ME!!!!!

:lurk5:

That's what I was thinking!

My older son has the most perfect lips. Truly. He is going to make some lucky woman very happy when he gets married. :D My youngest son is adopted from Korea and I love to stare at his beautiful Asian eyes...perfect almond shape with long, thick, dark lashes. When they are sleeping, I could stare at them all night.

LOL...no.... BUT we are about to get a new vehicle and we are looking to the future...wink, wink... possible foster/adoption of 4 siblings...IF we can move back to NC this summer as we hope. It is all very hypothetical at this point but we'd like to have the right vehicle just in case. :D

We are in the middle of it...5 inches and it is still falling with an expected total of 10 inches.

Thanks!!!!!

I only have one that I don't share...everything else is up for grabs.

The only thing I ever did was marijuana.

I was 15yo at a party in high school. I partied a lot until I was about 25 yo. Then I grew up.

Would this be on the Pre-Algebra level or an Algebra 1 level?

No, I don't think so. It teaches children to write using models from good writing. You don't stay there...you move on to writing from research, etc. This is just the starting point.

I think the underlying idea is practices that are considered "illegal" by the government, being allowed under the idea of "religious freedom". The question is about animal sacrifice but really you could subsitutue about any practice and claim "religious freedom" allows you to do it. But where do we draw the line? How do you say "Sure, animal sacrifice is OK for religious purposes but polygamy is not"? At one point homeschooling was illegal too then some challenged it on the basis of religious freedom and now it is legal (which is a good thing for us). But the whole idea of protecting religious freedom begs the question, where do you draw the line? I doubt the USA would ever allow human sacrifice but what about men marrying underage girls and claiming it as "part of their religion"? Freedom can be a slippery slope.....

I thought about this as well. If animal sacrifice is protected under religious freedom, why not polygamy? Not that I would participate in either :D but still, just wondering....

I love that my kids will keep their own unique personalities instead of being forced to conform to the group in order to survive. I love that my kids will learn at their own pace and not the pace of the group. I love that my kids will learn OUR family values and not the values of some stranger they spend all day with. I love that my kids do not know how to bully someone and don't have to suffer from being bullied. I love that my dh and I are the primary influences in their lives and pleasing us is far more important to them than pleasing their peers. I love that we can show our children God's hand in all that they do and learn instead of them spending most of their waking hours being taught that "man is the measure of all things".

:grouphug: My dh's parents smoked the whole time he was growing up. They finally quit and 7 years AFTER quitting his mom got lung cancer and died. :( My grandfather died of cancer from smoking too. And right now my brother smokes and so does my best friend. I worry about them all the time. And I worry about my dh because even though he has NEVER touched a cigarette, he was exposed to second hand smoke for 15 years. I know the addiction is hard to break but so is living without the person who wouldn't quit.

No, it isn't a "torture" issue necessarily but do you think their practices fall under "freedom of religion"?

I have temper issues for sure but I try really hard to keep them in check however.... That video game crap has to stop. He is a grown man for goodness sake and I have no patience for that. Three hours a night playing videogames is not a good example for your kids and it is time that he is NOT spending with you and the kids. Find something you can all do as a family (board games? puzzles? we like to play Wii sports all together). I HAVE been there. It wasn't videogames, but a few years back my hubbie was an internet junkie...always on the computer surfing the net...for hours at a time. I stewed and stewed and eventually I blew up. I told him I was going to take a sledge hammer to the computer if he didn't get off of it. I'm pretty sure he thought I was a lunatic!:D But the fact is I was starved for attention from him. I didn't destroy the computer but we did do something semi-drastic. We cancelled our internet service for a month to let him "detox". It worked. Now if either of us feel like we are spending too much time on the computer we will do an internet "fast" and turn off the computer for a week. Now as to the yelling from you...can't help you there as I am still working on it myself BUT you do need to get to the bottom of exactly what is making you angry. Is it the WoW game or is it a lack of attention from your dh?

A CERTAIN COUNTY HAS OUTLAWED THE ABUSE OF ANIMALS. A QUESTION HAS ARISEN CONCERNING A CERTAIN RELIGIOUS GROUP THAT PRACTICES ANIMAL SACRIFICES, INCLUDING THE SACRIFICES OF CHICKENS, GOATS, AND OTHER ANIMALS. WOULD YOU BE IN FAVOR OF ALLOWING THIS GROUP TO PRACTICE ANIMAL SACRIFICES FREELY, LIMIT THEIR PRACTICES IN ANY WAY, OR COMPLETELY OUTLAW THEM? This ought to be interesting.....:D....I could use some deep discussion to wake me up this morning!

Wow. I had no idea there were mini-vans that had 8 full seats for passengers. This vehicle would need to seat two adults up front, 6 kids in the back, with 4 of those seats being car seats/boosters. Would these really fit? I thought the only option for this type of seating would be a full size van.

What are one's choices for 8 passenger vehicles? The typical mini-van only seats 7. Thanks!

I posted about our results with IEW a few weeks ago (writing sample): http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69621 This is the FIRST program I have been able to get any results with. Best of luck!

I just bought your book and I LOVE the idea of a CD to go with it!!!! Just in case you've got nothing else to do...:D

I am using the ancients right now and I did not order the TM and haven't needed it. A sketchy schedule looks something like this (but varies): day 1- read lesson, read sample paragraph, do key-word outline, rewrite from memory with KWO day 2- work on strong verbs, adverbs (IEW calls them LY words), quality adjectives, alliteration, vocab words, etc. day 3- work on dress-ups and sentence openers day 4- final draft with checklist Now some assignments have 3 paragraphs which means that it may take us 3 weeks to do a lesson but ds is a reluctant writer and we have had fabulous results with this method so I am sticking with it. I figure he'll get faster at it as he becomes more familiar with the program. HTH.

:banghead: I am fond of saying that I don't know why they call it "gifted" when it doesn't feel like much of a "present". And I personally believe that gifted is the technical term for sassy-mouthed-thinks-he-is-an-adult-know-it-all. :D Seriously though, my ds has the compassion and empathy and mercy and sensitivity that most ADULTS can't compare with BUT if you are one of those parents who wants immediate obedience the first time you ask...look elsewhere. I don't know that I would call him "defiant" necessarily but he definitely wants a reason for everything and "Because I told you so" doesn't work so well. I often have to remind him who is the adult and who is the child. And I call him "Monty Hall" because it seems like we play "Let's make a deal" all the time: me- I want you to do these 25 math problems him- that's too many! how about 15? me-no 25. him-how about I do 15 and get them all correct and then I can stop? Here is my favorite from his early years. The kid would not sleep in his own bed and we tried everything! He was about 4yo and I told him he would HAVE to sleep in his own bed now and he said "Mom, I don't think that is fair. You have Daddy to keep you company at night and you are an adult. I am just a kid and I have to sleep alone? If anyone should have to sleep alone it should be adults, not kids!" My response? "Hop in" I can't argue with that logic.:D So is he "defiant"? Sometimes. Does he question pretty much everything I say? You betcha.