T is for Time Changer

One of my favorite Christian films ever is Time Changer.  I think I've mentioned it before.  The movie was released in 2002.  It takes place in the year 1890.  Well, sort of.  It starts out then, but a Biblical scholar, played by D. David Morin, is sent into the future by a colleague.  He soon learns that teaching children morals without teaching about Jesus Christ leads to terrible changes in the world as he knew it.  Even in the modern church, he is startled by the actions of members of the congregation.

The cast is actually pretty good (Gavin McLeod, Hal Linden, Jennifer O'Neill, and Paul Rodriguez), so the acting is better than a lot of older Christian films and TV shows.

I love time travel films and this was no exception.  I enjoy Christian films and this one did not let me down.  There are a lot of moments while Russell Carlisle is struggling to understand this future and all of the strange things he sees.  Some of it is pretty humorous.  Not "guffaw" funny, but humorous.

One of my favorite lines is “Satan is not against good morals, he’s against Jesus Christ.”



Anyway, it's a film I enjoyed and every now and then, it reappears on Netflix and I watch it.  It's one of those movies that, once you see it a few times, you can do something else in the room and follow along without worrying that you've missed anything.

If you're looking for a more recent, low budget Christian flick, bring the time machine back to 2016 and watch The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.  We just watched that and I really enjoyed it.  Another predictable plot, but with some fun twists and great characters.

Drive Thru History® The Gospels ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

If you're familiar with Drive Thru History® courses (Ancient History, American History, or The Holy Land), I think you will really enjoy Drive Thru History® – “The Gospels”.  I had to laugh, when the day the DVDs arrived, Xav started the first disc.  He watched the intro for a moment and said, "Drive Thru History?  Where's his MINI Cooper?"  I have no idea if Dave Stotts drives a MINI in Ancient History.  I guess I don't pay attention to the "important" stuff.  I did note, however, that for this round Dave is apparently driving a 40 year old Land Rover.  You're welcome.  (Well, I'll be.  I just looked up a mini and found a review on Car and Driver for the Mini Cooper S that looks identical.)


Dave Stotts and Drive Thru History® make learning about the past more fun.  Seriously.  I have active boys.  They love the visual action, the quick and concise way Dave presents the information, and the neat graphics that appear on the screen with Stotts.  He even interacts with some of the "holograms," as my boys call them.  You are exposed to various texts, images, and pieces of art through these graphics.  History isn't  just about the dates, but also the action.  The punks love to hear or see the true stories that are connected.  It's a much richer history than the timeline, though that is also very important.

When I watched the trailer, I was so choked up.  I cry my eyes out every time I see a depiction of what my savior did for me.  I am so deeply humbled by that.  You can see the trailer and cry your eyes out, too.  You're welcome for that as well.

The Gospels: The Extraordinary Life of Jesus of Nazareth is a three DVD set with a hardcover booklet/case.  Each of the 18 episodes is nearly 30 minutes long and is broken down more into chapters.  The entire set explores the life and times of Jesus, using the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as outside historical information about the lives of rulers and the people at that time.

Disc 1 of the series begins with a quick and historical look at the time, people, and locations covered in the Gospel accounts and the importance of genealogies.  Jesus' birth and the beginning of his ministry is also covered here.

Disc 2 contains Jesus' miracles, The Sermon on the Mount, and His travels with the apostles.

In disc 3, Dave Stotts talks about Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, His trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.

I'm including a lot of photos this time, because the photography and cinematography are amazing.  Hope you don't mind!


There is a lot of really interesting extra-Biblical information that I think really expands on what the Bible tells us about Christ and the times he lived in.  For instance, in episode 4 we learn about King Herod and his Herodium, one of several of his palaces.  I knew very little about him beyond the Biblical account.  It's mind boggling to me what the wealthy rulers did to show their superiority over other people.

