I agree. And I believe you've gotten some well-thought-out advice here. Prayers/good thoughts for you and your dd. :grouphug:

We never had it on. DD was a baby when we got it and I was afraid of waking her up. That's probably why I found it annoying -- constant anxiety about waking the baby! It never bothered me when I stayed with my grandparents growing up. Maybe we'll thinking about turning it back on.

We have one. It belonged to my grandfather. :p We actually have stopped it because it chimes on the quarter-hour, and I find that extremely annoying (especially at night). But it's pretty!

DH is a very hands-on, fantastic dad, but your story about the markers brings this one to mind: He frequently stretches out in the floor, shirtless, and allows the kids to cover him in sparkly stickers and temporary tattoos. Also, he ALWAYS gets up at night when the kids need something. Always. From the beginning. I finally said if he was going to get up anyway, I'd just stay in bed! :001_tt1:

This has been my experience as well. I have lost about 70 lbs. but because of the weight training, my body is much different. (I was NEVER athletic. NEVER.) Most people would guess I've lost closer to 100 lbs. Also seconding the pp's suggestion of body weight exercises. Things like push-ups, burpees, etc. not only build muscle, they get your heart rate up. And I love, love, love me some kettle bells!!

Seconding My Fitness Pal. You can customize to show which calculations you want to show (carbs, fat, sodium, etc.). And you can add your own recipes.

Think of it this way... If you had to travel, you'd spend that on a couple of nights in a hotel. That help? :D

Shave your head? ;) Erm, sorry. I got nuthin'. That's really bizarre. :grouphug:

I lift at the gym (YMCA) but only with my trainer (I take a group training class once a week) or occasionally with dh. I have only been doing it since August and had no previous experience so I don't attempt it on my own. I don't do tons of weight. I can back squat about 75 lbs. and bench about 50 lbs. My trainer likes LOTS of reps though. I could do more if I was only doing a few reps, probably, but 6-8 sets of 10 starts to wear on you after awhile. Still, I do the least amount of weight in my group. We do lots of body weight exercises as well. I will say that lifting has done a tremendous amount for my confidence, not to mention my muscles!

We've also done Long Story Short/Old Story New and enjoyed them. There are instructions for adapting to multiple age levels. Sometimes David C Cook offers them on Kindle for free! Right now we're using God's Great Covenant. The teacher's guide has fantastic notes. The story adaptations might be a little young for your older one(s) but the scripture reference is included in every lesson. Usually covers a few chapters in the OT (we haven't gotten to NT yet). We try to do the story as well as the original text. Unless you wanted to use the workbook pages, the TG would be sufficient.

I'm registered! Yay! One thing I noticed (in case anybody's listening): I clicked on the sessions I wanted on the registration page and then was able to click on "view cart" to check out. But I decided to go back and look at something on one of the sessions, and then I couldn't get back to my cart. I wound up adding a session I didn't want so I could get the "view cart" link again. (I deleted it before I checked out, so no biggie.) Anyway, don't know if that's a glitch with the site or my brain. :laugh: Just throwing it out there.

I'm starting to plan for next year, which for us means we're moving into the Logic Stage! I'm excited and a little intimidated at the thought of prepping dd for high school. Math gives me the most trouble. We have been using CLE and love it, but we'll be looking to transition into something that can take us all the way through 12th grade. DD is bright and picks up concepts easily. We have already accelerated her a bit, mostly by cutting back on the amount of practice problems she does in CLE and adding in some challenge word problems from Borac. She is not what I'd call "mathy" (by which I mean she's not a kid for whom math seems to be intuitive). A traditional approach works best for her; we tried BA and it was a total bust. She needs a lot of hand-holding on the Borac. But when the concepts are explained in a straightforward way, she easily understands them and can explain why the numbers work. We are finishing up CLE 400 and will be moving into 500 within the next few weeks. Here's our tentative plan for the next few years: 5th grade: Finish CLE 500 and CLE 600 (through about 606; from my research on the forums, others have said this is a good place to transition to Saxon 8/7). Add in some real-life math; looking at Family Math or something similar. 6th grade: Saxon 8/7 7th grade: Saxon Algebra 1/2 8th grade: Saxon Algebra 1 My main goals are to keep her moving forward at a comfortable pace and to build a strong foundation for algebra and up without too much unnecessary overlap/repetition. Evaluating math curriucula is a weakness of mine. I never know if it's too much/not enough. I'm terrified something will get left out or not covered well enough, especially with switching programs. DD would like to move faster, and I think she probably can, but I'm afraid of not building a strong enough foundation for higher-level math. What do you think of this plan? TIA!

(Sorry, quote isn't working for some reason.) We certainly don't homeschool out of fear or frustration with a test. I didn't mean to imply that. We homeschool because the tests are the driving factor in instruction, at least in our experience. Instruction has started to LOOK LIKE the test, because at the end of the day, the tests are what matter. You said you spent hours reading under your desk so you could learn new things about the world, instead of focusing on trying to figure out how to give the answer the teacher wanted. So did I. So did my dd. I wanted more for her, just like I wish I'd had more for myself. FWIW, I've tested in the 97th+ percentile on every standardized test I've ever taken. We're required by law to test annually, and dd aces those. It's not about being afraid of the test. It's about wanting more than test prep day and in and day out. It's about wanting an actual education -- truth and beauty and logic and all those other wonderful things you mentioned. If that is what's available to you in public education, that's great! Thank your lucky stars. It's not what's available to us, and so we're making our own way.

