Hoopla is a good lead. Unfortunately none of my libraries use that. Overdrive has several but only in the e-book.

I guess there is a reason this library has only one book on the shelf in audio until book# 37.

I am glad we read the revised one, DD just turned 6. Although did the original explain the estrangement between the grandfather and the parents? I thought that was a pretty huge gap. BatmansWife, could you ask your daughter if she remembers anything about the title of the book_to_avoid?

I am a lover of audiobooks. I love love love audiobooks. I am overjoyed that DD is enjoying listening the first Boxcar Children Collection#1 (books 1-3) on CD. Read-alouds are done at bedtime and when my voice gets tired, we turn out the lights and snuggle while listening. Since this is going so well, I want to stick with the series until it is firmly entrenched in her mind that audiobooks are good. Problem is, I can't find book#4 on the shelf at any library nearby. There is one library, not very convenient, that has 17 CD collections (three books each). I am very excited about that. But on the shelf the next books they have is book#8, and collection #13 (books 37-39). So, will it be a problem to read things out of order? Or will it be confusing?

My opinion is that it is because you were Required to read them more than the age at which you read them. I have liked 99.99% of the books I've read. But, about 75% of the ones I didn't like, I had been Required to read them. Now that I am old I am going back and reading or listening to some of them. Right now, that is Lord of the Flies.

Nope. DD just turned 6 last week, and I just now bought that set and the power cord. We will probably do it together at first. We had checked out a normal size set from the library about a year and a half ago. That was a hit when we did it together.

I am glad for this thread. I had been incredibly unimpressed last year. But, I've been pondering getting a replacement e-reader. The price/features combination wasn't good enough, and I'd decided to wait until Black Friday to see what new e-reader might be released then. But, for $30 off a Kindle, it was worthwhile. I'd also been eyeing the extreme snap circuit since DD was too young. I'd seen it for $100, so I wasn't going to pay more. It is $100 now. So, I am happy.

Another idea, if most of the TV shows you like are available to you on the channels website but it is a problem to you that only that last few episodes are there at any given time, you might look into the PlayLater upgrade to the PlayOn software. So, for example, Big Bang Theory when the season was active. Within the PlayOn software you go to the CBS channel and navigate the folders until you find the Big Bang Theory folder. Then you say "Subscribe". The software watches for any new episodes and automatically records them for you. I also got the AdSkip upgrade, so when the video plays back it automatically skips all the ads, which brings me GREAT joy. I will also use that to record shows from Netflix and Hulu that are about ready to be removed So far, we are most bothered by no free access to the SyFy and BBC channels. I guess we are geeks. I've been investigating new streaming services. There seem to be several new interesting looking ones that are only in test markets right now. Like there was one that was $20/month and it gives you access to the standard cable channels, only streaming from the channels website. So, when you go to Syfy.com, you login in with your user info from that service and then you can stream their stuff.

I've looked into the Amazon Prime videos and I wasn't impressed. We almost exclusively watch TV shows and except for their original programming, they have absolutely nothing we are interested in. We are mid-transition from two DVR/DirectTV to using a HTPC I built as a PVR and cord-cutting. Actually we are probably 90% there. We have the DVD add-on to Netflix and we also get TV show DVD's from the library. I have some DVD burning software, so when they come in, we burn the DVD, return the DVD, then delete the recording when we've watched it. But, the DVD add-in to Netflix really fills the gaps of streaming services. Another thing people sometimes do is to just buy the shows they want from Amazon particularly when Amazon prime doesn't offer it. So, say the only thing that is keeping someone from being a cord-cutter is 3 TV shows that they can't get from other streaming services. Say you can buy the season of a TV show for $20-$30 each for the season, or $2/episode. That is $60 - $80/year. So, you can cut the cord, and give yourself a generous budget in purchased TV shows and still spend a lot less money.

I totally agree with this. For example, I thought I hated green beans into my 30's. That is because they were always canned. For the first Thanksgiving now-DH attended with my parents, he requested I make Green Bean Casserole only with fresh beans and no soup. I brought it, so of course I had to try some. Oh my! That stuff is awesome! Totally a revelation. Throw in some chopped up hot dogs (don't judge until you try it) it is one of my top-20 dishes. I remember as a kid you were supposed to eat your veggies because "they are good for you." There was no attempt to make them better. Bah! The connection between doing something really unpleasant like eating overcooked veggies and Health isn't immediate enough to make me eat my veggies. But, when they taste good? Heck yeah, I'll dig in.

I know one very popular co-op I looked into before we moved did not allow any kid under 6 unless they were a younger sibling of someone in the co-op. We were cut-out because of it, but it made a great deal of sense to me. Maybe you suggest that to the co-op?

Oh, thank you! The book is actually still on the way, so when it gets here I will look those up first. How was the first one? It looks sort of boring.

I've decided to do an elementary science co-op class in the fall using the R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life Level 1 book. There are a lot more lessons than co-op classes, so I thought I'd pick and choose the best. The kids would have had some similar to the anatomy ones, so I thought I'd skip those. But, among the rest, which were your favorites?

I doubt it will be anytime soon that a car will be auto-pilot only. You will be able to turn them on and off. So, your commute to and from work on well-maintained roads, most people will probably turn the auto-pilot on. Interstates, ON. Farm-to-market roads, OFF.

I'd return it, and tell them why. I've only seen this once. It was a little girl tutu that I bought used so I couldn't return it.

Who would want to do school work instead of video games? I think your mistake isn't starting school when it is 100+ out, but allowing video games to be an alternative to schoolwork.

I personally hate all forms of smoking. But, I have no problem with people vaping in public. Second-hand smoke causes my sinuses such problems that I've always been for indoor smoking bans. One meal with someone smoking at the table will cause a sinus infection that takes about a year to clear up. But, I am a Libertarian at heart. I had to justify my anti-smoking stance with "The right to stretch your arm, ends at your neighbor's (my) nose." I don't see clear harm in second-hand vaping, so I don't see any problem with allowing vaping. Even if it is slightly annoying.

When they are the norm, then an additional level of safety could be introduced, a bluetooth style instant network of cars passing info. It could help prevent pileup accidents. So, if one car sees something on the highway in front of it and has to brake, it could pass that info along to the cars behind it and they could start braking before that car could even see that there was a problem.

I would. Totally, in a heartbeat. I know for a fact that a computer has a quicker reaction time than I do. I've been annoyed with the industry for being so incredibly slow and backward in this area. I'm hoping to keep my current car going until I can afford a car self-driving car.

It was a Saturday.

It could have been an educator category, but that wasn't what struck me. It was Many Books, Therefore Homeschooler. The librarian had NO way of knowing we were homeschoolers. Her only clue was a 10" stack of books. The relatively small size of the stack to trigger notice also had struck me.

Elizabeth, I find that telling and sad that the doc's first thought was Homeschool when an 8-year-old knew about platelets. Quite the indictment of public schools. Like when we moved to a new small town and the librarian saw our minor stack of books (about 10" of children's books) and said, "Since you are homeschoolers your book limit is X". I forget what the number is, but it is much higher than the minuscule 10 that other people can check out.

That was it! Thank you

About a year ago I read about a neat science curriculum for elementary school science. Simple experiments. I remember it included where they send you a butterfly cocoon and you put it in this little environment and watched its life cycle. DD was a bit young at the time, but now I'm interested again. Anyone remember the name?

If you want to go the sidecar crib route, you could put your head at the foot of the bed when nursing on the other side.