First, Herod had one mountain moved to the top of another mountain.  By hand.  Not his hand, of course.  Herod Antipas, who ruled during Jesus' ministry, had a large bath house with three temperatures in the various pools.  Herod's actual *pool* - in the middle of the desert - held nearly 3,000,000 (that's Million!) gallons of water.  In the desert.  Like his father, he had little regard for the lives of the people.  Whereas, Herod the Great ordered the murder of all sons under the age of two in an attempt to kill the King of the Jews, Antipas murdered John the Baptist as well as a number of prominent men, even family members, to keep his rule secure.





Not knowing how the crucifixion would be portrayed, I chose to watch episode 16, The Crucifixion of Jesus, without the boys.  I think the most dramatic portrayal of the crucifixion they have seen is from What's in the Bible?.

I've seen many graphic portrayals of the suffering of Christ, but rarely in drama is the entire process explained.  Drive Thru History® used art and some live action while explaining what crucifixion does to the human body.  At first, I thought how God must feel about his children who devise ways to torment their brothers and sisters.  My heart was breaking.  When Dave told of Christ on the cross crying, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!"  I lost it.  I just wept, that gut wrenching, cleansing weeping.  I am telling you this because I want you to know how incredibly moving this was.  This scene was not melodramatic.  It was just deeply moving.

sigh...  OK.  Take a minute if you need it...

The DVD set comes with a book built into the case.  Each video has a four page spread devoted solely to it.

• Title page, which lists a quote.  Most are Bible verses, but there are also quotes from the likes of Mother Teresa, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Harry Truman.
• Summary page with a short synopsis of the content.
• Five discussion questions and a list of the related Biblical readings.
• The Side Road which offers interesting tidbits about minted coins, the Garden of Gethsemane, and Passover, among other subjects.  This page also highlights art or photos from The Gospels episodes.

Following these four pages, another artwork or photograph from the series is featured as a two page spread.


Dave Stotts is often humorous, but never irreverent.  The videos can be many things, but are never boring.  This would make a nice homeschool curriculum or Sunday school or small group study.  One episode each week and the corresponding discussion questions and Bible reading, make an enjoyable and doable study for the target audience of middle school and up, but all ages will really enjoy this exciting look at Biblical history.  It would be an excellent choice for a Lenten study.

At the time of this writing, the first episode is available on the Drive Thru History® – “The Gospels” page.  Just click on the word "here" on that page.  No code is necessary. 

Find Drive Thru History® on social media.
Facebook 
YouTube
Instagram

FishFlix.com and My Son, My Savior DVD TOS Crew Review

Read to the end for a terrific giveaway from FishFlix.com!

FishFlix.com sent out a selection of Christian movies to The Schoolhouse Review Crew a few weeks ago.  We were able to watch a film called My Son, My Savior in exchange for an honest review.  FishFlix.com is an online Christian and family movie store.  You'll find a variety of documentaries, children's cartoons, holiday movies, educational and apologetics films, and the latest releases on DVD and blu-ray in their store.

FishFlix.com was started by Dr. Enis Sakirgil who wanted to teach Christians in the west about the Biblical history so abundant in his home country of Turkey.  He was involved in the making of a film Apostle Paul and the Early Churches which he sold online.  Eventually, he sold other Christian movies online as well.  FishFlix.com is based in Minnesota.

My Son, My Savior is a 42 minute film based on Jesus' life.  It's basically described as the Gospel from His mother Mary's point of view.  The acting and production are OK.  The movie is just like many other similar movies and *if you already own a movie of the entire Gospel,* I recommend you put your money into one of FishFlix.com's many other quality DVDs.  Bruce Marchiano has appeared in many Christian films, often as Jesus, whom he portrays here as well.  I really expected a lot more of the film to be based on speculation of Mary's feelings and experiences according to society at that time and based on the feelings most mothers do or might go through during her son's lifetime.  While this movie stuck close to Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth, life, and ministry, I think the film fell quite short of delving into what might have been happening with Mary.  There were only several brief moments where we heard Mary's thoughts about what was happening.  There was good continuity through that though.  The film began with Mary as a girl discussing the Passover lamb with her father and later, during Jesus' ministry, when someone mentioned John the Baptist referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God, you see (and hear) the wheels turning in Mary's head as the implication starts to become clear to her.  Later at the cross, she touches Jesus' feet and flashes back to touching his little infant toes.

