Dolphin Tale

We went as a family to see Dolphin Tale on Friday night. GREAT movie!! Family friendly, conservative values, inspirational message. It was appropriate for the whole family, and everyone loved it! It was inspired by a true story, and as soon as we got home we went online to "see" the dolphin via webcam. The dolphin in the movie is the actual dolphin the story is based on. She played herself. :-)

We wanted to support this movie with our dollars on opening weekend, to help send a message to Hollywood to make more movies like this one! Opening weekend is now over, but if you have a chance to see this in the theater with your family, I think you will really enjoy it.

Fun Weekend, and GOOD news!!

Last Friday was the day my husband learned that he was passed over for a second interview and that our car loan application was denied. It was a tough day. I knew we needed something fun to lift our spirits on the weekend, so I suggested to my husband that we take the children to see the movie "Toy Story 3". We rarely go to the movies all together so this would be a big treat, and a possible last "paying" family date before unemployment. My husband readily agreed, so off we went.

Oh my word, we had SO much fun!!! The children were super excited to be going to a movie in the middle of the day. With our whole family! And we opted to see it in 3-D which was a totally new experience for all our children. They were sporting the glasses long before the 3-D previews started. :0) We enjoyed the movie immensely. I found it every bit as good as the first one and all of us but Little Man cried at the end (don't tell my middle aged boys that I told you that). I don't want to give anything away if you haven't seen it, but the ending was SO bittersweet, and done SO well, and any parent who has watched their children grow up and out of certain stages will get teary-eyed at the end unless their heart is made of stone. It was a satisfying wrap up of the whole Toy Story "story" and a very fun time together. Then we came home and swam and played in the pool for a long time.

On Sunday afternoon we took son C to the library to get his VERY. OWN. LIBRARY. CARD. Yes! It was finally his turn!!

Signing his name....

...and then checking out his first book with his own card!

We went home and curled up in the family room ~ some of us read and some of us watched the World Cup final on tv. It was a fun, fun weekend and it made me so very grateful for my family and God's goodness in enabling us to enjoy one another.

Fast forward to the middle of the week, and yesterday my husband received the news that his current employer would like to extend his contract 10 more weeks!!!!!! Yippee!!!! It's not a permanent job, but it's 10 more weeks of work and it means we can go ahead with a vehicle decision. God is SO good! Thank you for your prayers! He hears and He is faithful.

Movie Night - The Hiding Place

Last Friday we watched most of The Hiding Place movie after finishing this book about the life of Corrie ten Boom (in addition to this book which I read aloud to the children, I also read the book, The Hiding Place, on my own. A really, really, really inspirational read!)


It is another one of the Christian Heroes Then and Now Series, and like the others we've read this year, it was fantastic!! I LOVE this series. Corrie ten Boom lived with her parents and older, unmarried sister in Haarlem, Holland, where her father owned and operated a clock shop. After the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940, her family began to harbor Jews in their home, some for a short time, and some longer. When Corrie was 50 and her sister Betsie was 57 (and their father was 84!), the Gestapo raided their home, not finding the Jews hidden in the secret room, but arresting the family and several others who were gathered there for a prayer meeting at the time.

Both the book and movie chronicle Corrie and Betsie's experience in a local prison and then later at Ravensbruck concentration camp. Their father died of pneumonia after only 10 days of captivity ~ this was heartbreaking for his daughters when they finally learned of it, but they were able to rejoice that he was safely "home" and not experiencing the hell on earth that they were. There were several points in the book where I had to stop reading due to tears (the children were very patient!). They had every human reason to resent their captors, and in fact for a time Corrie did. But God's love won out, and by God's grace they were able to love their fellow prisoners and even pray for their Nazi captors. Due to fleas in their barracks which kept the guards away, they were able to hold Bible Studies and worship services freely. Betsie or Corrie would read their little Dutch Bible and then translate into German. Others would translate from the Dutch and German into Italian, Polish, French, Hungarian, and several other languages, so that all the prisoners in their barracks could understand the Word of God in her own language. Despite their surroundings, the book painted a beautiful mental picture of these times huddled around their little Bible ~ so many women from so many different backgrounds and walks of life, praising God together in so many different languages! In their pre-captive lives they would have never mingled together as they did while in the concentration camp.

