I think it's very bad and I'll pm you my address so you can mail them to me and rid yourself of the temptation. :)

I think the standard is 16 and up (at least at all the tours I looked into it was.) Also you had to be over 100 pounds (and under 250 pounds and non-pregnant). We did have one teenager on our tour and one woman probably in her 70's or 80's.

DO IT!! It's really really fun. I signed us up for a Segway tour of Washington DC (we live in the suburbs) for dh's birthday. It was such a fun experience. Somewhat pricey but worth it as a special date. If you live somewhere that has tours, try it. Just my public service for the day. :D

Sharenet is just for Northern Virginia, I'm pretty sure (although I've only newly gotten on the list myself). I just wanted to mention that the HEAV convention is in June, which might be good to go to. It's in Richmond. You can go just for the day to shop and look at vendors. There might be reps from local groups there that you could check out. The convention website is http://www.heav.org/convention/index.html. Also, I grew up in Richmond, so if you have questions about the area feel free to PM me if you have questions about the area. I've never homeschooled there though. :) My parents still live there and I grew up there and went to college in Richmond.

I'm going to go the to the NOVA one too! I went to the HEAV one last year, although just to the book sale with a friend (who actually doesn't homeschool but was buying books for her kid's very small private school). It was fun and I think I'd like to go back but I actually thought the NOVA speakers looked better and it's easier being close to home.

I think you've gotten great advice. Probably the advice of Moms who have been there done that is better than mine (I'm a pediatrician and have put plenty of catheters in but never been through it with a child of my own.) It sounds to me like she definitely needs the VCUG. That number of UTI's definitely raises concern for relux. Reflux can certaily lead to more serious complications if untreated. It certainly may be constipation but with the number she has had, I think you have to do the VCUG to be sure of what you are dealing with. As far as the procedure itself I know here the hospital will give the kids anesthesia although my patients have told me they have to fight for it. I'm not sure why they would need to have her stand up to pee, but it's been a long time since I've actually seen one of these done and I admit I don't remember all the details. They might be able to give her something like Versed that is short acting while they place the catheter and then will wear off quickly. Once it's in it shouldn't be as painful, I've had a catheter myself after C-sections and it's uncomfortable but not painful. The discomfort with urinating afterwards is probably something that can't be completly avoided. The Versed or other short acting anesthetic would be more for her if she is very very scared or anxious than it will truly relieve pain. If she isn't particularly anxious or scared you probably can do it with the kind of techniques offered by the poster above (all good thoughts). I don't know where you are but you will probably find that only a children's hospital is going to be willing or able to do any kind of sedation. There are plenty of radiology centers and outpatient hospitals here that see kids but that aren't equipped to do anesthesia or sedation. The children's hospital can do it because they are so busy they don't always make it easily accessible if it's more "optional" like this. I know I have had several patients who were told "we don't do anesthesia" for the VCUG and then the parents insisted or I called or the urologist called and then they did it. Also, sedation does have it's own set of side effects and so should only be done by someone experienced like an anesthesiologist. Hope that helps.

Do...not...seek...the...treasure

On the science issue...I love science and took a lot of it in high school. It was fun but probably not necessary or all that helpful for when I got to college. I was told as an entering freshman in college that was planning to major in chemistry and biology that even if I had AP credits I shouldn't use them as the high-school science classes didn't really even come close to the college classes. There are some magnet science schools in this area that do very high-level work and research projects but they are rare. I want to instill an early love of science in my kids and if they love it like their Mom we'll keep exploring together. But I'm not particularly worried about getting in certain topics. If they end up studying science at a higher level, they'll learn those things then. (And as a disclaimer this is said by someone with young kids....who knows what I'll think when they actually get to high school. :))

Don't worry. I just did it and got the same thing...about 6 men and 1 woman. The men included Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Bob Marley and Rock Hudson. What???????? :confused: Oh, and the only woman was Kathy Bates. I think I'll just go get in the bed and pull my covers over my head now. :001_huh: Alice (apparently having gender issues along with Laura) ETA: Kathy Bates is a wonderful actress and I would be honored to have her play me. But not so flattering as the only woman I apparently remotely resemble. :)

Silence of the Lambs. I'm a total scaredy-cat and have no idea what possessed (the correct word) me to see it. I STILL (about 18 yrs later) get creeped out about it. Just this morning I was out for an early morning walk and it was dark and I started to think about it. AAAAHHHH...will it never go away? Scream. I watched that alone in my apartment. Again, don't know what I was thinking. I think I thought it would be funny and maybe it was supposed to be but it freaked me out. That was the end of anything remotely scary for me. I learned I just don't want to put certain things in my head.

