:grouphug: Chris, I hope he comes home soon. I'm sorry.

I have that fear for my son every time he catches a ball. I'll be praying for Ben.

:grouphug: How sad. I'm sorry and I'll be praying for the family and your son.

My oldest son got his ears pierced when he was about 17; my third son when he was 13. My other two sons have shown no interest. My third son who is now 16 hasn't worn earrings in about two years. No big deal around here. I had both of my daughters' ears pierced before they were a year old. I wouldn't do that to a boy. :001_smile:

No! We just finished our year! I am looking forward to some time OFF! Actually I'm spending the next couple of weeks getting ready for next year before we go to Florida to see family. When I get home, I am determined to declutter my house room by room, and then my son is getting married in August. No school til the wedding is over (and the company is gone)!

Secret. My dh even started using it because it worked better than his "man" deoderant (don't tell anybody). :001_smile:

She had hurt me once again and I called my big sister who told me, "She is never going to be different. Why do you keep expecting her to?" For some reason it really clicked inside of me and she has not hurt me again. It rolls right off my back. I do think I had a period of grieving the mother I wished I'd had. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me.

My mother is this type of parent. I finally came to the point that I did not expect her approval or for her to be nice to me. I gave up on her ever being the kind of mother I envisioned. It was freeing. We have not, nor ever will because she will not change, make it to a loving relationship. I hope it works out differently for you.

Yes, 3 was a bigger jump for me than from 1 to 2. Your oldest will learn to be more independent. Our #3 was a big surprise too. I was 30 when he was born. We thought we were done with 2. Something funny happened, though. With 3 I could get the first feelings of what a big family would feel like. I never set out to have 6 children, but I'm so glad I did. Congratulations!

:iagree: My dh, nor my sons, will wear anything with pleats.

My third son was born in June and was 3 weeks late! I can distinctly remember how miserable I was. Hope your little one comes soon.

When I ordered the basic homeschool package for Voyage, it came with Practice Town instead. They immediately sent me the right book and told me to keep the ones they had sent by accident. Great customer service!

I do the same thing as JudoMom and adapted the notecard system to pages in a binder. We do it first thing every morning and it has worked great with little work required.

Okay, since Aubrey "came out," I will confess that we have been using MCT and loving it too! The difference in my dc's attitude convinced me to order some LoF for my 13yo dd who HATES math. I have only used Saxon and have had great success with it, so this was a biggy for me. She disappeared with the LoF books one day and when I checked on her to tell her to go on to the next subject, she asked if she could do more math! What!!! Just goes to show that an old dog (I've been homeschooling 15 years) can learn new tricks.

This is similar to our adoption story. I was praying asking for a baby girl. I had three boys and had miscarried three times in one year. God told me (not audible, but felt SO strongly) that we should adopt. It felt urgent to me and I told my dh that we had to call an attorney immediately. To make a long story short, I called the attorney's office and only spoke with a receptionist about the process on a Friday, dd was born the next Friday and was in my arms on Sunday. We had gotten the paperwork on Tuesday and I just put it in a drawer to deal with later in the week because we had company. My dh said "Francesca" out loud when we were about to go to bed that night. When I gave him a funny look, he said "That is her name." He has never done anything like that before or since.

I haven't used this, but I'm looking at it for next year. http://www.worthpublishers.com/myers/#nogo

Here is one I have used quite a bit: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/lessons.html

My 11yo son gets very car sick even for short distances. Other than giving him Dramamine and hoping he goes to sleep, we play games like finding the car tag from the most distant states, playing "tweeter" (calling tweeter when you see a yellow car), etc. Mostly, I always just hope he goes to sleep. :001_smile: Carsickness is also a trigger for his migraines. Good luck on your trip!

Sample: http://brightideaspress.com/?cat=37

I have a Samsung Frontloader too. I have washed tennis shoes on the normal cycle with no problems.

Nakia - I used The Scientist's Apprentice one year when my kids were younger and it was great. It covers Astronomy, Anatomy, Oceanography, and Earth Science in one year. It is adaptable to different ages. Here is more info: http://www.shekinahcc.com/page588.html I have the book and I'm not using it. You are welcome to look at/have mine (I can leave it at dh's Candler store for you).

As I posted in the other thread, we are only now having to really think about whether we can continue with our extras. In the past, my dh has made more than enough money to cover the cost. My dc have been involved in gym, dance, baseball, track, classical guitar, with gym being the most expensive and dance close behind. We have had to tighten our belt in the last year in order to keep up. We have put other things on the back burner (not necessities), mostly upgrading our car and renovations to our house. We are taking a camping trip instead of an expensive trip like we have taken in the past. I never intended to be spending this much money on extra-curriculars, but I didn't know how fast things can snowball when your child is really talented. Our 10yo gymnast has so much potential in gymnastics. She won 2nd in all-around at Regionals (all of the Southeastern states), and placed first on beam. If she was just so-so, I may not be so determined to keep her in gymnastics. My 13yo is just as talented as a dancer, so we will do everything we can to keep it going. We still save and don't really have much debt other than our business. So far we have been able to manage it okay.

My kids read the GICs over and over when they were younger. I highly recommend any of them.

My dc that have graduated and taken college science classes felt the Apologia texts (that is all we use in high school) prepared them extremely well.

Doesn't Gorilla glue expand?!! How did that work for him?