What did the boys think of My Son, My Savior?

• Mal (and his sensory issues) - I liked the whisper parts, like bodies and when Mary spoke to her father about the lamb of God.  When I asked him what he meant by bodies, he said, "You know, 'This is my body broken for you...'"  I'm not sure why he called those whisper parts.  The movie isn't overly loud and I don't think those scenes were particularly quiet.  
• Xav - I did not like the cross part!  Or how Joseph ignored Mary when he found out she was having Jesus.  The angel was weird.

The My Son, My Savior DVD includes an extended version of about 55 minutes.   A Spanish version is also on the DVD.  Subtitles are available in English.

A four session study guide is available from VisionVideo.com.  It was a bit difficult to know exactly where to begin and end the video for each study which read, "[Watch “My Son, My Savior” – Chapter 2 – The Prince of Peace is Born]".  The DVD was not broken into chapter selections on the menu.  The study involves the four weekly chapters of the Bible study sessions, the small group leader and participant guides, and the Bible study lessons leader's guide.  The Bible study leader's guide *does* tell which scenes are covered in each of the four sessions, but you will have to fast forward to the point in the DVD to start each lesson.

Enter to win a five pack of Christian family films from FishFlix.com, which includes War Room, Owlegories, The Ultimate Gift, Superbook: A Giant Adventure, and My Son, My Savior.  You can find out what the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought of all of these movies and more at the "read more reviews" button below.

Find FishFlix.com on social media.
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Pinterest

THMJ Week of 3/16/14

Happy St. Patty's Day!

    In my life this week…
Spring came this week.  Couldn't tell it here.
I had a 36ish-hour tummy bug with fever.  Not a single other person got it.  And I'm glad.
We finally saw Frozen.
Fun mail arrived this week.  Even though I can read it free online, I'm so glad for a print yearbook.

    In our homeschool this week…
For some reason it became Circus Week at our house.  Xav mentioned wanting to go to a circus and he thought he could just walk in and perform with them.  He was very upset to find out you had to actually train to be a clown.  "Clown College?!  I don't want to go to school!"  So, we watched a real circus on TV and Xav and his stuffed animals put on several "humorous" *ahem* shows for us.

    What we're reading... 
Daddy is reading The Great Brain to us.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
Thought this screen shot from Frozen was hilarious!  But then, I am a boy mom.

What else?
Merrick sent Miss Cindy birthday wishes on her envelope.

Someone got a ticket (not me) for no inspection on a vehicle (mine).  In NY, the inspection sticker is in the lower left corner.  You see it every time you get in the car and the hole punch makes it perfectly obvious when it's due again.  In Vermont, the sticker is hidden behind the mirror.  Out of sight, out of mind.



Linking up at Christian Friday Fellowhip
Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
and The Homeschool Mother's Journal

THMJ week of 7/14/2013

In my life this week…
Let's see.  We had our first chicken escapee.  Luckily, she was the only escapee before we put them outside.  What an unbelievably cooperative captive she was too.  She just sat there, near the box, waiting to be put back in.  Thankfully, there was no Benny Hill chase music to spur her on.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was…

Pizza Planet trucks at Lowe's Build and Grow.

Followed by an evening at the drive-in to see Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.  Other than the mosquitoes, we really enjoyed that.  And no one got their vehicles stuck in the field like the week before.

I’m grateful for…
I guess I'm grateful for the rain, but golly, enough is enough now.  I had emptied the water table out and two evenings of rain filled it (and the yard) right back up!

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…

Crayola = Genius

Boxes of 8 crayons in the same hue.

We had a lot of chalk art in the driveway for a few weeks.  Every time it rains, they get to start from scratch.  

Mal has been into tug boats lately.

 Xav's family portrait.  

When Company Comes to Call

***This entry got lost in the shuffle at some point and never got posted.  So...  a couple of years go by...  I think it's because the pictures aren't on my laptop.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.***

I had some of my favorite girlies come to visit us for a long weekend recently. We had a blast, quite literally! ;)  OK, we let Dave join us. 

