I didn't read the replies you received already, and I apologize if I'm repeating something. We've been dealing with asthma for 8 years, in 3 of my dc (#2, #5 and #6). First... there's a learning curve.. about the meds, what they're for, how they work.... about YOUR dc's asthma, what triggers it, when, their first symptoms. It'll get less crazy. Second... it won't always be like this. Related to #1 above, in part. But also, I've found that once the asthma stays controlled for awhile (and it WILL get there), dc needs less med over the long term. (Eg, my 9yo is on 1/8 the Flovent now than he was when he was 2yo. He had 8 major attacks in 12 months. The docs said they'd be happy to get him down to 1 or 2. The last major attack he has was that 8th one. He does have some minor trouble now and again, but has not been on prednisone in 6 years.) Third... I HIGHLY recommend this book about asthma: Dr Tom Plaut's Guide to Asthma for People of All Ages. He is practical, thorough, easy to understand without your feeling like an idiot. Fourth... I even MORE HIGHLY recommend a specialist. Pedi's and Family practitioners are great, but they are not good at treating asthma... even when they think they are. About a year ago, one of my friends had the "best pedi in the area for treating asthma" who insisted she cancel an appt with a specialist (which was made at my suggestion) because he could treat her son's asthma. The son finally did get in to an asthma specialist (different practice than we go to, that's fine -- this one was at her pedi's insistence) over the summer, and the difference is QUITE significant. The mom wishes she had done this MUCH sooner. It will be ok. I promise.

My first thought when I saw your picture was your eyes look like my ds's when his asthma's starting to kick up... so gradually that he's not aware (doesn't notice any physical symptoms -- even if I ask him to the point of pestering), but his specialist can read it on the lung function test (which has happened when he's had a standing follow-up appt). Imo, just something to consider...

It's not stainless steel, but will aluminum do? From Nasco Farm Supply... Link here. HTH.

My dd had mono 5 yrs ago. We used a variety of natural things: elderberry juice (mixed with ginger ale), probiotic tablets, and a custom made mix of essential oils that we rubbed into the back of her toes twice a day. The oils were from Young Living and the "recipe" was from an Essential Oils handbook that a friend had. She was quite a bit better in one week; if the doc hadn't gotten a positive mono test, I don't know that I'd have believed she even had it. If you want me to look up more details, I can. Just let me know. Praying your kiddos are feeling better soon.

We've been using this, this and this after seeing the products a couple years ago in a demo at our State Fair. It cleans VERY well, and there is NO odor at all (which we love!). The products are all non-toxic; all the info is on the webpages. I have used Melaleuca before, but it got too expensive with their minimum monthly orders. The products worked well. But I don't believe they are fully non-toxic. I've read many, many times where people THINK they are, but it seems to me if they really were, Melaleuca's website would say so. I just check on the Tub and Tile cleaner... it says no toxic fumes (which is great), but it doesn't say non-toxic. The MelaMagic Heavy Duty cleaner says nothing about not being toxic. Trying to make folks aware here, not trying to flame anyone. HTH

Yes, that's exactly the case.

Michele, What did you use for Algebra I? We did Jacobs for both Algebra and Geometry, then followed it with Foerster's Algebra and Trigonometry. My oldest used it, and I helped him some. My second one didn't do Algebra 2, but by dd is using Foerster's now. So far, so good. I read recently that "Math without Borders" has a CD program to go with it. I'm tutoring a friend's dc this year using Saxon Algebra 2. Because Saxon's sequence is different (Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Advanced Math -- no separate Geometry text), I don't think it's a good followup to Jacobs. Personally, I don't care for Saxon. The explanations are too often harder than they need to be and/or confusing. The "spiral" approach drove my ds nuts! Besides the programs LoriM mentioned, and the one above, there is Videotext. HTH

Plenty of people are passionate about Macs. And a custom-built machine is a nice thing. But both are expensive. If you want to go that route and can afford it, you can ignore the rest of my reply. :001_smile: We bought a Dell desktop for under $400 18 months ago (or maybe it was another year before that -- not sure). We've not had any trouble with the machine -- at all. I think we did add RAM when we ordered. And we got a new monitor. We ordered from Dell's website. Sorry, but I can't remember if we paid for additional warranty coverage, but if we had we would not have used it thus far. I've not noticed any "additional" software that slows my system down. We upgraded last spring from dial-up to cable-internet with no problems. More recently, we purchased a Compaq laptop on clearance for just over $400 from Staples. It's our first experience with Vista. It's working fine. We did buy the Office 2007 software package from Staples at the same time. They very often have it on sale, plus offering additional rebates if you buy the program when you buy a computer. We use our machine for documents, internet, music (Mp3/iPod). We're expecting our dd to get an external hard drive for her music and pictures (on her new digital camera) so she can just take it with her when she gets her own machine for college next year. HTH.

I can handle this one... :) 1) What's for breakfast at your house? Today? Donuts. 2) What kind of car do you drive? Chev Astro; love it. 3) What's your weather today? Cold, windy, with light, very light, snow. 4) Are your toenails painted? If so, what color? Nope. 5) Read any good books lately? What was it? I just finished a book called... hmmm... A Crime So Monstrous. It was interesting. 6) Is your bed made? Semi. 7) What's for dinner? Spaghetti and meatballs. 8) Name something your dc have done today that made you smile. Oh we giggled a few times today... usually over things I've done! 9) What color is your bathroom rug? Blue 10) Who's your favorite artist? Don't know. 11) What's your favorite morning beverage? Tea... English Breakfast or Raspberry Royale. 12) Do you have any toys from when you were a child? Nope. 13) Do you collect anything? Does dust count? 14) Are you looking forward to the holidays? (whichever days you celebrate) I suppose; too much to do before then, though, that I'm not really thinking about it yet. 15) What are you wearing today? Jeans, warm sweater

One of my friends just forwarded an email from PC connection.com with HP laptops for just over $400. But the sale ends on Friday. Worth a try, imo.

I bought my younger dc fleece pajamas from The Children's Place (online) for Christmas... last year?.. two years ago? I can't remember. They've held up well and they keep the kiddos warm in our old drafty house in our NY winters. boys' sleepwear at Children's Place

Yes to both. :)

Lisa, Where did you find other books by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel? My oldest searched after reading SP in ninth grade, without success. Thanks!

The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers

www.hometrainingtools.com

Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Is she ready for reading? I ask because my youngest wasn't, even at the beginning of first grade. Dare I tell you all that we did NO phonics or reading teaching until February of that year? Fwiw, I had intended to start after Christmas, but did not manage to get things ready for that (part of my overloaded, I-can't-do-it-all life). By the end of his first grade year, however, he was reading easy readers. Now he's in fourth grade and totally on par. We use the 4th edition of Writnig Road to Reading; it's what I have from the older dc and everyone's done fine with it. But if you're happy with the ABeka you have, then stick with it. Just keep it at your dd's pace. I didn't do any special "phonemic awareness" before Feb. I spent hours online researching reading readiness and found (I don't remember where) that mazes and dot-to-dots help build skills helpful for reading, so for the first half of first grade, ds did 2 pages of mazes or of dot-to-dots. Then my oldest dd started WRTR with him in the morning, for just 15 minutes. I told her that if he finished early what I had planned for that day, he was done. If the time was up, he was done. If was getting truly frustrated or you could see the "eyes glazing over" look, he was done. She's been a GREAT teacher for him; it's been a great blessing! This is my 2 cents, fwiw. HTH somebody. :)

I hung my cloth diapers on the line for a long time. We did have a dryer, but I only ran it in the winter to save money. They go up on the line much faster than a regular load of clothes, fwiw. :tongue_smilie:

I hope I don't forget everything I want to say... But first :grouphug: and :grouphug: We forget, when life is extremely demanding and difficult, that it's not going to be that demanding and difficult forever. Or even for YEARS, and usually not even beyond a few months. I've recently concluded that overall, last year and this year are most likely my MOST demanding years in terms of homeschooling, children and family responsibilities. I won't go into the details because when I consider the whole list at once it totally overwhelms me (and usually other people too). Plus, it's not a contest or race of who does or doesn't do more. But soccer season is almost over, and June will be here sooner that I expect. The time does go SO fast! I've made it this far and I can hang in there till then. I've told the younger dc that we are doing NOTHING new next year, and we may ditch one of this year's activities for the year as well. We all have different energy levels. I know people with more energy than I have, but I am a pretty energetic person. Regardless, we ALL reach the end of that energy... There are days I say to the kids, "This is what's in the freezer, tell me what to make for dinner." Not because I want to make them something they're wishing for but because my brain has reached its limit and I just. cannot. figure out dinner. We have dish-to-pass dinners at our church quite often. At a summer hot dog roast, I brought two bags of chips from Aldi and a container of vegetable dip (unopened) leftover from ds's graduation party. It was all I could manage. There was at least one dinner last winter that to which I brought NOTHING. To choose, buy ingredients for, and prepare a dish to be ready to take to church was the straw that would break the camel's back. It is not our responsibility to meet other people's expectations of us. Do not feel guilty if you cannot bring coffee or prepare a meal. The time will come when you can do these things, but this isn't it and that is perfectly ok. Remember that you don't answer to those making the request and you do not owe them an explanation. "I would like to, but I can't" is a perfect response, imo. If you need a break, take one. The kids will come to no harm if you take a week off school, or even longer. For me, just not having school makes a big difference. Can you go sit in the park for an hour or two? Wander around a bookstore or the library? I don't know how old your dc are or how many you have, but can they stay alone or will someone come stay with them for a bit? Is there an activity they're involved in that you don't have to stay (at least not every time)? :grouphug: again. I really do understand where you're at. My dh has either worked two jobs, long hours, or had a job that's taken him away from home, for our entire married life. Nearly everything falls (and has fallen) on me. The Lord gives me the strength I need to do all the things HE is calling me to do. I have found that when I am struggling the most, I am either doing more than I should or I am relying on my own strength. Now, it's still demainding and hard, but I am much less stressed and tired when I have my focus in the right place. Life is still hard, and there's still some stress -- it doesn't become, for me anyway, a smooth sail. Only you and your dh can decide whether or not to continue homeschooling, and what activities you and/or your dc should be participating in. Praying for you,

But if your old car is truly a piece of junk, you've driven it into the ground, so to speak, then what? Well... if there are volunteer fire companies in your area, ask if they want it. We have donated all of our dead vehicles the last few years to our local volunteer fire department. They banged them up a bit, used them to practice auto extrication, then started them on fire to practice putting it out. The FD gave us a donation receipt each time for a few hundred dollars.

I think that cutting or eliminating screen time (computer, tv/movies, video games) goes a LONG way toward helping a child's attention span (and behavior). I saw this in a huge way with my oldest 16 years ago, and have tried to be diligent in keeping screen time to a minimum for all my dc. Depending on the age of the child, I would try mazes, and dot-to-dots, puzzles on paper (easy sudoku puzzles, word searches, etc), jigsaw puzzles, reading aloud, reading alone, playing games -- card games, board games. I would also consider their diet... sugar, food dyes & additives, common food intolerances... It's complicated, I know. Praying you find an answer that works!

My youngest turns nine this week; I honestly don't remember dealing with this much, but then we didn't go out much either. I do have a solution, but I'm not sure that I'm even bold enough to actually do such a thing myself. But I imagine if you touched THEIR ear, grab THEIR hand, and/or stroke THEIR cheek, they'd withdraw pretty darn quickly. They might even think your nuts. :drool:

Bummer! I was just at Target this morning and never thought to look!

Ted Dekker (Christian) Francine Rivers --especially the Mark of the Lion series (also Christian) My oldest ds is a voracious reader; he's read many of the titles/authors already suggested. His recent picks are Orson Scott Card, Robert Ludlum, among others.

My mother-in-law had two great stories about dh (which he retells on occasion)... Dh must've been 4 or 5 and his mother had to go to the bank. Dh wanted to go in the bank with his mother, but she said no, he had to wait in the car. (They lived in a small town in the days when you could leave your kid in the car without thinking twice about it.) So he yelled out the open window at her "MEANIE MUDDER!" Dh has 6 older brothers; he's the youngest. By the time he was 8 or 10, his mother had heard it all. One day when he was mad at her because he wasn't getting something he wanted, he called her a B**CH as she was walking upstairs. She called back, "You know what that makes you, don't you?" He did know.