Yes. Our DD was adopted at 13. It is an interesting dynamic - she far surpasses her peers in life experience, but lags significantly behind emotionally. She does have special needs, but is very cognizant that she isn't doing what her typical peers are doing. She is relaxed and enjoys playing with kids who are Tweens, but wants to fit in with seniors in high school. We have to remind ourselves that in many ways she is emotionally about 12 even though she wants to be 20 and has seen things that most 50 year old haven't seen. It can be extremely difficult to navigate.

DD is graduating next week, and we are having a little Open House a week from today for her. Today is all about Open House prep. DH is all about affordable, so I am doing a lot of DIY decorations. Spray paint vases Spray paint trays Collect ribbons, projects, etc. to display Finish slideshow Make graduation cap water bottle tops (this is going to be interesting...) Clean the house Put in a Walmart order/Meal plan (Remember to order ketchup!) Wash outdoor furniture cushions/rug Hope you all have a great Saturday!

I am looking ahead for next year when my son will need a Government/Economics class. He is interested in government/politics/public service as a possible career, so I'd really like to give him a solid course. Two questions... 1. Recommendations for good Government curriculum? Some of what I've seen online seems either light or very Christian perspective (which I am not totally opposed to, but feel kind of "meh" about...). We've used Notgrass for World History and Oak Meadow this year for U.S. History. Notgrass was not a favorite. I have enjoyed putting together his US History course with the help from Oak Meadow, but it doesn't seem like they offer that for Government. 2. Would you do a full year of Government or a semester of Gov and a semester of Econ (which is what is required for us)? TIA.

For punctuation I had my kids watch and learn Victor Borge's "phonetic punctuation" routine. We still use the sounds...and were delighted to find they come in handy with math as well!

My DS has tried a lot of the OTC soaps/meds. Basketball season and the extra sweat is really hard on his skin. The one line we've found that works best to keep his skin clear is from Limelight. It's their Dream Balm collection - cleanser, mask, and moisturizer. We go through a lot of the cleanser during basketball season, but otherwise the stuff seems to last pretty well. Clears up the acne and also makes his skin just look better overall.

I had to get a baseline done in my late 30s because of family history as well. I DREAD them. But the actual procedure really isn't bad at all, and you can be in and out in just a few minutes. The waiting does stink, BUT each time I get that "all clear" I feel like I can push that nagging fear back a little bit for a year. (Of course, I still do my own monthly checks.). The few days of stress waiting for results buys me months of peace of mind. I like the idea of finding a walk in place! Walk in while you are feeling up to it and avoid the days of dread leading up to an appointment!

Mountain cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. Glacier National Park is supposed to be incredible! DH will be married 20 years next spring and I have to say the Iceland idea sounds appealing...

So very sorry for your loss. So glad she was surrounded by her family. Thinking of you.

I don't know as far as ASD, but my visually impaired niece was not able to get her guide dog until she was 15 and even then it was a very rigorous interview process to determine if she was mature enough to get a VI service dog. The organization she received her dog/training through is one of the only ones in the enire US that would place a guide dog with a teen. Different organizations have different requirements, and the requirements of age/maturity may be very different for a VI dog vs another support dog. But my sister doesn't know of any programs in the US who would have a VI service dog with a child in elementary school. I'd be happy to connect you up with my sister if that would be helpful. She is a parent and has had to do advocating and "training" at the schools my niece attends to help everyone understand needs/boundaries/etc. PM me if that would help!

Mine gets between 8-9 average.

My oldest DS waited and did Algebra 1 in 9th grade. He is not super "mathy", and he needed 8th grade to reinforce concepts he would need for Algebra 1. He ended up doing GREAT in Algebra 1 in 9th grade, which was a HUGE confidence boost for him that even carried over this year into Geometry. Second DS really loves math and does well, so we are going to try Algebra 1 next year for 8th grade. If it becomes frustrating or turns out to be more than he is ready for, we will repeat it in 9th grade.

