LOTR and the BOM

Last weekend we decided that it was time for the older kids to watch The Lord of the Rings. I just knew that Sammi and Daniel would love it. Sammi has been an extreme Harry Potter fan, so I thought she might really enjoy THE movie of ALL movies. :-) Now, there are, of course, some parts of the movie that are a little too scary for them, and some of the images are just a little too graphic -- even for me! During these parts, we all hide our eyes. :-)

I can remember the first time I saw it, I was overwhelmed . . . everything looked so real, so amazing. But the kids who have grown up with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. -- the movie was not as shocking for them. They are used to amazingly awesome special effects. They have high-expectations! I mean, really . . . they have already seen huge spiders, dragons, wizards, strange creatures, large battles, and loads of magic. But still, their high-expectations were met; they were impressed, amazed, and awe-struck.

It was really fun to watch the movies with them and to see it through their eyes. It made it new all over again! There is a lot to follow, a bunch of details missing -- so we tried to fill in the gaps. The kids particularly liked Legolas (of course!) Every time he would do something they would drop their jaw and comment on how amazing he was. I must admit, he captured most of my attention as well -- the first time I saw it. ;-) Eomer was also an eye-catcher . . . there are lots of lovely people to admire. :-) (Don't worry, Charles agrees with me . . . though I think he prefers Aragorn.)

It is such a well-casted movie. All the characters are just right. It is always so fun to watch. I really appreciate the time and effort that went into creating it. I love that miniatures and models were used, that the armor and costumes were hand crafted, I love that the shire was created, and that the buildings were actually built. For that reason (and many others), in my opinion The Lords of the Rings series blows Avatar out of the water. (I know . . . I may stand alone in my opinion!)

This Friday night is #3 Return of the King . . . the kids are going to flip! :0) They (and I) will be sad that they are over . . . for now.

Last night, after finishing Two Towers we had our nightly scripture study. We decided to read about the Stripling Warriors. We pulled out our Little People toys, and as I read out loud, Charles moved the Little People into position -- so we could see the war strategies. It was SO helpful, it really brought the story to life. We then related it to what we had just seen, with the wars and armies from the movie, and the kids (especially Daniel) were so excited about it. Daniel thought it was especially amazing that the Book of Mormon was true, and that unlike LOTR -- the miracles and amazing things REALLY happened. He was so cute about it. It was a really good experience and I think we will be using Little People from now on, to help us with battle scenes. And, thanks to LOTR, the kids had very real images to use so they could try and comprehend the battle scenes of the Book of Mormon. (Which can be hard to envision, at least for me!) The scriptures became exciting! THANKS LOTR for bringing the BOM to life!