We took a trip to downtown Burlington (sans kiddos) where we wandered Church Street and saw a fun street performance of flaming hoop jumping. We wandered down to the lake and had a yummy lunch. We stopped at the Maple store and hooked Alonnie up with enough maple syrup to last a week or two. :D

Another night we watched the movie New in Town. It was predictable, but fun.

We also had lunch one day at Smuggler's Notch. Chef Boy R Dave prepared some of our food and briefly graced us with his presence.

I finally got to meet Lora's Carolyn.

Micah built us a sweat lodge (an igloo shaped sauna) that was fabulous! He did a great job. And after that, we came out and gorged ourselves on s'mores.

My Friend

When I dropped Mal at school yesterday, he announced "My name is Mal and this is my friend Mommy". I feel pretty good about that. :D

After he mooched me goodbye, he called, "have fun at the castle!" Paraphrasing one of my favorite movies! What a great kid!

Speaking of The Princess Bride, every time the boys watch WallE and I here Autopilot say "not possible", I imagine Vizzini saying "inconceivable". Cracks me up. I just can't seem to help it.

What You've All Been Waiting For

I bypassed the printer and was able to upload more pictures. These two were taken just before bedtime. Xav was helping daddy fix a sander or something.



























These three were last night. The boys were doing their usual "run around like maniacs until someone gets hurt and mommy puts and end to it" thing. The first one is Xav's face with the booboo on the forehead and cheek and the runny nose from crying. The miracle here is that I wasn't wearing that snot on my clothes!














Next is Mal mooching Xav's booboo all better, which is only fair since he was the cause of it.

















Then mommy wised up and got the floor mats out so they could flop around and fall at will and (hopefully) no one would get broken.

















Finally, just when I thought this was going to end up in a horrific battle of wills, Mal decided last night that maybe he would pull his pants down and sit on his potty! He never did take his diaper off, but I consider it a huge step. He must have pulled his pants down, sat on the potty, stood and pulled his pants back up about half a dozen times. Xavier had to do what Mal was doing, as usual. Only he was more than willing to take his diaper off. He can't pull his pants up and down by himself though. Neither one did any business on the potty, but this is a huge leap from the screaming and crying the mere suggestion of sitting on the potty used to bring.

















I have Potty Power to thank for this. We got the video from Grandma and Grandpa recently. They have been requesting it every night. It is silly and lame and a tiny bit annoying and they LOVE it! So my toddler mommy friends who are struggling with toilet training, I highly recommend it.

I had a date...

...with my very own husband! Shocker I know! The big brother and Cassie came over and watched movies and put the little guys to bed for us.

First we went to Chili's (mmmm... southwestern eggrolls!). I thought it would be packed, at least on the bar side, but there was hardly anyone there. It was nice to have some grown up (with M? HA!) conversation, but sometimes I had a hard time trying to think of something to say that wasn't about the boys.

Then we headed to the nearby theater to see Taken with Liam Neeson. It was great! There was one guy in the back that would crack us up. He was really enjoying the movie. If you like action films, go see this.

Lunch and a Movie

Yesterday we took the boys to a movie. But first, while Daddy put in his 1/2 day at work, the boys and I shopped and went out for lunch. We ate at Friendly's. While trying to teach them a few manners, I told Mal not to be quite so loud. He told me he needs to laugh. I said, "you can laugh, but you don't need to yell or laugh loudly." So Xavier sat there for two minutes loudly saying "LLLLOUD!" over and over.

We picked up a couple small trains at one store and while we got rung up, Mal asked the female cashier, "excuse me sir, may I have my new trains please?" We are working on the sir/ma'am distinction, but he still doesn't get it. *smile*

Finally, we went to see The Tale of Despereaux about an honorable gentlemanly little mouse. This was the first time the boys have been to the theater. They were really well behaved. Xavier was a little antsy, but sat on my lap most of the film or stood in front of me. Mal sat by Daddy and spoke a little loudly a few times, but really, they were great.