Mood:  a-ok

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Mood:  a-ok

Now, I'm going to be honest, when John Allen first handed me this review, this very cynical father thought he had copied it from someplace. I mean, it was just too good! However, after much questioning, a little looking around, and a little thinking about it, I realized that there was no way that this was written by anyone else but him. First of all, there were too many spelling mistakes. John Allen is smart, but not that creative to misspell all of those words on purpose. Second of all, no matter where I looked I couldn't find anything that even looked remotely like that review. Oh ye of little faith. I was flabbergasted then, and as I reread it, I'm flabbergasted again. 

Anyway, when the TOS Homeschool Crew heard we were reviewing some of Ed Dunlop's Terrestria books, the Crew forum lit up with excitement. I had never heard of them before, but so many of my fellow crew mates had not only heard of these books, but they or their kids had read them. They raved about them. They were all excited. Not only were they excited, however, John Allen was as well. Although he had never read any of them before, the description of these books seemed to be right down his alley and, true to form, they were. He was totally immersed from the start. He loved them! We received books 1 and 4 from the "Tales from Terrestria" series. The books in this series compliment "The Terrestria Chronicle" series. Some of the Crew families got books from the "Chronicle" series...a series that you need to read in order, and some got books from the "Tales" series. Those books don't need to be read in order. 

When a parent doesn't have to tell his child to read a book, when that child just reads without asking, then you know the book has to be good. And read he did! He read and read and read! And wanted to discuss every chapter with me that night! I figured that these have to be good if he wants to do that. A thirteen year old wanting to discuss a book with his father? How unreal is that. Anyway, this is just his review of the first book in the "Tales From Terrestria" series. The review from the fourth book, "The Isle of Dragons", will be coming soon.

So, without further ado, here is John Allen's review:

Tales From Terrestria - Quest for Thunder Mountain is a book I read for school this year. It is about Gavin (A young minstrel) who takes a journey to Thelma Mountain to find the will of his king (King Emanuel). The Quest is very adventuresome and interesting. As you go along you will find that Gavin meets 3 friends along the way, and some enemies also. As they go along the enemy (Argamer) makes many attempts to stop them. This book has every thing a young reader wants: adventure , action, comedy, and even romance. It also has many enemies and monsters like solders, dragons, castles, robbers, and even slaves, but they trust in King Emanuel, his book, and the Dove to keep them on the right path and keep them safe. This book is great for a young Christian reader, and their parents to. It is a chance for them to learn about God in an interesting way.

Now, when I was in seventh grade, I don't remember writing anything like that, but I'm a little partial .

The "Tales From Terrestria" series, and "The Terrestria Chronicles" series are both available by clicking here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. The individual books from both series are sold for $7.99 each. You can also buy the three available books for the "Chronicles" for $19.99. Visit the website to find out about other great series of books by Ed Dunlop along with coloring sheets to go along with both of the Terrestria series. Here is the link to find out what the rest of the TOS Homeschool Crew had to say about both of these series.

Stay tuned for John Allen's review of "The Isle of Dragons". Until then, Happy Home Educating!

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was sent a copy of books 1 and 4 of the "Tales From Terrestria" series in order to read and review on my website.

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Mood:  a-ok

Have you ever noticed that a lot of great memories always originate from visits to the grandparents. They did with me. Of course, how could they not, when you lived with one of your grandparents for ten years of your life. When I was in second grade, we moved into to the home where my mother grew up to help take care of my aging grandfather. We lived there for ten years, and boy do I have stories to tell of planting gardens, taking care of animals, bringing in hay, etc. etc., but those are stories for another post.

My paternal grandparents were also an adventure. All of my cousins on my mom's side were older than I was, but I had two cousins, both girls, that were my age on my dad's side. We always met up at Grandpa Tinkel's house on Orchard Street in Wabash, Indiana. Grandpa always wanted people to know that Wabash was the first electrically lighted city in the United States. He was proud of that fact, along with the fact that he was born on Groundhog Day. Yes, Grandpa was quite a colorful character. He was a retired school teacher and a retired minister and did he have stories to tell. And, others had stories to tell about him as well! I loved the house on Orchard Street. It was a neat place, but, those are stories for another day as well. The tale that I want to weave today is of our visit this weekend with the Grandma's.

We always say we are visiting the "Grandma's" because both Sarah's mom and grandmother are widowed, so, Mom moved in with Granny some years ago to help her out. We always have a blast at the Grandma's house. It has a huge yard to play in and a big basement that the kids can play in and explore. We even brought Jojo this time to play with Sarah's sister's dog who was also here for a visit. Unfortunately, Phebe and Jojo didn't hit it off to well but they tolerated each other. That should have tipped me off that it was going to be one of those weekends.

Despite Jacob's surgery on Thursday, we decided to come on Friday because we knew that bad weather was going to hit on Saturday. We thought that the storms wouldn't arrive until later on so we set out to visit Sarah's brother and then entertain the kids at the bowling alley. Sure enough, no sooner had we left Uncle Franklin's house that we heard thunder. A quick stop at the grocery store and then, to Joshua the bowler's dismay, we came straight back to the house. Joshua was only consoled by the fact that we promised to try again Sunday afternoon if we could. We tried not to frighten the boys, but shared with them that some thunder storms were coming and we wanted to be home.

And came they did. Actually they weren't too bad right where we were, but all around us were thunder storm warnings and tornado warnings until 3 am in the morning. I'm always the designated storm watcher, so I was up the whole time making sure that we were ready to head to the basement if need be. Thankfully that didn't happen but a stormy night is always an adventurous one. 

