AND you spelled "stationery" correctly. Bonus points! :lol:

I am 100% in favor of technology and have used plenty of e-vites for informal gatherings. But Facebook is different to me. I get tons of invites on Facebook, and they usually go out to most (if not all) of the sender's friend list. Hosting a Thirty-One party? Facebook invite. Kid's birthday party? Facebook invite. Friend of a friend is deejaying at a local bar? Facebook invite. I guess they just don't feel like "real" invitations to me. Does this person really want me at their event, or did they just click "select all"? Social gatherings aren't really my thing anyway; I certainly don't want to go if no one will even notice I'm not there. And I say this as someone who has a Facebook tab perpetually up in her browser. I do always make paper invitations for the kids' birthday parties, and I actually mail them to the invitees. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I so loved getting something in the mail as a kid!

One of these deals got going at our Y a few months ago. This guy became a member out of nowhere and started really talking up all his products and "fat-releasing" techniques. Next thing you know, he's got himself a rented room at the Y and 40-50 people lined up out the door every single week. The Y had another program going on at the same time that focused on helping people form healthy eating and exercise habits. DH and I were in it and have lost quite a bit of weight (I've posted that here before). There's a support group, workouts with a personal trainer, etc. That group dropped to less than 10, despite being less than 25% the cost of the "fat-releasing" program. We even lost one of our trainers, who decided she'd rather push the products. :glare: I grew up with parents in MLM. Don't get me started.

This is all extremely helpful -- thank you! (I've been reading through the links you posted on the recent WWS thread as well -- also great stuff!) We are winding down some of our subjects for this year, so I was thinking now might be a good time to try a couple of whole-book summaries on our last two novels (Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). I was just trying to figure out how that process might look, and yours sounds perfect. I will definitely check out the book! My main goal overall is to end up with a student who knows how to THINK. I'm just not always sure how to get there!

This is exactly where I am! Especially as we move into the logic stage for next year, I think I am ready to step it up a little. And I think dd is ready too. Your rule of thumb about one outside writing assignment is a good one. Your oldest dd is a little older than mine (almost 10 -- planning for 5th grade right now). Would you mind sharing how you have built up to this level? One thing I'm struggling with is the way assignments in our history and science curricula are laid out. Most every lesson includes summarizing what she's read or answering a discussion question (not more than one paragraph at this level). They're short, and she can certainly handle doing all of those along with the writing program. Were you doing longer compositions in content areas at this point? Or still working up to it? We're probably going to use WWS1 next year, and it appears to assign only short pieces, at least in the beginning (don't have the book yet, so I'm going off the sample). It might not be a good idea to try to do longer compositions in content areas until after she practices in WWS. So maybe just following both the writing and content curricula with their short assignments would be best for 5th, in preparation to move to longer compositions in 6th?

If you use a separate writing program, I'm interested to know how you handle writing in other areas of your curriculum, especially content subjects. Do you do separate writing assignments for each content area, on top of your writing program? Sub out topics in your writing curriculum to coordinate with what you're studying elsewhere? Some combination? I feel like we need the structure of a separate writing program, but I'm loath to neglect writing in history/science because it helps with retention. Then again, doing it all seems like overkill. How do you find balance?

Do you have a link for this, by any chance? I'm googling but I'm not sure I'm finding the right thing. :)

We're looking at Noeo Physics II (or possibly a combination of II & III) for next year. I can't decide if it's rigorous enough, but dd isn't ready for a math-heavy curriculum yet, even thought she loves science. Listening in! :bigear:

I have said for years that I don't feel fullness/satisfaction like other people seem to do. Growing up, my grandma used to tell me I couldn't have a snack because it would "spoil your dinner." I literally didn't know what that meant. How could it spoil my dinner? When it was time to eat dinner, I'd just eat it, regardless of whether I'd had a snack or not. Call it a metabolism issue, call it gluttony, call it whatever you want -- that's how it is. I cried (yes, literally, cried) about this for a very long time. A VERY long time. I just wanted to be "normal." I wanted to be able to eat pizza when I felt like it and not be overweight, like my friends did (this was in high school/college; fewer of my friends can get away with that now, lol!). But the conclusion I came to is this: Everybody has her battles to fight. Unfortunately, I wear mine on my body, where the whole world can see them at a glance. It may not be patently obvious that someone struggles with anxiety, or alcohol, or miscarriages. All of those things are hard and cause suffering in their own ways, but they are not necessarily immediately obvious to strangers, potentially making them an object of scorn. Fair? No. But it is what it is. I'll probably have to spend the rest of my life fighting this. I'll have to eat less to maintain a healthy (notice I didn't say "skinny," because as we've established, skinny doesn't equal healthy) weight/lifestyle. I'll have to exercise harder. Some days I'll do that well, and other days I'll fail. If I fail more often than I succeed, it will show, and others will notice it. But I can't control what other people think or do. I can fight my battle to the best of MY ability, whatever that looks like. And so I will. (Sorry, that wasn't all directed at you. Your post was just sort of a jumping-off point.)

