Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Math House Games... Review and Give Away!

Yea!  Another review and give away!!  This time it is a unique set of math game cards to help your child gain the concepts and practice of math.  This set of games is in three stages:  1) Quantity, 2) Numeration and 3) Operations.  Each stage has between five and ten cards with games to gradually cement the concept.  The cards are on a ring and very sturdy.  They sell for $23.95 and that includes shipping.



These are very attractive cards and when I had them sitting out at the table AJ grabbed and read them for about half an hour.  He is probably past most of the games but he had fun reading them including some of the myths and reality cards that were at the beginning of the deck.

The ring set up for the cards is very nice.  You can pull out a card or flip them so the card you are working on is in front.  They are easy enough to wipe off should they get messy.  You can read quite a bit about them here and below is a snippet from that page.


The Carlito C. Caterpillar’s Sensory Math Teaching System is the outgrowth of years of research and development. It utilizes the natural way children learn.
Games and play are the learning media for young children. Early childhood development professionals note that young children are most open to learning when they play. Thus, we have created activities and games for parents to play with their children. The material is presented in 3stages, with a total of 20steps and 2 games in each step covering quantity, numeration, and operations.
The games are designed to build upon the knowledge young children already possess. Only when a child fully understands a concept, will you increase the complexity, such as reversing the roles of the players and designating the child as the leader.
If you focus on maintaining an environment of play, the child will experience the learning as an active participant rather than a passive spectator.





The website has some fun extras.  You can print out certificates when your child finishes a level.  They of course have a facebook page.  Some of these games you have heard of elsewhere but what I like about this deck/book is that it is developmental, it is all in one place and they are 'kid friendly' in that they can take the cards themselves and use them.  Many kids lose the love of math because it involves sitting at the table and doing worksheets.  With this it is all about the games..and not just 'card games' that most people think of.  It is using every day objects to teach the lesson.  You could even keep these in the car with a Ziploc full of some of the manipulatives to have with you if you get stuck somewhere.

Even the very first game was something AJ and I could do now, even though he is 11.  (Some of the games would be for younger.)  It was Alike It or Not.  It involves gathering objects that are alike and then having a child determine which is different.  I decided to do an 'older' version.


These happened to be four items sitting in front of me.  A cordless mouse, a flip phone, a cup and a pen. I have to tell you that my son is WAY more creative than I am.  Here was his assessment.  The phone and mouse are electronic.  Three of them are silver.  There are two things that they ALL have in common that he came up with.  1) They are all made of plastic and 2) They are all household items.  I would have scratched my head to come up with one thing in common and that exercise took all of 60 seconds.  I am not saying that I would necessarily purchase this for an older child but if you have varying  math levels in the house you could certainly think about using it for the older.  Even though we are above 'pre-math' it helps to go back to basics and see how the thinking skills are working.

Once again there is a cool contest courtesy of the folks at Propeller and you can win your set of these cards. You may enter up to four times.  Please leave a comment HERE (not on FB) to be counted in the drawing.   (I use random.org and just count up the number of comments and ask for a random number.)  I'm going to run this until October 7, 2011.

1) leave a comment HERE that you subscribe here or on FB
2) facebook this post (and leave an additional comment)
3) re-blog this post (and leave an additional comment)
4) tweet this post (and leave an additional comment)



Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Livin' Large....

Big doin's tomorrow.  90th birthday party.  I dug out a two tier serving piece I had hidden away in the basement to help serve the mini muffins.  My sister in law has worked her buttocks off for this party.  And I can't wait.  AJ took one look at this on the counter and said....




WOW!!!!  

He has a lot of words to say but he was totally blown away by my glass tray that my Grandma gave us for a wedding present.  So WHY do we keep this stuff tucked away in the basement?!  I am going to bake next week and put the goodies out on the tray.  I am going to see what else I have hidden in the depths of my cupboards.  I was just eyeing two crystal bowls on the high shelf of the kitchen because.."I never use them."  Well next week I shall!

Get out the good stuff folks and party down!  You don't have to wait for a 90th birthday party to do so!

WonderMaps CD Review

I was given the opportunity from Timberdoodle to review WonderMaps by Bright Ideas Press.


This is a unique mapping 'program' / CD where you build what you want in your map in layers and can print off specifically what you are studying.  WonderMaps works with both a PC or a Mac and requires Adobe Flash Player 9.1.  (I had to load Adobe on my MacBook to use this because I use another reader.)

