When I used Notgrass US History several years ago, I added the Great Courses dvds. I think it was a great year!

Thanks for all of the ideas! Tomorrow I will look again with fresh eyes - I am hopeful! My husband was pretty grumpy about it but now he is mostly amused....I think because he is pretty sure that I will figure it out. He actually knows where and when I spent the $$ because he keep our CC and debit transactions in Microsoft Money. Based on that, I should be able to remember a lot of what I bought and why, as I have our group calendars for the past few years. I'll update tomorrow!

I need to find an envelope of receipts that I have been keeping. As a board member for our homeschool group, I often buy supplies for events/meeting/co-op stuff and the group reimburses me. Two years ago we had a change in administration (new leader of the group, new treasurer, new practices - I am on the board as well) so I just got in to the habit of holding on to the receipts until everything was reorganized. I just spent about $125. on the Christmas party we had last week and I have all of those receipts. But my husband reminded me that the group owes us about another $200...and I was all No worries, I have the receipts. But I can't find them ANYWHERE! OK - I feel a little better. I mean, they have to be somewhere. I hope. And yes - I should be able to get some if not most of the $$ back if I can recreate/remember what I spent the $$ on. But that's a big if!!! :cursing: :cursing: :cursing:

That method is close to how I do it. I use a pkg of spices and I boil the marinade first. And I use more or less ginger snaps depending on how sour it comes out. Sometimes I add some extra brown sugar. My mil preferred white vinegar to wine vinegar and/or wine so that is what I use. The brand I usually use is Alba but it is hard to find. http://www.germandeli.com/Alba-Sauerbraten-Spices-10g When I am out (I only have one left) next year I plan to try the one from the Spice House - https://www.thespicehouse.com/sauerbraten-blend-of-whole-spices I'm picking up my meat tomorrow...but now it looks like I may not actually make it until the 23rd. My kids need to make up their minds becasue this is not something I can make at the last minute!

The kids leave their shoes by the window on the evening of the 5th and they find them filled with holiday-themed candy, including chocolate coins, and sometimes a small gift. Then we have a special German dinner - usually Sauerbraten, potato dumplings, red cabbage, and Brussels Sprouts, with a German apple cake (we save the lebkuchen for Christmas Eve). But. Since our oldest hit college age, we often reschedule our dinner until all the kids can be home, if possible. This year we are planning for the 9th instead. But the kids still at home won't have to wait for their shoes to be filled - St. Nicholas is still coming tonight!

About a Boy Bridget Jones' Diary

Sanaa in the AK has delicious food and the animals were amazing! But I don't know how much you will see at night - we saw a lot of animals at lunch. You can get a pretty good view of the MK fireworks from the beach at the Poly. 'Ohana and the Kona Cafe are both good restaurants. Disney Springs is bigger than the Boardwalk so I might choose it over the BW.The BW is really nice but we all - including our adult daughters - prefer DS. There's always live music out and about. If he's an Indiana Jones fan, he might really like the newish bar in Disney Springs, Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar. We went with two teens and three adults - they served our teens sodas and it was not a problem. Port Orleans is nice and the boat ride to DS is fun. But the new food court in the French Quarter is kind of boring now. I don't know if the beignets are awesome enough on their own to make the trip worth it. We haven't been to Universal HP yet...the cost of adding a few days there after a trip to DW, is just sooo high. Maybe next time. Hope you have a wonderful time!

My third daughter was something like this. She wants to be a fashion designer and did very well in weekend classes at FIT so I thought she might actually manage to get in there and that her dream wasn't too far-fetched. In the spring of 2016 she was close to finishing the bare bones high school plan we had agreed on (just fulfilling NY requirements) and then she refused to finish the last two classes, which were also the most difficult for her. She struggled so in math that I was sure she had some kind of disability but she refused to get tested. She has some physical/mental/emotional issues that make everything more difficult for both of us. So I told her that she could either finish, ask for help and finish, or plan to get her HSE - NY has the TASC, which is harder than the GED. She did nothing so when summer came I told her that her window to "graduate" from our homeschool had closed. I had asked the school district office but they would not give us an extension. So the TASC became the plan. I did help her with registering for a class because NY is very reluctant to allow 17-18yos to take it and prefer to put them in some extended credit recovery program. But since she had no credits for them to accept, I ended up getting her into a TASC prep program at our local CC. She spent 12 weeks there in the fall and took the TASC in December. She got her results in January but it was too late to apply to FIT then. She spent most of the spring depressed and sullen but she said that she would apply to the CC. And when summer came she started showing signs of life. She applied to the CC.....she dragged her heels on all of the application stuff but I held my tongue and did my part calmly. She got in and registered for 2 classes - English and Statistics - after figuring out what would transfer to FIT. She's doing excellent work in English and is actually working hard at Statistics - she got an 89 on her midterm!! She got a letter from her Dr (with my help - she's getting better at asking for help without too much nastiness/drama) after speaking to Student Services and now she receives some accommodations in class/on tests. AND!! On her own, she got a volunteer job after asking my oldest for advice and help. She got an unpaid internship position at a fashion company with the help of a friend. Between these and her classes, she is out 4-5 days a week and spends way less time moping. She applied to FIT for next fall (2018) and asked for my help in, for her, a very calm and mature way. She is aware that she may not get in and she has mentioned a few things that she may do instead. She registered for classes for the Spring and chose English 2, Art Studio, and Philosophy. She's planning to find a paying job in January when her internship is done. Basically, on the outside she is a fairly productive 19yo who is taking some classes while figuring out what she will do next. At home she is still difficult but so much better since she has taken control of her future. IOW - be hopeful! Her future is much brighter than it seemed a few years ago.