Sadly, Betsie died from illness at Ravensbruck. Three days later Corrie was released, many years later finding out that her release was due to "clerical error". The week after she was released, all the women at Ravensbruck her age and older were gassed. For 30 years after her release, Corrie told anyone who would listen about God's love and forgiveness. She traveled the world with this message.


The movie is rated PG and was very well done for family viewing. It was never graphic, but often gave a sense of the horror of what was happening at the camps by what was heard off camera, or by comments made by the actors. The beginning of the movie was a bit slow for our kids, and we did fast forward through some "talking" parts. We have read other books about people's endurance, bravery, and even escape during the Nazi domination of Europe, but this one stands out because of its strong christian worldview, and the message of redemption through Jesus Christ. ONLY Jesus could grant those who suffered under the Nazis the power to forgive. What a powerful message to share with our children!

Movie Night - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

We recently read this wonderful biography of Gladys Aylward, missionary to China. It was an amazing account of what an ordinary person can do when they are obedient to God's call. After being turned down by a mission organization as "not qualified" to become a missionary, Gladys figured out a way to get to China on her own. She worked in a remote region in mountainous north China, and transformed from a hesitant, frightened woman to a confident, beloved, fluent Chinese speaking member of the town, even forsaking her British citizenship and becoming a Chinese citizen. When the Japanese invaded her region, she singlehandedly (well, with God's help!) led a group of 94 children more than 200 miles out of the war zone to safety. It was truly an inspirational read, and it was thrilling to share with all the children.


We decided to watch the movie adaptation, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, for movie night. We told the children it would differ from the actual account in numerous ways, and boy were we right! They condensed her harrowing 6 week journey to even GET to China (which included being kidnapped in Russia and narrowly escaping being sent to Siberia to work on machines for the rest of her life) into just one long train ride and a short jaunt on a mule, and in true Hollywood style they added in a romance with a Nationalist Chinese Army officer that did not exist in real life. The real Gladys was horrified by the movie version of her life, feeling that her reputation was forever tarnished.

However, we are learning that movie versions rarely equal the book version of someone's life story, and to discern the differences and then focus on the major themes that both share. The movie, despite veering from the truth in several places, did have as its major theme the determination Gladys had in following what she believed to be God's call on her life, and the ways in which God helped her and provided for her as she obeyed that call.

The movie is very well done and was fun to watch. As long as you read the book first and know the true story of her life, this is highly recommended! And again, I am so very thankful that Tapestry of Grace schedules these biographies as part of their curriculum. It has impacted me personally in a very deep way to read these true accounts of ordinary christians in our time who are sold out for Christ and determined to follow Him no matter what. Now we are reading a biography of Corrie Ten Boom, as we focus our history studies on World War II for a few weeks. Talk about inspirational!! When we finish the book, we will be watching The Hiding Place with our older children.

Movie Night - Chariots of Fire

We did finish the book about Eric Liddell, Something Greater Than Gold, as part of our history studies in Tapestry of Grace Year 4. It was a great read that we all enjoyed very much, and even though I knew he would die at the end, I cried and most of the children cried with me. He died in China of a brain tumor while he was interned by the Japanese during the latter years of World War II. At the time of his death he had been interned for nearly 2 years, and some time prior to that had made the difficult decision to send his pregnant wife and 2 young daughters home, for safety's sake. Thus, he had been separated from his wife for 5 years and had a 3rd baby daughter he had never seen. Yet the way he focused on his mission work, and lived his life in service of others, was so inspiring. His was a life that was truly lived well. Because we finished the book, we were able to watch Chariots of Fire last night.

