Shelby and I went to the IMAX theater to see Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D. We took pictures in our awesome 3D glasses where Shelby declared me "Geek of the week" in mine. I'm certain that is not a good thing. I know that all of you are on the edge of your seats while reading this waiting on my review of the movie. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook you have already gotten insight about the movie and my strong opinion of it. For those of you who haven't, here goes...
We all know that my family and I are huge Disney fans. I have been collecting Disney movies long before my children were even thought of. This movie was not your typical Disney movie. We've seen Mickey's portrayal of Marley in Mickey's Christmas Carol, as I'm sure you have. This movie is quite the opposite. It's a very dark and drab movie. Don't get me wrong, the special effects are out of this world!!! The snow fall seemed to be falling right on the tip of your nose as you looked through those very "geek of the weekish" 3D glasses. At one point I was cupping my hands in front of me as to catch the snow when I was informed by my 6 year old that the snow would melt as soon as it hit my hand, so there was no need. The movie begins with the death of Scrooge's business partner, Marley who later visits Scrooge as a ghost to inform him that he will be haunted by three ghosts. At one point, Marley's chin becomes unattached from his face leaving his mouth wide open. This was the time when Shelby informed me that she couldn't see (there was no one in front of her) and she needed to sit in my lap. I knew immediately that she was scared. After all, it creeped me out a bit. He was trying to hold his chin up with his hand so that he could talk, and it became a bit comical for a lot of adults in the audience but I heard several other children telling their mothers that they were scared.
Shortly after the visit from the first ghost, the next ghost who happened to be the ghost of Christmas' past came for his visit. This one was but a flame with a gown on who flew him around. This point in the movie contained some of the best 3D special effects when they flew over the town, but this ghost was a bit odd and sort of resembled the leprechaun from Lucky Charms. He only spoke in a whisper. He looked the most like Jim Carey than any other character in the movie (short of the young Ebeneezer) and he was just, well weird. There was a cool scene when Ebeneezer tried to extinguish him and it causes him to sail up into the air like a rocket on a candle snuffer. He flies up in front of the moon similar to the scene in E.T. The whole theater laughed at this one, myself included.
In the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present, one of the scariest scenes occurred. But, let me start out by saying that the laugh was really over the top. He laughed throughout most of his screen time and it was incessantly annoying. More cool special effects were brought to life when the floor of the house disappeared as they traveled over the city which made for a pretty cool feel in those 3D glasses. It felt like you were actually in the house with the two characters. Of course at this point in the movie, Ebeneezer finds out that if he continues down the path that he's been leading it will lead to the demise of little Timmy, Cratchett's son. We begin to see ole Scrooge's heart warm during these scenes and the tone of the movie starts to take a turn upward, but not much! Once the Ghost of Christmas Present finishes his presentation to Scrooge, he begins to disappear (which is also a very gruesome and graphic scene). But, not before we see a hand sticking out from under his long coat. It is then that we are introduced to two characters who were a total scare factor. Shelby and I both were a bit skiddish at this point in the movie. I won't go into details too much as to ruin the effect for those of you who might want to see this one. But, suffice it to say that it's just creepy!!!
The ghost of Christmas Future is none other than the Grim Reaper himself. We never see his face, only a long robe and bony fingers. His presence is known when Ebeneezer sees two black horses with red eyes pulling a carriage. They begin as a shadow on the wall and emerge from the shadows to scare the crap out of you. Yes, I admit that I jumped! This ensues a chase scene that seemed to last forever. Once again, more awesome special effects and at one point, Scrooge shrinks down smaller than a mouse. He sees his own dead body and more sadness and dreary scenes take place. He is called an ass by his nephew and forsees the future of the Cratchett family. At this point he begs the final ghost to get him back to his bed and promises that he is a changed man.
In the end, of course he is changed and the movie ends on a happy note, with the famous, "God Bless us, Everyone" line by Timmy but it takes a lot of darkness and death to get there. It's just not a movie that I would take my kids to see. Parents,
take heed the warning on the trailer that this movie "may not" be suitable for younger viewers. I will agree,
this movie is NOT suitable for younger viewers! If had seen the movie prior to taking my 6 year old, we would have waited for the next bit 3D release, maybe Alice in Wonderland?
If you have seen it, let me know what you thought of it. If not, has this review helped you to decide?
Scrooged in 3D
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/scrooged-in-3d.html
More puffy clouds from my visit to Memphis with my best friend, Becca. The skies here have been beautiful all week, but I've been so busy enjoying some outdoor time with the kids that the poor Canon has been locked inside it's carrying case all week. It has been so nice to not have to worry about trying to find health or
life insurance for my family (don't EVEN get me started on this!!!) and just enjoy some time with my two kiddos outdoors. The rain that we had for most of October gave us cabin fever in a bad way. We are trying to make up for lost time!!! How has your weather been this week?! More importantly, how have your skies looked? I can't wait to see them!!! Happy LATSOF, friends!
