That is the latest one right? I am on the wait list for it. I need to read a couple more books in that series first. Angel, Hope you feel better soon!

I thought my rule of no jumping was clear but my teenagers recently told me that when my back was turned they used to put on their astronaut helmets and jump off the back of the couch at a house that we moved from when they were 6and 7. Great fun and the little them thought they were well protected. The Astronaut Helmut's were made of cheap plastic that could easily break and put out an eye but equalled bicycle helmets in their little kid brains. I can't believe they really had the opportunity that often if ever, small house, but the thought terrifies me now.

I finished A Rather Lovely Inheritance by CA Belmond ahttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/248889.A_Rather_Lovely_Inheritanceand it was lovely. A nice smooth read into another world. I found it from a British cozy list but this one doesn't qualify in a traditional sense at all. The story moves between France and London so not even really British! Anyway it was a bit more of a romantic mystery than a typical mystery. The main character is an American historical researcher working on a movie set in France when she receives a call from her mother that an elderly great aunt has died and named both of them in her will. The daughter needs to represent both of them for the reading of the will in London. Off the heroine goes to unravel her British family's secrets. The only negatives were a couple of inappropriate swear words that were a bit jarring and unnecessary. I need to finished Staked before it disappears from my kindle. I am hoping my requests for more of Belmond's books will go ghrough quickly. Totally looking forward to the next one.

All dd wanted was for Mommy to read to her but her little brother didn't cooperate at all most of the time. One trick that worked for me was all the toys that required somewhat concentrated play got packaged up in clear shoebox containers. Doled out for reading times, when I stopped reading the toy was put away. Toy wasn't seen again for at least a week. Sometimes it stayed out longer if dd wanted to play with it too but favourite toys were generally reading time only. Ds knew they limited time offers and became good at being quiet for dd's stories. He did grow into sitting on my other side. I am one of the marathon readers, roughly 4 hours a day for several years. We also read in the big bed frequently. The kids loved crawling in bed for part of the school day when they got a bit bigger.

Whenever we see a capybara in a zoo that book comes up. They would still like one as a pet.

I started another book off my cozy list, A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C. A. Belmond.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/248889.A_Rather_Lovely_InheritanceSo far I am really enjoying it. I don't think I have read this particular book (first in the series) before but the main character, Penny Nichols, is very familiar. I also read another book in the Ali Reynolds series by JA Jance. Moving Stakes was good. The storyline actually centered around Alzheimer's and elder abuse. I enjoy reading series books in general and find Overdrive and my Kindle really great for rereading a series or filling in one that I discover. Many libraries are discarding older books or not replacing ones that are damaged which makes Overdrive the easiest way to access the entire series. Like Kathy I also simply find the weight of my kindles easier to deal with in general.

I know I should be responding to Ethel's original post but am too lazy to go back to page one to get it. I saw your comment on the series with the Cape Cod mystery and read with interest. It's a book thatI have cheched out on overdrive but never actually got around to reading. Something better always appeared. I won't check it out any longer. I also think the cozy formula must be hard to write within. Since I have been on my cozy research assignment I have noticed that the ones I enjoy the most are the ones that veer a bit off formula. Congratulations to Wee Girl!!!!! May I recommend the Droon Series to go with the Magic Tree House. Both my kids reall liked those. Original Box Car children too! I told my mom your comment about the cat sitter. :lol: She agrees and is off to find some books so she can turn off the telly. Happy Birthday!!!!! The dc's have been busy taking some Clep exams. They did the Analysing Lit one so no advice regarding study tools, other than REA guides are generally good. If you need to do the Humanities consider doing it next, that one had quite a bit of American Lit. So you will have a third of the exam prepared for.

I was going to suggest Writing with skill also. It worked well for my ds. I tend to agree that if you are just doing latin for vocabulary a workbook like thesehttp://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/vocabulary/vocabulary-from-classical-rootsmight work just as well. Ds used these. Dd did latin. If you go with Latin something like First Form from Memoria Press or Mother of Divine Grace syllabus with Henle might be easiest for you. You might want to start a thread for grammar suggestions.

