By Karyn Bowman

Every year someone writes the Top Ten Christmas movie list. And other people then comment on what treasured movie or another was left out. Holiday movies are a very personal issue.

I haven’t done one for a long while for that reason. Plus, I am always forgeting something that should have been there. However, this year I am giving it a go and then all of the readers can debate where I was wrong, where I was right and what should have been there instead. You could even leave a comment here or stop me in the grocery store the next time you see me.

I do have a few honorable mentions that are more in the romatic comedy genre with a holiday theme. Those are: Christmas in Conneticut (1947), Love Actually (2005) and While You Were Sleeping (1995). I also think Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town TV specials belong in honrable mentions as well. If my husband had his way, the segment of Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing The Little Drummer Boy would end up there, too.

Just so there is no mistake, this is in numerical order. Perhaps your order is different.

10. Polar Express (2004) has a beautiful soundtrack along with great voice work and tremendous cgi animation that is almost as beautiful as the book. Tom Hanks plays a variety of roles and makes it work.

9. Prancer (1989) tells the story of a young motherless girl who believes she is healing the leg of Prancer, who has gotten lost from the rest of the Santa’s helpers. It makes you want to believe.

8. White Christmas (1954) stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as a song-and-dance team who help out their former commanding officer save his Vermont inn with a classic “Lets Put on a Show” routine with Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

7. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is one of those Christmas specials that stick out because it reminds us about the true meaning of Christmas without getting preachy. It tells the story and does it well. Plus, that scraggily Christmas tree has become an icon.

6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) allows us to spend time with Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo and the whole gang one more time for Christmas misadventures. You will laugh so hard you will have tears forming as your guts is spasming in pain. And you won’t care that you are laughing that hard.

5. The Nativity Story (2006) directed by Catherine Hardwicke took me by surprise on the beauty of the cinematography and quality of acting. This re-telling of the Christmas Story will make you cry and realize how much this young couple had to overcome in order to bring God’s son into the world.

4. A Christmas Story (1987) Ralphie wants a very special Christmas gift but everyone around him tells him that he will shoot his eye out. That doesn’t stop Ralphie and nor should it you from enjoying this great slice of life movie about Christmas in the 40’s with an irascible dad and a long-suffering mother. The ‘tongue on the pole’ scene alone is worth the rental fee.

3. A Christmas Carol (1951) with Alastair Sim is the definitive version of this movie. He makes Dickens’ story of the miser who learns the true meaning of Christmas full of spirit and joy.

2. Miracle On 34^th Street (1947). So, you have an old guy state his name is Kris Kringle and he is the best store Santa, ever. Do you believe because of his unfailing kindness and ability to make you smile no matter what or do you doubt because of an unfeeling, cynical jerk tells you to.

1. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). Let Jimmy Stewart charm you as the guy who wanted to get away from his small home town but instead builds it up throughout the years. When doubts get the better of him on Christmas Eve, Clarence the Angel helps him find his way back home with a little trip to what might have been. Bring the tissues along.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for the Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

Over the years I have been asked by people how to become a writer. They talk of a great need to write and all the stories they have inside of them wanting to get out. Others enjoy the process and want to go further with it, develop their skills and learn how to make something in their head take on a life of its own.

My first words of wisdom are always this: find or create a writing support group. Find people who write and want to share their works to get feedback and reassurance. Elizabeth Berg and Jennifer Chiaverini are two current authors who do just that.

I also encourage people to read as much as possible, see what others do in your field and figure it out. Implement what works and throw out what does not.

Writing is not easy. It can be messy and irritating when you know a favorite sentence has to go out the door in order to make a more perfect piece of work. It is all a part of the deal. An author of a recent book I read stated it took her almost 12 drafts of the novel to get it right. It meant ripping apart who was the love interest, the heroine, the ending, and the entire format of the book. In the end, all of the drafts and hard work made for a perfect book.

Recently, I have had more time on my hands and decided to get back in touch with a writer’s group I had joined before. They welcomed me and my poetic efforts (the first in years). What was also interesting was hearing contributions from the others, how they worked with the actual rhyme pattern of a Robert Frost poem or didn’t. People had fun with the topic or took a serious note.

