The bread will up your blood sugar too... but your numbers were fine after breakfast. It seems to me like those two extra pieces of chocolate may have done you in. I'd definitely up your proteins and fats a little bit, though, it may help stabilize. How processed is the sausage? Some brands have added sugar as well, which may have had an effect.

I don't have a 5th grader... but I didn't know caudal. I had to look it up. ;)

I love getting new things by mail.. whether I'm getting books, or art supplies, or whatever. It seriously makes the rest of my day. :D

Exactly what I was going to say. Great news @ the MRIs!

Our budget is currently $500 for a family of 3. We don't regularly get the grass-fed beef, though, don't currently have the freezer space for half a cow and it's very expensive otherwise. We eat lots and lots of veggies (mostly frozen), eggs, meats, and fruit. DH isn't totally paleo, so he gets some cereals and other snacky type foods. We also get my son some more carby foods.

FWIW, it was the complete opposite for me, growing up - I lived in The Netherlands, and my mom (who is from the US) was trying to teach me English. I had that same resistance to English that your son seems to be having to Dutch. I refused to reply in English to anything my mom was saying, no matter how hard she tried. ;) However, she did keep exposing me to the language, and I learned to understand it perfectly (though I still wouldn't speak it). When I was around English relatives, I could communicate with them. I don't remember how much I actually spoke in English to them, but I definitely had no problem understanding them. Once we moved to the US, I picked it up right away. I think I was in ESL for the first half of fourth grade because I had a pretty thick accent, but I was good to go from there. The point behind all this is, I guess - exposure really does make a difference. He may not want to speak in Dutch, but if you keep exposing him to it he'll at least get an understanding of it, which is really the toughest part. Once he's older and willing to actually study the language, it should be a lot easier for him to pick up.

I think it really depends on the student's learning style and how well the textbook is written. I personally love textbooks (for myself). I get a thrill from reading this books. However, I have to really research to find a high quality textbook. I have only found a few that I felt are really high quality - and they all tended to be older, college-level texts. Part of the reason textbooks are probably considered bad is because it simply is really that difficult to find high quality textbooks at the level that you need them to be at... but that may just be my opinion.

I've only ever heard kitty cornered... I'm in the NW.

I'd be curious to know if someone said something to him about this - a friend maybe? Maybe he read something? If it's not something that is an issue in every day life, I don't see how something like that would even be an issue. It may be worth talking to him to see why this is an issue for him.

The hCg doesn't really do anything. It's generally the small amount of calories that you are allowed that does the trick. These hCg diets have actually caused quite a bit of health issues in people, and most definitely is not sustainable. Try LCHF. If you really want to lose weight, try no grains or starches (including corn, rice, potatoes), no added sugar, no fruits, no dairy, and lots of good fats and proteins (but no nuts or legumes) with D3 and Omega 3. Grass fed if you can, organic when needed. Eat until you are satiated, then stop (watch your calories, but don't starve yourself - this could make it harder to lose weight). Add foods back in if you are progressing quickly enough or if you find that certain foods don't effect you negatively. Other foods that may effect you badly are nightshades (tomatoes, eggplant, sweet/hot peppers) and eggs. These may impede digestive function or compromise joint function. Some of paleo/primal style diets recommend taking these out for at least a couple weeks and slowly adding them back in to see if they effect you. They may not. Something that has worked for some people is to up your carb intake once a week. I personally haven't tried this, but if you find yourself stalled this may help. Lifting heavy will also help - the added muscle makes your body more effective at burning fat. Cardio doesn't tend to do as good a job as lifting does - this can be bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, weight lifting, etc. You don't need to do a lot. No more than 45 minutes to an hour every other day is recommended if you are lifting heavy. Your body needs to recover. Some form of starch (I usually use sweet potato or squash) right after a workout is recommended. Definitely start light, and increase weight as you get more used to the exercise. The important part to remember, however, is that you have to look at all around health, not just weight loss. You could stop eating until you reach your goal weight, but is that healthy? No. Many lose weight fast diets are not good for you in the long term. Another thing to remember is that food/exercise effects different people in different ways. LCHF is tried and true, but can be tough to maintain. If you need to eat a little bit higher carb to maintain your diet, do so. Diets don't do anything for you if you can't maintain them. You need to play around with whatever you end up deciding to do, and figure out what works for you.

