I went to see this movie last night at the theatre with my sister in law! It was one of the best movies I've ever seen! It was beautifully directed and casted! I absolutely loved the actress playing Jane Eyre and was blown away by Mr. Rochester. I love these period classic movies in general: Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Downton Abbey, North and South, Emma.... and this movie was right up there with them, if not even better. This is a total ladies night out movie. It's only showing in select theatres so google the theatres playing it in your area, go with some lady friends out to dinner and see "Jane Eyre". It was a beautiful, moving, and incredibly written movie! I just wished her dresses weren't so plain, but it is very very true to the book!
E and Rose play with these wooden blocks for hours. They'll build towers and then knock them down with monster trucks! I love it, but it's no fun to walk into your kitchen and straight onto a wooden block. ouch.Lils gets to stay up every night until 8 for homework/one-on-one time. She and I love this time together, we'll read, and talk and play for a bit. But she never really gets it when I tell her it's bedtime!!! She thinks she's got it all figured out and asks about 10 questions every night, trying to postpone it. She's really focusing on being scared of tornados lately.
Dave's in the middle of building a deck off of our kitchen. Do you see that middle window? The biggest one in the middle of the bay window? We're turning that into a big glass door to go out on the deck. It'll be amazing when it's all done. There's no stopping this guy! Except tonight- it's Jimmertime!!! Go BYU!!! Rose would swing all day long. Her favorite thing to do while she swings except giggle is sing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" E helping out his Dad. We'll give him a wooden board with nails hammered party in and he'll work on those for a while. Poor 'Tuni- she gets a lot of "love" at our house! I highly recommend cats- they take the attention and fighting off of siblings and the kids focus all of their energy on chasing Petunia around everywhere. Wrapped up like a little baby.
Yes, that is a leprechaun trap. Yes, it is very intense. It started out as a cute little bonus project... and got into Dave's hands. Lils teacher told the kids that they could design and create a little trap if they wanted. I told Lils to prop a cardboard box up on a stick. I left to go to a Relief Society thing and when I got back- I saw THIS on my kitchen table! Dave had that twinkle in his eye. Yes, Lils helped him every step of the way, but this is a leprechaun trap of DEATH! The thing is solid, I had to take it into school the next day and place it among the other cardboard boxes covered in stickers, legos, marshmallows, and tape.... none were a match for this camo super trap.
Lils came home yesterday and told her Daddy, "The teacher asked which one everybody liked the best and everyone screamed LILY"S!!!!!!"
Dave just smiled and said, "That's why I do it right there!"
Ok, guys- here is the best video ever of our Stutzy Thanksgiving trip. My sis-in-law just finally sent it out and I have to share! We played this Bop-It game every night- well the guys did.... and whoever messed up had to eat something nasty. Marc got out first, then Brett and he had to eat a mustard, skittles, licorice, whatev creation. As each of the guys got out- the creations got nastier and nastier- finally it got down to Dave and Jeff!!! The loser was to eat cold turkey liver (Thanksgiving), mayonaise, and all kinds of other nastiness!!! It was so bad! So here's the final battle. Dave and Jeff and fun to watch- but the REAL gem is Justin in the background! Watch how he is so intent and kisses all over Lizzy! It's so funny!!!! If you fast forward to 5:55, it'll take you to the final round with Dave and Jeff- it was intense, don't forget to look at Justin in the background! If any of you know my family, you will love this!
If any of you out there want to find the best, real home cookin' recipes- go to thepioneerwoman.com! My dinner tonight was made entirely from her recipes and it was the best dinner I've made, probably ever. (Don't know if that's saying much still..)
I made her delicious and easy chicken and dumplings. I had left over rotisserie chicken from Costco that I used and it was perfect. I also used skim milk instead of half and half because I never have half and half on hand. I also used apple juice instead of cider for the same reason. Make this!!!! It is a new staple at my house!