I work with one full-time doctor and 4 other part-timers. Recently at work the only full-time doctor told me he appreciated my work ethic. This was especially nice as he is completly non-effusive and tends to spend much of the day cracking jokes and being very sarcastic. It just meant a lot coming from him. And at the grocery store the other day I got hit on by a man (who wasn't old or bad-looking :)) . This was nice for my self-esteem as I am about 70 pounds overweight and was in frumpy Mom clothes. Dh wasn't too happy about it though. :)

I'm a pediatrician but I'm not sure what he meant by "minimal fracture". It's not a term we would use. In kids we typicall grade fractures on a scale of 1-5 depending on growth plate involvment. I would guess that it's on the lower end of the scale. Kids are more likely to fracture a bone with the same kind of injury that an adult would have a sprain. They often have small fractures (no displacement of the bone) that are important to treat because of potential growth plate issues. Not sure how much that helps. Bottom line...it's a non-medical term to say "it's not that bad but he'll need to see Ortho and likely have some kind of cast."

What she said. :D ETA: I realized after I posted this that there were 20 pages of responses. I was on vacation and missed this thread until today. I realized posting a quote from page 1 may seem odd now. I didn't read the rest of the replies, so don't know if there was discussion on this point. I still love PariSarah's post though. :)

My Mom does similar kind of things. Although it's not because she isn't supportive of homeschooling...she just likes buying stuff. I tried "why don't we keep this at your house so the boys can use it there." It didn't really work so well. Now I just say thank you and then if I don't want it I give it away or sell it.

I'm a pediatrician. We get new patients all the time without records but if the kids have any kind of medical issues it makes it more difficult to provide good care without the past records. Even with something like frequent ear infections it can be helpful to know how freqent in the past they were. If your kids have been pretty healthy it's probably not a big issue. I would ask your old doctor of they can copy only the growth chart and shot records (if you vaccinate). Those are the most important for a new doctor to have. If you vaccinate and keep your own records, then you don't need the shot records as much but if you need any form filled out ever (including for college) the new doctor is going to need those.

I haven't tried MFW but we really like FIAR. It's working very well for us.

We're using FIAR right now and loving it. I'm planning on using it as a pre-K and Kindergarten fun thing. The only other things we do are phonics and a little handwriting and Math. I plan on waiting for any other History and Science until 1st grade. I look at FIAR as being our fun extra right now. Actually, all of school right now is kind of an extra. I'd just use it and pick and choose what you want from it. It's nice becase it is so flexible. If you want to add in science and history then just drop the FIAR science and Math. Maybe you could do it as "Three in a Row" and just higlight the art, literature, languate, geography or whatever other parts you want to highlight. Plan to not do it every day.

I liked it more than you did but didn't love it like I wanted to. Does that even make sense? ;) My husband commented that the end had been "Disneyfied". Especially with that awful song that kicked in. I thought they tried to capitalize on the Lord of the Rings success by adding in a whole extra battle that isn't in the book and the scene with the White Witch. I know they often have to change books since what works well in print doesn't always work well visually. But...I was still a little disappointed in some of the choices. Overall, I thought they were pretty true to the spirit of the book.

I voted for the pies, as I think they are the most labor intensive. The other things are all fairly easy for me to make. I can make a pie but I rarely do since it's a lot of work for me. I would have pies at the yard sale and offer samples of them for people to try/purchase and then let people know they can buy a whole one.

