:grouphug: to you and your family. I just found a breakfast casserole in the crockpot recipe this morning. I love that you put it in the night before and it is ready in the AM to eat. http://www.alattewithotta.com/2010/11/crock-pott-recipe-egg-brunch-casserole.html My DH loves friend eggs on toast with mustard. I break the yoke so it cooks faster. My DS eats leftovers for breakfast from dinner the night before. A breakfast pizza is yummy too Leftover pizza Mrs Mungos baked oatmeal is one of our favorites. One DD eats it every week. We put raisins and pecans in when we reheat it.

We just found out we will be moving this summer. DD will need to have one semester of health. What is available? I am not looking for a very detailed course...just one that meets the .5 credit requirement for Alaska.

We have always slept together ( 20 years now). The kids were welcome to make a pallet in our room but the bed is for DH and I only. This weekend we were at a retreat with a king sized bed....neither of us slept very well. My DH says he felt like he spent all night searching for me.....we do touch in the night but mostly we do it in our sleep....just knowing the other is there. Ear plugs are our friends! He wears them if I am snoring and I wear them if he is....or one of us turns around and sleeps at the end of the bed.... It took me a few weeks when we first got married to get used to sleeping with him...now I have a very hard time when he is not home. He was gone for work for a year.....I did get used to sleeping in the middle of the bed while he was gone but loved having him home again!

I got up this morning at there my DD was sitting at the computer getting an early start on her day. This is the DD I was missing last semester.! I am so glad we changed it up. I am going to attend the HS conference in March and see what else is out there along the lines of online. My DD in 6th loves boxed but not online. She loves books. Looking forward to a great year.

In December I felt like I was the problem with our home school year. I was frustrated and wondering about changing back to a boxed curriculum. Here is our update. I took a hard look at our schedule and my expectations. I realized this year is about making sure the foundations are solid for my DD. When we started the year she had huge holes in her grammar and spelling. We are getting a solid foundation in both areas. Her writing assignments have been taken on by my husband who is excited to share his experiences with her. This year has not been a large year credit wise, she will have 4.5 credits for a total of 13.5 credits the end of her sophomore year. I have not counted Literature....we have been using TOG lit so far and as we get in the groove of her classes we may continue and research what is required for a credit. She is not missing any core subjects and will be on track to finish in 2 years. We have Rosetta stone Spanish that we are doing for fun together. She can take it for credit her Jr and Sr year. I reevaluated our curriculum for history and decided to go with a boxed world history. I love TOG and we are continuing the literature from that but decided to change history. Bob Jones had their online classes on sale just before Christmas so I signed her up for World history online. We are both loving the lay out so far. She has found joy in having an online forum of other students to interact with. I think much of her lack of effort during November and December came from a bit of depression or let down from the marching band season of school where she had daily contact with friends. This online class allows her to feel connected as well as gives her daily achievement goals. She has asked me to consider this type of format for next year. We will see how we like it at the end of the course. I have been wondering what to do for 11th grade and wanted to outsource most.....We may have found our answer for what to do next year. We did eliminate symphonic band from our morning schedule. This allows us to get the day started without interruptions. I left the option to her and she is the one that decided for this semester it was better to focus at home. It has been nice to take a breather and work with my daughter in deciding what to pursue. She has really shown some steps in maturity in her decisions. I am glad I did not make the decision for her but allowed her to wrestle through her "want to" vs "works better". I have embraced the fact I am a box curriculum person. I like the known boundaries and expectations. My kids like this setting also and thrive within it. I am surprised I did not realize sooner how we were feeling. We were out of our comfort zone and that left us feeling adrift. Thank you for your encouragement! Looking forward to the rest of this year.

Oh how I wish I had seen this earlier. What a great idea.

Oh Hugs, it can be a little lonely spending Christmas at home when you are accustomed to being around a lot of family for the holidays. Try to focus on memory making activities. Do things you might not do regularly. 1. Make a fort in the living room or set up a tent. 2. plan a special party they can invite their dolls/stuffed animals too....prepare snack plate, make a name card for each guest, lay out a table cloth (sheet) and have a tea party. 3. make home made play doh in several shades and everyone play together....get daddy involved, they make the best things out of play doh 4. make your own pizza even if it is hoggie roll cut in half with toppings on it 5.draw a pretty picture on a window with washable markers 6. movie marathon...how many movies can we watch in the next 2 days? Laugh, hug make memories and take pictures. This could be the Christmas they remember all their lives!

:hurray: This looks good. We are reading Odyssey after Christmas. Thanks for the info

Just thought to check snopes sight..have modified my post.

