We know a young man who took fencing classes. Idk if they had weekend tournaments.

I have a ton of kid craft junk. Just this past summer I got rid of all my knitting needles and yarn and stuff. Sooo much stuff. I regret it, but I was in purge mode and unstoppable.

Following because I have a kid who'd love to draw digitally, but I don't even know where to start.

Bummer indeed. I was hoping to snag a cheese calendar (l lurv cheese) but I don't live near enough to stalk Aldi. *sigh*

I love this thread. Now I can claim that I'm not tacky...I'm following European tradition! (Says the woman who's chafing because I've not yet pulled my Christmas containers down from the attic...)

When DH was hospitalized after his cancer diagnosis (2014), he was in there for 40+ days over a 2-month span. I was only able to go for short visits (my kids were 6 & 8) and not at all once flu season hit and the kids were banned for being underage. He definitely wanted visitors -- his days days were so long and boring. Me: I don't want visitors and I don't want to visit. (I did for DH, of course.)

We don't have checklists, but my 7th grader does several subjects independently. After we do history together, she does math (TT). After math, CLE reading (mostly independent but we talk about some things every now and then). She does EiW on her own, and reads her science text on her own. But we talk about each day's work before she goes off and does it. And I look over it when she's done.

Yes, this 100%! At 22-23, my DH was so unreliable...and he really couldn't help it. As someone who didn't have those issues, it angered me so much, lol.

I love toy catalogs. I got the Amazon and Rainbow Resource Christmas catalogs the same day. I've been thoroughly enjoying them!

Yes, the triangle. And I can't wait for the temps to drop.

I turned my AC on for a few hours yesterday evening because I couldn't bear the humidity at bedtime. It's also sooo wet out. Just...yuck.

I also have a 7th grade DD who isn't especially self-motivated. I schedule my DD's work in "blocks" (chunks of time). For example: 9-10 is math, 10-11 is reading, etc. I check her work after *each* block. We also touch base before each independent block, so there's no chance to fall behind or get overwhelmed. If I saved checking work for every other day, I know I'd let it slip (*I* need more structure). I realize you have a lot of littles, so this might not work for you. I just wanted to share what works for my similarly-aged child (who is dyslexic and who sounds a lot like your description).

DH said his voting place was inundated with people holding signs and leaflets, crowding the parking lot. He basically said the same thing: it's bothersome since he already knows who he's voting for.

I'd go with meatballs or those ham and Swiss sliders (baked and buttery/gooey).

My 7th grader has declared Holes to be her new favorite book (it was assigned).

After our Wii died, we upgraded (haha) to a WiiU. Plus side: the games are pretty cheap and you can still use your Wii games. Downside: Nintendo has already moved on to the Switch, so it's already out of date. (We don't care -- my kids are getting Disney Infinity for Christmas, and that's already discontinued. They are still excited!) ?

So...he tried it *once* after practice, and the school just happened to test right after that (time frame - next day?) so that he was still testing positive? How long does a person test positive after use? Perhaps your son is being perfectly honest (and his timing was rotten, trying right before a random testing), but it sounds like a line I'd have fed my mom...

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm. Very lighthearted and funny, but still thought provoking. My 12 year old daughter loved it.

When our children's librarian moved away, 3 years ago, we bought her this mug (and some banned books socks). She loved the mug -- for us, it was a reminder of the many, many times we visited the library in search of "any new dragon books?" for my dragon-obsessed child. ?

My 7th grader is using Essentials in Writing (either level 5 or 6). It does spend the first half of the program on grammar, but the writing portion has been good for my dyslexic/reluctant writer. I think it breaks things down really well (and I like the video aspect - I just am here to help if needed.) Last week, the program guided DD through writing a persuasive letter. It was her first formal writing of this kind. Here was the end result (with paragraphs/indenting removed): Dear Mommy, I was thinking about what kinds of Christmas presents [sister's name] would enjoy the most this year. She might like a new iPod to replace the one she lost in Florida. I'm sure she'd also appreciate some music to put on her new iPod. Maybe you could get her some CDs you know she likes or an iTunes gift card so she could pick out her own. These are some of the gifts I think she would be happiest with. Your daughter, DD I mean, it's a simple paragraph...but she did it with no complaining (so that's a win!)

If you google "sheet pan meals" you'll get tons of ideas. I just saved a dozen because I'm looking for ways to include more veggies and we like roasted veggies. (We eat too many carbs and I'm trying to cut down...) For us, quick is usually something thrown in the crock pot. Meatballs + sauce, cooked on high for a couple of hours and served with Bob Evans mashed potatoes. Or my kids' favorite: noodles with Parmesan, served with a side of chickpeas (because I require a protein and they like most variety of canned bean, but garbanzo/chickpeas are their favorite). How about pre-made salad bar stuff: hardboiled eggs, deli meat, cheese, etc, plus a bunch of precut veggies.

Wow, talk about instant gratification!

How much would it cost to totally trick my house up with solar panels and water catchment and make my house totally off grid? That'd be cool! But probably more than $50k, right? Then maybe a Treehouse Masters treehouse? If I told them I had a tight budget? The kids would like that. With a zipline.

DH wears blue tooth headphones with their own volume control. That way he can listen to whatever volume he wants and not blow us away.

I'd most like to pay off all our debt and buy a new vehicle. If that would be deemed too practical, I'd want to build an addition onto our house: mud room/laundry and a sunroom/school room. If that's still too boring, I'd fly us somewhere exciting. Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Glacier Nat'l Park, etc. Maybe all of the above, in one whirlwind weekend.