What about making a weekend getaway? Our 20th anniversary is next year and we're going to return to the place where we went on our honeymoon! Thankfully, we were broke back then and went to a beach resort just a few hours away from where we live now. So we're going to return there again for that weekend. Our oldest will be able to stay home with her younger siblings. Luckily, we didn't honeymoon someplace extravagant like Hawaii! :lol: So it'll be easy to visit there again.

I believe HEAV keeps a list of evaluators. You can contact them. http://www.heav.org

:iagree: My daughter's at the community college. She has a group presentation and two finals on Wednesday, and her last final on Monday. She's studied all weekend long. She'll be very glad when it's all over!

I'd check with your local courthouse. In our county, no one under age 12 is allowed in the courtroom, and juvenile / domestic court is closed to the public.

I think it's reasonable to have a rough idea of her schedule ahead of time. It's the polite thing for her to do. My oldest is 18 and also at the community college full-time with her own car. We've had similar issues with her. She'll decide, on any given day, that she's going out with her friends after her classes are over. We ask her to head home, from wherever she is, at midnight. There have been times, however, when she ends up staying at a girlfriend's house instead of driving home and there's nothing worse than waking up in the morning and seeing that her car isn't in the driveway and she didn't come home the night before! (We bought new cellphones a few months ago with texting capabilities and she now will send a text.."Raining really bad out - crashing at Amanda's - will be home by 10am", etc....so I know where she is. Before we got the text phones, she felt bad calling at 11 o'clock or midnight and waking us up. The text message beep is much less intrusive!) I also try and keep my daughter informed of OUR schedule. Our youngest is autistic and there are times when I need my oldest at home to help out with her, or to watch her if we need to run an errand. So I'll tell her in advance, "I need you home on Thursday afternoon this week", for instance. As for responsibilities, she takes care of her own room, her own laundry, feeding of the cat, cleaning all the bathrooms, and babysitting. She's also responsible for mowing the grass during the summer.

Friday was Day 90!! We're halfway finished with the school year!!! :party:

Our first snowfall of the season started here around noon! We're near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and it's supposed to snow until at least midnight and then freeze overnight, so it shouldn't start melting until tomorrow afternoon! Woohoo!! It's unusual for us to have this much snow in early December!! We don't usually see significant snow until mid-January!!

Woohoo!!! Congratulations!!! Enjoy your new little girl! :party:

We're loving it here in Virginia!!!!! My kids have been outside for over an hour. :)

Steak Peas French Fries Easy dinner...my 10yo has a friend over to spend the night so it's something I can cook in a jiffy...and the steaks were on sale at Costco :)

We open them on Christmas morning. My husband's family does Christmas Eve and we tried it one year, but the kids didn't go to bed until 2 in the morning so we never did it again! :lol: On Christmas Eve, we stay up until at least midnight, playing boardgames as a family...which I really love!!!! We'll be going to our family Christmas party on the day after Christmas, so it'll be two straight days of presents! :D

I'll tell you my secret!!! Several years ago, I had my husband exchange our regular doorknob with a locking one on the walk-in closet in our master bedroom. I wrap everything and keep all the presents in there until Christmas Eve when the older kids and I carry them downstairs and put them under the tree. We used to put all the presents out as soon as they were wrapped but our youngest has autism and she doesn't understand that if a present is wrapped, you don't open it! A few years ago, she found the presents that I had wrapped for the nieces and nephews and unwrapped them all in about five minutes! That's when we put the lock on the closet door. I keep the key on top of my husband's armoire, which is too high for my 7yo to reach.

We put ours up this past weekend!!! Our 10yo is responsible for watering it and he's doing a good job, so far.... :glare: Christmas shopping is finished, too, and everything is wrapped. Still have to mail what's going out of town and write my Christmas cards. Then we start baking!! :D

That's why we gave our oldest one when she was 14! She was doing a lot of babysitting and I wanted her to have one for safety's sake. Her first one was just a plain cell phone, though. She's upgraded since then! For our 15 year old, we gave him one because he's on the baseball team, the basketball team, the swim team -- etc, etc, etc -- and we wanted him to be able to reach us. He doesn't text - and has no interest in it - but his does have a camera.

My 7 year old niece has requested a Blackberry for Christmas. :glare: We'll see if my SIL is going to give it to her or not! My oldest two have cellphones. Not sure if the one my oldest has is considered a smart phone or not! She has the QWERTY keyboard for texting, but she doesn't surf the internet with it. For cell phones in general, we've started the tradition of giving one to our kids for Christmas, once they turn 14, so I have a few more years before we have to add another phone to the plan!!

We moved our family Christmas get-together years ago when our children were little and it was met with enthusiasm because our siblings and their spouses all had children, too, and getting them to leave all their new presents and drive somewhere else was a real pain! We always have ours on the weekend before or the weekend after Christmas (depending on what day of the week it falls on). There are 4 siblings, so we rotate homes (I'll be hosting the family get-together next Christmas). This year, we'll be having the get-together on Saturday, the 26th. So we'll be home on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Only my mother-in-law is still living and whoever is hosting the Christmas party (this year, it's my 2nd sister-in-law) will have Grammy at their house for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. She lives in another state and she doesn't drive very far, due to her age. So my SIL will drive out on Wednesday and pick her up and take her to her house. Then someone will drive her home, probably on Saturday or Sunday. Sometimes she'll stay longer (through New Years') which isn't a bad deal, as she's a great babysitter for those who want to go out on New Year's Eve!