First the nuts and bolts:


WonderMaps is designed with easy-to-use layers that allow you to enjoy great customizable features with just a click. Select:

  • historical or modern-day maps
  • outline, reference, political, or topographical maps
  • black-and-white or color maps
  • features including:  names, borders, rivers, cities, physical features, and graticules
WonderMaps includes:
  • 60+ maps of the world
  • 60+ maps of the USA
  • 125 historical maps, including 25 biblical maps
  • The complete map sets from The Mystery of History vols. I–III and All American History vols. I & II


So how does this work?  Our first foray into the program didn't go so great.  For schooling here we are 'set' with our math program and everything else kind of just follows depending on our interests.  I had decided a few weeks ago to start Veritas Biblical history.  We were reading the Bible, and AJ wanted to know where the Garden of Eden would be located.  When you go into WonderMaps you can choose from four sections...The World, US, Historical and Thematic maps.




I did check the Bible section but that does not start until The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 so I hopped over to world regions and found the correct map.  The nice thing about this program is that you can declutter your map to include just what you want..rivers, states, capitols.  But, I never did find Iraq.  For some reason those countries are not labeled on the map.  Perhaps it is because they are war torn and there is no way to know exactly what the foundations look like.

As I mentioned, sometimes we go with the wind on what we will study.  AJ saw "World Wars" and wanted to take a peek.  This is one of the choices underneath the Thematic section.  This is a great section that shows the lay of the land at various points in history.

I decided to just keep it simple from this stage and to have AJ identify the places he has been.  As fans know, we went on quite a trip this summer.  Just for fun I will include a few fun pics.





AJ is not one to fill out a worksheet but because we had been to these places he found a connection and gladly looked at a map (without the states) to try and fill in the blank.





You can watch a six minute tutorial to see more about it here.




And you can see other reviews by going here.   This sells for $44.95 on Timberdoodle.  It is a unique CD and I have never seen anything else like it anywhere.  It takes some getting used to but it can be used throughout your children's education.

A few final words.  Timberdoodle, if you are not aware, has many items that many homeschoolers and 'brick and mortar' schoolers could use.  They also have a homeschool specific catalog both online or in print.  (I am betting many 'after-schoolers' would like this as well.)  Of course they have a facebook page!  I have spent just a few dollars with Timberdoodle.

Enjoy!


I receieved a copy of WonderMaps as part of the Timberdoodle review team in exchange for my honest review

And the winner is!

The winner of the Jeremy Riddle CD is comment number 5 nickandkatherine.


The winner of The Shinning is ALSO nickandkatherine.  They also won last time!  They are certainly very blessed people!  (I prayed during this drawing that the right person would win...  so this will be a true blessing to them!)


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Giving the Credit to God... Big Shouts of God.... routines

I have been posting so many reviews and I wanted to just post a bit more about US!

Last night AJ went to bed post tantrum because he did not eat chips yesterday.  Somewhere in the recent past he decided that he HAD to eat chips EVERY day.  And he ALWAYS has to eat chips in front of the TV.  I could see this habit starting but when I see it, it usually is already a habit.  ie: Too late.  And by habit I mean compulsion/obsession.  It wasn't like he was trying to 'get' chips at 11 pm.  He NEEDED chips at 11 pm.  We actually got through the night without chips.



So the first thing I was going to talk about was routines.  In schools they have routines.  Routines are good...right?  Except when they don't go according to plan, which, lets face it, is about 80% of the time.  Yet routines and schedules can help the day flow better.  I struggle with that.  When we go willy nilly so little gets done.  Yet if I have a plan for the day and show it to AJ, then we MUST work the plan.  That is OK for most but when I  say MUST..I mean 100%.     I have lots of ways around this and I will share those in another post.

So fast forward to a few minutes ago.  I told AJ that we were going to leave in an hour and that he could watch TV..and...have chips.  As he was down in the basement grabbing a bag of chips (thank you Grandma for our steady supply of small chip bags from Sams club).. he says, "I don't think I need chips every day."  and THEN... "Did God give me the strength to say that?"

I just love that on so many levels.  First he was giving the credit to God.  Second he was leaning on God.  And his heart is right with God.  And he is LISTENING.   I just heart my kid...and I heart God.  He is good.  All the time.