For me, it was refreshing and invigorating while we had lunch at Russ-n-Rosie’s in Chebanse. Below was my poetic offering. If upon reading it, you feel so inspired, send it in the comments section and we can have a poet’s corner in this blog.

Mastodon Fruit

We pulled into the field that held soy bean just a few days ago.Hedge apple

The popping sound of the stems comes from under the tires.

Looking over, my daughter sees the prize we are searching for

Bright neon green orbs, hedge apples.

I tell her to pick up a few, that we want seven all together.

“Why seven?” the bright eight year old asks

“It is a good number to get,” I say.

Already I imagine how they will look in a glass bowl on my table.

Later my son sees them and says “Mastodon fruit.”

Not that this area has seen a Mastodon in thousands of years

He tells me the seeds need the digestive system of the Mastodon

In order to make germination possible.

Yet, I look around and see hedge apple trees along the fence rows

I see them along ditches in the country and in forest preserves.

But the place I love to see them best, the place that makes me happiest,

Is in a glass bowl in the middle of my dining room table.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for The Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

How crafty are you? If you are like me, perhaps you admire what other people do and wonder if you could do it yourself. Our 4H group has a number of crafty members who can create beautiful pieces of art.

This past week found our November meeting taking place at Sharnets’ Crafty Corner in Iroquois. In the farmland, we found Sharon Taylor, who has her own ceramic studio in the shed on the farm that she works with husband. Sharon also runs a number of classes, including a Monday night ceramics class.

By having her studio on the farm, Sharon can get out there anytime without fuss or muss. She makes ceramic decorations that can be personalized. We saw one ceramic snowman that had the family’s name cut out and when it was lit, the letter glowed. One the shelves were a variety of current and upcoming holiday ceramic figures in a variety of sizes. We saw many cute figures including baby turkeys and pilgrims.

Our group painted six inch high snowmen and reindeer. We had about seven kids and four adults come along who got to choose their figure and then painted with colors of our choosing. Not knowing who was a novice painter or experienced did not seem to faze Sharon and her daughter-in-law, Anita, one bit.

They kept going around each of the three tables, giving us instructions as needed. When we needed the pointy brushes to do the fine lines or the pointer to make that special dot in the eyes of our creatures, Sharon and Anita were there to help out. Anita demonstrated how to do a dry brush technique to me (as well as everyone else) so I could put on the right amount of blush on my reindeer’s cheek.

While my son, who loves animé, did a traditional snowman, another one of our 4H members became detailed oriented and placed a slightly darker color in the hat lines of her snowman. Our 12-year-old wanted to have a classic reindeer with no blush or glitter while mine did all of that. Every single one that was made that night looked great no matter how each artist choose to do their own personal project.

Once the projects were completed, our group began to look at basket patterns. Sharon had a great many patterns, some even had flower designs that were woven with the basket but climbed up to top rim. The ones I remember the most were the Wedding Basket and the Albuquerque Basket. Both looked difficult but Sharon assured us they were doable.

Offering ceramics and basket weaving classes, it is possible to find and release your inner artist while at Sharnets’ Crafty Corner. I know I am personally thinking about doing the Wedding Basket the next time our group goes out.

For more information about class times for ceramics and basket weaving you can call Sharon Taylor of Sharnets’ Crafty Corner at (219) 474-5489.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for the Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

I have to admit I love some forms of talk radio. There is nothing better than listening to someone who could be your neighbor down the street who is funny and interesting. That is what I loved about Spike O’Dell before he retired from WGN last year. His interests became my interests and I found out about new and interesting people or things while listening to Spike.

Now that he is gone and other changes have occurred with favorite talk show hosts disappearing, I have been at a loss. There is much on the radio landscape I avoid, such as the opinionated screamers or the hosts who have an opinion and really do not care to hear yours despite the fact that they invite people to call in. Even sports radio gets on my last nerve as the latest game is analyzed to the nth degree in loud booming voices that hurt my ear drums.

However, there is one station that is getting more and more of my time. WKCC 91.1 on the FM dial has become a staple for our household. For years, the husband and I have wanted to listen to A Prairie Home Companion but we could not get the Chicago radio station in our house, although we got great reception in the car. It is really hard to justify hanging in your car for two hours in the heart of winter.

