I'm just impressed you know how to pick the lock! LOL. (Will you be teaching your children these valuable ife skills?) I will have to see if my cat feels up to modeling in a tutu again for picture purposes haha. Thank you. I am trying to look on the bright side, too. We have a 90 gallon saltwater coral reef fish tank in our house and every.single.time he comes over he acts like it's the first time he's ever seen it and he oohs and ahhs over the fish...so I was secretly hoping that he was so hypnotized by all the colorful fish that he didn't notice anything else! Between that and the unusual sight of a cat in a tutu, who notices that a living room carpet hasn't been vacuumed or that a 38 year old homeschooling housewife didn't take a shower or put a bra on yet that day, right? haha. At least I had a sweatshirt on over my teeshirt. When he came in, I hurriedly folded my arms across my chest, sat on the couch, drew my knees up and thought to myself, "If I don't look at the floor, maybe he won't either." :lol:

Soft, chewy, gooey, and still hot enough to almost but not quite burn your tongue. :)

My kids don't eat weird things. But once the girls came down from their rooms late at night with little wads of toilet paper shoved alarmingly far in their ears, which really scared me. Fortunately, my husband was able to get it out. It turned out, they were talking to each other, and neither wanted to hear the other...so they could go to sleep. You would think the logical solution would be that they both just stop talking, right? Apparently they thought it make more sense to drown each other out instead with wads of toilet paper shoved into their ears. There are things you just never think to teach your kids not to do until they are foolish enough to do them.

:lol: I'm glad they didn't eat them.

Beats me as to whether it's "normal"...! I feel pretty low-energy myself a lot of the time, too. I did get my thyroid levels checked and they came back a little low but not alarmingly so or to the point that would require medication, so I don't know if it's just one of those things as you get older or if it's just me or what.

Ok. I see what you're saying. But then again, I hate the idea of a child having to "be ready for grade 1 work." K used to be just, you know, fun. 1st used to be time enough for learning reading and writing skills. So if your son hasn't learned what's typically first grade skills in K, why stress over it? If he learns to write basic sentences in 1st grade/age 6 instead of K/age 5, that's okay, isn't it? I'd take his cues and don't feel like you have to push more and harder just because he isn't doing what the others did...he's still being a very normal 5 year old!

So my special needs daughter, Melissa, has a services coordinator who has to make monthly visits to our house. This month's visit was supposed to be tomorrow. TOMORROW, I say! Somehow signals got crossed and he showed up today. Before I know what's happening, Melissa is letting him in the front door. He walks in to: Me, unshowered and braless. My house, in desperate need of a good vacuuming. Alexa, age 11, practicing her Spanish: ("Yo no soy tu hija"). And Ben, age 6, making a valiant effort to force the family cat into a pink tutu. Ah, fun times. How'd everyone else's day go? :blushing:

That is really sweet of you!! :) Just bumping for others to see!

Cin, Thanks for posting this!

Jean, yep, you helped someone AND inspired helpfulness in others! Bonus! :D

Which begs the question, did he help you in the house? LOL just kidding. Actually, I've been making an effort this week to be more cheerful and pleasant with my husband just because. :) (Not that I'm usually unpleasant or anything lol but you know what I mean)! That's sweet!

You both love the house? It has everything you're looking for? In a beautiful community with lots of amenities and a large yard and so on and so forth? And a good price? And your only concern with your not young kids who you trust to be safe near a road is that 5-10 cars went by in a five minute interval? Um, YES, I'd buy the house!