I am so excited!! Definitely doing Beyond Elementary School, How/Why Science Needs to Be Taught Differently, Problem Solving, Taking the Mystery out of Conceptual Math. I think all of those were on my "wish list" on SWB's conference thread! Might throw the Latin one in there too! I'm trying to decide if ds4 is an "intense child" or not. Is that one of those things that if you're not sure, you don't have one? :D

Ladies and gentlemen, the reason I home school, in a nutshell. :hurray:

I can relate. My very best friend from college and I have grown to vastly different ends of the political spectrum. (We used to hold fairly similar beliefs.) I finally unfollowed her on FB when I realized her political postings were coloring my opinion of her and affecting our friendship. These are not things we typically discuss in person, or, if we do, we can do so respectfully. I didn't want FB to come between us. The downside is that I sometimes miss important stuff she posts related to her life. Then she will say, "Didn't you see my FB post about...?" And I have to say, "Darn FB messing with my news feed!" :001_unsure:

My classic-Southern-cook grandmother used 2 cups/gallon, and you could just about leave the wooden spoon standing straight up in hers. I can't imagine 5+ cups!! We use far less these days. I would guess my mom uses a cup or less. I almost never make tea (don't rat me out -- that's blasphemy around here!!).

We just got back from Disney World, and there were sure a lot of kids there breaking the law... This sounds like a retirement community rule to me. FIL's has a lot of similar rules directed at kids. :sneaky2:

It would make me twitch. Every time. Then I would text a picture of it to my sister. We have a running joke about poor grammar/spelling in public. Also the use of Comic Sans, but that's another story. It all started when there was a tanning place in town named "Tropical Body's." We used to speculate who Tropical Body was, especially when we saw someone who might fit the bill. ("Do you think that's HIM???") I personally pictured him as Larry the Lobster from Spongebob... Sorry for the tangent. Down with the sign!

I enjoyed FPU and got a lot out of it, even though we were stable at the time and had no debt. I had a fairly strong background in personal finance -- it was discussed at lot at home when I was growing up. But I think dh benefited greatly from the class. He could barely balance a checkbook. His parents maintained completely separate accounts and NEVER discussed money. He now can handle all our finances, including budget and investments. Before, I had to take care of everything on my own. We are able to have conversations about our money now, and both be on the same page. DR's philosophy about couples and money is that one is usually the "nerd" and one is the "free spirit." That was certainly true in our case. It helped once dh understood more about what needed to be done to keep us secure, and then I was able to loosen up a bit. That's been a good thing for our relationship all around. I think the class would be good for an older teen/college-age student, although some of the topics will probably feel far off for that age, and there may be places where she zones out. Still, if your daughter is interested, I would definitely include her. I felt like $100 was worth it. There are lots of materials included.

My main concern would be making things as easy as possible on dh, especially if he was taking on extra responsibilities so I could have a *fun* trip. If he indicated that having a few heat-and-go meals ready would help, and if I had the time, I would make some things ahead. Otherwise, I'd just leave them to their own devices. It's only a few days, after all. I wouldn't get too up-in-arms about junk food for just a few days. It would be like a vacation for them too. When we were kids, we used to LOVE the rare occasions when my mom had to be gone for an evening because it was the only time we ever got McDonald's! My dad is/was a great cook (he grew up in a family-owned restaurant) but he hates it.

Me too! Lark Rise is far and away my favorite compared to any on this list. I tried so hard to like Cranford -- mostly because that is my maiden name and my family hails from that part of London/southwest England (way, way back!). But I couldn't get into it.

The first home we owned was a foreclosure. You definitely want to have a good home inspector, who can verify the status of the major systems in the house. We steered clear of anything with any structural issues and looked for a home that needed cosmetic work only. Location is a big deal, of course. Our house was pretty well trashed inside. We were able to buy it on the cheap and take out a line of credit on the instant equity to remodel. (We were in our early 20's and had no cash!) We put about $10,000 into paint, flooring, and a few other (mostly minor) repairs. When we sold about 5 years later, we made a nice little profit. HUD homes typically open for bids by owner-occupants a couple of weeks early. So you can get in on the best ones ahead of the investors if you're planning to live there for a certain number of years. You definitely want a buyer's agent -- preferably one who specializes in foreclosures -- especially if you're looking to buy in an area you're unfamiliar with. Dealing with a foreclosure can be a different beast. There are lots of hoops to jump through -- especially if you're dealing with the government. IIRC, there are certain bid systems that only an agent can access. Good luck!

It looks as though dd9's standardized test scores this year qualify her for Duke TIP. We're trying to decide if it would be worth it to apply. Does anyone have any experience with TIP as a homeschooler? It looks like many of the courses and camps are quite expensive. Are there other benefits besides these programs? I actually participated in TIP as a public-schooled kid, but all I remember is getting to take the SAT in 7th grade. That, and the brochures advertising cool camps my family couldn't afford...

We saw a lot of this, too. Everyday Math is truly a blight. It started to drive me insane, little by little. All the little circles were fine early in 1st, but by the end of 2nd, it seemed like we should be moving on... In a moment of rabid frustration, I taught dd the standard algorithm, and we've never looked back! Other factors: * The teacher whose weekly newsletters came home riddled with spelling and grammar errors. I'm sorry, if you can't put together a basic sentence, you have no business teaching my kid. * The constant interruptions and behavior problems that resulted in my child being more or less ignored for several hours a day. * The fact that dd was reading at least 2-3 grade levels ahead but wasn't allowed to check out anything above her grade level from the school library. * The kid who brought the pistol to school TWICE and made direct threats against other students with it (and the district, which elected to cover it up instead of notifying parents, all while allowing the student to remain in the classroom with the children he'd bullied) put us over the top. All of this was at a "good" school. We'd been kicking around the idea since before dd went to kindy. I stumbled across TWTM accidentally, and thought, "THIS IS IT!" It finally all seemed so... possible.