Looking at the Sky on Friday
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/looking-at-sky-on-friday.html
It's been a pretty easy week for us. The weather has been beautiful. It's so nice to not have rain in the forecast. It's been unseasonably warm so the kiddos have spent the afternoons in the yard raking the leaves up high and jumping inside. It's been nice that hubby and I could take time away from our netbooks and enjoy some time with the kiddos. Of course we still have mounds of Halloween candy from last weekend's trick-or-treating take, as evident on little Emily's face:
Today, I was in the laundry room which has two steps down from the house. Usually Emily will come to the door and I will help her down. She had been playing with the other two kids and must have heard me open the door so she came to the door and about the time I saw her and began to walk her way,
I saw her tumble out the doorway, down the brick steps and on to the concrete floor!!! Oh, I was terrified. She began to scream and I scooped her up into my arms and ran inside with her checking her for blood. All of her teeth were in tact. She didn't have any bones sticking out, and her head still looked symmetrical. I was still worried sick thinking that she might have some sort of concussion or hidden fracture. She didn't cry much, but you can definitely tell that she got into a fight with the concrete and the concrete won. She posed for me so that I could get this shot:
I am so glad that we did family pictures LAST weekend. My poor little baby girl...she is fine I suppose. She was back up and playing within minutes of her injury. Of course I feel horrible about it. I wonder if the eye will end up black. I hope not.
Chocolates and Concussions
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/chocolates-and-concussoios.html
Dona Nobis Pacem
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/dona-nobis-pacem.html
On Sunday we spent the afternoon with Tyler's pre-school teacher who also happens to be an amazing photographer. She was very patient and gave us her undivided attention for 4 hours. She gave us over 300 images to choose from. These are just a few of my favorites. 
Family Portraits
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/family-portraits.html
I took this photo in
Memphis. I thought that the red trolley would make an awesome shot for
Ruby Tuesday. I had a close up shot and then realized that it was stopped behind a red light, so I moved my focus out to the traffic lights and got two red stop lights, a red trolley car, the red recycle bin to the bottom left of the photo as well as the Orpheum sigh that seems a bit more orange in this photo than I thought it was when I snapped the shot. To see more
RED photos, visit Mary by clicking the graphic below.
Ruby Tuesday
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/ruby-tuesday.html
The kids had a wonderful night trick or treating. Since Emily was only a month old last Halloween she didn't do much
trick or treating. We got her out at a few houses of people we knew, but for the most part she was just along for the ride and she did a lot of sleeping. This year was quite the opposite! She was eager to be out and about. She was almost asleep at one point so we left her in the van with Brien's parents who were chauffeuring us around the neighborhood. She screamed the entire time. Somewhere along the way I must've snapped this picture of her. I don't remember getting it, but I think this photo right here sums up the whole night! Look at the excitement in her eyes.
This is the face of a happy girl. She enjoyed herself and thought it was so cool that we got to go to all of these people's houses and get candy in a bucket. The funny part was that when we went to the porches, she would sit down and put her bucket in between her legs. She was waiting paitiently for her sugary treat. After they placed it in her bucket she would peer over the top to see what she'd received. It was the cutest thing ever. Of course the older two had a wonderful time. They did the usual, fighting over who was going to ring the doorbell, running to the houses and then arguing over who got there first, etc. You know, typical brother and sister stuff. Tyler had a melt down at one point and had to sit with Dad in the van for a bit, but finally calmed down and
joined back in on the fun. I think this might have had something to do with the fact that he did not have a nap. The girls did and they were fine. Tyler, on the other hand was just too excited!
It seemed that there were less and less trick or treaters out and about and less porch lights on as well. I suppose that we live in different times now and
it's dangerous to be going door to door collecting candy from strangers. I did it as a kid and I can't imagine doing anything else with my children on Halloween night. They have so much fun. We always go to neighborhoods that we know and are familiar with. But, I guess you just never know. It's sad to think that in the near future
trick or treating might just be a thing of the past! What a shame. But for now, I'm reveling in the fun we had on Halloween night 2009. I leave you with a few (of the 82) photos that we snapped along the way. If you'd like to see more, you can click
this link to take you to my Facebook page where I have uploaded them.
We loved the "self-serve" candy bowls! Don't worry...we left a few. *wink*
Emily sitting down, waiting for an answer at the door.
Posing with the kiddos by this HUGE pumpkin!
The loot!
Now, I must find some
weight loss pills since I'm having candy for breakfast. Snickers with coffee, YUM!!
Breakfast Time - Snickers, Butterfinger, or Milky Way?!
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/11/breakfast-time-snickers-butterfinger-or.html
From our family to yours, we wish you a
Happy Halloween! We will be trick-or-treating tonight, hoping the weather is good. Tyler will be Bumblebee, the transformer. Emily and Shelby are both bats of some sort. Emiy has a purple/silver costume while Shelby's is pink/black. Being as Emily does NOT like long sleeves in the least bit, she's not a big fan of her costume. We are looking forward to some Halloween fun full of lots of treats and hopefully no tricks! Sunday, we're having family pictures taken. I am SO excited. :) It'll be our first family picture since Tyler was only four months old! Hopefully the kids and the weather will be cooperative! We might even drag Oscar the wiener dog along provided we bring some
pet supplements and treats to keep him happy.
