My dh works on the 4th pretty much every year. When the kids were younger I took them to the parade, but about 3 years ago we decided to go to a movie instead. We loved it and it has become our new 4th of July tradition. We are going to see Ice Age 3 this year. :) We also go to a nearby parking lot to watch the fireworks because it is such a hassle to try and get to the football field where they shoot them from. The parking lot is on the corner of our block and we invite some friends and hang out for the evening. We have been doing this since we moved here 7 years ago. Nothing major, but it is something to look forward to. :)

I appreciate the suggestions and she is involved in swim team through the Y, jiu-jitsu classes, dance, etc. She talks with kids at these activities, but it doesn't extend beyond that. We also don't fit well with local hs'ers so that avenue hasn't been good for us. I am not worried about her lack of close friendships so much as she is just looking for some others to talk about crafting and books and such with. The few friends she does stuff with are not interested in these things (one is our neighbor and she is more into boys, clothes, etc. and her other good friend is a boy and is not into crafting and such). I want to help support her and her interests and having someone to chat with about those interests and whatever else comes up I think would be a good thing for her. She and her brother are good friends, but again their interests diverge in places and we have no other family close by (they are all in other states). I do appreciate the reply and suggestions though, thanks. :)

I know what you mean about the extra work. In my case this would never work because I would fall behind on having the work ready to go in the drawers or boxes or whatever is being used. My dc might like it, but I would have to do some major tweakingto make it work for me and then it wouldn't be "workboxes" anymore. :) I do think it could be a great system for some, but I know myself and I know that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it.

Thanks for the ideas. Our community ed. classes are funny because they either offer classes for adults or for kids up to 5th-6th grade, so my dd is either too old or too young to participate. There is a real gap there for kids of a certain age range. Very frustrating! We don't attend church so that is not an option. I may have to look into 4-H and see what I can come up with there. We don't live in a large community so we do have limits on what is available. I appreciate the ideas!

I know I have seen posts regarding dc not having many friends locally. My dd is in the same boat. She is 12 (13 in a couple months) and is lacking in the friend department. She is crafty and has been looking for some on-line contacts, but hasn't had much luck (yahoo groups, craft sites, etc.). She would like to find a message board/group for teens (especially those interested in crafts/sewing/etc.) Does anyone know of a good group for teens? I have found a few over the years, but they tend to be (how do I say this) silly? I can't think of a better way to describe what they were like, but I know my dd would not care for them. Is there a social group here for teens? If not, does anyone know if one could be started? Or, does anyone have a dc who is interested in a penpal/email pal? I would really like to see my dd blossom a little more and I think if she had someone to share her interests with it would help. Thanks! :)

My ds and dh use these for jiu-jitsu and we have found them at Kohl's. I check their clearance racks to get them at a good price. These are the type for exercise, not specifically for swimming.

Thanks everyone! :D The fabric is really what I want. I was just having a hard time convincing myself. Oh, yes, the $100 is plenty to make a couple tree skirts, so the idea to make an extra and selling it is something to think about. Our cruise is not nearly as awesome as a Disney cruise! :D My extended family on my mom's side takes a cruise every other year. We will be going on the new Carnival Dream ship and taking a Western Caribbean cruise. It is adults only (for our family, not the ship itself) and I think there are 9 couples going. It should be fun and dh and I have never had a trip like this by ourselves so it will be good for us. Anyway, thanks for the confirmation for I knew deep down I really wanted. :)

My mom gives me $100 for my birthday (coming up in a few weeks) and I don't know what I want. I thought about using it toward a Kindle, but then I still have to fork over $250 or so to make up the difference. I have the money, but there are other things that money could go towards. I thought about using it towards and excursion on our cruise trip in Jan. I don't know it just seems kind of blah to do this, but it would save me $100. I work pt in a quilt shop and am surrounded by wonderful fabric that I get a discount on, but we don't have this awesome fabric that I found online. It is a Christmas line and I have been wanting to make a tree skirt for a while now. This fabric is me to a tee! It is retro with non-traditional Christmas colors (the colors are described as candy green, bubblegum pink, honeydew, chocolate, white, red, kiwi, etc.). I love this fabric, but it seems kind of silly to buy this when I have perfectly good fabric choices at work where I have store credit and receive a discount. I could also use it to buy clothes, but that is a blah option to me also. I have no idea what to ask for, so my frivolous post is asking for suggestions. I like to go with things that I wouldn't normally get for myself. I don't like to be overly practical with birthday money because I think it should be a treat. Anyway, if you are so inclined as to offer suggestions I am :bigear:. Thanks!

