5 reasons I like to play games with my grandkids

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My grandmothers never played games with me. My daughters' grandmothers never played games with them, either.

Considering the grandmas who came before me, the ones from whom I most learned what grandmothering looks like, I'm unsure how I became a game-playing grandma. But I am.

And I love it. Here's why:

 

I enjoy watching them learn.
Kids learn so much from playing games. They improve motor skills and ...

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Saturday movie recommendations: Our post holiday viewing

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My husband and I recently discovered a few new streaming series to binge watch (Z Nation and The Crown at the top of the list) so we've spent less time on films of late. Which has severely narrowed my options for Saturday movie review posts.

That said, we have watched a few movies in the past month or so worth recommending. Some on DVD or streaming, and one in the theater.

Why recommend rather than review? Well, reviewing the first one just wouldn't be right as a review would surely reveal a major plot line that you must not know in order to fully appreciate the film. So I'll simply recommend it here versus review. The other two recommendations I've thrown in to make for a more meaty post. And because I liked them.

My three recent movie recommendations, three movies to consider adding to your Hmmm... Maybe We Should Watch That list:

COLLATERAL BEAUTY (in theaters)

Collateral Beauty ...

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Phantom pains, er, plans

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grandparents and grandsons

My oldest grandson, the kiddo in orange above, the one who converted me from mother to grandmother, is eight years old. Every January since Bubby was born, from his very first January to the one last year, I've flown to the desert to visit him — and eventually his brothers Mac and Jak, too, as they expanded the family in perfectly timed three-year increments one after the other.

Most often, I made the 800 plus-mile trek from the mountains to the desert to care for the boys while Daddy attended an annual out-of-town conference and Mommy went along with. (Though last January's visit was related to our Disney GRAND Adventure.)

I've gotten used to those January visits. Grew to expect those January...

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Saturday movie review: A Hologram for the King

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Tom Hanks in a black comedy? Yes!

Tom Hanks playing a frustrated, sometimes bitter man who has lost his home, his wife and is pretty darn close to losing his job, too? Yes!

Tom Hanks portraying a middle-aged businessman trying to find himself... in Saudi Arabia? A man struggling to function in a foreign culture with foreign customs then falling for a woman borne into — and committed to — said culture and customs? Yes!

a hologram for the king movie

Hanks masterfully (could he do it any other way?) covers all of the above and more in the offbeat — and far from typical Hanks — A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING, a dramedy based on Dave Eggers' 2012...

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