We really are EXTREMELY fortunate to have this board and the speed in which it runs! Thank you, SWB!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I am so incredibly sorry. I am deeply afraid of this for my boys, and we've been called overprotective by others as a result of my fear. It is stories such as this that make me stand more firmly in my resolve. Your son is saying nothing happened to him and that very well may be true. However, he is probably going through the "what if it did" thoughts. He also may be feeling incredible guilt in knowing the other victims who had to endure that while he escaped it. Regardless, this type of crime affects more than just the victims and that needs to be remembered. I am going to pray that your son will open up and talk as well as pray for you, your family, the boys involved & their families, and your church family. My heart breaks for all of you.

I'm so sorry. Losing a pet is hard. :grouphug:

Dh is an accountant, so he does ours.

Thank you for sharing this side of it, as this too, has been part of my struggle. I often wonder if stuck in suburbia is where we're supposed to be, and it's me who cannot find peace with it. I pray for God to guide us to where we are supposed to live, and He's yet to give me another answer aside from "here". :)

Glad he is safe!!!

I agree with other posters. I'd like to also add an exersaucer. It was a great place to put my boys while I cooked dinner if I wasn't wearing them. They enjoyed the stimulation from all the "toys" attached to it. For mom during pregnancy, I found a body pillow to be invaluable in helping me sleep.

:grouphug: Dh and I have been struggling with this being our reality too. I know exactly how you feel. I long for land, goats, chickens, and the space to make a HUGE garden. I also long for more privacy. Living in a subdivision is something we chose for the sake of our kids before the thought of homeschooling was in our minds. Now, we're stuck here, and while I love our house, I don't like having my neighbors so close. I've learned that I need more than 1/4 acre to thrive.

Praying the hospital can take you, Daisy! My induction for ds2 was cancelled because the hospital was too busy, so I understand the angst right now. I had him via induction 4 days later... Hopefully your baby comes sooner than Monday, Hannah C. And, with no word from Angelbee, that must be a good sign!!! Wishing you all the best! :grouphug:

:lol: Thank you! You do have that power! I just needed someone to tell me the obvious! Yes! This is true! Not having the hardcover version, I didn't even think of it this way. Thank you! I feel much better now, ladies! :D

I haven't read through all the posts, but I would have to say individual, lap-sized white boards and plenty of colored dry erase markers. These have been invaluable across a variety of subjects. As for curriculum... I'd have to say Singapore Math. We really love it here.

I'm feeling as if there is some redundancy in our curriculum, and I'm wondering if I should cut some things out of our routine (specifically WWE). We're doing WWE which involves copywork; however, every week, ds has copywork from his Bible for his Sunday school class and for his Wednesday night Team Kid bible study program (similar to Awana). It's actually more than the WWE copywork, so that is being covered. We're doing R&S English 2, and there is copywork included in there as well as correct sentence format that WWE covers. We narrate in all subjects, and we're working on summarizing each time, so I'm finding redundancy there. We especially work on summarizing after doing a literature lesson together. We do dictation in AAS for every lesson through words, phrases, and sentences. AAS is done daily. I feel guilty for even thinking of dropping WWE because it's writing, and writing is just so important. Thoughts???

Praying! If you were coming to the Charlotte area, I would have helped you any way I could. :grouphug:

Fortunately, I had some amazing teachers during my elementary years. My all-time favorite was Mrs. Vicki Desnoyers. She was my 5th/6th grade Language Arts teacher. I had her for two years because I was in a gifted program that combined the 2 grades together for 2 periods a day. She was amazing, encouraging, challenging, fun, and so loving. She had the best smile and really cared about her students. During my 6th grade year, she left to have her first child of which she had tried to have for several years (my mom was a secretary at the school, so that is how I know this). She ended up not coming back because she found out she had breast cancer while she was pregnant. For the health of the baby, she refused treatment. Once he was born, it was too far gone, and she passed away when he was 9 months old. I was in 7th grade, and I can still remember them calling us to the library to tell us she had died. My mom took me out of school to go to her memorial service, and I can still see her husband at the front of the church holding their baby boy. I truly loved her, and I cried for days. Just thinking about her now makes me feel teary-eyed. She was just such a good person.

Thank you for the update, Peela. After seeing the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew here in the USA, I was fearful for Australian people in the line of the storm.

Oh gosh... I am so sorry. Praying!!! :grouphug:

Absolutely praying!!!!

I don't have a Honda or Toyota, but these are the brands we were initially drawn to when we needed to get our minivan. After TONS of research (I tend to research things to the extreme) and testing the different brands, we settled on a Kia Sedona. I LOVE my van! A few friends have since turned in their old vans/cars (1 a Chrysler T&C, 1 an Odyssey, 2 sedans) and bought the Sedona. They all are very pleased. Just another suggestion for you...

I never realized how farmers attended to "natural selection" although I knew it must exist somehow. I'm so sorry that you had to see another lamb die. Your poor ds; mine is an animal lover through-and-through so I understand how hard it is to watch your son right now. I'm sorry. :grouphug:

Lunch today was a la carte here... one had a turkey & cheese sandwich with a clementine. The other had leftover mac & cheese with raw carrots. I ate banana nut pancakes. No snow here (thankfully!); however, rain is on the way for tonight and tomorrow. No special projects here. Actually, I'm attempting to declutter one room at a time, so I guess that would count. It's a slow process, and I'm afraid I'm losing steam. We've done nothing related to school today, but I have mopped the floors, vacuumed, cleaned my kitchen and done a few loads of laundry. The boys have been building with their Legos and creating fantastic stories around them today, so I guess the socialization part of the day has been accomplished. :tongue_smilie:

And, it was your cat... part of the family and all...:D You'll need to hold on to that moment for future stories... I'm thinking girlfriend... hee, hee!

I LOVE my Pampered Chef can opener. It's the best one I have ever used. Mine is 4 years old and still going strong.

:bigear: I hope it went well!!!!

:iagree: Thinking of you, ladies! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

It's so nice to hear that I'm not alone! My almost almost 8 year old is hungry constantly! I thought for sure it was too early for him to want to eat so much... I was prepared for ages 10-12ish as the starting point of this undying hunger and definitely through the teen years, but I was in no way prepared for now! He's thin, but eats all.the.time. It's been difficult staying in budget for our groceries lately. We always eat whole wheat bread here, so I'm going to try ww toast with peanut butter and scrambled eggs in the AM. Maybe that will help. I told dh we needed to enlarge our garden this year in order to keep the kids fed!