I would give her the benefit of the doubt on this one. Maybe the email got lost in cyberspace or maybe it ended up in her spam box. Maybe she was busy and didn't respond promptly and it has slipped her mind. There are many possibilities here for why she hasn't responded. I would send a follow up email. If she fails to respond to that, then I would let it go. JMHO

No, you are not alone. We have dealt with this same issue over the years. I do think part of it is the personalities of my dc. My ds is a classic introvert and not very outgoing. He is happiest staying home and doing things by himself. He knows and talks to (a little anyway) the kids in the activities he is in, but that is as far as it goes. My dd is not so much of an introvert, but is in the same situation. We tried when we were involved in groups, but nothing ever really clicked. The few times it did something changed over the course of time and those relationships have fizzled. Anyway, I am tired of trying so I don't anymore. I think my dc will be fine and as they grow older they will develop friendships through work, college, etc. Even so, it is still not easy. :grouphug:

My suggestion may not be what you are looking for, but I will throw it out there anyway. The Lotte Berk Method videos are about 30 minutes and focus on strengthening and lengthening the muscles. I don't know if you are doing any type of toning, but if you are looking for that then these videos would be great. Just throwing out another option. :)

I don't find any sort of face-plant videos funny, but this is mainly because of an experience with my mom falling down stairs (it's also because I am not a fan of seeing people get hurt). She took a major face-plant on the concrete at the bottom of a flight of stairs and I thought she was dead when I found her (she was unconscious). Not a fun experience. I just don't like seeing that type of accident because it reminds me of this experience and I don't like remembering it.

I want to chime in because this thread is a nice boost. This is our 10th year of hs'ing and over the years I have had my doubts about how good of a job I am doing. Then I really pay attention and notice the things that are good. Today my ds and I had a great conversation about The Outsiders. He read this book in a few hours and really liked it. He is normally a quiet guy, but he had a lot to say about this book and we had a wonderful discussion about a number of things. We put the movie in our Netflix and look forward to watching that and comparing the two. My dc were also pleased with themselves this week while watching Jeopardy as they were able to answer a few questions that none of the contestants knew. :) The other thing I love is that my dc continue to want to hs. They have no interest in attending public/private school and though hs'ing is not always easy I am glad that we all want to be on this journey together. I am really loving where my dc are in their lives and in their education. We are having a great time!

I just wanted to jump in on the delivery confirmation part of this thread. I recently sold and mailed 4 packages. Three of them I purchased dc at the po so they had the sticker and 1 the dc was purchased through paypal. All 4 of these packages I tracked and there was information on all of them during transit not just after delivery. I am only posting this because it seems like there are varied experiences with dc. I just wanted to share that my experience has been different than some others that have been posted. ETA: In case someone didn't know, after you put in the tracking # and the info. comes up there is a button that says additional information. If you click on that you should see more details about the package. This is where I found in transit info. about the packages I sent.

Yes, no, maybe, sort of. How is that for a non-answer? :) I have given up labels quite a while ago because I find that we don't fit completely in any one box and if I were to go by the boxes we do fit in it would be a pretty crazy label. :) Anyway, in some ways I would consider parts of our learning "unschooling". I do require reading/literature, math, and writing. I also require history, science, foreign language and electives. This second group is where I think the unschooling comes into play for us. I am not big on memorizing a bunch of facts about something. I am interested in exploring and discovering for its own sake. With this in mind we do notebooks. My dc have some basic notebooks (history, science, literature, misc.) and some individualized notebooks (art, game design, etc.). I don't assign certain books or lessons in these areas. We talk about what their interests are and we find resources (books, videos, on-line resources, etc.) that support those interests. My dc then use their notebooks to keep record of their interactions with the subject in question. My goal in all this is for them to have some real interaction with their learning. I want them to really think and contemplate and learn to make connections. I want them to express their opinions and responses to the things they come in contact with. The notebooks give them a medium to do this. I know this approach is very non-traditional for these subject areas, but I really feel that my dc are getting more out of their education than if we were using textbooks or guided lessons or what have you. I also keep a notebook so they see me modeling life-long learning. It helps to see that ones education is not limited to a certain period of time or prescribed number of years. I don't know if this is really in the realm of unschooling, but if I had to fit it somewhere that is where it makes sense to me.

