HFA = High Functioning Autism Just fyi :)

My youngest has autism as well. She's 9, but acts more like a 6 or 7 year old. She loves to shop! We frequent The Dollar Store, Wal-Mart, or Target at least once a week. She enjoys taking picnic lunches to the park (the ones with playground equipment). She loves to go to the movies (which we do at least once a week in the summer because they run Disney classics / favorites every week day for $2 in the summer at a theater near us). We play board games and put puzzles together. She enjoys Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Uno. She enjoys "field trips"...the zoo, the aquarium, and other historic sites are big hits with her. She's a little too boisterous for something "quiet" like an art museum, but she loves the ones that involve walking and being outdoors. We like to make popcorn and watch movies on TV and she loves to have her nails done! She likes to go out to eat, but...again....I have to pick a kid-friendly restaurant (she likes Friendly's and Denny's...any place where she can order breakfast 24/7). I hope this helps to give you some ideas!

You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family! When I was pregnant with #4, we didn't tell anyone in our family ... we showed up for Thanksgiving dinner and let them figure it out for themselves -- she was born the following January ;) -- because we didn't want to deal with the comments (which had been bad enough when I had #3). One of my cousins works for Planned Parenthood and she asked if I wanted some brochures. :glare:

This was several years ago...and my oldest son went twice a week for 10 weeks (it might have been 12 weeks). I know it was all summer long. And we paid $2,000 for all.

My youngest has been gluten-free since she was a year old. Her main symptom was also a distended abdomen. She had skinny arms, skinny legs, and a swollen belly. She looked as if she were a famine victim. :( She also had a rash which we took to be excema (sp?) but it was actually something called DH (dermatitis herpetiformis) which is only seen in celiac patients. Because of this, we didn't feel the need to have the intestinal biopsy done (not to mention that we weren't going to do that on a baby!). Over the years, we've seen more and more gluten-free options available and can now find gluten-free foods at Wal-Mart! (We used to have to drive over an hour to a Whole Foods in order to find items for her to eat). My daughter eats lots of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, and meat. She's not a big cookie or cake eater, even of the gluten-free variety. For snacks, she prefers fruit, popcorn, and ice cream. Eating out has proven to be the biggest challenge and we usually pack a lunchbox, even if we're just going out to run errands, so that she can always have something available to munch on.

Busch Gardens is a lot of fun!!! I believe they're open Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays in the fall. Jamestown & Yorktown, of course, and Colonial Williamsburg. I haven't been to Great Wolf Lodge, but we hope to do so at some point. (We live about 2 hours from Williamsburg and go quite often. The weather is beautiful in September!)

Check and see if a movie theater in your area is showing summer movies. There's one about 1/2 an hour away from us that is showing $2 movies during the week all summer long. Most of them are Disney classics -- Mary Poppins, Beauty & the Beast, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo. My kids look forward to this every summer! :)

I agree with all of this!! My hubby has worked from home for the last 10 years. He has a separate office in the house and they know that, when Dad's working, he's working and don't interrupt him! It took some getting used to at first, for everyone, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

My 7th grader is using the following: English - Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings / Spelling Power / Winston Grammar Basic Math - Teaching Textbooks Prealgebra History - Beautiful Feet's Geography through Literature Science - Rainbow Science Year 1 Art - Dubosque's Drawing Books Music - Piano Lessons

We're using Beautiful Feet's Geography through Literature this year and really enjoying it! The map work is delightful. It only appears to cover US Geography, however, so if you're looking for World Geography it might not fit the bill. Here's a link: http://www.bfbooks.com/

I haven't seen (or used) CPO, so I'm hoping someone will chime in who has, but my youngest son is using the Rainbow and loving it! The text is funny and engaging. We're working through the 1st part (Physics) now and are on Lesson 18 (we have an unusual school-year schedule! I work for a tax accountant, so we do school from June through February, so that I have the busy tax months of March-April-May free). We're secular homeschoolers and there may have been one small reference to "creation" in one of the lessons, but it wasn't anything overt. We've had no problem using it. It isn't a 'simple science' program. It's pretty in-depth. I've never taken Physics so I'm learning a great deal, too. We do science 3 days a week, which is the way the program is designed. 2 days are with the textbook, reading a lesson (which is roughly a page or two in length) and answering 2 or 3 questions about the lesson. The 3rd day is the lab section, which has a separate lab workbook. The labs are great. If you order the complete kit (which is what we did), EVERYTHING is included!! Even small things like batteries and aluminum foil! I never have to run around the house, looking for supplies! I unpacked the science kit and put everything in an average size cardboard box, labeled it "7th Grade Science Supplies" and slid it under the school shelf. I only have to pull it out on Fridays when we do labs. Very convenient! Btw....my son is also a 7th grader, who will be 12 in September, and he wants to be a scientist, too, when he grows up! So far, he's planning on a career in Marine Biology...we'll see how it goes! :)

No idea. She can't leave the state of Florida without permission of the court, but I don't think she'll go home. Her parents were smiling in court today and commenting on how pretty she looked so who knows what they're thinking? :glare:

Same here! And he said Caylee's name several times during the sentencing. Methinks he disagrees with the verdict the jury handed down.

