Mastering Essential Math Skills? It’s a workbook. My kids have used it for review and found it helpful. There are two books of basic arithmetic and then algebra and geometry etc.

I’ve been summoned once. I was nursing an infant and had multiple toddlers. I got an exemption. This was either in TX or OK. I can’t remember. I think it was TX. Although in my current state I don’t think they give exemptions for most things. The last jury posting made me start getting stressed about being summoned again. I’m due in 5 weeks and clearly the pregnancy hormones are making me nutty!

I’m a few weeks away from having this baby and I want to think about some support for my tummy afterward. I hate how bad my back hurts for the first few weeks afterward. And I’d love something that makes me look less saggy and lumpy under t-shirts. Any suggestions?

I live in a relatively low COL area. Our budget is high. Family of soon to be 9. So many food allergies at my house. $70 is ridiculous for my family. We eat mostly at home except for the few times we pick up chick fil a on the go. I try to make easy freezer meals to have on hand so we’re not tempted to eat out. I’ve cut back in other areas so that our food budget can be higher because specialty food is expensive even though I buy in bulk and make what I can at home. And I’m editing to add that 5 of my kids are competitive swimmers. The oldest two could eat me out of house and home. We have to have hearty meals and lots of healthy snacks because my kiddos are hungry!!! Lol we go through a ton of fresh fruit and veggies as well as meat. And no, I’m not giving up the meat...so that makes for expensive grocery runs.

I went through this situation growing up. We had two Dalmatians. The older one had a terminal diagnosis and would not recover. After she passed the second dog lost the will to live and died not long after. I was devastated. The vet said he believed she died of a broken heart. oh my goodness, it was so difficult. So I would probably consider getting a companion dog sooner rather than later. Although I think the suggestion to get a dog that is not a puppy is a good idea. Temperament and breed would be things to carefully consider in a new dog. But I understand that it would be hard to care for your older dog while helping a new dog adjust. It would be a lot of work. I’m so sorry! This is a tough decision. But I do think a companion dog either now or later would probably help. I wish we had tried that with our dog.

Thanks for posting an update. I’ve been trying to keep up with the latest reports. I’m so thankful the teacher is doing ok.

It was a middle school. And it sounds like the shooter was a student. It’s not quite clear yet.

This one is right down the street from me. Two injured I think. No deaths reported. Shooter in custody. It has been chaos here. I am so so sad. https://www.wthr.com/article/shots-reported-at-noblesville-west-middle-school I’m sitting here at the dentist with all my kids. I’m so thankful that we’re all here together right now. So many emergency vehicles. It’s been terrifying.

I just missed a call on my cellphone. They left a voicemail that goes something like this: Good afternoon. I just went straight to voicemail. I wanted to let you know that we’re going to try to get two letters out to your house. They usually come by standard mail. If you look at them you will see a reference number in the top left corner followed by your last name. We’d like to send them FedEx or UPs but that will cost $15 dollars. So we’d like to make sure we have the address correct. You can can call me back at my desk at ..... I’m not calling back. He didn’t give a name or a company. It’s so strange. But has anyone received a call like this? Is this a new scam? I’m curious now!

I had a terrible reaction to Tom’s. My armpits burned for a week. So awful. I tried one other brand and it didn’t work. And I always seem to sweat and smell. Yuck. I wish I could find one that worked and didn’t burn my skin. I’ve given up for now.

I read an article about the movie this morning. I was appalled. We will absolutely not be seeing this one. I don’t have any words.

That attitude is not ok at all! Goodness! Yes, I would expect all levels of the house and all bathrooms to be cleaned I’ve used individuals to clean my house in the past but one kept trying to raise the price. She knew I had a large family and large house and had toured the house to give an initial estimate. I was not ok with how she handled it. We started using a company called The Cleaning Authority. So far they’ve done a really good job and the price was very reasonable. The first one or two cleans was a higher price but now they come every other week to clean and it’s a fixed price. I hope you find someone to help before company comes.

