A Movie Review on The Inheritance

We have discovered a new favorite family movie: "The Inheritance"! It is sweet story of a young lady, an orphan, named Edith Adelon (Cari Shane). She lives as a companion for the daughter of the very wealthy Hamiltons. A distant cousin of the Hamiltons, the false and nasty Ida Glenshaw, comes to stay with them, as does a young man, Mr. James Percy (Thomas Gibson). As Edith finds herself learning to love Mr. Percy, Ida Glenshaw sourly reminds her that she will "never be one of us" (meaning born to wealth) and so Edith puts away her love, believing that did she marry Mr. Percy, she would forever make him miserable and bring shame to him. Then Mr. Hamilton finds a trunk full of his deceased brother's things, and unearths some very surprising news..... I won't tell you what!

This movie was based off of a book written by Louisa May Alcott as a 17 year old young woman, and is absolutely wonderful! The movie is quite different than the book, but kept the same message, which I greatly appreciated. Louisa May Alcott certainly had some strange beliefs, but the core messages in her books are something to be admired and imitated by anyone who reads them!

The Inheritance has perhaps a rather predictable story-line, and a classic heroine: an orphaned young woman named Edith Adelon. But Edith is a girl worth admiring. She is sweet, and good, but not in a way that seems syrupy. And her heart is just a lovely as her sweet face.

Mr. Percy is also admirable for his courtesy, gentlemanly and respectful treatment of all the movie's women, and his character.

I believe one of my favorite things about the book, and the movie, is the great character displayed by the hero and heroine. At one point in the movie when Mrs. Hamilton is entreating Edith to keep Ida Glenshaw away from "plain Mr. Percy", Edith speaks up:

"A person's face will change over time, but a person's heart will not. Mr. Percy's seems to be a good and pure heart, and one that I think would be worth winning." Such a remark is quite rare coming from a pretty heroine!

And in the book, when a young man is describing Mr. Percy and says, "Few could lead as pure a life as he. His brother was his dearest friend who he watched over with all a father's tenderness and care; but at last a fair young cousin came to live with them, and both the brothers loved her. Neither knew the other's secret till Walter, our Lord Percy, heard his brother whisper the dear name in sleep, and then he nobly put away his own joy, and strove to win for his younger brother, the heart he loved so tenderly himself, and he succeeeded. "

Beat that for selflessness!

The story is unbeatable, and has a great message-namely that the only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.

I've told you the pros, and now I must tell you just a couple of cons:

Ida Glenshaw, the falsely charming cousin, is the villain of this story. And as such, some of her dresses are..ahem...rather low in the neck. So we were ready with our ever-trusty piece of paper to cover her up the several times she came onscreen in those particular costumes.

Then, there is another villain, Mr. Frederick Arlington, who falls in love with Edith, and tries to kiss her very much against her will, until Mr. Percy comes and rescues her. Those are the only undesirable things in the movie, and, I am told that Feature Family Films has somehow cut out that part, and raised all of Ida's dresses, and replaced one not-so-great word, so that the movie is perfectly clean for even the strictest viewer. All in all though, this is a movie everyone in the family will enjoy! (Daniel watched it, liked it, and the only criticism he passed was, "it was a bit predictable"! :) And if you don't end up watching the movie, please, please, please, read the book! I read it last year in one afternoon, then loved it so much I started over and read it aloud to Leah! One of my top favorite books for sweetness! I can't remember the exact quote, but in the end of the book Lord Percy says something like: "I do not care for your money Edith, for the purity of your heart is the richest inheritance I shall ever be given." Love it!!! :) -Rachel

Book Quote Quiz

Alright Everyone! We decided that we might as well have a book quote quiz! Everyone does movie quotes, but very few challenge themselves to a quiz built upon real literature! :) So here we go! These are all from fairly widely read books, all published during the late 1800's through the early half of last century. If that doesn't help you I don't know what will! :P Let's get going!

