Mommy Brain

I know, it’s Friday – and I have links to share, but I am just plain pooped after taking the kids to Silverwood yesterday. That and waking up with a migraine this morning is kicking my butt, so the links post will have to wait until tomorrow. I will, however, leave you with a funny story from Wednesday’s read-aloud time.

We are currently reading Tales from Shakespeare by Tina Packer – which I highly recommend. On Wednesday, we were reading Much Ado About Nothing and when we got to the part where Claudio and Don Pedro decide to play matchmakers for Benedick and Beatrice, Noah said, “So they were like the first eHarmony-dot-com!” Thank you, TV commercials.

I just finished a truly amazing book – Guernica by Dave Boling. Click over to Books and Movies to read my review and enter to win a copy.

On the way home from a trip to the library this afternoon, Josiah said, “Can I start reading this book now? I don’t want to wait for ‘school’ time.”

Today was day one of our seventh homeschooling year. Seventh! I can hardly believe that. And, unfortunately, today seemed to be one of those days when my kids had been possessed by aliens and forgot how to be human to each other. The bickering was enough to make me want to scream. Which I did. Into a towel, in the bathroom, with the door closed. I call that a “Mommy Time Out.”

Here’s hoping day number two is better.

(The Blue Elephant was provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)

Follow The Blue Elephant on a breathtaking journey, complete with endearing characters, belly laughs, and an uplifting message about the power of courage. Khan is a little elephant with big dreams of becoming a hero. When he gets separated from his herd, he’ll need the help of his new friends and a whole lot of bravery to find his family and fulfill his royal destiny. Join Miranda Cosgrove, Martin Short, and Carl Reiner, as they lend their voices to this fun family adventure!

It’s always fun to find a new animated film to enjoy with the kids. This is a cute story that has a great message, and lots of humor for the little ones. And with Martin Short and Carl Reiner, of course the voice talent is brilliant.

Noah’s review: I like the colors. I like the characters, and the history in the story. 5 stars.

Jonathan’s review: It’s a really good movie and there’s a battle, but not too violent. It’s a really good movie, and there’s nothing bad in it. 5 stars.

Josiah’s review: I can’t believe how Kahn grew up to be a big elephant. When he was at the training place, I can’t believe he broke through that wood. 5 stars.

The Blue Elephant will be available on DVD on September 2nd.

(The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Beginning was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

See how it all started for one of Disney’s most beloved characters in the all-new movie, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning.

Imagine a time long before Ariel met Prince Eric and walked on land – a time when music was banned from the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. Torn between family duty and her love of music, Ariel must make the most difficult choice of her life. With the help of her friends, Sebastian and Flounder, and her six amusing sisters, will the young mermaid be able to restore music, friendship and love to the kingdom?

An all-star cast returns, including Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian) – plus meet the deliciously wicked villain Marina Del Rey, voiced by Sally Field – in a marvelous musical adventure teeming with surprises, breathtaking animation and all-new songs.

The Little Mermaid is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, and I love that they brought back the original voices for this prequel. The music is fun, the story is a little like Footloose – a little predictable, but still an enjoyable tale.

Natalie’s review: When Ariel was a little girl her mother loved music. She sang and sang and Ariel’s big family was happy. But when Ariel’s mother died everything changed. Music was banned from Atlantica. Ariel wants to know why it has to be banned from this place, why her father thinks music is bad when she thinks it is beautiful. Then as Ariel explores her home she finds a secret club of music. I like this movie very much. 5 stars.

The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Beginning will be available on DVD on August 26th. The DVD Special Features include deleted scenes, a sing-along feature, and the Mermaid Discovery Vanity Game – discover secrets about King Triton’s daughters by clicking on their personal scrapbooks, or find out which sister you are most like with the Personality Profile Game.

(Wayside School: Season One was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

The comically absurd and wacky Wayside School – Season One is available for the first time on DVD in an awesome 2-disc set! It’s 13 way cool episodes filled with hilarious off-the-wall events and foolish shenanigans. Based on Louis Sachar’s bestselling book series, it’s the crazy tales of students of Wayside School, a quirky grammar school that was accidentally built 30 stories high! Join the new kid Todd as he enters a school where cows roam free, class elections are decided by a game of dodgeball, and falling asleep in class is not only okay but encouraged. Wayside School is more than just another classroom comedy – it is a fantastic, defiant romp through the peculiar twists and turns of kid logic.

Way wacky. Way cool. It’s Wayside School!

