I've read "The Eye of the Dragon" (Stephen King) a few times, and there is some brief sexual content. It's not a horror novel like his others. Has she read the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books? Just the images can be kind of unsettling. Some of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" original books might work, particularly "The Horror of High Ridge." Maybe "The Mystery of Chimney Rock." "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen "The Juniper Tree" by the Brothers Grimm "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault (Quite a few of the original fairy tales were dark, violent, and creepy, before Disney-fication.) "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka "The Little Black Bag" by Cyril M. Kornbluth "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby -- also an excellent (old) Twilight Zone episode once she's read it

"Nuke the site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure." and "Game over, man! Game over!" from Aliens. "Are those the only choices?" and "It's all in me 'ed..." from Chicken Run. "If everyone is (adjective), no one is." paraphrased from The Incredibles. "You stay here, and make sure he doesn't leave." "We're coming with you!" or any other reference to the guard scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, because that's how my kids listen. We also quote Groundhog Day, The Princess Bride, and Star Wars a lot. Edit: I forgot two critical ones: Ghostbusters! "Dogs and cats living together -- mass hysteria!" "Let's get ready. Switch me on." "I didn't choose anything! Did you choose anything?" and others and we often say "This means something... This is important." when mounding food, sand, garden soil, etc. in reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Lots of good suggestions! Jan Brett's books are beautiful. We had The Mitten as a board book and it was always delightful to look at. Freight Train by Donald Crews -- a short, colorful read that's exciting! Some sort of lift-the-flap option

1st idea: Cut up the brats/cook the sausage and put in omelets or quiche. Throw in veggies and cheese. 2nd idea: Breakfast sausage recipe: 1 lb ground pork, 1 tsp sage, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp oregano, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, pinch of ground cloves Fry it up and reserve some of the drippings for biscuits and gravy. To make gravy, heat the drippings on med and whisk in enough flour to make a roux. Cook and stir a few minutes and then start adding milk/half in half a little at a time, whisking well until it is the consistency you want. Salt, black pepper, rosemary, thyme [+red pepper] to taste.

A magic show? I'd inject some humor, like Tommy Cooper's style. It adds interest and takes up time so she won't have to do many tricks... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTY6TxXsK-o https://youtu.be/P8Dw12lnIOc?feature=shared

This made me think of Chef Boyardee, which is also very soft, meatballs/ravioli can be chopped fine etc. The liquid "sauce" could be mostly drained away. That's something my dad would recognize and enjoy.

How about some sheets of stickers? Walmart has several varieties for about a dollar. You could also print out some comic book template sheets and include a pencil to go with them. Bags of microwave popcorn Single bottles of Gatorade/Snapple/etc. Funky sunglasses from Dollar Tree Helium balloons from Dollar Tree Get a bunch of Little Debbie/Hostess packs and make treat bags with one of each variety: one ding dong, one twinkie, one oatmeal creme pie, etc.

I hope that it's parthenogenesis, because the idea of cross-breeding makes me imagine a male shark sexually harassing the female ray until she was exhausted and he was successful. I know that's applying human ethics to animals, but I admittedly get uncomfortable with that behavior within a species. It feels extra squicky across distant species.

I've found this hand weeder to be a useful design. Agree with the gloves idea and might need to ask for a kneeler/seat for myself now 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S0PGN4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Melissa and Doug makes them these days. I've given a few as gifts somewhat recently... kids still seem to like them. https://www.melissaanddoug.com/products/fashion-design-activity-kit

I've been looking through the thread and hope I haven't missed it, but can someone please post the link to this?

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tomato-and-corn-pie-354470

The rep from the College Board said that this issue has been an ongoing question, but there is no requirement right now for a school to enroll a home school student who takes the test at their facility. They are allowed to do so. However, "home school" is supposed to be a possible option. He said that a quick change in school enrollment would not cause any problems with the College Board, but wasn't sure about National Merit Scholar Corporation. He mentioned that if this particular public high school thinks it is a rule to enroll my child, perhaps I can gently direct them to call the College Board who will clear up any confusion. I'm sure the school will love me for that. The rep at NMSC said that the change in enrollment should not affect the program. He said that there are eligibility questions at the beginning of the exam such as, "Is this your school of record?" The NMSC does extensive follow up on their semifinalists, and any confusion about enrollment would be resolved during that process. His advice was to follow the requirements of the high school, and in the case of issues call the high school directly, followed by the College Board.

I've been calling three different high schools in our area, trying to sign up my son to take the NMSQT in October as soon as registration is open. Today I received a reply from the district school he would normally be assigned to. I can sign him up this week, but they said that in order for him to take the test, he will have to be registered as a high school student at their school. I wasn't given much information, but the reasoning is something like: with the new digital PSAT, the College Board is pulling electronic records from the school and it's the only way for him to show up in the system? After the test is over, he can be "dropped back" to home school student again. The other two local schools haven't mentioned this registration requirement, but everyone sounds hurried on the phone and not the happiest to be dealing with me. That conversation just generally set off alarm bells. I'm worried that if he qualifies for National Merit (our whole reason for taking this test), arbitrary flip-flops in his school/status might harm him in becoming a finalist or with college applications. I'm going to try and contact the College Board, but I wonder if anyone here has heard about this with the new test?

He did grill some hot dogs this week for us 🙂

My son wanted a tie dye Led Zeppelin shirt, but only size small was left available. I picked up a shirt, cut it up, and appliqued sections onto an apron. He also requested a fig leaf embroidered onto the Icarus character in an... um... sensitive area. I was thinking of you often, Melissa, as I worked on it.

Painted (easy, just dots with a paint pen) flower pots, which can later be used for plants https://diycandy.com/flower-pot-craft/ Pine cone bird feeders https://onelittleproject.com/pinecone-bird-feeders/

Dragonsong/Dragonsinger (McCaffrey) Our Town (Wilder) The Nose/The Overcoat/Diary of a Madman (Gogol) Out of the Silent Planet (Lewis) Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (Jerome)

https://tsort.info/ Maybe helpful?

My rising 11th grader worked through The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry last year. It explores different meter, rhyme, and poetry forms with writing exercises in each chapter. The book is engaging and the "rules" for the exercises are pretty clear and structured -- good for left-brained types, like my kid. He generated quite a variety of poems by the end. Side note: Some of the content delves into sexual matters in a pretty vulgar way. I had to edit that out.

I know the Underground Railroad wasn't an actual railroad, but how about using trains/track symbolically somehow? Laying track along a timeline and the trains labeled or covered with pictures, to be your building or some other representation? Maybe a lift-the-flap with info underneath at each stop. This could also be used to show the steps in restoration, or the route your building is on with other landmarks, etc. If you have the budget for it, kids love the wooden trains/track.

So, speaking of beautiful... can I also share this one that I've been listening to lately?

Thank you, it was lovely. I have "The Mission" score, too. I hope you are familiar with this one (also nice for Lent):

Our first daffodil of 2023 flowered a few days ago (zone 6a/6b border). We have a spot that must be sheltered and warm because I never see another spring flower in our neighborhood before that little patch of daffodils. I feel this odd sense of pride about it. The rest of the family does not share my excitement and has had to endure the annual "hey, come look at this!" once again. My good news today is that I tried on two very-cute and two pretty-cute skirts that fit me and they were each $6. Haven't told dh yet... He won't care, but I feel guilty about spending money on myself. Skirts are a definite weakness of mine. I can pass up shoes, jewelry, dresses... not skirts.

If you want to check wind patterns since Feb. 3 and see if the plume may have headed your way, you can use the model at Ventusky.com.