Dinner and a Movie

Our family question of the week was if you could only pick 5 movies we own to keep, which five would they be?

I have long since stopped recommending movies to other families. Just too risky! Either our conservative family favorites will bore you to death or send you into a fit of giggles, or maybe, just maybe you would shake your head in concern, being even more conservative than us. (it could happen!) Too often in the past I have seen a movie recommended by a well intentioned family only to find that their convictions were just different from ours. Because of that, we have seen some movies I just wish we had not.

What I do recommend it a great site called PluggedIn. It doesn't solve all your problems, but it has helped guide our family on many a family movie night. What I love about the site is that it usually sticks with just the facts, no opinions. You know...these are the violent scenes, this is the spiritual content, this is the language....

The language! Oh my!
I know we are sticks in the mud concerning profanity, but really! Is that a must!? There are more than a few good movies out there I would love for the kids to see....but the language...no thanks!

Insulation...not isolation!

I know, before you even say it...they will hear those words somewhere else. Yes, but NOT in my house and NOT by my choice. As my oldest has said before, once those words have entered your ears, head and eventually your heart they are hard to delete from your brain. At the very worst, you begin to see them as not a big deal anymore.

"...Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things." Phil. 4:8

While all the movies we watch may not by definition glorify the Lord (Cars, Finding Nemo, Christy, to name a few ;) I pray that by our choices, we are! So, for now, we tend to stick to classics, old series (be careful, we tend to have long term memory loss about what we watched as kids), and movies previewed by mom and dad.

Stuffy...maybe. Safe...yep! I will admit, it used to be a harder call, but now, not at all. God is good about convicting us slowly sometimes so we can wrap our brains and hearts around His desires for our families.

Oh, and one last thing, we eat around the coffee table often on Friday nights while we watch our movie. (poor CJ gets to watch about 30 minutes before we cheer, turn it off, do devotions and put him bed. Won't he be surprised one day to see how long movies really are?!). Two of our favorite easy family movie night meals are breakfast burritos and nachos. No recipes, surely you can make those!

What do you eat for a fun family meal? And what 5 movies did you pick to keep?

shhhh, don't tell Mom!

Since Mom is unavailable I've hijacked the blog I'm going to do a guest post for dessert.
I've decided to keep with the chocolate theme this Friday.
This recipe is perfect for when you need, I mean need, chocolate cake, but you don't want to make a whole cake that you would have to share. So make a mini chocolate cake, in a mug. (I found the recipe on a blog, but I didn't write it down unfortunately....)

Emergency Chocolate Cake
2 Tbs cake (or regular) flour
2 Tbs sugar
2 rounded tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 Tbs mil
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
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Coat inside of a mug with nonstick cooking spray. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Add chocolate chips of nuts if desired. Microwave for 1 minute.
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It's easy and quick. And it's chocolate, which covers a multitude of sins ;)
Enjoy your Friday!!

written by daughter #2- R

Brownies and Fridays!

Can you believe it is Friday again?  I have to say that this week has flown by!  So for your family night here's a little treat to mix up!  Love this recipe from my dear friend Arlana at  http://holdingthefortress.blogspot.com/ because you can store the extra mix in freezer bags, ready to pull out for a last minute chocolate fix!  (just a little trick she taught me...take a peek at her blog...she is amazing!)

Mrs. Arlana's Brownie Mix

6 c flour (we use our own ground whole wheat and it is still delicious!)
8 c sugar (we use honey granules, still delicious!)
1 8oz cocoa
2 cup shortening (whole wheat off sets this, I am sure!)
4 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder

Blend dry ingredients, cut in shortening and store in freezer in 2 1/2 cup measurements.
To make brownies, just combine:
2 1/2 cup mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c water

Mix it all together, bake at 350 for 30 minutes in greased 8x8.  We write the measurements of the eggs, water and vanilla on the outside of each baggie so it is super easy to mix up without looking for the recipe.  Hey, when you are in the mood for chocolate who has time to find a recipe?  Just saying!

Enjoy and Happy Family Friday!

Fridays

So...about Fridays...
There was a sweet season in our lives in which we were able to spend a lot of time with some very close friends of ours.  To maximize our time together we began getting together on Fridays for the "fun" part of school.   You know...science experiments, art, music lessons and such.  Each week one of us made muffins for the two families for breakfast and the other made soup to share for lunch.  The kids loved it and it became our Fun Friday...the time of our week that we all talked about and looked forward to.  (yes, we are homeschoolers, remember.) And then it happened... in the words of my children (because my words would be much different, as are my memories of this event!)  "We get together like every Fun Friday and the moms announce that today we are all getting flu shots!  Some fun that is."  In my defense, I vaguely remember it sounding like a good idea at the time.  Fast forward almost four years...
We still do a lighter load of school on most Fridays and it is still a day we look forward to, though now just as the 6 of us.  The name has even changed to Family Night since, according to the kiddos, I ruined Fun Fridays for them.  We usually gather in the living room for a "fun" dinner...getting the theme here? and then watch a family movie.  (a post to come on that subject some day!)   Sometimes friends or family join us, but most of the time it is just us, reconnecting after a busy week, doing devotions and enjoying the quiet time together....making memories.
So tell me, what fun has your family had together lately?

Psalm 133:1  How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!