We use CLE too, and love it, but I also feel it's lacking in teaching thinking skills. We tried BA, but that was a total flop here. The style just doesn't work for dd9 (also, I think it's expensive). This year we're using Borac's Practice Word Problems: Level 2. Fair warning: If you're not math-minded yourself (English major here), these are tough! I usually have to read the solutions and figure out how to help dd through the steps on my own. There's no real teaching manual. But I think it has been good for teaching her to reason through a tough problem.

Absolutely! My kids have their own playroom at my parents' house (it's in my old bedroom), some of our old toys, and some new ones my mom picks up at consignment sales. MIL keeps a very few things around as well. FIL has nothing. In fact, when he moved, he gave dd9 some wooden ducks because "she's always liked them." Um, no she didn't. She played with them because there was nothing else for her to do at your house. When she was like, 3. :glare: Another pledge I've made to myself: I will always try to remember what it is like to have small children and be prepared when they come to visit. This means putting away anything valuable/breakable, at least in the common areas, while they are here. It's so stressful to visit someone's home that's full of porcelain figurines (all at toddler eye-level, of course) and have them insist, "Oh, he can't hurt anything!" while chasing a busy 18-month-old around like a bull in a china shop.

How do you handle writing in other areas of the curriculum when using WWS? I think dd9 can handle the material, so I'm thinking of going on to WWS1 next year (5th grade) at half-speed. I'll probably incorporate some Killgallon and The Creative Writer as well (maybe 2-4 times/month? she enjoys those). The history curriculum we're looking at also includes outlining, and our science curriculum wants her to summarize what she's reading, and then there are the writing exercises in her R&S grammar book... At what point is it overkill?

I got the spring and summer challenge lists from last year and combined them (because it gets hot here early and I need more summer clothes than spring). I've been looking around online and already bought a few pieces. We should have a GYPO thread to show off our new outfits!

I have raccoon eyes, inherited from my mother (why did I get ALL the crappy genes???). This is the only stuff I've ever found that disguises them at. all. http://www.target.com/p/pixi-correction-concentrate-brightening-peach/-/A-12849696 It's not perfect (and I usually top with a regular concealer) but it does help. At least it's cheap!

This was me, without a doubt. I never really rode the diet roller-coaster. I just ate and ate and sat on my behind, and then complained that I tried so hard and never got anywhere. NOT saying that all overweight people are like that! There are a myriad of issues, and we truly don't understand them all. But I think the reason it is viewed as a moral/character/laziness issue is that sometimes... it is. That doesn't mean it's fair to categorically lump all overweight people into the same bin, of course! But neither does it mean that we can ignore the fact that sometimes personal choices matter. For me, in the end, it turned out to be a spiritual issue that I needed to address through the lens of my faith. That's not going to be the case for everyone, obviously (although I'm happy to discuss my experience privately with anyone who is interested). I am still in the midst of my weight loss journey, and only time will tell if I become a statistic and regain it all. I don't really think I will, though. The "competent eating" described at the end of the article closely resembles what dh and I now do. There has been a fundamental shift in the way we approach food altogether. We have also found that we enjoy exercise (NEVER the case for me before!) and that contributes a lot to my overall well-being. I will say that I no longer desire to be super thin and will be happy with a BMI in the overweight/mildly obese category (I was well into morbidly obese before). I am close to that now, but would like to lose another 25 lbs. or so. That is a healthy, maintainable weight range for me, and because I am now fit (even though overweight/obese), I feel so much better. I have no interest in being skinny for the sake of being skinny.

