top 100 family films

We have been working on exposing our kids to classic movies that we loved when we were kids (and even now, as adults). This has been a tradition for us every Christmas, as we shared our favorite holiday movies with them.  

More recently however, we have been branching into the classics in general.   Each weekend we introduce a new one, snuggling up together to watch it.  It has become one of our most treasured family traditions.

So far, Anna's very favorite has to be The Never Ending Story. 

When I say "classics," I mean movies that throughout time have impacted children in big ways.  They may be from the 1940's or they may be from the 1990's.  Being a classic has very little to do with age, and a lot more to do with the impact it has on our culture.  

Between our own favorites and some suggestions from our amazing friends, we have compiled a pretty good list of movies we want to share with our kids. (For our purposes we aren't going to list Disney cartoon movies, because let's face it - they're ALL awesome, and should be a part of a child's media experience.) 

Without further adeu, THE LIST!

1. The Never Ending Story (1 & 2)
2. Mary Poppins
3. The Goonies
4. Labyrinth
5. Wizard of Oz
6. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
7. Secret of Roan Innish
8. The Secret Garden
9. Big
10. Princess Bride
11. Willow
12. Chronicles of Narnia
13. Back to the Future (1, 2, & 3)
14. The Little Princess
15. Little Women
16. The Sound of Music
17. The Dark Crystal
18. American Tail
19. Secret of Nimh
20. The 10th Kingdom
21. Hairspray
22. Grease (1 & 2)
23. Harry & The Hendersons
24. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
25. Newsies
26. Fly Away Home
27. Footloose (the original)
28. Dirty Dancing
29. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
30. Freaky Friday (the original)
31. Addam's Family & Addams Family Values
32. Star Wars (the whole series)
33. Anne of Green Gables
34. Annie
35. Pippi Longstocking
36. The Parent Trap (original)
37. Milo & Otis
38. Casper (live action movie)
39. Hook
40. Pollyanna
41. Fern Gully
42. E.T.
43. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
44. Curly Sue
45. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original)
46. Babe
47. The Muppet Movies (any and all of them)
48. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 
49. Pete's Dragon
50. My Fair Lady
51. The Karate Kid (1, 2, & 3
52. Field of Dreams
53. Sandlot
54. Anastasia
55. Ninja Turtles (1, 2, & 3)
56. Little Monsters
57. Mighty Ducks
58. Ghostbusters (1, 2, & 3)
59. Ferris Beuller's Day Off
60. Indiana Jones (1, 2, & 3)
61. Adventures in Babysitting
62. Hocus Pocus
63. Beetlejuice
64. National Lampoon's Vacation (any and all)
65. Clue
66. Superman (1, 2, & 3)
67. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
68. Honey I Shrunk the Kids
69. Three Amigos
70. All Dogs Go to Heaven
71. The Wizard
72. Flight of the Navigator
73. Now & Then
74. Jumanji
75. Cool Runnings
76. Men in Black
77. Mrs. Doubtfire
78. Groundhog Day
79. A League of Their Own
80. Home Alone (1 & 2)
81. My Girl
82. Kindergarten Cop
83. The Mighty Ducks
84. Rookie of the Year
85. Ever After: A Cinderella Story
86. Masters of the Universe
87. Roger's And Hammerstein's Cinderella (the original)
88. 3 Ninjas
89. Sidekicks
90. Angels in the Outfield
91. Free Willy (1 & 2)
92. The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (original animated version from the 70's)
93. Mac & Me
94. Herbie / Love Bug (any of those)
95. The Incredible Mr. Limpett
96. The Last Unicorn
97. Chipmunks Movies (any of the cartoon ones)
98. The Boy Who Could Fly
99. Shirley Temple (Any of her movies)
100. Teen Wolf

Clearly the list could go on and on and on.  I am always looking for more ideas, so please share some of your favorites with me, and we'll watch them!

Edited June 2014!  I felt the need to add a few to the list, so here goes... the next 3!

1. Harry Potter (entire series - the later ones as they get older)
2. West Side Story
3. Jurrasic Park

Toxic Free Hair Care

We have been working on changing over various items in our home to toxic-free.  It is a slow process as we work through which items we can find good replacements for, but I am noticing that each change we make leaves us all feeling just that much better.  One of the bigger concerns that I had about going toxin-free was hair care.  

I have tried a lot of different shampoos and conditioners, serums, creams, gels, and sprays.  My regimen has changed and changed over the years because I have not found anything that gives me quite the result that I want.  Some leave my hair heavy, others don't condition it enough, and sometimes I feel a residue that ultimately winds up making my hair tangle and break. 

More recently, I have become concerned about the chemicals in my products, and decided to take the toxic test to see where they stood.   You can check all of your products too, by getting the free app from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), called Skin Deep.

They named the app that because toxins that touch your skin can enter the bloodstream in only 26 seconds.  That was a huge eye opener for me.

Basically, if I wouldn't feel okay ingesting it, I need to stop feeling like it is okay to put it on my body.

