I took a condensed Spanish class last summer...I do NOT recommend it. It moves way too fast for retention. As far as equivalency...If you haven't had any high school Spanish, our CC has you take Beg. Spanish 1 and Beg. Spanish 2 before you can take Intermediate. Intermediate is what actually counts towards a major. If you have taken two years of high school Spanish, you can jump right into Intermediate. All that to say, Beg. 1 and 2 are usually equivalent to 2 years of high school Spanish.

No, I've never really loved it. At times I absolutely hated it. I've never regretted it. I love my girls to pieces and wouldn't trade that time with them. I wasn't content at home though. I'm thrilled to be back in school, and I am totally looking forward to having a career.

That school goes well for everyone here. (three of us in college classes, one in just high school classes). That my dh gets some relief from his particularly long and bad flare up of chronic pain. (he has it constantly, but the past few months have been worse than usual). That my two younger get the driving thing cemented.

Do not push to keep them at the same level. They are individuals with different needs and abilities and you'll do more harm than good. One thing my girls have thanked me repeatedly for is NOT lumping them together all the time. They are pretty much treated as siblings that happen to share a birthday ;) It sometimes helps to use different curriculum if they are on different levels and are upset about it. (It is less noticeable if they are doing two different kinds of math)

((Hugs)) I'm nearly there. I just sat down and planned out the girls' senior year. My last time ever. One of them isn't even taking classes at home next year (co-op and DE for everything). That date is looming for me too.

We strongly advocate waiting until after marriage. However, we aren't naive and have throughly explained how to protect oneself.

Nope. Not unless you count modeling what not to do. Thankfully I fell for a guy that had some very good examples of healthy relationships in his life. We still have our problems, but nothing compared to what I grew up around. ETA: for my kids, again, we talk A LOT. My oldest is wading through her first relationship now (and not without her own struggles) but we talk about it a lot, and what is healthy. She has really picked a good guy though, and for that I'm thankful. He may not be who she ends up with permanently, but he has been a good first real boyfriend.

Not a guy, but I am married to one. I have to say I have been VERY thankful over the years that dh's parents were very matter of fact and open about sex/periods, etc. He has helped me through some rough times with my own female problems without one bit of squeamishness, and has always been very understanding of stuff like that. Also, we were both very knowledgeable about sex and the workings/dangers thereof, even though we were VERY young when we dated/married. (We were 15/18 when we started dating and I was 16 when we got married.)

Hand them to the kids, say "have fun, and do what you want with it". They can make weird art, set it on fire, throw it in the trash, whatever. The kids will have interacted with it, can tell MIL what they thought, and you don't have to deal with finding the junk to go with...lol. I have had several things like that gifted to me. Sometimes they just got put in the attic to be used at an undetermined "later" and then eventually forgotten about by the gifter.

My girls never asked. Things just got brought up during the normal course of life. There were little snippets from birth until now, unplanned but purposeful. Periods were never a secret. I, personally, loved to watch those TLC Baby Story shows when the kids were small, so they saw a lot of those. When I became pregnant with my younger two, there were conversations about babies and such then with my three year old. Again with my youngers when my SIL was pregnant with their younger cousin. I did have a few "punctuation" conversations with them to make SURE they knew certain things. Like an in-depth period talk when they were 7 or 8. Sex was explained in detail at that time, and things like STDs, rape, protection, etc. have just been periodically discussed. As teens there have been times that they are just like "Mom, PLEASE stop talking!", but I know that they will 1. not be ignorant, and 2. know that I'm am there for them to talk to no matter what. But really, I talk with my kids a lot and about everything. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a topic that we've not discussed at some point or another. It is the culture of our family. It seems to have worked. My 19 year old still talks to me about everything, including concerns about dating and her boyfriend, etc.

It is hard! Dh lucked up this weekend and found a 2001 Taurus with only 61K miles on it for $3000. That thing is immaculate. But it was a friend of a friend that was taking pics to put it up on craigslist when he pulled up to look at it.

We made it easy on ourselves. Dh went and bought the car HE wanted them to have. They didn't get to pick. However, we buy very cheap used cars for the teens. He's a mechanic, so he can find mechanically sound older vehicles.