My kids love Wayside School, and it didn’t take them very long to plough through the episodes in Season One. It’s pretty goofy, but harmless fun.

Noah’s review: Very, very, very funny. My favorite episode is “Our Great Leader” because Principal Kidswatter thinks that the students are planning to kill him. 5 stars.

Jonathan’s review: I thought it was a very good show. My favorite show was “At the Aquarium” because he said, “Paste it, no erasies.” And there’s this girl named Marisia who loves Todd. 5 stars.

Josiah’s review: It was really funny how the other students except Todd thought that a cow was their substitute teacher. My favoritest one was “Kindergarten King” because the kindergarten kids built him a castle. 5 stars.

Wayside School: Season One is available now on DVD.

(The Nightmare Before Christmas: Two-Disc Collector’s Edition was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Experience Tim Burton’s hauntingly fabulous classic film you’ve always loved, like never before! Now digitally restored and remastered with state-of-the-art technology, The Nightmare Before Christmas is deeper, darker and more brilliant than ever – just as Tim Burton originally envisioned it.

Can Christmas be saved? Bored with the same old scare-and-scream routine, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, longs to spread the joy of Christmas. But his merry mission puts Santa in jeopardy and creates a nightmare for good little boys and girls everywhere!

I was in college when The Nightmare Before Christmas came out in theaters – it was before I was a mom, before I was even a nanny, so I had no reason to see it. And, frankly, I thought it looked a little weird. But the kids and I sat down and watched it over the weekend, and we actually really liked it. I still think it’s a little weird, though.

I appreciated the stop-motion animation by director Henry Selick, who is directing the upcoming film version of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. We are anxiously anticipating the February release after loving the book so much.

Noah’s review: It was very, very funny and it’s very interesting and it tells a very good story about how the seasons came. And, on the second disc there is Frankenweenie and Vincent, which were little shorts that were also good. 5 stars.

Jonathan’s review: I think it’s pretty fascinating. It’s pretty funny when it showed this bubble-headed freaky guy. 5 stars.

Josiah’s review: 5 stars. (He’s a man of few words. )

The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition will be available on August 26th. The 2-disc special collector’s edition has a ton of bonus features: What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour; Frankenweenie (Uncut Version) with new introduction by Tim Burton; Vincent – short film; Tim Burton’s original poem narrated by Christopher Lee; all-new audio commentary by Tim Burton, director Henry Selick and music designer Danny Elfman; Behind-the-Scenes Making Of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas;” The worlds of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” – Halloween Town, Christmas Town, The Real World; deleted scenes; storyboard-to-film comparison; and original theatrical trailers and posters.

A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro was a different book than I expected. I thought it would be a book about Shakespeare’s life. What I didn’t know is that very little is known about Shakespeare’s personal life.

What this book is, instead, is a discussion of the plays Shakespeare wrote in 1599, and how those works were influenced by and spoke to the events in England at the time. During that year, Shakespeare was amazingly proficient, producing four of his greatest works: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. Each of these plays had moments, actions, and references that would have resonated with the Elizabethan audiences because of their experiences in daily life and the political scene of the day.

I like reading history books because of what I learn. Sometimes a history book will also grab me in and keep me turning the pages, like McCullough’s 1776 and Ambrose’s Band of Brothers. Other times, I read the book in fits and starts. The writing style may not grab me, may even be a little dry, but the information is still interesting enough that I want to finish the book. This was one of the latter type of reading experiences. In spite of the fact that it wasn’t riveting, I am happy to have read it and I know much about Elizabethan politics that I didn’t know before.

3 out of 5 stars

(The Best of Comedy Central Presents II was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

The Best of Comedy Central Presents is back with an all-new array of your favorite comedians. Watch as they rant about proper concert etiquette, help you discover the true meaning of “time-traveling,” and impersonate some of today’s biggest stars. So, what does this all mean? Probably that you’ll end up spending (wasting?) hours of your precious day on the couch, giggling like a little schoolgirl.

Um.

Yeah. I probably shouldn’t have agreed to review this one. To be honest, I missed the whole “uncensored” portion of the title, or that would have tipped me off. Kevin and I attempted to watch this last night, and I made frequent use of the fast-forward button on the remote.

We used to like watching comedians. It used to be that comedians could be funny without being foul and profane, but apparently that’s not the case anymore. We did enjoy Frank Caliendo, who does spot-on impersonations, but found nothing to like in the other performances.

The Best of Comedy Central Presents II will be available on DVD on August 26th.