Family Movie Night: The Amazing Spiderman

Every Saturday we will be sharing with you our ideas for family movie nights. Movie reviews and fun theme night ideas.

Our Super-Cool-Fab Review Team...

Our crack team of expert Movie Reviewers are this week reviewing The Amazing SpiderMan - the new version of the Marvel Comic stories.
I never liked Tobey Maguire as the old Spiderman. His floppy hair and sulky face just did not scream "superhero" to me. Peter Parker was a disappointment, just way too droopy and drippy.

But the new Spiderman, well. Troubled and intense, brooding and appealing. Just darn Cute. And his suit... such an improvement. The plot is faster, the action is better. I am already looking forward to the next instalment.

We got the movie for Dash's birthday sleepover. It was rated (M), so I said Scrag was too young to watch it, much to his extreme disappointment. I watched the whole movie through with the big boys and found myself wondering, Why is it an (M)? There's no swearing. Not even minor bad language. there's no sex, no sexual references and hardly even any kissing. My only guess is that the Lizard Man is pretty freaky-looking and the fight/action scenes get pretty intense. But it's not dark like the Batman movies, and there's a lot of humour and positivity in it too.

I decided to let Scrag watch it, with plenty of parental guidance, something I never would have let Dash do at the tender age of four. (The third one gets to do things so much sooner. Felt very guilty afterwards thinking about that.) But he loves it. Absolutely loves this movie. And I have to say, watching it again and again with him, I no longer feel bad for letting him watch it. Movie ratings are all over place. Some (PG) and even (G) movies turn out to be far more questionable than this one.

I think this was a great movie, even daddy loved it. So if you haven't let your kids see it because of it's (M) rating, give it a go, watch it yourself first and see what you think. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Here's what our experts have to say about The Amazing Spiderman...

Dash. B. Cool: "It was a good movie. It was cool because it had heaps of action scenes in it. I reckon the old Spiderman (Tobey Maguire) was good but he was a nerd and not good looking... and weird! But the new Spiderman/Peter Parker is waaaaay better. He's much more good looking and he has better powers and a better suit."

Dash scores this movie's "coolness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

Foxy Fab: "I thought at first that Peter Parker was quite nerdy, but then he turned out not so nerdy. I think this one is different to the old Spiderman because I understood this one better. The freakiest part of the movie was when Miss Stacey was hiding in the cabinet and the LizardMan opened the door. The funniest was when the old man was listening to Opera music in the library and he couldn't hear the fighting cos he had earphones on. My mum was surprised that we didn't have to mute any of it."

Foxy rates this movie's "fabness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

Super Scrag: "I like it because I just like it. And I never watched it before, until the holidays. And I like it because mum finally let me watch it and it's fun for me to be Spiderman. I wish I could shoot webs like Spiderman. I would like to swinging building to building like him."

SuperScrag scores this movie's "super-ness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥♥ (x 100 hearts!)

..............

SpiderMan Theme Fun (to Make Your Movie Night even more Super-Cool-Fab)

Most days our Scrag becomes Spiderman. He has two outfits, and two masks. He regularly swings through the kitchen, "I'm swinging here!". Spiderman is a cult phenonmenon in his four-year-old world.

It would take next to no effort to turn a simple movie night into a bit of Spidey Theme Fun.

• some spider cupcakes
• some icecream "spiders" (sodas made with chocolate icecream and cola)
• a bit of face painting
• and some spider-wrestling - take on Daddy (a.k.a. Lizard-Man)

What are your best Movie Night Ideas? Send me an email with your ideas (include a picture or link to a blog post if you can) so I can feature it here on Saturday Night at the Movies.

Have a great Saturday!

Bloggy Makeover - Want One?? (Design Giveaway)

Welcome to the new-look Greatfun4kids. I didn't plan on doing a full blog makeover when I started. just wanted to try making some new-style sidebar buttons. When I'd done them I liked them so much I needed to do some tweaking....
So I changed some fonts....
Added some new social media buttons...
It was looking nice. But still lacked something. Hmmmm, that header is looking a little tired...

I got carried away. Sat up til 1.30am, perched on the worst chair in the world, and redesigned my header.
Then of course I had to make a matching button. And put the new button on my Facebook page, along with the new header. And then change my email signature to display the new button.
My butt is still aching. Ouch.

I love that my new look is fresh and clean, but it is still "me" - featuring the "family" Miss Fab drew for me a few years ago, just updated into their beach gears courtesy of Photoshop.

I think I really do love a seasonal header. The rollercoaster was cute for a bit, but I get bored easily and need to change things up. A seasonal header lets me do that. So come Autumn, I guess I'll be pulling another late-nighter. (But this time I'l take the time to drag out the proper chair, not the rock-hard antique kitchen torture-seat that killed my butt last night).