LOVE it! I've seen it twice and will try to see it again on the big screen before it comes out on DVD. I took my 13 year old son (who is not that into musicals) and he really enjoyed it! He wrote a brief review for school. I bought the soundtrack and he and I can belt out some wicked "The Greatest Show" and "This Is Me". I don't mean to brag, but I am certain Broadway will come calling one of these days. :coolgleamA:

FAS is almost certainly higher than reported. It looks a lot like autism, ADHD, anxiety in some cases so I think often it is misdiagnosed. It also involves self-reporting by the bio mother, and drinking during pregnancy is often under-reported. Many medical practitioners don't study much about FAS/FAE in medical school, and what they have been told often is about specific facial features for diagnosis. A majority of people with FAS/FAE don't actually have the facial features that have been a large part of being diagnosed. We live with FAS/FAE in our family. It is very difficult.

My niece is 16 and visually impaired with a (very) trained guide dog. The dog spent 2 1/2 years in training beginning at 6 weeks of age. My niece had to meet with a psychologist, go through an intense interview process, and spend a month away from home and family at 14 to be trained herself with her guide dog. He has changed her life. My sister has some serious issue with the blossoming "emotional support animal" trend. People who are bringing their dogs in public don't usually have the same boundaries with their dogs - they often encourage people to interact with their sweet pooches, which leads to confusion and frustration when my niece has to tell people NOT to interact with her dog while he is in harness working. My sister actually got into an argument with someone who would NOT leave the guide dog alone because "he is so cute and deserves some attention for all the work he has to do". Does my niece's dog work hard? You bet. (Is her guide dog adorable? Like you cannot even imagine!). All of his care and attention must come from my niece - my sister's family doesn't even speak his name in their house (he is affectionately referred to as "Seymour" by everyone else) because my niece is his WORLD. She has to be. When he is off harness and not working, we can pet him etc. with her permission. It will NEVER happen when they are in public because he is working. With the rise in the "take my dog everywhere" trend, so many people are allowing or encouraging interaction with dogs in public and for my niece it is dangerous. And other dogs who are in public and not well trained can interfere with the work her dog is doing. He is trained not to be distracted by anything (it is incredible to watch him focus), but another dog jumping in his face or nipping at his leg is dangerous. Not inconvenient or annoying. DANGEROUS. People seem to be losing their understanding of appropriate interaction - none - with a true service animal. And although this may seem petty, my niece is 16 years old trying to do life like any other teenager, and the notion that she might have to stop and tell someone what service her dog provides (which implies what abilities she doesn't have without him) is just not cool when you're a teenager.

DS16 has been asked to take a lifeguarding class at a local pool with the idea that if/when he passes they would hire him for the summer. DS is a good swimmer and I think he would pass the class with little trouble. He is interested in EMT work so is very interested in learning the CPR/emergency aspects of the training as well. He would like to do this. DS is a great kid who understands responsibility. I think he would take it seriously and be a good employee. But he is 16. It just feels like such a BIG job to me for a 16 year old. Is this just me being weird? (Totally possible, but please say it gently). :laugh: Would you feel comfortable with your 16 year old lifeguarding?

My DS was diagnosed with mono with an in office spot test. Your son's bloodwork confirmed mono with titer test? My DS didn't have any mono sympoms except a little shortness of breath with exertion and fatigue, but not sleepiness. I didn't think it looked like mono either, so we took him back into the dr the following week. They did the titer test and sent it away and turns out the positive spot test was a false positive. Turns out he was just experiencing fatigue and minor shortness of breath because he was still recovering from double pneumonia and he came back to basketball after pneumonia too soon. His lungs and body just wasn't quite ready to catch back up to full speed ahead. ;) They probably won't let your DS play baseball because often with mono the spleen swells and any sort of contact sport could potentially cause it to rupture. I think that is very rare, but that is what they told my DS (until they figured out he didn't actually have mono!).