I used it with my son who very much needed it. We did some levels twice. It was so good for him. I used it for my daughter too. Reading comes easily to her. We sometimes did a lesson in two days and I just moved her along when she was doing well. I’m still glad I used it because she is now a very confident reader. But I find it’s easy adjust the pace of AAR so I was able to use it with both kids. And some of the words in Level 4 are tough so I’m glad I used that level with my daughter. She learned lots of new words and is reading very fluently now. So I’m a huge fan of the program. It is finally what helped my son who was struggling. He would not be even close to reading without it. And it helped my daughter take off with reading. She does so well now. I’m using it with my next two girls now. One is moving at a good pace through Level 2. The next one will probably take longer because reading does not seem to come as easily to her. But I love that it’s working for 4 of my kids so far as long as I adjust the pace.

We use Auvi-Q now. If you YouTube the CBS story about the Epi-pen and Auvi-Q you can see my kids talking about it. ?

I’m a HELLP survivor as well. My doctor missed it and all my calls and complaints about horrific back pain and sudden swelling were completely dismissed. Even at my appointment she blew off all my concerns. A few days later I was having trouble breathing and couldn’t stop vomiting. My poor hubby rushed me to ER where they discovered my blood pressure was sky high and my liver was hugely swollen. It was a total mess and I lost all respect for that doctor. Even afterward she did not take adequate time to explain what happened and she showed zero compassion. Ever since then I’ve had wonderful midwives who monitor me very closely and I’ve had much better outcomes. I appreciate that they listen to me and take me seriously.

Right Start A All About Reading 1 Song School Spanish with an older sibling listening in on America’s Story, veritas history online, and bju science Bible study guide for all ages handwriting practice on a whiteboard lots of picture books and read alouds read by older siblings and lots of audiobooks online Chinese lessons with Lingo Bus Piano lessons swim team - yep, she made the team as a preK kiddo lol! Crazy child! and I hope to do some art - it always seems to get missed!

Quite a few things. We’re adding a new baby. And I’m switching to BJU math online. For my sanity I need less hands-on math for at least a year. We’re switching to MP Latin from CAP Latin. My oldest is going to be doing much more independent work. We’re using EIW for writing so that it’s less teacher intensive for me. My kids are also doing BJU science online. And my oldest is doing their Spanish. We’re also adding live online Chinese classes with Lingo Bus. I’m trying to streamline things for next year as I’m already feeling overwhelmed. I will also implement planners and checklists to help my older kiddos stay on track because I know I will be tired and forget things. History is veritas online with some history from master books.

My daughter has developed new and random allergies over time (watermelon) and has outgrown allergies over time (mango and coconut) So allergies change. It’s so strange how it works. As far as why she has reactions, I’m not sure. When certain pollen counts are high fruits like apples or strawberries can bother my daughter and me. But it’s not all the time. I don’t get it either. Usually it’s only the raw fruit or veggie that causes the issue-not one that’s in something or has been cooked or processed. As far as the epi-pen. I would carry it with her st all times. A reaction might seem unlikely but reactions typically become more severe with every exposure. You don’t get a warning before you have full blown anaphylaxis. My daughter has needed her epi-pen several times. It ha savages her life. She wears a fanny pack when she goes places. Or she clips it to her backpack, swim bag, and golf bag. It’s always right with her and easy to access since it’s in a bag hanging on the outside of other bags. I’m sorry I don’t really have many answers for you. But I completely understand. Allergies are difficult to understand. They can get worse or better over time and you aren’t given any warning about the severity of a reaction. And a reaction may seem small at first but turn deadly very quickly. And you can have a reaction up to several days after the initial one. So, the unpredictability is very scary. I hope you find some more answers. We’re still working to understand all of our daughter’s issues.

And I know you all don’t know me or my daughter but this is my child who has had health struggles since birth. She has anaphylactic food allergies and I’ve had to rush her to the ER multiple times when she couldn’t breathe. I’ve held her for hours in the ER praying that she could breathe easily and hat her swelling would go down. She’s my kiddo with asthma who has such a hard time every winter with all the colds and flu junk. I’m up at night with nebulizers trying to help her. And now we’re hit with this. It’s just so frustrating because she’s overcome so much and rarely complains. The thought of going through more medical stuff with her is very hard to process at the moment. I’m thankful that this condition is not life threatening. Of course it could always be worse but it is hard to watch your kids struggle with medical challenges. I know many of you have kids with various medical struggles so I know you understand.

