"Ruralness" has its pros and cons. We lived for four years in the smallest county in TN (which only had 2 stop lights). We lived on 11 acres in the country with cotton fields and cows across from us. It was nice having a large area for the kids to roam and play, and gazing at stars and listening to crickets churp at night was wonderful. My kids got a little tired of country life after a while. They preferred living in a place where you could at least see you next neighbor and have kids over to play. It was hard getting used to having nothing to do after a while (even the movie theatre in town closed). I got tired of hauling coolers to the nearest grocery store (40 minutes away) every weekend. So I guess we're more surburbanites than rural folk.

Amen on the droopy mood during rainy periods. We've had 2-3 weeks of rain here in AR recently. Thankfully, we've been blessed with 4 days to dry out and cheer up. They're forecasting another week of rain ahead though, so I guess I'll be in the doldrums again. :001_smile:

Glad to say we're one of the few families who doesn't watch American Idol. However, my 70 year old mom watches faithfully.

I have to admit I got all caught up with the media hype about it at first. I even went out and bought masks for my entire family to wear. I returned the masks (unused of course) to the store last week, now that the swine flu fervor has subsided.

I'm so impressed with Ben's caring and servantlike heart. We've been in a similar situation with our son not having friends and being lonely. It really hurts to see your son in that situation. However, I began praying that God would send friends his way. We moved just over a year ago to an area where there are a ton of homeschool children. The first Sunday we went to church, 10 homeschooled boys my son's age rushed up to my son and surrounded him and welcomed him like a brother. I rejoiced inside to see how God has so faithfully answered my prayer. I'm sure he will provide friends for your son also. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for all the great tips girls!! Now, I'm inspired to save more money!

Hope this all works out for you! I think I would be tempted to homeschool outside as much as possible with a view like that!

Thanks for the challenge! Please send more! Maybe, I can get my house under control!

The hardest driving skill to teach our kids was parking and backing out of parking spaces. We started out in empty parking lots and slowly progressed to more crowded parking lots (i.e. Walmart). Also getting the kids to look way ahead of the car instead of just immediately in front of the car when driving so that they can have plenty of time to react to situations (like cars pulling out from a side street).

I would like to tell everyone about a fantastic Christian, liberal arts university in Searcy, Arkansas that some of you may want to put on your list of universities to visit. The university's website is www.harding.edu. The university has around 6,000 students (undergrad & grad). They offer 90 degree options (including engineering, pre-med, top-notch nursing & pharmacy school), 7 study abroad locations (Italy, France/Switzerland,England, Greece, Australia, Zambia and Chile), an honors college that is wonderful, first rate choral and drama groups, outstanding athletics (football, basketball, soccer, track). There are a large number of homeschooled students on campus. In fact the majority of the girls on my daughter's dorm floor were homeschooled. In fact, they actively attract homeschooled students. Students come from all 50 U.S. states and 40 countries which provides a very international flair to the student body. Dedicated faculty and staff (and especially the president of the University) are always ready to give individual attention and often host mid-week Bible studies and other events in their homes. When you walk across campus you are very impressed by not only the camus but by the wonderful students and teachers you meet. They offer numerous scholarships and the admissions department is very helpful in finding scholarships, grants, and other financial aid for their students. The university also has an American Studies Institute that host speakers throughout the year like Ben Stein, President H.W. Bush, Gorbechev,Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher and many others. The university's mission is "To integrate faith, learning, and living" and their motto is "Developing Christian Servants."

I would definitely not wait until your senior year. Most colleges like you to begin no later than your junior year. My dh is a professor at a Christian university,Harding University in Searcy, AR. The admissions people have special days/weekends during the year where juniors can come on campus, sit in on classes, meet with department heads to discuss majors, career choices, visit the dorms, take campus tours, etc. The admissions staff also want to start early to get your financial aid, scholarships going. By your senior year, it is often too late to be applying for certain scholarships. So I think you are very wise to be thinking ahead.

A group of my ds's homeschool friends got together and read Julius Caesar and Hamlet together. It makes it much more interesting than just reading it solo. They were able to really get into the reading that way. One of the mom's had majored in English in college and would stop them along the way to interject some explanation or info.

Try www.cookinglight.com. Just type in the ingredients, it lists recipes using that ingredient with a 5-star rating system from previous people who have used the recipe.

I second Lori D's suggestion on letting them write the timed essays from the SAT/ACT prep books. I will also second using the essay suggestions given by sparknotes.com after reading a particular piece of literature.

My husband and kids made me a scrapbook for my 40th birthday. They secretly went around town taking pictures of themselves in some of our favorite places. They put a lot of time and effort into it. I didn't know what they were up to. My husband kept stealing them to go off alone and I kept getting mad because they wouldn't include me in their plans. Little did I know what they were actually doing.