12dd currently has her hair all one length--about to her shoulders with no bangs, no layer, etc. She wants to go shorter today--just above her ear so her earrings will show. Are there any places where we can see ideas of cute hair styles for pre-teen/young teen girls. This needs to be a basic wash and wear style as she won't take the time or effort to curl it, style it, etc. every day. Her hair is finer but she has a decent amount of hair. It is straight with no curl.

The cell phone stays in my pocket or in a carrier clipped to my belt loop. The first time I came off a horse he took off and ended up about 1/2 mile away. I was with friends though so one picked me up while her daughter went and got my horse. I also let my friend know exactly where I was riding and to send her daughter (almost 18) out to come find me if I wasn't back in an hour. My girls were a little disappointed they couldn't go with me but I wanted to try a solo ride. The pony is CUTE. We are looking for the ideal babysitter horse for my girls. Right now they have a 31 year old 16hh (so NO pony) gelding but he can only ride them 1 at a time for about 1 hour. I can't leave either of them home alone yet so one runs along while we ride and then we switch. Having another horse would make this a lot easier.

CJ Banks is having a 40% off everything sale Saturday and Sunday. Might be worth checking out. http://www.cjbanks.com

This poor baby sounds just like my now 12dd when she was an infant--pneumonia, asthma, reflux, food allergies, immune deficiencies, etc. Has the mom been able to take her to an immune specialist? That might be helpful. A few things that we found VERY helpful (but I can't prove they really helped) was adding DAILY acidophillus and omega 3s to her diet. We use Supremadophillus which could likely be stirred into her food as it is a powder in a capsule (then again I had my dd by that age swallowing pills). We also use http://www.omegabrite.com and they have a kids liquid. Like I said, I can't promise these will help but adding them sure made a difference here. We went from daily asthma meds, looking at doing IV IgG infusions (including putting in a port under her skin), antibiotic after antibiotic, etc. to NO ILLNESS, NO ASTHMA MEDS, NO ANTIBIOTICS. I woudl obviously keep following up with the doctors (they might want to test for Cystic Fibrosis as well) but the 2 supplements won't hurt and they just might help. [

I wouldn't, but if you can afford it and it is important to you, then do it. I pay $5, yes FIVE dollars, for my haircuts and often they are free. My friend is a stylist and cuts hair out of her home. Often we barter me babysitting for her 8 kids for free haircuts for the family for a while. Now, is it a great cut compared to one I would pay $50 for? I don't know as I have not gone to a hair salon in over 20 years. I buy almost all of the my clothes on 80% off clearance or at thrift stores, but will pay $500 for a saddle for my horse or $100 extra a month for my girls 31 year old horse to have his mash since he has no teeth. I think it is all about choices and most of the time those are totally personal.

This might not be a big deal to most horsey people but Spy (my 15 year old QH/Arab gelding) and I went on our first ever SOLO trail ride today. I never rode as a child and have had a horse now for 2 1/2 years (but in Michigan that mean only 2 summers worth of riding) and I came off my first horse 5 times--3 times on the trails and twice with bucks). Needless to say I have some fear issues and tend to think of what "might" happen. Today I had my friend drop us off about 1 1/2 miles from her house (where I board him) and we rode down the dirt rode about 1/2 mile and then we rode back through the wooded trails and blueberry fields back to the barn. We were gone about 45 minutes and passed a dead deer and a dead pheasant with no problems. He walked nice and calm the entire way for me. I was very proud of both of us.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Beginning-Reading-Instruction/ Here is a link for the yahoo group for the I See Sam books. Lots of great help there. I would really encourage you to try the I See Sam readers. They move more slowly that many programs (although the kids can read through the books as fast as they can) and give LOTS and LOTS of practice with each new word/sound before moving on. I understand what you mean. It took my now 13dd WEEKS to learn to read the word *I*---now she could tell you its name but could not "read" it in a sentence (who knows why not). If you email me, I can send you a few samples to take a look at and see if they might work for your dd. THe nice thing as that these are all BOOKS, no worksheets, drills, etc. so the kids feel like they are making progress as they get a new book each day or every few days and can then carry it around to re-read it, read it to a sibling, parent, grandparent, pet, etc.

http://www.prometheantrust.org/soundfoundationsbooks.htm If you scroll down you can see the Apples and Pears books. Click the see inside and you can see the ENTIRE book---workbook and teacher's book. It is a bit hard to see as all of the directions are in the teacher's book while the student books just have place for them to write. The program uses lots of activities that include blending, tracing, filling in the blanks, copying, puzzles, writing sentences, etc. There are no word lists to "memorize" for the week, etc. You just do 1 page or 1 level a day (depending on how fast your student can go) and they keep repeating the words and building from there.

This is EXACTLY what I would say to do. DROP the phonics, etc. for now and just do the ARI set 1 and 2 (sets 3 and 4 with the old numbering) and THEN start spelling with Apples and Pears. You will save yourself and your child a LOT of headaches and struggles.

http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html This is an EASY way to teach reading. NO teaching rules, etc. the kids just put all of the sounds---taught slowly and systematically to work by READING books. Check out the link to the UK site at the link above for even more samples of the program. If you want to see more samples of the first 3 sets of books, email me.

An IQ test might give you more information on exactly what you are dealing with. With LDs, the kids have a normal/high IQ but struggle in one or more areas. With a slow learner, they have a lower IQ but their test scores (while low) are where they would be expected give the IQ.