I talked to Dd. She thinks the MP program is a good place to start. She thinks she should keep doing Duolingo. I asked her about the pronunciation on the cd and she remembers it as fine. She does recommend watching some French cartoons on Youtube as a supplement, some apparently have subtitles. :)

I loved reading 101 Dalmations to the dc's. It was so much better! :)

I agree with Laura that many enjoyable days could be spent in the British museum but understand your desire to see as much as possible. My dh isn't a great companion for full days at museums so we usually go places with a set goal. On one trip to London we got off our train at Kings Cross, took a short walk to tha British Library to see the Guttenberg Bible then by foot to the British Museum for the Rosetta Stone. Those were that days main goals and were accomplished rather quickly, roughly a half hour. After that we were free to wander. You might want to look or listen to some version of thishttp://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/. The curator of the British Museum highlights 100 objects through history found at the museum. Knowing what objects you really want to see will save time. You do not want to take a nap upon arrival. It is far easier in the long run to force yourself to stay awake. I would regroup a bit. We don't nap but we are normally in bed by nine on our first night after flying home from the US. The War Rooms, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster are easily grouped together with interesting bits in between. To come back the next day is a time waster. Imo. If using the tube go to Green Park. Walk accross the park to Buckingham Palace. I have never done the Buckingham Palace tour but hope to someday. I would start there, visit the Queens Gallery. Walk down the mall to the Horse Guard Palace and walk through it. I think turning right will take you by the entrance to Number 10. At that point there should be signs for Churchill War Rooms. At this point I would check the the time and decide if you want to go. They are great but if you plan to definitely do the tunnel tour at Dover probably could be missed. On to Westminster and Big Ben. River Cruise... ? At the Tower of London there will be a long line for the Jewels House. I think we waited 50 minutes when we went. You need to plan for that, I would probably reverse the Tower and Museum. Maybe the lines would be shorter first thing. Once again since your time will be limited I would plan exactly what you want to see. Fyi, you will go by the Tower on the river cruise. You could combine the two on the second day. Ticket lines at the Tower are generally long also.

I will talk to dd but wondering how far your dd is in Duolingo. Our MP is packed away so will be extremely hard to get to but if she is very far along her tree MP might not be the best choice. I want to get dd's opinion before I comment further.

Not sure how much this will help but I will share what dd has done for French. A bit of background....Latin and German were supposed to be our languages. Dh id fluent in German while I had a couple of years of high school French 30 years ago. We used MP for Latin starting with Prima. Dd wanted to learn a bit of French for holidays because we live in England. Also all of her friends were taking gcse French. I knew I wasn't going to be able to teach French well as I was already coordinating two languages I didn't speak. I think she was roughly 13 at the time. I ordered MP French when I had the opportunity and was happy with the layout. Very similar to their Latin so I felt it would get done at least. Dd did look at Galore Park at some point but decided to stick with MP. She enjoyed it and did it independently. :) We moved on to Practice Makes Perfect books (some libraries have them). She also started doing Duolingo intensely a couple of years ago. Works with the immersion groups etc. Her French is good. Appears to exceed her friends in the sense that when in France she is able to converse in French and receives her replys in French always. Frequently people visit France to practice their French and return home frustrated because the French practiced English on them. She can take museum tours etc in French and do OK. She has done the SAT 2 Subject exam and received a score of over 700. Also received 2 years of college credit via CLEP. The AP is not available to her neither is the A level. Personally I think MP French is a good place to start your daughter working independently. The layout and expectations are clear. I think some sample pages are available somewhere on the internet. Just a fun note, the author was a boardie here years ago. I haven't seen her on the boards since I first joined. I remember being really excited when I figured out who she was!

I did wonder if these would pass the Jane cozy test. ;) My stack has several older series. It will be interesting how many I manage in the next couple of weeks. Referring to the new Kevin Hearne. I won't mention it again unless it's still in progress next week. Going slowly because I have it on my fire only and I read it in insomniac moments. I like it but it seems to let me fall asleep which is really good. I even remember it.....

Lovely introduction Rose. You did manage to tempt me enough that I toom another look through my libraries just to make sure that the 2015 book was not available. It isn't which is probably for the best. I have a large stack of British Cozies waiting for me. All new to me authors..... I am currently reading a book found on a cozy list by Antonia Fraser called Oxford Blood. Fraser is far better known for her biographies. I like this book, the style , the characters......not really a cozy by my definition. The book's sleuth is a reporter who specializes in documentaries. Her boss wants her to do one centering on young nobility in Britain. While deciding what she wants to do next, the reporter is called to the deathbed of a nun who confesses that the young heir of a public figure who is a Lord was actually switched at birth. She goes to Oxford to work on both stories..... This is the fifth book in the series. I actually like it enough that I have requested the only other book I can find in the series. Also read Kevin Hearne's Staked.

We rented in two different locations before buying. We had been prepared to move yearly until we found a location that felt like home in the UK. Obviously we were lucky and our second move was right. We just had to wait a few years for the right house to be for sale. I highly recommend renting first if you are moving to a completely new area. The first location was nice. Actually on paper looks like a far better match but we love the people in our village so glad we moved. A friend kind of forced the move, set us up to rent from his bil....housing is hard to find in our village. Kept telling us we needed to..... A huge assortment of types and ages. Our stores deliver for free. ;) it's small. The first location was more of a huge housing development of professional people, lots of convenient shopping, restaurants, etc. But lacking in real neighbours.

We've moved quite a bit. I think I've lived in 10 houses since dh and I have been married. Also made a major move to a new country. In general I enjoy moving. I get this dissatisfied feeling.... That being said I think we have settled. Our whole family picked the last tiny move together. I love my location and the house. I will be honest this last move was possibly the hardest even though it was maybe 200 yards. Ds and Dh simply picked our furniture up and carried it. I was exhausted after for weeks. From now on I plan to go on vacations and rent something for a month or so. Hopefully I can get my move fix that way.

My mom is my mom. I just couldn't call my mil mom. I used her first name, dh calls my mom by her first name.

We used the library one year and studied whatever interested us. Self designed unit studies....It was a great year. Those cards are wonderful. I would have loved those for a bit of structure.

Well I just finished my unusual British Village Cozy with a vampire for a main character. Part of my reason for giving it a try was the author Dean A. James also writes one of my absolutely favourite cozy series under a different pen name. Posted to Death was relatively accurate in terms of setting etc. I can't say the inhabitants of the village were a normal mix of people at all. I actually think I may have read it or another in this series several years ago. Cover art is familiar and one small snicker worthy section (which is probably repeated throughout the whole series) was really familiar. Anyway my feelings are kind of blah about these. I have the whole series sitting in my stack.....one reserved on the kindle. Not sure if I will read more or not. My stack contains more promising reads! :lol: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/297990.Posted_To_Death

Continuing to pray. :grouphug:

I was just sorting through things I had saved and many of these books stayed in my save piles. I really think these were some of the activities that really gave my kids a great foundation. We did them all orally so the books are in great shape. I am saving them for grandchildren. ;)

For art, high quality paper is important too. Good pencils and water colours would be my choices. Dd takes art classes with a great instructor who teaches community classes. She normally helps us order dd's supplies. If you go the art route it is easier with classes. Dd also belongs to a quilt group with me but does some outside day courses. Maybe something like this would be good. Machine, fabric, and some classes.... Have you looked at the Timberdoodle catalogue? They normally have some great ideas.

Just read the goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23012627-cat-out-of-hell?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true Cat out of Hell and am off to find a copy. I also sent the description to my BF who has at least five cats currently. They find her, mainly elderly cats that we think have been abandoned, she is a bit of a magnet. They all go to the vet, shots, etc. Before moving in. I also just read this article which may be of interest http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3515735/Could-HERB-secret-living-100-Diet-rich-rosemary-linked-good-health-long-life-expectancy-Italian-village.html. Over 300 people over 100 in a small village. I recently planted a new rosemary bush. I hope this one grows! Looks like I need to use more rosemary in my cooking.

Praying