When our turtle died it was REALLY obvious... bulging eyes, open mouth, bodily functions discharged, smell. I'm actually still traumatized and it was about 30 years ago. The floppy head... weird! But I think it would eventually have rigor mortis...

I'm a huge believer in mommy instinct. The video idea is a great idea. My youngest had asthma as an infant, which drove me slightly mental worrying about it. She is 15 now. Whew! Let us know what Dr says!

Wow.... Everybody did such a good job with suggestions, I hardly have to say anything at all! Since I've been running a B&B for 12 years, I get to plan lots of people's trips! We are out in Wasilla, which is 40 miles north of Anchorage, so I throw some things out there which weren't mentioned. Yes on Moose's Tooth Big yes on Hatcher Pass / Independence Mine! Musk-Ox Farm Reindeer Farm The Iditarod Museum If your kids might be into the mushing thing, several of the mushers do tours of their dog yards, which can be really neat. If any of those things sound appealling, let me know, and I can elaborate!

Go mom! Now, I was at a hockey game, and there was "one of those dads", the only problem was that his son's name was Axel. So try yelling "Axel" at the top of your lungs. I almost walloped him, calling his son that name, for shame!

Go mom! Now, I was at a hockey game, and there was "one of those dads", the only problem was that his son's name was Axel. So try yelling "Axel" at the top of your lungs. I almost walloped him, calling his son that name, for shame!

Our Walmart never lost theirs, but I noticed it had gotten bigger. However, we have, literally, one of the busiest Walmarts in the world, so I can't imagine them ever taking anything away! It all sells. A sales associate was setting up a huge "Under $3" display today and you couldn't even see what was on it as you walked by, because it was so mobbed!

I love the airplane analogy! Put on your mask first. Get recovered, get your strength back, start getting into routines with the toddler and the baby. Make little steps and goals, and when the fall (well summer really) comes, you will be ready to tackle it all again. Take the time during the day to rest, so that when they come home at night, you have the energy to set the standard for how you want it to be when they are home. I never homeschooled with a baby or toddler, and I've always marvelled at those who do. I would have thrown 'em all in school too!

Hmmm... we did our big road trip from Alaska, around the Great Lakes (my kids loved Niagra Falls even though it is SOOO touristy!), up into New England, down the East Coast, to Florida, over to CO (where all dh's relatives are), back up through Wyoming, and Montana. Most of our highlights were on the East Coast... Other trips we have enjoyed Arizona, Sedona, is especially beautiful! Tuscon area is really different. I loved the Grand Canyon as a kid, as well as the Redwoods in CA. We just went to Mt Rushmore which was pretty impressive. How exciting and fun!

I have spent no time comparing the two programs, but I remembered that Beautiful Feet carries: http://bfbooks.com/History-of-the-Horse-Study-Guide?sc=21&category=-121 , which is probably very different, but might fill some nice "horse niche". From having owned a bookstore, I can kind of picture what they are going through. They don't seem to have a very good supplier, because I have heard things often ship from Amazon. They might order different books from lots of individual publishers, which give you a cheaper price than a distibutor (we used Ingram), but it is really a PAIN! Sometimes it WAS cheaper to order from Amazon than my distributor, but still....! Obviously they don't have the cash flow to stock what they need. I feel bad for them.

Don't drop it, but approach it from a different angle. It is a very important concept. I'm too lazy to get the book right now, and can't remember the title, but it explains the different approaches between Oriental and American math teachers. The author is Liping Ma, if I remember correctly. It was very insightful and would help encourage you.

I'm pretty sure I learned nothing about history (besides Christopher Columbus) and the grammar... huh? So I learned that right along with my kids. Math... it came back to me. My oldest had the hesitant, slightly confused mom. The 2nd had a wow-I-get-this-mom. And the next two had a confident math teacher!

That was my MIL after her masectomy. Insurance would pay for reconstructive surgery for the removed breast, but she said, "Well, I don't want a new perky one, and the old droopy one, and I'm sure not going through that for another droopy one. I'm just fine lopsided."

Nothing better than a glowing sliver lining! Get better soon, but then just stay in bed and enjoy!