I don't really think you need to do more. It sounds like you'd like to do crafty kind of things with him but can't think of any he'd be interested in. My son isn't very into drawing/painting, etc either, but here are a few art kind of activities I've found that he HAS enjoyed, just for fun: 1. Put a few drops of different colored food coloring on a paper plate on a rainy day. Go outside in the rain holding the paper plate. Watch what happens to the drops of food coloring. 2. Paint with different color Kool Aid diluted just enough with water to make a water color kind of effect. It smells really nice and later you can do a scratch and sniff kind of thing and guess the flavors. 3. Do an "ice sculpture." Freeze a bowl of water overnight. In the morning, run some cold water over it to get it out (we put it in a aluminum tray or something I think) and to make it smooth. In a spray bottle, mix about 3/4 cup salt, some food coloring, and 1/4 cup warm water, set the nozzle on stream, and let him play around with spraying the ice. Spraying the liquid will form little caves and cracks and holes and designs etc and will make an "ice sculpture." 4. Building with beans. Soften a bunch of different beans in water overnight (lima beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, etc). Then give him all the beans with a bunch of toothpicks and just play around with making different structures. 5. Cover your kitchen table one morning entirely with a big piece of paper like from a huge roll, or with a bunch of pieces taped together if you don't have a big roll, and lay out a bunch of crayons, markers, stampers, etc, without comment. Just let him pick it up and do his thing if he wants to while you go about getting breakfast and such. 6. Wee Sing songs and fingerplays. We haven't gotten to "fork weaving" yet but you could look it up and see if it's something your son is interested in. You could just let him play around with scissors, hole punchers and stuff like that if you want more fine motor practice. I really don't think you HAVE to push the artsy stuff or that you HAVE to do more structured stuff each day on top of what you're already doing, though, at his age. I'd just follow his interests, really, and keep it low key. One of my son's absolute favorite things is when I play board games with him.

Yes. It's a relative. She's getting married. Send something. She doesn't want you to feel "obligated" to come because she understands it would be expensive for people to attend a destination wedding and can't afford to pay for everyone to come. She is sending a 'save the date card' because it would be rude of her to NOT invite the family, just in case they DO want to attend. She's one of your relatives and regardless of whether you "approve" of her lifestyle, I do think you should send something.

I'm sorry. :grouphug: I divorced my oldest daughter's father a very long time ago. All I can say is that while it was hard at first to get used to being a single mom and helping my daughter through her adjustment period of living without her father, we all DID adjust and I have never- EVER- regretted that divorce. It was the right decision for me. I DO believe that a miserably unhappy couple is better off apart, that staying together "for the children" is pointless if the children are growing up in a loveless household with bitter parents and that the children are better off seeing those two parents separately in two separate households without fighting or constant tension or whatever the issue is, where they can just enjoy being- separately- with parents who love them, and, yes, children do adjust. It will be okay. Your children will be okay. They will still have their father in their lives, just differently. You will be okay. :grouphug:

I have these mental images of sending my kids out to play and calling after them, now remember, wear the ski masks and call each other by your code names! And if a car goes by, roll under the bushes! Nobody can ever see us! Not in pictures, not in person! We don't exist! What's the mantra? I'm a ninja. You can't see me. Good job! Go play! :lol:

You're the parent and you get to do whatever works for you and your family. And that's the bottom line! Of course, you may love homeschooling so much by then you won't want to put them in lol! P.S. I agree with you about kids that young! :)

Do you worry that going to the store is dangerous because somebody might follow you home? Being outside because somebody might see you? I just can't get worked up over somebody knowing our first names, state, seeing our pictures etc on our homeschooling blog. We are much more in the public eye every time we leave our house. Do I put up our last name, address and phone number in neon letters on my blog to make it easy for someone who wanted to "find us" through my blog? Of course not. But do I think there are great odds someone is going to want to do that to begin with? No, no more than I think there are great odds somebody is lurking and waiting to follow us home every time they see us at the post office, museum, or supermarket.

Personally, I wouldn't combine that age range and ability level. Which doesn't mean you can't do fun things together. Volunteering, nature walks, board games, movie night, talking, reading, cooking...

Creme brûlée cheesecake. Drool!

I am a stay-at-home homeschooling mom. When I was "just" a stay at home mom I used to go a little more stir crazy sometimes and would miss getting out of the house and being with adults sometimes, even though I also loved having the opportunity to be with my kids. But since adding homeschooling to the mix, my days feel more purposeful somehow. Also it's gotten me a lot more involved with other people (my Homeschool group) which is important for not feeling isolated, I think. It's also helped enriched MY life because I feel we are always learning so much together, as I learn along with my kids very often. Is being a stay at home or homeschooling mom a challenge sometimes? Sure? But really, I wouldn't trade it for the world!

My 11 y/o practices guitar about 20 minutes a day, usually five days a week.

I slacked off for a while but I'm all caught up again now!

