My family has enjoyed staying at Edisto Beach and Myrtle Beach. We have stayed at Hilton Head, but found it way too crowded and commercial. If you wants lots to do, go to Myrtle Beach. If you just want to visit with your friends go to Edisto.

I love my LC. I have collected through the years, so I have about 20 pieces - all blue. I use their coated frying pans for scrambled eggs and it works just fine. I have a LC wok that I use a lot for stir fries. I use mine on my glass top stove all the time and have never had any problems.

With four boys, I learned to tune it out. When they were all here over the holidays it did get somewhat annoying, but mostly because most of them are the size of grown men now and I was afraid they were going to break something.

Yes, the ACT counts, but the SAT doesn't. According to the DNPE site, the SAT II (subject tests) DO count. My guess is that you would have to make sure all the subjects that NC requires for standardized testing be included: grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics.

I don't have a hard and fast rule, but my kids rarely go outside just to play if it is colder than 15 or so.

I don't limit shower time. My dh and oldest ds get up early before anyone else is up and take their showers, and my youngest three stagger theirs in the evenings. My 16yo ds is the only one who takes a shower right before school. That way we never run out of hot water.

One of my lefties did that. I correctly him repeatedly to no avail. He is 16 and still does it HIS way. His writing is legible, but not pretty. This is my child who insists on doing things HIS way. My other lefty, who is 21 now, has a beautiful handwriting and always has. He did do the backward writing thing for a while when he was first learning to write. He was my child who always wanted to do things the RIGHT way.

I feel your hurt. My oldest dd is biracial (black/white) and my youngest is black. The rest of us are white. We have had some hurtful comments from children here in rural NC. For example, one little girl told my youngest dd she couldn't play with her group of kids in the pool because she was black. In each instance I went directly to their mothers and they seemed to handle it well. I also had some long talks with my daughters. My 2nd ds was playing on a traveling baseball team when he was about 16. When our family arrived to watch the first game, another player made a comment that was horribly racist about our family. My son did not react well (he still thinks he did), and the coach had to break them up. Sometimes it is just hard.

I am blessed to have a dh with a great income that provides us with resources for everything we need for school and all of their activities. He does work LONG hours (he owns his own business) and we do not spend money unwisely. I buy used whenever I can and have recently started selling a few things we no longer use in school. I have started to use the library more instead of buying. We also have a large house, but it is in need of some updating. A car that is VERY used, etc. We eat at home and rarely go out. We have had to trade off a few things to be able to have this many kids and homeschool, as well as gymnastics, dance, guitar lessons, etc.

Wow. Hope you feel better soon. I often forget I'm 46. I had to show my girls I could do a split as well as they could (dancer and gymnast) and could barely walk the next day. :001_smile:

It was so worth it. My two grown sons and I have a very close relationship that I believe is a direct result of being together for large periods of time due to homeschooling. They are young men of integrity and character and I am very proud of them. They also are finally old enough to realize the sacrifice and diligence on my part that homeschooling them demanded. They tell me often how much they appreciate their education.

This sounds like our family.

I finished The Epic of Gilgamesh last week and started on Don Quixote (again) this week. I needed something lighter to go along with it, so I started Rosalind Miles' Isolde Trilogy also. I just finished Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle and am about to start the second one. I can't remember the name right now.

:iagree: From another control freak. I don't even allow him to substitute. Honestly though, his work hours preclude him from doing anything other than funding us. He does lay down the law for me when someone needs a kick in the pants.

I have been coloring my hair myself for years. I have also done highlights, but currently have all-over color. Loreal has a kit that includes the color and the highlighting all together. I use that sometimes in the summer. It really isn't that hard. You can do it!

I'm 5'1" and love New York & Co. jeans. They come in three different lengths. The short is great for jeans with flats, and the average for wearing heels. I have had trouble with jeans gapping at my waist if they fit my behind and thighs. They have a style called Curvy that fits me great - no gapping. I haven't tried Gap or Lucky Brand.

What an answer to prayer! I am so happy for you Molly. :party:

Our cell phone bill runs around $170.00 monthly for 5 phones, unlimited texting, and 1400 minutes. We also have pay-as-you-go phones for our two 10yo kids, so that would probably be another $30.00 or so a month.

I asked my oldest three sons how tech-savvy they think I am. My oldest said 2, my 2nd ds said 3, my 3rd ds said 4, so I went with 4. :001_smile: Really, I can pretty much figure out what I have to - especially if one of my kids is nearby to help.

My 23yo ds got a new laptop for Christmas that has Windows 7. He says it runs faster than Vista and doesn't have the bugs that Vista had. He also says to try openoffice.org. It is free and has excell, powerpoint, etc. - basically everything on Microsoft Office.

Me too! My ds is home from Japan and doesn't leave until later in the week - so no school. We hadn't seen him for a year this time, so we are just enjoying all being together.

Welcome Mr. Boo. :seeya:

I read it and thought it was pretty good, but wouldn't say it was a must read. I didn't find it to be a hard read, just slow going at times.

I'm going to go back to the beginning this year and start over with The Epic of Gilgamesh. Having a deadline will help me finish!!

We probably average once a month now that our kids are older. It is something that everyone enjoys doing as a family. Sometimes we split boys/girls up and see two different things. On Christmas Day the boys all went to see Sherlock Holmes while us girls saw The Blind Side.