hehehehehe I'll bring some Cuban food with me! :)

ROFL! GACK!! This is starting to sound like a swinger's club! hehehehehehe How very un-Christian of you! :lol::lol::lol:

:grouphug::grouphug: Believe me sweetheart! If I've learned anything from having two special needs kiddos, it's the value of laughter and not taking things too seriously. If I weren't laughing I'd be crying all the time. Life is HARD and it can get you so down sometimes to where you don't have the strength to get back up again. But if someone comes comes alongside of you and puts their arms around you in a sisterly hug and makes you smile and laugh, it gives you the strength to get back up and try again. :) It's hard, but if I may quote Dorrie, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

:grouphug::grouphug:

I feel like a plucked chicken that has eaten a frog that has eaten a spider who had swallowed a fly. :blink: I don't know why he swallowed the fly though. Perhaps he'll die? :001_huh:

After some of the replies here I thought we were in need of some comic relief (but when do I not eh? ;) ) And you did mention teA. ;) :D:tongue_smilie: hehehehehe

Okay Denise I'll come, but only if the sun tea is on the level. If it's a euphemism for a nude-y colony I'd have to ask my dh first. ;) :D :tongue_smilie:

Oh my gosh this drops my jaw!! I just cannot imagine Christians behaving this way toward other Christians! I guess I'm fortunate to have never encountered anyone as bad as what you describe. I would even seriously doubt their own Christianity though if I did! They sound more like the Pharisees that Jesus continually took to task and warned to not be like. I think they need to have the verse, "They will know you as my disciples by the love you have for one another." stapled to their foreheads! Sheesh! That's just awful! I"m so sorry for you and for any of you that have experienced this. That's shameful and a mockery of Jesus's name! :mad:

Dear Susan, I started out as an un-schooler and although I'm glad that I did because it allowed me to take baby steps into homeschooling and build my confidence in myself to do this thing, I realized once we hit about 5th grade that I really needed something more, but I didn't know what. I used different curricula from here and there to teach and my dd was doing great, but I felt that I needed more of a plan for the future as we headed into Middle School. Through a want ad for used curricula on a different website I found out about this site. The seller's ad had somehow disappeared from the website before the transaction was finalized and when I emailed her about it she told me that she had had the same ad on the sale/swap board here as well and to just refer to the ad on here. I sadly had never heard of you or your book before then, but when I came here I was amazed. First that you had a sub-forum dedicated entirely to home schooling special needs children. Both of my children are on the Autism spectrum and I was so used to be marginalized because I just didn't fit into the mainstream picture of things. I was used to going it alone because nobody else had a similar situation. It was so amazing to come here and see that there were people like me who had families just like mine. Ay, I'm getting emotional just typing this out! But then after coming and hanging out here awhile I was amazed by the level of knowledge here and the sheer numbers of posters that visited this site! I'm still amazed at just how many people are here, from all walks of life, all over the world, sharing their lives and exchanging information and ideas! It's truly amazing. After being here I bought your book and read it through and it resonated with me. It was exactly what I was needing. Although I have tweaked it to fit my personal situation, it's been a wonderful resource to me and has brought me through the Middle Schooling years and heading into High School next year with confidence. My dd's scores are higher than ever and she's just doing so well! Thank you so much for your book and for this website. I will have been here 2 years next month and I'm just so grateful that I bought that curriculum and that it led me here. Thank you for all that you do and for providing this place for us to come and share and feel part of a family. :grouphug:

That's tough. I always feel it for pastor's wives. That has to be one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I was friends with a pastor's wife that I met at AWANA. She was such a WONDERFUL woman! Funny, smart, kind, generous.... She and I would talk sometimes and I was amazed at how burdened she was by other people's perceptions of her. Poor thing lived in a fish bowl and was judged for every. single. thing. she did. That and she lived always in her husband's shadow. It was like she had no identity of her own as just a woman, but rather she was Pastor So and So's wife! That is tough! That has to be a calling because I know I couldn't do it. I would crack under the pressure. You gals have to be some of the strongest women on the planet! And I mean that sincerely and with the utmost admiration. You gals have got true grit! :grouphug::grouphug: With the exception of the military wife I'm right there with you Mrs. Mungo! :cheers2:

Thank you. :)

OOOOH me! me! I've been accused of both! :D

Wow! That's really beautiful!!