And as for my personal reading: COMPLETED 1. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes (YA) 2. The Virgin's Lover, by Philipa Gregory 3. The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood 4. Mary, Bloody Mary, by Carolyn Meyer (YA historical fiction) 5. Beware, Princess Elizabeth, by Carolyn Meyer (YA historical fiction) 6. Doomed Queen Anne, by Carolyn Meyer (YA historical fiction) 7. Zipporah, Wife of Moses, by Marek Halter 8. At First Sight, by Nicholas Sparks 9. Patience, Princess Catherine, by Carolyn Meyer (YA historical fiction) 10. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman (YA, if you liked Hunger Games you'd prob like this!) 11. Lover Unleashed, by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood series/vampire, love this series!) 12. Free-Range Kids, How To Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts With Worry), by Lenore Skenazy 13. The Fifth Sacred Thing, by Starhawk 14. The Law of Nines, by Terry Goodkind 15. Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs (didn't like it) 16. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (These should count for like four books each! haha!) 17. A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin 18. Hit List, by Laurel K. Hamilton (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series) 19. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett 20. Blessings, by Anna Quindlen 21. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin 22. A Feast For Crows, by George R.R. Martin 23. Darkfever, by Karen Marie Moning (paranormal urban fantasy, loved it!) 24. Bloodfever, by Karen Marie Moning 25. Faefever, by Karen Marie Moning 26. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin 27. Dreamfever, by Karen Marie Moning 28. Shadowfever, by Karen Marie Moning 29. Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst (weird but interesting!) 30. 24 Hours, by Greg Iles 31. Tantalize, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (shouldn't even count, it was YA fiction that didn't even have the depth Twilight does lol) 32. The South Beach Diet, by Arthur Agatston, M.D. 33. The Map of Time, by Felix A. Palma 34. Beyond the Highland Mist, by Karen Marie Moning 35. To Tame A Highland Warrior, by Karen Marie Moning 36. Covet, by J.R. Ward 37. The Sky is Falling, by Sidney Sheldon (CURRENTLY READING) GAVE UP ON/INCOMPLETE Nights In Rodanthe, by Nicholas Sparks The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder Deconstructing Penguins by the Goldstones The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison NEXT ON THE LIST Waiting to get the next in JR Ward's Fallen Angel series...Crave, I think it's called, I have it on order from interlibrary loan with my library. I won't be reading 52 books this year myself, obviously, but that's okay, my goal for this challenge was to do it with my daughter, and I'm accomplishing that. :)

I cannot believe it's Week 50! Wow! Okay, here's where my 11 y/o daughter and I stand: 1. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster 2. Skellig, by David Almond 3. Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World, by Katherine Hannigan 4. The Gawgon and The Boy, by Lloyd Alexander 5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling 6. The Girl With the Silver Eyes, by Willo Davis Roberts 7. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt 8. Sounder, by William H. Armstrong 9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl 10. Treasure Island (Illustrated Classics Edition adapted by Deidre S. Laiken) 11. All-Of-A-Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor 12. The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman 13. Surviving The Applewhites, by Stephanie S. Tolan 14. The People in Pineapple Place, by Anne Lindbergh 15. The Prisoner of Pineapple Place, by Anne Lindbergh 16. By the Shores of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder 17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling (audiobook) 18. The Safe Zone, A Kid's Guide To Personal Safety, by Donna Chaiet and Francine Russell (highly recommend for all kids!) 19. Harriet Tubman, Call to Freedom, by Judy Carlson 20. The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder 21. The Return of the Indian, by Lynne Reid Banks 22. The Secret of the Indian, by Lynne Reid Banks 23. Robinson Crusoe (Scholastic Books Edition, Retold by Edward W. Dolch etc.) 24. Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson 25. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson 26. Frindle, by Andrew Clements 27. James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl 28. In Search of A Homeland, the Story of the Aeneid, by Penelope Lively 29. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli 30. The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, Retold by John Yeoman 31. Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 32. Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater 33. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (Retold by Diane Flynn Grund) 34. Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder 35. These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder 36. Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli 37. The First Four Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder 38. The Inheritors, by William Golding (holy cow was this one hard to get through!!! :P) 39. The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker, by Cynthia DeFelice 40. Gilgamesh the Hero, by Geraldine McCaughrean 41. The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 42. The Secret School, by Avi 43. Escape from Egypt, by Sonia Levitin 44. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (watched/listened to author read online) 45. Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell 46. Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, by Astrid Lindgren 47. The Witches, by Roald Dahl 48. The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden 49. Danny, The Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl 50. The BFG, by Roald Dahl