Of course it will work. If you make it work....any program that gets you to eat less and move more will work. With a very few exceptions. However, save yourself some money and go to sparkpeople.com. It is just as good a resource as WW online, and it is free. I've lost over 20 lbs this year, and on my way to losing the other 35 :o). Knock on wood :o). JMO. Kayleen

And in honor of this thread, I had to post this: enjoy :o) (hee hee)

you want a product called Pastry Pride. That is what the cake people use for their whip cream frosting. Comes in cartons/jugs like milk, but whips up into whip creamy type frosting.

Your son sounds just like mine LOL! Same age also. One measure we've taken that has had fairly good success on the respect front (with some ups and downs, but I like it well enough to stick with it), is to assign a certain number of "yes moms" when he is disobedient/disrespectful. Meaning he has to respond correctly "X" number of times........AND he get no screens of any kind while he is working them off. You could tweak it to remove any privilege he values greatly while working them off. He *hates* this. I just tell him if he can't give them to me freely, I must assign them. it makes him practice the right response. I figure he can easily knock off 15 "yes moms" in a day if he is in the groove, so I use that as my guage when I hand them out. He hates losing his already monitered screen time. I'm thinking of doing something similar with "bad talking" his sisters, thinking of another treasured privilege to remove and require a certain number of encouraging words to get it back. Anyway, fwiw.

Well, if you want really direct (more direct, even than going through Los Vegas), you can go the way we always have gone (we live in Santa Clarita), which for you would be Straight N on the 5 to the 14 and up through Mojave catch the 395 up the back side of the Sierras (breathtaking, Mt. Whitney) to Bishop A little jaunt on the 6 to the 95 & up though Hawthorne & Fallon meet up with I 80 & go though Winnemucca pick back up the 95 to cut through the SE corner of Oregon to meet up with the 84 right by Nampa Definitely not a lot of big cities on the way, though. Fallon is pretty big. Ditto Winnemucca. Lots of mountains, desert, and farmland on this route :o). Some pretty spectacular scenery in a few places, though. I will say that coming into the river valley where Boise/Nampa etc. are, from Oregon, is a spectacular view! Ditto the view of the sierras coming up to Bishop. We always drove up around Christmas time, and one year there had just been a ton of snow dropped on the Mts. The sight of the those mts rising straight out of the desert, covered with snow was absolutely awe inspiring! But I digress.... :o) Whatever route you choose, have fun Kayleen

Oh yeah...right there with ya! DS and DH are coming back today from boyscout camp. dds (17, almost 19) are enjoying the peace and quiet without volcano boy around (he's 13.5). Yesterday they were saying "I wish he could stay longer, it's been so quiet around here". Ha. I informed my oldest, who was a quirky/hyper/volcano child in her day, that when *she* used to go to camp it would be 10x quieter also. So you are not alone! Kayleen ....in the throes of a major "Sound of Music" production with her dd's (200 kids k-12, VERY big deal, exhausting)

Abeka Bob Jones Rod and Staff CLE Hake growing with grammar analytical grammar

Ditto the boric acid powder. We live in an apartment, and a few years ago we had a major infestation. They were under & behind the fridge, stove, geez...everywhere. I cleaned out all cupboards & drawers, squirted boric acid powder in the bottoms/back of them, cleaned out under the fridge & put down a good squirty layer of powder underneath, squirted powder down every crevice I couldn't clean, put some around all the edges of my counters, all around the edges of my carpet in every room. I put that stuff everywhere I could think. It worked like a charm. We haven't had a problem since. I was out to nuke those critters.

Missing my dh and ds. They left for Boy Scout camp at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island yesterday, so I doubt they're missing me LOL! Hoping they have a great time...it's a beautiful, beautiful place - I've been there once, so I know :o). This is his very first camp, he's 13, and my sort of immature quirky one, so I'm really glad dh went as a leader.

http://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-School-Student-Norman-Levine/dp/1567651151 I would think if she did both the high school one and the college bound one, she'd be in very good shape.

I was a TCC...my parents were missionaries in Mali, West Africa. Very third world. Frankly it was a big adventure to me at age 10. We lived in France for 6 months prior, where I (and my brother and sister) was tossed into into the french school system. It was a bit scary, but I survived, and (assumedly) learned some french in the process :o). That was actually a fabulous experience, as my folks made sure we toured everything there was to tour in the Paris area while we were there. I have wonderful memories of all the wonderful museums, palaces, and cathedrals we visited. Living in Africa was overall a good experience also. I have an appreciation of life that I might never have had growing up here. The perspective on cultural differences, the experience of going without a good many luxuries, of making up our own fun, of dealing with lots of different people, has been invaluable as an adult. I live in Timbuktu (yes, the real one) for a number of years, then attended a boarding school in Ivory Coast during high school. Naturally, I'm a semi reserved, a little fearful in general, type of person, but I was forced to deal with life as it was. It made me a much more confident adult than I might have been. And there were times as a child and teen that I was in situations that scared the bajeebers out of me, but I learned from them. Every kid is different, and will react differently to a new situation. I don't know how old your kids are, but I would guess that the younger your kids are, the easier the transition will be. Just like any new experience, there will be ups and downs. Enjoy the ups, endure the downs. HTH, Kayleen

Oh yeah....try during devotion time at dinner. DH starts reading devotional. Kid 1 starts in. Dad reprimands. Kid 2 can't help themself and starts. Mom starts & can't stop. All H*** breaks loose, mom laughing , kids laughing, tears streaming down face. DH sits stony faced glaring at Mom. oops. Fortunately it doesn't happen much anymore. There was just a period of about 6 months that I had the hardest time. sigh.

well, after we were married, but before kids (about 3 year total), I had a job that made about as much as his, so we simply banked my income during that period. Lo these many years later, it isn't a huge amount of money by anyone's standards, but if dh were unemployed we'd have approximately 1yrs income to use *if we had to*.

