Christmas Eve Eve

It's Christmas break and we're partying over here! It's been a long month. A long, long month for our family with two demanding work schedules sandwiching the holidays. So, we're kicking off the next couple weeks of holidays and time off to spend together with a King Julien viewing party for the kids. Party hats, popcorn, hot chocolate, smiling faces, and even a fever (it is flu season after all).

We generally try to limit the kids screen time, however holiday time means lots of special things and that means binging on episodes of their favorite shows (we knocked these out in two days) and watching plenty of holiday specials on Netlix.

We have previewed lots of them.. Our faves?

Santa Buddies, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, Santa Paws, Santa Paws 2, and Happy Holidays From Madagascar. Clearly my kids have a thing for talking animals, huh?

So, here's to a couple of weeks of indulging in movie time, special treats, together time, and I'm sure plenty of new toys...

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.

Happy Halloween from the Hannemaniacs

Happy Halloween! Halloween is one of our favorite holidays here at the Hannemaniac house... And, though a stomach flu almost sidelined B, this year did not disappoint. We've created a few little traditions so far and one of them is sitting the kids down for some Halloween specials.

This year we found a few goodies on Netflix that I hadn't seen before... The kids were excited to mix it up a bit after watching the Great Pumpkin about 20 times earlier in the month.

This year we found a few goodies that were new to us: Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkin From Outer Space, and episodes of Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

Netflix, popcorn, and a dip into their Halloween candy stash made for three happy munchkins.

This year we had to skip our usual chili (in case the stomach flu continued to take down victims in our house) and opted for a pizza party with friends.

We do love us some holiday specials... And now it's time to start digging around the Christmas specials. Stay tuned!

Disclosure: I am part of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.

Movie Night with Netflix #StreamTeam

MOVIE NIGHT! It's a favorite around here and as we get the school year started we're watching less and less tv. So, movie nights are becoming our tv time and our kids love it. We have an early dinner, everyone gets a cup of popcorn, and we scroll through our Netflix choices. There are plenty of "no," "up," and "down" until we find a good compromise for all of us. A usually mimics the boys and the boys argue until we can get them to agree. Finding the movie can take as much time as watching the actual movie sometimes.

Our recent favorites: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 and Free Birds.W is still quoting Free Birds two weeks later.

Some of my favorite recipes for movie night snacks: Pizza Muffins (I blend up veggies and hide them in the sauce) or Nachos (easy chips cooked with shredded cheese baked, then topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and sour cream). Next up, we're going to try Pizza Nachos to merge the two of them.

Now that school is in full swing and the days are getting shorter and chillier, our weekend movie nights are the cozy answer to together time for the Hannemaniacs and we luckily have lots of choices to make with Netflix.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team.

Netflix Movies to Help Our Kids Go For Gold Lead Us to New Family Classics

Our kids are still a little young for watching sports. W is just now becoming interested in sports - mostly asking which color uniforms we're rooting for and who are the good guys or the bad guys. We wanted the kids to get into the Olympics. It's hard for a five year old to grasp how special the Olympics really are -- especially a kid who hasn't really gotten in touch with his athletic side.

Have I mentioned that I am part of the Netflix Stream Team? Every month I'll be participating with a post inspired by Netflix. I thought this month would hard... The Olympics. And when the watching got tough with the kids, I took a look at the movies Netflix recommended for little ones...

1. Super WHY!: The Tortoise and the Hare
2. Curious George: George Gets a Trophy
3. Bob the Builder: The Bobblesberg Winter Games
4. Angelina Ballerina: In the Wings
5. Caillou: Caillou Gets Active

The idea is these movies will help kids get ready for gold. These movies are right in our wheel house... Super WHY!, Curious George, and Caillou are still hot characters for us Hannemaniacs. W is starting to grow out of them a bit, but B is just starting to love them.

So, after these I checked the list of 15 movies that Netflix recommended for the older kids and found Air Bud: World Pup, Air Bud: Seventh Inning Stretch, and Air Bud Spikes Back. I wasn't sure if the kids were quite ready for them, but was introduced to Air Buddies. And - hello, new family favorite. That's probably my favorite thing about Netflix... For years I have relied on it for recommending or leading me to movies I would not have otherwise found. I've been a Netflix member since 2005, so there are hundreds of movies we have found - mostly independent and foreign movies pre-kids - through Netflix. First through the website and now mostly through streaming.

Now we're finding some family favorites that same way... Like Air Buddies.

What's your favorite movie to help kids get ready for gold?

