That's what we do! We usually start school in mid-July ... take a week off at Thanksgiving and two weeks at Christmas .... and then we have various "goof off" and sick days scheduled here and there as needed. We usually finish our yearly studies by the end of April and complete our standardized testing the first week in May (required here in Virginia every year). We've been taking our family vacation in the middle of May for the last several years (it's a great time to travel -- my older two have wrapped up their Spring semesters at college but most public schools are still in session -- and the weather is warm, but not yet hot and humid). I then spend the month of June buying curriculum and writing lesson plans...and then it starts all over again in mid-July! :D

We started last week as well. So far so good!

We have a wide age group here as well (and the youngest has special needs -- so her interests and abilities are closer to a 5yo than an 11yo) and we take a vacation at least once a year -- sometimes we take 2 5-day weekend vacations and sometimes we take 1 10-day vacation -- it just depends on finances and other commitments. We usually go to the beach or Disney World -- the older ones are responsible enough that I can just send them off with a cell phone and say "Meet us for lunch at XYZ at 123 time" and they can do their own thing...leaving us with the youngest, doing her thing. We don't stay in hotel rooms as a rule because most of them require 2 rooms for a family of 6 and that can get expensive quick. We usually rent a condo or a house -- if you go off-season you can rent them by the night (so you could go for a weekend or something like that)...in-season usually requires at least a 7-night stay.

We do school in the dining room. Books and supplies are stored in the hutch and we have a few of those plastic stacking drawers you can pick up at Walmart for storing completed work and papers for each student. The computer is in the next room and my 13yo son completes many assignments in there -- it's quieter!

I'm a former LLL leader and my co-leader had a story that just cracked me up -- and I've never forgotten it! Her son was around 3 and very verbal and he loved his "nursing". They had started to have little conversations about how, when he was older, he wouldn't have "nursing" anymore because he would be a big boy, etc. So a few months later, it was Christmas time and the family got dressed and her son asked, "Where are we going?" And his mom told him, "We're going to see Grandpa at the nursing home." His entire face lit up joyously as he shouted, "You mean there's a HOME!?!" :D Where had this news been all his life? ;)

We're using Visual Link Spanish beginning this fall and participating in a weekly Spanish co-op with our local homeschool group. My older two children just took Spanish in college --- everything we tried at home just didn't work effectively. I'm hoping for a better outcome with high schooler #3! :D

Just placed my last order yesterday! So we have everything we need! Starting our new school year July 1st!! (I like starting early and "banking" a few goof-off days, sick days, etc. for use during the regular school year)

My oldest daughter will be working over the summer. She's an occupational therapy major so she'll be interning with a pediatric occupational therapy practice over the summer. Last year, she worked as a camp counselor at the YMCA, working with two disabled campers so that they would be able to access the camp environment. My oldest son is just starting college so he's taking an orientation course over the summer and preparing for his first semester of college in the fall. I'm so proud of him! He has high functioning autism and we were told that he'd never learn to read or write 15 years ago when he was diagnosed -- now he's going to *college*! :)

My boys LOVED the Sci-Fi Dine In! We just returned from Disney last weekend and they're still talking about the silly B movies they watched!

My boys are taller than me. I'm 5'3". My 19yo son is 6' and my 13yo son is 5'7". My oldest daughter is actually shorter than me at 5'1". Youngest daughter is 4'8" and still growing so it won't be long before she's taller than me, too! She has really long legs. LOL

Smarr's Introduction to Literature Runkle Geography Holt Biology AoPS Algebra Visual Link Spanish I TeenCoder C++ Geography through Art Piano Lessons (3rd year)

Only 9 more days until the new Star Trek movie comes out. :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WPkByAkAdZs#!

Ask her to tell you a story. :D

We leave for Disney in 18 days!!! :D We always do the lunch buffett at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios. Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Secret Agent Oso, June from Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny. We're staying off-site, too, so we prefer character lunch over character breakfast (we eat our breakfasts in the townhouse to save money). I know Crystal Palace also has a character lunch (with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore) and it's supposed to be yummy!

Occupational Therapy is a Masters program so you can major in anything for your Bachelor's and then there are suggested classes to make sure your student takes while pursuing their Bachelor's degree because they are considered pre-requisites for graduate school. Such classes would be Chemistry, Physics, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, etc. Acceptance into almost all OT master's programs also require a certain number of "shadowing hours" where you volunteer at an occupational therapy clinic or practice for a certain number of hours (anywhere from 30 - 60 hours is required). So they look at pre-requisite classes taken, GPA (3.0 is a minimum requirement -- many require 3.4 or better), GRE scores (the higher the better), and the number of shadowing hours. Here's a list of colleges that offer an OT masters program. You can then visit each one online to find out their individual requirements. http://www.aota.org/Educate/Schools/EntryLevelOT/38119.aspx My oldest is currently a junior in college, completing her Bachelor's in Psychology and looking forward to pursuing her Masters in Occupational Therapy. She's working as a paid intern at a local pediatric Occupational Therapy clinic, and working 16 - 20 hours per week. She loves it!

I used it with my 4th baby -- worked great but I had a doula, too....not sure which made the most difference but both were lifesavers! I got to the hospital at 6:05 and she was born 20 minutes later. I had been in labor for 10 hours total and those last 20 minutes were the worst of the entire ordeal.

We are there now with my 18yo son. We just took him to the community college yesterday for his placement tests and we want him to start out slowly. We're planning on 2 courses per semester (this summer, fall, spring, next summer) and then moving up from there. He's pursuing an AAS in Information Systems Technology, so it's a full degree, but it's not meant as a transfer degree. Some AA degrees are meant to transfer (in which case your timeframe may be different and you would want to move a bit faster). But he enjoyed the campus and did well on his placement tests so we're very happy!! (btw...he has high functioning autism / Asperger's)

The books aren't as graphic as the show, I think. But it made a great SNL skit!! LOL http://www.tvfanatic.com/videos/game-of-thrones-skit-on-saturday-night-live/

I've read the books so I know all the answers to your questions about Bran and Rickon and Arya, but I'm not telling it here. :D Lord Baelish has a thing for Sansa because she looks like her mother, Catelyn...who he's loved since boyhood and she won't have him. Margerey in the show isn't very similar to the one in the books so I'm not sure what they're doing with her character...at least from what I saw last night. The preview for next week shows her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns, and she's a hoot in the books -- so I'm hoping they don't change her!

I'm near Fredericksburg. My youngest son has a 45-minute lesson each week and we pay $105 per month.

We've visited the campus several times with my oldest dd -- and my SIL graduated from JMU! Very friendly campus...tons of activities....very high retention rate (one of the highest in the state of Virginia) so most students who go there stay (vs transferring out)...lots of students (I think there are around 17,000 on campus)....sports is big there (football and basketball especially -- JMU made the NCAA tournament this year!)...great on-campus food! And yes, there are those who refer to JMU as Just Missed Uva, but overall it seemed like a very nice school. (My oldest dd applied there as a senior and was waitlisted..earned her AA degee at the community college and was accepted after that as a transfer student, but decided not to go there -- it was a little too big for her tastes. They offered her a very generous financial aid package. She's now at Mary Washington and commuting from home -- couldn't be happier!) I would highly recommend taking a campus tour, if at all possible.

Made a chocolate cream pie for dessert here, too! Can't wait!

Barbequed chicken, corn, seasoned rice -- and a chocolate cream pie in honor of Pi Day :D

Happy Pi Day!

We did school here...but didn't start until around 10. Still had time to play outside and make a pot of chili. I'd rather save our "goof off days" for when we can get out and do something and the kids agree with me.