I've heard that, too. I think Juror #3 has come forward and said that they were literally sick, knowing that they had to pronounce her not guilty and that many of them were crying, but that they had no other choice because of the way the indictments were phrased and the charges put to them by the prosecution. What a mess.

If they would've charged her with child neglect, they could've convicted her for that because she was in charge of the child when she "went missing for 31 days". Child abuse is a harder standard and would require evidence (broken bones, bruises, etc.) and causing physical harm TO the child...which the jurors said wasn't proven (despite the duct tape evidence :confused:)

I agree. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, which is why folks were surprised that the defense even offered the 'drown in the pool' theory and the alleged abuse by her father and brother...and then offered no proof to back it up, nor did they need to do so...but that still was in the juror's minds and who knows if it played a role or not.

I don't have a designated "room". I have a computer desk and a large hutch in my dining room where I store our books and supplies. I have maps on the wall and one wall covered in chalkboard paint. My two boys do school there at the dining room table and computer desk. My youngest does her school in the family room at the coffee table. She prefers having a lower table to work on and her supplies are kept in a "workbox-style" plastic drawer set. She has autism and needs the extra organization and her own separate working space.

Yes...apparently, the woman filled out a card at the Sawgrass Apartments where Casey's current boyfriend lived. One of those "interested in renting" information cards. They're speculating that Casey saw the card and used her info for the fake nanny. However, there's an even more involved story that you can google on the internet. When Casey had her jailhouse convo with her brother and he's asking for information about Caylee, Casey says something along the lines of, "I feel she's close to home. I've given them names down to the "t"." The two streets that intersect ... Hope Springs Drive, where the Anthony's live, and Suburban form a "T intersection" .... Caylee was found at that intersection between two houses. The name of the family at one house is Zenaida and the name of the family at the second house is Gonzalez. Not sure if the investigators knew that, followed up on it, etc.....but folks are speculating that Casey was telling her brother, in code, where to find Caylee.

:party: Enjoy!!!!! Babies are precious!

Yes... Texas Equuisearch (sp?) said that they spent $112,000 searching for Caylee and, since the defense admitted in their opening statement that Caylee never was missing, they plan to sue Casey to get that money back. Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick has also said that they will spend the next 30 days compiling the costs of their investigation and suing her for compensation for that as well. And then there's the defamation case coming against Casey from a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez. I believe Casey's due to have a deposition taken within the next few weeks for that case to proceed. And then there's the money she stole from her friend who was out of the country during that month Caylee was missing. Casey faces felony theft charges for that, too.

Not according to the verdict today! She not only didn't tell them where Caylee was or what happened to her, she lied to them about people that didn't exist, a kidnapping that didn't happen, and a job she didn't have. So...apparently...as long as you don't leave any DNA or fingerprints at the scene...and they don't discover the body until it's decomposed...you can get off scott free. Well, except for the lying to police charges, of course.

Elizabeth -- you might know the answer to this....is Casey entitled to any sort of protection after she's released from prison? I know folks were mad at O.J. after he was found not guilty, but he had millions and could afford to hire bodyguards. Casey doesn't have the money for bodyguards. Hundreds of folks volunteered to search for Caylee in the Orlando area and I'm sure they will be none to pleased to have her walking the streets. I don't see how Casey will be able to go out in public without being harassed (at the very least!!).

I'm completely shocked!! Her very actions during those 31 days -- that she could carry on like nothing happened and lie repeatedly -- how could she NOT be guilty?? I'm stunned. I felt the same way after the O.J. verdict.

For those following the trial, a verdict has been reached. Will be shown live on CNN / HLN and who knows how many other channels -- at 2:15pm EST (so within the next 30-45 minutes)

I first heard about homeschooling at a La Leche League meeting back in 1994. My oldest was 3 and my second was just a few months old. I loved the idea from the beginning! My husband's first reaction was, "No way!" But we ended up meeting a homeschooled teen on a vacation to the beach a few months later and my husband was so impressed with her that he said, "Well....let's try it for preschool and go from there." That was 16 years ago and we're still homeschooling! :D