Singin' in the Rain!

My favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz. In 1999 they released it for one night to movie theaters for it's 60th Anniversary. Knowing how much I loved it Stan took our family to go see it. I was overwhelmed by the thrill of seeing it on the big screen and literally wept when Dorothy opened the door to step into Oz.

Stan found out they were doing the same thing with another favorite of mine, Singin' in the Rain which was being shown on the big screen for one night in honor of it's 60th Anniversary. Since Stan and Kevin both had to work, AJ and I went July 12th to see this wonderful musical on the big screen, and oh what a treat!

I'm always singing songs from this film to my family; "Good Mornin'," "All I Do is Dream of You," and of course the title song. To see the singing and the dancing on the big screen was simply breathtaking! The things you miss watching it on a television are countless. Those little details enrich the experience, and it was amazing to watch the precision of the dancing done by Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. They were perfect together!

Before the showing Robert Osbourne from TCM interviewed Debbie Reynolds (who was only 18 when she made this film) and also showed clips of interviews with O'Connor, Cyd Charisse and Kelly's widow. They talked about experiences that happened behind the scenes and how they felt about making the film.a

Interestingly enough, Singin' in the Rain was not a hit when it was released in 1952. Reynolds said it took about five years for it to catch on.

If you've never seen the film, it's a musical about the movie industry. Specifically about that time in the late 1920s when talking pictures were coming into being, and about the making of the first talking film for the fictious studio with it's biggest silent stars played by Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen. The problem is that Hagen's character has a heavy Bronx accent and can neither speak well nor sing. Kelly, with his best friend played by Donald O'Connor, and his love interest, played by Debbie Reynolds, decide to have Reynold dub Hagen's voice.  Well, you can imagine how that goes.

The movie is sweet and fairly simple. The music is happy and fun, the dancing is amazing, having been choreographed by Gene Kelly, and the colors are vibrant and beautiful.

And, as happened when I saw The Wizard of Oz, I found myself weeping at the thrill of seeing this classic film on the big screen at last. I'm hoping they do this with some more of the older films. While it's always terrific to be able to watch them when we want to in our own homes, there's something about seeing these films they way they were meant to be watched: on the big screen in full color with the rich sound surrounding you.

We were lucky enough to watch Singin' in the Rain with a theater full of film lovers who were as happy and excited to be there as we were. There was laughter, some singing along and quoting some of the best lines. And when the film ended, it did so to a rousing round of applause. What a fun experience.

Kevin and I Buy a Car!

Kevin and I bought a car together! A first for me, that's for sure. It's helping build his credit and it's making life easier for us. With Kevin going to school at Pike's Peak and working, and then AJ going to UCCS we were stretched trying to figure out how to accomodate both of their schedules with only one car. It wasn't going to work. And with the price of gas I saw nothing but $$ flying away.

We decided to get a little car that Kevin could use since he will be doing most of the driving. We looked for a used car and wound up purchasing a 2003 Ford Taurus. It's a great little car and will be wonderful for him. Things will run much smoother this fall when the two boys are so busy!

Of course, I'll still be without a car most of the time, but I guess that'll just leave me more time for writing!

The Waldo Canyon Fire

A fire started right near Colorado Springs on Saturday, June 23rd. It has been a devestating experience for us to watch the destruction and see as this fire grows exponentially each day. I'm sharing some photos for friends and family.

We are doing well. We are far enough away that we are not terribly affected by this. Ash and smoke are making things difficult for AJ and his asthma. Most of the toll is emotional to see what has happened to our beautiful area. We lost Flying W Ranch, which was heartbreaking, along with hundreds of homes.

The firefighters have been simply amazing! And the community has really been pulling together to support those who've been evacuated and those who are fighting this disaster. Here are some photos:

 Helicopters, C130 Tankers and hundreds of men and women on the ground.

It may take awhile, but they will get control!

 Even the Air Force Academy has been affected.

 Our beautiful mountains .... so sad!

 This fire is like none the fire fighters have ever seen.

One day going north, then south, then east.

It's a beast!

 The fire jumped containment lines and two ridges in about 20 minutes.

It was so frightening to watch!

 An aerial shot of the Flying W Ranch

One of our favorite places. Hopefully they'll rebuild

346 homes and 2 lives lost.

Overall, I think we're pretty blessed.

This map shows the growth of the fire.