Then we discovered that our house radio could pick it up. Glory be!! Now we get to listen to Garrison Keillor as he tells his stories through Guy Noir, Rusty and Dusty the cowboys, ketchup commercials or the News from Lake Wobegon. We laugh, we cry, we can share it with our kids.

I am also finding myself turning it on in weekday evenings for classical music. The husband enjoys listening to the Friends of the Blues program with James Walker and D’Arcy Ballinger. Last Sunday, I woke up to Sunday Baroque and it was wonderful music to hear as I meditated on the day ahead.

Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me is another NPR staple we listen to and I find myself checking in with Marketplace. I could go on but you get the picture. You can get a wide variety of music, news from sources other than the screamers and radio shows that love to make fun of anything and everything.

To find out more about the station or to see their programming schedule, visit the Web site or tune your FM dial to 91.1 for something out of the ordinary.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for The Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

Recently we noticed that family pooch, Storm, has begun to gain weight. Storm is a three-year-old Labrador retriever and can be very active. He also likes to eat anything that falls on the floor, has been deserted on the table, or is not being looked at while still in a child’s hand. Plus we had him fixed this past spring.

He has become bulked up in the hips and tummy, leading to knocking down our five-year-old son more often than not. Then the kid usually socks the dog but that is another story.

I feel for our Storm because he has been put on a diet. Nothing ruins the mood of sneaking candy out of the kids’ Halloween stash more than having big brown eyes looking up at you in the hope that something will drop directly into his mouth. Plus, I know where he is right now, if a dog cares that they have more weight than they should.

In the past few years I have finally been successful at losing weight that has crept up on me over the years. It has not been easy but it meant that I had to change some bad habits. I stopped drinking soda and lowered my chocolate intake. Then I worked to add good habits such as drinking unsweetened ice tea or water and having yogurt as a snack everyday. Plus I am trying to make sure I add a piece of fruit to my lunch menu and salad at supper.

That can get you only so far. Now it is time to up the ante.

The last few Sundays the husband and I make a point of taking the dog – and the whole family – for a walk in one of the great forest preserves we have nearby. This past Sunday we went the entire three mile trek at the Aroma Park Forest Preserve on Heiland Road that took us to the shore of the river and back.

The week before I took the kids and the dog to the new path by KCC that has been paved. We took the entrance drive by the softball fields and went all the way back. We did not go as far as we could have but the dog and the kids were happy with the trip. And before you think I allowed my dog to do his business recklessly, let me inform you that we always, always, carry bags with us for the solid matter.

I asked my husband how long he felt we could do this, considering the cold weather that is coming our way. His response was perfect for a man who loves to hunt in the winter.

“We’ll just bundle them up and make sure to bring hot chocolate and water along,” he said.

That’s good because I am planning for the family to hit Perry Farm and the State Park walking trails in the near future. Do you have any other great suggestions for a Sunday afternoon trail walk?

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for The Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

When Exploration Station has their Grand re-opening night a month ago, we went as a family. One of the reasons was we do have a membership to this fun museum.

But another was that over the years we have enjoyed coming to this museum with our kids. Our age range is 5 years to 17 years. We have had a child at the right age for the exploration station for the last 15 years.

When we first moved in the area, we came and conquered the castle. I use to climb up and down with the kids. Plus the grocery store was always great fun. I was sad when that went away.

But now with the new hands-on areas upfront I am happy to say Exploration Station has done a great job of re-inventing itself. We have been to the museum a couple of times since that grand opening night and we are loving what we see.

The old gift shop area is now a diner. Right next to it is a new auto repair shop. My boys think this is a really cool area; my five-year-old grabs tools and starts fixing cars. All of my kids love the new inventor’s workshop area.

Plus the grocery store is back with a flower wagon. I love how the new area is smaller with canvas shopping bags to encourage green behavior.

Overall, I love the slightly smaller play areas that encourage a lot of fun and imagination. The art table and dinosaur bones are still there as well as a wonderful dress up area and the waterworks.

