people for their character and individuality first.

Overheard one of the boys in the dugout the other night, "I had a dream about Lady Gaga." :blink: These kids are 8 and 9! Kids hear things everywhere. I've learned that it's got little/nothing to do with race, class, income level or education level (of family), church or religious affiliation or geographic location. This goes for good and bad, often the opposite of what you might "expect." Some days you just go :001_huh:

These tests reflect the curriculum in the schools and the state scope and sequence. My dc have always done the whole tests (since testing was required from grade 2) because they've wanted to do the portions beyond the lang./math. Your dd will probably do just fine. Mine have. Much of what's on it is very standard -- body parts, general geography, bits of basic physics and earth sciences, government, maps, reference materials (like alpha order in dict.). In fact, you'll probably be surprised by what she's picked up by osmosis or the connections she makes from things she's already learned. Dh here was much more reassured about homeschooling when the test results came back just fine. It wasn't that he doubted my ability, more that he wanted to make sure ds was doing ok. Part of why we would do testing even if it weren't required is so that dc get used to testing and the skills needed to get through them. Dc don't do tests during our normal homeschooling but the PSATs/SATs will be looming before long and those would be tough tests to start with....:tongue_smilie: Just try to make the whole experience as comfortable as possible. And good luck!

Wow, coming from the state that was willing to go to war to keep the federal gov't from telling it what to do, this is shocking. Daily monitoring of homeschool students? Hope y'all can defeat this one.

I'm reading the book Blind Side right now. Lewis is a good writer and I knew there was more to the story. Of course they Hollywoodized it. Dh and I really appreciated a decent movie for once. :001_smile: eta: Meant to add, you're right, the Hollywood version is very linear.

I'm becoming more fuddy duddy in my old age too. Up in the Air and Atonement recently. Four Weddings and a Funeral. When it first came out, we thought it was fun. And I loved the WH Auden poem. When I saw it again about a year ago, I was so turned off. Andie McDowell's character (besides the fact that the poor girl just can. not. act) is an amoral jerk. Anything Nicholas Sparks, Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger (mostly). Accidentally saw He's just not that into You, Knocked Up. :tongue_smilie: Dh and I are renting those funny old movies like Jason and the Argonauts to show the boys, Michelle. The Blind Side was great.