Personally, I would just start addressing the issue (what ever it is) with a program like http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/index.htm or http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html. This is actually the same program but the UK site has more samples, etc. There is also a yahoo group of reading specialists, tutors, homeschooling parents, etc. from around that world using this program where you can get lots of great free advice. You could buy the entire program (and likely you wouldn't need it all) for about $250 which is way less than 1 evaluation would cost you. I have a degree in special education and I wish I had had this program when I was working with LD students. It has worked well for my girls who have struggled. Make SURE that you look at the links (downloads) at the above sites for the notched card. This is VERY helpful in getting the kids to track left to right as they read (a big issue for kids with LDs). It costs about 5 cents to make.

http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html Check out the I See Sam readers. They have been very effective here. Esp. check out the UK link on the right for even more information and samples of each of the levels of books. The yahoo group is great as well. What level is your dd reading at right now?

It is hard to see these types of test scores. My 13dd would test in the 2nd grade range for reading and lower for math and writing. Did she give you an overall "IQ" score? Were there a lot of differences in the scores or were they all about the same? Any signs of a clear learning disability or just slow learning across the board?

Not all doctors do the test but it can be done. It does take a few days to get back but it isn't a big deal. You do have to draw the blood 12 hours after the last dose and BEFORE the next one. Blood levels of 1-4 are therapeutic--but my dd's need levels of 3.5-4 for best stability.

Have you tried Dexedrine? I know you said you tried all of the other ADD meds but this is an older one so I thought I would ask. It is the only one that my 13dd with bipolar can take. She also takes Tegretol (cousin to Trileptal) and Lamital. Another thought---has your doctor done any blood work for the Trileptal and Lamictal? You can get blood levels done to make sure they are at the optimum level. With the Lamictal my 12dd takes 50mg am and 37.5mg pm while my 13dd (5 pounds LIGHTER and same height as her sister) takes 300mg am and 300mg pm---just to get the same blood levels.

My ideas is that from 16-18 or so, kids should go out with a group and have fun with friends, no real 1:1 "dating" or courting as they are not yet ready for marriage. Once they graduate highschool, they can start considering a more serious 1 on 1 relationship. I am not strongly in the dating camp or the courtship camp but rather protecting their hearts until they are ready for marriage. I do think that family involvement is great--doing things with each others families, avoiding lots of "alone" time--esp. later at night when temptations are greater, etc.

If you weren't so far away from Michigan, my dh would make a road trip for a diesel suburban. He is a mechanic so he can fix things like new engines, etc. We have only seen 2 others in the years we have had ours. We have the 2500 (3/4 ton) and it pulls like a dream.

I have to call around today for insurance quotes. We are starting a barn by next week. We will be moving our horses home in a few weeks--hence the need for more liability. What do I ask? How do you know if they will really pay up if something terrible happens? This is what we have to insure: our home--5 bedroom, 2 bath bilevel--need replacement cost on contents and structure and rental coverage if the house burns and we need a place to live 1999 diesel suburban--need full or limited coverage 1995 gas suburban, limited or PLPD 2000 mini van--plpd 1992 cadillac--plpd 1995 Shasta 27 foot travel trailer 1995 stock horse trailer (not sure we need extra on this) 2006 KTM dirt bike--is street legal so need insurance Then a 40x48 barn with 3 horse stalls and loft liability--likely a 1 million dollar umbrella policy Is it better to split off my vehicles from the house/barn/liability or stick with the same company for all of it? Do you go with a local independent agent or a bigger name (State Farm, Farm Bureau, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, etc)? Give me all of your best ideas here--to save money but make sure we have enough coverage. My dh was a fire fighter and said that several times he ran into families that thought they had enough coverage but found out they didn't.

Dave Ramsey has many books on this--some for the parents to read for themselves and others to use with the kids.

In addition to the ideas above, price things low. I don't want to pay almost as much for something used at a garage sale as I can get it new on clearance. I think 25 or 50 cents for most clothing items (except maybe some very nice name brand stuff). Advertise---newspaper, Craig's list, etc. and specify that you have boys size 6-8 and girls size 2T-4T, etc. as that will draw more customers. Do 1/2 price the last 1-2 hours of your sale if you really want to get rid of things.

First, my own dd really resisted the notched card as well as it forced her to track left to right and it was HARD for her. With consistant use though it has become easier and easier for her. She can now track well without the card in her reading book. The I See Sam books are different from the Bob books in that they give a LOT more practice with each sound/word before adding more. They start with only 5 sounds that make up 3 words and move from there. They don't teach the short a sound and then expect the kids to read all short a words like most programs. If you are intersted in some samples, I can email them to you.

One simple thing that has helped my girls---who both have IgG deficiencies and one also has IgA deficiencies is a good probiotic. I give them Suprema Dophillus EVERY day. I can't say for sure that IT is what has helped them so much but since starting this we have only needed 1 antibiotic (for a bladder infection) vs. the nearly constant antibiotics. I order mine on line but you can find some good ones at a local health food store. I also give them http://www.omegabrite.com but I can't say that helps with the immune stuff but it certainly helps brain/mood stuff here.

I don' know anything about the natural stuff you are considering, but how about having her see a pediatric infectious disease specialist? They would specialize in resistant infections and might know how best to treat this and make sure the strep is GONE.

Check out the notched card to help him. http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusfiles/Download/Notched_Card_Technique_000.pdf This is SUPER simple and cost about 10 cents to make (if that). It forces the kids to track left to right as they read. It is very portable, easy to replace if lost, etc. I used this with my dd who had lots of vision issues. She did 1 course of vision therapy with no real improvement. Now with the card she can read simple chapter books. http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html This is the reading series I am using to teach her to read as well. The stories are cute and they give lots of practice with each new sound. Check out the UK link as that has even more information and examples (the US link is going to be updated soon).