This is one area that my mom actually did very well in. She was very open with stuff like that, and I knew everything about periods and the basics about sex by age 8. (Actually I knew a lot more than the basics by then, but I had been exposed to stuff too early by other people...not her doing). I think that because she had some traumatic experiences because of lack of knowledge, she was going to make sure I knew. However, one pretty mortifying thing she did was when she made my step-dad purchase a box of condoms and made him give them to me before my first "real" date with my now dh. I don't know which one of us was more embarrassed. I stuck them in my closet and never touched that box because I just knew that she kept count!

I have an Altima, which isn't terribly different, that I love.

They can't mail checks to co-op, as those get hand delivered each month. I occasionally use bill pay for the electric bill, but they've been known for sending checks out late. Really, I've whittled it down as much as feasibly possible, without causing myself extra headache.

Our electric bill, because our podunk utility company can't get with the times. Our doctor's office, because it is a PIA to pay online with them. Our monthly co-op tuition, because I have to write each teacher a separate check. Our church activities for the kids (retreats, etc.) I would LOVE to ditch checks, but haven't been able to yet.

I use a software program to "balance", and not a paper one. This helps me keep track of checks that haven't cleared, or pending automatic payments, etc. My bank balance isn't my true balance. This keeps me from overspending if I know what I have floating around out there that hasn't hit my account yet.

My dh is the "short" one in his family. Most of the men on his side are well over 6'2". He's barely scraping 5'11" (He used to claim 6', but it just isn't there anymore..lol.) He was always a LOT shorter than his older-by-two-years brother, who topped out at 6'4". It hasn't really seemed to bother him much. His mom is tiny, and he seems to have taken after that side of the family more in general. Genetics are funny though. BIL's kids are all shorter than our kids. (most of them are past puberty)

My kitchen seems to go from spotless to hoarders episode in the space of a few hours, so there really isn't a dedicated spot. It seems like things just land where ever.

Yes, I forgot to clarify that it wasn't full tuition. There isn't much for full tuition unless you score VERY well on the ACT, and/or you are very low income.

TN. There are HOPE Lottery scholarships with a minimum GPA required (2.7?). Some of the state schools have resident scholarships for a certain GPA/ACT score. Plus tuition is significantly lower for residents. Oh, and two years of CC tuition paid for high school graduates that jump through the correct hoops. (Not difficult ones)

It is hard not to compare, but really it does no one any good. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. In our little family, the academic ability varies quite a bit. I have one child that I had to practically drag through high school, and the last two years of h.s. were basically box checking. She was 18.5 when she graduated. Academics just aren't her thing...she excels at people and friends. There wasn't an accelerated, rigorous education for her because it would have sucked the life right out of her. It has been hard to not compare her to her sisters, who DO have an academic bent. And even with them, our homeschool probably seems paltry compared to many on this board. But it works for our family. BTW, my 19 year old college student still watches Scooby Doo and Pokemon, and her 22 year old buddy still LOVES My Little Pony :) He's a Brony..lol.

1. Fly willingly. I've ridden in planes. Hope to never do it again. 2. Step on a cockroach. I am very un-squeamish about all things creepy crawly, except roaches. *Shudder* 3. Put away my laundry like a normal person. I can wash, dry and promptly fold. Then it sits in laundry baskets until I wear it.

I think it would be beneficial to do the DE for his senior year and just work on beefing up his transcript a bit. Let him do some independent study in addition to his DE classes. Incorporate ACT study. Have him do volunteer work. Then, starting next August look at your deadlines for applications. Many schools recommend applying for the college and scholarships the FALL of your senior year. The time has really passed for good scholarship apps for Fall 2016. ETA: We've really been looking into the best dates and such the past few weeks for my Juniors. Our plans are to apply ASAP next year so she'll be at the front of the line for scholarship money.

I hope so. Actually, my dh has a decent relationship with his parents, even though they drive him crazy sometimes. He especially enjoys doing things with his dad. Boundaries have been important. I have a good relationship with my 19 year old, but she still lives at home and is very easy to get along with. I think it'll be ok with the younger two as well, if we survive the next year or so..lol.