Lots of changes in the past few months with my job (outside of homeschooling my 3 kiddos) and some out side of family, friend stress so would love accountability and reading everyone's ideas for 2018 has kicked my butt into gear, THANK YOU! 1. Back to Counting Calories --- but with a twist instead of losing 20 lbs in 3-6 months, I am going to go for 10 months = Slow and Steady. I need to build in the habit of counting calories which I haven't for about 2.5 years. I also want to be Carb Conscious so I have decided to reactive my old spark people account with the app on my phone :) I hope in a few months I am consistently staying in my calorie and carb daily range! 2. Focus on Feeling Energized/Moment & Not Exercising. -- The last few years, my whole week was structured around when I was going to go to the gym, but with some office changes I decided to drop my gym membership. I also found that going to the gym and focusing so much on exercising became a negative in my life, like I was just checking off a box. I lost no more then 5 lbs the whole year because my eating was all over the place. So I want to focus on FEELING good and doing movement in everyday life...when I take my youngest to the library, don't rush home after picking books out, take a stroll around the pond with him or play ping pong at the rec center or going hiking with my teens instead of sending them with their dad and trying to catch up on laundry or work. I know a lot of this one will be ME having a different mindset and being Intentional (which is my word for 2018). 3. Drink more WATER --- I have been a big water drinker forever but the last 2 years it's gone to the wayside. I want to get back to carrying my water bottle around with me while doing housework, homeschooling, and computer work. Drinking as much water as I can during the day!

Praying for you and your family! *HUGS*

Welcome! Homeschooling 2 of my kiddos through High School too!

Capital One

I 2nd Jer2911. Here is some info I got from their email today. If you are not a member you can become one for free and then look for their sale. Just an idea! We are pleased to welcome Veritas Press Self-Paced Omnibus Courses from Veritas Press, award-winning, online, self-paced courses for grades 7-12, to the Co-op! Combining history, theology and literature, these courses help students grow in their appreciation of the unity of all knowledge. Learn from experts in each subject area. Tour the locations where history occurred. Be challenged by interactive exercises that require thinking, not just learning facts. Interact with the Great Books, all from a Christian worldview. Veritas Press self-paced courses are a popular way for your child to learn history. By joining our GroupBuy, Members can get any Veritas Press Self-Paced Omnibus course for $195 -- that's $100 off the list price of $295 -- PLUS get 500 Bonus SmartPoints for each course purchased. Hurry as this offer is only available at the Co-op through Monday, June 26th!

I have a good friend that moved from England to the States about a year ago and she found a place on Craigslist. She did say she had to go through a lot of ads to find a great place to live. It was a house with 3 other people. Just an idea.

Congrats! I only have 3-4 pages of K Math left for my youngest. We'll finish it this week. My older teens had so much going on in the spring with activities and finishing up other subjects we ended up getting behind in Algebra. Thankfully, it's only a couple of chapters, so we are set to finish it up in June.

Not much here. Hot dogs with buns, chips, and fruit. Busy night for us and we had a HUGE lunch.

My youngest was like that except we just had him leave the door open. After a year or so we started slowly shutting it more and more until now he will have it closed. Sometimes he does forgets but he is only 6.

Following...I will have only one in 3 years...so not too far away

Sometimes direct selling is TOO direct. I agree with you, as a regular poster of her wrap biz on facebook, if you wanted one you know she sells them. Why reach out and make you feel like you need one. I don't unfriend people but I have learned to unfollow ( I would suggest doing that) so I don't have to see them in my news feed. I am not sure I would respond back to her, it might be better just to delete the pvt message from her. :grouphug: Btw, I love reading your journey on your blog don't let people bring you down!

Typically in May.

I know where I live (Metro Atlanta), it's consider a university for adult learners, entrepreneurs, a stepping stone to a graduate degree, or necessary for a job promotion. Recruiters and HR folks don't look favorably on it, I know several in the industry of hiring that say they don't even look at resumes with Strayer on it, unless they have graduate degrees from someone where else. They say this is because its a for-profit school. This might just be my area...

It's been a really hard couple of months. I can't wait until it's over!

Yes, I would just do the textbook & workbook. I think it would give the overview of government, elections, voting etc that you are looking for your son. Since you are considering the AGS Government book too. I just wanted to share my experience using AGS textbooks. I have tried to use several AGS textbooks with my son but we found them to be too traditional for us. The textbooks were overwhelming distracting for him, filled with assignments and chapter reviews that were to be completed on separate notebook paper. The companion workbooks I found to be very plain and not very creative.The biggest plus is they are written at a 4-5 reading level. We ended up going with textbooks that were created for home schoolers and written in a more narrative style, colorfully but not textual busy, and very open and go for the parent with zero to no lesson prep/planning. Notgrass has fit the bill for us. No matter what you settle on, just remember you can always tweak it :)