Our Favorite Family-Friendly Netflix Movies

Clearly we are all staying at home a lot more lately.  Thank you, Covid19 Pandemic. *sarcastic eyeroll*

If your family is like ours, more being at home = more Netflix watching.

My husband and I are watching things like Ozark when the kids aren't around.  But cartel-money-laundering-murderer isn't exactly the topic I want my kids to be watching.  So here are our favorite family-friendly Netflix movies.

1. Despicable Me

The world has become a bit overrun with minion memes.  But don't let that stop you from rewatching the original Despicable Me movie. Steve Carell is a fabulous tender-hearted-former-bad-guy in this kid's movie that will keep even the adults entertained.

2. Secret Life of Pets

We saw The Secret Life of Pets in the theater when it released in 2016 and we all enjoyed it!  Another family-friendly movie that the adults will enjoy just as much as the kids!


3. Hook

Who else remembers seeing Hook as a kid? *raises hand*  It's now available on Netflix so that you can share the magical experience with your own children!

4. Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Truth bomb: I do not like super hero movies. I know. As a boy-mom it's something I fail at.  These are just not my jam. However, my 9 yr old watched this and you know what? It was pretty good!  Definitely worth giving a try, especially if your kid loves Spider Man!

5. Stuart Little

This little mouse movie is a great one for the whole family to watch together! It came out in 1999 but is still a sweet family movie.

6. Yours, Mine, and Ours

Originally a Lucille Ball movie, this was redone in 2005 with Dennis Quad and Renee Russo. A single father (Quad) of 8 marries a woman with 10 children.  This movie is sure to bring some laughs as it celebrates what it means to be a family.

7. The Bee Movie

Jerry Seinfeld voices the main character is this creative movie about...you guessed it...a bee.  Definitely one that will get families laughing together. 

8. Christopher Robin

If you didn't get the chance to see Christopher Robin when it debuted in 2018, now is your chance! We have watched it several times on Netflix. The movie is calm (not a chaotic/loud flick) yet it definitely has some humor.  I highly recommend checking Christopher Robin out on Netflix if you haven't already.

9. Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Poppins. Does it get any more family friendly than Mary Poppins? Our kids loved that Lin Manuel-Miranda is also in this film.  Now, I do think they original Marry Poppins is better than this sequel, but maybe that's because I'm nostalgic for my own childhood version of the movie.  At any rate, Mary Poppins Returns is another wonderful family-friendly movie option on Netflix.

10. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

We are going all the way back to 1968 with this Netflix recommendation!  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stars Dick Van Dyke as the single father of 2 children.  He's constantly making quirky inventions!  This is a great movie to watch before working on a STEM project together!

11. The Karate Kid

You may be thinking of the original Karate Kid movie, but the one available on Netflix right now is the 2010 version.  That sounds so NEW to me but was TEN years ago! Starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.

12. Spy Kids

Hard to believe that this movie came out 19 years ago!  Yet Spy Kids is such a fun movie experience for children.  Even though it debuted before your children were even born, I bet they would enjoy getting to watch it with you on Netflix!

That's it, folks!  Those are my top 12 family-friendly movie recommendations for Netflix. Were there any great movies that I missed?  

One "Kids" Movie That Didn't Make the Cut

Cat In The Hat is on Netflix and had been promoted as a family movie, bringing a beloved Dr. Seuss character to the big screen. Grinch was amazing, after all.  Along came Cat in the Hat.  The jokes are shocking and lewd. That whole movie is a steaming pile of garbage.  

I'm no prude...my husband and I loved "The Hangover" when we saw it in theaters and I have an entire Pinterest board of "PG 13 Humor".  But Cat in the Hat?  We're gonna pass.

Are there any other family-friendly kids movies on Netflix that you can think of to add to my list? 

Friday Funnies: Mother's Day Edition

In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, today's funnies are all mom-related.  Enjoy!

Mother's Day Gifts In the Time of Covid19

Mother's Day is coming this Sunday and for awhile I was completely perplexed as to what to get for my mom and mother-in-law.  