Most important though is the castle. We could have spent an hour in that room going up and down the stairs or hiding in the dungeon or playing with the puppets.

Bravo, Exploration Station! You have enhanced what worked well, brought back old favorites and created some wonderful new areas. This is one family that is loving it!

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for the Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

Movies might be one obsession, but reading is my first.

Ever since I could put letters together to make words I have been reading.

Admittedly, I will read just about anything. I have read my husband’s Sports Illustrated along with my Jane Austen novels.

I am always disappointed that she wrote only six gems. But there it is.

Recently I was sent a series of books by Richelle Mead called The Vampire Academy. Fitting for Halloween, the books are about a secret vampire world most humans know nothing about.

In this world, there are two types of vampires – the Morois and the Strigois. The Strigois are everything evil in the vampire world. They kill and turn others into vampires for fun. Their goal seems to be to keep the world in chaos and their control. A good person can be turned into a strigoi and lose everything that made them good.

Now a Moroi is a born vampire, some are royal and some are not. They need blood to survive but do not kill to do so. In fact there is usually a group of willing humans who live in Moroi compounds know as feeders; they get high from the bites.

OK, that may seem weird but there is another species that lives in this world called dhamphirs. Dhamphirs are humans mixed with vampires. Because they are strong like vampires but able to handle light as humans do they protect the Morois from Strigois. It is a symbiotic relationship. One helps create the other while the other helps protect the first.

Our heroine is dhamphir Rose Hathaway who is training to be a guardian and loves it. Since she was in kindergarten she has been best friends with Lisa Dragomir, the last living member of the royal Dragomir family. Their bond is very strong, Rose can even read Lisa’s mind. And it will be Rose’s job to protect Lisa once they are finished with school.

It is a case of opposites as Rose is very fiesty and prone to hit first and ask questions later. Lisa is more cultured and sociable. Each would protect the other no matter what. This relationship might start the book but what drives it through the series is Rose’s relationship with her instructor, Dimitri. It is a love match but they also have challenges, such as he is seven years older and her teacher. She is a hot head who knows she has to learn control.

There is a lot to love about these books. They handle teen behavior such as the hormonal ups and downs. One character gets into cutting to relieve her emotional pain, another is anti-social and sarcastic. There are mean girl situations and dealings with spirits that are just as spooky for vampires as they are for humans. Plus there are plenty of action scenes to keep you interested. Book four – Blood Promise – has a heart wrenching fight that surprised me.

I started on Vampire Academy, then moved on to Frost Bite, Shadow Kissed and Blood Promise in quick order. I had a hard time putting them down once I started reading the books. I then handed the books off to my 17-year-old son and his girlfriend, who is a big Twilight fan. They meet her standards for good fiction, too.

The other night I was in Target and saw Blood Promise on the shelf. To be honest I got excited because now I know I will find the fifth book, whenever it comes out. When that fifth book comes out, I already know three people ready to take on the next journey Rose and Lisa choose to go on.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for The Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

Hoo-Hoo, the sweet corn is in!!!!!

“Yeah, we know” you are all saying to the computer. But have you gone out and bought some yet?

Oh, baby, this is what summer eating is all about. There is nothing like an ear of corn that has been cooked to perfection so that it is crunchy and sweet without being over-cooked and soggy. Slather that ear in salted butter and you never have to reach for the salt shaker.

How good is it? When we pick some up we make sure there is enough for everyone in our family to have three ears because that is all my kids will eat for supper.

We all have our favorite places to buy it. Mine are on the east end of the county because that is where we live. Perhaps some of you can share your favorite places. One place we go is Reitveld’s on the corner of 4000 North Road (Larry Power Road to some) and 4000 East Road (Skyline Road to others). They have more than corn but that is what we always get.

Another place we go to is a farmstand on Rt. 17 east of Exline Road but west of the River. What makes this place unique is the owners trust you to put in the right amount of money in the box for the number of ears you take. It is the country, it is what we do. They will do the same with tomatoes as well.

Both places have good corn and when it is done for the day it is done. So you take your ears home, clean them and throw them in the pot. The husband and I have debated the number of minutes to leave the ears in our favorite tall stock pot over the years. I put the timer on for 12 minutes and have had great results.