I love FB and I love keeping in touch with family and friends especially as we move a lot. However many people do not use any security measures to safe guard their FB accounts and anything they post is open to all people. If a person takes a photo of your children and they have geo tagging enabled when they post that photo anyone can see exactly where it was taken. This can be a security hazzard. We do not post photos of our kids on FB and ask others not to either. The stats are amazing about how much FB is used by unethical individuals for everything from Identity theft to stalking and kidnapping. The innocent info people put out about themselves is incredible....to include birthdays, anniversarys, maiden names...all info used to steal an identity. Criminals are crafty. Not posting photos of my kids on FB may not insure they come to no harm....it will insure they come to no harm from FB. To OP you are within your rights as a parent to ask others not to post photos....you are within your right to insist they take nophotos in your home.

:iagree:Ali many make the same assumption. Do not just assume this to be true...check out the facts....the facts say violence rises when guns are taken out of the hands of citizens....then only criminals have them...what do they have to fear?

The facts are startling 'But let's take the issue one step further and examine places where all guns, regardless of make or type, are outlawed: gun-free zones. Are gun-free zones truly safe from guns? John Lott, economist and gun-rights advocate, has extensively studied mass shootings and reports that, with just one exception, the attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, every public shooting since 1950 in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns. The massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine, Virginia Tech and the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, all took place in gun-free zones.' It is amazing that the facts support the truth that less guns = more violence while the press and many politicians want to to hold onto the illusion that more guns = more violence. This concept has me very concerned { Perhaps "gun-free zones" would be better named "defenseless victim zones."} That seems to be the more accurate term

I just finished reading 31 kisses. It is a sweet story that was free. It is not ATM but maybe it will be again. http://www.amazon.com/31-Kisses-ebook/dp/B00A6QOR4I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355792894&sr=8-1&keywords=31+kisses

thanks

Do you have a link for this special? My DD has some Christmas $ from Grandma and wants to get one by adding some of her own money. This would be in her price range. I would be interested in how you find that. Thanks

My friends daughter is int 4th grade. This is her first year homeschooling and it is going well. Except they have encountered fractions! She is stumped at how to explain it to her in a way she can understand. I am hoping some experienced from the hive can point her in a good direction. Are there free sites she can go to? Any games that help develope the concept...kind of like dragon box does with algebra concepts? Thanks

Oh, my! The things we worry about. I think they are self cleaning. My SIL brother got one in Korea and she said he takes it with him wherever he goes. Will not leave home without it. They are a spendy item...gues I need to save my milk money.

Ohh thank you. Possibilities. I think DH and I would really enjoy one.

Hey I heard of these and then saw one somewhere recently. I think it was in a magazine of good gifts. Just wondering if anyone has one? I hear they are popular in Korea. If you have one do your recommend it? I am thinking I would love one but I believe they are expensive. Does anyone know where to get them?

They both look yummy. I guess we will need to try both and vote :drool5: I am sure DH and DS will not mind helping us out. Thanks for posting. Now to dash to the store and get back to make this. I can't wait!

Does anyone have a really yummy peanut butter fudge recipe? I have never made fudge but the girls and I would like to make it. An easy tried and true recipe would be greatly appreciated.

I guess by cheap ckalkdust you are meaning the DVD's sold by the textbook company? I had those for Pre Calculus and had questions. I called Chalkdust and Mr Mosley was very helpful. He even sent me a lesson plan he had made. It did not matter to him that is was not from chalkdust. I think you can buy the CD you need that covers the material from chalkdust. He will know what you need.

Oh thanks. I am looking forward to this. I have not heard Prof Vandiver. I will have to look into that as well. Something we can listen to sounds wonderful. Could this be DL onto a kindle fire or ipad? These will be Christmas gifts so I am unfamiliar with what we can do.

I make this one on Christmas morning as my SIL is allergic to eggs. Other times of year we eat for dinner. Sausage Casserole 1 lb mild sausage browned with 1 chopped onion and 1 green pepper chopped. Add 2 cans cream of chicken soup and 1 1/4 cup minute rice (uncooked) add half a bag of sharp cheese.Mix all this together and bake covered for 1 1/2 hours at 325. (90 minutes) another favorite my DD 11 makes on her turn to cook uses 3 can of soup....This always gets rave reviews Chicken casserole 2 chicken breasts cooked, shredded and put in bottom of 9X 13 pan combine 1 each cream of chicken, cream of celery, cream of mushroom and 1 can water in pan on stove. Add 1/2 stick butter and bring to boil. Add 1 cup rice and boil for 1 minute before pouring over chicken. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Enjoy!

My kids vote for loading fruit ninja and temple run - both games Also the game dragon box is a fun math game that teaches algebra concepts. I found that recommendation here in the board.