Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

My kiddo and I have been wandering through the pages of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia over the last year or so, and finally arrived at the sixth book, The Silver Chair. It goes without saying that C. S. Lewis is one the most entrancing authors in children's literature, and he didn't fail to disappoint with The Silver Chair . This book takes Eustace and his schoolmate Jill on a terrific adventure through marshes, mountains, and caverns as they go on a hunt for a prince who went missing many years before. While this is a wonderful book on its own, it wasn't my favorite of the Narnia  series. The characters didn't seem as alive as in the other books, and with man-eating giants, a magical snake-queen and the freeing of an entire nation of underground people, their flatness was a disappointment. We aren't deterred though. We've started The Last Batle, the final book in the series and it's going along much better. Although this is a serie...

For the last several months, my kiddo and I have been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia. We finally made it to one of my favorite books in the series, Prince Caspian. In this book, not only are the children transported back to Narnia once more, but they're also summoned to help Prince Caspian claim his right to the throne, and bring magic back to the land. What struck me the most is how much more I remember of this story in my mind's eye than what is actually described in the book. Part of this is likely due to watching the movies, which do change some of the details to be fit for the screen, but I think part of it is also the way our memories fill in gaps and embellish the small bits of information that we are given. If you haven't already read The Chronicles of Narnia with your kids, its one of the classic series that I recommend to help inspire children to love reading. Very little is as intriguing to young readers as imagining Aslan breathing magic i...

It's been a long time since I really sat down and thought about Easter, or any holiday for that matter.  This year I have a bit more time to ponder the meaning and impact of things on my life than I have in the past, and so while I'm sitting and gathering my thoughts I figured I might as well type them out for you all to read and add your perspective on. I am not overly zealous in my faith, but I'd like to think that I'm also not completely passive in my beliefs and thoughts on the the order of things.  I did take the opportunity to go to services on Palm Sunday and reflect on the goings on during Holy Week; the wrongful persecution of Jesus by the masses, the abandonment by his followers, his crucification and resurrection.  While many roll their eyes at the stories and shrug them off in favor of white rabbits and colored eggs, the story of the resurrection is really the core basis of every underdog tale ever spun.  It's a story about overcomin...