I am open to hearing how people do it on the grill since I have never tried that method.

I assume you would take off the outside tassels but I wonder if you should completely clean the corn and put it in foil or can you leave the husk on?

Now should you have leftover ears that have not been eaten I have a great corn pudding recipe to use them in. But you are going to have to tune in another day for that.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for the Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

One of the brightest spots of the summer has arrived and that is the county fair.

You may have read about the history of the county fair in the paper and you may have thought about getting over there. But what I also hope you do if you go is to visit the Creative Arts building that shows off many of the projects done by the various 4H groups in our area.

When I was growing up, 4H was for the country kids. Many of the projects focused on what people considered the skills needed for a farm – canning, sewing, and livestock. But there are other projects that you may not think about as being farm related. Woodworking, photography and leadership kills are just a few of the projects.

Let me give full disclosure. I had a cousin in 4H and I am the mom of two 4H members. My kids have done photography, drawings, rocketry, woodworking, forestry, guinea pigs (in the small pet category), rabbits and dog training for projects.

Other kids I know have done veterinarian projects, horticulture, basket weaving, public speaking, electricity, aerospace and quilting. There are myriad other topics that including clothing construction and nutrition. When our son took in his baking project, my husband watched another 4H member bring in a steak they had cooked. You heard me right, a steak.

What I like most about 4H is that it gives kids the opportunity to try a number of different projects. Maybe it fails one year and the next they get it right. Sometimes it can work the other way around; the first year is a great success and the next doesn’t go so good. Or they can find a different project better suited for their skills. The point is kids get to try out different things to see what they like and don’t like.

Plus some of the projects offer scholarships if you plan on sticking with it for several years. That is something a lot of parents look for. Another plus? For each ribbon, kids can get a premium check, the amount varying with the color. It may not be a lot cash-wise but what a boost it can be to the self-esteem.

Enjoy the fair while it is here, take the time to admire the hard work of these kids in the creative arts building and in the livestock barns. But also remember to stop at the 4H foodstand by the Grandstand to help fund this worthy organization that helps our kids learn to be better.

Karyn Bowman is also known as Mom Goes to the Movies and wrote for the Daily Journal as their movie reviewer for over seven years. She lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children.

By Karyn Bowman

One of the great activities of summertime is going to a drive-in movie theater.

The problem, as most of you know, is the dwindling number of drive-ins. The closest one I know about is in Gibson City which is just over an hour from here. My favorite one is in Valparaiso – a ride of an hour and a half.

I love it with the old car radios on the stands and the huge green areas for before the movie. While drive-ins now offer a radio station to hear the movie I love the old radios because you can hear the movie if you have to run to the bathroom or the concession stand.

Now my neighbor has a set up they use outside every now and again that I find pretty cool. Otherwise it means moving your TV out to the back yard with the DVD player and a long extension cord for the same effect.

If that is too much work (it really is), I have heard of a company called Backyard Cinema who come to your house with an inflatable screen and a special kind of DVD player that can make your back yard into the coolest place in the neighborhood.

I am on this bent because there are some fun movies hitting the theater and I remembered how much fun we had seeing the earlier movies in the drive-in. The Harry Potter series and Transformers movie seem especially well suited for a drive-in type of experience. But so would Star Wars or Indiana Jones.

I also noticed that the Nicholas Cage movie, Knowing, came out last week along with a bad horror film, The Unborn. Disaster movies and horror movies are more perfect genres for the outdoor experience. My opinion is that they are not as scary when you have a wide open sky above, leaving one to enjoy the thrills and chills with fewer lingering fears because you are not ‘boxed’ in by walls.

Another good choice for a backyard viewing experience would be just the recently released Mystery Science Theater Collection XV. Back in the 90’s, this television series was hilarious for showing d-level movies and having the cast make jokes about them the entire time during screening. These may have been the geeks in the class making jokes but they were funny jokes.

But I am sure there are other selections which are just as fun, depending on the age group of your viewers. Can you imagine watching High School Musical or Cars in the backyard?

I can and it sounds like a whole lotta fun.

This article originally appeared in the Record Press.