I like Lipsense well enough as far as color staying on, but I find it sometimes "runs" into the little wrinkles under my bottom lip (if that makes sense). Then I feel like a clown. The key to keeping it on I've learned is to apply the gloss or matte top coat before you eat or drink a lot. Keeps the color on there pretty well.

Just a little one... My parents had their 3 children all within 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days.

I have this mental picture of dozens of men in suits and women in court attire on their hands and knees outside our little town courthouse digging in the dirt to hide their pocket knives now... very much like at the end of Gladiator when his friend buries his family idols in the arena...

I hadn't heard of the capsule idea specifically until this thread, but I think I've been doing it accidently and didn't know it. Because of medical issues, my weight over the last three years has varied by 25 pounds, so I was just buying whatever I could find that appealed to me and was cheap over that time period. I ended up with a closet full of clothes of all colors, styles, shapes etc. and not many articles of clothing I was actually crazy about. My friend started selling a really beautiful clothing line for women, and it turns out they are like garanimals for adults. Most everything goes with most everything. My friend always says, "You wouldn't hang around a person who didn't say nice things about you. Why do you wear clothes that don't say nice things about you?" You'd be surprised how many of my clothes said, "Your butt looks big" or "Check out that muffin top"... :laugh: I emptied out my closet a month or so ago, got rid of 3 garbage bags of clothes, shoes, jackets, accessories that I didn't feel fantastic in, and I invested in some key pieces of clothes that I can mix and match and that I feel like a total grown up in. It's been life changing. I swear my closet has an echo because there are just a handful of pieces in there, but every single outfit I wear I feel great in. Picking out clothes has been stressful for me these last few years, but now I enjoy getting dressed to go somewhere because even though I have far less clothes, I know I will fel good in whatever I put on.

I grew up in PA and my oldest sister and I attended a very small, private, liberal arts college in this teeny, tiny town in PA. There were maybe 1000 students at the college we attended. Fast forward 25 years. DH and I now live in TN. We are adopting our DD from one of the Baltic countries. DH and DD had to go to the US Embassy in her home country for paperwork, and she wore one of my college sweatshirts for the appointment. In the waiting room was a graduate from our small liberal arts college in PA who knew my sister.

You might want to check out Teachers Pay Teachers. I used several resources from this site for our World Wars class with DS13!

DS turns 16 on Sunday. (I need a moment after typing that...he was JUST wearing little footed zip up pajamas and now he is turning 16!). We don't do HUGE birthday parties or anything, but for our DD's 16th my DH and I took her to a very upscale restaurant for a fancy dinner to make it more special than the usual birthday. The plan was to do something similar for DS, but... he has MONO. :crying: (After having the flu and double pneumonia over Christmas...) I am trying to come up with some things we can do at home to make it still feel special... but we can't have friends over because he is possibly still contagious. Can't really take him out anywhere because he could be contagious and is easily tired. His main gift is a shopping trip for basketball shoes and clothes (what he asked for), but he isn't going to feel up for that for a few weeks. He'll have just a few smaller gifts to open since grandparents chipped in cash for the shopping. I am sure DS will be fine, but I really want to find some way to make the day feel special. Any unique ideas to help mark this milestone birthday that are inexpensive but special? Doesn't have to be big... it's been so busy with dr appointments, missed school, and an ER visit - this is SO NOT my A game.

<Reads post. Thinks to myself, "Hmmm...I'm going to click the link. They can't be THAT ugly..."> Oh. My. Gosh. They really are THAT ugly.

Our DD20 is "graduating" from ps this year (she has special needs and will receive an occupational diploma). She will return to high school for at least another year to continue to work on some life skills. Some grandparents will probably travel for her graduation so we will do some sort of small party with family and a few friends. What location ideas do yall have? We could do something small here at our house, but I am wondering if it would be better to do something somewhere...a little more fun? (And a little easier to get ready????)