The Talens' Tales

One thing that I never did growing up was ice skating. But, ice skating was a huge part of Wilbert's childhood. And now, Wilbert wants to make sure our kids know how to skate. So, he took Joash to nearest pond a few weeks ago to try out some skating. Mataya and I stayed back as it was a bit cold. But Wilbert said the ice was great and Joash seemed to enjoy his first time on skates.

Mom: Mataya, you are 20 months old today! M(ataya): Really? I didn't know that. Mom: It is true. It is so amazing to see what a big girl you are becoming. M: Thanks mom! I do like all of the different things around me that I get to see and do. And I really like to tell you all about them. Mom: I know. I just wish I could understand you a bit better so I knew everything you were telling me. You certainly sound like everything you are saying is really important. M: Well, there are so many things that I like to do and see. I love to be outside, even in the snow. Though I wish I could just play in it with my bare hands all of the time. I like to read books by myself. I like to look at animals from a distance. But when they get too close, that is a little scary. And I like to dance and sing and watch Curious Geroge and Pancake Manor on the computer. And I really like to race with Dad. Mom: Your Dad and I talk a lot about how you are a really funny girl already. You do a ...

When you open the pages of Emissary by Thomas Locke, you enter a world quite different from our own. Magic is practised, but only in certain places and ways. There are legends and myths of what happened thousands of years ago. And a dark, evil force is slowly threatening the peace this world has known for the last thousand years. And the one person who may have the answer to it all is an unlikely hero named Hyam. As a child, Hyam studied in the Long Hall with the magicians who know and practice magic. His gift was to be able to learn languages with an astounding speed. Yet, he was dismissed from the hall and only returned when his mother begged him too on her death bed. Hyam soon discovers he has powers beyond the mastery of language and understand the the fate and future of this world rests in his hands. Along the way, he teams up with Trace, an older magician who leaves his post as Master of a Long Hall to assist Hyam. He also frees a woman named Joelle and their friendship ...

It is true. Farming is a way of life. There is always work to do, always things that can be done. And it is easy to forget that you need to take time off, take a break and do something fun with your family and friends. So today was a day we did just that. Reina, Wilbert's sister, is home for the holidays, so we went bowling this morning with the family. They had the Glow-bowl black lights on, and Mataya was dressed very nicely for this. She did not bowl, and everyone took a turn keeping her from running down the lane to the pins at the end. My bowling scores were not too bad. We had two lanes between the 7 of us. The girls played one lane and the boys another. The girls managed to get 3 games in and I broke 100 twice.  For you Americans reading, this is 5 pin bowling and the balls are the size of a large grapefruit. It is a million times easier then 10 pin bowling.  It was the third time Joash had been to the bowling alley, but the first time he could act...