1. "That's the rose you put in the birthday cake, and next week we'll have a fresh one in another jolly little cake which you'll make me. You left it on the floor of my den the night we talked there, and I've kept it ever since. There's love and romance for you!" - Polly touched the little relic, treasured for a year, and smiled to read the words, "My Polly's Rose" scribbled under the crumbling leaves."

2. "Oh, beg pardon, my dear. Where was I? Oh, yes. Well, the funny thing about me is--all right, Mary, I won't laugh if I can help it!--That whenever my birthday falls on a Friday, well, it's all up with me. Absolutely U.P."

3. "She sat down on her old high chair and drained her mug as though she had never tasted anything so delicious in her life. Then she drew a deep breath and said, "There's nothing as good as our milk anywhere in the world."

4. "Not me." he said, grinning. "I never ketched cold since I was born. I wasn't brought up nesh enough. I've chased about th' moor in all weathers same as th' rabbits does. Mother says I've sniffed up too much fresh air for twelve year' to ever get to sniffin' with cold. I'm tough as a white-thorn knobstick."

5. "I paddled over to the Illinois shore, and drifted down most half a mile doing it. I crept up the dead water under the bank, and hadn't no accidents, and didn't see nobody. We got home all safe."

6. "Why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though I've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it. All the same, while I'm cathing of them, if you two could try to light the fire-- no harm in trying! The wood's behind the wigwam. It may be wet. You could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes. Or you could light in outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. Her's my tinderbox. You won't know how to use it, I expect."

7. "Betsy and Tacy had played store lots of times. The piano box had been first one kind of store and then another, the summer before. It had been a millinery store, full of hats made from maple leaves, and it had been a lemonade store, where they sold lemonade. Now it became a sand store, on account of the fresh new sand."

8. "Oh, Aunt Polly, I never saw anything so perfectly lovely and interesting in my life. I'm so glad you gave me that book to read! Why, I didn't suppose flies could carry such a lot of things on their feet, and-"

9. "He was a very old Indian. His brown face was carved in deep wrinkles and shriveled on the bones, but he stood tall and straight. His arms were folded under a gray blanket, holding it wrapped around him. His head was shaved to a scalp-lock and an eagle's feather stood up from it. His eyes were bright and sharp. Behind him the sun was shining on the dusty street and an Indian pony stood there waiting. "Heap big snow come," this Indian said."

10. "But it is nice to be praised and admired, and I can't help saying I like it"... "That is perfectly natural, and quite harmless, if the liking does not become a passion, and lead one to do foolish or unmaidenly things. Learn to know and value the praise which is worth having, and to excite the admiration of excellent people by being modest as well as pretty..."

I FORGOT TO PUT COMMENT MODERATION ON, SO PLEASE BE HONORABLE AND SCROLL DOWN REALLY FAST TO THE BOTTOM TO POST YOUR ANSWERS!!!! :P
There you go! Have fun! No google-searching by the way! :) -Rachel and Sarah

Potluck :/

You may not think it, but there are adventures everywhere. Even in homechurch! ;) Of course, they tend to be very minor, but they are there! :P For instance, potluck meals...who thought up that concept? For organized city people, potluck meals are awesome! And it certainly solves the problem of feeding 100+ people each Sunday! But one must have a streak of adventure to like it! I imagine the only hobbits who would dare to do a potluck would have been the Brandybucks, or some one of the other more perky families! ;) By now you may wonder how there can be anything remotely interesting in a discussion on potluck meals. Well, I'll tell you, that when one is hungry by the time church is over, their minds run much on the subject of which I speak.
There are three typical scenerios that occur:

1.) Everyone brings the same exact thing- I'm not kidding. This happens regularly. Today we had pasta galore. Last week it was rice. The week before, salad.

