In our area, zoning is a minimum of 2 1/2 acres for 2 horses but zoning can vary. A great deal depends on your local weather. Here, we have to feed hay only from Oct/Nov. until March/April and also some hay in the summer. If you live in a warmer climate and can manage your pastures very well you might not have to feed as much hay. I would say GO FOR IT--learn to ride as an adult. I rode about 3 times as a child but always LOVED horses. My girls started taking lessons with a family from church which lead to them getting a pony which lead to me getting a horse a few months later. I LOVE it. I am taking lessons 1-2 times a week and learning so much.

OK, so we should have just opened up the gate and gone horseback riding instead:glare: Now it is too late to go riding as 20ds has a date and I have to drive and chaperone (he and his girlfriend are developmentally delayed).

Dh and the girls were building nesting boxes, roosts, etc. for the chickens. Well, someone left the gate open and now the chickens are roaming the yard--ours and the neighbors. They kids caught 7 of the 11. Will the rest come into the fence later at night so we can put them back? Right now they have a coop with a small (10x5) totally protected run--chicken wire top, etc. During the day though they are free range in a 30x40 run or even in our big fenced in back yard. We just don't want to spend hours chasing these critters through the woods if they will just come back on their own.

I would ask for the TSH number. Some labs/doctors still use the old standards of 0.5-5.0 for normal. The new ranges are 0.3-3.0 (with under 2 being best). If you have thyroid symptoms, then I would consult with the doctor about the new standards.

Set up a back up person ahead of time. Get ready to get in the car. If he pitches a fit, calmly remove him from the car, hand him to a waiting safe adult and wave, smile, and tell him you will see him later. Drive away and make sure you do something fun with the other kids, etc. I had to do this ONCE with a foster child that was never made to buckle up before he came to me. He was 4. He tried the pitching a fit thing and I calmly removed him from the car, set him on the steps and called my dh up from the basement. I said, " B doesn't want to get buckled so he can't go to the birthday party with us. I will see you later". B buckled right up after that.

My kids are all on the other end of the spectrum--ADHD/bipolar but lower functioning. On the med question, are you asking about meds for bipolar or ADHD or both? I think this is something to discuss with a pediatric psychiatrist. Meds have made a HUGE difference here but you need to make sure the mood is well controlled before you add in meds for ADHD. Is she on any meds now? If the math is the only thing holding her back have you tried using a calculator? She needs to know fractions well for algebra but calculators can be very helpful for other aspects of math.

Well, if she is ABLE but just not willing, I would NOT let her go to the neighbors at all. If she is not big enough to use the toilet, she is NOT big enough to go anywhere without mom or dad. I would encourage you to get a potty chair and even put it in the kitchen, etc. so she has easy access. Maybe a sundress with no panties either. Does she go when you ask but doesn't stay dry? Are you sure she can stay dry? My girls both have spastic bladders and my older one was go everytime I took her but she could NOT stay dry. Her bladder would empty before it was full enough to give her the signal she had to go. We saw a urologist and within 3 days of starting meds for this, she was dry day and almost every night. My youngest dd NEVER went on the toilet--not even ONCE until she was 4 1/2. We started the meds and she was dry day and night. If you are sure this is not a medical issue and you must train her, then I would say that she needs to stay in the same room with you and set a timer for every hour or so.

The Sculpey clay is great and does NOT harden unless you bake it. It is easier to work with than most clays as well. You can buy it at a lot of the craft/hobby stores. Just get it with a 40-50% off coupon and look for the big packs.

Basic tools that you will need when you are a home owner. How about cleaning supplies? Batteries (our local store has HUGE packs very cheap--and my kids love batteries in their stockings). You can also find winter gloves that are quite nice, packing materials for your upcoming move, CD players, MP3 players, etc.---stuff you wouldn't think they would have but they do. If you don't already have them, carbon monoxide dectors and/or more smoke/fire detectors are always good. Oh, our local ones even have booster seats if you have kids that need those.

If you are sure that the work is appropriate for their ages/learning levels then I would try: Make sure they had a good breakfast with protein Give breaks for physical activity If that doens't work and the whining continues then you give them the option of NO school--either for a set time like 15 minutes up to the whole day..............BUT the kicker is, if they do not get an education now, the jobs they will have when they are older will be physical labor jobs, and they must practice for those jobs. So basically, if they are not going to do their school work, they must WORK---sweeping/mopping, cutting grass, weeding, moving wood piles, cleaning bathrooms, etc.

I am wanting some brownies or bars but don't have a brownie mix (or the stuff to make the real thing) but I do have 9 cake mixes in the house. Anyone have a recipe which uses a cake mix to make a brownie/bar type thing---thinking something we can just eat with our fingers, etc--no cupcakes.

Any updates?

I would see an orthopedist. Toe walking might not be a big deal if it is just a habit or stage but you said that she is telling you it HURTS to walk normally. That and the crying about the exercises would make me want to get her evaluated to make sure she actually CAN walk normally and doesn't have the short tendons like one poster mentioned. If they say it is not physical, then keep after her, if it is a problem, then you can deal with it earlier rather than later.