One of those hard mom things! Ugh. I can only advise, from personal experience that you never try to talk to the mean girl yourself. I once, decided that I needed to do this... I envisioned myself saying something like "It would be better if you were kinder." Instead, I turned into a bear, and in a harsh, bear sort of voice growled, "If you ever treat my son like that again, you will regret it." I had no idea that was going to come out of me. Really! My oldest girl was a mean girl magnet - but she just brushed it off.(Really quite amazing actually.) My youngest girl had very strong "mean girl" tendencies. We've talked a lot about it, and she is very aware of how she treats people. But in her interactions, people are always trying to please her. My son was a level 10 gymnasts, and also the youngest at his level for a long time. Boys aren't "mean" in the same snide and snarky way as girls. From the age of 6 to 14... one boy who was 2 years older, just bullied and bullied. Around the age of 8, Blake consistently beat him in competitions, but that just made it worse. We talked about it, and it made him mad, but he just dealt with it. My other son (he invoked the aforementioned mother bear) didn't know how to deal with such things. He handles them for sure, but in a much more explosive ways, ways that put him on the bleachers, ways that got him suspended from school, ways that make enemies. He quit hockey because of a bunch of seniors who were "jerks". Sigh. Give your daughter a couple of lines... when the girl questions her ability, she could say "I guess you need to talk to the teacher about that." or "Are you saying our teacher doesn't know what she is doing?" She isn't defending herself, and she isn't being mean, just turning it back around. Good luck!

The word "kegal" and kegals not working ... My dad's 3rd wife was 5 years older than me. They had my half brother four months after my second was born. I spent some time with her in the delivery room. She pushed for four hours. I just remember the nurse, who said all the wrong things somehow, saying "You're just too tight because you obviously did too many kegals." What a thing to tell a woman in the middle of labor! My then step-uh...person married to my father just drooped. (For the record, even though they are divorced now, we still keep in touch, and she is a really nice person!) I never had any problems with my bladder, until my ob-gyn asked me if I did, and then exclaimed that was impressive that I didn't after 4 deliveries. Ever since then.... Thanks doc.

How cozy!

Wow... really interesting. While my dh and I have completely different temperments, we are both completely satisficers. He is very, very quick to make choices. I actually refrain from making choices, because, he will, and it doesn't really matter. Here are some examples: We dated a bit in highschool, when we were 15 &16 (for 2 months, 300 miles apart, so not real in depth). When I moved to the same town, we started to date again at the grand ages of 20 & 21, a week later, he got down on his knee, and I said "yes". He decided we should own horses. We knew NOTHING about horses. 3 days later, I was the proud owner of 3 horses. 2 years later, when I had a newborn, 1 yo & 2yo, we concluded we shouldn't own horses anymore! We decided to go on a 4 month RV trip one day, bought a motorhome (it was like the 5th one we looked at, the rest didn't even have enough beds for 6 people) the next day, and left 2 weeks later. That was the beginning of our homeschool career. We both like to research things extensively, but that is for the sake of researching, not for tools to make the choice. Usually we have already committed.

Hmmmm.... you could always move to Alaska... we still have pollen here, but for a short amount of time. (OK, not helpful, but possibly true!)

I know you cut out dairy, but I find kefir very helpful. You can buy it at the grocery store. I make my own, but I have no idea where you would get the kefir "sponge", my neighbor gave me mine. At the store, I would get the kind without any sugar. It tastes a bit like really smelly cheese. My intestines and I rarely agree on proper behavior, but these has been a real fix for me. Sorry for what you are going through.

Just an aside, at Walmart, if you are writing a check, you don't have to fill it out, just give it to them, they do their scan thing, and you get your check back. I suspect it would be the same at any place that gives you your ck back.

DH made bacon wrapped jalepeno poppers! Mmmmm.... In light of the post on praise, I'll tell him what a good job he did.

Like others said, no praise directly to me, but to others about me. I don't really need a lot of praise, but, ummm... sometimes, when it is time for tea, I will wheedle (is that a word?) all the praise I need out of him, and he will agree to anything! Also like others, I have a MIL who is OCD about her house. She only had 2 kids, but one was special needs, and she worked full time. However, more than once, when the kids were little, I overheard her tell dh, "She can't possibly do it all! You have 4 little kids and they are ALWAYS home." Nice MIL! That being said, I love a clean house, and I am very much a germaphobe, but organization.... there are just so many other things I would rather be doing!

Wow! How creative! Shucks... now I want icecream. :drool5:

LOL... I feel self rushed! I am very fast, as I don't like to make people wait. I don't really mind waiting myself. I assume that no matter how much thought I have put into the process, I have chosen the wrong line. I have no other expectation. I am often running two transactions, one personal, and one for our B&B. That confuses everybody! Even though I tell the checker at the beginning that I have two transactions, they almost always say "Thank you. Have a nice day." at the end of the first one. I smile and say "I'm still here!"

Who is going to the SC convention? My dh and I will be there and it would be fun to run into some of you!