I only read through the first 4 pages but I think I counted 4 or 5 Alice's..interesting as I never meet anyone of my generation with my name. My maternal grandmother was Alice (I'm named after her). Her mother was Natasha (she was Russian). My maternal grandfather was Julian. His mother was Ruth. Others in her generation were Estelle and Catherine. My Mom is Christine. Her sister is Lisa (short for Elizabeth). My paternal grandmother was Rosalie. My paternal grandfather was Julian. Others in their generation were Hazel, Mason, and Frank. f My Dad is Richard but goes by Dick...which is definitely a generational thing. His siblings are Ray and Alice.

My kids are young like yours, so I don't have a ton of experience with this. For us, church provides our main social network. We have a small church and have several families that we've been close friends with for 10+ years. My 4 yr old has several very close friends within that group. His birthday parties for the past 2 years have been his Sunday School class which is 4-5 kids and consists of his closest friends. Sometimes, I start having Mommy guilt and wondering if I should be providing him more opportunities to make new friends...but then I remember he's only 4 and I try to talk myself down. :D As he gets older..I can't predict where his friends will come from but I would suspect he'll still have close friends within our church group. Good friends of ours who homeschool are in a co-op where they have made some close friends. I could see us doing a co-op when he is older both for the opportunity to meet new people and the opportunity to try some classes I can't do at home. Other people I know have close friends in the neighborhood. There are kids in our neighborhood that play together but he's not really at the age where I'll let him just go out and ride his bike around or go hang out with some kids playing down the street. When he's older though, I could see that being another way to meet new people.

Too funny! I remember loving to play "school" at that age.

I like all these. Ds4 gets Click right now and loves it.

We've about 3/4 way through a month long study on the ocean using three FIAR books (Gramma's Walk, All Those Secrets of the World and Night of the Moonjellies). We go to the beach next week as part of our "study". :) These are some of the books and videos we've enjoyed: Books (all are picture books): Fiction: Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines When the Tide is Low by Shelia Cole The Sea and I by Harutaka Nakawatari Shells! Shells! Shells! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (is "fiction" but has great photos of shells and very informative) Hello, Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan (great discussion of 5 senses) A Gift From the Sea by Kate Banks A Beautiful Seashell by Ruth Lercher Bornstein The Disappearing Island by Corinne Demas A Flag for Grandma by Sally Grindley The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow The Big Big Sea by Martin Waddell Little Rabbit and the Sea by Gavin Bishop Atlantic by Brian Karas Pagoo by Holling C. Hollings (Technically fiction I guess but chock-full of info on tide pool life, about the life of a hermit crab. It's long..we're using it as a read-aloud. Lots of intersting sketches of marine life.) A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle Kermit the Hermit by Bill Peet Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz Moving Day by Robert Kalan The Girl Who Danced with Dolphins by Frank DeSaix Down at the Bottom of the Deep Dark Sea by Rebecca Jones Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier Those Summers by Aliki Louie's Goose and Gotcha Louie! by H.M. Ehrlich (very sweet books for a Pre-schooler) Non-fiction: Animals Without Bones: Crabs Creatures that Glow by Joanne Barkan (the book glows in the dark) Nature's Children series: Jellyfish A True Book series: Jellyfish by Elaine Landau Sea Jellies: Rainbows in the Sea by Elizabeth Tayntor Gowell Dolphin Talk: Whistles, Clicks and Clapping Jaws by Wendy Pfeffer Wild About Dolphins by Nicola Davies The Magic School Bus Gets Crabby by Kristin Earhart The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole Shark In the Sea by Joanne Ryder (I think these are shelved under fiction. They are a series called "Just for a Day" where the author has the reader imagine what it is to be a shark. Very good.) Sea Elf by Joanne Ryder World Book's Science and Nature Guides Seashells and Peterson's Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic (I'm taking these with us on vacation. The first one is really nice for kids.) DVD's: Ocean (DK Eyewitness video) The Blue Planet (excellent, from the Discovery Channel...similar to the Planet Earth series.) Popular Mechanics for Kids: Super Sea Creatures Reading Rainbow Ocean Life (actually two episodes on one DVD...one about whales and one about manatees)

This is what we use. It's very good. We're Presbyterian though and it is definitely reformed.