I would keep checking on the status of the public school offerings. At least in Michigan, they have to provide it. Another option is your health insurance company. They may or may not pay--now if he has a cleft palate, hearing impairment, etc. they are more apt to pay. You might be able to link up with a therapist that is now retired or homeschooling, etc. that could provide services a bit cheaper. Another option is to get private therapy but only go 1-2 times a month and then have an "at home" therapy program that you do with him. Yet another option, visit Remudamom a lot and have him ride her horses, that will cover a lot of therapy and is FUN FUN FUN.

Do you have a good idea of what he CAN do? I know that IQ tests, etc. aren't all they are cracked up to be, but for us, it gives me sort of a guideline. We switched to ACE paces for much of our work as it is directed to the student and is self paced and mostly self teaching. The work is done in smaller amounts but the child must do the work. I was surprised, but it has gone VERY VERY well here. We still use the I See Sam books for reading for 12dd and Apples and Pears Spelling for 11dd. I would also balance this though with stuff he CAN do and is GOOD at---esp. physical labor type things. All kids need to do something they are good at. My girls have their horse (and the horse chores to go with it), while other kids have sports, scouts, volunteer work, work with dad, etc.

We tried Saxon and it does use some letter tiles, etc. It just moved to fast for my kids. http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/index.htm This is the program we use. It teaches all reading using BOOKS--no drills, word lists, etc. It is a carefully sequenced set of books---actually 8 sets with 8-26 books per set. The first website explains it very well but you can buy it from the states at http://www.iseesam.com or http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html

Welcome again (I posted on the Special needs board too). I would say that you need to go to HER house and get your guys, esp. Logan on those horses. You asked what is good for kids with special needs and horses are at the top of my list. My special needs girls share a 30 year old 16hh quarter horse gelding that was a therapeutic riding horse and is now their own therapy horse. Riding is wonderful for motor skills, language, etc. and FUN.

Welcome. I don't have any children with DS but have worked with many kids with DS. My 20ds and 12dd both function at levels similar to many children with DS as well.

http://www.soundfoundationsbooks.co.uk/ Has a GREAT spelling program--Apples & Pears. It would go well with OG and work on her spelling and writing. The Dancing Bears program for reading is very good as well. My FAVORITE reading program is the I See Sam/Little Books. You can buy them at http://www.iseesam.com or http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html This site from the UK has a lot of great informatio on the books as well http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/index.htm

I was going to guess proud flesh. As to what to do about it, I don't have a clue but glad our local vet checked in.

Thrift stores require a bit of digging but they can be gold minds. When my 12dd was a baby I found a crib tent NEW, in the box for $1 at Salvation Army. The price tag on it was $99.99. Our local thrift store as almost all clothing for $1 with 1/2 price sales on 1 type each month. This month it is shorts and swimsuits that are 1/2 off. I picked up several brand new looking Speedo swimsuits for the girls to wear next year. For nice, dressier clothes, I will go to Goodwill and pay $4.99 or so for an item but for our barn clothes we still with Love, Inc. and their 50 cent -$1 stuff.

ALL you need for the program are the books and a 3x5 card with a notch cut into it. You can print out letter/word tiles from files on the yahoo group. I would ask on the group where to buy the books if you want the ones with the comprehension questions in them. One place has the questions in the books, the other place doesn't--and I can't remember which is which. I hope you enjoy the program. The group is wonderful for helping you get over any bumps along the way.

Glad to hear that you are all seeing big improvements. Does the Vyvance come in a lower dose at all? Could you give it any earlier in the day? I know some moms wake their kids up at say 6am, give them the meds, and let them sleep another 1-2 hours. Then again with some kids, they would NOT go back to sleep. I do like the melatonin. I would though suggest starting with a lower dose and go up from there. Most kids do well with it but some have bad dreams and other side effects, esp. if the dose is too high.

Personally, I would rather the doctor try one thing at a time. If the melatonin is new as well, he is doing 3 things at once--very hard to tell what is helping, what might be causing side effects, etc. I would ask him about doing just the morning med and holding the afternoon Adderal for 1-2 weeks and see how she is doing. Then if she needs more you could try the Adderal or something else shorter acting or if sleep is more of an issue, add the melatonin. I use the melatonin for 12dd every night--3mg before bed. The reason I mentioned waiting on the melatonin in my first post is that I don't like giving a med/supplement to counteract a side effect if there are other options (don't like the idea of adding med upon med upon med if the 1st one could be changed/altered to have less side effects) and our doctor is VERY big on doing ONE med/supplement change at a time if at all possible. I am glad to hear she is doing so well though during the day. Changes like this in my own kids made me a BIG believer in medication for ADD/ADHD when needed.

http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html Check out these little books for teaching reading. They are wonderful and very motivating to younger learners. If you go to the Learning Challenges board you can see lots of posts on these I See Sam books.