As a going away gift, a colleague gave me a gift certificate for amazon.com. I have a Kindle and this gift would allow me to buy about 3 books. I want to purchase some fiction for the plane ride and I typically read a lot of non-fiction. So I don't know what to buy. What are the three BEST fiction titles you have read lately?

Cherokee is a great town! Sorry I will miss you. :(

awww....man....I would love for you to come up! boo hoo..... :(

My dh is doing better...not great but better. And I just got that book last night! I am so excited to read it (the author even signed it!).

We are going to be in western NC for about a week or so. We have close friends down there that we will be visiting. They have 10 acres with a barn that they have renovated into a fellowship hall. Well, we are going to have a big barbecue-praise-and-worship shindig at their barn while we are there and you are all INVITED! They have a huge screen that they show videos on and put the words to the songs, a full band with drums and guitar and keyboards, etc. We are going to grill hamburgers and hotdogs, spend some time fellowshipping, some time with praise and worship music, possibly listen to a short talk on "the Great Commission" and spend some time in prayer. Then it is volleyball and a bonfire with s'mores, etc. etc. etc. It will be on Friday, July 3rd from 4pm to whenever! All night! They live in Nebo, NC, which is about 45 minutes west of Asheville off of I-40. If you want to come, pm me and I will give you the address. We just ask that you bring a dish to pass (we'll provide the burgers and hot dogs) and of course kids are welcome ...the more the merrier! You can fit a lot of people on 10 acres! I would love to see you there as it is sort of our "send-off" before we leave for Malaysia. Also, if you are worried about the drive, you can pitch a tent or a pop-up or whatever on their property and sleep there Friday night before heading home. There are 3 bathrooms for your ...ummm..."use" :D (but no showers as their well can't handle that many). Interested? PM ME!!!! WOO HOO! I am SOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!

This is the main reason we went with international adoption...to avoid this very situation. If our ds chooses to try and seek out his bio mom (which will be nearly impossible) he can do so as an adult but we will not facilitate that. I am a child of adoption and I look at it this way...I am just glad I was not aborted...and I leave it at that.

anybody else?

Of course! You Canadians are certainly foreign to me! KIDDING! :lol:

In our district, social promotion is almost always the parent's choice and not the teacher's (at the elementary level). Most times, the teachers want to hold the child back and the parents insist that they be moved on. At least that's how it goes here.

If you live outside the U.S. and you have a blog, will you post the address here? I want to make a list of blogs to read from those living abroad. My blog address is below.... thanks!!!

We will be in the Asheville area (sort of...between Marion and Morganton off of I-40). It's interesting...today I feel like "oh well, no big deal"...after I made such a fuss about the clubs at first. I'm kind of embarrassed now. :tongue_smilie:

You are so sweet! Hey, I know you are flat on your back right now but we are going to be in NC from June 27-July 5....hint, hint.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

These replies made me so teary-eyed. :001_wub:

So we show up at my FIL's for a barbecue today and of course the first thing nephew wanted to know was where the golf clubs are. We told him they are in the back of the van. He went outside, took them out of our van, put them in his van and never said a word. No "thank you" ...nothing. :glare: I felt that same resentful spirit rearing its ugly head in me but I beat it back down, bit my tongue and did my best to let it go. God is still working on me. :tongue_smilie:

Thank you all for your advice. Here is the deal....a lot of this has to do with me if I am being truthful. I come from a very generous, close-knit family. They will do anything for you, give you the shirt off their back even if it is the last one they have. When we were adopting our youngest from Korea, the day came to "pay up" and we were short. My brother, who is not rich by any means, gave us a present of $2000 so we could pay for the adoption. He has never mentioned it since. My husband's family OTOH is the CHEAPEST, STINGIEST, most non-generous people I have ever met. They won't do anything for anyone. When we first married we bought the house dh grew up in from dh's dad at a really good price. I thought wow, what a great guy. BUT HE NEVER LET US FORGET IT. I have listened for 13 years about it. :glare: When we first married and were struggling we asked his dad for a loan of $3000 that we needed for many reasons. He said NO. He has LOTS of money, over a million in the bank. My mom gave us the money even though she only makes $12 an hour. And we paid her back within the year even though she refused to take it back (I called the loan place for her car and put it all toward her balance...you have to be sneaky with that woman :D). Anyways, my point is I reacted strongly about the clubs because these are not people down on their luck. They are just cheap people who always want something for nothing and have no problem asking it of people they barely know, family or not. This is not about building relationships. I can guess that my nephew probably asked his mom for clubs and she told him to call his uncle and ask to borrow them instead. Even though she can't stand her brother she has no problems asking this of him. BUT We talked last night and after prayer and time to cool off....as a father's day gift to my husband who wants to be the bigger person in this, I told him to give the clubs to his nephew and I will buy him a new set for father's day. I need to be more gracious to those who are unkind to me so I could learn a lot from my husband in this. :blushing:

