Daily Routine.

“Mom! Have you seen my math workbook?”
“Isn’t it on the shelf with the rest of the math workbooks?”
“I can’t find it!”
“Well, where did you last see it?”
“I used it last night as a desk to finish writing my book report on Treasure Island.”
“Then it’s probably under your bed Sidney.”
Sidney frowned as he raced upstairs and into his messy bedroom. He glanced once at the mess surrounding him before he crawled under his bed and found his math book under a pair of stinky socks. He grabbed it and ran back downstairs. Sitting at the large oak dining table was fourteen year old, dark haired, dark eyed Ivan who was Sidney’s older brother. Ivan wore a faded blue T-shirt with a worn pair of jeans and no socks or shoes which he hadn’t been able to find in the mess he called a bedroom. Next to him sat ten year old Dillon who had light brown hair, dark blue eyes and wore a black shirt, blue jeans and white socks. Sidney was twelve, had blonde hair, bright blue eyes and wore cut-off denim shorts, a white T-shirt and was barefoot. All three boys had forgotten to brush their hair this morning.
The table was covered in white sheets of paper that had math problems, small drawings and the beginnings of poems jumbled onto them. Several math, history and science books of different grade levels were piled on the table with brightly colored folders filled with half finished homework from the day before. A large German shepherd lay stretched out under the table getting a belly rub from Ivan’s barefoot. In the kitchen the boys’ mother, Mrs. Bloom, was finishing up with the dishes. Beside her was the fifteen year old, blonde haired, blue eyed Myrtle, the boys’ older sister. She too wore faded blue jeans and a yellow T-shirt but she had on flip-flops as well. Myrtle was busy putting freshly made bread dough in a dark place to rise while she did her schoolwork with her brothers.
Once the group was seated around the table, Mrs. Bloom tried to get her sons to straighten up their stuff but gave up when all they did was pile it in front of them. After praying she gave them their assignments. “Sidney, I’d like you to type up and spell-check your book report on the computer after Myrtle does the same with her report on Jo’s Boys later today. Dillon, I’d like you to sit up and finish those math problems you were suppose to have done yesterday. Ivan, I’d like you to finish reading your Early American history book, write a report on it and start reading With Lee in Virginia by G. A. Henty to get you started on Civil War history. Myrtle, please pay attention and finish reading that science book then fill out this quiz on the human heart before you type up your book report. And don’t forget, children, to review your memory verses from Sunday. I’ll be in the basement if you need me. No goofing off.”
With that, Mrs. Bloom went out of the room and her children opened their assigned books to where they had left off yesterday and began to silently read.

Justine walked slowly up the teen fiction section of the library, glancing over the titles of various books as she went. Most of them she had read in her spare time over the last several years and most hadn’t been very good reads. Although only seventeen, Justine already knew what God had in store for her and it was to be a Christian writer. She planned to write books that looked like every other book on the shelf but which carried the powerful message of Christ’s love for mankind in them. Justine had modeled her writing style after various writers like Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, H. Rider Haggard and several others but the writer who had most inspired Justine was Jane Austen. In other words this quiet lady author was Justine’s heroine.
Justine frowned and shook her head before she quickened her steps and took her armload of books to the librarian’s desk. She pulled a couple library cards from her pocket in her black denim skirt and asked for the reserves her brothers had asked her to pick up for them, then she said good-bye and got into her parents’ mini-van. She started it and drove slowly past the theater to look at the posters outside it and shake her head again. Justine was tall with long reddish-brown hair and crystal blue eyes. In addition to her skirt she wore a dark blue sleeveless blouse and had her braided hair pinned in an old fashion bun that showed off her star shaped earrings well. As she continued home, she thought about her latest story idea. I wonder if I could stick a dragon in it. Maybe if it was a goofy dragon, she thought. The first thing that greeted her as she drove up the driveway was the house followed by the barn where the milk cow, two horses, chickens and Ginger, the cat lived. Beside it was the duck and goose pond. Justine smiled as Barker and Fiddlesticks, the two German shepherds and Boston, the Boston terrier came running out to greet her. She went inside and found all four of her siblings pretending to read their schoolbooks but were really more interested in the books she had with her. Justine smiled. “Hey guys, I got your reserves. Let’s see, here’s The Red Badge of Courage and The Lord of the Rings for Ivan, Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Sidney, King Solomon’s Mines and The Chronicles of Narnia for Dillon and Little Women for Myrtle. That must be your favorite book since you’ve read it three times already.” Justine commented as she passed the books out.
“It’s a really good book. How many times have you read Pride and Prejudice?” Myrtle returned and smiled.
“Too many times to count.” Justine smiled and went to greet her mother who told her to work on her math. Justine made a face but obeyed. She loved school with writing and history as her favorite subjects and math her confirmed least. She sat down at the table and started her lesson. An hour later she had no easer and was finished. She then sped through history and wrote an essay on whales for science. Myrtle slammed her book shut and went into the kitchen where she kneaded the bread and set it to baking. She then picked up a basket, went out into the warm June air and picked a head of lettuce, a radish, two carrots and some parsley to make a salad with leftover celery and an apple from yesterday’s meal. Then she opened several cans of tomato soup to heat up and started assembling some roast beef sandwiches. She snuck a glance at her siblings and the basement door before she popped her favorite CD in the player and turned the volume up.