All of my hair care products fall into the moderate risk zone (from 3-6).  Anything from 7-10 is considered high.  For me, any risk is too high, and the fact is that there is no reason why we have to give in to using products that can hurt us, or even worse, our kids who use the same products.  

I have looked into No-Poo, Curly Girl, and other methods of toxic-free hair care, but each of them has left me a little worried about how my long, fine, wavy hair would do without proper conditioning.  So, I decided to do a little experiment.

My hair has been growing out for over 4 years, and during that time I've used all kinds of drying, damaging products with silicones, sulfates, and all kinds of other toxins.

The first thing I did was a deep conditioning treatment with unprocessed coconut oil.  I warmed a few Tablespoons to bring it to it's liquid state. It doesn't have to be very warm because coconut oil has a very low melting point, just above room temperature.  Because my hair is so long I just dipped it into the oil and then worked it into my hair.  I poured any extra on top of my head to get the roots and worked it all in, wrapped my head in a towel and went to bed.  The next morning my hair felt really oily and I was concerned about how it would come out of my hair, especially with a natural shampoo, but there was no going back now.

I received the Mommy's Club Shampoo this last week, and while it says "For Babies and Toddlers," really what it's saying is that it is safe enough to use on babies and toddlers.  Anyone can use it, and I decided if it was good enough for their fine hair and sensitive skin, why not give it a try.  So I did. 

It did a great job of getting the coconut oil out of my hair enough that I felt like my hair was clean.  Honestly I was impressed that ANY shampoo could clean that amount of coconut oil out of my hair in one washing without completely stripping my hair and leaving it damaged.  Instead it left my hair feeling really soft.  It has white tea and aloe, which are great for both my hair and my scalp, but don't add build-up to my hair.  I added in about 1/4 Tbs coconut oil after I got out and dried my hair, but in hindsight I don't think it needed it.  

I got impatient and decided to fix it while it was still a little wet, like I normally would.  This photo is while it is still damp.  My hair wound up coming out silky soft, and felt moisturized and strong.  I love how it helped to shape my big curls, and tame the frizz that I usually have going on.  

I think I've found my toxic-free hair care regimen.  The Mommy's Club Shampoo did an amazing job cleaning my hair without stripping it.  

I won't be doing the deep-conditioning treatment often - maybe once a month.  If I need any additional conditioning I will put just a drop or two of coconut oil between my palms, melt it to liquid state by rubbing my hands together and gently apply to the ends of my hair.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you try this technique!!

How to Start Living Toxic Free

I'm just a girl who has seen a lot of changes in myself and my family over the past few years that lead me to believe that the toxins in our home are impacting us. Moving toward a more natural, toxic-free life is something that I have been gradually doing for the past few years as I have become more aware of how my family and I respond to certain chemicals.  We wind up with everything from skin rashes and burns to severe gastro-intestinal issues and migraine headaches.  There is no doubt in my mind that there is a potential for long-term issues as well. I have always been pretty sensitive to things, but when I saw my kids begin to suffer with some of the same issues, I had to take a second look at exactly what we were putting in our homes and bodies.

What I found was absolutely shocking.  There are over 80,000 different chemicals that make their way into household products that most of us use every day, and the majority of them have not undergone safety testing to determine whether or not they are a danger to us.  It takes less than 30 seconds for those chemicals to make their way directly into our blood stream after touching our skin.  Truthfully, that's pretty scary.

Honestly when I hear things like that there's a part of me that wants to scale everything back to "how it used to be."  It isn't always practical in this modern world to do things so drastic, so we have been dipping our toes in the water, trying to feel out what works best for us. 

Fortunately there are options out there for those who want to make a change, like us.  We use local honey, buy organic whenever we can, and actively try to be conscious of what we bring into our home.  We garden, reduce/reuse/recycle, and use natural remedies whenever possible. There are so many wonderful ways to replace toxic-laden products with ones that are toxic-free in your home.  

The first thing I would encourage anyone to do is to find out what is toxic, and what isn't.  To do that, you can go to www.takethetoxictest.com and find out what the biggest culprits are by plugging in the products you use often in your home.  The site will give you a rating to tell you whether or not they are safe to use, and just how bad or good they are.

One of the biggest issues that most people run into when they are first starting out is cost.  My friend Allie told me about Mommy's Club, a company that allows members to buy products at a bulk discount by negotiating with companies to get special deals for their members.  In short, it's like a toxic-free version of Costco.  It's a new company so they are adding new products every day, and will ultimately be an easy one-stop-shop for everything you would need in your household from food, coffee, and supplements to cosmetics and cleaning supplies, all toxic-free and organic, and at a bulk discount price.

The best thing about Mommy's Club to me, is that their first and primary focus is spreading the message about refusing to use all the products that companies try to tell us are safe, and instead choosing to bring our homes back to the safe place they once were.  I have joined on with Mommy's Club because I believe in what they're doing.  They are changing the world, one home at a time.

There is an incredible community of people who are fighting back in a chemical-focused world.  We're taking back our health, our homes, and our futures by making single, small changes.  What will be your first step?

I've Been Painting

Just a few of the projects I have had going as of late.  I have about 15 orders I am working on as well, so there will be more updates before long!