We have a 6ft pre-lit artificial tree. (severe allergies to all things green in our house). Dh built a wooden box for it to stand on that makes it reach almost 8ft. with a star on top. I like it up like that so we have plenty of room for gifts underneath. Our lights (the ones that are still working) are white, and our ornaments are a huge mishmash of all the ones the kids have picked out over the years.

I wanted to add....I'm ok with the status quo. I am an admitted control freak and I don't like him messing around with my routine.

My dh and were just (kind of) joking about this yesterday. He is on vacation until January. I told him he could iron his own church clothes, since he was on vacation. He said, "I'll remember that when you are on vacation." I just gave him the look. He then said "Oh. Yeah, I guess you don't really get one do you?" Nope. Not in 18 years.

*nodding* My best skillets are the ones that are older than dirt. One was my grandmother's, my mother's and now mine. The other one is a tiny one I found in a cabinet of a house we bought. It was so old and well used!

My biology loving girl is headed into Forensic Science. There are several routes to take for that field. She will, however, have a lot of chemistry in college. This is one of the programs she is looking at: http://www.mtsu.edu/forensicscience/

I have two smaller ones that I can fry eggs in and keep runny yolks intact. I always use fat when cooking eggs. (usually bacon grease). My extra large cast iron skillet will stick every time. But it is because I use it to cook everything, and the more acidic foods cook off that wonderful non-stick seasoning. I just clean it and re-oil often.

I've noticed that I've just about given myself ulcers trying to feed my family food that isn't chemically laden or GMO or some sort of frankenfood. I want to eat organic, local, non GMO food, but it isn't feasible without taking out a second mortgage. Then I also have to deal with this food culture in our area and within our family that adores the junk, the more processed the better. And it is a must have at every single gathering. Not to mention the ostracizing because you choose to cook and eat healthy...which automatically implies that you don't think THIER food/hospitality is good enough for you and yours, and therefore you must think you are better then them. yeah, I have issues..lol. Adding in a nut allergy, gluten and dairy intolerances and a dh with pre diabetes....I hate food.

My daughter had through Algebra II, and is currently taking Elementary Statistics at college. She is doing very well.

*I never look at dates on threads *Not really embarrassed that I posted on a 2 year old thread

*I shouldn't have worn white at my wedding *made out on my 2nd date with dh right in the middle of the living room floor during the superbowl. Yes, other people were there (and I was 15) *Pregnant at 17, but married. (lost the baby though, and didn't have my first kid until I was 20) *Dropped my oldest when she was a baby :( *Eat chocolate chips by the handful, straight out of the giant Costco bag...pretty much on a daily basis. *yell at my oldest child...for being just like me. *pretend I don't see my dog licking the dirty dishes while I'm loading the dishwasher. *don't shower daily *get mad at my husband for breathing. No really, its annoying. *Am a bad Baptist that lets her kids watch anime and horror movies. *Really bad Baptist that loves rock music and dub-step. *yes, I said dub-step.

I have my mother's rings from my parents failed marriage. Those rings and a little engraved silver plate are really all I have to "know" they were ever together. (no photos exist). So, I'm personally glad my mom didn't destroy those things and let me have them. Then again, I have zero memories of them being together.

This reminds me...our dog used to have a pet turtle. No, really! There was a box turtle that lived in the edge of our blackberry patch. Every day, we would walk up to the patch, the dog would hunt around for the turtle, bring it out and carry it around. When the walk was over, we made her leave the turtle at the edge of the patch. We've since moved, but I'm sure that if we walked back up there, she would hunt for that turtle!

I transitioned my girls from public school to homeschooling in 3rd and 6th grades. The first year was hard. They had a lot of school routines that were hard for them to let go of. Homeschooling was a completely new way of life and it was stressful to get accustomed to. Give it time, and I second others suggestions of taking it easy until January. It takes quite a while to develop new routines and habits that feel comfortable. My oldest graduates in May. I have to say, she is SO thankful we homeschooled her now, even though she HATED it at first.

Our dog (Jack Russell) is afraid of guns, the word gun, and anything that goes bang. She will hide if you say "gun". She is also afraid of laundry baskets, plastic bags, balloons, and stuffed animals. (ETA, thunder, wind, and windchimes) We've had her since she was tiny, and I cannot think of any trauma that has lead to these fears. She adds new ones periodically. If we have ice cream or any kind of treat, she has to have one of her treats. She will sit on you and stare at you relentlessly until you go get her one. She gets really, really excited when she sees the leash. This is amusing because since we live out in the country, she gets to run off leash about 99% of the time. She only has to wear a leash when we need to control her (guests, vet, etc.) She likes to play dress up. The girls have put her in clothes since she was a puppy, and she always seems so proud. Oh, and she will frequently "forget" how to jump up onto a chair or lap. Again, she is a JRT. They are springs.

