Pollyanna (Thing 2)

We watched "Pollyanna." It's about a girl who moves into a big house with her rich aunt. Pollyanna is a nice girl who helps people.

She moved to a town FULL of grumpy people, but when she comes she makes lot of the people happy. Soon, there are more happy people than grumpy people.

I would give this movie because it's funny and a good movie. I only gave it three stars because I like action movies.

Pollyanna (Thing 1)

We watched "Pollyanna" not too long ago. It's about a girl named Pollyanna (hence the title) who goes to live with her rich aunt. While she is there, she meets lots of people including a grumpy maid, a crotchety old woman who is convinced she's dying, a mischievous orphan, a lonely old man, and many others. Pollyanna helps to spread cheer to every single stuffy or grumpy person in town, including her aunt.

My favorite parts in the movie are when she shows everyone how to hang crystals to make rainbows and the end of the movie, but I won't give away what happens at the end.

I would give this movie. It's fun and sweet and if you haven't already watched it, I recommend watching it.

Cheaper By The Dozen (Thing 2)

We watched the movie "Cheaper By The Dozen." It is about a family with 12 kids who move to a different house so their dad and mom could follow their dreams for the dad to be a football coach and for the mom to get her book published.

When they move, they have a next door neighbor who is rich and thinks their family is crazy . When the kids go to school, they get picked on. The kids names are: Nora, Charlie, Lorraine, Henry, Sarah, Jake, Jessica, Kim, Mark, Mike, Kyle, and Nigel.

My favorite part of the movie was when the kids think of a plan to get their teenage sister's boyfriend away from their house.

I would rate this movie because it's funny and goofy. :D

Cheaper by the Dozen (Thing 1)

Our family watched "Cheaper by the Dozen" recently. It's about a family of four, er, fourteen. The mom wants to be a writer and the dad wants to be the coach of a football team, but they find that taking care of twelve kids and doing their dream jobs is too much to balance.

When the dad gets an offer to coach a football team, the whole family moves to a town four hours away, much to the displeasure of the kids.

Later, the mom gets a call telling her that the book she sent in (Cheaper by the Dozen) is getting published and she needs to go to New York for her book tour.

After she leaves, things get even crazier. Managing twelve kids and a football team all by yourself is tough. The kids are having trouble at school and at home but they can't talk to their dad about any of their problems with him being so busy.

As time goes on, the dad has even more trouble with his job. His boss gets worried that he can't pay attention to his team very well when he's also taking care of twelve kids. Can he be a good coach and a good father at the same time?

This movie is hilarious and crazy. I would give it. It's a great family movie and may seem a little confusing at first, but in no time you'll know each and every character inside and out.

The Three Amigos (Thing 2)

We watched "The Three Amigos." It's about three silent movie stars in Hollywood. One person sees their movie and doesn't know that it's just a movie. She writes a letter to them to ask for help to save her village in Mexico. She thinks they're going to save them and the three amigos think they're doing a movie.

I would give this movie, because it's funny and has adventure. My favorite part was the part in the bar with the three amigos.

The Three Amigos (Thing 1)

We watched "The Three Amigos." It's about three silent movie actors who get fired from their job and are trying to find other work.

Meanwhile, a girl in Mexico sees one of their movies where the Three Amigos are pretending to be cowboys who stop villains. The girl doesn't understand that they're not really cowboys but just actors, so she sends them a telegram asking if they will come help stop "El Guapo" who is threatening her village. The Three Amigos get the telegram and think they're being offered a job to put on a show. That's when things get really funny. :D

I would rate this movie. It was goofy, funny, exciting, and had lots of action with just enough calmness in between. One of my favorite parts is near the beginning when one of the Three Amigos pretends to be a bird. Another one of my favorite parts is farther into the movie when they go see "The Singing Bush."

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure/It's a Wonderful Life (Thing 2)

I am going to compare two movies: "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and "It's a Wonderful Life." They are two very different movies.

In "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," Pee-Wee had an adventure. In "It's a Wonderful Life," George wanted to have an adventure but didn't. "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" was basically a crazy movie. "It's a Wonderful Life" was very calm. In "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," he just wanted his bike. In "It's a Wonderful Life," George helped people who were hurting.

The things that make the two movies similar are:

They're both movies.
The main characters were both male.
They both had happy endings.

I would rate "It's a wonderful Life".

I would rate "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" . If I could, I would rate "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" four-and-a-half stars because I like adventure movies.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure/It's a Wonderful Life (Thing 1)

Our family recently watched the movies "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and "It's a Wonderful Life." After watching both of them, Thing 2 and I made Venn diagrams to compare the two.

Here are words I used to describe how "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" is different from "It's a Wonderful Life":
Fun
Silly
Goofy
Random
Weird
Crazy
Color
Funny
Pee-Wee wanted his bike.
Pee-Wee had a weird laugh.

