Oh, he's lovely!! Congratulations, granny!! :grouphug:

We have rules on the book thread?!? ;) :LOL:

Can't see how that would be anything but a mistake. Do you mind sharing what book/curriculum this is? ETA: Looked at your sig... is this the Mc Ruffy??

My son loves Odyssey and Muse, and we still currently subscribe to both. We used to borrow a lot of Cobblestone issues from the library, and he really liked that one as well.

Oh, the Nick and Jake book sounds hilarious! I will have to look for that.

Stacia, I read one by Hemingway in high school. I looked at both "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Sun Also Rises." And to this day, I can't remember with certainty which one I ended up reading... :leaving: I *think* it was TSAR. To be fair, they're both set in WWI and I'm sure they were written in much the same style. :lol: But, if that tells you anything about the incredibly memorable storylines.... Your daughter's take is quite amusing!! Nan, thanks for the Zentangle info. I will take a look at some of the books!

Hello, dear friends!! :) I haven't been on the forums in months, just popped back in this week. DS is in private school this year, and I was having some conflicting feelings about it ("was" she says, as if it's all over, LOL), so I needed to take a break from the boards to fully engage in the new situation, if that makes sense? It's going well for him, and was the right move for this year... time will tell if it's a permanent situation!! As of right now, I skimmed the first page of this thread, and just decided to skip to the end, LOL! I'm sure I missed a lot of good discussion but I might never catch up otherwise. I do know that I love Jane's bird pictures, and Shukriyya's zentangle... I need to find out more about those!! So far this year, I have completed five books... the bulk of that was the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness... titles include "A Discovery of Witches," "Shadow of Night," and "Book of Life." Very good stories, rich in history as well as supernatural lore, although the ending of the last book left something to be desired in some of the storylines. Moving into some non fiction now... just started "The Evolution of Adam" by Peter Enns. Will try to skim more and see what you've all been up to! :grouphug:

I have been a big fan of RHE and NBW. I'd *like* to think, as some of the comments suggest, that RHE was caught a bit off guard and shouldn't have closed ranks like she did. Perhaps she will rethink things moving forward, time will tell. The emergent movement has some good ideas, but too often it becomes a "cult of personality" around a few very vocal church leaders. As Danae said above, there seems to be a set up with little accountability, strong leadership centered at the very top, and steps backward where gender roles are concerned. ("Complementarianism" has no place in a "progressive" Christianity, IMO.) My views have been undergoing a lot of change recently, and while I don't fit with traditional Christianity, the progressive/emergent movement fits no better, and seems to have much to answer for on a variety of issues. Not terribly familiar with the WW site, but I will have to start reading it more!

I still haven't gotten to any of his writings, but have a few on my list. I know he could be a polarizing figure, but I think whatever one's view of him, it's clear he opened up a lot of respectful discussion around Christian faith and that's never a bad thing. May he rest in peace.

Very cool, thanks! Most of it is Greek to me, but I'll pass it along to DS and DH... :lol:

Posting so I can come back and finish reading this later. I'm scrolling through all your thoughts for motivation, LOL!! January has been a heck of a month, so I'm doing February resolutions this year. I'll start them on Candlemas/Imbolc/Groundhog's Day with the lighting of a candle. ;)

Haven't been around in a while, just popped back in today... :) Our school still sends a paper report card at the end of each quarter, as well as having it posted online as we go through the year. I wouldn't necessarily mind not having a paper copy until the end of the year (with an option to self-print), but it's not my experience to not have GPA or honor roll at all throughout the year. Usually they have academic eligibility for activities, honor society different things like that, and I wonder how they would compute it if they're not tracking most recent GPA's??

Aha.... I found it!! :D http://www.amazon.com/150-Great-Books-Synopses-Independent/dp/0825101174/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1 150 Great Books by Bonnie Helms... she has a couple other titles too. Thank you, rabbit trails of Amazon, LOL!! ETA: Here's the Rainbow Resource link that shows what books it covers: http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/150+Great+Books/015676

Thank you both, but nope, none of those are the one I am remembering. Most of them look pretty good, though!! I know I read about it on the boards, I just wish I could find the thread!!

