Movie Night: Enchanted

While big sister was visiting, we discovered she had never seen the movie Enchanted

 

Since that is one of S.'s favorites (and mine), and since we haven't had a movie night in a while, and since we had just discovered that we will be adding yet another boy to the family, naturally we had to plan one around Giselle!

 

Our meal even worked nicely to clean out some leftovers and make use of some Bountiful Baskets goodies. We had Princess and the Pea Pasta with Parsley Pesto (peas from a neighbor, parsley pesto and tomatoes from BB):

 

 

Would you believe, daddy is STILL accusing me of stuffing the peas into those little tiny shells, just to trick him into eating them? Believe it or not, honey, they just fall in as you stir. I do not have THAT much time on my hands!

 

We used up the last of the BB spinach wraps for Prince Edward's Pinwheels:

 

 

Super easy, and definitely a hit. I think I know what I'm doing with the tomato and basil wraps in the freezer.

 

To drink, there was a bubbly punch (lemon-lime soda, the leftover liquid from making maraschino cherries, and the sherbet that was getting freezer burned):

 

 

Looks odd, but the kids didn't care. L. practically OD'd on it; I finally dumped the rest out so I could tell him it was "all gone".

 

For dessert: poisoned apples!

 

 

It's okay to eat one, you just need lots of kisses afterward! My BB apples were too small, so we bought these, and filled them with walnuts, cranberries, and brown sugar, then topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon, then baked until soft. Umm!

 

Our big splurge was some flowers S. picked out at the store:

 

 

And then we spent another $5 on 'crystal' (plastic) goblets, fancy cutlery, and tiaras at the dollar store.

 

 

Doesn't Daddy look great?

 

Always the princess.

 

L. would only wear his backwards.

 

C. wouldn't wear his at all.

 

 

Okay, fine.

 

As a side note, my children have recently discovered photobombing.

 

 

See?

 

And then, on to the movie. Everyone agreed that it was a good one, except for Daddy, who mostly just shakes his head at anything that isn't set in the Old West.

 

And, now I have all those songs stuck in my head. Here, you can, too!

 

 

 

You're welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Review of Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

978-054-764-5704

 

It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises. The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

 

A LOT is going on in this book. Just about every fairy tale you have ever read gets woven in, many of them in passing mentions - a golden ball in a well, women speaking in snakes, a giant who swallowed the sun. There are also a multitude of characters. In addition to the seven sisters, a couple brothers, parents, and the prince, we have two fairy godmothers, spouses of some of the sisters, a king, a few other fey individuals, friends, soldiers, and servants - many of whom, in another book, would have served only to muddy the waters, but somehow Kontis manages to bring us just shy of confused.

 

You definitely want to pay attention while you are reading, but personally I found all the interwoven details to be intriguing rather than confusing. A reader who did not devour every one of Lang's fairy tale tomes as a child will be missing out on a bit, but will enjoy this very delightful story just the same.

 

A few things aren't quite explained - or maybe I missed them! Mentioning some would cause spoilers, but here's a minor bit - what were the instructions Rumbold gave  regarding the moneylenders? What did they have to do with anything??? None of that detracted from the story for me, but did serve to remind me this is her first novel. And gads, if I had to keep track of as many threads as she did in writing this, I'd probably forget whole characters! I am definitely looking forward to future works by Kontis.