Due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) situation we are all practicing distancing and not seeing each other.  Plus I didn't want to send a gift card to a store when they can't actually go out to shop in the store. They could shop online I suppose....but still that wasn't the right option

Then I thought of getting flowers sent to them. BUT a delivery person would have to touch the flowers and come up to the door to deliver.  Nope. Didn't want to do that.

Finally it dawned on me yesterday.  The perfect gift for Mother's Day in light of our quarantine/lockdown situation.

A magazine subscription!

They will get something in the mail once a month and it will give them something to DO while stuck at home!

I ordered from Magazines.com but if you have airline miles you may be able to use your MagsForMiles account.  There were a lot of options like HGTV Magazine, People, Do It Yourself, and Woman's Day, Southern Living, etc.  

A magazine subscription will be the perfect Mother's Day gift for my mom and mother-in-law.  I'm so excited to email them on Sunday and let them know that a magazine is on it's way!

P.S. If you shop through Ebates/Rakuten you can get up to 25% cash back on a Magazines.com purchase.  I always use Rakuten when I order online. That little bit of extra money every few months is a nice little bonus!  If you'd like to get cash back for shopping online you can use my referral link.

3 ingredient D-I-Y Laundry Detergent (no boiling or grating!)

In an attempt to find easy ways to save money, I began looking online for ways to make my own laundry detergent. Many DIY laundry detergent recipes call for grating soap or boiling water.  

Some recipes make 10 gallons at once. I didn't want to DIY our laundry detergent and end up with 10 gallons because what if we didn't like the soap and then were stuck with 10 gallons!?  

Finally I found this recipe for laundry detergent.  It only takes 3 ingredients and has just 4 steps, this laundry soap was right up my alley!  

3 ingredients, 4 steps, 5 minutes.  People, it doesn't get any easier than that!

DIY Laundry Detergent Ingredients:

• Washing Soda
• Borax
• Dawn Dish Soap (Blue original)

DIY Laundry Detergent Instructions:

• Get an empty gallon jug
• Put in 3 T. washing soda, 3T. borax, and 2 T Dawn
• Pour in 4C hot water
• Once your laundry soap mixture is cool, top off the jug with cold water. Bubbles will overflow, that's okay.  Once bubbling stops, put cap on your new gallon jug of laundry soap and give yourself a high-five!

DIY Laundry Detergent Cost:

• Dawn soap-$2.64 at Walmart (I already had this on hand because it's also what we use to do dishes)
• Borax-$4.47 at Walmart
• Washing Soda-$4.12 at Walmart
• Gallon jug-Free, wash out a gallon of water or some other jug you already have around the house.

Total cost of your 3 ingredient laundry detergent:

$11.23

I can get at least 10 more gallons of this simple laundry detergent out of these supplies. Which means 11 gallons of laundry detergent for $11.23 total. 

Where else can you buy a gallon of laundry soap for $1.02?!?

Cost Comparison Tide Vs. DIY Laundry Detergent:

For 11 gallons of our 3 Ingredient Laundry Soap it costs $11.23 for 1,408 ounces. Price per ounce: 0.00797. 

I found this Tide at Walmart for $11.97 for 92 ounces. Since there are 128 ounces in a galloon, I would have to buy 15.03 bottles of this Tide to have the same 11 gallons of laundry soap. Rounding down to 15 bottles of Tide the cost would be  (15x11.97)= $179.55 (0.127 per ounce)

179.55 vs. $11.23

Making my own laundry detergent saves $168.32.  THAT is a huge savings!  Is DIY-ing my laundry soap, spending 5 minutes per gallon (55 minutes total for 11 gallons if we do it one gallon at a time) worth $168?!  YES.  I don't make $168 an hour so spending an hour of time to essentially "earn" that much money is definitely worth it.

But what if I buy less expensive laundry detergent? Should I still make my own?

YES! The least expensive brand I can find at Walmart is "Xtra" which costs 0.04/ounce which is $56.32 for 11 gallons. Versus $11.23 by making it yourself.  Your savings is $45.09 for 55 minutes of work!  Again, I don't make $45 an hour so it is STILL a huge savings to make my own laundry detergent.  Not having to boil or grate anything means this is the easiest laundry detergent recipe I've seen!