In most arguments we're really dealing with control and trust. If it's not those, it's usually a Love Language issue - one of us is feeling unloved and/or unappreciated. Since I figured this out several years ago, we fight way less.

Could you give an example of the type of book you are reading to him? I'm assuming it's fiction. Also. Does he have the same issue when he reads on his own?

Our children are 26, 24, 19, and 17 so we've been through this for a while now. We had/have a goal of "No Dating (as in developing an adult relationship) until you've graduated from High School" and we all talked about what that meant. We wanted a basic maturity and we mad it clear that it was a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. If they met someone in high school they could be friends but we would be keeping an eye on them - no alone time in the bedroom, group outings, we would need to meet them and have them spend a little time with the family, etc. We were not going to do any type of courtship "rules", though. This was actually way more liberal than most of their friends' parents' rules and my children never thought of it as harsh. Most of their friends ended up having secret relationships, lying to their parents, pushing boundaries as hard as possible, lots of drama and my girls - and son - were pretty critical of their friends' behavior. Yes, they thought the parents were being too strict, but they also thought the boys/girls their friends were interested in were basically dopes and totally not worth it. We had/have good relationships and they told me about their crushes, etc. Our second daughter, at 17/sr yr of HS, really liked a boy that we knew from another homeschool group. She was friendly with his sisters and, if he had "asked her out" we would have gradually given her more and more freedom as she was almost ready for college. As it turned out, the summer after she graduated, she asked him out and they dated for 2 years. We were fairly hands off during the college years. They lived at home so we were still very close and knew about their dates and relationships. Our oldest met her husband when she was 20 and our second dated a bit after she broke up with the first boyfriend (becasue the relationship just wasn't going anywhere and she actually regretted that they dated so young) and then started seeing her current boyfriend when she was 22. Our 19yo knows she is free to date but has no interest...and our 17yo son hasn't shown any interest either. It's kind of nice to have a drama-free home for now!

I...can't really discuss this coherently. Yet. But thank you so very much for posting it! Really. Thank you.

We love myhomeschoolmathclass.org, Jann in TXs math. Math has become my son's favorite class! Clover Creek Physics was just amazing! Memoria Press has a Senior Thesis class. My son is struggling because he hates to write so he is a terrible procrastinator but he really likes the teacher - Kevin Dray - and it has been an excellent experience so far. Bravewriter classes have also been great experiences...but I can't afford too many.

We've also been very happy with myhomeschoolmathclass, Jann in TXs math.

We decorate our living room pretty simply but it is over the whole room. I have fabric and decorative bowls/frames/etc on all the surfaces during the year and I remove it all and use Christmas themed stuff instead. So it's just a matter of swapping out the stuff. We have a small table on each side of the couch. I have Christmas themed table toppers (white with embroidery) and dark green tablecloths. We put candles and other themed stuff - it used to be small tree shaped things, lately it is a Christmas themed mickey and minnie set, in a few years it will be something else! - on the tables next to the lamps. We also put some of those those fake candles on the windowsills. We have three bookcases over three cabinets. The top of the bookcases gets an fake-evergreen-type swag with white lights across the edge. Behind that we put toy soldier figurines. The center cabinet has a TV but the other two each get a themed placemat and a nativity. We have a sideboard and that's where we put our 3-ft tree with a tree skirt and a small Christmas village around it. We also have a tall stereo Cabinet and we put the Advent wreath/candles and extra candles there. The cabinets and sideboard have knobs on the doors so we hang stockings from each one. Since we live in an apt we have no dining room so we have a table at the end of our living room. We put another evergreen swag with lights around the light fixture. And we put a Chrsitmas themed runner on the table and move it when we eat. And since we keep a white board for school on the far wall next to the table, we hang tiny Christmas stockings from the corners to make that festive too. Basically, there is a not too big Christmas themed thing over a red/green/holiday themed cloth on every surface. We think it looks cozy and festive but not overwhelming. A big tree would be overwhelming!

