Can't comment on the Kindle, but I absolutely love my Nook!!

I always miss all the good stuff. Pout, pout.

My 11yo son was like that with his loose teeth. He wanted them all pulled as soon as they were loose at all. :confused: We explained to him that it would really hurt and he had to wait. So, he wiggled and fiddled with it until it could be pulled. He just could not stand having a loose tooth in his mouth. With his last ones, since he was older, he did nothing but pull on his tooth until it was ready to come out and then pulled them himself! After this first one, your son will probably see that it is not SO traumatic to have a loose tooth come out and handle the next ones more calmly.

We do chores first thing in the morning before school and it works great for us. The kids know they have one hour once I wake them up to get dressed, make their bed and tidy their room, get dressed (optional around here!), eat breakfast, brush their teeth, and do their chore (which usually takes about 15-20 minutes). I know that sounds like a lot, but none of those things take very long. I set the oven timer to go off and when it does, they know they better be sitting on the couch ready for Bible/Memory Work. :001_smile:

I would remember it as '85 and that I was pregnant with oldest, and my age 29, the year I was pregnant with my third son.

Everyone around here is taller than me except my two 11yo kids. They pass me pretty early because I'm only 5'1". They have always been so proud to pass me, and I tell them it really isn't anything to brag about. :001_smile: All of my boys are still cuddlers, thankfully. I'm sure my 11yo kiddos will pass me soon - they are almost there now. I remember it being very strange when my oldest got bigger than me and his voice changed. I don't worry about it too much anymore because I know they will still love on their mama!

I'm up! Remember your thread on not sleeping?? Well, I'm still not sleeping. Congratulations on finishing your book. :party: I meet your criteria, except I have a creative writing plan. Of course, if you have something I would like better . . . I will send you an email.

We are starting our 15th year and I have graduated two so far, so I guess I am a veteran. :001_smile: "Most HSers who have made it for the long haul make a habit of..." making school the priority and not allowing interruptions. There is rarely a day that we just "cancel" school. I would also add that having a sense of humor is essential. "Most HSers who have made it for the long haul always..." have a plan to accomplish their goals. I have become more scheduled and less laid back as the years go by, especially on the essentials like reading, writing, and math. "Most HSers who have made it for the long haul never..." forget the real goals for their children. Mine is to raise well-adjusted, happy adults who love God and family and find purpose in their life. "Most HSers who have made it for the long haul prioritize..." their family relationships. My family is close-knit because we make it a priority to do things together as a family - learning experiences and activities that we do just for the fun of it. My oldest got married this past weekend. I wouldn't take all the years we had together homeschooling for anything. Those years are precious to me.

When my oldest was 13, we left him many times with 5 siblings, one of them an infant and one a toddler. He was very capable. Sometime we paid him, sometimes we didn't. I think your daughter should do fine under those circumstances. BTW, I'm not sure I would pay her. If you are part of the family around here, you pitch in to make things work. It's not something extra, it is just doing your share. We did pay our older kids for babysitting sometimes, but it was a treat that they didn't expect.

My dh works long hours - 60-80 hours a week. He also manages to do lawn maintenance (5 acres), car maintenance, repairs needed, and household projects. He also takes care of all the finances. He will wash the dishes if they aren't already done when he gets home, and he will take out the trash if it needs it. Other than that, he doesn't really have time to do anything else. The kids have regular chores, so they are my helpers inside the house. He is happy to do anything else I ask him to, and never complains if things aren't "perfect" around here. He eats whatever I put in front of him without one complaint in almost 30 years. Whoever goes to bed last locks up around here, and he always makes the coffee for me in the mornings (because he is up first). It works for us. :001_smile:

Your son sounds like my now 17yo at that age. One of the things we did that, I think in retrospect, helped the most: We (dh and I) sat down and listened to his reasons for thinking ps was the way to go. We told him we would consider seriously what he said and get back with him. When we told him that those reasons just were not good enough to put him in ps, he was disappointed, but understood that it wasn't going to happen. His attitude changed gradually after that to acceptance. It helped that he knew we had listened to him and thoughtfully made our choice. We told him to stop bringing it up - that topic was off-limits because there was no point once the decision had been made. Another decision we made was to make our house very teenager friendly. He has multiple friends over every weekend (and during the week in the summer). It makes it harder on me (I have to cook for all those bottomless pits), but we know all of his friends well and know what they're up to. HTH some. 14yo sons are just HARD. 16yo-17yo sons have been wonderful around here so far, so hang in there!

This is correct. I have graduated two who used Saxon all the way through and my third son will be doing Advanced Mathematics this year in 11th grade.

How nice! What a wonderful lady. :001_smile:

Thanks, and yes we should. Let's just say I have never had a good model to follow. :001_smile: I do know what not to do, so that's a start!

It was so sweet. There were several unexpected happenings (of course). It was supposed to be outside, but it rained. We moved inside and carried on. I will let Nakia post pictures when she gets them ready. She was our photographer extraordinaire. Thank you Nakia!! She is a wonderful lady, by the way. I am emotionally and physically exhausted, but very happy!!

I have used Apologia with my four that are in those ages. I found my oldest two did great in college science classes, so we will continue to use Apologia. The only exception is this coming year. My 11th grader will be using Saxon Physics with the DIVE CD. I haven't used it before - we'll see how it goes . . .

My oldest son took about 1 1/2 hours per day to do one lesson. That included teaching the lesson, doing the lesson, going over problems that needed correcting. My 2nd son, who was much more mathy, took about an hour. I would have had a mutiny on my hands if they had to work on math 3 hours a day!

:iagree: This - even the two colicky babies. Four were angels as babies. My hardest time was having toddlers and young teenagers AT THE SAME TIME.

:grouphug: I'm praying for you too Molly.

Kari - What a great idea to take a cruise! You are going to love it. I can tell you some of the things we have done in those ports: GC - Rent a taxi and go to the beach if you want to relax. We rented a motorcyle there once and drove all over the island. It was a little scary because they drive on the other side of the road and my dh would forget periodically. :confused: Cozumel - You don't want to stay around the port here. This would be the stop to take an excursion. We went to Xcaret (sp?). Skip the front part of the park and go straight to the beach. By far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It doesn't even look real. We also did a cave swim there (at Xcaret). It was a lot of fun. Belize - We rented a car and driver for the day who took us all over the island to see things that aren't normally touristy. We went to his favorite dive for lunch (great food) and he cut us some mangos from a friend's tree. We haven't stopped in Roatan before, so I can't speak to that one. I hope you have a great vacation and get to spend some alone time with your dh.

I'm not sleeping either. I have tried taking Melatonin, Benadryl, and Tylenol PM (different nights of course) - all of which used to work like a charm. I CANNOT sleep. I am so tired and drained from only getting 3-4 hours of sleep. I am thinking mine is due to perimenopause, but Aubrey, you are too young for that!!

My son is a Marine. I have to vote for Marine dress as the best looking uniform. My son looks SO handsome in his!

That is exactly how we do it. I haven't covered that time period (will be there next year for my ds's Sr year). I did it several years ago with my oldest two, but will re-write plans for this third son, as I would like to add some books my oldest two did not read.

:iagree: enotes.com has been great for us. Just an FYI, I chose not to order from Smarr after reading their worldview statement linked on their home page. They also fly the confederate flag at their convention booths.

There is a place to buy latex-free pre-wrap. It is gotprewrap.com. HTH