That’s a great idea. Thanks. I’m going to look into this because she would love that.

I have never heard of this but I’m going to look it up and ask. Thanks you.

This is encouraging. We’re going to try the inserts. I’m praying it helps. I’d love to try those with some physical therapy and see if we can get her back to herself. This gives me some hope!

Thanks. That’s what I meant. I never really played sports so I don’t quite get the whole sports craziness. But now I’m a swim mom. I have 5 kids on the swim team and they love love love it. We go to swim meets as a family and we’re always at the pool together. Never thought we’d become that crazy swim obsessed family. But it’s what they love to do. And they all do it together on the same team. So I’m terribly sad that if we have to go the surgery route that my one child will have such a long and difficult recovery. I hate that it will keep her from doing her favorite thing. Of course, I don’t want her to be in pain and we’re trying to figure out the best plan for her. The dr is still not sure it’s a coalition. But it sounds a little scary so I’ve been very worried. So thanks for articulating my thoughts better. I’m just feeling so sad because I’m sitting at their practice watching them now. And the thought of pushing her around the pool in a wheelchair is sad. Thankfully the dr cleared her to do any stroke except breastroke. So she can still swim 3 strokes. She can do only low impact things right now. Thankfully swimming is ok until we know more. Only the breastroke causes her pain.

With surgery she’ll be in casts for at least six weeks along with a wheelchair. Then she’ll have months of therapy to regain her strength. I’m upset about her missing sports because that’s what she cares about. Her siblings all swim and she’ll be very sad sitting by the side of a pool in a wheelchair while she watches them swim without her. And golfing is a family activity. I will be so sad that she won’t be able to do that. So I only care because it’s important to her. She does those sports because she loves them. Her friends are also in swim and she loves being a part of the team and spending time with them. I don’t care about how she places. I care that she won’t be able to participate for a time and that will be very hard for her.

I’m editing my post. Good lord. Everyone is focused on the fact that I’m sad that my daughter will have to take a break from her favorite sport rather than helping me figure out what I should ask my doctor I don’t apologize for being sad that my daughter might have to take a fairly long break from her favorite sport. It will make her miss a season. My daughter will be heartbroken to have to sit out for a season I’m upset because I know this will be very difficult for her. But of course I am trying to think long term and do what is absolutely best for her for her future. So while I might not be articulating it in the best way I’m totally overwhelmed at the thought of surgery on both feet, a wheelchair, casts, walking boots, physical therapy and the amount of time it will take to get her full strength back so she can by my little, active, bouncing off the walls 9 year old. I’m also about to have a newborn and I already have a busy toddler. Now on to my question if we can focus on that: My daughter (age 9) has had pain in both feet off and on for a year. We saw the pediatric ortho a year ago. The x-rays were not super clear and he wasn't quite sure what was going on. He put her in a walking boot for several weeks and asked us to limit exercise such as running and jumping. It helped for a while. She was able to continue swimming and golfing since they don't put as much stress on her feet and ankles. Well, recently her feet have started hurting again and it's worse. So back we went. He took new x-rays and feels that her condition is worse and he believes she has a bone coalition in both of her feet. Basically there is no space between some of the bones and they are fused together. She does not have very good range of motion and flexibility. And of course, she has a lot of pain and discomfort. He believes she may have a tarsal coalition called a calcaneal navicular coalition. I've never heard of it. We're going to have an MRI in the next week and meet with him for the next steps. He wants to put custom inserts in her shoes to see if it helps but since she is having so much pain he believes that it probably won't help long term. He feels that surgery might be our best option if it is the bone coalition. The recovery sounds rough. Has anyone ever had a child go through this? I had never heard of this before and I'm trying to put together a list of questions before our next appointment. I feel a little overwhelmed right now. And no, we're definitely not going to rush into surgery. But I'd love to hear any experiences from anyone so I can prepare for what might be ahead for us in the next year. What should I ask our ortho? And does anyone know of any therapy or anything else we can do that would help her?