I had seen the movie several times when it first came out in 1981, and for a while it was my all time favorite movie. Honestly, after reading the book, this time viewing the movie left me somewhat flat. The movie only covers the one year in his life where he was preparing for, and running in, the 1924 Olympics (which I knew) and it changed many details of his life and centered around an intense rivalry with another runner that hadn't existed as such in real life (which I'd forgotton). The book was so much better!

But our children enjoyed it, except for some moments of boredom during some talking parts. They had fun watching for his signature running style (head thrown back, arms flailing) and listening to his Scottish brogue. Even though the changes were annoying, it was a well-made movie and did portray Eric as always putting God first. The contrast between how he approached life, and how his rival approached life, was striking. I'm glad we did both together ~ read the book and saw the movie, and could discuss what was true and good about each. It was a good evening!

Movie Night - The Great Locomotive Chase

We watched this movie last Friday and really enjoyed it! The story takes place during the Civil War, so it would go along very well with Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Unit 3. A group of soldiers are hand picked for a secret mission, to go undercover, travel through southern territory, and meet up again at a certain train station for the purpose of stealing a Confederate locomotive and then using it to travel along the line, breaking up track and telegraph wires as they go. One saavy southern train worker realizes their plot and goes after them, hence the "chase". It was exciting, based on actual history (some details were changed but the story line was mostly accurate), and contained nothing inappropriate. I don't want to give away the ending, but it did contain an intense scene near the end which was handled with an appropriate amount of vagueness (for our younger children) and which led to a good discussion afterward about how success and failure is perceived (for our older children).

It held the attention of all our children. Highly recommended for those who love historical movies!

Movie Night - Pollyanna

For our movie night last Friday we watched the 1960 version of Pollyanna, starring Hayley Mills. The book Pollyanna was a suggested read aloud recently in our Tapestry of Grace year 4 studies, but we have other books being read aloud right now and just didn't have time to read it. So we watched the movie instead. It had been years since I'd seen this and I forgot how good it is! Absolutely nothing objectionable, and Hayley Mills nails Pollyanna's attitude of always looking on the bright side of any circumstance. Jane Wyman does a great job portraying someone who manipulates and controls nicely. Afterward I used Pollyanna's character to demonstrate another example of an archetype. Our daughter G learned that word last spring while reading Hound of the Baskervilles ~ how Sherlock Holmes became the archetype for all future detectives. So we had a good little literary discussion thrown in there too.

Our 7 and 4 year olds were slightly scared during a scene when Pollyanna and an orphan boy she befriends creep onto the property of a crochity old man who has a reputation for making children disappear into his cellar, never to be seen again. This was largely due to the music creating a suspenseful mood. It lasted only briefly, as Hayley disarms the man with her dazzling smile and sincere fascination with items in his house. And later, this man............well, I don't want to give it away. He does a great thing. :-)

This movie was a winner with everyone, even the boys who at first thought they wouldn't enjoy an entire movie with a girl as the main character.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones

Do any of you remember this TV series that ran from 1992 to 1996? It chronicled the life and adventures of Henry (Indiana) Jones, Jr when he was a boy and young man. They are very well done and are quite excellent portrayals of the period early in the 1900's (in the series, he was born in 1899). The houses, clothes, transportation, and culture are all beautifully and accurately portrayed as they would have been in that time.

Our boys are allowed to play games at lego.com, and from these games they have become aware of the Indiana Jones movies (and therefore also wanting Indiana Jones lego sets!). The original movies with Harrison Ford were made back when there was no PG-13 rating, so they are rated PG but are quite violent and graphic. We started to watch the first movie in order to preview it for possible viewing with the older children, but turned it off after the first 10 minutes, immediately deeming it not appropriate for several more years.

Then my husband remembered the TV series. They have smooshed two TV episodes together to make a movie length feature presentation. We checked out 2 of these from the library and previewed them and felt that they WERE appropriate. Not only appropriate but historically accurate! We watched the first one last Friday during movie night and the children loved it!

