Homeschooling for 3

My first taste of Ed Dunlop’s work came in the form of a Sherlock Jones mystery. My family loved it. It was funny, exciting and spiritual all at the same time.  So, I was very excited to receive the Terrestria Chronicles: The Dragon’s Egg and The Crown of Kuron by Ed Dunlop for review. There’s nothing better than a good book and  so I split the books with my daughter. She took The Crown of Kuron and I took The Dragon’s Egg. Ready, set, read!

Now, although we read different books our reactions were pretty similar. We were bored. Maybe we’re just not the castle and knight type of girls.  Jade reported that it took a long time to read the book because the plot was “kind of slow and not really exciting.” And that’s pretty much my take on it also. I also found it to be heavy-handed with the delivery of Christian values.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the premise of the books. I love the values that the stories are illustrating. But to be honest (and please don’t pelt me with eggs), but the writing style for these particular stories reminded me a lot of Moses’ writing. Huh? What I mean is, Moses repeats himself an awful lot in his writings. I later understood that in Hebrew repetition signifies the weightiness of a matter so I learned to appreciate it (or at least be patient) but it’s not something I look for in secular stories.

For example in The Dragon’s Egg, Josiah just keeps repeating how he can’t disobey King Emmanuel.  He can’t disobey King Emmanuel because he’s done so much for him. He can’t disobey King Emmanuel because of his vows. He can’t disobey because  …  well, you get the idea. Then the names of the knights (although wonderfully and vividly explained) got on my nerves. I understand the point behind them (we should be faithful (Sir Faithful), dedicated (Sir Dedication), watchful (Sir Watchful), etc.) but it just didn’t work for us.

And I hate to say it but I liked the dreaded Morphina better than the knights.  She really is a sneaky villainous who is a force to be reckoned with in the books. Mr. Dunlop’s depiction of how people allow their secret desires to morph their sensibilities was very well done (and oh so true).  And while Josiah can be annoying at times, he is an excellent example of what all people face when they’ve chosen a higher path to live on.

Although we didn’t enjoy these two books, I do think that families that enjoy knights and jousts will get a kick out of it. I think boys would probably really enjoy it since there’s jousting, dragons, glory and treasure involved. (And if you’re a mystery buff like we are, definitely check out Ed Dunlop’s Sherlock Jones (and other) series.  )

Khalid Family: 2 out of 5

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Technorati Tags: adventures, allegories, castles, Christian themes, Ed Dunlop, fiction, knights

This week could be called “The Good, The Bad and the ‘Oh Come On’” Week.  So, what do you want to hear first? I’ll start with “Oh Come On” since we tend to remember the ending moreso than the beginning.

Oh Come On

I am living in a house of sick children. Four sick children to be exact. My step-daughter, Jasmin, came up last weekend to celebrate Alaya’s birthday and stayed the week. So, she’s sick, my three little ones are sick and of course my throat hurts too, but Mommy’s aren’t allowed to get sick so I guess it’s just a figment of my imagination.

The Bad

I gained 0.7 lbs. this past week, which is disappointing, but since this is a week before my normal cycle that’s pretty normal (I guess). I also went on a Doritos binge after I got the news, so I’ll have to add a few hundred more hours to work it all off, but such is life. With four sick children I think that I should be allowed to fall off the wagon, don’t you?

The Good

• I’ve exercised 6 days straight so far (tomorrow will be Big #7) for an average of one hour at a time.
• My saboteurs have been distracted this week due to illness and a new person in the house so I only had to step on one son’s feet (today) and one tail (can’t remember which animal-person) the whole week.
• And before the plague took over everyone in the house has been exercising including my husband who is interesting to watch workout. Why? Well his memory of his physical ability and the reality of his physical ability are vastly different so hearing him talk to himself as he’s working out is entertaining.
• This week I found out about Cooking Light Eat Smart Guide: 350-Calorie: Recipes – Hints – Tips: 90 Fresh, Quick & Easy Dishes, so I’m going to invest in that to help me with losing the 20 pounds I’d like to have off by mid-summer.

And on a totally unrelated fitness note my niece Lela Corrinne was born on March 31st out in Sacremento.  She’s the subject of the picture gracing this post.

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Technorati Tags: cookbook, dieting, exercise, Lela Corrinne, sickness