It's going fairly well. I have completed my director training and will be going to a Practicum in a few weeks. I have one tutor so far and have 2 more information meetings planned. My state manager emailed me a packet that gives details on how to have a successful info meeting and my first one went well. I am in the final phases of securing a facility now. I am just trying to spread the word to everyone and get families signed up. I haven't begun to look at supplies and stuff like that until I have an idea of how many students we will have. If you decide to do it, let me know and we can try to help each other.

We had lunch there Sunday after church and I called Sunday evening when I realized it was gone. They assured me they looked everywhere and it was not there. I tore the house apart looking for it and finally went to the restaurant a few days later with a picture and the manager said, "Oh, yeah, I threw that away". He received quite a tongue lashing from me, and I normally don't do stuff like that. I felt sick to my stomach and locked myself in my laundry room to cry. Happy ending, I got another one on ebay (for $30!?!?!?! it was a discontinued item from the Carter's John Lennon collection) and ds doesn't seem to know the difference. It's been about 2 weeks and he hasn't mentioned it. I still get sick when I think about original lovey in the landfill somewhere. Glad Orange is home.

At our hs convention, the speaker was Ginger Plowman and she told us about this website. It plans your menu based on what's on sale at the store you specify. You can get family, low-fat, low-carb or points plan meals. The subscription is $15 for 3 months of weekly meals. I use the points plan menu that serves up to 6. I have been using it a couple of weeks and really like it. It gives me 7 meals for the week and I cross 2 of them off (We usually have leftovers, pizza or something a couple of times a week). So far the kids and dh have liked the meals I have made. There are 2 pages, the first one lists the 7 meals, ingredients and directions (they are all easy and quick). Some have side dishes and some have desserts. The second page is the shopping list with current prices and a total at the bottom. There are samples on the website. I hate menu planning and grocery shopping and this has made my life so much easier! e-mealz

We were in a group in Memphis and loved it, but then we moved. I am starting a group here in Wichita and am excited but I'm a little nervous about enrollment. We are fairly new to town and I don't know a whole bunch of people yet. I already have a couple of moms interested in tutoring and hopefully they can help me build the program. Any advice from other directors, tutors or members?

she was so excited and couldn't wait to start. Then she started crying during her first lap. It was hard. She'd never done anything so physically hard before. The coach was very encouraging and she eventually got the hang of it and built up her endurance, I think it took several weeks. She still isn't the fastest, but she's not the slowest either. I think it's good to hang in there for a predetermined amount of time. HTH

That was good information from everyone! I was worried about the harshness of a cleanse on their little bodies. The diet change sounds the safest and most effective route. They have been tested. Ds 5 is allergic to most weeds, grasses, trees, mold, dust mites, dogs, feathers. Also tested allergic to milk and pork. Ds 3 tested allergic to egg, pork and cats. They are both on allergy meds now that seems to be keeping us out of respiratory distress, but I want to try the diet change and see if we can cut back or eliminate the meds over time. Thanks again

My boys have terrible allergies - environment, animals, foods, etc. Someone recommended I do a cleanse on them and it would help alleviate some of our problems. I have done lots of internet reading, but wanted to see if any of you had done this with success and is it safe for a 5 and 3 year old. Should I start with colon, liver, kidney, parasites? Thanks

I don't know why they put the B in there. Also, "sandlich" (sandwich) is pretty common around here. My youngest cousin used to call shrimp "chicken lobsters"

My dh plays sax in a swing band, I understand!

So is your dh the one singing and playing the piano?

It was just wrong of them to give the "Man with the Yellow Hat" a name.

I enjoy discussing homeschool and parenting issues with all of you, but I have decided I agree with Anj and this isn't the place for political debates. Nothing you say can change my mind and nothing I say can change yours.

I first heard in on the CD that came with "Secret Keeper Girl", but found this printed one online here. There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in a beautiful antique store. This trip was to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked, "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand." It said, "I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, 'Don't do that. I don't like it, Let me alone,'" but he only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet!!" "Then-WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it - I'm getting so dizzy I'm going to be sick!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said quietly, "Not yet." He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then..... Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. 'Help, get me out of here!' I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet." When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good. 'Ah, this is much better,' I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please. Stop it, Stop it!' I cried. He only shook his head and said. "Not yet!" Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited------- and waited, wondering what's he going to do to me next? An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!" Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember." Then he said, "I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone you'd have dried up." "I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled." "I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked." "I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any co lor in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you." The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing in each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will. So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.... Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest teacup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter. Mister Ed Favorite Stories 12:36 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

we joined a new church in November that has an Awana program. Since my 2nd grade girls had never been in AWANA before, they started with the 1st Sparks book they would have done in K. They finished the K, 1st and 2nd books all since November. It was a LOT of memory work, I was very proud of them.

my dc are 8, 8, 5, 3. I will be using Core 2 and the little guys will listen in while playing close by (hopefully, if not I may schedule the readings while they are napping!)