OK, here are my instinctive picks. For the record, I love math, and have used different things with all my kids, my oldest is doing Calc. in college now and getting A's :o), middle dd *hates* math and will be doing good to get through Alg 2 in hs, son loves math....anyway....back on track your oldest dd: Teaching Textbooks. Very straightforward. She can watch the lesson, do it on her own, check it on her own....etc. Very independent. son 9: aleks math online. Take the placement test. Very thorough, engaging, won't require quite as much writing, will tailor itself to what he is ready to do (has built in "intelligence") thus helping with the frustration part, keeps track of EVERYTHING for you. Won't let him do what he isn't ready for. Built in review. Lots of choice for him in what to do on a daily basis (can choose any topic the program has deemed him "ready to learn"). Free month long trial. Check it out at aleks.com youngers: probably just about anything....singapore, miquon, BJU, Saxon.....take your choice. HTH, Kayleen

mmmm hate to say this, but I'm with Supernanny....I think you just need to "do it" . Walk him back in silence, with no discussion. Just PLAN on the 2 hr ordeal for a month or 2. If you aren't willing to stick with anything for the long haul, he knows he can outlast you (and make you wring your hands in angst). I'll bet it won't take that long. Stop being so frustrated with it, assume it will happen, make a plan, follow the plan......rinse repeat....for as long as necessary. Calmly, matter a factly.

OK, I'd say.... Tom Sawyer To kill a mockingbird Hobbit Kidnapped Captains Courageous Watership Down Jules Verne books Any CS Lewis Sherlock holmes All Creatures Great and Small series Redwall Series The Once and Future King and all the others mentioned by everyone :o)

What about Growing with Grammar?

ummmm.....fighting families, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, irrational passion ensues, major dysfunction abounds, both end up dead....it's their own darn fault as far as I'm concerned. Stupid kids.

Our SS teacher, an older but very spry gentleman, had this happen on the men's retreat for our church. Broke his nose and face. Narrowly escaped surgery because there is a membrane surrounding the cheekbone that kept the bones in place. He couldn't chew, though, for literally 6 months while the bones were healing. Ugh. Poor guy. He's back at it now, good as new :o). Can't keep a good man (or boy) down :o).

sorry.....Sensory Processing Disorder, also called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. You can google it and get boatloads of info.

OK, here are some thoughts. My son is very similar.....was very much like your ds at age 8, now at age 13 is *better*, but still struggles with some things. Very immature. Non existant frustration tolerance. I've known for awhile that he is mildly spd. Is is possible that your son could have some of that going on? I tend to deal with one thing at a time, as patiently as possible. My ds *still* does things that are embarrassing in public, sigh. I have to be very concrete with him. If you are noticing patterns (and it seems you are), alert him ahead of time. "if you don't get out of the pool right away, you'll be sitting for X minutes next time we come, before you can get in. Ditto for screaming/carrying on...whatever". "If you hurt your brother, you must do X,Y, and Z to show kindness as restitution" (do follow up on his brother hitting him also, though). As far as "not liking" the boy because he was being loud...mmmm...my son gets a bit irrational at times about such things as well. I'm not always sure how to handle that. As for the "I'll only play if they play what I want" thing, I think I'd talk beforehand, and let him know that it is mandatory for him to play at least 1 thing that someone else wants to play. Let him know that if he isn't willing to do that, then he can SIT with you. Not play by himself. I'm constantly reminding my ds still to make sure (when he's at a party or group thing) to play whatever the others want to play/do. So.....I guess I would say do LOTS of forewarning/pre event teaching with rewards/consequences/expectations laid out ahead of time. Just make a habit of it. Then follow through as much as possible. Get over being embarrassed...don't let it make you angry. Calm, calm, calm. reteach reteach reteach.....ad nauseum :o). Pinpoint trouble areas, and plan.

honey babe, I got *1* boy (spd, gifted, stubborn), and trying to navigate all of his "issues", even though they are relatively mild compared to some kids. Some days are like strolling through a minefield LOL! You don't want to know how my day has gone. Fortunately, my oldest was similar, so I've btdt once already, but it is EXHAUSTING getting through school some days. Both my oldest and youngest would have been "labeled" something for sure. I use a combo of hopefully good curriculum, carrots/sticks, and big guns (so to speak - ha). Lots of redirect, breaks, child tracking (where did that kid go????).

Have him watch some episodes of Hoarders. Seriously. Might wake him up a little.

Do either of them have a whirly pop? Best darn popcorn not from a movie theater. Plus some gourmet popcorn, of course. But definitely a whirly pop, if they don't have one. look here: http://www.popcornpopper.com/24000.html. Yum.

Master and Commander (I love Russel Crowe) LOTR trilogy....love the appendices also Pride and Prejudice (love Colin Firth)....the REAL one not that nasty new version *shudder* Frequency (awesome movie....love Dennis Quaid) Princess Bride Runners up: anything with Russell Crowe (...cinderella man, A beautiful mind, Gladiator...) Indiana Jones...all of them Back to the Future trilogy The Fugitive Pirates of Caribbean trilogy (yay Capn Jack) Favorite Comedy: Pink Panther....old ones, but new ones are good too Addams Family..old series OK, so my favorite actors are Russel Crowe, Harrison Ford, Dennis Quaid, Colin Firth, Johnny Depp