Happy Halloween!
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/10/happy-halloween.html
This was the view of the sky last week at the
Memphis River Arts Festival. I spent the weekend there with my best friend of twenty years. We had an amazing time and the weather in Memphis was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a better time. I am so fortunate to have an awesome friend to spend time with and a caring husband who trusts us enough to
unleash me for a weekend.Civil Right's Museum. We did not visit the We did hang out on Beale Street, visited a Haunted house, and as I mentioned before visited the Memphis River Arts Festival. All in all it was an awesome weekend. I was glad to be able to take advantage of the beautiful day with my camera and snap some wonderful sky shots! I think that time and money permitting I would love to make this October trip an
annual vacation for the two of us. Maybe next year we can plan one of those
orlando vacations. So, what did you do last weekend? I'm looking forward to seeing some of your skies today since the rest of the week it's going to be bleak and dreary here. To find out why Looking at the Sky on Friday was created, click
here and here.For more information on LATSOF, click the graphic above.
Happy Friday, my friends!
Looking at the Sky on Friday
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/10/looking-at-sky-on-friday_29.html
We are a big fan of the faries in our house. Shelby's last birthday party was Tinker Bell themed! When we heard that Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure was coming to DVD Tuesday, October 27 we knew that we would be getting this one! This DVD did not disappoint. There are new characters introduced in this film. One of the great things about this movie and most
Disney movies is that they all tell a great story with a wonderful underlying message! This story tells a beautiful message of friendship and love. Before the fairies can bring autumn to the mainland, they must restore the moonstone. This year, The Tinkers' get to make autumn happen and restore the Pixie Dust Tree. Tinker Bell is is the lucky one to replace the scepter. Terence is a bit annoying and noisy and a little too helpful. The precious moonstone gets broken and she goes on a quest with Terence ( voiced by Jesse McCartney) and her new friend Blaze to find the magic mirror which grants you three wishes.
Bonus Features include: Fairy Bloopers: Fairies Make Mistakes Too, Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow: Explore the magical Guide Ths Time in the Autumn Area of Pixie Hollow, Pixie Preview: Exclusive Animated Vignette featuring Tink and her friends, Deleted scenes with filmmaker intros, Pixie Hollow comes to Florida: Discover how the filmmakers help transform Epcot Center into Pixie HollowThis one should be at the top of your to buy list. If you need more information on where to buy, you can always click over to the Disney site. The box art will take you there.
For more information on other Disney releases including upcoming releases click
here.
* I received a review copy of this DVD in exchange for my opinion of the movie. No other form of compensation has been received and the opinions stated above are my own. To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.
Now Available on Disney DVD
http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/2009/10/now-available-on-disney-dvd.html
Shelby and I went to the IMAX theater to see Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D. We took pictures in our awesome 3D glasses where Shelby declared me "Geek of the week" in mine. I'm certain that is not a good thing. I know that all of you are on the edge of your seats while reading this waiting on my review of the movie. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook you have already gotten insight about the movie and my strong opinion of it. For those of you who haven't, here goes...
Shortly after the visit from the first ghost, the next ghost who happened to be the ghost of Christmas' past came for his visit. This one was but a flame with a gown on who flew him around. This point in the movie contained some of the best 3D special effects when they flew over the town, but this ghost was a bit odd and sort of resembled the leprechaun from Lucky Charms. He only spoke in a whisper. He looked the most like Jim Carey than any other character in the movie (short of the young Ebeneezer) and he was just, well weird. There was a cool scene when Ebeneezer tried to extinguish him and it causes him to sail up into the air like a rocket on a candle snuffer. He flies up in front of the moon similar to the scene in E.T. The whole theater laughed at this one, myself included.
In the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present, one of the scariest scenes occurred. But, let me start out by saying that the laugh was really over the top. He laughed throughout most of his screen time and it was incessantly annoying. More cool special effects were brought to life when the floor of the house disappeared as they traveled over the city which made for a pretty cool feel in those 3D glasses. It felt like you were actually in the house with the two characters. Of course at this point in the movie, Ebeneezer finds out that if he continues down the path that he's been leading it will lead to the demise of little Timmy, Cratchett's son. We begin to see ole Scrooge's heart warm during these scenes and the tone of the movie starts to take a turn upward, but not much! Once the Ghost of Christmas Present finishes his presentation to Scrooge, he begins to disappear (which is also a very gruesome and graphic scene). But, not before we see a hand sticking out from under his long coat. It is then that we are introduced to two characters who were a total scare factor. Shelby and I both were a bit skiddish at this point in the movie. I won't go into details too much as to ruin the effect for those of you who might want to see this one. But, suffice it to say that it's just creepy!!!
