:iagree: I'm more than willing to admit that this was my feeling, too, this morning!! I had to look up the reasoning behind the bequest and I'm still wondering why.

I've seen rice cheese at Wegmans, if you have one near you! It's made with rice milk and says dairy-free on the package, but I haven't inspected it closely -- I just noticed it was there. They had it in slices, like American cheese, and shredded for pizza, like mozzerella.

I think that's the guy the doctor (Olivia) saw in her flashforward...the one she's supposed to be with in the future. I may be wrong though!

We have a debit card, which works off our checking account. No credit cards. My hubby has an American Express for his business (he's self-employed), which is paid off every month. We haven't had any problems. I use the debit card for 99% of our stuff that requires a "credit card" and for reserving hotels and things like that, we use the American Express. So we have no credit card debt at all.

Didn't Al Gore invent the telethon?

Ooo! Great idea! I'll add that to my list!! The Crockpot Reform Telethon!!

All the more reason for Crockpot Reform!!!

Crockpot Control? Not a bad idea! (I'm making a list!) :D

Hear! Hear! Crockpot Reform. It's the next big thing! And you heard it here first! :lol:

:lol: Maybe we need a Crockpot Modification Loan Program.

I can't tell you that without spoiling the book!!! Keep reading! It is resolved...and continued even more in the 2nd book -- which is "Dragonfly in Amber"

My 15yo is on the spectrum and I can tell you what has worked for him over the years! Handwriting Without Tears is excellent!!! Can't say enough good things about it! IEW is also working well for him, as language arts is his weak area. Math-U-See in the younger grades (K through 6th) and Teaching Textbooks in the upper grades (7th through present) Anything hands-on for science (In the younger grades, we picked a subject or area of interest and went from there with lots of books, videos, experiment kits, etc. Now that he's in high school, we're using more textbooks and formal areas of study). He's used Sonlight for History / Reading since Kindergarten. He loves to read and he LOVED being read-to when he was younger (he didn't learn to read well on his own until he was around 8 or 9). He loves art and we've used numerous drawing books over the years! He's taking formal art lessons now once a week and loving them!

"Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon!!!! I just picked it up at Costco the other day for $16!!! :w00t: I love Jamie and Claire!!!! I thought the last book ("Breath of Snow and Ashes") was the last of the series, so I'm thrilled to have another book to read!!! :hurray:

I'm excited for you! Really. I'm a Washington Redskins fan and Sunday was tough!! But...I know how long the fans in Detroit have been waiting for this one! So...congrats! :001_smile:

My 10 year old is using Teaching Textbooks 6 - He's on Lesson 31 today - "More on Long Division with Two Digits" My 15 year old is using Teaching Textbooks Geometry - He's also on Lesson 31, which is "Exterior Angles"

I would certainly recommend that she speak to the Principal of the school! I'd also recommend that she find a local advocacy group. She could start with something like Wrightslaw (http://www.wrightslaw.com) and then see if there's a link to an advocacy organization in her state. My youngest has a fairly significant form of autism and she attends public school. I would be livid if she came home with bruises! They have a behavior plan in place for her (which was worked out during our annual IEP meeting) with strategies to use if she's behaving in an inappropriate or disruptive manner. For example, when my daughter's frustrated, she bites her hand. She has a reward chart at school for the times when she overcomes her frustration without biting and she's given a little prize or token when she's successful. They also provide her things like squishy toys and moon sand to play with to keep her hands busy and to give her a "sensory outlet". Time out is not considered a truly effective technique with most autistic children, and restraint in any form is truly troubling to hear about.

We're also staying at Windsor Hills!!! We're going January 30th through February 6th. Here's a link to their website -- http://www.storytimeorlandorental.com/ We looked at others, but my youngest daughter, who has autism, is completely in love with Mickey Mouse and, once she saw the bedroom, that was the one she wanted! (We printed off the picture and she's carried it around the house with her for a week now!) We're paying $1000 for the week for a 3 bedroom / 3 bath townhouse with private pool. That includes the $200 down payment, taxes, and private pool heating fee. There's no charge for a cleaning fee because we're staying for the full seven days. We'll be able to save a fortune by staying off-site! We're eating all of our breakfasts inside the townhouse (save for one character breakfast) and almost all of our dinners. We'll be able to pack lunches, snacks, and water for our trips to the parks. We can't wait!

My youngest son's name is Matthew, and it's always in the top 10! But we haven't met that many boys his age with the name Matthew, so it's not like he hears the name every time he turns around. For example, there are close to 100 children in our homeschool group and I think there are only 2 other boys named Matthew in the group. So if you love one name in particular, go for it!!!!

We've stayed at the Ramada in Nags Head 2 or 3 times and have never been disappointed! And it has an indoor pool! If you're going off-season, which is what we've done, the rates are fairly decent and we've always reserved two connecting rooms. Here's their website: http://www.ramadaplazanagshead.com/

Ditto!!