Edited because I shouldn't read before coffee. Why 3 sciences since the fall? I'm sorry you are having such a tough time.

Not really. If he were going to be over an hour late, sure, or if he knew we had specific plans at a specific time. This comes from 15+ years of him working a job that had him coming home at all hours, without prior notice of what those hours would be.

I have. It made me sad and angry for a variety of reasons. It also made me want to scrub myself repeatedly and live like a monk. (the feeling passed, obviously). It was horrific.

Yes, this. My great grandmother's house was so full of Avon products that you literally had to walk through tunnels to navigate her house. Even in the kitchen and the sunroom. I have an aunt that has had animal control working with her off and on for years because of cat hoarding. Another relative who's single wide trailer was so crammed full of trash that you also had to navigate paths. A closet full of sheets or a cluttered house doesn't equal hoarding by any stretch.

I think the predisposition for hoarding can be genetic. I also think that environment and trauma can be triggers to make it uncontrollable. The hoarding bug runs in my dad's side of the family (animals) and in my dh's maternal side (things). One of my dds has the potential there to become a hoarder. She has a very hard time letting go of things. She can develop an emotional attachment to a scrap of paper. I think that if something stressful occurred in her life, it could probably trigger grand scale hoarding. She has witnessed the horrible effects of the hoarding by a close relative, so I'm hoping it will help her control it.

I don't know if this would help her feel a bit better, or not...but this is my dd at the ripe old age of 12, with me. She was wearing heels, but yes, she is tall. I'm 5'7.5". She felt like a giant when she was that age. Now that her peers are finally hitting puberty, she says she doesn't feel that way any more. She is still tall, but not the TALLEST of every kid she knows.

I'm sorry. It is such a hard age/stage. My girls are tall and hit puberty at an early age. 10-12 was a hard age for them as they were adjusting to new bodies while all of their same age friends still looked like little girls. Some things that helped their self image: Knowing that it was NORMAL to pudge up a bit before a growth spurt. Knowing that the other girls will go through similar things, just at a different age. Shopping at thrift stores and in the women's departments and avoiding the junior department. We also avoided the scale, BMI calculators, etc. We focused on what healthy looked like, and how to eat well and be active. Also, as a previous poster mentioned, be prepared for grown men flirting, unfortunately. I have one child in particular that looked 18 at 12 and carried herself as much older than she was. (not in a sexual way, she just has an "old soul' personality) Anyway, we often dealt with/deal with men being a little too flirty. Most are appropriately horrified when they realize she is so young, but it is still uncomfortable. She is 14 now, and has mastered the unapproachable glare when someone starts making assumptions.

As a mother of three teenage girls, I have found that more socialization than I can handle has found us! Lol. For us, it hasn't been a problem. The girls go to dances, parties, see movies with friends, have sleepovers, and just hang out. They have friends through church, co-op, cousins, volunteering, and now community college. If you are active in the community, the rest seems to follow. FWIW, my girls are happy to have missed out on most of the drama surrounding teens in school.

As a Christian that also happens to be conservative, I feel the need to apologize on behalf of people that claim to share my faith, yet are not representing our Savior. I've often said that it is a huge failing of the church, in general, that "we" expect non-Christians to behave like Christians. Why would you? Our family stays out of politics in general because we do not hold the belief that this is a Christian nation, nor that it was founded to be one. We do believe in separation of church and state, because I certainly do not want the government trying to legislate my faith. We realize that it is a two way street in that we should not try to legislate the nation into Christianity. Would I like to live in a Christian nation? Sure. But I also realize that it isn't going to happen on this side of heaven. What am I commanded to do? Love my neighbor. (Yes, my white, black, Asian, gay, straight, Muslim, Hindu, atheist, etc. neighbors). Love my God. I am not commanded to force the world to conform to scripture. In fact it is pretty clear from scripture that it will not happen, and God already knows that. I am only to conform myself, and love others. The end.

Unless you buy used, your son's $50 would be wasted on a camera. Most digital cameras under $100 are junk and he won't be happy with the photo quality at all.

Planning looks different for different folks. No one method is right. For me, I have a need to plan out the year to fit within a certain number of days. I adjust lessons accordingly, and try to make sure things like big essays from English and a huge paper from science do not overlap. I don't put them in my planner..rather I put the lessons in a spreadsheet that is numbered. Each week I pull a weeks worth of lessons off my spreadsheets and put them in my planner. Keeps us on track without having to rearrange the whole planner if we get sick or something.