The other thing that is important is that he SPOKE this and his ears heard it.  His natural/mechanical ear (cochlear implant) and his heart ears.  I think speaking is important.  Speaking...out loud.  I have been listening to various preachers and they are all saying the same thing (or at least that is what I am hearing).  You must say it out loud.  (The teachers I am listening to include Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer and John Paul Jackson..to name just three.)

Faith and fear are opposite sides of the same thing.  Faith is believing that something good will happen.  Fear is believing something bad will happen.  So why choose the fear side?  And when we say things OUT LOUD it penetrates and it builds our faith.  We can listen to uplifting things but I heard Joyce say recently that we believe what we say ourselves out loud more than anything anyone else says.  I just said out loud, "I'm tired."  Well I am and I am not going to say, "I am awake and alert."  But I COULD say, "God gives me the strength I need today and in Him I can do the next thing with peace and joy."  AJ  spoke it out loud regarding the chips and it gave more power to it!  I could then also hear it and affirm it. We don't need to lie to God (as if that is possible) but we can choose to direct our thoughts and words toward a positive end and let faith take over.

It is a process....


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Jeremy Riddle's FURIOUS CD.... review and give-away

Did I tell you?  I am loving this new review gig.  I think I mentioned that before.  It is great to have something that is 'all for me.'  This time it is a new fabulous CD from Jeremy Riddle called Furious.  I have only listened a few times and already the title track is in my head.  Great uplifting worship music.  This is the type of stuff where I could put on my headphones and listen all day long!



First about Jeremy... I had never heard of him before  so if you want to know more about him you can go to his bio here.  His heart is worship and  I 'heart' worship music.  His title track, Furious, really speaks to where I am right now... knowing (or maybe not knowing) how deep and wide is the love of Christ.  The lyrics to the chorus in Furious are:


His love is deep, His love is wide
And it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It is furious


Furious... I LOVE THAT.  His love is FURIOUS.  For giggles I looked up the word in Webster.


(1) : exhibiting or goaded by anger (2) : indicative of or proceeding from angerb : giving a stormy or turbulent appearance <furious bursts of flame>c : marked by noise, excitement, activity, or rapidity


It does give a word picture doesn't it?

Here is a video on his making of the album Furious.


Furious (New Album from Jeremy Riddle) from Vineyard Resources on Vimeo.



I loved the first song also, Fall Afresh and the entire CD displays the how good God is.   Here is the track listing:


1. Fall Afresh
2. Furious
3. Love Came Down
4. One Thing Remains
5. Acquitted
6. You Are Good
7. Walk In The Promise
8. One Thirst
9. Glory To The Lamb
10. The Lord Is My Shepherd
11. Here
12. Always 

So you must at least take a listen to samples.  You can go to the Vineyard Music website and on the bottom scroll to the Jeremy Riddle page.  You can listen to bits of the songs.  You can find him on facebook and twitter.

So yes I would recommend... however.. again.. the folks at Propeller and/or the companies producing these are offering a give-away!  So before you buy....  ENTER to Win.  How?

You can enter up to four times.  The contest will end September 23, 2011.

1) leave a comment HERE that you subscribe here or on FB
2) facebook this post (and leave an additional comment)
3) re-blog this post (and leave an additional comment)
4) tweet this post (and leave an additional comment)

Please leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner! 




Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The Shunning.... A review and ANOTHER give-away

Oh man!  What a GREAT movie!  I was given the opportunity to review The Shunning which is based off the Beverly Lewis book by the same name.  I had no girlfriends to watch this one with but I popped it in my computer and put on the headphones.


I hesitate to give away the plot.  The title basically says what happens.  A young woman is shunned from her community.  How she gets there, the plot and the acting are genuine and keep you on the edge of your seat.   I really felt for the main character, Katie Lapp as she struggled with who God made her to be and what her community demanded from it's members.   Honestly, although I don't know if this is close to what Amish life is really like, I do know that it is a struggle for many Christians.  There are man made rules and God's grace.  I mean no disrespect to the Amish when I say this but I wonder how  many of us have been shunned by those in the Christian community or outside for one reason or another.     I guess I hope I give grace and get it as much as possible.  And some characters do that in The Shunning as well.  It was a wonderful film full of struggles that I think we all have to some degree if not by the name of shunned.

The acting was wonderful.  I do not know any Amish people to compare to but I thought the accents were real.  The movie is clean and family oriented although the topic would be somewhat heady for younger folks.  It is rated G and closed captioned.

If you want to know more about the plot, the actors or other details you can of course go to all the usual places.
Facebook
Website

Here is the trailer:




Ok for the downside.. at the end, I wanted moooorrreee!!  What happens next?  There were several unanswered questions.  I thought there HAS to be a sequel!  And yes indeed...  there is..in book form.  Although I received this DVD free of charge for my review, I will be buying the entire trilogy of these books.  I actually think I just gave away a few of her books that my neighbor gave me because I thought I'd never get to them.  Guess I will have to buy them for the Kindle.   I do hope they make a sequel to the movie as well.

As for the contest.  You can enter up to four times.  Please leave a comment for each one and a way for me to contact you should you be the winner.  The contest will end September 23, 2011.




1) leave a comment that you subscribe here or on FB and please tell me your favorite family film.  
2) facebook this post (and leave an additional comment)
3) re-blog this post (and leave an additional comment)
4) tweet this post (and leave an additional comment)




Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

And the other winner is...

I forgot that I had the opportunity to give away TWO THEO dvds.  The winner of the second one is Valerie! Congrats.  Again I did a random number via random.org.

And the Winner is...

The winner of the Ginny Owens cd is Lori.  The winner of Theo is NickandKatherine.  I do not have contact information for Nick and Katherine however so please contact me with your address.  Yes I did confirm that I can ship to the UK.  I used random.org to generate a numbered winner.  I will be having two give aways this week... Jeremy Riddle CD and The Shunning DVD so please enter to win!  (If Nick does not claim their prize within a week I will draw another winner.)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Ahhh... The possibilities



Well today I kept trying to drill and skill my kid in math.  He really does need it and it is time to do that; however, he also found his lego Star Wars watch he was given for Christmas.  We have worked for years on time.  The watch that he owns doesn't even have all the '5' markings on it.  But he knew exactly what time it was every time he looked.  But the fun part was that when he was counting down to the next minute he went, "YEA!!!  A new minute!"  5-4-3-2-1-0!  (He just did it again.)  Each minute brought new and fabulous opportunities!  How great is that!  You can drill and skill all day but a kid is going to get it when he gets it.  I wish I could look at each new minute that way.

And what was he looking forward to doing??  Going to the zoo?! no...  To the movies?? no... A playdate?  not that either...  He has wanted to clean the car for several days.  He says, "God has told us to clean the house and the car.  Everything but the basement."  I have to say that God has been telling me that too (although eventually I want to get to the basement.)





Only when you do RDI can you find the FUN in something like cleaning the car.  When you clean the car the 'RDI way' it is about the experience together.  Should we save or throw?  Does it need to be washed?  How long have these pennies been here anyway?  Do you think that we can try the taco sauce to clean those pennies?  (Well we only had ketchup on the car but we might try that too!)

We also took out his booster seat.  Perhaps we should have done that awhile ago but it kept him grounded but he was so excited.  We decided to take a drive (to get more ketchup packets) and while waiting in line at the drive through he says, "oh this is the life!"  I asked him for detail and he gave a rundown of a clean car, a new watch and no booster seat.  Sometimes it's the little things.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ginny Owens- Get In I'm Driving!..review and GIVE AWAY

I had the opportunity to review Ginny Owen's new CD called Get In I'm Driving.  I LOVE it.  Not only that but my husband, who does not generally listen to contemporary Christian music (or music in general)  said when he saw the album cover, "is that Ginny Owens?    I like her music."    I am guessing that this CD will be in the background more often than some others I have!  It is 'jazzy' and easy listening music but also great music to stick in your ears when you go for a walk.



As I was listening to the music I kept thinking...I like this song best.  And then I'd listen to the next song and that would be my favorite.  My first favorite is Daughter of Destiny.  At the beginning of the song she has two little ones singing the lyrics..so important to drill into our daughters how beautiful they are.  It is funny that I listened to this song right around the time I was sitting with some ladies at the coffee shop and we were talking how we were getting older.  I think I should buy this song for all of them.  Last summer we did a Bible study on how beautiful and captivating we are as women in the eyes of God.  The song is a great reminder.  You can go here to see the lyrics and listen to a promo of the song

My second favorite song..and really my favorite favorite song.. was Joined at the Heart.  I was listening while I was in the backyard watching my little guy swinging.  A few tears were shed.  Lovely song.  Yes it is my favorite. You can go to amazon to hear a sample of the song.

You can see more of Ginny's bio here and she also gives a video blog of how this album came about.  I have included it here as well.



Ginny's website has many 'behind the scene' journal entries which give you the story behind the music.

So where can you find Ginny?...  All the usual places:
Her Website
Facebook
Twitter ....and last but not least...
iTunes

HIGHLY recommend :)  Now before you rush off and buy it, wait one week and see if you WIN it here!!!  Contest runs through Friday September 16, 1022.  You can get an entry by:

1) leave a comment that you subscribe here or on FB
2) facebook this post (and leave an additional comment)
3) re-blog this post (and leave an additional comment)
4) tweet this post (and leave an additional comment)

Please leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner!





Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."


Friday, September 9, 2011

Theo Presents- Review and Giveaway! (And they are CAPTIONED!)

I received a promotion copy of Theo which is a new anamation series that guides children and adults through a careful study of systematic theology.  There are many Christian cartoons to choose from but this takes a much more systematic approach to teaching theology (get it..Theo..) so that it can be accessed more throughly by children.



What I received in the promo package was the Good News Episode and one episode from Foundations of Faith.  All of the DVDs can be found on their website here.   As I was watching I was thinking, gee I would love to have a curriculum to go along with this.  Low and behold, when I looked at the website that is what is included.  It is $39.99 for a four episode dvd as well as a written curriculum.  The episode that I watched was 10 minutes long and there are four on the dvd.  The curriculum will come as a ROM portion of the dvd.  I was able to play the dvd on my computer.  You can watch the Good News Episode here! It is also on the dvds.


Theo - Good News from Theo Presents on Vimeo.

And YEA they are captioned!  The boo is that the promo is not captioned.  I was going to just watch it myself but decided to let AJ take a gander at it.  He did not catch everything and to use this as a teaching tool for him I would probably need it captioned; however, when Theo asked, "did you know God loves you?" AJ responded with, "yes I do!"  Heartwarming.  If he got nothing else that was enough for me that day.  (A little whisper from God.)  I did confirm SEVERAL times that they are captioned DVDs.

I begged AJ to give an video review but alas, he did not want to.  But he did give me a few thoughts on what he liked.  He loved what he called 'art work.'  This was certain parts of the cartoon that broke out into mini-cartoons.  (Hard to explain.  The upshot is that they present the material in a variety of visual ways.)  When I asked AJ if he wanted to watch a second episode he said, "yes please!"That is a sure sign that he liked it.  The one downfall is that he said they were too short.  He called them "nano-sodes."  I actually liked the 10 minute format.

I personally liked that there was a mix of cartoons yet 'old style' references.  For example, they made reference to hymns when Theo was walking through the hall singing Faith of our Fathers.  Although this was a cartoon, it wasn't all "action" cartoon.  There were actual 'teaching' times that I think caused AJ to slow down and think.  (For example, when Theo asked if you knew God loved you.)  There were other times when they inserted more cartoony moments.  It was a very nice blend.   I like that Theo was a real person trying to teach them vs. an cartoon character.  Both can serve a purpose but I found this format lovely

So where can you find Theo?  First there is the website and you can find samples of the curriculum here as well as coloring pages and parent pages which are very informative on the episodes.  They also have a facebook page.  And you can find them on Amazon or Lifeway.   They also have a FREE ap that you can find via their website.

Now for something REALLY cool.  They have a Buy 1 Give 1 Campaign.  For every Theo DVD purchased, Whitestone Media and Child Evangelism Fellowship® will send a child in need their very own copy of Theo.  You can log onto TheoPresents.com after making your own purchase, and select the region of the world you'd like another copy of Theo to be sent.

AND... You can win a free copy!  I have the opportunity to give away two dvds.  Keep in mind these might be the promo dvds (as they are sent from elsewhere) and may not be captioned.  If you are hearing impaired and win, let me know and I will see what I can do.  If you buy them they will be captioned.   Contest ends Friday September 16, 2011.  You can get an entry by:


1) subscribe and leave a comment.  (If you are my FB friend that counts since I post there. Or subscribe via GFC on sidebar.)
2) facebook this post (and leave an additional comment)
3) re-blog this post (and leave an additional comment)
4) tweet this post (and leave an additional comment)




I received one or more of the products or services 
mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I 
only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: 
"Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Planning...Schmanning....