Here's my favorite video about Canada! :)

Oooo!! We went to OBX several years ago and just loved it!! Not to miss is the Aquarium in Manteo. The kids loved it and it wasn't very expensive to get in (less than $10 for adults, if I remember correctly and children under a certain age are free, but I don't remember the cut-off...it might be 7 or 8?) The Lost Colony (also in Manteo) was very enjoyable! They've recreated a settlement and there's a boat you can board and try to imagine yourself on this teeny little ship on the ocean for months at a time! It's really something! My boys especially enjoyed the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk -- you can see a replica of the plane the Wright Brothers flew and their workshops, etc. They have "markers" where you can see how far it flew the first time and subsequent flights, etc. For food, my boys LOVE Mako Mike's which is a great seafood restaurant with shark decor. Right next to it is Lost Treasure Golf, which is a cute little putt-putt course with a train to take you up to the course, etc. (I believe they're both not far from the Wright Brothers Memorial). Those were our best memories of the place! Enjoy!!

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone!! Keep it coming!! :) We've decided that this is a once in a lifetime trip, so we're going to stay for the entire week in Orlando. (We also felt that, if we have 5 or 6 days to visit Disney, we can take our youngest for small visits of a few hours at a time, which - we hope - will prevent meltdowns!) We're still making up our minds about where to stay, so continue with those suggestions!!! I picked up The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and that's been invaluable - thanks for the suggestion! We will have a car and we really want something with at least a mini-kitchen. We hope to have breakfast there (it would be great if the hotel offers a free continental breakfast!) and we want to pack sandwiches and water to take into the park for lunch. That way, we're only paying for dinners during the week, and then anything the kids buy at the gift shop, or for ice cream in the park if the weather's warm, etc. We're really looking forward to it!!!

We lived in Southern Maryland at the time. I was 5 months pregnant with my youngest, and I was homeschooling my then 2nd grader and 5th grader. My then 2yo was watching Mr. Rogers on TV to keep him quiet and entertained so I didn't know anything was wrong. My hubby had heard about it on the radio. He had been at one of the naval bases in the area (he's a government contractor) and had JUST left through the main gate when the first plane hit the tower. He had stopped for coffee at the 7-Eleven and heard about the second plane and that's when he knew it wasn't an accident. For the next hour, he had been trying to call me, but, in the Washington DC area, all the phones were down. You couldn't call anyone. So he hadn't been able to reach me. (He told me later that, had he spent just 10 more minutes at the naval base, he would've been locked in there, as all the gates were ordered closed). Meanwhile, at home, we were doing our history lesson and I happened to look up and I could see my husband's truck come screeching into the driveway and he ran into the house. My hubby is a big man! 6' tall - 280 pounds. He doesn't 'run' anywhere. He asked if I knew what had happened and I'm like..."Umm..no. Mr. Rogers is on TV and everything's fine in HIS neighborhood." He told me what had happened, but it just didn't register! I couldn't believe it until we turned on CNN. :(

We're considering taking a trip to Disney World in Florida the first week in February. I've never been there. My husband went 30 years ago when he was in college. My 18yo and 9yo have both been there. It would be the first time for my 7yo and 15yo. Our biggest concern is our youngest, the 7yo, who has autism. I've read numerous reviews online and Disney seems to be very accommodating to children with autism, which is one reason we'd really like to go -- not to mention the fact that she loves all the Disney characters, especially Nemo! We've already been given permission from her public school to take her out of school for the February trip (we explained to them that we wanted to take her during the least crowded time, and the school is closed for two days that week anyway, so they had no problem with us taking her out of school for the other three days). So my questions are as follows: 1 - Has anyone visited Disney World with a child with autism? Any tips or advice? We're planning on visiting the Magic Kingdom (1 day), Epcot (1 day) and Sea World (1 day). For my youngest, everything she'd be interested in in the Magic Kingdom is located in Fantasyland or Mickey's Toon Town, so she wouldn't be all over the park. In Epcot, she'd only really enjoy Nemo's Sea Adventure, and she loves all fish, whales, etc., for Sea World. 2 - Is it worth it to stay in the park? I did some pricing online and for all 6 of us to stay in one of the park hotels for 3 nights is going to run us around $3000. We can stay in the Nickelodeon Hotel, which is very close and runs a free shuttle to the park, for those same 3 nights for $700. Is it really worth that much more to stay in Disney itself? (I don't need any babysitting services, as we'll have our 18yo with us. We're driving down anyway, so we'll have a car for transportation.) We're only planning on 3 nights in Disney because we'll also be stopping by the Jacksonville / Saint Augustine area to visit friends and family on the way back up to Virginia, and we'll be staying there for 2 nights. Any and all advice from Disney veterans is more than welcome!!