So, anybody else feel like they're in need of a makeover for the New Year?

Maybe I can give you one. Being in a creative mood, I've decided to hold a Bloggy Makeover Giveaway.

For one *blessed* blogger/reader I will...

• design a new header
• make a new matching button
• add/upgrade your sidebar buttons/pages
• add/upgrade your social media buttons
• tweak your fonts and layout to match

Along with your fab new blog-look, you will also get your blog featured here on Greatfun4kids when I have completed the work, so other people can drop by to admire your new look (and hopefully love what they see and follow you too.)

Sounds like a good prize, right? Lots of work in there for me.
But first, a few hoops you need jump through.

• You need to be a Blogger blog (I can't do Wordpress sorry)
• You need to be "following" me via GFC and at least one other social media
• You need to leave me a comment telling me how long you've been reading Greatfun4kids,  why your blog needs a makeover and what kind of "feel" you're hoping for in your new blog design

I will pick the comment/person/blog that most excites me to create a design for them. 

I will pick somebody this time next week: Thursday Morning 24 January 2013.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you...

(P.S. If you have my old button in your sidebar, can you do me a favour and change it out for this one?? Ta!)

<center> <a href="http://greatfun4kidsblog.com"><img border="0" src=" http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/donnasimone/kidsartnewbutton2013_zpsbb5ae16a.jpg" width="180" /></a></center>
(Oh and if you don't want to enter the giveaway but just want to tell me you love my new look
 don't hold back... go right ahead)

WW: Where the Kids Attempt a Beach Tryathlon

One of the things I love about camping at Martins Bay is the cool stuff that gets organised for the kids. Like the Beach triathlon, they held on our second day camping.

Don't be deceived by the gorgeous vista before you. It was blowing a howling gale.

The kids had to form a team of three, with each of them completing one leg: Swim, Kayak and Run. 

Our lot were keen as mustard and dragged their new best buddy Ryan in to help them.

Of course when the day dawned and the wind was blowing and the waves were up, our Fab had second thoughts and threatened to pull out.

No worries. Our keen runner Scrag stepped up and offered to take her place. Never mind that the youngest kid racing was 8. And he's 4. This is a team photo. Dash said, "Scrag needs to be in the team photo cos he's our backup runner..." BLESS.

I love how kids make friends so easily on a camping holiday. 

Kids everywhere, playing rugby on the beach, spotlight, games with sticks... 

camping at the beach is kid-paradise.

But I digress.

It was an anxious wait on the beach as we watched the individual athletes attempt the course. The wind and waves made swimming and kayaking difficult for the most seasoned athletes, let alone our bunch of novices.

Ryan's mum decided she'd better swim alongside him. He'd told us boldly, "I'm a great swimmer. I'm level five. I won some races..." But just as well his mum was there. The first wave hit sweet lil Ryan in his cute spectacled face... glug glug glug. Mum ended up dragging him round the course. Awwwwww.

Then it was up to Dash to do his thing with the kayak. He'd only ever paddled with dad in the double kayak, and never in conditions like this. But there's nothing like a bit of confidence and a "give it a go" attitude. 

And Dash sure did give it a go. He ended up crashing into the marker boat and had to be towed by a the support jetski... but once clear of the obstacle he was paddling for all he was worth...

Of course we were on the beach screaming madly...
not that he could hear us over the howling gale...

He finished 7th. Out of 10. A brilliant valiant effort.

The changeover... (oops... did they actually connect???)

and it was Fab's turn to do her thing. She stepped up so Scrag wasn't needed after all 

(much to his disappointment).

 So proud of my kids, and their new buddy. They were racing against kids who spend every summer at this beach, swimming in the ocean, paddling kayaks. They didn't quit in the face of rough weather, wind and waves.

That's the great thing about Triathlons. You TRY. And in the Trying, you Conquer.

Don't Try This at Home, Folks

I never knew going Cold Turkey could be so... horrid.
I never meant to do it. It happened quite by accident, initially.

See, I've been doing pretty well lately, on the "mental health and wellbeing" front.
The Black Dog had been beaten into submission with the help of my lovely counsellor and lot a hard work. Medication had been slowly reduced until just one last pill remained.

It had been discussed that perhaps in the New Year I might try coming off them altogether. For the first time in many years that was no longer a scary thought but something that seemed possible.

So when in the middle of all the camping excitement I forgot to take my meds a couple of days in a row - and I felt OK - you can maybe understand why I did what I did.

Of course I wasn't thinking straight. Camping by the beach will do that to ya. Sea breezes and all that lazing around.
So I decided to just... not take any more. See what happens.

Silly me. Silly silly me.

