Compared to all the absolute cr*p that's on tv, I think it's refreshing to see a family with Christian values and a happy home. Every now and then I get the idea that the producers are poking fun at them by showing certain things, like how naive they are sometimes. But I can let my dd watch the show and see a family that enjoys spending time together, and puts home education as a priority.

Ummm. I think she was kidding. It's like when people find out that I have been married for almost 21 years, so I jokingly say I got married when I was 12.:tongue_smilie: I remember a road trip with my family in a camper. I had a walkman (with cassettes) listening to Def Leppard and Van Halen and trying to ignore my little brother. But it was a great family trip to the Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns and even Las Vegas. We want to pack up the car and take a road trip next year too. Unfortunately for us one whole day of driving just to get out of the state of TX! I'm thinking Colorado. Or FL panhandle for beach.

Wow. 19! I know they don't believe in birth control and practice the "arrowful" philosophy, but do you wonder if she ever wishes she could just have a break from morning sickness/pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding? Just for a couple of years? Bless her heart - she is so patient and loving with those kids.

What a sweetie! I have a similar rescue, she's a border collie mix that we got when she was 2. Never could have hoped for a better dog. Enjoy your newest family member!

Love it! :hurray: What response have you had?

Oh! What a big sweetie!! Note to self: Do.not.show.dh. I sure hope they find a great home for him soon!!!

Oatmeal Waffles with PB & Honey Waffles with Nutella and sliced bananas...mmmmmm Muffins (I like the Fiber One mix a lot, and add fruit to the mix) Tortillas with melted cheese and ham cinnamon toast homemade Egg McMuffin pigs n blanket (low fat sausages baked in buscuit) yogurt and granola/cereal yogurt with waffle slices to dip Smoothies made with frozen berries and yogurt I ALWAYS serve any breakfast with a serving of fruit too, so applesauce, bananas, berries, etc.

My son asked his father tonight "Daddy, when will I get fur under my arms?"

Garga, I can't even believe how timely your post it. I was just railing at my dh about this because it really looked like the house exploded because I went to the library and errands for 2 hours. He doesn't want the kids memories to be of me yelling at them to clean up all the time, so I went off on him about his lack of support for what I go through.:001_huh::glare: Not exactly a "meek and quiet spirit"! I am absolutely going to have to implement the 3x clean-up, and also follow through with what ever is not picked up when the timer goes off is going in time out! I threaten it but don't do it. I hereby swear to honor these threats this week!:gnorsi:

ITA. My grandmother was dirt poor and had to scrape by and barely survived the 30's. Let's not romanticize a time with very little women's rights and rampant poverty from the depression, not to mention the racial prejudice. I don't think what we are saying here is that we would want to go back and live in that time. There is nothing wrong, IMO, with embracing the advancements we've had over the last 70 years or so. It seems like we just love the values. The idea that it's okay and even a worthwhile and noble thing to embrace your feminine role, and be good at it. I keep reminding my dd that she doesn't necessarily have to have some lofty stated career objective for "when she grows up", that it's okay to be a wife and a mom and just be really, really good at that.

What's wrong with me everyone...I can't get in to Outlander? I guess I need to give it some more time. Time when I won't be interrupted and wind up reading the same sentence 27 times!:glare: Last week I finished People of the Book and LOVED it!

Clearly there are conflicting stories being reported. It sounds as though he "found religion" and he was on the campus of UC Berkeley to distribute materials when he seemed suspicious and was questioned. So did he surrender or did they just catch him accidentally? The whole thing is absolutely horrific and I am sick tonight. That girl needs our prayers.

Can you make more of it independent? I am about to start Preparing next week, and I made some workboxes and have assigned on a schedule some of the things that might be considered semi-ind or teacher led to be more self-study. And I only have 2 kids! I hope you don't have to drop it! I really looks like such a great program. I hope you can find a way to make it work.

This brings up a question: For a regular well visit (and yes, I know some of you don't do those, so let's not turn this into that question, please) do your pediatricians check your child's privates? Mine does not. Never has past the age of about 2 - certainly not since they have been out of diapers. The reason I ask is that I have a friend who is hesitant to take her kids to a well visit (they missed one last year I guess) because of this. She feels like at their ages 11 and 9 it's humiliating. And I agree!! I was appalled to even think that this is something a doctor would do! I can't even imagine why this would be routinely necessary on a child. They are not menstruating, not on birth control, not sexually active, not men with prostate or colon problems, etc.