Oh dear! Any updates Yellowperch?? Praying for their safety. :grouphug:

Oh poor you!! 5 hours! That's awful!! :grouphug: Home Depot sells it as well and probably Lowes too if they are closer to you. It's a godsend believe me. We had some our ouse that we're living in now underneath the stairs. They were coming out through the crevices at night. We put the nozzle of the gel tube in one of the crevices where the stairs meet the wall and just squirted some gel down there and haven't seen a bug since. It's been about 3 years now and there were quite a few down there. :)

Ya'll need to get some of this stuff. You can thank me later! ;) :D I hate palmetto bugs and roaches. Just typing the words makes me want to pass out. :svengo: When I was a kid we had an infestation in our house. We had two cats that used to chase them all night long and even still you couldn't get up in the night and walk anywhere in the house without a crunch under your feet. *shudder* I used to sleep underneath my sheets with them all tucked in under every part of my body and head for fear of them crawling on me in the night. Too many times I was woken that way. :eek: :svengo: I wish we had had that roach killing gel back then! That stuff is awesome and no sprays! :) Mergath, palmetto bugs are about 4-5 inches long and about 2.5-3 inches wide AND THEY FLY! You just have no idea how horrid they are until you've encountered one. It's always funny to go to the beach at night and you see the tourists climbing up into the life guard stands thinking it will be fun only to run out screaming a few minutes later. Those bugs are straight from the pit of hell I'm sure of it! :ack2:

How kind! Thank you. :) It's a pity you can't all really come. I'm so close to the beach (less than 2 miles) and the moon is so pretty and the weather is warm. We have some really nice Cuban bakeries down here too. :drool5: As it is though, I am sending you all heartfelt thanks for your care for my boy and for celebrating with me and a great big cyberhug! :grouphug: You ladies rock! :)

Oh what a lovely day you had! You deserve it! I'm so glad that it was so nice. :) :grouphug:

Thank you. Are you in Florida too?? :) I saw a lot locals as well. They all were out to see the moon. Some of them had some really great cameras with long lenses attached. I wish I could have used their pictures instead of mine. :) My dd was down playing in the surf and some Canadian tourists came up to her asking her to take their picture with the moon on their IPhone. hehe It was beautiful to see it coming out of the water so big and red. I really wish I could have shown it to you all how I saw it. My pictures are so poor a substitute. Thank you. :) I'm glad you enjoyed them. I only wish they were better. It truly was a beautiful moon. Thank you. :) That's great you got to see it too. :) I hope you had a wonderful birthday. :) :grouphug:

Okay, we went to the beach at sunset to watch the moon rise out of the water. It was beautiful! It came out of the water all red and huge and it kept getting brighter and brighter as it rose higher in the sky. I brought my camera and tried to get some pictures to share with you all. I hope you'll forgive the quality. My camera is not very good and it doesn't have any nice lenses or anything that lets me get good closeup shots so the moon looks far away. They got blurrier as I had to switch to the nighttime setting, but you'll get the idea anyway. The sunset pics came out pretty though. The last two shots in the slide show are how the moon looked when we got back to our house after the beach. It was really bright. :) Enjoy. http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n106/FloridaNat1ve/Superluna/?albumview=slideshow

I've had psychologists come observe my son and my dd. It was nothing to worry about. Mainly they just want to see how they function in a familiar environment where they feel safe so they can get a more accurate idea of the scope of their disability. I had one come over while I was homeschooling my dd and they just basically wanted to see how she behaved in our interactions. The people I've dealt with were all very pro-homeschooling and agreed that it's great for special kids because they benefit so much from one on one attention. :) I'm sure they're just wanting to observe to help them form a behavior/treatment plan for your son. :grouphug:

Sounds like a perfect day! Enjoy it! :grouphug:

Thank you all! :crying: :grouphug: I wish I could invite all of you to my house for coffee and cake. hehe :grouphug:

I would get some oregano oil if you don't have some already. It can cure strep throat and is natural and completely safe for littles. I give my kids a half a dose at the first signs of getting sick and they usually don't ever catch the cold. I give them 2 drops mixed with apple juice. I usually mix it with a single squirt of this as well and it's wonderful. We take it at the first signs of illness and often don't catch it. :)

First off, I want to give you lots of HUGS! :grouphug: :grouphug: It's so difficult when you first get a diagnosis. I have an Aspie dd as well as a profoundly Autistic ds. At your next meeting, they will probably go into treatment plans and options for you. Aspie's can really do a lot and with lots of help and support have a great shot at having a "normal" life. :) C.A.R.D. was a great resource for me because they were one the only ones I could find that actually did things for Asperger's and not just Autism. I was able also to get behavioral therapy services through ARC. I'm sure at the meeting they will discuss other options with you. It's hard when you first find out. There are so many emotions to work through and so much information to process. Step by step and a breath at a time you will make it through. We'll all be here to help and hold your hand. God bless you! :grouphug: