Gifted Hands: Movie Recommendation #2

As promised, I want to give you the information on the second movie we watched last weekend as a family and not only thoroughly enjoyed, but were moved and inspired by the man behind the story.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is the true story of young man who overcame obstacles in his life to become to a world renowned pediatric neurosurgeon at John Hopkins and went on to win a Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is a touching story of a mother's love for her children and desire to raise them to become intelligent, strong and contributing members of society.

Sonya's Carson's determination and gusto is inspiring. The fact that she was not well educated herself and supporting her children on her own while challenging them to read books and write essays about them brought tears to my eyes. She really was willing to do the best for her children and spur them on to things greater.

Dr. Carson's life story and his grace and faith throughout his life are inspiring. Knowing that he is a man of Faith and Medicine at the same time is such a great message for my children. It is nice to see that it's possible to be a person of great faith and moral character while also a person of science, intelligence and wisdom. God's wisdom and Man's Wisdom are not contradictory, but they are great in conjunction with each other.

Watching yet another movie about people overcoming obstacles to achieve great thing gave our children a glimpse into real life. A chance to see that hard work, determination, character, faith and love from family can make you into something great.

Ben Carson has a book out with the same title: Gifted Hands. I'm thinking this is going to be required reading for a certain boy and girl in our house this winter.

Finding movies that reinforce life skills I want my children to pick up and doing it in such a way that isn't preachy or sappy really works. I love that we can spend quality time watching a heartwarming movie together and still learn lessons. That's perfect family time.

Great Family Movie: A Plumm Summer

We had a family movie night last night and saw a great flick that your whole family will enjoy. It was our 16th Wedding Anniversary and we decided to celebrate "family style" with a homecooked meal Chicken Meatballs ala Smitten Kitchen (Yummo!) with Sparkling Apple Cider for the kids and Berringer Wine for the Adults ( in rememberance of our honeymoon trip to San Fran and Napa Valley).

Our movie pick was Plumm Summer a movie that got horrible reviews from the critics, but got rave reviews from our family. Set in Montana in the 1960's, this movie reminded me of a classic Disney tale from childhood. A story about a children's television icon that is kidnapped and how some young dectectives try to solve the mystery. It's a thrilling who-dunn-it family friendly flick.

The movie had a great story of redemption, forgiveness, friendship, and family triumph. There are some tough scenes to watch that dealt with alcoholism and the damage it causes to a family, but the underlying message of courage, hope and forgiveness make this a great topic of discussion later.

All three kids loved it and it was movie that my husband and I enjoyed watching as well. There were closed eyes for scarry parts, cheers and claps for great moments, and oohs and aahs over the "romance." Just what the doctor ordered for a family movie night.

Classic lines from our movie watching party:

Miss A: " She was involved from the beggining mom, I knew it"

Miss A: "That was a great movie, even if we didn't have popcorn."

Miss M: "I just love movies like that, don't you."

Mr. C: "Why don't they make movies like this anymore?"

There is just something about snuggling up as a family and watching a movie together!

FYI: Family Video Stores are running a special until November 24th : $1.00 for all New Releases for 5 Days!! (No they aren't paying me to say that, but they could if they wanted too)

WFMW:Summer Movies on the Cheap

Watching movies is one of my favorite summer past times. I love to stay up late at night watching movies that I've DVR'd or rented on "school nights" in the summer. I love walking out of a movie theater in the summer; all chilly from the air conditioning with squinty eyes and then feeling the warmth of the hot summer air on my face.

However, it's not always the most economical endeavor to take 3 children to the movie these days so I've found a few ways this summer to give the kids the movie experience without breaking the bank.

Last summer, someone turned me on to the "Free Movie" or "Kid Matinee Movies" that many of the big chain movie theaters offer every summer. Every Wednesday and Thursday at one of the theaters in town you can go to a "special" showing of a Kid's Movie for $3.00 a person including a small popcorn. At another theater in town, they offer Free Movies at 10 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday.

The movies are normally appropriate for toddlers to early teens and are films that are either on DVD already or just about to be released to DVD. So far this summer, we've watched Tale of Desperaux and Horton Hears a Who. You can find out about these movies by going to the website for the theater and it will list out the entire schedule for the summer.

Second, we've found the Buck Theater; which in reality is $2.00 a person before 3 p.m and $2.50 after 3 p.m. This is still a huge discount over the regular matinee price. Last week, we saw the Hannah Montana movie for a total of $8.00. It was a fun movie (G rated) and a perfect way to spend a cloudy afternoon. I actually like it much better than the Disney series on TV.

Here are a few websites to check out for Summer Kid's Movie programs http://www.amctheatres.com/ ; http://www.ravemotionpictures.com/; http://www.marcustheatres.com/

Finally, we've started rented movies from On Demand. When people in the past told me they were renting a pay per view movie. I assumed they were $10 a pop and thought that going to the video store would be more economical. Not true. There are on our On Demand Guide numerous older movies for 99 cents. That's how we watched a long list of Disney Classic Movies this winter. New Releases run $4 to $5.00 each which is still much cheaper than taking the whole clan to the theater plus the snacks are cheaper. We watched Hotel for Dogs earlier this summer and loved it!!

My youngest will only eat popcorn at the movies so we'll usually buy a small popcorn. However, for the older kids, I'll admit we have been known to smuggle in our candy. We've hit up the Dollar Store or Walgreen's candy aisle and gotten boxes of candy for $1.00. While I deep down know this is probably not right, neither is charging $4.50 for 32 ounces of soda or $6.50 for a big box of popcorn. I noticed last week that a family at the Free Movie had purchased one of the largest drinks which promised a free refill and filled up their own little sippie cups for all the kids and then got a refill for the mom and dad to share. Not a bad idea.

Last but not least, before we rent a movie or go to a movie, I always check out this website first to see their review of the movie. http://www.pluggedinonline.com/. Not only do I love how they breakdown the movie with violent, language, and spiritual content, but they are always spot on when they recommend a movie. I've been known to allow my oldest child to go to a movie that I might otherwise have rejected by first talking through with him some of what he might see and should expect. Likewise, the opposite is also true and I've vetoed movies that where either the right rating (G or some PG) because of the review I've read here. Great site. Check it out.

Cheap movies in the summertime work for me. For more WFMW ideas check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/