Good Deeds 2012 Week 3: DVDs4VETs

Good Deed: Donated DVDs to DVDs4VETs.

I'm finding that unless it is an absolute favorite, something rare, or one of the kid's movies, there is really no need for us to keep DVDs at this point. With Netflix, streaming, Apple TV, On Demand, we don't have to keep DVDs like we used to. And, seriously, when the heck are we supposed to watch most of these movies. Some of them haven't been watched for years.

So, they're now headed to DVDs4VETs, which is an organization that puts DVDs in the hands of vets who most need them. The organization started in 2006 as wounded soldiers were returning from Iraq and required long-term rehabilitation.

DVDs can be mailed to your nearest VA Center or the DVDs4VETS office:
DVDs4Vets
173 Halstead Avenue
Harrison , NY 10528

Take a look through your DVDs and I bet you have plenty that you don't need anymore. If you do decide to donate yours, the least expensive way is to mail them via Media Mail through the US Postal Service.

What was your good deed this week? Link it up here or leave a comment to share!



Note: I am in no way affiliated with DVDs4VETs,nor was I compensated for this post. All information was found on their website: www.dvds4vets.org.

On Negotiation and Manipulation

Scene: Living room after bath time, W wrapped in a towel on my lap

Matt: "It's time to put on jammies."

W: "Don't say that!"

Matt: "Nope, buddy, it's jammy time."

W: "After we watch Monsters Inc."

Me: "Nope, no Monsters Inc. tonight."

W: "I don't like baths."

Matt: "You have to take them or else you'd be stinky and then you'd walk down the street and people would say 'here comes that stinky boy.'"

Me: "And you don't want people to say that about you. You want them to say 'what a nice boy!'"

W: "No, I want people to say 'what a mean boy!' I want to be a mean boy."

Me: "You're not a mean boy. Who are you mean to?"

W: "You."

Me: "You are? Well, I think you're nice."

W: "I don't love you."

Me: "That hurts my feelings. I don't think you mean that."

W: "Then can I watch Monsters Inc. now?"

Me: "Nope."

How quickly they learn. Too bad I'm not falling for it. I appreciate a good negotiation, I do. But, he'll figure out soon enough that I won't be manipulated. Nice try.

Parents - 1, W - 0

Wordless Wednesday: Hanging With His Pals

Listen and Repeat

Our chatterbox has us constantly cracking up. For a while I was really impressed by the things I thought he was coming up with himself, however most of his one-liners aren't necessarily original. He's been saying phrases from movies and books for a while, but it used to be random. Now, he's using them in every day coversation.

For example: Our neighbors were over a couple of weeks ago for brunch and play time. W was not so keen on sharing a toy with his little friend from down the block. All of a sudden a very loud and very stern, "Get out of this house!" can be heard. It was later that I realized it was inspired by the fish in "The Cat in the Hat."

His new favorite saying for moments of great excitement is: "Holy moly guacamole!" I wrongly thought he came up with this one on his own. Oh no. Upon the 10th viewing of "Toy Story 3" I realized Rex says this when they enter the Caterpillar Room.

As we were leaving Matt's parents after Christmas weekend, I gave the little guy the heads up that we were going to start getting ready to head home. His response: "We could build a life here!" Again thanks to "Toy Story 3."

It's all been sweet and funny, except for the random stupid that he's been throwing out every now and then. I think it's from "Cars" or one of the "Toy Story" movies. Or maybe it's from living with the two of us. And, if that's the case, we're coming off easy if stupid is the worst we hear out of his mouth.

Dear Chevy Traverse, I Miss You.

We're leaving today for Wisconsin this morning and I'm going through Chevy Traverse withdrawal. HELP! My sedan-driving world will never be the same and neither will long car trips.

You see, for William's 2nd birthday we had to travel to DesMoines, Iowa for a friend's wedding. We decided to bring the little guy along since another friend who happens to live there offered her guest room and her babysitting services. (Yup, we're lucky like that.)

Des Moines is a good five hour drive from Chicago and I'm not a big fan of long drives. Long drives with a little guy are even harder. It doesn't help that we have a sedan. This is where the good people at Chevy come in...

The kind people at Chevy lent us a 2011 Chevy Traverse for a weekend test drive and let me tell you... It. Was. Spectacular.

I've always been an anti-minivan kinda mom. My mom rocked the minivan for years. It was good to our family and I totally get why they are a great addition to family life, but the minivan and mom jeans became a symbol for all that is uncool. Call it marketing, stigma, mom backlash... Whatever it is, I fell for it.