I won't play devil's advocate, not because you asked us not to, but because I find this truly horrifying and sickening. At least your dd sounds like she has a level head on her shoulders and hopefully understands that she can and should come to you for help dealing with her health until she is mature enough to make those decisions on her own. :grouphug:

My dd named her stuffed cat Slimy, after Oscar the Grouch's worm. She named her real cat Buttercream Butterscotch the Cutest Catastrophe [Ourlastname]. We just call him Butter.

Given that the teens at our church raise money twice a year to go skiing and to the beach for a week with NO work involved, I'm less than concerned about this. :glare: I do think there should be full disclosure up front about how the money will be used. I don't have a major problem with allowing a day or two of downtime and the chance to explore the sights (which it's likely they will never see again) as part of a trip that's otherwise mostly focused on evangelism/service. I think, when supporting short-term missions for teenagers, that I'm investing in both the work and the experience for the teen.

Sending good thoughts your way! Best of luck on your new venture!

This would definitely have been my reaction. The disappointment over the realization that my friend really only wanted to unburden herself, not reconnect with me, would have been harder to take than the confession itself. I am a fiercely loyal friend, and I have been badly hurt in the past by discovering that not everyone has the commitment to me that I have to them. I would have a hard time being angry over something that occurred so long ago, but I would be upset that she was playing my emotions for her own purposes in the here and now. I'm sorry you are hurt. Try to let it go and get on with your (I'm certain spectacular) life!

So many good suggestions! Thank you! I think GYPO is exactly what I need right now! I signed up for her email list and got last year's spring challenge for free. I was pleasantly surprised that the shopping list wasn't huge. I think I should be able to find and afford those things pretty easily. I still have some weight to lose, so I don't want to spend a fortune in case everything is too big again next year (fingers crossed)! One of my problems is that I get so overwhelmed when I walk into a store. I can manage to buy a complete outfit, but I am terrible at getting things that are versatile and work with what I already have at home. Maybe this will help me develop that skill. Accessories are my Achilles' heel. I am HORRIBLE at accessorizing. If it wasn't for my sister, I wouldn't own any jewelry. She forced me to wear a scarf for the first time this winter -- I always thought they looked ridiculous with my large bust, but it turns out that they don't if you tie them correctly (who knew? well, and a smaller bust didn't hurt). Unfortunately she lives six hours away so she can't dress me every day. Idk how she got all the fashion genes. (Then again, she's tall and skinny to my short and dumpy, so fashion genes aren't the only good ones she got! :p ) My body has changed a lot! I am short and curvy, probably more of an hourglass. I'm pretty hippy but have shoulders and a bust too, and a well-defined waist (that unfortunately still has a muffin-top, but that's going away!). I guess at 5'2" I would be considered petite, although my bone structure is not tiny. That makes me leery of some things -- like the maxi skirts/dresses that are so popular. I'm just not sure that look would work on me. But I think I've got to try a few things and see. Things fit so much differently than they used to!

The good news: I've lost almost 75 lbs. I haven't been this size since I was 14. Yay! The bad news: I have almost literally NOTHING to wear for warmer weather. I also no longer need to shop at plus-size stores, which means I have no clue where to go to buy anything. I'm 36. I'd like to look put-together, but not trendy. I need a couple of nice dresses (preferably something I can dress up or down, depending on the occasion) but mostly I wear casual clothes -- jeans and tops, etc. This is the first time in my life that I've enjoyed buying clothes, and I am lost! So help me out, fashionistas! Where's your favorite place to shop? What's your go-to, pulled-together, mom-on-the-go spring/summer outfit? Where should I start? Talk to me like I'm a four-year-old, because I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm terrible at this!

We waited until 14 weeks with dd so we could surprise everyone at Christmas. It was really important to me to have that big surprise, but keeping it from my mom wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, even though I saw her once a week at least. We told with ds at about 10 weeks. We took dd out for lunch and told her there, then visited our parents in the afternoon. I did have to tell my boss early both times, because of prenatal visits and whatnot, but I didn't feel bad about that since it wasn't like I was making an announcement. Can you manage to get yourself a virgin mimosa (aka, glass of OJ) without anybody noticing? That might buy you a couple of extra weeks, if it would make you more comfortable. Otherwise, I think whatever you do will work out just fine in the end.

I mostly use their website on my laptop. It's under Settings -- Diary Settings -- Change Nutrients Tracked. Whatever nutrients are listed there should show up at the bottom of your Food Diary. It may be different if you're using a table or phone app.