Serving up silliness

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My youngest grandson seems to be maturing far more quickly than I recall being the case with his two older brothers. At just over 15 months, Jak's been working diligently on mastering basic skills seemingly in hopes he'll be as independent as Bubby and Mac as soon as possible.

Skills like feeding himself.

Megan texts photos now and then of the goofy boy's progress. Most recently these:

toddler eating yogurt

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A Brave Heart, plus GRAND Social No. 174 link party for grandparents

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A Brave Heart

A Brave Heart film

My husband and I watched an incredible documentary yesterday called A BRAVE HEART: THE LIZZIE VELASQUEZ STORY, courtesy a free, no-obligation screener from the filmmakers. It's the amazing, heartbreaking, inspiring...

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Saturday movie review (and giveaway!): Love & Mercy

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Most baby boomers grew up on the music of the Beach Boys. But few of us, I think, know the story behind singer-songwriter Brian Wilson other than that he took to his bed for several years at one point. The dramatic biography LOVE & MERCY delves into Wilson's genius, his madness, his years under the physical, financial and psychological control of a therapist, and his miraculous comeback to music—and life—thanks to a woman who never gave up on him and eventually became his second wife.

 Love & Mercy

LOVE & MERCY (which I received free for review) tells the story of two pivotal periods in the life of Brian Wilson (with full cooperation of Brian Wilson and...

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Love, Grandma: 6 tips on writing memorable messages for grandchildren

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Putting words on paper—or pixel, as the case may be in high-tech communications—can be difficult at times. Especially at the times that matter most, those milestone moments we want our sentiments to perfectly convey what's in our hearts and be cherished forever by loved ones.

what to write to grandchild

I often get email requests from grandparents to help them write the right words in greeting cards, letters, baby books and...

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Saturday movie review: Match

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My husband and I have watched a fair share of movies based on stage plays in the past several months and have been continually disappointed. After we aborted watching about two-thirds of the way through one painfully slow story—with a lovely and talented cast that simply could not save the show—we agreed to steer clear of movies based on plays going forward.

I'm grateful I had no idea MATCH was based on a play before we started watching it. For had I known then refused to watch the film starring Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, and Matthew Lillard was originally a 2005 Broadway play written by Stephen Belber and starring Frank Langella, I would have missed out on a minimal yet powerful, thought-provoking, and memorable story.

MATCH movie

Belber wrote and directed the film based on his play about an aging former world-traveling ballet dancer, Tobias or "Tobi" (Patrick Stewart), who's retired from dance and...

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