There was a book discussed here a while back and now I can't find it for the life of me. I've done a search and am coming up empty. It is a guide for analyzing literature, and it had overviews and discussion notes for a ton of books... I'm wanting to say the title was something like "101 classics...", I do think it had a number in it, and if I'm not mistaken, there was a Kindle version of the book. It's not "Invitation to the Classics" or "How to Read a Book" but something along those lines, I think. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Well, according to that website, I'm already waaaaay behind, LOL!! So I'll just stick with a list, and otherwise wing it. ;)

"One of those PRIVACY people"?!? Oh, that would have set me off. I've had copies of drivers' license and insurance cards taken, that's standard. I've had my photo taken, I suppose it helps them make sure they have the right person. Also not a big deal. I refuse to provide SSN to darn near everyone, and I would not have done the fingerprint or given my mother's maiden name. That's crazy, and I see absolutely no compelling reason for them to have it. I think I'd file a complaint... state medical board, or BBB.... I don't know what the appropriate organization would be.

Ah yes... Minecraft drama. Just when I thought we were going to be lucky to avoid teen girl drama, we were introduced to tween boys in an online world of their own creation!! :lol: DS runs his own server, and he and several friends play on there. We think it's been a great leadership experience for him. There have been many instances of moderating, reaching consensus, and diffusing tough situations. Most have been minor, but we have had issues with one boy. He and DS have been friends for a long time, but after some poor behavior this summer (multiple times destroying others' things, and then turning around and being angry and belligerent with the other boys after they called him out on it), DS ended up banning him for a good couple months. DS was offended, and wanted nothing to do with him for a while. They've since patched things up and it seems to be smoother sailing... for now. ;) Our role as parents was support, not moderation. For the most part, we let him handle it, and we would stand in the background and help if needed. Only once did we get involved... DH got on and tried to talk it through with the boys. It didn't help the situation, but I think it made DS and the other boys feel supported with what was happening. You should NOT have to constantly moderate on a private server, and if your boys own the server, they have the right to ban anyone they want for any reason. I do hope your meeting goes well tomorrow. I would recommend the boys setting some rules (about destruction, language, etc.) and letting all involved know that if those rules are broken, they will be taking a "break" from the server for a while. Good luck!!

Not at all normal... I would expect some active play (games, shooting some hoops waiting for the group to start, etc.) but not rugburns and concussions!! I'd be furious that it was allowed to get that rough, and that no one informed me of the incident.

Faith, I've been pondering a lot of the same questions, which is one reason I asked. I've been around some people recently who teach not only sola scriptura, but all literalism, all the time. It just doesn't compute in my brain. I think your take on the afterlife makes a lot of sense as well, and I've wondered about that scenario myself. Milovany and Princess Mommy, thanks for your responses. That was along the lines I *thought* the Orthodox believed, but I wanted to be sure. :)

I really like that explanation, I hadn't heard it before. I don't know what the Orthodox position is on scripture vs. tradition (my Protestant background is generally sola scriptura), so not sure if this is a factor at all.... but is there scriptural support for this concept of heaven and hell, or is it in Church writings, or ???

Hey, we got married pretty quickly too. We'd known one another for ten years, both came home from college over the summer and ran into each other, and we were engaged less than a month later. :D And it's now been nearly 18 years. So it can work out!! I love your story!! Congrats on your anniversary!!

Sounds like square dancing was a staple in PE classes everywhere, as we also did this activity. They did it as a joint activity between the boys and girls' classes in junior high... at that age there was much protesting and giggling but we all ended up having fun in spite of our barely teenage selves. If it were ballroom dancing specializing in tango, I could see his discomfort. But echoing the other posters, square dancing is just not that kind of activity. I also do agree that he wants to be cautious about how showing this discomfort to the teens. Would it work for him to not dance and sort of direct, or organize, or handle the refreshments, or anything else?? Under the guise of leading the group he needs to stay available to help out, or something like that?? Or, tell him you can trade this time... he can stay home with all the kids, and you can go have fun!! :D

My son did K-2 in public school, so that's not the issue for him. Just very long days and a lot of "extra" expectations compared to homeschooling.