One of Stan's Favorites

Stan had to work Father's Day, so we had his special dinner tonight. One of his favorite desserts is the Mixed Berry Pavlova. If you don't know, a Pavlova (named after the famed ballerina) is a large baked meringue. It is covered with homemade whipped cream, then topped with a mixture of fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in a homemade raspberry sauce. It is to die for.

Since he requested it I made it for him. Actually, twice. The first one didn't turn out. The second one came out perfectly, but then the heat made it start to crack. As a result, I couldn't take it off the parchament on the cookie sheet; it was too fragile. But it looked pretty good, and tasted even better!

Father's Day

Father’s Day Poem

by Stan Mullis

To all the fathers near and far

You all know just who you are

You who gave and kept on giving

Working hard to earn a living

Putting food upon our table

Doing more when you were able

Willing to go that extra mile

Payment expected? Just a smile

All these things you do and more

Nobody’s even keeping score

What do we owe you for all you bring?

In one simple word -- Everything!

Friday Funny

Graduation Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Rachael Sherwood took some graduation pictures of AJ. I got them today, and I just LOVE them! My son looks so handsome and sweet and sooooo grownup. Obviously, he is grownup, but sometimes I look at him and still see that little baby I had in what seems like just a few months ago. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. He earned an Associates of Science, Physics and graduated cum laude. He'll be transferring to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs this fall. Can't wait to see what he'll do next!

My Never-Ending Quest

I dislike having to come home from church and make dinner. I am constantly on the lookout for meals that I can put together in the morning and cook in the crockpot or in the oven with the timer so that when I come home it takes just a little bit of work to finish up the meal. Now that it's summer and the temperatures are rising, the crock pot is a good way to fix a meal without heating up the kitchen.

I found this recipe online, I don't remember where, and we tried it today. It was easy to do, and I made a couple of adjustments and took a few steps to make Sunday prep smoother. First, I chopped all the veggies on Saturday and put them in a ziplock back. I used a large can of sliced mushrooms rather than fresh ones. Instead of chicken broth, I put in the measured amount of water and added a scoop of chicken base which you can purchase from Sam's Club or Costco. Rather than buy the chicken breasts and slice them up, I used chicken tenderloins (3-4 per person), putting them directly in the crockpot and tossing them with the flour before adding the remaining ingredients.

Serve with mashed potatoes, noodles (more traditional) or rice. We made rice in our rice cooker, again to keep the house from heating up, and it was off the charts amazing. A crisp green salad and you're set!

Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikash

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch strips

• 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)

• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper

• 1 cup shredded carrot

• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (I used granulated garlic)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

• 16 oz sour cream

Combine flour and chicken in a medium bowl; toss well. Add chicken mixture, chopped onion, and the next 8 ingredients (through mushrooms) to an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Stir in sour cream.

Bruschetta

Tuesday we had lunch at a sandwich place where they were giving away loaves of their bread. We grabbed a couple and brought them home, wondering what we could do with them. For dinner tonight we're having barbecue pork chops and salad, and we decided to use the bread to make toasts and serve it with bruschetta with our meal.

This is one of AJ's favorite treats and he made the toasts. Thinly slice the bread (or baquette), brush with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and granualted garlic, then bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. We bought the bruschetta this time, which is a sort of Italian "salsa" made with tomatoes, garlic and basil. YUMMO!

AJ wanted me to post this picture, he's so pleased with how it looks, so here you go! Now we're off to enjoy our BBQ. Hope you are having a great night too!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the holiday where we take the time to remember those who gave their lives to help defend and preserve this wonderful country we live in. I am so grateful to those men and women and their families for their sacrifices. I feel my family has been doubly blessed as I've had many generations who have served, and we haven't lost any in war that I am aware of. Grandparents, uncles, cousins ... all have returned home.

Today we had an early celebration dinner before Stan left for work. Very traditional, very American!

Fried Chicken and my Grandma Lucile Hillyard's recipe for Potato Salad!

Devilled Eggs!

(for my devilish men)

We also had corn-on-the-cob, which we tried cooking in the microwave for the first time! Someone emailed me a video of this older man demonstrating cooking corn in the microave, husks and all, and voila! It comes out clean as a whistle and perfectly cooked.

Put two ears at a time in your microwave. Whole, just like you bring them home from the store. Microwave on high for nine minutes. Cut off the bottom (careful, they're hot so use oven mitts) then squeeze from the top and they come out without silk or anything. SO easy!

As a treat for Stan we had one of his favorite desserts: Key Lime Pie! Seemed like a Southern meal to me! It was fun, the company was great, and I'm so grateful to all those who give and have given so much so that we may have such a wonderful life.