The Amana colonies are certainly worth the visit. Ronald Reagan's birthplace is off of I-80. I am not sure how far, though. The Quad Cities has some neat things to see. You might want to do a quick internet search to determine if they are of interest to you. Galesburg (which is about 45 mins south of I-80) has Knox College, which is the last remaining Lincoln-DOuglas debate site. It is also the home of Carl Sandburg. Have fun on your travels.

:grouphug: Lovin' the pic!! Glad he enjoyed the ride!

Oooh, I'll go look for that. Thanks. Can you block/ignore someone if you have not friended them?

Problem resolved. Thanks for repsonding. I greatly appreciate it.

I hope All American History doesn't bomb for you. DS and I used AAH1 for 7th and plan on using AAH2 for 8th. We have really enjoyed using it as a spine and then findingother things to go with it. As another poster suggested MCT for language arts. DS is highly verbal and has been challenged with WWW1, 4 prac, poetry, etc. We used Apologia Physical Science for 7th and it has gone well. I have supplemented with some online resources to give it more meat when DS wanted it. I will be using APologia for 8th grade and will continue to supplement. Since this has been my first full year of hsing I don't have any other recommendations. Good luck with your choices. I hope you enjoy them.

uh oh, your post made me teary eyed. My DD is a rising senior and I am already thinking about the 'lasts'. I will be reading this thread hoping to glean ideas.

My mom's stepbrother lives in Rolla. I have driven through there on my way to Kanakuk Kamp.

I was never taught. I found Flylady a few years back and she has been a Godsend.

It has been 22 years since I graduated from high school. I thought I would be a doctor, living in a big house with my business powerhouse DH and three kids. I thought I would be well traveled and driving a nice (meaning expensive) car. I never imagined the life I have. Nope, not in a million years. It's nice to know that things can get better after all of these years. Thanks for sharing, Big P. ETA: forgot to write what I am doing: teaching my CC class, cleaning the bathroom and killing sugar ants!!! Nothing is working on getting rid of those things!! Thinking of ways to steal Mariann's stove so I can sell it and use the money to remodel my kitchen.

I wouldn't recommend starting at the seventh grade level (WWW1, AAW1) anyway. For a 7th grader new to MCTLA I would suggest beginning with the Voyage level (CEII and Essay voyage). He would not be missing anything, and gaining everything, by beginning there.

Welcome! (another Illinois-an)

That is so cute.

I hope she is feeling better. That is a scary high fever. Take care of your self, too. It's difficult to care for a sick little one and the worry and stress can take it's toll. Make sure you are drinking enough and resting when she is (that is, if you can).

:iagree:

Um - talk about embarassing - DH bought one of those extender thingies that attaches to DS's mountain bike so it can be attached to the bike rack on the truck. Well - I couldn't figure out how to open it so I put DS's bike onto the rack the best I could. It sat at a 90 degree angle and wobbled like I-don't-know-what. After DS's ride was over I asked one of the engineer dads if he knew how to open it. He took it, pressed the bright brass button (the entire thing is black except for the button) and it popped open. Slap me silly - that's what that button was for. At least I came in 7th place on the ride. Me and my new bike that is. :) Now if I can just make it through the 4H meeting I can stay home and pray for a calm, uneventful evening. I am blaming my wacko thought processes on the lack of Aspartame! Or the three summer blue Oreos I ate this afternoon to console myself after the egg fiasco.

It's quite comforting to know I am in such good company. :) I need to go find some of those things that Mariann found to help reduce the smell. The interesting thing is the kitchen doesn't smell but the rest of the house does. DH (who is happily at work) is not angry with me. His response: "You REALLY want a new kitchen, don't you?"

I need to turn off everything and pretend I don't exist today. I needed some info from my DS's Boy Scout Troop so I replied to the list from an email sent to the Troop. Evidently that is a big no-no because I am being blasted by an older scout who is no longer in the Troop but whose email is still on the list. He is making a big deal out of receiving my request - yada, yada, yada. Ugh! Maybe I will just go ride my bike - that is if it stops raining.

The cat was hiding under the couch. Poor little thing.

Spoken like someone who has BTDT.:D

I put eggs on to boil while I prepared for church. Evidently I forgot about them because we came home to a house full of smoke and blaring smoke detectors. Luckily there was no fire. The house smells pretty bad but we have every window open and all of the fans are on high. All of the pets are okay, too. I feel terrible. :(

Is there a thread with a comprehensive list of competitions for kids? If so, can someone share the title or link with me? If not, is it possible to start one? ETA: I feel silly asking the above question but I feel as if I spend a lot of time doing online research for acitivities for DS but I seem to be missing so many good ones.

We were just informed that members of our family have planned their vacation to visit our state and then make a stop to see us. They didn't ask if we had plans for that particular time or anything just that they have already planned the trip. This is the first visit from our family and we have wanted them to visit for years. However, we wish they would have asked us about the time frame. With my summer classes and the new public school calendar for DD the family is planning on visiting the only time our family can go on vacation. We have been planning to take off for those two weeks and go see some sights. This is also the last summer we have with DD before she begins college and we wanted to spend that time with her. We have been here ten years and this is their first visit and the first time we will have the time and money to go somewhere ourselves (other than back home to see them). What I would like to know is -- Is it polite for someone to tell you when they are going to visit? Should the person ask first if the time is convenient? Do we cancel our plans?

We were p.o.o.r. growing up, too. My dad retired from the military when I was young so our insurance was provided as reitree benefits. That is the only reason we had health insurance. Without those benefits we would have relied on state/federal coverage. BTW - these same benefits are no longer available and my mom is quite limited in her choice of health care providers. DH and I are following Dave Ramsey's principles for money management. We purposely chose a smaller house (with a short term mortgage) that we could afford. The house is cute and in a nice neighborhood but it is not our dream home or our dream area. If we could take the amount we pay for our health insurance and roll it into our house payment we could buy a bigger home in the country. We probably wouldn't do that, though. We would put that money into savings.

My DH knew immediately when he was bitten by a brown recluse. He felt a sharp pain and the area swelled and turned hot to the touch within minutes. It happened at work and the company wanted to send him to the hospital in an ambulance. He declined the ambulance and drove himself. By the time he arrived at the clinic he had a fever. Based on DH's reaction time I think you would know if you had been bitten.

You are correct. We just went through this with DD. We tried to do it on our own but ended up having to pay $400 for summer driving school. A certificate from a certified driving school is required in order to get the license.