Those books have a style that annoys me, but I also can't put my finger on it. I read them for my son because he really enjoyed them and found the plot creative and fun. It's probably either the super casual speech patterns or the POV that grate on me. I have the same problem with Harry Potter, but it's the adverbs that drive me bonkers in that series.

This sounds exactly like my best friend. I remember staying at her house for a few days before I had kids and her grandmother had come over and cleaned her altar not knowing what it was for. I remember her trying to rebuild it and sort of re balance it (to take into account that she was a bit mad that her grandma had dumped her things but knowing it wasn't due to malice). She described it to me as exactly that- the herbs, stones, candles and each of the meanings. One question- her altar is near a window and outside, she has a garden that is reflective of some of the things within her altar. She considers them two sides of a whole. Is that common?

I am staying offline more often for Lent, but I wanted to pop in here and say thanks for directing me to this thread and the eventual social group. I am in the midst of exploring things right now, but I am a Cradle Catholic and cultural Italian Catholic that grew up in the 1980s happy lovey dovey CCD. Consequently, I feel as though I actually didn't learn too much other than a few basics. I am a first generation American on my father's side, so we did do a lot of things that were things my family apparently did in Italy that were intrinsically Catholic. My grandmother and father really didn't go to Mass much, but they followed everything else and said the Rosary. It's kind of weird in retrospect. My husband was raised without religion in his life other than basic Christianity. His mom went to Catholic schools but didn't practice, his dad went to vacation bible school randomly without a particular attachment to religion. You can see where I have some struggles going on here! I am looking forward to exploring the thread so it might help my thoughts.

you all are brilliant. I need to work on one of these systems stat.

I will be thinking of you today. Adoption through foster care is has happened several times in my extended family, so I wish the best for you.

I feel the same way. Our current library is terrible and also charges for ILL, so we'd be spending $$$ on top of things. With one of my DH's big sticking points about homeschooling being $$, having to also pay for ILL is a big deal to him when the library is also devoid of actual books.

Thanks for sharing her with us so she may live on in our memories.

Def. MSI in Chicago. That's a full day. What other things might they be interested in? I love the Field, but I know that can be boring for some people. Would the Planetarium be of interest to you? I also grew up in Chicago but live closer to Rockford now. There's a little nature museum here too and a nice Children's museum that your older kids might too old for, though my 13 year old still loves it . Bonus is that parking is nowhere near the cost of parking in Chicago! I haven't been to the dells in years. commercial, yes, but it is fun.

I wonder if I should quietly change the family desktop wallpaper to this and see if anyone either notices or comments on it. Actually, I don't know what my current wallpaper is- let's check: It's a map from LOTR, so that's my son's doing. I think dino-Moses is better. Poor dude in the back row that's getting his head eaten.

I appreciate it! Thank you. Wow. Seems like a lot of people are blindsided! I wonder if this entire process will give we Chreasters a kick in the pants to come back more fully into Church again? I have been batting it around for a while as my kids are starting to ask questions. Perhaps I should check out the Catholic social group thread, whichever one that is.

Where would be a facts-only place to follow news of this and of the upcoming decision of a new Pope? I am very interested to see what happens. Our Diocese has had a big explosion in new members attending Latin Mass and more of the parishes around here are offering it. Growing up, only one or two were and they were downtown and the older generation mostly attended. This all changed over the last few years due to the shift toward tradition. I wonder how this will be affected? I keep running into young families that will go to our Latin Mass. A younger Pope that could balance this and new traditions would be interesting.

I have to say I am somewhat unsettled too. I am in the middle of an exploration of religion and was raised Catholic. I am at the point where I go to Church sometimes, but not regularly, but I have used Catholic schooling materials in my afterschooling. I don't think there's anything scandalous occurring though. Scandal does not stop the Church. It's not going to make a Pope resign. Heath though is a big deal. That's pretty impressive to resign such a high position knowing you aren't feeling up to serving it. Things are going to be rocky for a while. Edited: Timing is a bit odd. Right before Lent. You'd think he would have done so prior to beginning of Litergical year?

How funny you ask this. I just got an issue of Clean Eating magazine and there was a recipe requiring this ingredient. I had never heard of it and was headed over here to ask. What a nice coincidence!

I am very visual so I notice avatar changes more than name changes.

Sometimes I read someone's name wrong and then realize I've been saying it in my head wrong the entire time rather than a namechange. Like you, for example. I thought maybe you drove a motor scooter around Illinois because my brain decided your name was scootermominIL. Then I saw you talking about a camping trip, I think, and I wanted to respond and suddenly I realized I'd been thinking your name wrong this entire time. Though if you do drive a scooter around IL while scouting, that'd be okay too.

Not offensive. Have never heard that as a derogatory term in all of my years in working with a special needs pop. Kid doesn't bother me either. I figure if my child is following me around, saying, "Maaaaaaaaaaaaa, Maaaaaaaaaaa" like a goat if they want something, I reserve the right to refer to them as kid :laugh: .

This thread has made my evening, merci.

I voted boy because if I were to be expecting again, that's what I'd want. So scientific!

Hmm. Maybe I should try this for one of my boys. It can't hurt, and he has the same issues you are dealing with.

I was waiting for Anne Of Green Gables and the Zombies/Werewolves/Vampires

I was going to say the same thing here. Music I give a lot longer because sometimes you need to get over that learning-the-note hump to really see some results. Other activities, I say finish out the period that's been paid for or the year/season. Then reevaluate. We pulled our boys from scouts because they were overwhelmed. Now that they are older, my oldest is asking to rejoin. It seems he is ready for the commitment. If I would have forced him to stay, the entire thing may have soured.