When young Indiana is 9, the family sets off on a world tour so his father can give guest lectures at various universities. The people he meets and events he witnesses are pivotal moments in history, though of course he does not know it at the time. In the first movie, he ends up meeting Howard Carter 3 years before Carter discovers King Tut's tomb. From this encounter at an archaeological dig, Indiana decides he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up (we did choose to skip over a short scene in which a mummy falls on Indy, and another one where a dead man's burned face is briefly shown. Both of these scenes were on a darkened screen so details were hard to discern, and would not have been too intense for our older 3, but we did this out of consideration for our younger two) . During the second movie the Jones's are in Africa and happen to meet up with former President Teddy Roosevelt who is there on a hunt. Later, in Paris, he meets a young Norman Rockwell, sees the famous (and old) Impressionist painter Degas at a coffeehouse and spends an evening with Picasso. The years match up perfectly with real life history!

These are turning out to be a great alternative to the Indiana Jones movies, and we are all enjoying them immensely!

Happy 9th Birthday L!!!!

9 years ago......


.....and today. Quite grown up, wouldn't you say?


We had the most fabulous day celebrating L's birthday. My husband and I decided that all of the children's birthdays would be days of celebrating as a family, but this year L was the only one who had a birthday on a school day! So the rest of the children were very happy and thankful for him as we took the day off school and just played and had fun all day. :-)

We spent a good portion of the day at a local park with a huge playscape, and had a picnic lunch. For any of my readers who happened to be at my house Thursday night and know that L got sick, he felt fine the next day! (hopefully you all did too!)










After my husband got home from work, we told the children we were going on a quick errand related to L's birthday, but didn't tell them where we were going. We ended up at the library so L could get his very own library card! This is a rite of passage in our home, and occurs with each child when we feel they are strong enough readers and responsible enough to handle checking out books on their own. L was very excited and felt very grown up. He checked out 12 books. (He had previously opened new batman pajamas from his grandparents who live close to us, and he proudly wore these to the library!)




Then we came home and had his requested birthday dinner ~ boxed macaroni and cheese (hubby and I had pizza!) . His siblings gave him their present, which they bought with their own money pooled together (a small secret agent lego set).


He opened presents from his Washington relatives, and was very intrigued by a new book he was given called "The Severed Head" (despite the title, this was pre-approved by me and is the first book in the Elijah Creek and the Armor of God book series. I think he will love it!). The crowning moment of the entire day was when L opened the one thing he had wanted above all else ~ Indiana Jones and the Temple Escape lego set. What joy!

For our movie night we watched the first "Night at the Museum" movie, and the children loved it! (we had previewed it the night before and deemed it appropriate for all with a bit of background explanation and assurances of "nothing bad happens to the main character" for the younger ones). L began putting his lego set together during the movie, and we let he and his two older siblings stay up until 11:00 putting it together. It has been happily played with all morning today.

Happy Birthday L! We love you so much and are so thankful God gave you to our family. We can see God working in your life, and can see you growing and maturing. What a blessing to know that you love Jesus, and that He loves YOU more than you can imagine. Have a wonderful year being 9!

Kit Kittredge

We saw this movie last Friday during our family movie night. Since both daughter G and myself recently read the books we thought it'd be fun to check out the movie. We really enjoyed the movie, though it differs from the books in a few important ways. Except for one family (mom and son) the boarders they take in are completely different in the movie than they were in the books, though these changes are necessary to support the plot that becomes evident. Kit was very well played by Abigail Breslin, and we enjoyed watching her spunk and creativity! Our boys liked it as much as G and I, and I highly recommend it!

Hotel Rwanda

My hubby and I watched this movie last night after the children were in bed. Wow. If you have not seen this movie, put it on your must-see list. It is the kind of movie that everyone should see at least once. It is the true story of a Rwandan man who worked as a manager at an up-scale hotel in Kigali, and when the genocide of Tutsis began in 1994 he eventually gave refuge to 1268 individuals inside the hotel and finally was able to get them all to safety. My hubby and I commented that it was reminiscent of Schindler's List in that it shows what one man can do to protect others, but it was much less graphic (rated PG-13). There are several themes in this movie that could provide rich discussion. When we get to 20th century history, this is a movie we will definitely show the older children.