Alive

Alive as heard on Music Inspired by The Story (see iTunes)
Artist: Natalie Grant

Who but You
Could breathe and leave a trail of galaxies
And dream of me?
What kind of Love
Is writing my story until the end
With Mercy's pen?
Only You
What kind of king
Would choose to wear a crown that bleeds and scars
To win my heart?
What kind of Love
Tells me I'm the reason He can't stay
Inside the grave?
You. Is it You?
Standing here before my eyes
Every part of my heart cries


My new FAVORITE song, part of a wonderful CD by a variety of Christian artists.

It's mind-boggling to imagine WHO would choose to do all that is told in The Story.

Me = humbled and grateful.

The Blue Sword

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley I LOVE women heroines and horses and adventure, especially when they are all thrown into the mix together. I very much enjoyed this adventure fantasy story by McKinley. Harry, yes, a female, discovers that she has distant bloodlines of the Hill folk. After she is taken to live with them, she learns many new things about herself - including how to fight, survive, and ride superb horseflesh! My favorite stories are where the underdog or misfit finds her place, through much toil and many challenges. And in the end, she gets a great guy. Romance! Good versus evil, clashing cultures, reconciliation...great read.

The Blue Sword

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley: I LOVE stories when heroines and horses and adventures all come together. Harry, yes, a female, is the heroine of this riveting fantasy adventure. Good versus evil, insurmountable obstacles, family tragedy, lack of direction for the future...It's all woven into a tale of a woman who overcomes difficulties and learns to thrive in a new culture. AND she finds out she can speak an unknown - to her -

language (don't we all wish that?), fight, lead, and ride superb horseflesh! And in the end, she gets a great guy. Romance to boot. Great story and a fun read.

Cookie's Week

Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward

Love this book. Especially since my kinders are paying attention to rhyming, illustrations, authors, animals, days of the week...According to one particularly memory-gifted child, I also read it on the first day of school (in August). Today is March 20. He is correct, by the way.

As we re-read Cookie's Week, suddenly my eagle eye super kids noticed, "Hey, that's watercolors!" "And salt!"

Maybe the grammar wasn't correct, but the comments were right on. We have been noticing how authors illustrate and create stories. We've even used watercolor paints, combined with cool salt effects, to make our own illustrations.

Read about Cookie's days and troubles caused by an over-energetic kitten. Enjoy simple predictable phrases and great watercolor illustrations.

Thumb's up.

(Weird, but the photo is correct on my memory card, but each time it loads sideways. Just hold your computer on its' side and you'll be fine.)

Chalice

Chalice by Robin McKinley (Firebird,2008)

What an interesting book! I recently read one of McKinley's books, and enjoyed her fun writing. So I checked out a few more of her books.

Chalice is basically a fairy tale, and a quick easy read. Nice for falling into bed and enjoying a bit of a good story (or a page or two) before my eyes shut.

Classic fairy tale stuff, with the evil guy, the nasty older brother, disaster, failing lands...and then the Chalice (it's a title? job? calling? appointment?) is chosen and begins to try and pull the land together. In comes the Master of the land, hero in disguise. No spoilers for you on this one either!

Just let me say, the part I like best is the way the Chalice works with bees and nature and uses all sorts of natural remedies for everyday problems.

Girl hero + overwhelmingly hard tasks + negative situations = a great fairy tale.

Home to Holly Springs

Home to Holly Springs, The First of the Father Tim Novels by Jan Karon.

You may have figured out by now that I like books by Jan Karon. Her characters are so true to their nature and the interactions and relationships between book personalities rings honest. Not always nice and pleasant, but honest. I've read all of her Mitford books. And I've stumbled on the first novel of Father Tim.

Home to Holly Springs tells the story of Timothy as he revisits his growing up town and all of the events that happened during his childhood and adolescence. Karon really tackles some big social issues in this novel. But if I tell you...I'd have to kill you. I mean, I'll just let you read it yourself. No spoilers for you!

Again, she has created a wonderful, thought provoking, past examining story. If this is the first...where are the others?

Waiting for the next one.