Here are words I used to describe how "It's a Wonderful Life" is different from "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure":
Angels
Black and white
Feel-good movie
George wanted to travel but never did.
George had a normal laugh.

Here are some similarities between the two movies:
Both movies are movies. (Duh!)
They're both fictional.
Both main characters had a big goal.
Both main characters helped people.

I would rate each of the movies . "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" was a really goofy movie, but it was a little too crazy, in my opinion. I still thought it was really funny. :D "It's a Wonderful Life" was good and inspirational, but in some parts what was happening was a little confusing. If it were possible, I would rate it four-and-a-half stars, but we have to rate it with a whole number. :D

For our activity . . . we watched the movies! :D

The Best Halloween Ever (Thing 2)

We read The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson. It's about Halloween. There is this family, the Herdman family, that messes up Halloween. One time they pasted a boy under some wallpaper. They do lots of other mean things, too. The mayor decided that Halloween was canceled because he wanted to stop them from ruining another Halloween.

For our activity we are going trick-or-treating.

I would rate this book . I liked this book because it's funny. You should read this book.

The Best Halloween Ever (Thing 1)

We read The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson.

Every Halloween, the six Herdman kids steal candy from the other kids in the neighborhood, ruin people's costumes, and do many more things to cause mayhem. This year, the mayor decides he's going to stop this. So he decides he is going to cancel Halloween. All the other kids are relieved that the Herdmans won't be able to terrorize everyone, but they're still upset. This means that they can't go trick-or-treating. But then, the mayor decides that they will still have Halloween . . . at the elementary school, supervised by parents and teachers. Still no candy, but it's better than no Halloween, right? Can the Herdmans turn into what looks like the worst Halloween ever to the best Halloween ever?

The activity we're going to do is pretty obvious . . . trick-or-treating! :D

I would give this book . I liked everything about this book except for one thing. There were a lot of characters, so it was hard to keep people straight. Otherwise, it was a great book! :D

The Fellowship of the Ring (Thing 2)

We read The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein. It is a fantasy adventure about Frodo Baggins. He needs to take a magical ring to a land called Mordor where he needs to destroy it in the fire. My favorite part of the book so far is the part where Pippin forgot his rope. Later he is given rope as a gift and the man tells him, "You might need a rope. They are very helpful."

We are going to watch the animated Lord of the Rings movie when we are done with the trilogy.

I liked the book because I really like fantasy adventure stories. Sometimes the characters and places have funny names and the story can be hard to understand. I would give it .

The Fellowship of the Ring (Thing 1)

We read The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book in the Lord of the Rings series.

In this book, the main character is a hobbit named Frodo. Frodo is Bilbo Baggins's nephew. Bilbo is also a hobbit. Frodo inherits his uncle's ring after Bilbo mysteriously disappears. Little does Frodo know that the ring has magic powers that can make any creature turn evil.

Later in the book, Frodo embarks on a quest to destroy the mysterious ring with his friends Merry and Pippin, the gardener Sam, and many others. Will they succeed? (Da da daaaaaaaaaaa).

My favorite funny part is when Frodo's friend Pippin forgets rope for part of the journey and he keep kicking himself for forgetting. Later, someone gives him rope and says, "You should never go on a journey without rope."

For our fun activity, we are going to watch the animated Lord of the Rings movie once we finish the trilogy.

I would give this book . It is a really good book with a lot of action and adventure, but has a good mix of mellowness as well. The only thing I don't like about this book is that there are a lot of confusing names and story lines. I would recommend reading the abridged audio first before reading the book.

Farmer Boy (Thing 2)

We read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The book (in my opinion) was horrible. It had no adventure. If you want to know about it you can read my sister's post. I would rate this book a.

My dad said I have to write more so here it is. They're always eating. There is not a single chapter that does not have food. Also CLICK HERE to see my sister's post. At my book club a jockey came and talked to us. That was cool.

Farmer Boy (Thing 1)

We read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book was about a boy named Almanzo and his family who live on a farm. Almanzo has one wish. He wants a colt of his own. His father doesn't think he's ready yet, though. So, Almanzo starts by helping around on the farm by helping with the cows, cleaning around the house, and other chores.

One of my favorite parts is when Almanzo's father gives him a half-dollar because of all the hard work Almanzo has done. Almanzo decides to use it on a piglet.

Even though Almanzo has a piglet (and he loves his piglet) he still wants a colt more than anything. If you want to know if Almanzo gets his wish, you will have to read the book.

I would give this book. There is a lot of description, but not a whole lot of action. If you are the kind of person who likes a book that's always moving and full of adventure, this book is not for you.

We didn't have a fun activity for this one, but this was Thing 2's book club book.