Our outsourced science teacher recommends this $79 one on amazon… https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AM5XB5O?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

When mom brings up allergy issues to dogs/cats, I'd say "Have you shared this with [sister]? I'd hate for her to be caught unaware at Thanksgiving." I think where that very reasonable response isn't your initial reaction, there's tip-toing going on (to circumvent your mother's reaction). So, while going to your sister might be the most efficient way to handle this, it asks nothing of your mother and it unnecessarily inserts you into this issue.

I’m not seeing it on USAFA’s requirement listing anymore. At least, the last time I checked — It seemed to change in January - I was watching for it!

DS has been in CAP for 4 years and found a passion for leadership and physics there! The senior members are a huge encouragement to him and I can’t say enough about the program. I don’t know what ages your dds are, but middle school was around the time it was really helpful for DS to find something he wanted to invest himself in outside of school and sports. He is a good student and a good athlete, but those aren’t things that wind him up. In civil air patrol, he was taking his first orientation flight within three months of joining, which for him and a lot of kids, seals the deal with cap. It is a unique program that offers kids real experiences and opportunities to serve as well as grow personally. I would encourage you to try it out. There will be hits and misses — and that’s part of the journey as kids find their thing. We said goodbye to jiu jitsu and 4 years of piano when we said hello to CAP. I do not regret that decision - in fact, finding CAP when DS was 13 was super significant in giving ds something to feel good about. The confidence it gave him came at just the right time. Hope that helps!

Rocket looks great, @kristin0713 My student does not love online learning. So, I'm trying to piece together options that minimize computer driven content, which is proving incredibly difficult! Rocket seems to cover the most bases of an online offering in terms of receptive and expressive langauge. To @SusanC 's point, I'll probably reach out to the Deutsches Haus organization to see if there are social events we could attend for conversing opportunities. Weekly classes are out, but once a month social events maybe?

I've been looking for self-paced German, as well. I found this mooc course, but have no idea if it is a better offering than our library's free offering (Mango). Reddit has been helpful, and I bookmarked this page for ideas. I think self-paced German will look like this for us: An online tool for guiding us through introductory content, reading/viewing German resources, and conversing. What percentage of each to focus on and when is where I'm a little stuck -- we didn't have the spoken element to consider with Latin! There is a German organization for our region called Deutsches Haus which offers German classes in person. It is an hour away for us, and sadly that won't work with my student's schedule. But if you're near a major city, you may find a similar offering in your region. I found ours by searching for "German clubs" in my city.

Former Anglican… who did the youth classes and children’s sermon every week until I burnt out. We were a small church plant, so there was a lot of energy that went into making church happen every week with all of the bells and whistles of a more established church. I put a lot of pressure on myself there — as I began to grow weary, I looked around and grew resentful that my work was readily accepted while debates about women’s ordination were prominent. Dont mean to sidetrack, just sharing that b/c it was really discouraging, personally, and played a role in my recognizing that a gift I could not offer without bitterness was no gift. It was a sign to scale back. My recommendation? There are far more people who are willing to do work than organize it. If you can serve as admin and market the classes as “open and go” to potential volunteers, materials provided, you might be surprised by who offers to help. I think you should be honest about where you are personally with the vestry. It is a huge job that you may not find a lot of people understand in terms of load… but they’ll hear you and understand your position which is likely to motivate more support. ETA: Support which may not look like extra help for this ministry, but individual support in setting reasonable personal expectations for yourself AND the ministry to children/youth. I've found my expectations are often way beyond what anyone ever expected!

Bravecto. It's a 12 week treatment which may need a slightly earlier re-dosing during the hottest months of the year. We live in the south and have tried all the things... advantage, comfortis, revolution, frontline... nope. Bravecto is awesome.

I can not watch this case and think it represents or has implications for real victims. It’s a circus born out of hollywood glut with no real ties keeping either of them dependent on the other — other than fame and vices. I couldn’t watch the trial or talk about it if I felt it was representative - it just isn’t. To that end, in toxic relationships, I can’t see a bad guy — both partners play a role. But in the case of AH, I think she has become difficult to sympathize with b/c of evidence and witness testimony which directly contradicts her version of events - yes, she is lying. This while JD admits to her version of events about his drug use and admits to nasty texts which he now says are disgusting. JD comes off as a more sympathetic character. Whether that’s because the story is as he paints it, or a genius creation of his legal team is a separate issue. But you really can’t watch this trial without noting the lack of sympathetic notes to grab on to for AH.

Johnny likes to be dark, ironic, and is rich with the hyperbole. I can't remember if this was the text thread in which he was referencing Monty Python, "The Witch" scene, to be humorous. It's disgusting. He admitted as much. But there is a general style at work in those texts - dark, vague, alcoholically ironic, that is evident across his communications. A little too self-involved, if you ask me, but not a statement I take literally.