Also, if you know me at all you know I LOVE to bake and I especially love frosting. This is by far the most delicious, incredible, perfect vanilla frosting I have ever had! Make it tonight! I made it with her chocolate cake and it was heaven in a handbasket. I think I will always make this frosting now. It's interesting because you do heat the milk and flour over the stove. It';s really not too much work and is super worth it! Here are both recipes:
... and the frosting one, just in case you are too lazy to go to the website-
Recipe: That’s the Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had
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Ingredients
5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)
Preparation Instructions
Bake your favorite chocolate cake and let it cool.
In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.
While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.
Grab a spoon and taste this wonderful goodness. If there is any left after your taste test, spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.
Cut yourself a piece and put it on a pretty plate. Grab a fork and prepare to experience the most divine pairing you can imagine. This frosting on chocolate cake is to die for. Sure, the recipe sounds strange — it has flour in it — but it’s sublime. Try it, you’ll see. You’ll love it so much you won’t go back.
Yes, we went all out this year... next year she'll be lucky to get a Duncan Hines cake and some confetti thrown at her! :) We kept this party a surprise and said we were going to a park for her birthday party, but when we arrived we walked straight over to the stables across the street and said, "Guess what you're doing for your birthday??!"
She yelled, "Horse-back riding???!!! Really?!"
"Yes, really!!!!"
She and the rest of the kids booked it down the driveway to the horses! Here's the crew getting the rundown of proper riding technique... basically wear your helmet and don't run around and scare the horses. Cora took this right when we got there. Guess who else was excited to ride horses??! Look at little Norie- so dang cute!
Lils and her cousin Apollo
Oh yeah, enjoying the party! Good stuff! I had to plan it all out, now it was time to relax and let the trainers do their job. Ebay loved it! He even got to trot a bit- he loved bouncing and said his tummy tickled!
Hello, so cute!
Aww!
Just because she's so dang adorable!
Here's the whole gang after a fun hour of riding!
Grammy and Lils cousin Azure at the park across the street afterward. The kids ran around and played a bit, then we had cake, ice cream, and present opening. Ooooh, what could it be?
What a fun weekend we had! Lil turned 8 on Sunday and got to celebrate it the best way, she got baptized! We had a great turn out of friends and family to enjoy this awesome day with us! Thank you to everyone who came to show your love for Lils!
It was really special to see Dave and Lil dressed in white. Dave was a little nervous and so proud! I really loved being there in the dressing room waiting with the towel and being the first to wrap her up in my arms! She was just beaming, I was crying, and all of the stress of preparation went out the window. She said, "I want to do that again!" As I held her in my arms I felt as if I were in the place of the Savior welcoming her. I felt such a joy! So proud and overwhelmed. How did we get here? How did my little girl grow up all of a sudden?
Her poor little brother had a hard time with all of the attention on his sister, so he needed a lot of love. I haven't had a 55+ lb kid on my lap that long ever... so it was pretty intense! :) After the baptism she received the gift of the Holy Ghost with a beautiful blessing. What a special day!
My Mom flew out from Virginia to be with us and my sister and her husband and three kids drove out from Utah. We had a full house and a LOT of chocolate, cupcakes, and good home cookin'! It is always so special to have my Mom here. E cried the whole way home from dropping Grammy off at the airport. I've never seen him cry because he is missing someone before. It was bittersweet. Cora and Brian always bring the fun and our kids just LOVE eachother! They played Mario, in the hot tub, and mostly with these dang "Squinkies" that are all the fad now!
Saturday for her birthday party we had the biggest birthday bash ever. She's never had a big birthday party- so this one she got to go horseback riding! She and her cousins and a few friends went to a horse stable and each got 10 minutes on a horse, they even got to trot around. Lil was in heaven! Not to mention E and Norie who absolutely loved it! It was such a fun experience! After the horse riding, we went across the street to a great park, played and ate cake and ice cream.