So, we tried out the Traverse. It was delivered to our house on Thursday and coming home to shiny, new navy blue car in our driveway was awesome. (How did they know navy blue is my favorite car color?)

We shared the news with William that his birthday present this year was going to be really exciting: A movie in the car! He squealed. (Yes, my kid is pretty easy to please.) We packed Cars, Sesame Street, Thomas, and Toy Story. We reminded him it would only be for this trip and only in this special car for his birthday and he totally got it. All the time reminding him that Chevy was sharing this car with us, a concept he struggles with these days.


We filled the I-Pod with all of our favorites. Matt packed the car with ease, which is usually is stressful for us with a pack-and-play, stroller, toys, and bags of clothes. Then we hit the road basking in the new car smell.

There were plenty of things to get excited about: the dvd player, the I-Pod hook-up that allows you to then control the I-Pod through the radio controls, the air conditioned seats, the ability to comfortably change a diaper out the back, the reverse video (probably not the technical term), smooth ride, and the ROOM. I made sport of climbing from the front seat to the back when William needed all sorts of things and to catch a couple of movies with him. It was like a vacation. I could have driven across the country.

And now we're planning to leave for Wisconsin tomorrow and it brings a tear to my eye.

Disclosure: We enjoyed a complimentary five day test drive compliments of Chevy. They did not compensate me in any other way to write this post, nor did they request that I do so. We currently own an Acura.

Private Investigator

For the From Left to Write Book Club we read "Following Polly" by Karen Bergreen, a novel about a woman (Alice) who takes up the habit of following her arch nemesis from college (Polly) to "figure out what her life is like." Little does Alice know, Polly's life is going to come to a shocking end and she's walking right into a murder mystery.

Like most people, I'm often convinced I would be an awesome detective. I know everyone thinks that they're a super sleuth, but hear me out...

I often play the role of confidant to my friends. People just tend to spill it with me. I don't generally judge and can give pretty good advice. One of my roommates in college even told me that if she was ever trying to keep a secret from me all I had to do was look at her and she would assume I already knew the truth. Apparently, I'm hard to keep secrets from. See, that would make me good at the detective thing, right?

But, there's more: I'm usually onto someone before I hear what it is they have to say. I'm perceptive and have a knack for putting things together. I often "have a feeling" about something before the beans are spilled. Call it a sixth sense. I just know...

Here are some of my other qualifiers: First of all, I figure out movies, generally know what's going to happen next, can be the annoying person who turns to my husband and calls out my super sleuth abilities. Secondly, I have a tendency to question people. Call me a cynic, but it has given me the ability to be prepared for someone flaking on me. Thirdly, I have a tendency to size people and their motivations up rather quickly. As Matt likes to say, I see through people's BS right away.

Now, with all of my strong qualifiers, I have one major issue (one road block that Alice did not have): I would be terrible at tailing people. The idea of following someone practically gives me an anxiety attack. I have what you might call a staring problem, which would give me away in a second. I have no control in this area (I wish I did, because it's rather rude). Also, when I'm nervous or getting caught in the act I have a tendency to smile and laugh. A brief glance from my subject would plaster a smile and nervous laugh on my face in a second. And, finally, I would for sure trip, run into something, or roll my ankle in pursuit. All of these would mean a big fail in the following department.

However, like Charlie has Alice in the book to do his following, all I would need is someone to do the tailing for me, report back, and I'd be brilliant... Except I might not totally trust the information I'm getting from them. Who says they wouldn't be a double agent?

This post was inspired by the book "Following Polly" by Karen Bergreen, which I received complimentary as a part of From Left to Write Book Club. See how other bloggers were inspired by this book here.

Netflix: A Lesson in Sharing (for me)

We've been Netflix members since July 2004, which is before we were even married. It's been a great relationship for the past six years, a good amount of give and take. Some months may pass and our three dvd's sit unwatched, other months we're racing through seasons of a television show. (I think the most dvd's we made it through in one month has been eight. We can do better, I'm sure.) All in all, it's been a nice component of our life.

The other day I was updating our already stuffed queue of 424 videos. (That's what happens when you have a tendency to save every movie and show you want to see in your queue and can easily spend an hour hopping from one recommended video to the next.) But, I digress...

As I was moving around the order of our movies, I realized that someone else in our family is ready to get in on the action. I pulled him onto my lap and flipped through a few kid-friendly options. I added the videos he seemed the most excited about, but then it came down to moving them around in the queue and here it is... I didn't want to share. I want to get all the Dexter: Season Four discs as soon as possible. The Buzz Lightyear movie was clearly the most exciting option to William, but is it worthy of putting us back a disc?

