I have to add...I'm in a mood today and don't want to be anyone's wife. :glare: Subject to change without notice.

If she has had little instruction, I think Writing with Skill is a good way to start. It covers the mechanics of writing very well with little of the creative process needed (which overwhelms a lot of struggling writers) I wouldn't do WWS, BP AND a lit course though. She would quickly become overwhelmed. You do have time to beef up her writing, so don't worry about being behind! We did Power in Your Hands last semester and it was pretty gentle too. We have moved on to EIL this semester, and I do not recommend it as a way to learn the basics as (like a PP said) it doesn't really give writing instruction.

I'm as good of a wife as I can sanely be. Sometimes I think I'm probably not the best wife he could have though. We kind of just live our own lives these days. I take care of him, he takes care of me...we love each other...but we don't have a lot in common. Married 22 years. Been together since we were 15 and 18.

We are very open about such things here, and I've talked to them about it their whole lives. It isn't really a big deal to talk about it to them. We do believe in abstinence before marriage, but we were wild teens ourselves once, so we don't assume they will always behave. We've discussed drugs and violence related to tEa, emotional aspects (both good and bad), protection, disease, and possible consequences of pre-marital tea. We have also been careful to reiterate that tEa is a GOOD and natural thing, just one best experienced inside a marriage relationship. These conversations happen everywhere, but if you are nervous about it, talking while driving is always good because they can't get away! :lol:

Ours probably falls under the not so small category at 2000sq ft, but it isn't huge, the layout works great for us, and you could probably knock off some square footage by making the bedrooms smaller. http://ww3.coolhouseplans.com/details.html?pid=chp-11446 We changed a few things when we built: We took out the ensuite bathroom in the bedroom upstairs and added that space to the computer area. This is what I use for my office, homeschool stuff and art studio. (Very little homeschool things in there these days as we are really winding down as my kids finish up high school) We also changed the bathroom upstairs from a jack and jill to one that opened into the hallway. This gave us space for a big linen closet. We also took the window out of the walk in closet upstairs. We have attic access for the main part of the house that opens into the computer area. We also have a walk-through door from the computer area to the attic above the garage. Downstairs we didn't make a lot of changes other than putting a closet in where it shows stairs going down to the basement, and setting up an access door into the space under the stairs behind the closet.. There was quite a large dead space back there. We have the added bonus of being able to completely close off the upstairs with some very minor construction if we decide to later. (old and unable to navigate stairs, for example) The heat and air systems for the upstairs and downstairs are separate.

We'll have to try those. We all hover right at or just over 5'8" with long torsos. Makes shopping fun :p

Following this because I'm always in search of LONG tanks. The four females that live in this house are tall and curvy, and the typical tank top barely reaches past the top of our pants. I do like the tunic tanks that Target have occasionally (in fact they have them right now). They don't sell them all the time though.

A diploma won't actually have grades on it. A transcript is the only thing that will show grades. Do they provide a transcript?

Layout is much more important than square footage I've found. We've lived in houses ranging from 1200 to 3000 sq ft. Our current house is just barely 2000 sq ft and is probably the most efficient layout that we've lived in. We built it, and spent a ton of time pouring over blueprints, and even tweaked this one before building to get rid of any wasted spaces. We could easily raise 3-4 more kids in this space. That said, ours is a two story. The kids kind of have their own floor. We have two and a half baths. Those two things make the space very livable. We also made use of every attic space and under the stair space for additional storage. We also have a great outdoor space that we use when entertaining (large wraparound porch)

Regardless of the price, I've found the best soaps are the handmade ones sold by small companies. The ones with ingredients that you can actually read and understand. Once I switched to those types of soaps my skin improved drastically. As soon as I use something store bought, I break out.