Effexor is a nasty drug to withdraw from. I knew that. I'd heard it before, read it online, knew of friends who suffered through it. All of this flew from my head along with the seratonin.

Blissfully unaware of the hell that would soon be unleashed in my body, we packed up our tent and came home. Home to the piles of washing. Home to science experiments in our vegie bin. Home to stacks of junk mail and not a sea breeze in sight to stir the muggy sticky air.

By afternoon I was feeling pretty rotten, but hadn't put two-and-two together yet.
The nausea started, the vomiting.
By morning I was tearful and paranoid, thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts.
I curled up on my messy bed with the fan on full blast and let the family go off to church without me.
The itching started. I wanted to claw my skin off.
Any noise, any minor request or dropped spoon would send me off the deep end, sobbing and muttering bad words under my breath.

By this stage I'd figured out it was the drugs doing this to me.
But in my befuddled state I didn't know if this was drug withdrawal or simply what I'm like without them.
(A basket case.)

Finally somebody with half a brain had the great idea that I should call my counsellor and get some advice.
"Go to your doctor. URGENTLY," she told me.

Off I went, with all three kids in tow, hoping I wouldn't crash into somebody, crying all the way.
My doctor shook her head at my silliness.
"It's a very strong drug," she said. "You can't just go cold turkey. It needs to be done over a long period of time... properly..."

Yeah. I kind of learnt that one the hard way.

Things are looking up, you'll be glad to know. I'm not 100% yet but at least I've stopped crying all the time and trying to scratch my skin off. And it's now been a few hours since I screamed at anyone too (much to my kids' relief).
I have a prescription for half-strength Effexor that I'll be on for the next month. And when it's time to drop that down, I'll be doing it under the guidance of my Doctor.
No more Cold Turkey for me ever again, trust me.
Never do I want a repeat of the last few days.
It was a glimpse into the pit of despair that I used to fall into far too often.

But, man, I will glad to see the back of this drug. I want it out of my system, out of my life.

This year I want to get healthier, fitter, lose weight, be happier.
This was just a bump in the road.

• Depression and Me

We Survived Nine Days Camping... (it can be done)

I never thought I'd say it, but I could have stayed longer. 

At the beach. In a tent. With three noisy kids.

We have graduated from the world of "Camping is Hell", and moved into the joy of "Camping Rocks When Your Kids Get Bigger". So people, if you tried camping with littlies and came home vowing never to return... just give it a few years. Camping can be cool.

Of course it helps having a powered site. And Christmas Lights.
Having the right gear (and a great campsite)  makes a big difference.

These snaps were taken with my camera on our last morning. If you look carefully you will see that there's even a fridge. Just a little one, sure, but still. A fridge when you're camping. Brilliant.

This is one of our clotheslines, strung up in the pohutukawa tree, next to the hedge that separated us from the beach. Beachfront, people. It's the only way to go. Of course it looks a little dull and grey, but don't be fooled by that. The sun would burn off the cloud within an hour and blue skies reigned supreme for the whole nine days. Except that first night when Mr G was out in the weather securing the tent from leakage, adding extra guy ropes and tarpaulin flies... He's a great camper that man.

A cup of tea in the morning. Only way to start the day. And with an electric kettle, well, it was just too easy.

I mean, look how cute my tent kitchen bench is? Those melamine mugs and spotted cutlery really brighten up the place aye? I just can't camp without a bit of cuteness.

We didn't use the fully equipped campsite kitchen once. At least not for cooking. The kids did the dishes there a few times, but I preferred to fill up my tin bucket with water from the tap (conveniently located right next to our tent) and sit in the shade doing the chores al fresco. I like a few home comforts, but I also like to know I'm camping, aye?

Nothing says "camping by the beach" like a guy-rope strung with beach towels and swimming togs.

This was the soundtrack of our holiday. Scrag was our DJ. He is 1D mad. (Don't feel sorry for me. i hate to admit it but I kinda like them too). I think our tent-neighbours might be glad we've packed up and gone though. They didn't look the One Direction fanclub-type.

Here's the DJ. He would stay "Up All Night" and then sleep in, in the morning. He picks the day we leave to snooze the longest. We were packing up the tent all around him and he just kept on snoozing. Bless.

This playground was on the other side of the hedge. 

Here's Miss Fab doing her cartwheels. On the beam. She's amazing.

So there we have it, a brief "Hi I'm Home and I survived the Camping trip" post from me.

Sooooon I will retrieve my missing battery from the BopIt and download the PROPER photos I took. 

The ones that show the gorgeous beach and fab location.

But not today. Today I need to do some unpacking and some washing. All those beach towels really mount up.

• The Last Time we attempted Camping (same location, different world)

....................