I don't think so. It's in position number three... He won't know the difference, right? Sharing has been a stretch for William these days, clearly he's not learning better habits from me.

Wordless Wednesday: Cars Obsession

A special prize for the person who finds the most Cars items in this photo. Tell me the number.

Oscars Schmoscars

There are some things you do just because you feel like you should. For instance, I'm watching the Oscars right now. I'm not sure why. I haven't seen most of the movies. Better stated: I haven't seen 99% of the movies. I just feel like I should be watching.

I love movies, I just don't have time to go to the theater. And, honestly, I prefer watching movies in the comfort of my own home... On my own couch where I can pause the movie when I have to go to the bathroom and don't have to deal with obnoxious people talking/texting/slurping their drinks/chomping on their snacks/kicking my seat. (OK, I'm a little particular and easily annoyed.) I can wait for the dvd when I get to watch the movie and then all the fun extras, too. (Who doesn't love those extras?)

Admittedly, there are a few things that I enjoy about the awards. The best reason to watch the Oscars is to help me fill up my Netflix queue (currently at 372 -not kidding). I also really love the best song nominee performances. I should say: I *used* to love the best song performances. But, unfortunately these seem to have been axed this year. REALLY?!?! The highlight of my Oscar viewing history was Robin Williams performing Blame Canada. What a loss.

So, now I'm ready to go to bed, even before the In Memoriam montage, which everyone enjoys in their own morbid way. Admit it, you like it, too. I mean, the John Hughes tribute... If that didn't tug on your heart strings and make you feel some nostalgia, then you're just cold. But I'd rather be in bed and just check the list of winners and all the other gossip online tomorrow. And, seriously, some of the presenters have kinda shocked me. Ahem, ahem... Miley Cyrus. What the??? (Matt told me I better get used to her since she doesn't seem to be going anywhere, but I refuse. I'd rather eat glass.)

I'm tired. I have a child who wakes me up at 5:00 am EVERY MORNING. Where's my award for that?!?! Oh, wait! The In Memoriam montage is starting... I'm so going to bed after this.

Update: Eating my words. Luckily I just caught the performance by The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. It was like a SYTYCD reunion with old friends. Can't wait for that show to start again. Now, I'm going to bed.

Also, this must be said: Is it just me or is George Clooney is a really bad mood tonight? Jeeeez, George.

Going Green

We watched No Impact Man last night, a documentary about a family in Manhattan that lives a year making no impact on the environment. It made me think about what we're doing.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I just don't find them to be helpful. But, I do take time to kind of inventory my life and remind myself that it's a good opportunity to make some slight changes to be a little better at this whole life thing. Resolutions are too much pressure, changes mean growth to me.

One of the things I really wanted to do was make the Hannemaniac lifestyle greener. We're pretty conscious of the environment compared to your everyday guy, I figure. But, are we??? And when I think about it, we probably aren't. Just saying you're an environmentalist and you believe in preservation isn't enough. So, here are some changes we've been able to make and stick to for the most part:

1. My office has sleeves of plastic cups for water and they are used at an incredible rate. I stopped using a plastic cup and brought a metal bottle from home. I figure I have saved over 40 cups in the last two and a half months. That's insane. If any of my co-workers are reading this... Ahem... The Alderman may have to come out on this one.

2. I've really been trying to bring my own bags when shopping. Trust me, I forget a lot, but I'm TRYING.

3. I'm only buying "green" cleaning products, which I know does not necessarily mean they are good for the environment, but it's the closest I can get.

4. I'm trying to turn off the lights. You're welcome, Mom.

5. Guess who started taking the train? Yup! It increases the commute time, however gives me some nice quiet time to read and a nice mile long walk between the station and my office.

6. We're doing some home improvement that will help us with controlling temperature, including replacing five windows and covering a basement window well with insulation.

7. Less meat. Cooking with less chicken and more tofu than I usually would. (I don't cook red meat, so this isn't a huge stretch.)

8. Only buying organic milk/yogurt and trying to stick to organic vegetables and fruit when they look ok. (Hey, Jewel, your organic produce sucks.)

Once we enter spring, I'll be composting and adding a vegetable garden to the list.

I know all of this might seem like nothing, but it's a start. If everyone does a little something, think of the overall impact combined. So, what are you doing to cut down the impact you're making on the environment?