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Movie Review Monday: The Widows Might and The Lost and Found Family

Posted by Bobbie Gould on September 27, 2010
in DVDs & CDs, Movies

We watched the Widows Might and The Lost and Found Family. I would give them both 8 out of 10 stars.

The Widows Might was about 3 young men who are filmmakers and their friend who is a widow, who is losing her house due to unfair taxes. The boys set about to help her along with their friends and family. They end up making a great western movie, battling untruthful but hurtful news reports about them, helping a friend with his election campaign and still helping the widow! A really great film!

Here are some other reviews of it here.

The Lost and Found Family is about a family with 5 foster children, who are renting a home from a once wealthy widow. She comes to visit the house and is going to sell it to have some money but after she meets the family, she starts to think of ways to help them. The 2 older children hid some drugs in the house but that was resolved. There was no bad language and really no questionable clothing except that the widow could have worn a more modest dress and the girl could have dressed more like a girl than a punk! But I guess that that was just her character! All in all, it was a great movie!I hope that you and your family will check out these great movies!

You may buy both movies at most movie stores.

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Movie Review Monday: Set Apart

Posted by Bobbie Gould on September 20, 2010
in Movie Review Monday

Recently we watched a GREAT movie called Set Apart. This movie was very enlightening to what is going on in the inner cities so to speak. I liked it alot! It made me more thankful than ever that I have such a great family! Anyhow here is my review:

4 young teens: Korina a troubled young woman whose family tragically died, Ray a boy with a major attitude and stealing problem, and than Marcus and Anthony the two brothers. Marcus is 18 he is in a gang and is trying to keep 11 year old Anthony out of the gang scene. They all belong to a christian group called the http://www.powercompanykidsclub.org/”>Power Company kids. All 4 kids are offered a chance to visit a farm for the summer and accept the invitation only when they get in BIG trouble back home! While there for the first time in their young lives they see Jesus in these total strangers! They learn to work, to love, to respect, to obey, but, ultimately to know God! Their was some violence in it but, the Dove Foundation has given it a 5 star ranking! Oh, and another interesting thing is that this story and the people in it are real! Neat huh?

http://virtuousgirlhood.com/?p=366″>Originally published on Virtuous Girlhood here.
Recourse’s:
http://www.dove.org/reviewmasterframe.asp
http://www.setapartthemovie.com/
http://www.setapartthemovie.com/see.php

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Movie Review Monday- Letters To God

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 30, 2010
in Movie Review Monday, Movies

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Letters To God

We recently watched Letters To God via Netflix as we had a free one month trial. And we thought that this was a really great movie. This movie is about a young boy with cancer, and how he decides to write letters to God. And how is his family learns to deal with the pain of watching their son, grandson, and brother have cancer. This movie was very moving and you will need a box of tissues. The movie was funny in parts as well as sad in other parts. I highly recommend this movie for familys and children of all ages.

Here is the synopsis:

Tyler Doherty is an extraordinary eight-year-old boy. Surrounded by a loving family and community, and armed with the courage of his faith, he faces his daily battle against cancer with bravery and grace. To Tyler, God is a friend, a teacher and the ultimate pen pal—Tyler’s prayers take the form of letters, which he composes and mails on a daily basis.

The letters find their way into the hands of Brady McDaniels, a beleaguered postman standing at a crossroads in his life. At first, he is confused and conflicted over what to do with the letters. Overtime he begins to form a friendship with the entire Doherty family. Moved by Tyler’s courage, Brady realizes what he must do with the letters, a surprise decision that will transform his heart and uplift his newfound friends and community –in an exhilarating act of testament to the contagious effect of one boy’s unwavering faith against the odds.

Inspired by a true story, Letters to God is an intimate, moving and often funny story about the galvanizing effect one child’s belief can have on his family, friends and community.

You may watch the trailer below:

You can purchase Letters For God for various prices at many different retailers. Be sure to check out the Letters To God website.

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Monday Motivation

Posted by html404 on August 2, 2010
in Family Stuff, Monday Motivation

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Last week’s Monday Motivation:

~ A friend I have known since 1988 is doing some great things to enjoy her four children and make lots of memories this summer. She has motivated and inspired me with the slow down of business to relax and enjoy my brood with some fun activities. Someone on our homeschool loop shared that area theaters are having $1.00 Wednesdays on certain movies, so the only two we were really interested in seeing were “Tooth Fairy” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. And guess what? They are playing the next two weeks. I should also include this in a Thrifty Thursday tip, eh? We did it and it was a wonderful time for us. I loved listening and watching our children laugh and enjoy themselves, as we had to sit in two different rows to fit us all! The older children thanked me several times, commenting on what a fun time they had. Brownie points for mom, eh?

~ Go to the little beach within walking distance of our house and just play.

~ Weeding, harvesting….We did a bit, but not near as much now that I am in the “turtle” phase of my pregnancy. Yes, I am very slow. My poor husband who is 6 ft tall has to slow his long pace to mine.

~ 36 week midwife appointment Went really well. I got my oral vitamin K. Baby felt and sounded good. Blood pressure is good. And we are getting things ready for our home birth and for baby’s arrival.”

~ Celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary! I wrote about this yesterday. But we had a really fun time going out to Olive Garden for soup, salad, an appetizer and raspberry lemonade. We even brought home dessert (Chocolate Strata cake – a three layer chocolate cake) to eat while we watched a couple of movies.)

This Week’s Motivation:

~ Surprise the children with a trip to the mini golf place we went to on Friday! I just want to get these things in before baby comes.

~ Go to the movies on Wednesday for “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”.

~ Start going weekly to the midwife.

~ The older two girls have been asked to help at a farm dinner at one of the farms we have volunteered at, so we will not have our big girls for about three hours that evening. They haven’t been away since they helped at Grandma’s house, so I am sure they will enjoy it.

~ We have Men of Valor and Women of Virtue with our church.

~ The garden. We really need to plant a few fast growing plants that we started inside, just to see how they do compared to our direct planting in the spring. Things like lettuce….

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Monday Motivation

Posted by html404 on July 26, 2010
in Family Stuff, Monday Motivation

Last week’s Monday Motivation:

~ Work – there is always something to do for clients and this week is a my first week with a full load for my newest client, so that will be something new. No longer working for this client as it was just not a good fit and another client finished her contract with me. A bit of a let down, but it may be for the best with the new baby due to arrive any time.
~ Help out friends who just had a preemie baby a week ago at 26 weeks gestation. Baby Huck weighed only 1 lb. 8 oz. He was born via c-section so his mama is still recovering from surgery. This is their first child. They are organic farmers and we plan to help them on their farm a couple of days, plus deliver a couple of meals too. We were able to do this and hope to go to their farm again this week, Lord willing.
~ Deliver a meal to friends who just had their seventh child – they have seven children 9 and under! Their baby was born a week ago Friday. We were able to do this.
~ Name our baby. Progress! We have a boys name and a first name for a girl! Yay!
~ Harvesting, weeding and hopefully starting some fall planting at our garden. Plus other business that needs to be done for our own farm start up. Only some harvesting and watering done on this front, so we have got behind. And we found out our watermelons are actually pumpkins!

This week’s Monday Motivation includes:

~ A friend I have known since 1988 is doing some great things to enjoy her four children and make lots of memories this summer. She has motivated and inspired me with the slow down of business to relax and enjoy my brood with some fun activities. Someone on our homeschool loop shared that area theaters are having $1.00 Wednesdays on certain movies, so the only two we were really interested in seeing were “Tooth Fairy” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. And guess what? They are playing the next two weeks. I should also include this in a Thrifty Thursday tip, eh?

~ Go to the little beach within walking distance of our house and just play.

~ Weeding, harvesting….

~ 36 week midwife appointment

~ Celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary!

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Set Apart DVD

Posted by html404 on May 7, 2010
in DVDs & CDs, Movies

We requested the movie Set Apart from our library via interlibrary loan. We had read a description of it in the CBD catalog and were intrigued.

Set Apart is about a ministry reaching out to inner city kids who are being tempted all around by negative influences. Four of those kids get an opportunity to escape to the country side to see what life on a ranch is like.

Friendship, trust, action, excitement, comedy make up this poignant drama. It may be a little scary in parts for little ones, so parents be advised you may wish to view it first so you can properly prepare them.

We really enjoyed it as a family, so wanted to be sure to mention it as another family-friendly movie.

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Horse-Boy Review

Posted by html404 on April 20, 2010
in DVDs & CDs, Movies

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

Horse Boy is a documentary about a boy with autism. His name is Rowan. This DVD is the journey of Rowan and his parents and their search for answers to how to live, deal with and manage Rowan’s autism. Rowan’s father, Rupert Isaacson, is a human rights worker, author and former professional horse trainer, and his mother Kristin Neff, is a psychology professor. Initially, they sought all the normal medical care, but these therapies had little affect on Rowan’s behavior.