My daughters have been able to live with roommates for a lot less than 100K. My 24yo has 2 roommates, lives in Ridgewood in Queens, and makes $49K. No student loans to pay back, though. Feeling down and isolated though...I hope that he is able to work things out! It's not hard to find a friendly therapist here as long as he has insurance. Plenty of churches and hobby-based clubs here as well! My oldest, who is married now and lives in Jersey but works in Manhattan, has anxiety and some OCD issues. She sees a great therapist in Brooklyn. And both she and my 2nd daughter swear by joining the Y - cheaper than fancy gyms and they especially love the yoga classes for stress relief. ETA: They rent a 3 bedroom so they each have their own room. Nice sized apt!

Because cost was the primary issue, we encouraged our children to live at home through college. There are many colleges in commuting distance here so they had a choice of several schools. Our older daughters were on board with this and very pleased to graduate without any debt. Right now, our 19yo is going to the CC and living at home and our 17yo is only looking at colleges in the area. It's not that we wouldn't allow them to go away...but they have all felt that there was plenty here to choose from.

Wow - I was thinking it was just a local problem! I am off to read the linked articles...

I really like Rosemaryandthyme's plan! (I'm a native NYer - still live in Brooklyn)

I thought it was just a goofy show but we were really struck by the Las Vegas story. We had a son who died of cancer a long time ago (2000 - he was 5) and it all started when I noticed something was not right with the baby and brought him in to the dr. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if my husband had not been there that day. And my husband thinks he would have felt just like that Dad and handled it in the same way...Sorry to be a downer. Back on topic - The show was better than I expected and we'll probably start watching it now!

My husband and I have never seen Speechless but we're watching it now - it's funny. It's wonderful how her career is already taking of!!!

I should have said "the idea of Murtagh replacing Duncan" as someones upthread said that they read/saw/something to this effect and I was responding to that. I am hoping that they don't do it...but iirc they referred to the old guy who told Jamie about the gold as Duncan, didn't they? Or maybe I misheard... And I hope they don't leave out that storyline! Jamie lying to Claire right off is a big thing.

While I love Murtagh, I am not too pleased with him replacing Duncan Innes. Duncan is a weak man and his behavior and choices reflect that. I can't see Murtagh thinking himself not good enough for Aunt Jocasta and then getting involved with Phaedre. I'm enjoying this season and I think they've done a great job with putting off Claire and Jamie's reunion and showing what they've been doing. We've seen how Jamie has suffered, especially with William- that made me cry, even though I knew it was coming! And the actor playing Lord John is doing a great job. I can't wait till Claire meets him!!!

Lots of different answers - that's encouraging! I will probably start a thread about my specific situation and see if I can start thinking in a positive way instead of mentally floundering!

Fromn what you've said, they seem to be not-big-eaters and just expect their children to be the same way. And it's possible that some of their kids complaining is just that - complaining. My kids often wanted treats or to eat out, nothing to do with hunger, becasue ice cream and Applebees are fun!!! I was able to tune them out because I knew what they had just eaten/had snacks/had a budget issue/had a plan. I was generally up front with them - no, we have granola bars and apples. No, we're having pizza with Daddy later. No, the ice cream man is too $$$, we have ice cream at home. Oh - let me see if your friends can have ice cream. IF they can, so can you. Oh, we're running late, I only have $5., lets see what we can get and share till we get home. Oh wow - I planned a treat for you and all of your friends - here you go! Being responsive but firm cut down on the asking and generally led to better attitudes. The fact that your friends are always just "no" does sound odd to me! The child who doesn't eat breakfast before they go? They may figure that he is just suffering from the consequences of pickiness and are trying to train him to eat at mealtimes. Hard but not necessarily bad parenting. The child who is an athlete/growing? Sounds truly hungry. And that's the one I would bring up. Growth spurts might be a good way to start. Or something your pediatrician told you about nutrition as kids get older/bigger. Or ask if the child's coach had said anything about increased hunger. Not a general criticism like You need to feed your kids more. kwim? Like someone uopthred said, if you are close enough to spend so much time together, you should be close enough to bring this up!