1st grade, we are using HOD's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. Our books, including the "readers" come from HOD.

I e-mail them to myself. :)

My 5 year old is a total transformer maniac. I mean he has every one ever made and he transforming them one way and then back. He also loves computer games and the harder they are, the more he likes them. His favorites are Jump Start 3rd grade and Bejweled Twist.

Oh I am so sorry about your animals. :( Stupid snakes!

I am surprised they couldn't do a quick blood test in the office for Leukemia. I mean, my dr office runs one yearly on my kids...and if Leukemia was the culprit, the blood test would be wacky (at least this is what my dr told me when I was concerned due to easy bruising in my oldest ds). I do hope that your phone doesn't ring. I pray this is just mono and she makes a full recovery SOON. P.S. Take it from a hypochondriac...DO NOT GOOGLE.

I am glad we homeschool and I am excited about the opportunities and growth that a new year affords us. Being excited to get it started, back into the grind, etc....Not yet. We just started summer school (light work - math, english, etc) and I am ready to enjoy some down time before I get excited about starting back up again. :)

If it is that bad, CPS should definitely be called. Based on what you posted with the child "missing" and the parents being all "oh oops" about it....ehhh. But, if there is stuff happening that you can't/won't post on a public forum and it is bad enough that you want to adopt these kids, then something needed to be done - like yesterday.:blink:

I come from a bad family. My God, I could fill books upon books with stories most people wouldn't even imagine of the goings on in my family or my life and during my childhood. I would like to think that I rose above this and became a better person. I don't identify at all with my family. Where I am now and what I chose to do with my life is much more important than where I came from. Don't hold her family against her. Maybe she is really wanting to get away from that life and perhaps your son has given her a glimpse of what a REAL family is like and what real love feels like in a family unit. That said, I would definitely make a good effort to get to know her. Have dinner each night at your house, talk with her a lot. Maybe even invite her over to "hang" with you while ds is at work so you can get to know each other better. No, this is not ideal and no, it is not what I would hope my son came up with a week after graduation. However, I am pretty sure my mom didn't want me pregnant at 19 either, nor did my ex-husband's mom want a daughter-in-law that she had never MET that showed up pregnant and married to her 21 year old son. Nope...it wasn't ideal for any of us, but we made it through and I wouldn't trade my now 10 year old son for the world. My only other advice is to not go into this resenting her already. Just give her the benefit of the doubt and realize they are young. Heck, two years to talk to someone that you have never even met in person...wow...that is a long time just to talk. Maybe she will turn out to be a lot better than you think... :)

Honestly, to me, it looks like the teacher has had enough and is "showing" the kid that he is DONE with the crap. I seriously DOUBT he really hurt the kid. You don't hear sounds of panic or true struggling going on. And there is no real evidence to say the man bruised him. That area doesn't bruise easily and if the teacher had choked him THAT hard, there would have been paramedics called to the scene and some damage done to the neck/throat. I think it is a crock and the parents/kid are now trying to cash in. Not to mention, the teacher is absolutely calm and controlled. He seems to be getting talking to the kid in a calm and even toned voice as he holds him down. (I don't really agree with the method, mind you, but I think the kid was likely being a punk too!) In highschool, kids get kinda nutty - and really start to think they are above authority. I know *I* did when I was 16. I was suspended from highschool for 3 days because I walked out of a class and told my teacher to "burn in hell." I was 16 and just didn't really care what teachers said or did anymore. What I would say to my son, if this were him is "OKAY...WHAT DID YOOOUUUU DO?"

Nope, but one thought enough to tape it with his cell phone. :glare:

Absolutely!!! :iagree: And that is also why I hope I am raising my kids not to be little smarta$$ punks like that smirking kid in the video!:glare:

If anything, my husband is MORE over protective of our kids than I am! His comes from losing his dad at a young age, I believe (drives the fear of ever losing his kids!).