In their struggle to make sense of their son’s disorder, they discover an interesting connection between Rowan and horses. It was this connection with a neighbor’s horse that made Mr. Isaacson wonder if he could combine horses with healing. He began researching the origins of horses and where they were first domesticated. What he found led him to Mongolia, where shamanism is known for its healing and is actually their religion. This led Mr. Isaacson to decide to take his family to Mongolia in search of healing Rowan’s autism. Ms. Neff had to be convinced of the feasibility of this trip especially when every day life was a battle, but in the end Mr. Isaacson won her over to the prudence of this decision.

The movie documents the family’s journey to Mongolia. It shows some raw footage (bathroom trips, purification “bath”, which they use a fuzzy image for privacy), but it is reveals their family’s personal journey. I just like to disclose things like this because I prefer to know about these types of things if someone recommends a movie or book to me for the first time. That way viewers can make an informed decision about their family watching the movie. However, I won’t reveal the outcome of their trip overseas in case you want to watch the movie!

I also want you to know that April is Autism Awareness Month, so please be sure to check out the additional resources in the links below for more information about autism.

Watch Horse Boy on PBS!

If you have TV and are so inclined, you may watch Horse Boy on PBS Tuesday, May 11, INDEPENDENT LENS presents The Horse Boy, Michel Orion Scott’s remarkable new documentary about Rupert Isaacson and Kristina Neff’s unorthodox journey with their autistic son and the miracle they find through horses — first on their Texas farm and then in the outer reaches of Mongolia. Rupert Isaacson, who has also written a book about the experience and now runs a learning center, The Horse Boy Foundation.

Resources:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/horse-boy/

http://www.horseboymovie.com

http://www.autism-society.org/site/

http://exchanges.nyse.com/archives/2008/04/autism_awareness.php

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_awareness

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Home Beyond the Sun – DVD Review

Posted by html404 on April 17, 2010
in DVDs & CDs, Movies

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

A couple of weekends ago we had the privilege of watching a new movie called, Home Beyond the Sun, put out by PureFlix Entertainment. It was inspired by a true story and explored the social and political realities of China today. PureFlix Entertainment is known for it’s family-friendly Christian films, such as Sarah’s Choice.

Home Beyond the Sun was very good. We all enjoyed it very much. We previewed it before we let the children watch it and we are glad we did because in a couple of parts the little ones got a little scared. However, because we had viewed it before we knew what scenes were coming up to explain to them what was happening etc.

Movies like this truly show us how thankful we should be for the freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. They also show how little girls are devalued and treated under some officials, but not all of them, as this movie reveals.

The quality of the movie was ok. It wasn’t a Hollywood movie with billions of dollars in their production budget, but it was still well made and the actors/storyline moved me to tears.

If you are looking for a family-friendly movie with a touching story of the fight for freedom, the search for truth and a journey of faith, then I highly recommend, Home Beyond the Sun.

About PureFlix Entertainment

PureFlix Entertainment produces, distributes, acquires and markets Christian and family-friendly films. PureFlix unites some of the most respected and successful members of the Christian Film community with the objective of positioning itself as the industry leader for the production and distribution of high quality, inspiring movies and television programs, while doing so with integrity. Mission Statement: Transforming the human spirit through values based entertainment. For more information, please visit www.pureflixentertainment.com where they also have trailers to many of their movies.

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Did You Participate in Earth Hour?

Posted by html404 on March 30, 2010
in Uncategorized

Just wondering if anyone participated in Earth Hour on Saturday night? We did, but we were late starting because we were watching the movie, Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, and with only 15 minutes left we opted to do our hour from 8:45pm-9:45pm. By the way, good movie!

I had grandoise plans for our family, but I guess I should have shared them with everyone before hand because while Earth Hour was spent in the dark, it wasn’t anything like I was expecting!

First, Robert was not feeling well. Second, I had pictured all of us crowded in our bedroom with perhaps the flashlight, (I considered candles but with so many bodies in one room decided for the safety reasons the flashlight was enough) and we’d get some discussions going.

Well, when you put a sick husband, seven children and a wife/mom who wants to talk in a dark room for an hour what do you get? Giddy children, grumpy husband and a disappointed wife/mom!

I am sure our children will have fond memories of our hour of darkness because they played and goofed around, while my husband asked them to tone it down because he had a headache and I bemoaned that this is just not what I pictured us doing.

Result? Happy children, tired, sick husband and disappointed wife/mom. But we did conserve energy.

How was your Earth Hour?

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