Ah to be a new homeschooler again... Wide eyed... full of ideas...  Excited for the year to start.....




Alas I think I have hit the speed bump where we are going 5 MPH.

I debated on posting this because it does sound like a downer but as I was reflecting on where we have come from and where we are going, I see that it is a journey.  But we are in the 5 MPH zone right now..actually we have been there awhile so maybe we will find our way through soon.   I am learning to be OK with that.   I am finding not an excessive joy of the upcoming year.  Rather it is a resigned peace.

But my planning consisted of a big piece of cardboard and a sharpie.  I cordoned off six blocks.  Wrote various subjects in each one and sat in my "back room" full of books flipping through to see what we could do.   Here is the start of my "planner."  While sitting back there I was thinking about what a friend is planning to do for her own son.  She is going to write on notecards various things they do and then sort them into subjects later.  I might do that as well.




I know.. it isn't fancy.  But I am going to post it next to my desk.  Often I plan way to much.  This will focus me on a few good things.  And then we will add as we go along.  Perhaps I will show you along the way how I add to it, change it, modify it... I am a tweaker.  I love to tweak systems.  I rarely stick with them.

Perhaps when we round the corner it will be straight road at 70 MPH.



Thursday, September 1, 2011

Set the DVR...Family Movie Night!!

My previous post promised a review of the upcoming Family Movie Night upcoming show if I was afforded the opportunity...and I was!  Game Time: Tackling the Past did not disappoint.  It contains all the necessary drama and fun to please the whole family.   There is football, romance, drama and family angst.  It deals with the important topic of deciding what is most important in one's life.

The acting was great. (Yes I cried.)  The leading lady was Catherine Hicks...from Seventh Heaven fame.   Many times 'clean/family' films don't live up to my expectations in the talent and production department but this one did.

I have to say one of my favorite parts of the movie was the tunes!  I loved all the background music and may have to download a few 'i-tunes.'  My biggest problem in the movie was that I could not pause it (because I was watching it live in a virtual theater) so I will be recording it to watch a few choice scenes again.  And when is it you might ask?  Saturday night... 8 PM EST... NBC.  B there or B square.  Set the DVR.  Make some popcorn.

As for ages of who might watch the show, Andrew (age 10 and special needs) was there watching part of it but it was a bit over his head.  I am not giving anything away by mentioning there are scenes with dad in the hospital and some of that might be an emotional issue for some kids but they really do that part nicely and don't focus on that at all.  I only mention, because some folks have kids that might be especially sensitive to that.

Below you can find a synopsis of the movie.  I hope family movie night on NBC will become a regular feature.   Apparently you can pick these Family Movie Night features at Walmart but they sell out fast.  Watch and support!

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Game Time: Tackling the Past Synopsis:

Pro football star Jake Walker is living the dream… or so he thinks. The veteran tight end is a fan favorite and on pace to set the all-time receiving yards record that will guarantee him a spot in the Hall of Fame. While working out at training camp, Jake receives an unexpected call from his brother Dean – their father Frank has suffered a major heart attack. Jake immediately leaves practice and returns to Riverton, North Carolina, the small hometown he’s avoided for nearly 15 years. Memories of glory and regret flood his mind as he returns to the family and friends he abandoned in pursuit of his career. Jake dutifully visits with Frank and Dean, but hurt and misunderstanding from the past begins to resurface, leaving him counting the days until he can return to his team.

A second unexpected call, this time from his agent, delivers Jake another crushing blow. His contract is not being renewed amid concerns about his surgically repaired knee. Suddenly, the life Jake knows is over. To avoid the media circus around this news, Jake reluctantly decides to extend his stay in Riverton. Attempting to make the best of the situation, he begins reconnecting with the community that once revered him.    Jake is reintroduced to Sarah, his high school sweetheart, and helps Dean take over their father’s high school coaching job.

Surprisingly impacted by the people around him, the real Jake begins to emerge from behind his armor to see that life is much more than the accumulation of personal stats. But when Jake’s offered a lucrative new contract to play for another team, he is forced to decide whether to go back to the career he thought he loved, or stay in Riverton and embrace the people who always believed in him.



Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."


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