2.) The second scenerio occurs when all the families have gardens. During the spring and summer, be prepared to stuff your stomachs with salad during the weeks when lettuce and spinach thrive, and then squash and zucchini around this time. We had like 3 different squash casseroles a few Sundays ago! People tend to feed you what their family is sick of, and has eaten to the point of disgust. ;)

3.) The boys go outside and play volleyball, are called in for lunch but have to "finish this game", then come in and are shocked that the only thing left for consumption are a few chunks of cantelope, and a half-empty crockpot of rice. I try to remedy this by calling them multiple times but...guys....the blood's on your hands after that! :)

Then you always have what I call "dessert panic". This is when all the families are trying to "eat more healthily" (which really means they haven't been to the store, and they didn't wake up till 9, and had to throw something together super quick ;) and not a single family has brought dessert. This happened today. I was calmly eating my lunch on the porch with some others, and Gracie opened the door and bawled out, "Waychie! Are you dunna make bwownies? Mama told me to ask you!" I dutifully got up, and in the midst of the boys still going through the line, successfully quadrupled the brownie recipe. As soon as they were finished, we cut them, and 4 minutes later the only brownie left was a nondescript corner-piece. It is hilarious, trying to figure out the food. Another amusing occurance is when the only families to make it to church are the ones that have food allergies. They tend to bring things like potatos or rice, or things like that. And once in awhile you bite into a chewy brownie only to find it is gluten free and carob! :/
Well, anyway, that is just a ramble upon potlucks. Hope it amused you! :) -Rachel
p.s. anyone who has gone to a homechurch, am I right? :)

A Comparison of Our Blogs To Others

Alright! I have a question that has been bobbling around my head for some time now: How on earth do some blogs get so many followers?!?!?! It makes me rather jealous sometimes! ;) I'm kidding, but really- we have 35 followers. Respectable for the first year of blogging. But how do other people get so many? Here are some reasons I can think of:

Excitement: say you are engaged, or going to Europe, or something like that, and they'll come flooding! (So what's a girl to do who has no fiancee or funds?)

Pictures: Everyone loves seeing pictures of you, and your family. (We have discussed this, and the only options are: (A. leave you with seeing only our hands in select pictures of things we are doing (B. close this blog and invite you, and then show you pictures of us! But that doesn't do much for the follower issue, because once we are closed, not too many people can find us! :)

Style: Have one of those really fancy blogs with a great header, background, and a music playlist. (Um...our filter blocks most backgrounds, and we never hear playlists even when someone has them, because I guess it blocks it too! :P)

Genius: Say really smart and amazingly insightful things. (We are simple people, and not too many brilliant ideas come our way! ;)

Wisdom: Write posts about what you've been reading in your Bible, and thinking on, etc. (There is room for improvement in this area, but this is also a blog about our family, so we can't devote it entirely to that topic with nothing else thrown in)

Follower-Friendly Blogs: These are the ones that are constantly having contests, tags, awards, etc. (We do some, but if we aren't getting tagged, how can we tag someone else? And how do you make those award things?)

So as you can see, we try to have an interesting blog, but it seems that we lack all the stuff the "big bloggers" have! :D Thank you to each and every one of our 35 followers, and especially those of you who comment often! You are what keeps blogging fun! :) And any people out there who read this blog but don't follow it.... could you pretty please join up just to make us feel better? :) -Rachel

What is that drippy foreign stuff called? :P

I have a smile on my face because...

IT RAINED!!!

After probably at least three weeks since the last shower the whole earth around here was wilting. We were hoeing the garden, and raising enough clouds of dust to make someone think we were hosting a horse race! :) Really, it was pathetic. Then, along came some clouds, and behind the clouds the rain, and we all stood in the garden getting drenched by the liquid gold! :) It felt so good to stand for at least half an hour, and feel shower after shower sweep over us as we worked! What a blessing rain is! And we needed it sorely! It wasn't a real long stretch of rain, but enough to dampen everything round about and lighten the humidity in the air! Thank you God! :) -Rachel