Today began as a fairly good day. I stayed home from church sense Jacob had had a bad night. By noon, however, everyone was set to go bowling, and sense Jacob had been medicated and felt much better, he would not hear of us leaving him home. So, off we all went to the bowling alley leaving a disgruntled Phebe and Jojo staring at us as we drove down the lane. After bowling, out to eat, then to a park to let the kids run off some energy and on home. Phebe met us in the driveway, but no Jojo.

After we checked to make sure Granny hadn't left him in the house, we began to search and holler for him. Soon, the neighbors came out and said that they saw him run down the railroad tracks that parallel the road about an hour before. I jumped in the car and went on a chase. "Surely he couldn't have gone that far" I thought, but in the pit of my stomach I knew that he could be lost forever. With my windows down and me yelling, I drove down every road into every housing development along the tracks. No Jojo. Finally I saw a man on a mower and asked him if he had seen a little black dog run by. My first lead! He had seen him...two or three hours before that. Two or three hours! The neighbors were a little off! Jojo could be anywhere. Seeing the panic on my face, he said that I might check the animal shelter across the road just a little ways further down from his house.

The gate was shut, but a girl was coming out of on of the buildings. When she saw me she walked my way. After a quick prayer, I asked if anyone had turned in a little black miniature pincher an hour or two before. I said that we had been visiting my in-laws and he had run away. I told her his name was Jojo. I waited, and to my relief she said that someone had dropped him off earlier that afternoon and went into the building to fetch him out. I nervously waited. Could she have been mistaken? Could it be another dog that was picked up and dropped off? A few minutes later I had my answer. Out she came with our Jojo. Immediately upon seeing me, he ran to the gate wagging his little stubby tail and barking excitedly. She said I owed her nothing, she was just glad that Jojo's owner had found him. He was almost two miles away from Granny's house when he was found!

I excitedly called Sarah and told her the news. The boys, who had been in tears but were now joyous, met us at the end of the drive. After watering the very thirsty and tired Jojo, we took him in for the day to rest. Granny doesn't like dog's in the house, but this was an exception. Even she seemed to be happy that Jojo was home. He is asleep on the bed beside me even as I type. All I could think of was the Disney movie about the two dogs and a cat who had gone in search of their master. Jojo, the faithful puppy, had gone in search of us.

Thank you, Lord, for helping us to find Jojo. You care even about the little things, Lord. Thank you also, Lord, that, just like Jojo, you loved us enough to search for us. Only, you didn't just search for us, you died on the cross to take our punishment. Thank you for giving us faithful Jojo, but thank you even more for faithfully loving us enough to provide a way that we can get to Heaven. Amen 

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Mood:  don't ask

Let me repeat...

I hate bad weather!

More on this later! Not to worry, we are all fine and no problems...but have I mentioned...I hate bad weather!

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Mood:  a-ok

If you have been reading my blog at all, you know that I am a member of TOS Homeschool Crew, a group of homeschool bloggers that reviews homeschool products on our blogs. We have our own forum where we can chat with one another, ask questions, give prayer requests, etc. One of the topics recently has been about old age. Some of the ladies (I'm the only male ) have been talking about getting old. Since I am one of the oldest ones in the group, I was very interested in there discussion. Finally, I decided to respond. Here is my response:

Me? Falling apart? Never! ~ Oops. My bifocals just fell off. There we go...back to the message at hand.

Now come on ladies! I am almost the oldest one here and there is nothing wrong with me at all. ~ Hold on a minute..."What's that Sarah? My hearing aid is buzzing again? Sorry."

I mean, come on, I'll never grow old. ~ Just a second while I switch positions...my back is killing me.

I'm glad that we are going to have new bodies in Heaven. Some folks sure need them...not me, though, you don't know how many people compliment me on my good... ~ Oh, I'm getting tired of this phone ringing all day long...or maybe it's that blasted ringing in my head...I never can tell the difference...hold on a minute..."Hello?" *Pause* "No I was not the person who sent my picture in to the rat poison company!" *Pause* "No you may not use it in your experimental study on nonpoisonous ways to kill rodents! Goodbye!" 

I'm telling you. The nerve of some people. ~ Now, where was I? I forgot. Sarah says I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached.  ~ Oh yeah. Old age. Like I said. I'll never grow old.

Gotta go ladies. I'll talk to you later. Time to take my supplements and meds.

iTm ...I mean Tim... Blasted fingers. Don't know why they aren't typing like they used to?!

Despite my funny response, the whole conversation got me to thinking about how I really feel about getting old. I mean, I'm almost 50 years old, and, believe it or not, the AARP has been sending me mail asking me to join. I got one just today. A trial membership card that they wanted me to activate. I wanted to yell at the letter..."I'm only 49! Don't you have to be 55 or 60 before you can become a member of the AARP?" I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Which leads me to my new Men's Monday Meme question.

How do you feel about getting old? Do you relish it? Hate the thought? Are you somewhat scared? Give me your thoughts.

Here are the rules:

1. This is a man's meme, so the answers must be the answers from a man. Either the man can answer on his blog, or a wife can interview her husband for her blog. However, if the wife puts it on her blog, she must stay true to what her husband said.
2. You are encouraged to put one of the Men's Monday Meme buttons found to the left on your blog. Just copy the code below the button of your choice. The more folks who link, the more readers you may have to visit your blog.
3. You may answer the question any time during the week up through next Monday. After you answer the question, add the address to your post to the Mr.Linky below. If you could, please only add the direct link to the post to make it easier for readers to find the entry.
4. My answer along with a new question will be posted next Monday. The new Mr. Linky will be added at midnight Monday night.

And here's the new Mr. Linky:

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