Since he has at least some background in the language, at this age I'd really just expose him to more of it. There are Dutch radio channels available online to stream - just have one of those going during the day. Encourage your DH to speak Dutch. Dutch movies/TV shows are great too - uitzendinggemist.nl has a bunch of shows (including kids shows). I personally have always been a fan of Klokhuis (it's a lot like How It's Made) and I believe they have shows like the Teletubbies/Sesame Street/etc as well. There are also a lot of clips on Youtube. Something else you could do is watch the Dutch news (nos.nl, rtl.nl). It will be a little difficult for him, especially if his Dutch is very rusty, but it'll make the nuances of the language feel a lot more natural. There aren't a lot of actual programs that I would recommend for Dutch to begin with, especially younger kids. Once he's older, books such as Teach Yourself Dutch and even a news article/dictionary will help him move into the written side of things. You could also get books for younger kids and slowly work through those with him. Annemarie Bon's books (http://www.annemariebon.nl/boeken/6_plus/) were the first ones I learned to read in first grade (I can't believe I could still remember the titles of some of the books today!). Get your husband to read them with him and translate them, if he's willing. They are very simple, and would expose him to the written side of things.

My son isn't quite old enough to be playing it. However, I am. And I'm addicted. ;) It's a really fun game, and it's definitely a time suck. I could easily spend hours on it if I don't watch my time. However, I also see it as being very valuable. For younger kids, I see it reinforcing skills taught in school - particularly math (calculating how big something needs to be, how many materials you need, etc), geography (learning about different types of terrain such as tundra, the ores and how they can combine and be processed), geometry (shapes) and architecture/design (goes without saying). For older kids and even adults, it can teach you some new things as well. I learnt a lot of basic logic/computer science skills through playing with redstone, and then researching it further to make my contraptions more effective. There is also something called "note blocks" which could teach one about notes, octaves, chords - and mixed with the redstone, you could have them create their own songs if you would like them to. The game is also complicated enough where you can really practice those problem solving and research skills. There are also a lot of modifications available that allow you to expand even more - there is ComputerCraft, which allows you to program in game (through Lua); RedPower2/BuildCraft, which let you to expand the redstone capabilities and technical side of the game; Forestry, which among other things can teach you about genetics by breeding bees. There are hundreds of these mods available for free online. You could also play online or over a LAN connection, which allows you to play with other players. It really is what you put into it. It can be an addicting time suck, but it can also be a tool you could use for educational purposes if you chose to do so. I also highly recommend the PC version over XBox/iPad. Faster updates, more content, and mods. Also, non-portable.

We usually get one pizza and tip about $3-4 when we get it delivered. At our current house, though, no one delivers, so I've been tipping myself instead. ;) EDIT: And unless it's changed in the last 4 years since I've worked at a pizza joint, delivery drivers usually get just barely over the minimum wage (to 'compensate' for gas).

I'm not doing SC, but I'm doing Paleo (with some extra starchy carbs during pregnancy). I've been Paleo for years, and it's been very valuable and has greatly improved my health. Though, the one cheat day a week that he recommends is very tempting at times. ;)

Yes, I got that one right when it came out. Ferriss has a very fun style of writing, I've read each of his books many times. :)

Just finished Redwall, thanks to the wonderful people here who informed me it was free on the Kindle. ;) 3. Redwall, by Brian Jacques 2. Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, by Andrew Carnegie 1. 4 Hour Chef, by Tim Ferriss

*hugs*

No clue what that is... born in the 90s, though. :p

BBC and Al Jazeera. If something really interests me, I try to look at lots of different stories from different countries to get a pretty solid view of what's happening.

Finally finished my second book. A bit behind for the year, but oh well. I'll catch up. The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie was quite good, but hard to follow at times due to his style of writing. I enjoyed seeing how he looked at the events of the time from a business standpoint, and I was able to gleam lots of little ideas that will help me with my business in the future. All in all, a valuable read. For 2013: 2. The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie 1. The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

I'm STILL getting college mail, and I graduated last year. Not going to lie, it's making me miss college a bit. I've started researching Master's degrees in my free time. ;)

Life is so full of learning opportunities? What are you doing right now to continue expanding your own knowledge? I'm currently taking a couple courses on Coursera: * Fundamentals of Personal Financial Planning * The Modern World: Global History since 1760 * MicroEconomics for Managers And I'm also reading a couple books (WTM, The Lean Startup).

Central WA University has one of the top Army ROTC programs in the nation (DH's Ranger Challenge team got 1st place External for the Sandhurst competition last year).. The school has a couple pretty strong programs.

There are several options you could ask about... A1C, a regular fasting blood draw, checking your own glucose for a couple weeks... I'm planning on refusing my GD test because it would really mess me up, and I'd be happy to do any of those tests. I just can't stand the drink... and in all reality, who would chug a glass of sugar? I just don't see it being good for me and definitely not for the baby.

My son eats what I eat - but I do usually add a carb to the side. This tends to be sweet potato, a starchy vegetable or rice most the time, occasionally regular potatoes. I still keep him gluten/corn-free when I can, but when we're out I don't enforce this at all.