“So what do you think of that young wheat crop?”
“I think it’ll make you some money.”
“Think so?”
“Sure do sir.”
“Hmm. Maybe I should pay you more.”
Ethan laughed. “No thanks Mr. Bloom. I’m content.”
Mr. Bloom walked over to the rail fence where his nineteen year old employee was leaning and studied him again. Ethan True was tall with short black hair, dark brown eyes and wore a black shirt, worn black pants, dusty boots and leather gloves. He smiled at his boss with his lopsided grin that was high on the left.
“I should certainly pay you more.” Mr. Bloom repeated.
“Maybe Myrtle could make me a really nice lunch sometime.” The young man suggested. Mr. Bloom laughed.
“Come on, I’m sure she’s already started on it.”
The two got into the truck and bounced toward the farmhouse. They talked as they went.
“So what made you get into farming Mr. Bloom?” Ethan asked.
“Well, it’s been in my blood for generations and we figured it’d be a good place to homeschool our children. What about you?”
“Oh, after a few months of college I decided that manual labor beat mental and came out here. Sir, why homeschool your children?”
“We wanted to homeschool so we could teach our children about God and be with them the whole way.”
“Huh.”
“Plus they grow so fast that why wouldn’t one want to homeschool one’s children?”
“Good point.”
Barker greeted the two men as they drove up while Fiddlesticks chased a chicken. The twosome got out, washed their hands with the garden hose and went into the house with the dogs. Ivan and Sidney were clearing the table while Dillon tripped over Boston. Myrtle and Justine were putting sandwiches and potato chips onto plates with bowls of hot soup beside them onto the table where a pitcher of ice tea and the salad were waiting. Mrs. Bloom greeted her husband as they both sat down with smiles. Ethan looked over the whole scene and also smiled simply because doing so was easy in this household. The family prayed and then started eating the tasty meal. There wasn’t much conversation and everyone went outside afterwards save Justine and Myrtle who washed up. The house was quiet for the next several hours while Ivan and Sidney raced the horses, Dillon raced the dogs, Justine weeded the garden, Myrtle drew baby birds and the other three sat on the porch talking.
“Hey Ivan and Sidney! It’s chore-time!” Justine called out after looking at her watch. The boys rode in and brushed the horses down before feeding them and mucking their stalls. Myrtle fed and watered the chickens and pond fowl while Dillon did the same with the dogs. Justine set the sprinklers on the garden and milked the cow before feeding and watering her. Ginger snuck over and ate Boston’s food when he wasn’t looking and he then chased the cat up a tree. All of the children laughed at this. The group then went inside where the women started work on dinner and the boys attempted to clean their rooms which ended in laughter and loud romping. Ethan and Mr. Bloom sat at the dining table going over corn and wheat prices while talking on other subjects.
Dinner was spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and a fruit salad. The family prayed again and this time talked a bit during the meal.
“I did twenty-two math problems today and got seven wrong.” Dillon reported.
“My heart quiz gave me a headache.” Myrtle moaned and reached for more bread.
“Boston found my shoes.” Sidney remarked.
“Where were they?” Mrs. Bloom questioned.
“Under my bed somewhere.”
“I picked up library books.” Justine said and laughed.
“I don’t remember what I did.” Ivan said and stuffed a meatball into his mouth.
“I think we should pay Ethan more.” Mr. Bloom stated.
“That’s a good idea.” Mrs. Bloom agreed.
“I second the proposal!” Justine said.
“Here, here!” Agreed her siblings who laughed and went back to eating.
“Alright, you’re getting a raise young Ethan, starting tomorrow.” Mr. Bloom told him.
After the dishes had been washed the family gathered in the dining room again and Ethan saw another interesting part of the family’s routine take place. Mr. Bloom opened the Bible to where they had left off in Second Corinthians and began to read aloud. His children quieted down and sat very still, listening to his deep voice. Their eyes took on a far away look and Ethan himself seemed to get lost among the wise words. After three chapters had been read the family prayed and the boys’ energy returned as they raced upstairs to wash up and get to bed, already impatient for the new day to start. As they changed into their pajamas, Ivan called downstairs to his mother. “Mom, have you seen my hairbrush?”
“Isn’t it on your dresser dear?” Mrs. Bloom replied.
“I can’t find my dresser!”
“Then you should clean your room.” There was no reply to that statement.
Ethan smiled and noticed Justine straightening some workbooks. He realized suddenly that if he wanted to go through with his plan of marrying her someday, he’d have to get straight with God first and then seriously consider homeschooling his future children. After all, they do grow very fast. As he left the Bloom farm, an old saying came to mind along with a Bible verse he had memorized in Sunday school once.
A family that prays together, stays together.
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Deuteronomy 6:7.

Northanger Abbey Book Review.

Author's Note: Sorry this is such a short review, I hurt my hand a couple days ago so typing for long periods of time is currently a painful process. I should be right as rain next week so no worries! ;)

Title: Northanger Abbey.
Author: Jane Austen.
Gene: Christian Romance, Classic.
Plot: Seventeen year old Catherine Morland was a tomboy till she reached the age of fifteen and now she is a romantic young lady about to embark “into all the difficulties and dangers of a six weeks’ residence in Bath” under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Allen, family-friends of the Morlands. She finds that public balls are not as fun as they appear to be and that living in Bath is quite a busy, social affair. And yet she manages to make the acquaintance of Mr. Henry Tilney, a handsome charming young clergyman. She also becomes friends with a Miss Isabella Thorpe {her brother, James, knows the Thorpe family} and eventually the acquaintance of John Thorpe, James’ good friend and Isabella’s older brother. Finally, Mr. Tilney comes back into town with his sister Eleanor who becomes another good friend of hers. Now, quite surrounded by friends, Catherine enjoys her stay at Bath though doesn’t know what to make of Thorpe and doesn’t realize that she is falling in love with Henry Tilney till after an interesting visit to his family estate has been made. Several more enlightening adventures follow before Eleanor is married to a respectful young man and Catherine, at eighteen, marries her Henry, a year after they first met.
Likes/Dislikes: Catherine, young and very silly, has the habit of reading too many novels which gets her into trouble though of course it all comes right again. This is a very well written book and is very well done for an author’s first work.
Rating: PG, for the reading level.
Date Report Written: August 20, 2010.

Riders of the Purple Sage Book Review.

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Title: Riders of the Purple Sage.

Author: Zane Grey.

Gene: Classic, Western, Action/Adventure.

Plot: Jane Withersteen was raised a Mormon, lives in a Mormon community in Utah and attends the Mormon church, she is even pressured to marry Elder Tull, who already has several wives. But when she befriends what her Mormon people deem a “Gentile,” her world rapidly changes. First, all her ranch hands leave, then the Mormon elders threaten Bern Venters, the young man she’d befriended, and they let her know they’re against her desire to adopt little Fay Larkin. The magnificent ranch that she inherited from her father is in danger of becoming a ruin. And then Lassiter rides in. A mystery surrounds this man, who wears black leather and carries two guns on him, yet he befriends Jane and Venters and goes to work for the former, helping her to keep her land and drive off the wild riders who attempt to make off with her cattle.

After one of the herds is driven off by rustlers, Venters sets out to track the troublesome band and unwittingly shoots one of the leaders who turns out to be a girl. Stuck with her on his hands and in rustler territory, Venters holes up in a cunningly hidden valley in the canyon and several months pass, at the end of which he realizes with a shock that he’s fallen in love with the pretty girl he shot. Meanwhile, at the ranch Jane tries to unravel the mystery that surrounds Lassiter and convince him not to kill any of her churchmen, he’s killed Mormons before and has a personal grudge against them but the reason for this she doesn’t learn till all the trouble winds up to one dramatic climax in the classic style of a showdown.

Likes/Dislikes: As with all westerns, there is always a gunfight and therefore there is always blood and someone always dies. That taken into consideration and the perversity of the Mormon religion, this is a very good book with nothing inappropriate in it. Venters does live for sometime prier to marriage with his wounded charge but nothing inappropriate happens and Lassiter does have a desire for revenge but this lessens toward the end. Read it for history or for the sake of a good story, either way, you can’t go wrong with this novel.

Rating: PG-14 and up, for reading level and the Mormon subplot.

Date Report Written: August 6, 2010.

Sense and Sensibility Book Review.

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Title: Sense and Sensibility.

Author: Jane Austen.

Gene: Christian Romance, Classic.

Plot: The Dashwood girls, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, and their mother are suddenly left at the mercy of their half-brother and his selfish wife when their father dies. The ladies stay in their home with their brother and his unpleasant wife for several months before an invitation from a relation of Mrs. Dashwood’s offers them a cottage on his grounds to live in; Mrs. Dashwood consults her eldest and the offer is accepted though the growing relationship between Edward Ferrars, the “amiable” brother of the unpleasant Mrs. John Dashwood, and Elinor is interrupted by this move.

However, the family settles down in their new home and they make friends with their landlord, Sir John Middleton, and his wife who, of course, invite them to dine with them at their house frequently and where they make the acquaintance of Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton’s mother, and Colonel Brandon, Sir John’s good friend who was described by him as “neither very young nor very gay” for Sir John had hopes of introducing the pretty Dashwood girls to a roomful of eligible young gentlemen. Shortly after their arrival, Marianne manages to sprain her ankle and is rescued by a handsome young gentleman named Willoughby who is another good friend of Sir John.

Over the next few months, Marianne and Willoughby become very close friends while Colonel Brandon, who has fallen in love with Marianne, looks on silently. Those two act quite ridiculous when in public and while Marianne’s regret at leaving her home is softened by the society of her lover, Elinor is not so fortunate. She and Colonel Brandon take comfort in each other’s conversation and become good friends. Mrs. Dashwood takes pleasure in seeing Marianne so happy and Margaret amuses herself to her delight. However, their good time ends rather suddenly for Colonel Brandon is called away to London on urgent business and shortly after that, Willoughby also goes to London on business. Marianne is devastated. Her smiles, however, return for a short time when Edward Ferrars pays the family a visit.

When Edward’s visit has ended, another is paid the Middletons by the Miss Steeles and one in particular, Lucy, takes an interest in Elinor and confides an important secret to her that deeply wounds poor Elinor. No time is spent in grieving, however, as the two elder Dashwood girls accept an invitation to visit London with Mrs. Jennings and there they are reacquainted with the Colonel and Marianne receives a severe blow when Willoughby writes and tells her he doesn’t love her. The Colonel tells Elinor about Willoughby’s true character and the combined effects of all this drama leaves Marianne seriously ill. She survives and her character is forever altered, for the better, because of the active year which this classic novel covers in the Dashwood family.

Likes/Dislikes: This is a great book and it’s wonderful to see Marianne’s transformation from a romantic little goose to a sensible young woman like her elder sister. A classic that everyone should have a copy of on their shelves.

Rating: PG-13 and up for the reading level.

Date Report Written: August 6, 2010.