We're finished!!! We have one gift left for my brother-in-law that we ordered online, and one of my son's X-Box 360 games isn't released until Dec. 22nd, but we pre-ordered it so I just have to pick it up. But everything is wrapped and we put the Christmas tree up today!!! Woo hoo! I'm ready!

This happened to me when I was about her age...maybe a little bit older...and I had a stomach ulcer. Is she in a great deal of pain? Or she just "has to go"? I had lots of pain with mine. They diagnosed it with a GI of some kind...I think an Upper one. Not sure what they do these days since this was years and years ago! Hope you find a solution soon!

Ohhh!! I'll share mine!!! We have well water and our pump stopped working at 8:00 in the morning! So I had no water in the house to make Thanksgiving Dinner!! :willy_nilly: We had to run to Wawa (sort of like 7-Eleven for those who don't have one in your area) and buy 6 gallons of bottled water to use for cooking and cleaning!! Good times. Good times. Good thing my husband sells pumps for a living! Of course, the place he buys them from isn't open on Thanksgiving Day, but we're heading out first thing in the morning to buy one. Some folks will be shopping for gifts on Black Friday...we'll be buying a well pump. The fun never ends!! :lol:

18yo: a Zune mp3 player, headphones, an X-Box 360 game, and a calendar. 15yo: an X-Box 360 game, several WWII books, a biography of "Patton", the movie "Patton", and some Axis & Allies figurines (he's a WWII buff, can't you tell?) 10yo: a few Lego kits, a Rock Band game for the X-Box 360, Pokemon cards, and a board game 7yo: an art kit, the Tag reading system and some books, some Disney DVDs, and a board game

I've homeschooled in Maryland (for 10 years) and Virginia (for 5 years so far) and I can give you a comparison of the two states' requirements. I've never homeschooled in Pennsylvania, though. In Maryland, you file a letter of intent to homeschool within 15 days of beginning to homeschool with the county school system. During the school year, you keep all of your school papers and make sure you have dates on everything. You are required to teach the same subjects that are taught in public school (English, history, math, science, art, music, health, PE, etc.). Then there's the review system. You have two choices: you can either be reviewed by a representative from the county school system twice a year (usually in January and June) or you can pay to join an umbrella school -- some of them can be quite expensive, too -- and then you're reviewed by their representative, or by another homeschooler, depending on how they do their reviews. You'll be expected to haul in everything you used throughout the year and they'll expect to see something dated at the beginning of the school year, something from the middle of the school year, and something from the end of the school year. I paid the extra $100 per year for an umbrella school, so I never was reviewed by the public schools and I never thought of Maryland as a difficult state until I moved to Virginia and discovered that it was much easier! In Virginia, you file the same letter of intent. Along with it, you attach a copy of your high school diploma and a list of your curriculum choices for the year for each child. It doesn't have to be too long or detailed. (For instance, mine has the name of each child, their grade, and a list of subjects. i.e., Susie - Grade 5 - Math: Teaching Textbooks 5 - History: Sonlight Core 4 - Science: Rainbow Science, etc.). At the end of the school year, you'll need to either submit an independent evaluation -- very similar to Maryland's review process -- or you can submit standardized test scores. These need to be submitted by August 1st, along with your intent to continue homeschooling. I haven't used the evaluation process. I use the CAT tests, sold by Seton Hall, and test the children myself -- usually in May or June -- and send them in. I believe they need to score above the 23rd percentile in order to continue homeschooling. Hope this helps!

Turkey Divan is our favorite thing to make with the leftover turkey!! We do it every year! My kids LOVE it. Turkey Divan Recipe 1 package frozen broccoli spears 1 Tablespoon butter cooked, sliced turkey 2 Tablespoons milk 2 Tablespoons cooking sherry 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/4 cup of mayonnaise 1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup salt / pepper to taste parmesan cheese / paprika to taste Partially cook the broccoli. Slice turkey, allowing 2-3 slices per serving. Melt butter in a saute pan and place in shallow casserole. Place a layer of turkey in the bottom of buttered casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange broccoli on top and cover with another layer of turkey. Place remaining ingredients, except for the parmesan cheese, in a bowl and whisk thoroughly until blended. Pour over turkey. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with paprika. (Recipe can be doubled; if doubled, increase cooking time to 1 hour). Enjoy! :)

Wow!!! Thanks so much!!! My WWII obsessed 15yo would love this game!!!

My 10yo son is getting some Lego kits, two Rock Band games for his XBox 360, a mechanical Knex kit, and the board game Stratego. My 15yo son is older than the age range you have, but not by much! He's getting two XBox 360 games, the board game Risk, and he's really, really, really into WWII. So he's getting several books about the war, some Axis and Allies figurines, and the classic movie "Patton". So perhaps there's something in the field of history or science that's really captured your son's interest recently? Perhaps some books or movies about it would be a good gift?

My hubby came home with a 5lb bag of organic quinoa...thrilled to pieces because it said "gluten-free" on the package. Our 7yo is allergic to gluten, soy, and dairy. So, ladies.....what can I do with quinoa? :blink: Thanks!