I'm so sorry.

Do you have a sewing machine? Quilter's cotton makes awesome, soft napkins.

Definitely not a goldfish. 🙂 My kids are 4th and 6th grade and they love fidget toys and puzzles. I bought a box of 32 fidget toys for about $15 on Amazon. If you're wanting something a little more than that, my 6th grade DD would love a cake mix with a can of icing, or cookie mix with seasonal cookie cutter, or any kind of a baking mix with a pan or her own potholders. My 4th grade son would be over the moon to get a tear off pad of paper airplanes to fold or one of those styrofoam trick airplanes that you throw around the yard. My kids both love those little metal bar brain teaser puzzles. I think you can get a couple of dozen of those for about $15 on Amazon. I hope that helps! Sounds like a lot of fun!

Oh no!!! Praying for your sister and all the logistics. I hope there was no stroke. And I'm praying for full recovery!

I'd love to do it again this year!!! It was a favorite with me last year!!!!!!! although my kids did love it too. 🙂 Same address as last year.

Actually it was easier because I just put all the drawer and cabinet stuff into the dishwasher. It was the insides of the drawers and cabinets that were awful. I can't imagine having to deal with a floor or a refrigerator or all those little cracks and crevices!!!!

I. am. so. sorry. That happened to me a few years ago about 15 minutes before birthday guests arrived.....except that it was only onto the counter and into all the drawers and cabinets. Water was my best friend the next couple of days. I think I took almost everything apart and dunked it or rinsed it. I really, really hope you don't get ants!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish we'd heard it!! I was surfing the internet when it happened.....probably here on the forums. My husband was surfing the internet on his iPad. And it was all over our Nextdoor app this morning. But we heard and felt nothing!

No. We're in the Atlanta area and we are super bummed that we didn't hear it.

This is a wonderful piece of news to read this morning!!!!!!! I hope the new drug really works as well as the initial studies say it works and I am sooooo glad it's a pill and not an IV!!!!!!!!

I just ordered this cookbook for my 12yo daughter: "The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists: Good Science makes Great Food" by America's Test Kitchen Kids. They just started a short (like 1-2 minute) video series on YouTube that will feature 1 question a week. This week was "What is Gluten Anyway?". I only ordered the cookbook yesterday so we haven't used it yet but I think we will like it. From the look inside feature, the gluten question is the first one in the book and is accompanied by 2 recipes: crepes and cinnamon swirl bread. My daughter is asking for a Raddish Kids subscription which is costly and so I'm hoping this cookbook will be the answer to what she needs. She watched the ATK Kids trailer for the new series and also the What is Gluten Anyway? video and liked them. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1948703661/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank y'all for your responses. They give me a few more ideas to pass on to my friend, especially the dual enrollment electrician classes which might interest him and also that self-paced classes might be a terrible idea (which I agree with). I don't know all the ins and outs but know that depression and anxiety are involved (and he is being treated) and he's missing a lot of days from stomach aches. He is 17 and our state (GA) requires school through the age of 16. The best I think to do when I meet her tomorrow is to listen and encourage her and then talk about our state's requirements and just lay out some options. I'm also asking local homeschool friends for ideas. Other than wanting to be an electrician, I don't know what my friend's son is interested in and I'm planning to find that out tomorrow and see if that leads to more ideas. Thank you again!

Good morning - my kids are 4th and 6th grades so I'm usually on the K-8 board and I don't know anything about high school yet. I've got a good friend, though, who is wanting to withdraw her high school junior from public school and homeschool him for the rest of homeschool. Tentatively, she thinks a self-paced online program would be best for him. College is not probable but she doesn't want to take it off the table. Right now he wants to be an electrician. Has anyone done this? What programs would you recommend? My friend would prefer a complete program and not piecemeal. I'm meeting with her tomorrow to talk about our state's requirements, withdrawing, letter of intent, etc. I was also going to talk to her generally about different methods of homeschooling and let her know there are plenty of options for him (ie. to ease her mind). But does think online, self-paced would work best. Thanks so much!!

I had a set from both MP and SCM and didn't use either one. It was a Goldilocks situation. While my kids and I liked the variety of the MP set, the poster was too large and the small cards were too small. With the SCM set, the size was good but my kids didn't like studying only 1 artist at a time. My kids preferred variety. What worked for us was the digital fine art sets from the EnrichmentStudies website. We've used a couple of art appreciation sets and a couple of holiday sets. I send them to Office Depot for printing and have several sets printed. One for the living/dining room where we do school and one for every bathroom. My kids and I enjoyed this method. We also liked that the formatter at ES included the painter, the time and materials and a little tidbit about painter at the bottom of the page. The digital purchase includes copies of the paintings with and without those extra tidbits.

I am sorry. It is an awful thing to watch. Keep walking forward.

My husband swears by the Exped Megamat 10 with a closed cell mat underneath it. He lets it self-inflate as much as it will then uses the hand pump to finish it off. Then he lays on it and lets a little air out until he "feels the foam in the Exped". Then he pumps a tiny bit of air back into the mat and says it is perfect. Please report back if your husband finds a mat that works for his back. The Exped/closed cell mat combo did not work for me. I'm a side sleeper with bad thoracic area. I'm going to borrow a Coleman Smart Cot Deluxe that has a thin mattress on it and add a thick memory foam/egg crate on top and see if that works but it won't be until after y'all go camping.

Praying for your son's recovery and healing. And for strength for your family. I'm glad y'all were able to get him home to take care of him and I hope he won't need to go to your hospital.

Years ago, I used a bow maker of the style shown below and it worked. Nowadays I just use my hands. I learned to use my hands in a decorating class about 25 years ago and to help me remember how to do it each year, I watch YouTube videos. FWIW - I forget how to do it every year and I have to watch YouTube video instruction every year. But I also always forgot how to use the bow maker too and would have to re-learn it each year. I guess if I made the bows more than once a year, I might remember!!!!! ETA: I make mailbox bows and bows for my wreath at Christmas time.

I love these!!!! I have a little book where I collect quotes but there aren't many there. The first is from June 1989 out of a Victoria Magazine - "The true mark of character is not how one spends a working day but how one passes leisure time." The most recently recorded on June 23 of this year was by Lady Edith in Downton Abbey when I was binge watching that series: "You have a talent that none of the rest of us have. Just find out what it is and use it. It is doing nothing that is the enemy." Hmmm. Lady Edith didn't say that. It was the sister who died in childbirth. I think she was saying it to Lady Edith.

Currently - CSB. I grew up on KJV then switched to NIV for reading in middle/high school (with NASB for study). My current church uses ESV and I switched to that when we joined but I've never much liked it. So back in January, I started looking for a translation somewhere in between NIV and ESV. I looked up a chart similar to what's posted above and started checking out the translations. I liked CSB best and am still liking it. The BibleGateway website was a huge help in choosing. I looked up both favorite and familiar passages and compared them. I hope you find something you like. 🙂

I"m sending you a PM because I've got a couple of questions about EEME but haven't been able to reach them through either of their email addresses.

I'm a side sleeper and use the Coop pillow. I also had to remove a little stuffing to make it most comfortable for me. I kept the extra stuffing in case I ever want to put it back.

I agree with all the above! My husband, however, thinks it looks great where it is and that it will move a lot of air there.

Praying for your cousin and her kids!