My mother-in-law has Parkinson's and she has very acid smell. She is trying to hide that with the perfume, but result is not good.... 😞

I love Christmas because I love to cook and bake. That's my time to go crazy. 🙂 As a family we are not gift giving / receiving kind of people. My thirteen years old son told me that he does not want anything for Christmas, and that made my life easier. 😄 I usually knit or crochet something for my family and friends. Those gifts are not secret because they can see them when I am working on them. I have no desire to hide my knitting project and then find out that it does not fit. During the Christmas time we take time to reflect on year that is coming to the end. We love to write a "Memory Letter" where we write everything that we liked that year. Each family member writes few sentences and we save that letter and read it later. We add few printed photos in the envelope with letter. It's cool to see my sons face when he opens old letters and sees for example his photos from when he was three years old, and reads that he loved his mom (me) more than macaroni and cheese. 😄

I understand how you feel. We had a "losing our family photos" scare last week. Thank God, we were able to save them. Is there any legal action that you can take against her?

Here is an update on our family photos recovery. We got our photos back!!! 😃 A company that we hired has done a fantastic job. I highly recommend them. They are in Atlanta, and they have customers from all over the USA. I am not sure if I can post their information, but If you want the info, feel free to send me a private message.

Rachel, thank you for the suggestion. I will check Carbonite.

J-rap, I didn't know that they last only up to 10 years. It could be that it had lived its life. We did not try to open it or "fix" it, so I hope that company I found will be able to help us.

I have found a company in Atlanta. I will go there on Friday. I hope they will be able to save photos.

For years I stored our family photos on a 1T external Toshiba drive. Yesterday morning that thing stopped working. I do not remember dropping it, but there is a possibility that was dropped on the floor. Maybe, that's the reason why is not working. I feel horrible.... can't stop crying... If you live in the Atlanta area, or you know a good company (anywhere in the USA) that can help us get back our files, please post info here. I appreciate help and advice!!!

Jackie, thank you so much for sharing this link.

My son is 10, and he has dyslexia. I am interested to try this because he has a hard time with lots of colors in his books. I usually have to make black and white copies of materials that we use. Your samples do not have lots of bright colors, and maybe that could work for him.

Segway, thanks for sharing!

No, it's not just you. I have learned my lesson with Minecraft, and I promised to myself ... never again. :-) Instead of chasing Pokemons, we work in the garden, take pictures, play with friends...

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you redsquirrel!

Would you be so kind to share link for WLMA intro expository writing class? Thanks in advance!

We started school today too. I was more excited about it than my son. Everything went well. Hope to have another great day tomorrow. We have oniy 179 more days to go. :)

rwilkenfeld and HHW Academy, thank you veru much for the info. I need something that is not so ridgid. I think I will stick with my printed planned. :)

Thank you Amy Jo!

I just discoverd Homeschool Skedtrack, and I need more info about it. I would appreciate your opinion (pros and cons) if you are user. Thanks in advance!

We like Math-U-See.

We would be interested too.

Our problems with messy room and closet stopped when I told my 9 years old DS that I will charge him $20.00 per hour to clean up his room. He did not believe me, until one day... when I cleaned his room and he had to pay me for my work. :)

My son is 9, and he is also dyslexic. We use Winston Grammar, AAR,AAS, and MUS. This school year, I signed him to IEW class at our local co.op. I was hoping it will help him with writing. Unfortunately, he hates it. It is too hard for him, and he can't follow instructions. Wildwood, thank you so much for sharing info about Classical Academic Press Writing and Rhetoric. It looks great!

Thank you Ruth!

Sounds interesting. I have to check it.