We use Explorer's Bible Study. I love that we can all study the same topic in age/ability appropriate ways.

We loved Yellowstone. Could have spent weeks there. The kids will never forget swimming in the hot river and watching the buffalo.

We are slogging through 9th grade this year. My dd 14 is working on Explorer's Bible Study, Discovery and Deduction, Teaching the Research Paper, Jacobs Algebra,History of the Ancient World, Apologia Biology, First Form Latin and as many TWTM ancients literature selections as we can get through. So far we've completed Gilgamesh, The Iliad and Agamemnon.

I read to everyone at once. We all love a good story. Some authors we've all enjoyed are Christopher Paul Curtis, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Brian Jacques, Jeanne Birdsall, Trenton Lee Stewart, Roald Dahl, Jules Vern, Louis Sachar, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. I'm sure there are others but that's a start.

We spent a day in Williamsburg, a day in Jamestown, and a day in Yorktown. If you go to group sales at Williamsburg there is a homeschool discount.

We did a cruise and it was a wonderful way to travel with a family. Ours was Cayman Islands, Mexico and Bahamas but the possibilities are endless.

This was one of my favorite books from 2013. I totally did not expect to enjoy it, but ended up loving it.

This was one of my favorite books from 2013. I totally did not expect to enjoy it, but ended up loving it.

My dd14 and I had this discussion. We read Red Badge of Courage last year. We both hated it. Later in the year we read All Quiet on the Western Front and both loved it. We agreed that it was our connection and indentification with the main character that made All Quiet better for us. This year we've read The Iliad and Agamemnon. Dd14 made a convincing argument that the content of these classics is much like the content of her YA selections that I ask her to read in moderation. It's difficult to defend a classic as great when you boil down the plot and get something rivaling an ABC Family series. It does beg the question what makes great literature great. As for my own reading, I started the year by reading biographies and memoirs. This week I ventured back into fiction by reading Enemy Women. The history was interesting (Civil War Missouri). I found the story difficult to really enjoy because the author didn't use a single quotation mark. I find that irritating and frustrating. Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles Agamemnon by Aeschylus Practice to Deceive by Ann Rule Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls No Easy Day by Mark Owen All That Is Bitter and Sweet by Ashley Judd Always Looking Up by Michael J Fox Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak We Are Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Here is the recipe I use every Saturday night.

Yes, with a cell phone, the security lock on the door, and strict instructions not to open the door for any reason unless I call on the cell phone to tell them to let me in and they can see me through the fish eye.

My ds is going to be a Viking. He's working on the historically accurate paper mache helmet right now. A favorite costume from the past was the "unhappy camper".

I even got it posted on Friday this week. I'm feeling very accomplished so feel free to check out the blog.

We are finally finding a groove for this school year. Here it is.

I have the full year laid out. Child's name, subject, book, page numbers. Not a script but which book to pull and which page to find. I order everything but library book before the year starts. Library books I put on reserve a week prior to needing them. I schedule time off. I like knowing how many days we need to finish and (potentially) when our last day of "serious" school will be.

Cancun, Puerto Rico, Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC, a cruise anywhere, Paris, always Paris, anytime.

I haven't checked in for most of the summer. I've read several "good" books but have mostly been enjoying Thursday Next (Jasper Fforde) and Jack Reacher (Lee Child). As far as heroines and heroes go, they are first rate. The Complaints by Ian Rankin Die Trying by Lee Child Killing Floor by Lee Child So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde Disobedience by Jane Hamilton The Good Mother by Sue Miller TransAtlantic by Colum McCann The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Frank Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel) by Jasper Fforde Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson The Light Between Oceans: A Novel by M.L. Stedman The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde Legend by Marie Lu Peace Like A River by Leif Enger Tear Down the Walls! A History of the American Civil Rights Movement by Dorothy Sterling The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh Falling Home by Karen White Showdown Trail by Louis L'Amour The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare The Round House by Louise Erdrich The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles Thirteen Days/Ninety Miles: The Cuban Missile Crisis by Norman Finkelstein City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare City of Glass by Cassandra Clare City of Bones by Cassandra Clare Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott One Shot by Lee Child The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother by Eve LaPlante Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard Russo

I am proud to say that I can tie a balloon. I was over forty when I finally became a confident balloon tie-er. It was a glorious day when I could blow up a balloon and no longer needed to pass it off to a tie-er with the pathetic admission that I never can tie these #*$& things.

In early logic stage I use Thinking Toolbox (6th) then Fallacy Detective (7th). These are not designed with grown ups in mind. My children have enjoyed them and finish the books with solid understanding of the concepts. I follow that with Discovery of Deduction (8th) and Art of the Argument (9th). We finish up with Traditional Logic (10th). During 6th and 7th especially, it doesn't take us the full school year to finish the text. Once the "text books" are complete we use MENSA puzzle books and a variety of fun logic puzzles. In my experience, Traditional Logic requires a rhetoric ready brain to be successful. Formal logic is much more difficult to navigate and, with my children, I've found that time and experience help them prepare for success.

Christopher Paul Curtis has several books that might fit your needs better than Bud, Not Buddy. Elijah of Buxton is about the first child born free in the Buxton settlement. The Mighty Miss Malone takes place during the Depression. The Watson's Go To Birmingham - 1963... We loved them all so I don't think you can go wrong in your selection. Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi is one we read when studying the Middle East. I second The Breadwinner Trilogy and a selection by Beverly Naidoo.

Thanks for all the information and advice. I appreciate so many of you taking time to help me look at this issue from a less personal point of view. We'll be deciding what to do about the dogs this weekend.

He has informed me in no uncertain terms that is his intention. He has two loaded shotguns waiting for them. They won't be going anywhere near his property.

One of my dogs listened and came to me when I told it to. The other did not. Oh, you're asking why my neighbor wants both dogs put down? I'm assuming because he doesn't distinguish between the dogs nor was he in a position to see the attack. I was jogging past. The dogs went into the yard. I went into the yard to get them back on the road. The neighbor's dog came out barking. As I've said, it makes no difference. I should have had the dogs leashed or not there at all.

The neighbor's dog required stitches and an overnight stay. The bill was under $300. No, I don't think my dogs are a danger to others but I wouldn't have imagined this situation either. Thanks for the suggestion to talk to a vet.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have apologized. The situation was my fault. I have paid the vet bill. I am aware of my irresponsible behavior but I can't change it, I can only move forward. Not that it matters but no, the neighbor's dog was not on a leash. The neighbor's dogs are never leashed. They are sometimes kenneled or put in the house but never leashed. The dog came at me (and my dogs) growling and barking but we were on the neighbor's property. Guys, I wish this were a nice letter and gift card situation. It's not. The neighbor has made it very clear that nothing short of two dead dogs is going to remedy the situation for him. Would you kill your dogs to placate a neighbor?