How to Train Your Dragon 2 Movie & Toothless Cookie Pops Review July 21, 2014

Hello dear ones! Michael and I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2, a couple of weeks ago. I made these cookie pops inspired by Fiction Food’s blog.

http://www.fiction-food.com/2014/06/toothless-cookie-pops-for-how-to-train.html

I didn’t use jelly beans or lime tootsie rolls though.  I used mint M&M’s for the eyes and chocolate almond bark.  It would’ve been better for me to have used vanilla almond bark because I had to add an insane amount of black dye to get the right color. Brown plus black dye equals purplish. The dye stained Michael’s tongue and fingers.  Chris said they look like Gollum. Anywho, I tried.

Now, onto the movie. It’s been forever since I’ve done a movie review. Let’s see if I remember how.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 was a great movie in my book. It’s a little intense  for a kid’s movie. I rate it as being more intense than The Lion King, ya know, when Simba see’s his father die. I don’t want to give anything away but there is a wicked twist that’s just wrong. How to Train Your Dragon was never a movie about marshamallow hugs and rainbows in the first place. Still, I didn’t expect the movie to get so intense. I may have teared up a bit.

What I like about the HTTYD movies is how they explore family relationships. In the first movie, we see Hiccup develop a better relationship with his dad. In the second movie, Hiccup meets his mom. My favorite part is when Hiccup’s Mom and Dad get back together. They totally could’ve had Hiccup’s Mom declare her independence and stay in her own little world. Instead she chose to return to her family and that was beautiful. She was willing to love again.

If you have concerns about dating relationships, well Hiccup does share a kiss with Astrid. It’s pretty clear that everyone expects the two to get married. Also, the twin girl, Ruffnut,  has some youthful lust issues. It’s supposed to be funny but it really annoyed me. None of it was a deal breaker for me though. It’s just an opportunity for discussion.

Ultimately, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is about friendship and forgiveness. Sometimes love is hard. Sometimes the people you love the most, hurt you the most. You have a choice. Become bitter or forgive and let love empower you. Hiccup faces several challenges as he journies into manhood. I think he handles them well and overall, is a good role model for boys. Plus, Toothless is just adorable. Enough said, four stars :).

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Weekend Special: Creative Parenting, Man of Steel, & Virtual Oceans June 30, 2013

In this post: A weekend combo of Virtual Friday, Media Saturday, & My Family Rocks! Sunday. Come visit virtual oceans with me as a mermaid in Second Life. I’ll review the new movie Man of Steel. Also, Lisa Whelchel’s book “Creative Correction” and how it’s helping us.

Hello dear ones! I hope you are well. I know my posts have been few lately. I ask for your prayers. Many of you know that I found out I don’t have Ehlers Danlos (what my Daddy had). I have found out that something I do have, Endometriosis, can actually cause a lot of the symptoms I’m experiencing. The more it grows the worse I feel and mine can’t be lasered out because of where it is.

I don’t like or trust most main stream meds. So I’ve started taking a natural progesterone cream that’s supposed to help shrink things. I can tell it’s doing something because of my fake pregnancy symptoms. It’s worth it to shrink the endo. though. I’m just even more fatigued than usual. I’m just having a hard time putting one foot in front of the other. So please keep me in your prayers and also about the inflammation in my joints (mainly my fingers). That’s been particularly bothersome lately and I hate feeling limited & weak (a pride thing I guess).

Now moving on, below is a pic of my yard in Second Life. My avatar got a new hairdo and clothes. But we will get back to Second Life later. First, I want to share this awesome devotional I’m doing.

Some of you may remember Lisa Whelchel from “The Facts of Life”.  Anywho, she’s now a homeschool mom and housewife. She wrote this great devotional called “Creative Correction”. I’ve been writing a lot about parenting lately. Michael is in a new stage which I’ve found seems to happen at age seven. So it’s not unusual that we are having new challenges with him and because of that our parenting methods have to change with the stage. I am all about heart based parenting. I don’t want my kiddo to look good on the outside but be a mess inside. I want to help him develop character by pointing him to Christ. That’s harder than it seems because I have my own failings and often I feel I am exhibit A of how not to act. I’m often asking for Michael’s forgiveness. If Michael sees anything in my life of value I guess it’ll be that God is merciful to me and that I do have a repentant heart. I am trying.

