pregnant?

We have 2 non dogs (chihuahuas), they live completely indoors, aside from supervised potty breaks. There is far too much wildlife out here for them to go out alone.

I've never, ever had anything like that happen to me. That said, I don't deal with "big people" doctors a whole lot. I see pediatric doctors with my ds on an almost weekly basis and being a sahm is definitely valued by them. So sorry!

Homemade chicken noodle soup with bread. Nothing fancy.

"Becoming Jane" I know it's a true story, but still, I just wanted it to end like her novels!

I registered permanent absentee when we moved here. Frankly, I don't want to have to juggle the kids while I'm voting. I think back fondly to the days when my olders were in school and the youngers would just sit under the booth while I voted. Those days are gone and it just isn't worth the stress or the inevitable annoyance that would be caused to others. Yeah for mail-ins!

Carter. Reagan was elected later that year.

I love all of them! No matter what you choose, he'll have a great name.

My 6yo boy, who is on the tall side, weighs 50 pounds. He's skinny, nothing extra on him, but he's a ball of muscle and energy. My 4yo, who still has a little baby pudge going on, weighs 35 pounds. How is her growth chart? Did he say anything about whether her growth has fallen off track? 35 pounds for a 5yo girl is about the 15th percentile, for a 6yo it's just under the 5th. The most important thing is consistency. If she was in the 15th percentile last year and is in the 5th now, that might signal a problem. However, a child who has always been in the 5th percentile is likely just small, but normal/healthy.

Ditto. I'm in Ca. If we still lived in Fla. I'd be agonizing over it a whole lot more.

I haven't read any responses, but I say it depends on where you live. In the majority of this country, yes, $250k a year is wealthy. In places like California, New York city, Washington DC, I think $250k is a comfortable living. I also think that anyone can spend themselves into thinking that 250 is not enough. Earlier this week there was a thread where somebody (sorry, can't remember who!), where somebody was relating that elder expenses for 2 parents, plus other expenses made $250k feel tight. I think that is a rare circumstance, but I absolutely believe that they are feeling the crunch.

We're currently at 3.55, down from 4.65 in NorCal. I'd love to see us under 2, but I don't think that will ever happen out here. Low 3's would be nice.

I like mossimo jeans from target. They fit great and hold up well.

I have no suggestions, just hugs!! My dh had a horrible spinal headache which required a blood patch, after treatment for slipped discs. It was horrible, he was not functional for weeks. I remember the big key was for him to stay down, as in horizontal, for several days after the treatment. He only got up to go to the bathroom. I think that helped the blood patch "stick". Ugh, so awful! Praying for you!

Dh is a youth pastor. We're just doing what we've been doing, living on faith. I asked dh last night if the elders were starting to look at our church budget and reign it in. He said he doesn't know, but plans are bringing it up. Although the overall situation makes me a nervous for the country, I'm not really nervous for our family. God has always, always provided. I have a list a mile long of weird ways His provision has come through. So a storm may come, but I'm still standing on the Rock!

Maybe I missed your question. Are you asking if people would be in favor of a no-oversight (meaning not a charter school type of situation), secular only reimbursement of hs materials?

This is pretty much what many charter schools in California do. There is a price- oversight. We are part of a charter for 1 of my kids. It was the least intrusive charter that we could find. We get $1800 a year to spend on secular materials and services. There are approved vendors, which is how they ensure the material is secular. The vendor list has thousands of providers. For example- we purchased MUS through our charter. We mostly use our funds for services. In exchange, we meet with an "educational specialist" once a month. I tell her what I'm doing (which includes a LOT of christian materials like Sonlight and Abeka) and she files a report. She is very hands off. We pretty much do whatever we want. If the charter was more restrictive, I would drop it. I chose this particular charter because of it's reputation for being easy to work with. Dd will take a once yearly test and we turn in work twice a year. I'm very happy with our experience. I also independently hs one kid and ps another, so we're a bit of a sample platter of education.

I feel your pain. I semi lose my mind about once a month over this stuff. I grow a second head and EVERYONE cleans. I'm sure my flipping out will make for great therapy sessions one day. I filled 2 bags last month, and yet, the kids still have so much stuff EVERYWHERE. I'm about a day away from closing this place down. I know it's partly my fault. I'm terrible at maintaining the house. It fluctuates between totally clean and completely thrashed. I never seem to keep it steadily in the middle for any length of time. I'm sure there's a time management lesson somewhere in there...

:iagree::iagree: I agree with all of this post, but especially the bold. My dh is also a Youth Pastor. A Youth Pastor is not a jr pastor, but a fully functioning, ordained pastor. There is no reason to go over his head, unless the responses you get are unacceptable. I'm familiar with Youth Specialties (in fact, dh left today for a YS conference), and I'm really shocked that this content got through. I've never seen anything of this sort in YS material before. DH doesn't really use their materials often, but I'll have to give him a heads up on this. When a pastor uses material like this (especially stuff for games), he doesn't always comb through every sentence. Generally, you expect an organization like YS, which has a good reputation to not need to be heavily screened. So my suggestion is to discuss this in person and please give the pastor the benefit of the doubt, until he gets a chance to explain it himself. hth

What lesson are you on? We're only on lesson 4, but so far so good.

Hi Hannah, EHE seems to break things up into the following catagories- Mapping Facts and figures Important people Religion timeline mini book reports Choose your own adventure (side projects) There are other pages along the way, but those seem to be in every region. To me, EHE is all about research. There are times that dd is looking up so many different facts, that I'm not sure how much we're getting in the way of retention. Because of that, I'm not making it a priority to finish every last page. I prioritize the parts that I feel are most important and let others go if we don't get around to them. Still, for research skills, it's incredible. She is getting a fair amount of geography skills out of it as well. By far, her favorite part is Choose your own adventure. She's a project girl and these are right up her alley. They give you 5 or 6 projects of differing depth to choose from. There is a point value assigned to each that gives you an idea of how involved the project is going to be. EHE would be really hard to do without World Book. A lot of the info is found within the daily WB reading. I would also say that this would be challenging for a typical kid under 10 years old. Dd is 11 and she's really working hard on this. hth,

Hi Hannah, We are using EHE this year. I need to get ready for a wedding, but I'll come back to this tomorrow.

Nice to see you again! No advice on the missionfield, but I have plenty on full time ministry. Just hold onto your hat! So is your dh still teaching or has he already left? Welcome back!

Holy moly! That bill is scary stuff. I'll be praying for you sisters,