P.S. Are you on Instagram?? Find me and follow me (http://instagram.com/greatfun4kids/) and I'll follow you back.

Happy New Year (better late than never)

I could do the usual and say, Wow I can't believe it, another year over a new one just begun...

But the lazy summer haze has got the better of me and all I can really do is share these photos with you of our new year celebration....

As Gail said on FaceBook: "We saw the New year in Quietly. Ha."

(Of course it's never quiet when four families get together with all their multitudinous kids. And you add in some "Mo-et", Sangria and fireworks...)

I never called it a party. I didn't fling the net wide, scared of a little rain and being stuck in the house with gazillion screaming kids and a ringing headache. As it turned out, the evening was clear, warm and almost windless. The kids roamed free, climbing trees, kicking balls, wrestling...

The grownups were very civilised and convivial, all of us past the baby stage.
None of us having to get up and change bottoms or wipe noses. Yay for us!

Most of the kids made it to midnight. And for once all the grownups did too (well done Gail)

And without even a countdown (our watches were obviously running late cos the fireworks started all over the neighbourhood while Mr g was in the middle of a speech)... 2013 arrived.

I have good things hoped for this year. More of the inner housekeeping, which has been tough-but-rewarding this year. And I will also start in on the middle age spread. I won't bore you with my resolutions. (Yet another 40-something housewife vowing to lose weight and get fit).

I don't even have a Word for the Year.

(Since last year's word "JUSTDOIT" was such a raving success. not.)

My last baby goes to school this year. In April.

My biggest one has his last year at primary school. 

Already we have had "talks" about "puberty".

A Father-Son Big Weekend is planned for later this month.

 But apart from that, no major earthquakes are planned in my world.
I am not planning to shut down my blog (like so many others have decided to do. Sniff.)
I am not going to start a new career (that I know of).
I just want to do this year better than last year.
I want to build on the ground we made, the foundation we laid last year with our blood, sweat and tears.

Get closer as a family. Shout less. Enjoy life more.
Hang out with the people we love. And those we love to hang out with.
Have more BBQ's. More parties. More movie nights.
Be more of who I really am. Accept others more easily. Get upset less easily.
Play more games. Listen to new music. Paint more.
Connect with God and His World.
Dance a little. Swim.
Walk faster and further.
Maybe even RUN.

And maybe cross a few things off my bucket list.

Happy new year to you, my lovely readers, whoever and wherever you are reading this.
May this year bring blessings as well as challenges, and may you find at the end of it that the dreams you sowed in tears have been reaped with songs of joy.

Love from
Simoney

(P.S. The blog will be a little dormant for the next week or so. The beach beckons. See you soon with a bunch of New Year Adventures. In the meantime, explore some of my Pages...)

• Start Here: my intro page and Best Posts list
• About Me: a page to help you get to know me
• Our Family: introducing the main actors in this drama, my beloved family
• Party Stuff: parties of all kinds, how to's, menus, printables, tutorials and fun ideas
• Yummy Stuff: Favourite easy-to-make Recipes, including gluten and dairy free ones
• Parenting Stuff: the magic of Play, fun ideas to make life easier, my take on Motherhood and all the things I'm learning along the way (usually the hard way)
• Blog Tips: Including Blog Design tips, photo editing and make-your-own buttons
• Depression and Me: a collection of posts from my personal journey through Depression and Anxiety
• Book Club: Mrs Readalot (my bookaholic alter-ego) runs a bloggy bookclub - all voracious readers welcome!

Outdoor Lounging Bliss

It's hot and sticky here in Auckland. Our sub-tropical Summer is in full force,
with 98% humidity and bursts of showers followed by steamy sunshine. 

This is how we see in the new year, here downunder. Relaxing in the shade, praying for a whiff of a breeze.

[you may recognise some of these sweet faces]

Yesterday with a succession of friends passing through, we decided to create a pin-worthy outdoor room to lounge in.

I strung rope between two trees and used pegs to clip on a white muslin throw, which we weighted down with old tyres to create a half-tent.

We added more mosquito nets, our Chinese trader camping mat and some fake ivy along with bean bags, cushions and...

...the oak daybed, for a true outdoor lounge experience.

Here is my friend Louisa chilling in the shade with her iPad. She and Miss Fab were playing Temple Run  and watching One Direction clips while we lounged about...

I wore a cowboy hat, to help keep off the sun. Like my selfie?

There was even a hammock (hogged by the Scrag)...

... and Grandma's sunlounger, brightened up with a red spotty quilt.

Now we know just what to do when the sun beats down and the breeze is nowhere to be found... we create an outdoor lounge in the back garden, and relax there until the sun goes down.

(Is it hot where you are...? or are you shivering your way through a Northern winter??)