So I’m on this journey to learn how the Heavenly Father parents and how that translates to human parenting cause obviously I’m not God and I’m not allowed to make some of the parenting choices he makes. The whole “I brought you into this world so I can take you out” thing only applies to God lol. And I’m very thankful that stoning is not permitted under the new covenant. Though the New Covenant story of Ananias and Sapphira brings chills to me.

“Creative Correction” is a great resource for this adventure I’m on. Lisa points to God’s word and helps us see how the Heavenly Father parents. She also gives several tools parents can use ranging from scripture to activities and parables. The pictures below show an object lesson from the book.

You need several big stones (or in our case pecans), rice, and a jar.

First, Michael filled the jar with rice and tried to fit the pecans on top. He wasn’t able to fit all of the pecans.

Then he filled the jar with pecans first and they all fit. He was able to pour most of the rice. The lesson is that when we put the big things first (like spending time with Jesus, school work, and chores), we are able to fit the little things in too (like video games and t.v. etc). But if we put all our time into the little things that don’t matter much we usually don’t have time to finish the important things. Also it’s a message to put God first and how he helps us order our day. This can also be an object lesson for money and spending.

These object lessons and parables are so much easier than harping on issues over and over again. When Michael is being negative I just say “look for the pony, son“. That comes from the story of the optimist and his brother the pessimist. The pessimist gets toys for his birthday and sits around and complains about having to read instructions and get batteries. The optimist gets horse poo and dances around because he knows with all that poo a pony has to be around somewhere.

Lisa lists several scriptures that I haven’t thought to use before. I can vouch that scripture really works. Slowly but surely I’m seeing how the repentance corner is affecting Michael. He used to say “I can’t change” all the time. Now he’s been saying “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13 KJV). It is a slow process but focusing on the inward man takes time. It’s all about looking at the big picture…not just wanting outward obedience in the moment.    I am learning a lot about how God parents me as well. I find I have some of the same struggles that Michael does but on a deeper level.

Wondering what the repentance corner is? Read this post: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/my-family-rocks-sunday-redneck-drive-in-repentance-corner-summer-fashion/

Anywho, if you get a chance I encourage you to check out Lisa’s book. It comes with video sessions as well but I didn’t buy them.

• Media review for Man of Steel

(By Eva Rinaldi  Uploaded by MyCanon (Man Of Steel Cast) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons )

The fellas and I saw “Man of Steel” for Father’s Day. My first impression is “amazing! Stinkin’ awesome!” But the adrenaline rush is gone and now I can give a somewhat decent review.

Positives: Super Man has great character. He makes a hard choice in the end that has some long time fans disappointed but I feel he had no choice. I won’t spoil it for you.  Clark Kent’s adoptive parents are very loving and his Dad makes a great sacrifice for his son. There’s also this wonderful message about how to deal with bullying and being a bigger man. There is nothing sexual in the movie unless you count a guy making inappropriate remarks to a waitress (which Super Man defends the lady). Super Man isn’t perfect and has weaknesses so he is not godlike (something that I worried about).  Lois Lane and Clark Kent both make hard decisions and side with their morals over their fears and pressure from others. So when it comes down to it, Super Man puts all the other super heroes to shame when it comes to integrity and goodness. I would much rather my son emulate Super Man than Iron Man or Spider Man.

On that note, if you’re one of my readers then you know I believe media can be used as a teaching tool. I believe parents should talk to their kids about what they watch and listen to. We can shape the messages they receive subconsciously from media. So though I think Super Man is a better hero I want my son to ultimately try to be Christ-like. So we did have a talk about how Jesus is real and He is like the biggest super hero because He is God and He is perfect. Michael and I talked about the differences between Super Man and Jesus.

