Anne's Story: "Montery Jackson and the Quest for Gillish"

Writing stories is Anne's passion. She just loves to write. With Anne's permission I am sharing Chapter One her latest book with my blog friends. I do need to add that Anne is both a bit nervous and excited about people reading her story (this is something that I can totally understand because I feel this way when people view my artwork).

Montery Jackson and the Quest for Gillish

Chapter One: The King’s Invitation

It was a dark night when I scurried through the meadow and into the forest. Being a mouse I was great at scurrying. Mouse though that I am, I’m not the normal size of a rodent. Standing up, I’m a bit smaller than the average human adult. When I’m scurrying I’m around the size of a miniature poodle.

I’m pretty fast, so before long I had reached my destination: the castle. The King had given me a special invitation. Why, you ask? I have absolutely no idea. He only said it was about “protecting our country as we know it”. And that, as far as I’m concerned, could mean almost anything.

As I scurried up to the gate, I realized there were three guards guarding the gate. Two of them were cheetahs; I suppose they use them to run after creatures who are trying to escape. I knew cheetahs do not fight, so I was not really scared of them, but the other guard did scare me. Because I’m a mouse I never liked cats given that we’re natural enemies, but when I saw that a tiger was the third guard, I forgot that we were enemies and remembered that cats eat mice! Specifically, I don’t know if tigers eat mice, but I didn’t want to take any chances so I ran and hid behind a bush. Of course, the guards still could have seen me with my red fur and all, but as long as that tiger didn’t see me, I didn’t really care if the cheetahs spotted me! Then again, if they saw me like this (curled up in a ball behind a bush) they’d probably think I’m a coward. Believe me, Montery Jackson is not a coward! Therefore, I got up, brushed the dirt and grass off my shirt and made sure that my sword was still there (just in case). I took a deep breath, stepped out of my hiding spot on to the path, walked up and stood in front of them.

“Greetings my fair-weathered friends” I greeted them. I didn’t want them (particularly the tiger) to know I was shaking in spite of myself. “What do you want mouse?” the tiger growled at me menacingly. I almost ran behind the bush again, but I made myself stay. “I have an appointment with the King.” I stated trying not to let them hear the fear in my voice. “And what’s your name?” the tiger growled again. “Montery Jackson” I said. The expression on his face changed and he looked at me in astonishment. “You’re Montery Jackson?” the tiger said. “Yes.” I affirmed. “You may enter.” he declared. “Congo, he stated to the cheetah on his right, escort Montery to the King.” The cheetah bowed and then said to me “Come on, let’s go meet the King.”

World War and Living History

One of the priorities that I set when I began homeschooling was that my children would have an understanding of world history and geography. Until I went to art school and studied art history, my working knowledge of these topics could be summed up in one word: ignorance! I, therefore, determined that my children would not graduate without being able to locate a major country like India on the map as I did and to have more of a grasp of world history than just Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome! I want my children to see God's fingerprint on the world and to understand that there is more to history than the history of the United States.

Peter is passionate about history. Anne enjoys history, but seems to retain geography facts that amaze me. Both of these "subjects" have been brought to life through our use of Sonlight curriculum. We are on our 4th Core program and though we've tried other curriculums, unit studies and even a couple of forays into designing my own program, Sonlight achieves the goals I've set it a way that makes history come alive to our family...and is easy to use. What more could I ask for?

Sometimes I wonder if Sonlight makes history become too "alive"! LOL While I flinch at at the gruesome details of WWI in "The World Wars" book, Peter is energized by them. Maybe this has something to do with being male...but sometimes I wonder if it's healthy to be excited about the destructive power of a flamethrower? Am I alone? Last evening Peter begged me to watch "The Last Battalion" with him. It is a made for television movie by A & E based on a true story that happened near the end of WWI. He had previously watched this movie with his grandfather (a history lover also). The movie was very realistic, but I'm sure war is much worse. I find that my perspective as a mother is in the forefront of my mind as I watch war movies. I just keep thinking about all the mothers grieving over their dead sons or worrying and praying for them. Maybe this is the major difference between men and women. Men know that it acceptable to die for a cause. Women see the deaths from the perspective of "this could be my son". Somehow I think it was easier for me when we were learning about ancient or even earlier wars (like the Civil War). Somehow I could separate myself from it more because "it happened long ago". WWI seems so very recent. Some of these young men were only 2 or 3 years older than Peter...maybe this is part of why I cry when I read about WWI or when I watch a movie about it. I also cry because I know that Peter would not hesitate to enlist to protect his country because protecting our country is a cause that he would commit to wholeheartedly (as so many young men did in WWI and WWII). I'm so very proud of the heroic nature of his character...and I'm relieved that he hasn't had to act on it.

Random Updates

1. We're attending a church again. It's one we attended previously. I'm just glad to go
somewhere.It took me over six months to get to the point where I could attend a church again.

2. Peter earned his red sash in Kung Fu a couple of weeks ago! I'm so very proud of him: he
works so hard on Kung Fu and does as much at home as he does in his classes. He's determined
to earn in black sash in the near future (and he only has two more to go)!

3. Anne is diligently working on entering her stories into the computer. Her goal it to have a story published by the time she's thirteen. She had a wonderful and encouraging experience last
summer at writing camp and wants to go back again this summer.

4. I am finalizing my choices for curriculum for next year. I love doing this! I know we'll be using
Sonlight's Core 5 (Eastern Hemisphere & World Cultures), Apologia's General Science,English
From the Roots Up and Math U See for both Peter and Anne. Peter is beginning Latin and
Anne is continuing Greek (and putting Latin on hold for now). I'll continue using AllAbout
Spelling, Megawords and a grammar and writing program I haven't decided on yet with Peter.
I'm still deciding on Language Arts for Anne.

5. Baxter (my miniature poodle puppy) turned a year old last week. He is the sweetest dog I've ever had!

World War No More!!

Last year about this time my cousin Mary Grace http://booksandbairns.blogspot.com/wrote an entry into her blog about how tired she and her daughter were of studying the World Wars. I remembering thinking that it couldn't be so bad, could it? Well, now I have sympathy for her plight because I am living through WWI and I'm so ready for it to be over! Peter is loving every detail of this long and gruesome war, but Anne and I are ready for it to end. When it ends then we'll soon be learning about WWII (but maybe this will be better?? LOL).

I've Been So Slack!

I've been so slack about writing on my blog. I don't have a great excuse unfortunately. Life has been busy, but it always is. I think busyness just comes with homeschooling, having children and being involved with people. "Involved with people" is a very good way to describe us. My family is very "involved with people". Sometimes so much so that I feel "full" (that's my mother's phrase). Growing up an only-child afforded me with a lot of time spent alone. I don't think I've ever completely gotten over this tendency. I am a "people person", but I also need quiet time. Ironically, time with my children has become "quiet time" which is even more ironic if you know Peter who came out of my womb making noise! Entertaining is draining, but enjoyable to me...and we've had a steady stream of visitors for the last month or so.