"Don't worry. The moon is as good as ours." Summer Movie Giveaway: Despicable Me + Bowl of Goodies

"Don't worry. The moon is as good as ours."

-"Vector," Despicable Me

One of the movies that we, as a family, have been looking forward to seeing this summer is Despicable Me 2, which comes out in theaters this week on Wednesday, July 3.  If you have not seen the original, Despicable Me, it is a fun story for both kids and adults about Gru, a villan, who is attempting to do something spectacular in his villainy.  However, a new up-and-coming villan named Vector is stealing the spotlight.  Gru gets the idea to adopt three little girl orphans, Edith, Agnes and Margo, so they can use their cookie-selling venture to gain entry to Vector's headquarters and help Gru attain super-villan stardom, and a hilarious adventure ensues.  

Since the second movie is coming out Wednesday, I thought it would be fun to host a movie-themed giveaway with the original.  So, you could win: 

(1)  Despicable Me (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy version)

(2) Organic (Non-GMO) Popcorn - 1 bag

(3) Honest Kids Berry Berry Good Lemonade - 6 pouches

(4) Annie's Bunny Fruit Snacks Summer Strawberry - 6 pouches

(5) 1 red plastic bowl to share your popcorn in

*A note about paleo eating and this giveaway: Most people who follow the paleo lifestyle are on average only paleo 85% of the time.  I see no reason why part of your 15% cannot be for a family cuddle and laughter while you watch this fun movie.  However, the popcorn, juice and the fruit snacks are organic, GMO-free and made with only the best ingredients, and the juice is sweetened only with juices (no added sugars at all).

Please complete at least the blog comment requirement below to be entered for the drawing and sign in to the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



**This giveaway is only open to those residing in the contiguous USA (as I will have to ship it).  I am not being sponsored by any of the companies of which I am giving away product, nor did I receive any compensation (including said giveaway products) for holding this giveaway.  Please see my disclosure page if you are concerned about affiliations.

Thankful Thursday: "I have accidentally written a novel."

"Finally, I finished it, did a word count 

and sent an apologetic email to my publisher — 

‘I have accidentally written a novel.’"

-Neil Gaiman, 06/24/13, The Majestic Theatre, Dallas, TX

This week I am thankful that a good friend of mine had an extra ticket to go see Neil Gaiman speak at an Arts & Letters Live event, hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art.  We get a flyer for A&LL at the beginning of the season, but I almost always forget who the major players are since they are scheduled for months out.

I absolutely loved Gaiman reading from his latest novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which is semi-autobiographical.  To hear an author read his own work with the intended inflection is an incredible experience.  He also talked about how certain parts of the book are autobiographical, like the opening drama of the seven-year-old main character and his father discovering that the family's boarder had taken their white Mini and committed suicide in it.  Gaiman explained that while it actually happened to his family, he was not related the story by his own father until he was into his 40s, reminiscing about "whatever happened to that car."  

Gaiman is also the author of American Gods, Anansi Boys, Stardust, and a number of other novels, as well as The Sandman series of comics (DC Comics) and quite a few children's books, like The Graveyard Book, which won the Newbery Medal, and Coraline, which is probably a familiar title due to the movie of the same name.

     

 

Gaiman is also releasing a new children's book, Fortunately, the Milk, in September of this year, and due to the magnificence "of the [Majestic] theatre" decided to award us with a brief reading from its pages.  It was no less gripping and fantastic than his reading of Ocean, and I preordered it online while I waited to have my book signed.  During his talk he stressed how important it is to "do the voices" when reading books to children, and I could not agree more.  I wish I had that talent, and am so glad AC can do wonderful voices for SC when he reads to her; alas, I must stick with audiobooks when it is my turn.

Speaking of having a book signed, I am very thankful that I only had to wait two hours before getting the opportunity to meet Gaiman in person and have him sign the book of short stories (Fragile Things) I had brought with me.  According to twitter, the signing lasted until 2:30am.  It is no wonder he announced that this tour would be his last in which he stays to sign books.  I also was able to spend those two hours speaking with the people around me about books, which was awesome.

What unexpected thing are you thankful for this week?  Leave a comment, then check out some more Thankful Thursday posts here:

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What 2 Read Wednesday: "The sun kept on with its slipping away..." Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

"The sun kept on with its slipping away, 

and I thought how many small good things in the world might be resting 

on the shoulders of something terrible."

-Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, pg. 233

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is the first novel by author Carol Rifka Brunt.  It was listed on many "best of" lists in 2012, and came out in paperback this month.  I picked up a signed copy at Target last week because the cover jumped out at me and I have to say it was a worthy purchase.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is the story of fourteen-year-old June as she attempts to cope with the death of her uncle and closest confidant, famous painter Finn Weiss, by AIDS in the spring of 1987.  Though touted as a "coming-of-age" story, I felt that this novel was so much more than that.  It is the struggle of a young girl to understand what love really is, and she gets a first-hand look at the many types and the sacrifices that those in love make for their lovers.  There are a few pairs of characters juxtaposed with each other, including Finn, whom the reader barely meets before his death, and his boyfriend Toby, June and her older sister Greta, as well as June's parents, who are both tax accountants dealing with their busiest time of year.  The story centers around June getting to know Toby, a stranger to June until she sees him for the first time at Finn's funeral and is told by her older sister that he is Finn's "murderer."  

June is also right at the age where she is not quite a child, but not yet an young adult.  Her perceptions of the world are changing, and she struggles to figure out what her relationship should be with each member of her family.  She has always felt like she does not fit in, and Finn was the one who made her feel special.  With him gone, she is bereft.  Just as Toby begins to fill the hole left by Finn, June begins to wonder if he spends time with her for herself, or because Finn asked him to.  She relates herself to a falconer whose birds fail to return.  She thinks

"I used to think maybe I wanted to become a falconer, and now I'm sure of it, because I need to figure out the secret. I need to work out how to keep things flying back to me instead of always flying away."

Her sister, Greta, is also going through a "coming-of-age," though it is a transition from young adult to adult, with real life goals and expectations.  She wavers between being the loving sister who is excited to share life with June to a mean, typical teenager who cannot control her emotions.  She excels at musical theatre, so much so that she has been invited to audition for a Broadway role, but the idea of being on her own and responsible for her life scares her.  She begins to drink in a way that is an obvious cry for help to June, who doesn't know how to respond as she deals with her own fairly grown-up issues with Toby.

Brunt also weaves a beautiful tale of a family coming to grips with the reality of AIDS in a time when no one in the world really understands the disease.  The fear of catching the disease, but no one really knowing how it was transmitted, is palpable.  As this twines through the story of love, it adds depth to the heartache and jealousy the characters are dealing with.  

I liked this book very much after finishing it, but liked it even more as I thought back at the way Brunt crafted the tale so expertly.  Be prepared to shed tears as you are drawn in to the world of June Elbus.  I would recommend this book to mature, older teens and adults.  However, I do think it would be helpful for the reader to have an understanding of what the environment surrounding the AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s was like, or much of the story will be lost. I also think this is a novel that both men and women can really get into, even though the main character is a young girl.




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Top Ten Tuesday: "...we should ask him what books he read."

"If we encountered a man of rare intellect, 

we should ask him what books he read."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims (1876)

SC has really gotten off to a great start with her summer reading challenge, and for Top Ten Tuesday this week I am going to highlight some of the books she has read on her own to get through the first 15 points.  I have included how many points I awarded for each book, in case you want to do something similar.  Our reading challenge log is from Homeschool Creations.

1. Today I Will Fly by Mo Willems (1 point)


2. I Will Surprise My Friend by Mo Willems (1 point)

3. Penny and her Doll by Kevin Henkes (3 points)

4. Penny and her Song by Kevin Henkes (3 points)

5. That is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems (1 point)

6. Sammy the Seal by Syd Hoff (3 points)

7. My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (1 point)

8. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (3 points)

9. Ten Apples Up on Top! by Theo. LeSieg (2 points)

10. Grandma, Grandpa and Me by Mercer Mayer (1 point)

What books have your kids read so far this summer?  What would you recommend for a beginning reader?  Leave a comment below, and then check out some other Top Ten Tuesday posts here:

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Menu Monday: "Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking..."

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity."

-Voltaire

I have decided that I want to try to post our menus for the week in hopes that it will keep me honest about sticking to them. We always start the week with good intentions, but life happens and some evenings it is just easier to run through the drive-through on the way back home from activities than it is to cook something. However, I feel horrible when we do this, and so does SC, and if AC is home, he does too. He recently mentioned that he really wanted to get healthier by doing a Whole30 and starting the Couch to 5k program, so we are going to do it as a family.

If you are unfamiliar with the Whole30 program, it is a kind-of detox designed to get your body back to rights by eliminating anything that could be causing it to run improperly, including all grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol and sugars. It also includes eliminating things that are normally found in processed foods like MSG and sulfites, and the focus is on eating real, whole foods instead. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, I would suggest you check out/purchase the book It Starts with Food.  

If you read my page about eating paleo you will see that the Whole30 is more than what normally constitutes paleo because it is designed to be a reset for your body. Then, after 30 days (or longer if you don't feel optimal), those following the paleo lifestyle try to eat paleo about 85% of the time. However, I notice a huge difference in the way I feel when I make those non-paleo choices, so my ideal would be closer to 95%. At the moment, with the fast-food funk we have gotten into, we are maybe paleo only about 50% of the time and I feel run down and get extra irritable.

So, here is our menu for the first week, days 1 - 7 of the Whole30. Many of the recipes I am going to try I have linked to, but I recently got a new cookbook called Primal Cravings that I am giving a try, so some of the recipes can be found in there. Unless otherwise listed, lunch will probably be either leftovers from dinner the night before, or a salad for AC and deli meat (organic, no preservatives) plus veggies and fruit for SC and I. Breakfast is usually eggs, bacon, veggies and fruit in some combination.

DAY 1

Monday 6/24

Tikka Masala Chicken Wings

Primal Cravings, pg. 118

DAY 2

Tuesday 6/25

Simple Herb-Crusted Salmon

DAY 3

Wednesday 6/26

Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs 

(see pic at the top of page)

DAY 4

Thursday 6/27

Chile Verde

DAY 5

Friday 6/28

Shrimp w/ Garlic Sauce

DAY 6

Saturday 6/29

Lunch: 

Crispy Chicken Fingers

Primal Cravings, pg. 112

Dinner: 

Steak & Veggies

DAY 7

Sunday 6/30

Lunch:

Easy Mexican Salad

Dinner:

Pan-Fried Pork Chops w/ Parsley Butter

I would love for you to join up with our family doing the Whole30 for the next thirty days. Please comment below and let me know if you are giving it a try, plus any paleo recipes you want to share.

**This post contains affiliate links.  Please read my disclosure statement.

Thankful Thursday: "I've been wishing for this since I was 10 years old..."

This week I am thankful that I got to see the movie E.T. (1982) in the theatre yesterday.  They were doing a "4 weeks of Spielberg" thing, and E.T. was it for this week.  I remember seeing it as a child, but I didn't really remember much about it other than a very basic plot line and that they dressed E.T. up as a ghost on Halloween.  However, seeing it on the big screen, with the music of John Williams booming throughout the room, was an incredible experience.  The plot goes up and down, wrenching at your heartstrings, bringing you up, dragging you down.  Even though I knew how it ended, I couldn't help but get teary-eyed when Elliot, the young boy who had found E.T. and took him in, said after his presumed death

"Look at what they've done to you. I'm so sorry. You must be dead, 'cause I don't know how to feel. I can't feel anything anymore. You've gone someplace else now. I'll believe in you all my life, every day. E.T., I love you."

If you haven't seen the movie, I will stop my synopsis here and request you borrow a copy or just go buy it.  As an adult, looking back at these tough decisions of childhood, I deeply felt what Elliot was feeling.  I have never seen Ghandi, the best picture winner of the Oscars the year E.T. was nominated, but it must have been genius to have overtaken such an incredible work of art.

I also want to mention that I am thankful that I got to have this experience with SC.  She is so in tune to the emotions evoked by music, and even more so when there is a film that accompanies it.  Listening to her describe the beginning of the film ("like a nightmare"), and then moving on to gleefully clapping when E.T. first lifts himself and Elliot off the ground, flying through the air on the bike; the anxiety as the government agents enter Elliot's house while they are gone; to see her tears and hear her moans as she witnesses what she believes to be a sad ending to the film: I witnessed the magic that movies can create as I watched her watching the movie, and would recommend E.T. for that, even if for nothing else.

Have you seen any movies lately that you would recommend?  What are you thankful for this week?  Comment below, then check out some other Thankful Thursday posts here




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Top Ten Tuesday: "I didn't want normal until I didn't have it anymore."

"I didn't want normal until I didn't have it anymore."

― Maggie Stiefvater, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

I am not typically one for branding or advertising, but I read a good list last week of ten things one family uses all the time and realized I might have a few helpful hints that I have picked up as I have grown up in the past ten years.  So, for Top Ten Tuesday this week, here are ten things we cannot live without in our house:


1. Electric Tea Kettle:  My in-laws gave us this tea kettle for Christmas this year and I don't know how we lived at all without one.  We use this on a daily basis for coffee in the morning and tea later in the day.  This one is very simple and it works great.

2. Mrs. Meyer's Laundry Detergent: This is the only laundry detergent we have found that will really get out the smell of urine the first time through the wash (if you have potty trained, you will know this is a must).  I have only ever used the geranium smell, and while it seems overwhelming when the clothes first come out of the wash/dryer, it is barely lingering when I pull them from the closet to wear.  They just smell clean.  I have read that some of the other scents will stick around for a long time and smell horrible, but I can attest this is not the case with this one. 

3. Greenling:  This is the local farm-to-consumer delivery service, and if you live anywhere in Texas, please check them out to see if they are delivering to your area.  They deliver local produce, meats, eggs and other goodies weekly, and their prices are comparable to those you would find at Whole Foods or Central Market.  For me, the nearest Whole Foods is almost an hour away, so having my "green box" delivered to my doorstep has been a huge gas-saving blessing.  They also give information about each of the farms/ranches that provides them with products so you can make an informed choice. You can shop by a pre-selected "local box" that changes weekly, or you can create your own box by choosing items individually.  They even offer "meal kits" for those short on time, complete with recipes.
Check out Greenling here.

*If you are not in Texas and/or Greenling does not deliver to your area, I urge you to seek out local farm co-ops and meat producers and give them a try.

4. French Press: We make coffee most mornings, but neither AC nor I drink it all day long.  This means that the typical 10-cup or 12-cup coffee maker is just too much for us.  We tried a Keurig machine for a while, but it was so much mess because we never really liked the coffee (or teas) that came already in a pod, so we had to use the pods where you pack it in yourself.  Eventually we just gave up.  We discovered a French press and are immensely happy now.  It is very simple to use, makes the perfect amount for a cup or two of coffee in the morning, is easy to transport the grounds out to the composter, and cleans up in the dishwasher.

5. Netflix: Before SC was born, and before streaming movies over the internet was a "thing," AC and I have had a Netflix account.  However, we no longer have the DVD account, and what I really love most about it now is that it will open into a split adults/kids section.  I can choose the kids version, SC could navigate it by the time she was 3 because it has a scrollbar at the top that is just pictures of recognizable characters, and it includes many of the PBS shows we like to watch (at the most convenient time for us).  We can also stream it on a phone or iPad anywhere we have WiFi, which has been great for eating up time in airports or other non-productive places that SC needs to sit still.  It has also been nice to catch up on shows AC and I like to watch, but not be glued to a set TV schedule every week.
Check out Netflix here.

6. Apple TV: We have had an Apple TV since they were first introduced, and it is an item we could not live without in order to stream music from the computers to the stereo speakers.  It has also been great, since SC was born, to be able to stream photos onto our large-screen television for viewing by family instead of having to all huddle around a 13" laptop screen.

Find Apple TV at Amazon's Apple Store Here

7. Canus Orange & Clary Sage Goat's Milk Soap: I will admit, I have always been a fairly stinky person.  I am pretty sure I got my dad's sweat/stink genes and it has been a long time coming where I feel comfortable when the 100 degree temps arrive in Texas.  However, about two years ago, I was doing research into essential oils, soap making, and deodorant making as a last-ditch effort to find products that really worked at getting me clean and controlling my body odor without using a ton of chemicals that would just cause other problems, I came across this soap at Whole Foods.  It has changed my life.  It is the only soap I have ever used (since I was a teenager at least) that I get out of the shower not already smelling myself.  I may have an oversensitive sense of smell (especially when it comes to my own body odor), but for as long as I can remember, I have always bathed, washed certain areas three or four separate times while in the shower, and stepped out only to rush to the deodorant and slather it on because I still could smell myself.  This soup is superb, does not dry out my skin, and the essential oils get rid of the body odor in a major way.

8. iPad Mini: We gave in around Christmas and bought a "family" iPad Mini and it has been a great purchase for the whole family.  SC gets to play a ton of cheap, educational games, AC gets to use it for some grown-up games, tracking travel and sports scores, and I have my recipe app on it that I use while cooking.  We do not have 4G on it, so we can only use the internet when we have WiFi and that has not been a problem at all.  Also, the size of the iPad Mini is perfect of SC to hold.  I think the larger one would be ungainly and would end up being dropped quite often.

9. Charcoal Grill & Smoker:  A few years ago for Fathers' Day AC got to pick out a new grill/smoker.  We had a gas grill but he really wanted to try his hand at smoking, specifically brisket.  After a few uses of the smoker and its subsequent grill attachment, we gave the gas grill away to a family member.  Though it seems like it may take longer to get a charcoal grill going for dinner, it really doesn't, and the exquisite flavor of a charcoal grill (and the mesquite wood we throw in) makes any extra work (the steps to start the fire) worth it.

10. PlayStation 3:  Last, but definitely not the least on this list, is our PS3, which has grown and changed in usefulness as media forms have grown and changed.  It is a gaming device (which both SC and AC use equally, if not often), but it is also a BluRay player and our Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming player.  Though we initially only purchased it so AC could play video games (pre-SC) and watch movies once in a while (before everything came out in BluRay), it has changed and grown as our family has.  At this point we have no plans to buy the soon-to-be-released PS4 and will probably hold off until the PS3 no longer works.

Obviously we are technology bugs over here, which I suppose is appropriate considering AC's job in the technology field.  What are some of the items that your family cannot live without?  Leave a comment and then check out some other Top Ten Tuesday posts here

**This post contains affiliate links.  Please read my disclosure statement.