Negatives: The action scenes are super intense and in my opinion too intense for most kids (especially littles). My son is probably too used to action scenes (from Avengers and Lord of the Rings etc). So it didn’t bother him at all. When he was younger we used to watch the old Star Trek series as a family. Man of Steel was one big adrenaline rush and from the previews/commercials to the action scenes it was all about testosterone. LOL It’s definitely a man’s movie though obviously women can enjoy it as well. The villain is very dark and doesn’t care if he wipes out the human race. So there is violence and lots of it. Also there are probably a couple of curse words sprinkled here and there. I honestly can’t remember any of them but you can check out pluggedin.com and read a detailed review.

In conclusion, Man of Steel is a great movie but I’d keep the littles home until they are mature enough to handle the intensity and the thematic elements (like genocide). Upper elementary and middle schoolers should be fine and I’d recommend this movie above the other action movies this Summer.

• Mermaid exploration in the virtual ocean of Second Life

 So I decided to become a mermaid and show you some great underwater worlds in Second Life. It was extremely difficult to find a modest mermaid outfit. The one I’m (my avatar lol) wearing actually doesn’t have a tail. It just has pants so I used a different tail. The sand skirt and the scaly top is very modest. So the combo works for a modest mermaid. Now I can’t guarantee that these sims will always be family friendly and that everyone will dress modest. Heck…even The Little Mermaid isn’t modest. But for the most part I ran into few merpeople and the ocean bed was pretty secluded.

Here’s my hat with little baby mermaids and sea shells. I’ve got a scaly tattoo on my face. Most little girls like to pretend to be mermaids in the pool and this grown up little girl is no different ;).

You can see the great seahorse necklace if you click on the pic below.

• Cave Rua Water Gardens

Visit Rua (160, 202, 11)

This is a small place to swim but there’s a good bit of plant life and some interesting statues.

• Safe Water Foundation: Mermaids of Phantasien

Visit Mermaids of Phantasien (122, 126, 3)

Now this is a great place to swim but you will probably run into more merpeople here. That can be a good thing if you’re looking to reach out to others but if you’re trying to avoid seeing immodest dress and role play that involves Greek/Roman mythology then it’s best to proceed with caution. There is a calendar with a list of events so you can choose the best time to explore.

The Safe Water Foundation supports merpeople and underwater life in Second Life. I’m not sure what they are safe from though….virtual pirates? The Phantasien area has a neat underwater play area. There’s lots to explore here.

Like ruins and shipwrecks…

Here’s a nifty castle that someone lives in. You have to message them to get a tour. It has an octopus garden by it.

The colors and the realistic sea life are just breath taking.

Bernie’s Hideaway is a cute underwater club. You can sit at the table and talk with merfriends…or in my case, fish.

You can dance in the big blue. The dances are made especially for mermaids and were very fun. You may wonder how virtual dancing can be fun…well it’s never been hard for me to put myself in a character’s place….whether I’m reading a book, watching a movie, acting in a play, playing video games, or exploring virtual worlds. You should ask my Hubby how seriously I take Nancy Drew games. I MUST solve the mystery! Role players won’t find it hard to pretend.

I love this pic. I just want to start singing Disney’s The Little Mermaid. “Up where they walk…up where they run…” Yes Mom, I still pretend to be Ariel.

Part of your world!!!!!!!!!!

Anywho, I’m done ;P. So I hope to have more underwater worlds to show you next time and I’ve found more educational places to visit. I only get on Second Life a couple of times a month. I hope no one’s shocked. I don’t spend all my time in the virtual world. I have school to teach and a house to clean… a bunch of crazy animals to take care of (I mean the cat and such…not Chris and Michael he he he 😛 jk honey….testing to see if you actually read my blog lol.)

So maybe I’ll get the time to do massive exploration one day. 

I hope the reviews etc have helped or entertained. God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

PS: I love getting sweet comments. It means so much to me. If you have resources that you want to share or just want to say hi and chat…please drop me a comment. 🙂