I think letting go of SIL, including her influence over others, is probably the only course of action you have. After a trauma involving my family and SIL's son, my in laws choose to support their daughter/grandson at our expense. I'm heartbroken that they have failed to find a way to distinguish their love and support of her/him from their love and understanding of the very difficult situation we are in. I feel very much like an outsider, a DIL, and I have never felt that way in 20 years of marriage. All of this to say... your ability to control, or beat back the influence, of a SIL has always been zero. The family DYNAMIC may support an honest view of her antics, but that depends on factors outside of your control. The only thing to be done is to continue being you - focus on your children, your primary relationships, do what you do.

Seeing my son cry in a similar situation would undo me. I’m sorry he has been hurt. WRT ghosting, it does all you described. And, that hurt does a deep work. I suspect your son will emerge from this as a young man who will not burn others in this way. Emotionally, it can also do some work. It hurts and that is no joke. But in several weeks/months, your son is going to realize he is okay. His perspective can shift to the “it wasn’t ME. It would’ve been any boy outside their circle. It was THEM.” And this is where his heart starts to recognize that the hurt he experienced is largely dictated by how much room we give others in our head when these conflicts arise. I’ve had disproportionate reactions and can tell you I think you are having one when it comes to potentially writing a letter. Your son’s hurt… your personal background… oof. Take a big deep breath. These are big emotions and it may serve as an invitation for you to explore your own hurt — btdt!

I think the philosophy I operated with in DS's younger years is still there, under the surface, pushing me to listen to DS's interests. But, there's also a competing voice -- colleges and DS's stated goals. I allow those two thing to inform me and expect tension. For 9th and 10th we've pursued some online courses through an online academy to provide colleges an objective take on DS's academic abilities, esp in math and science as these pertain specifically to his goals. But as DS gets older, there are things he wishes to study and there's nothing to do but create a course and make it happen. This is where I borrow courage from @8filltheheart and others to grab that chance and do it just as we wish.

I think a comment like that, in the context of prior experiences with this sil, is an escalation. Interfamily abuse by a teen is not a hypothetical for me. It is exceedingly difficult because of the emotional and mental hurdles family members must clear as they process that a child they love is also a perpetrator. Too, family life doesn’t function like a message board where “concerns” are floated without consequence. Dont mean to preach there, but there’s nothing casual about a comment that insinuates potential inappropriateness on the part of a 14 yo boy.

As a granddaughter to a beautiful 91 year old woman whose dementia and mental confusion has her write notes to "the boys overseas" which can contain rather ugly depictions that aren't otherwise typical of my memories of her... I'll gently suggest that there are a number of potential motives and mental states behind the writing of that letter. It is worth considering that the reach and life of the handwritten note left on a grave is acutely limited. However, that note and its sentiment is now alive and well on a message board which will likely resurrect it in 4 years. Would you consider deleting it?

I gave an Ember mug to dh last year and it continues to be a hit. I asked for one from my in laws this year, and have used it for 2 mornings. Love it. The app is only useful for monitoring temp and temp settings and it does that well. Beyond that, I can’t really imagine what other capabilities a coffeecup should come with — a tracking feature? Lol! It will link with apple health to track caffeine consumption, but Im not going to use that feature and cant speak to it. Ive had a stainless thermal mug for years but prefer to drink from a mug with a curved lip—those plastic insert lids on stainless mugs are the pits. I want all the aesthetic of a normal cup of joe without the frequent reheats, which impacts flavor. Ember’s design and function—fabulous. It’s a great gift to receive. I would never buy it for myself, but having had two sips of 140 degree *perfection* right now, 30 minutes after the pour, it’s pretty darn awesome.

A large online social group of teens with no dominant shared interest and who have some cover of anonymity is nowhere I want to be. I learned that from DS. 😉 From his experience, online social groups of teens which grant some level of anonymity and no dominant shared interest tend to devolve into emotional rescue missions. The cycle of break-down and rescue involves a great deal of emotional investment from the group and is a cycle that spirals only in one direction as needs must heighten to capture the hearts of those in the group. However, where online social groups are grounded in shared interests, and with friends he knows in real life, DS has found real enjoyment there. So, I think where any teen can remove themselve from a generic idea of "teen culture" and find their niche interests, that's foundational for healthy relationships be they online or irl. However, social engagement online is heavily diluted by DS's other interests. That matters, too.

Costco had some Orvis flannel shirts on sale. OOh, here they are. $19.99 I ordered some for Christmas gifts. 😉

There are a lot of options. And I think wanting to preserve your budget for the appliances you actually want is a voice I would listen to, personally. I cooked in a crock pot and toaster oven for a year during renovations before my range was installed. I do not regret it one bit! You need a range. I would get a cheap cheap cheap one. And because you probably need your builder/installer to do the hood, can you get the one you want while waiting on the other items? I ask because hoods exist in a different visual plane and a slight color variation between the hood and your other appliances is not going to be noticeable. However, slight variations in color between your d/w, fridge, and range will be noticeable and I would try to group those purchases to what I want to be assured of the color.