My husband is an awesome father because....... 1. he wrestles and plays with the boys every day 2. he is devoted to them 100% and is actively involved in their care and education (including doing lessons with them) 3. he still thinks "passing gas" is funny and this is important to young boys :001_rolleyes: 4. he shares the housekeeping duties equally which is not only a good example for our boys but gives us both more time to spend with the boys 5. he teaches them things about fixing things around the house and cars 6. he likes to watch America's Funniest Home Videos with them (a show they love and I abhor). 7. he takes them fishing and hiking and other outdoorsy things that I am not good with 8. most importantly, he teaches them about God and how they are to live thier lives to the glory of HIM. YOUR TURN!!! :D

UPDATE ON #25 OK, so here is the background... My husband and his sister are not close at all. Never have been. The only time we ever see or talk to her, her husband, and her kids is birthdays and holidays. We have polite conversation at these events but that is it. Dh and his sister never got along so polite conversation is a big step. Today, out of nowhere, her 16yo son (our nephew) called my dh and asked him if he is taking his golf clubs to Malaysia when we move. We have decided not to bring them for now (we have good reasons) but we may bring them later. Nephew wants to know if he can "borrow" the clubs while we are gone. My dh, who has issues with setting boundaries with people, says yes (he always says yes to everything). Right after he gets off the phone he starts to regret it. But he feels like he already said yes so he has to do it now. 1. Dh's clubs are a very nice, rather expensive set. 2. When you "borrow" something from someone for TWO YEARS (maybe longer) I think that is called owning it? 3. After using the clubs multiple times over a two year time span the clubs are not going to be in very good shape. This family is not known for taking good care of their belongings. Personally, I think it is rather presumptuous to call your relative that you only talk to a few times a year and barely know and ask to "borrow" and use a very expensive item for two years! I think dh should tell nephew he changed his mind. Dh feels guilty aboout saying yes then taking it back. What says the hive?

My ds (11yo) loves contemporary christian music and some christian rock. My little guy (5yo) likes veggietales. :D

:iagree:

:iagree: We left the grooves and just painted over them and it turned out quite charming!

It is definitely a different mind-set. I taught in public schools for 11 years and have a master's degree in education. I was taught the "sage on the stage" philosophy of teaching. Now I consider myself more of a "guide on the side". It took a while to grasp the idea that my kids could learn without me directing their every movement. In school kids are taught to dutifully sit in their desk, face forward, and listen to the wise teacher tell them everything they should know. I want my kids to learn HOW to learn. If you teach your child how to read, they can learn ANYTHING. I was like that as a child...an independent learner forced to sit in a mind-numbingly boring class and listen to the teacher go blah, blah, blah. And the same thing happened in college. All I really wanted was the book and someone to ask questions of if I had any. I am working on my 2nd master's degree right now and I am doing classes online. I love it! They give me the books and assignments, I work at my own pace, I ask questions when I have them. Example: my ds just finished up 5th grade. His history was Famous Men of Greece/Rome. He would read a story and answer questions about it (from Greenleaf press). Often, his writing assignment would be about that story. He did this all on his own. At dinner, we sit and talk all about the story he read as a family. I did not "instruct" him...I just gave him the information and let him have at it. And he was able to tell us all about what he read. In my book, that's learning. He also did Henle Latin. He has had PL, LCI and LCII (on DVD) so he has a nice base of knowledge. He reads the information in Henle, does the practice exercises, checks his work against the key, redoes the ones he got wrong. He is learning Latin quite well and I don't know a lick of it. Those are just a few examples. I enjoy watching him discover new things and I enjoy talking with him about his discoveries. It is a little humbling to realize that not only can they learn without you, they can even learn in spite of you. :D p.s. that's also why I think the argument that a parent can't homeschool unless they have a teaching degree is ridiculous.

Can I tell you something? When I was 14yo I was boy-crazy too (but really only in theory). My best friend started "going with" a 16yo boy. His best friend liked me and she thought it would be fun if the 4 of us could hang out together so she pressured me to "go with" him. I did. He was 16yo and had a car. He picked me up for a date. My mom let me go because she thought it was "cute" and "harmless". I remember VERY CLEARLY sitting in a restaurant with this boy thinking I wish my mom would have said no. I was worried about what may or may not happen after dinner was over...what he would be expecting of me. And I knew that whatever it was I would probably do it because I didn't want to be "uncool" or seen as a baby. Luckily, he didn't pressure me to do more than kiss him (that time). But the point is, as much as I fought for my right to "date" him, what I really wanted was for my mom to SHUT IT DOWN. I needed to be able to blame her for it because it was to uncool to say I wasn't ready for it. I deliberately did things that were against the rules (like come home past curfew from a date) so that she would get mad and stop me from seeing him. And I acted mad and fought like crazy with her but deep down I was so relieved. Sometimes a parent HAS to be the bad cop so their children can save face with their peers.

Darn it. No pickle? Now what am I going to leave under the bed? :D

Wow. The quote in your signature is SO TRUE.