Movie Title: Dolphin Tale

Movie Title: Dolphin Tale. Rated PG. Excellent family movie. I highly recommend it. Movie based on a true story. A lonely boy riding his bike to summer school sees a beached dolphin tangled in ropes with its tail caught in a fishing cage. He cuts the ropes off its tail to free it. A marine rescue team is called. They take the dolphin to their facility. The boy sneaks into the facility to see the dolphin and bonds with it. The manager’s daughter, Hazel (cute, bubbly little girl), befriends the boy. She names the dolphin, Winter. Because Winter’s tail is infected it has to be taken off. A doctor at a VA facility, where the boy’s cousin is recouping from a war injury, makes Winter a prosthetic tail. Kids without an arm, or leg, learn about this special dolphin and want to visit her. Unfortunately, the facility is in jeopardy of closing due to lack of funding. It’s up to the kids to make sure this doesn’t happen. The ending has real film footage of Winter as a young dolphin. Lovely story. Very uplifting.

Book Review: The Shaman’s Apprentice

The Shaman’s Apprentice by Lynne Cherry and Mark J. Plotkin. Pictures by Lynne Cherry. This story takes place in the Amazon rain forest. A sick little boy, Kamanya, is cured by a shaman. This influences the boy’s decision to become a shaman someday too. He follows the shaman around as he picks herbs to help cure the sick. One day miners come and bring disease to the area. The shaman can’t cure the malaria. Missionaries come and use modern medicine to cure those who have the illness. After some time the missionaries leave feeling their work is done. One day a woman comes to the village wanting to learn about the healing art of rain forest plants. The villagers learn the cure for malaria was obtained from the bark of a tree. This prompts Kamanya to keep learning from the shaman about what plants can cure.
Interesting book with detailed pictures of herbs. Children can learn something new: Modern medicine we use everyday is derived from plants and trees. This is why it is important to save places like the rain forest. There is more to learn about what healing properties certain plants and trees have. The pictures of the rain forest are lush, filling the page, edge to edge.

Arts and Craft Project: Magnet Pictures

Do you ever get free magnets from companies? Don't throw them away! Cut out pictures of your kids from photos, or pretty scenes from postcards, and glue the back of them onto the magnets. Your child can easily do this with photos of your family pets or funny pictures from magazines. You can even cut the magnet into shapes like a heart or a bone, depending on how thick the magnet is.

Hair Tip

Hair tip: Use apple vinegar and water for a cleansing shampoo. Otherwise switch brands every so often so you won't have build up in your hair. A hairstylist told me, you should not shampoo normal hair, and especially chemically treated hair, everyday. It dries out the hair. Shampooing every other day should be fine. If you style your hair, use a shower cap in the shower for the days you don't wash your hair. I know someone who straightens her hair. But she doesn't want to do it everyday because it will over dry it. So she wears a thick shower cap in the shower on the days she doesn't wash it. Her hair still looks straightened afterwards.

Movie Review: Living it Up

Movie Title: Living it Up. Comedy. Family film. Kids might get bored when Dean Martin sings, but it's worth watching the film to see Jerry Lewis in action. He's a true comic. Besides, you can always fast forward past the singing.
Story line: A sweet young man named Homer (Jerry Lewis) thinks he's dying of radiation poisoning. A newspaper journalist gets wind of this. Thinking this would be a good tear jerker for her newspaper she persuades Homer to come to New York City, all expenses paid, for a final farewell to the world and a big send off. The problem is Homer really isn't going to meet the angels just yet. But when his physician (Dean Martin) learns of this grand trip to NYC he talks Homer into going, with him along of course. Dean and Jerry have to keep up the pretense that Jerry is indeed dying and fool some doctors. For kids ten and older. Younger kids might get bored.

Paper Towel Shaker

Save paper towel rolls to make a simple musical instrument.
What to do: Your child can color the paper towel roll. Afterwards, cover one end with thick paper (butcher paper) or two sheets of paper. Tape closed. Put dried beans inside. Cover other end with paper. Tape shut. Shake for music.

For the New Year

Have an emergency evacuation plan for your family in case of a regional disaster in your area (earthquake/tornado/hurricane/flood). Have a family meeting where you tell all members of the family what the plan is. I suggest you get a manual to find out what you’re to do when a disaster happens. You might have questions.