My scary story was when I was watching someone else's kid! I was babysitting a little guy who was just over 2. He was sitting in a big chair by the window telling me he was looking out for Momma. So I left him sitting there and I was in the kitchen. When I called around the corner and didn't get a response, I looked and realized he had opened my front door and gone out to look for her!!! I ran out the front door and was screaming his name when over walked a neighbor 2 doors down carrying him. The neighbor thought he was my son and he looked at me like "how could you let this happen". I think I took him inside, locked the door, and might have thrown up. Don't remember.:001_huh:

Did you search your area in Yahoo groups? When I started out I googled "homeschooling suburban city name" and up popped a private Yahoo group. I joined it and they have become some of my best friends. We mostly do park days once a week (this summer has been completely off because of the heat!), field trips, etc. I know you'll find someone there!!!

I have to chime in here. My kids, especially my dd, are painfully, exasperatingly shy. I makes me crazy, really, because they are not like me at all. We work on responding when spoken to, and how it might be sort of cute for a 5 year old to not respond, but when you are 9 - not so much. But the reality is that I can not change them. I can not (and will not) punish them into being different little people than who they are. My daughter would absolutely panic and then freeze if put on the spot about math facts! I'm not kidding when I say it would be painful to watch her squirm and not know what to do. The anxiety of the situation is what would make her blank on the answer!! She has trouble if she's asked something simple like "do you like swimming?" by a stranger. Not only that, but she has a stutter, which is even more pronounced when she's put on the spot. It seems blatantly obvious to me when people are trying to talk to my kids that most of the time these folks are just being friendly and that my kids are very, very shy. SO WHY DO THEY KEEP ON? If I try to strike up a conversation with one of my dd friends, I usually regret it because I can't shut them up. But it's so clear with a shy child, so why can't people just leave them alone? I wish so bad that I could teach my kids a snappy comeback, but they can't formulate the sentence "nice to meet you too" much less anything witty. I wish so badly that I could help them be funny, witty, able to banter and converse. I don't know how to do it and it really worries me because I know the world likes and rewards extroverted people. I am hoping homeschooling helps with this problem.

This year I enrolled my dd in an enrichment program for one full day (9-2:30). It's for art, music, PE, public speaking, and spanish. Ya know, a day to play and dabble in some fun subjects, but mostly it was to give her a little break from me and her little brother since I knew she was missing that aspect of "school". Today was day 1, and she came home with ... HOMEWORK! :001_huh: One of my best friends has her dd enrolled in the local private school. She does 7+ hours of pretty rigorous school, then comes home by 3:30 to have to do 3 more hours of homework. The kid collapses in bed by 7:30. I don't get it.

My dd is in a troop w/ps kids, BUT she knew them from starting in the troop when she was in school. I think your dd would assimilate just fine depending on how welcoming the leader is. Our leader goes out of her way to break up cliques, and make sure girls who don't often talk much are paired up for things. Otherwise my dd would really only stick with it for one girl. I am actually thinking this will be our last year with the troop. Our reasoning is just that we are going in a different direction. We want to lessen the effect of worldly influences, not encourage them, and that's a problem in this particular troop. If there is no HS specific troop in your area, have you thought about starting one? I might consider that, or Heritage Girls.

I watched it too. It seems to be making the rounds on FB. Very disturbing, but really good for getting across the message. I found myself wondering how they filmed it. I'm not going to show my kids right now, they are too young, but I think every teen driver should watch it.

AWESOME!

1. DD started at a new one-day enrichment program without too much nervousness or trepidation. She's being brave. 2. Asiago cheese artisan bread, toasted. 3. Plane tickets purchased by my mom for me and the kids to go see my folks in December. 4. A forum (with a terrific search feature) full of great and very smart people willing to share their experiences. 5. My dog.

I've only joined one social group, and when no one responded for days and days I finally posted my question on the general board. :confused: I guess that group is not so active any more. Either that, or it was me...:nopity::D

I just got a brand new one. It's bagless and has a canister. The latch to empty the canister is on the side and it opens from the bottom, so no messy touching anything I have sucked up. The suction is VERY strong on it. And it has a auto retractable cord, so I am not constantly winding the cord up. My son likes to "help" me vacuum by pressing the button to suck up the cord. I got it at Best Buy for $100. It's a Hoover Deluxe Elite Rewind. Got great reviews on Bestybuy.com and other places I looked. The only thing I am having to get used to is the cord is a little shorter than my last one so I do have to move the plug twice during total downstairs vacuuming, but the rewinding cord makes it worthwhile to me!:D

I have made the french toast "strata" type and it's very, very good. I have also made it with tons of fresh blueberries and topped with either maple or blueberry syrup. And I will second the suggestion of croissants - :svengo: Oh. my. goodness. :drool5: My family loves it with sourdough.