I am overprotective too...and I feel like 5 is WAY too young to be outside alone!!! My God! I do think the mother had faults...but I know that I have made mistakes too that could have ended very differently.... When my younger son was 2 or so, I went to a woman's house to get a dog that I was fostering. She was still caring for the dog and I came to "meet" him. As I started to leave (middle of summer), she called me back to tell me something. I spent about 2 minutes talking to her in front of my car. When I went to get back in the car, it was HOT. My child was in the back seat in that heat for at least 2 minutes while I talked to her. He whinned, "mommy, I am sooo hot" and then started closing his eyes. I turned on the air, rolled down the windows and did all I could to cool him down. He was fine in a few minutes. And that was when I realized how close *I* had come to being one of those stupid parents who leave their kids in the car, in the heat, and they lose their child. To this day, I have not forgotten nor forgiven myself for that...just to think of what COULD have happened that day...and because of what? a foster dog! :( I made the mistake recently of letting my 5 year old walk to a "game" at a festival about 10 yards away from me with his 9 year old brother a month or so ago. Big brother got his turn at the game and little brother came to find me....only the line had moved and I wasn't where he remembered me being. I screamed bloody murder for him out in the middle of the street. I was FRANTIC! Finally, by the grace of God, he came running to me. I will NEVER let my kids out of my sight again...not for a second. Anything can happen - and it happens in an INSTANT!

See, this only affects personal accounts. I have a premier account and we always get charged fees - no matter what. I never know what people pay with because I get slapped with a fee no matter what. It is almost, between paypal fees and shipping charges, becoming too expensive to sell stuff online!

This has come up for me for a long time now. We have never been able to give 10% of our income. However, I go to church (sometimes) and dh does not go at all (or VERY rarely). This makes it hard for us to agree on what should be given and to where. My dh feels that giving to others is very important because to give a tithe to a certain church helps just that specific church and their missions. There may be other ways we want to use our income to glorify the Lord and when He lays it on our hearts to give, we do. And not just to church...to others in need as well. This may be "wrong" but it is the way we feel.

I am confused! Mom put her in the car and drove her to the next bus stop...then why was she running beside the bus??? In any case, that is horrendous and sooo sad. :(

I have two boys. Oldest showers by himself. Youngest showers with my help...or, on a really good night when we have lots of time, he takes a bath (which he adores). They never argue because we have 3 bathrooms and really, anyone can shower whenever they want. For the youngest, it is more when *I* am available than when he is. :)

10 y/o ds will be doing the following for 5th grade: HOD Bigger Hearts for His Glory with Extensions (chose this because it is Am History) DITHR 4/5 CLE Math (finish 4, begin 5) CLE LA (finish 3, begin 4) WWE 2 Finish ETC Book 8 CLE Bible Spectrum US Geog + States and Capitals Speedy Spanish I Typing Instructor for Kids Co-op: Art, Tae-kwan-do, and beginning Spanish (1 hour per class per week)

I just got home from McDonalds...where I had a hamburger happy meal and a large sweet tea. I did it because ds was not hungry but wanted a toy. Voila...two birds, one stone. ;)

That seems crazy. My 9 year old is almost 5' tall...and he weighs about 65 pounds!!! So, he eats like a BIRD. Going by height is really goofy, IMO.

:iagree:

I love those things! They even take soap grime off the bath tub!

I am not sure I totally understand the question. ??? I was thinking that I walk against oncoming traffic when I walk on a sidewalk, etc. However, I am not sure that is what you were asking.

Yep...I would pay off the balance (call and ask for a lower interest rate and tell them you are thinking of transferring the balance) but keep it on the same card if possible. I had a 6.8% APR on my card and thought THAT was good...until dh got a card with a "$5 per thousand" interest rate!

That is really odd! I would ask for the office manager and speak with him/her about this. It does NOT seem right...especially since you have had dd for almost 9 years!!! I know that when my older son went to ps, I had to give them copies of my divorce papers from his dad...mostly that was legality as in "what were the terms and can the dad pick up the child" type stuff. But adoption papers to bring the child to the doctor??? That makes NO SENSE!