Current Web Readings

Modern Parable
These are GREAT short films based on parables in scripture!

Food Safe Options for Kids Lunches
Even though we homeschool, these are great ideas for bringing healthy homemade snacks and meals with us - whether we are driving around doing errands and I need a snack for the kids because I stayed out too late and lost track of time, or we are going on vacation and are unable to stop at restaurants anymore (due to diet and allergies). This post has some great ideas I have not heard of or thought of before.

Christmas Movies - White Christmas

Oh how I LOVE this movie! Brian watched this all the time growing up, but I did not watch it until after Brian and I got married. It is watched at least twice during the season. And the kids just LOVE it. All the singing and dancing... WONDERFUL!!!

And it has some great lines! And I love how it shows the respect for the elderly and how people cared for one another back then. "Doing it for a pal in the army." And there are LOTS of laughs in the movie.

Definately something worth checking out and watching. I think you will love it as much as our family does.

Christmas Movies - A Charlie Brown Christmas

OK, so my husband, being totally a Charlie Brown himself, loves this movie. We watch it at least twice during the season.

It does have the redeeming value of it actual has Scripture in the movie talking about the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

However, that being said, I will admit that I did NOT let the children watch this when they were younger. Having three daughters, they would look at Lucy as an example. Lucy is a very harsh little girl. And she is a bit of a bully.

Now you may disagree with me, and that is totally fine. But I wanted my children to have an understanding of how to behave properly before watching. Yes, I might be a bit more protective (I am sure some of you are reading OVER protective), but there is no harm in waiting a few years before showing a movie to your child. :D

Christmas Movies - Elf

Yep, call me a heathen, but I love the movie

ELF

Will Ferrel can sometimes be a bit much, but he does it just right in Elf. We watch this movie at LEAST 3 times during the season. I quote this movie a little bit too.

I will warn that there is one bad word in here, said twice, with an accompanying action. This happens near the end of the movie. The son says it, then the father repeats him. My children know where this scene is, and we just skip over it (at least until we get a Clear Play). :D

I like smiling...Smiling's my favorite!

Please share some of your favorite movies in the comments below!!

Christmas Movies - It's A Wonderful Life

I thought it would be fun if we shared some of our favorite Christmas movies!! While we do not watch a lot of TV, during the month of December, we have a movie on every day - yes, even Christmas.

SO you HAVE to start of the season with Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart!

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Can you believe that I did NOT watch this movie growing up. I cannot recall watching it before I met Brian (but then again, my mom has a better memory than I do and would know FOR CERTAIN if I had or not. :D

This movie is one of my all time favorites. Brian and I quote the movie frequently to each other. IN fact, "Brian (last name) lassos stork" is how I told him we were pregnant with our second child! :D

Movie: Uncle Nino

We watched Uncle Nino for our pizza movie night and my girls LOVED it. They loved the family message it had. I will warn you, this does have a teen boy smoking in it. But he does stop because he realizes it can kill you. This is a good movie, but not a great one. But I agree with my kids that it did have a great family message.

Spelling

Today we watched the movie SPELLBOUND. It is a documentary showing 8 kids and their journey to the National Spelling Bee. It was actually VERY good. And it was a total inspiration to my daughter (AA) to keep up with her spelling. She even wants to do "little mini spelling bees at the end of each spelling lesson." My daughter FINALLY has a desire to learn to spell, so we are going for it. We are using AVKO and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It teaches her AND leaves her wanting more. When you can find a program that leaves them wanting more, to me, that is a good thing!

(If you are going to use AVKO, I HIGHLY suggest watching the You Tube videos to see how he does it. It was helpful to me.)

We rented the DVD from the library, so you should check your library for SPELLBOUND. It was worth it for the encouragement it gave my daughter. Not to mention it shows a homeschooler at the spelling bee! "Three things I will tell people to help them. 1 - Trust in Jesus. Trust and believe in Jesus. 2 - Honor your parents. 3 - Hard work." While he did not win the spelling bee the year the documentary was made, he did go on to win the National Spelling Bee (at least once, possibly more, I will have to look).

CUTE Vintage Sewing Cards FREE to download and FIREPROOF THE MOVIE

Vintage Sewing Cards and there are even vintage paper doll outfits you can print out too. WAY CUTE!!!

Now onto the weekend. YES! We got to see Fireproof this weekend! It was so funny because I was so scared we would NOT get tickets (I anticipated it being sold out). When my girlfriend and I got there, 30 minutes before the show, we had sent the husbands in ahead of us to obtain seats, I asked how crowded it was.

The guy laughed and said there were only two other people in there right now. My girlfriend laughed and said "those are our husbands." Thankfully as show time approached the theater filled out. There were empty seats, but only the "bad" seats. Almost every good seat was filled!

I was SO HAPPY we were able to support the movie on opening weekend. And hope you were too, but if you were not, there is still time to support the movie!! I will warn you BRING TISSUES! I had no tissues and I cried through the whole movie. (of course I cry at Hallmark commercials, but better safe than sorry - BRING TISSUES!) If you have seen the movie, let me know! If you go to see the movie LET ME KNOW!! I want to hear from you!!! :D

Good Watch