I would start with MFW and then move to SOTW.

Happy for you and your family!

I just sat and read through these suggestions with her and we're going to give it all a try. Thanks for all your suggestions.

about 2x a week. They told her she only had to clean them 2x a day for the first 6 weeks and she did that religiously. Now she only cleans when she changes them. We ran out of the stuff they gave us and she's been using either perioxide or alcohol since then. I thought about it being the earrings, but thought that if she had sensitive ears, she would have problems on both sides. I'm going to get her some 14 kt to see if that helps. I just want this ear to heal and get it over with! Her twin sister says she's never getting hers pierced because this has been so much trouble (plus she's terrified of the needle, she wouldn't even watch while sis had hers done!) Thanks

my dd got her ears pierced a year ago this week. She is still having problems with one of them. It gets crusty and scabby and oozes white stuff. Gross. But only sometimes. Could it be the earrings? She wears hypoallergenic and likes to change them 2-3 times a week. What can I do to get this to heal once and for all?

we just moved here in September from TN

came to visit when the twins were about 18 mo old. I was scrambling the girls eggs for breakfast. My mom enters the kitchen and tells me that the eggs are too hard and "you can't feed that to those babies". I gave her a good "Muuuther," rolled my eyes and I told her I was perfectly capable of feeding my children. I put the eggs on their plates and went in the other room to change. I came back in the kitchen to find my eggs in the garbage and my mother preparing new eggs for the girls. I was so furious! I am a keep it in for 30 years until you explode kind of person and I exploded that morning. Mom packed her stuff and left. 2 weeks later she called and started chit chatting like nothing had ever happened.

I prayed yesterday for God to show me for certain what to believe in this matter. I had a dream about it all last night. My dream was that I came on the board to check the reply posts to the message and every poster was telling me to stay away from Lisa. In my Bible reading this morning was Psalm 16. Verse 7 says "I will praise the Lord. He gives me good advice. Even at night my heart teaches me."

First of all I want to apologize if this comes off as offensive to any one who may be involved in this type of treatment/healing. I am totally ignorant of this and just want to make sure my Mom is not being led into something that goes against our belief in God. If it is valid, I am making an appointment myself! Here's the background: My mom went into a health food store looking for a supplement some friends had suggested for the symptoms she was having. While in the store, another customer overheard her talking to the worker and came over. The customer took the supplement bottle and held it to my mother's abdomen and paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. Then she said, "you don't need this" and proceeded to "diagnose" my mother right there in the store. Told her what her body was lacking and what she needed to be taking and how much. She also told Mom that my step-Dad (who was not there) had parasites and needed to take some other stuff. The supplements worked and Mom's symptoms disappeared. As it turns out, this lady, Lisa, has her own health food store in another town. Mom has been to see her 2 or 3 other times since then for "evaluations". She's told mom about different stuff she has going on, physical and emotional, and given her recommended supplements and instructions on releasing her hurt and anger over certain relationships (reading daily in Psalms and reciting a certain prayer out loud several times a day). Lisa has also given one of Mom's friends an evaluation over the phone. Lisa "read" her body over the phone and told her several things that were going on with her health and how to treat them. Lisa doesn't ask any questions, she just starts talking and telling this stuff. She even told my mom "your grandson, the one that is tall for his age and has problems with his allergies, your daughter needs to give him ----". Mom said she had not ever talked to Lisa about me or the kids (I'm an only child). This week Lisa told my mom's friend to burn a mixture of Epsom salt and rubbing alcohol in each room of her home while praying over each item in the room to rid the room of evil spirits. Lisa professes to be a Christian and feels that this is a gift she has received from God. She said her mother had the gift and she believes her 9yo son has the gift as well. I am a very skeptical person by nature. I believe that Lisa has a gift, but I'm not sure I believe it is from God and that this is something we in which are supposed to be involved. Lisa has never said anything about future events, but can sense grief, anger, and stuff like that in my mom and give specific details like "there was a problem with one of your children about 8 months ago and you haven't released it." That was the time my step-brother had a falling out with Mom and my step-Dad and it has not been resolved. All of Lisa's evaluations have been centered around healing the body and spirit. She charges $25 for an evaluation but does not push the supplements, you are free to purchase them where ever you chose or not at all. She says she just likes being able to help people. I have spent the last couple of days searching scripture and praying about it and I'm going to talk to my pastor about it tomorrow, but this board is the one place I knew of that I could ask for information/opinions and know that someone here would have insight - and I want to learn as much as I can before I discuss with my mom. Thanks

We watch the DVD, then I give them index cards and they make a flash card for each vocabulary word and the Practical Latin Saying. We review them frequently, sometimes I show them the Latin side and they give the translation and sometimes I show the English side and they give the Latin. We use the CDs every week, too. They are especially helpful in reviewing all the prayers. Plus, it helps make sure we are pronouncing things correctly. HTH