I've flitted in and out over the years here. No, it is not a safe emotional place. I'm not sure it was intended to be, as it IS an education board. However, I do avoid a LOT of posts because of the tendency for threads to become heated and personal. You have to develop a thick skin and the ability to skim if you want to be comfortable here, especially if you have beliefs even slightly out of the norm/mainstream. I've typed out more posts than I can count, and hit delete before I posted them simply because I didn't want to become emotionally involved in something that was going to turn sour.

I just don't buy it. It isn't forbidden, and they do drink it other places. I've never really cared for soda, and we get too much sugar as is, so I don't keep it in the house. *as a side note, the kids thought Mountain Dew was an alcoholic drink for the longest time. Dh used to buy one on the way home from work almost every day, and I didn't want kids to have them when they were little. I told them that they were drinks for "daddies", and they put them in the same category as beer and such..lol.

We only really drink soda or tea when eating out. I do buy sodas a couple times a year for our big July 4th cookout and a few other large group gatherings. The rest of the year, at home, we drink water, coffee, and hot tea. Milk is usually just used in other things, pretty much dh is the only one to ever just drink a glass of milk.

Very southern Tennessee specific drawl here. I sound cowntree! I feel like it makes me sound uneducated and drives me nuts.

I do have regrets. I only had three, and I was very young (24) and our marriage was kind of rocky. I had some PPD issues, and the OB was very convincing about doing a tubal. Now my life is completely different, our marriage is much better, and I would have loved to have had a couple more when I was 31-34 or so. I've come to terms with it now, and I'm kind of enjoying the thought of my kids being grown. However, if you are feeling done after 6 kids and you are in your 30s, chances are you won't feel the way I do about it.

I have decided that I would drive you all up the wall faster than a hot knife through butter. My language is sprinkled with idioms. I even say them correctly half the time. :D I do dislike the "God will never give you more than you can handle" line. Uh...not true, and not biblical. Plus, history is full of dead people that would say otherwise.

Not around here, but I live out in the country.

It has been the opposite for us. When mine were small, I didn't know/care as much about what we ate, plus clingy twins made cooking miserable. We ate a lot more frozen convenience foods and boxed type meals. As they got older, hung on my legs less, and I became more health conscious, my cooking habits changed and I cooked from scratch most of the time. Now that *I* am back in school, it seems some of the convenience foods are slipping back in.

I had a messy child that is now 18 and still leaves a trail behind her where ever she goes. She too is very creative and artsy, and her mind is usually a million miles away. Cleanliness just isn't a priority for her, and nothing I've tried to do has changed that. She HAS gotten to where she'll voluntarily pick up her room when she can't walk in there any more. I have just spent the last 18 years reminding her daily of things to take care of. (I still have to remind her to brush her teeth!) She also has a very tender head, and hair has been an issue her entire life. She's tried to grow it out several times, but brushing it and dealing with knots drives her up the wall. She just keeps it very short now and wears a lot of hats.. :hat: She's is a beautiful person, one of the kindest people you'll ever meet, so I try not to hold her slovenly nature against her. :lol:

Merrill Pre-Algebra from 1996.

My guilty because they are so commercial and mainstream pleasures: The Walking Dead and Starbucks Lattes. My husband's homemade fudge. I seriously cannot stop eating it until it is all gone.

I vote for moving to the rental. You'll put yourself in a better position financially, and have a better layout. About not knowing how loud the neighborhood is, etc....can you stay at the rental for a week or so to get a feel for it?

From what I'm seeing now that I'm back in school: How to listen, how to respect your professors, how to actually LOOK at your syllabus, and how to actually go to bed at some point the night before.

I've gotten flaming womanly parts several times after antibiotics. I ran a bout of sickness that resulted in multiple infections this winter...I was on 5 different antibiotics over the course of two months. I just knew I would end up with issues, so I went heavy on probiotics. Not even a hint of flaming nether regions, thankfully! I took them in pill form, along with Good Belly (juice based) and drank Kombucha.

Well, we live on My Last Name road..lol. Our last house was on the most redneck sounding road ever. The one before that was a word with a bizarre spelling and no one could ever get it right. So, no street names don't bother me.