My dh is dealing with this. Our neighbor across the street is a friend of his on Facebook and he does these quizzes all the time. My dh did one and put in his # and now we are dealing with $14.99 a month charges from some Play Phone company (yeah, you would think he would be smarter than that, ugh). I am trying to get it cancelled and the charges refunded, but we will see what happens. Very frustrating! :glare:

Yes, you can. I have noticed that my sauce seems thicker with evaporated milk so I thin it with some water to get the right consistency.

My soon to be 15yo is working on video game designing. I purchased some books to help him get his feet wet. I thought it would be good for him to get some exposure now to see if this is really something he may want to pursue as a career. My 12yo dd wants to work with children in some way (teacher, daycare, etc.) or own a flower shop. We will see. :)

I'll second Vocabulary Vine. This is what we use and I love it! My dc remember and apply the roots with new words they come across. For example, today we were talking about poetry and iambic pentameter. It wasn't that they had never heard the word pentameter, but because they knew the roots and their meanings they easily understood the concept without me having to explain it. This is just one example. They have applied what they have learned through this program so much more than when we used books that focused on "words to know". Those types of books to me are busy work, Vocabulary Vine is not. JMHO :)

From what you have said about the situation I don't think she meant anything she said in a disrespectful way. It seems that she may be unsure of the family dynamics and maybe is a little scared. If you have always been home or with your dc then this would be a big change for her. You know the only thing she has to compare a "good mommy" to is what you were like for years (staying home, being with the kids, etc) since that is what she knows to her that would be a "good mommy", kwim. Maybe it is her way of saying she misses you and wants things to be the way they were before. I don't know if you can give her the perspective to understand the situation from your point of view. Like you said she isn't an adult or a mother and somethings just won't make complete sense until she is. I think you handled it well so far. Reopen the conversation and allow her to talk (without being disrespectful) and see where it leads. I don't know that I would have a bunch of stuff prepared to say. She is young and because of recent changes she may just need/want to be reassured that everything is okay. :grouphug:

Have you looked at the "short" length in the misses/ladies section? My dd is the same way as yours and I am hoping that it is in preparation for a growth spurt. :) Anyway, we have to buy her pants in the misses/ladies section and I try to get the "short" or "petite" length so her pants are not dragging on the ground. They are not always easy to find (some stores have a better selection than others), but this would probably be your best bet.

I haven't seen studies and I don't care to. One can find pretty much any study to support their opinion, so where does that really get us? Honestly, I think this issue is not as big a deal as many people think. Yes, there are some cases where excessive gaming contributes to relationship issues, but I think these are not the norm. Anyway, I think there certainly are worse things people could be doing. I would take gaming over quite a number of things anyday.

This isn't exactly what is happening though. They are not raising the regular price of an item to compensate for some other promotion. Most items at Kohl's are "on sale" all the time. Very few items are sold at the regular ticketed price. It is the sale price that will fluctuate. One day you may go into Kohl's and an item is 15% off and the next time you go it may be 30% off. It is then possible to go again and see that item back to 15% off. Sometimes this will coincide with other promotions that are going on and sometimes it won't, but the retail price does not change. I don't know all the particulars about the pricing schedule and I am not saying that price changes are right or wrong. I am just saying that I don't think Kohl's is the only one doing this and I don't think it is as bad as the op made it sound. JMHO

I work at Kohl's doing ad set and although I have noticed the price changes I don't think it is as bad as you are making it sound. Yes, the price of items fluctuate and sometimes they go up when there is some other promotion, but it is not as if every item in the store will go up 15% to compensate for a 15% off promotion. There are also many items that go down in price even when there is some other promotion going on. I think there are multiple factors that go into the pricing of items. I do think it is good to be aware of prices/pricing no matter where you shop. I still shop at Kohl's, but I watch the prices on things we may want to buy and when they are at a good price I will buy it. Anyway, you do what you feel is right, but I don't think it will be any different at another store. JMHO

We school year round and take breaks as needed. We usually end up with one month off in the summer to accomodate camps and a trip to IL to visit family. We usually also have a lighter December as I like to slow down and enjoy the holidays.