I think @PeterPan has given excellent advice. I would also add, if she did not say so explicitly, to think and clarify your objectives when it comes to language study. Don't adopt someone else's goals. Develop your own. Two consecutive years of language study are required for high school. In most high school language programs, this familiarizes students with vocabulary and grammatical form, useful idioms/conversational phrases, and cultural elements/ history. This is not going to produce fluid language proficiency for most students. A handful of students will go on to study language more in depth, but YOUR goal for studying a language does not have to aim at general proficiency, especially if studying Latin. At the end of two years of high school Latin, DS will be translating select excerpts of Julius Caesar. This is not proficiency -- but it is a solid foundation which has already begun developing an appreciation of language as a transmitter of culture, history, and meaning. Case in point -- contending with Latin causes our family to read the Bible differently. Cultures are living in those words and it is a humbling to consider all we do not know. But it is a launching point for other areas of study, and that is the nature and joy of learning. So, my objective is to diligently immerse DS in the deep end of a language and know he'll come up as a humbled and inspired human being. Whether he can pick up Virgil or the like, or pass the Latin AP exam is not my goal. It doesn't have to be yours, either!

Forgive me. I didn't follow the link, but I've heard the assertion before -- and not just wrt language. Generally, I'm a cynic where there are scathing opinions which set up the next great thing to sell you. That isn't to say a program like it is entirely without merit -- but it's just a different approach. Nothing more. Nothing less. We've been studying Latin for three years with a tutor (I'm learning, too). I become suspect of programs which suggest they've found the way and that the old forms are trite. Latin is difficult. It will require some heavy memorization, synopsis forms, etc especially in a language limited to the written word. Where classical schools and homeschools may fail is in favoring these types of exercises without having Latin proficient teachers or time to do meaningful translation work. The translations are the most fun! I also think the drudgery component of learning Latin is largely developmental where we're asking kids to memorize latin endings at age 8. Memorization detached from meaning is drudgery. In Latin, translations are the object of memorization. So, until a kid is equipped with adequate grammar and is developmentally capable of holding words and their function in mind as they parse -- which is most often in middle school -- it seems meaningless and thus the epitome of drudge to require memorization.

@ktgrok My grandparents filled in that gap, too. There are so many ways I am still just coming into an understanding of how much their care truly saved me. So thankful for awesome grandparents!

As to whether divorce continues to impact later outcomes of children, I don't have any resources. However, if childhood is where we learn about the world -- what we can hope for, what we can anticipate, etc -- I think it safe to say that children are vulnerable emotionally and psychologically and that it is wise to carefully evaluate the amount of stress/change we expect children to traverse in their primary relationships. I also think it's important to remember that parental separation is a trauma for a kid. It's a trauma when the adults handle divorce beautifully. And, it's still a trauma when abuse necessitates a divorce for all the right reasons. In my experience, as a child of divorced parents, the best way I can describe its impact is trauma layering upon trauma. My trauma, mom's trauma, my sister's trauma, dad's trauma -- and then, my stepmom's trauma, stepdad's trauma, stepsisters, half brother, etc. Ongoing trauma doesn't stop after the divorce. This was harder than the physical separation, but altogether, the divorce significantly ate away at all the fundamental resources I had grown to expect as a child -- parental time, energy, emotional availability, and financial resources (goodbye private school and ballet lessons). Asking for too much was constantly a concern of mine (not for my sister, though) and this does impact how we engage with the world. To sum up, OP, I'm sorry your friend is going through this. What an awful position to be in --a trauma in itself! I hope she has a counselor to speak to as she processes the infidelity. I don't truly know what I would do in her position, but with the counterweight of my childhood experience, I know I would be weighing my personal trauma against that of my children in a divorce as I considered the options.

@ktgrokYou could do a layer of shreaded hashbrowns mixed with an egg in the bottom of the muffin tin to form the "cup" instead of a biscuit. @klmama I've made these twice, the first time using Grands canned biscuits. The second time, I used the cheapest canned biscuit I could find -- Great Value. The cheaper biscuits baked better and provided a less biscuit heavy ratio.

I've listened to the podcast in its entirety and find it troubling that A) Marc Driscoll could get it so very wrong, and B) that many are quick to label him a narcissist and move on without recognizing he didn't do this alone -- the people ATE.IT.UP. I expect the former to occur from time to time. But the latter was a failure on so many levels -- of friends, clergy, etc. I did find it encouraging to hear the stories of those who addressed Marc and were kicked to the curb, or left. They did the right thing and it cost them dearly.