Fabric softener aka my kryptonite

I love my Downy liquid fabric softener.  You will pry it from my cold dead hands unless you have a fabulous copycat DIY recipe.  If you know how to make Downy at home, hit me up!  Otherwise that's a laundry product I'll keep buying at the store.

Friday Funnies

Who is ready to laugh?  Me!  Here are 3 great funnies I found around the web this week:

Quaran-READING

While we are in this quarantine lockdown and schools are closed for the year due to the coronavirus, we definitely have more time to read.  I've bought a variety of books and have been reading a lot lately.  I'm going to share a few here: my favorites, currently in progress, and one book I had to quit.

1. Evvie Drake Starts Over

First, Evvie Drake Starts Over. This was the most delightful of the books I have read so far.  Evvie's husband died in a car crash not long before the book starts.  Her friend's famous baseball player pal needs a place to stay and Evvie has an extra room.  This book was the perfect lighthearted escape from heavy news in our current world. 

Bonus: I just discovered the author did an interview on NPR.  

  

Amazon  I   Bookshop  

2. Becoming

Second on the list: Becoming. I've had this book sitting on my shelf but was so busy that I never got past the second chapter.  Now in quarantine with a little more time to read, I'm making my way through the rest of the book.  It's worth the hype.  Michelle Obama, whether you voted for her husband or not, is a solid writer and weaves a great look into her life thus far. 


Amazon  I  Bookshop

3. The Stand

Oh, Steven King. An airborne virus that kills people and is highly contagious?  Yes, that's the type of book we should all be reading right now.  I bought this gargantuan book with high hopes.  King is a household name for a reason, he's a master storyteller.  But.  You knew there was a 'but' coming, right?  

This would be a chonk of a book for me to get through under normal circumstances.  Given the Coronavirus pandemic right now, I find my mind a little to tired to read something this dense.  I never know what day of the week it is, my dreams are weird, and I went into a panic when it took a month to be able to buy a can of black beans. Oh and our toilet paper supply is low. I ordered towels to cut up just in case because SWEET MOTHER OF HECK.  So a 1,400 pg book is too much to take on right now.  I'm putting "The Stand" on a shelf to come back to at a less-stressful time


Amazon  I  Bookshop

*Links are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here. 

4. Lending a Paw

Am I the only one who just discovered that "cozy mystery" is a genre?  Well "Lending a Paw" is definitely cozy.  I'm halfway through this one right now and it's a lovely, feel-good distraction from the pandemic world.  Laurie Cass creates a murder mystery that relies on the librarian/bookmobile driver to solve.  Minnie, the librarian has a cat named Eddie that goes along for the adventure. As a dog person, I'd have rather had a bookmobile with a dog but I can settle for a cat. :)  

Amazon  I  Bookshop

5. Ghosts

Technically this is a juvenile fiction graphic novel by popular kids' author Raina Telgemeier.  Students are always reading her books and I bought and read Guts a couple months ago. It was fantastic!  When the Libby app (free app that lets you check out digital materials from your library) had Ghosts up for grab, I quickly checked it out and read it in one afternoon.  

The story does deal with heavier topics such as death (obviously. The title gives that away) and the cystic fibrosis (the main character is a child with CF).  Even so, it was a quick read with a cute story that affirms family connections.

Amazon  I  Bookshop

6. Other People's Houses

Last but not least: Abbi Waxman's Other People's Houses.  I am actually waiting on this one to arrive in the mail!  I've seen this book talked about several different places (I think magazines and probably Modern Mrs. Darcy because she's the ultimate book blogger).

I previously read Waxman's The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and loved it.  Generally if I like one book from an author, I will like others. It centers on a carpool mom, a neighborhood, and an affair.  Reader reviews describe it as "funny" which is always my cup of tea!

Amazon  I  Bookshop

Have you been reading more during the quarantine?  If you have any great suggestions (we've established that it has to be under a THOUSAND pages for me to handle), please leave a comment!  


P.S. You may enjoy my bookish Pinterest board: 

Friday Funnies

We could all use some laughter in our lives right now!  I've been doing a lot of pinning on my Quotes/Funnies board and am going to share 3 of my most recent faves with you today.







See all the things that make me laugh: