Conversations

Lily all in one breath and completely matter-of-fact: Dad, I'm trying to floss my teeth but I can't. Will you do it? Because you're a dentist.

Lily: Oh!
Me: Are you okay?
Lily: My foot scared my bum!
Me: Your foot scared your bum?
Lily: Yeah, 'cuz it poked my bum!

Lily's preschool teacher, Miss Traci, related the following to us. Dillon was (in Lily's opinion) talking in a mean voice to Lily.
Lily, as a matter of fact announcement: I'm going to ignore Dillon. To ignore means to not talk to him, so I'm going to ignore him and that means that I'm not going to talk to him.


Chloe came home from school today (after playing outside for 1 whole hour with her friend Winston -- the girl can dilly-dally better than anyone I know) and told me they learned about Abraham Lincoln in class.  I asked her what she knew about him.  She told me several things, including the fact that he didn't want people to have slaves.  The following ensued:
Me:  So, what are slaves?
Chloe:  They're people you tell what to do.  Pause.  Sort of like we're your slaves.
Oh, sure, we had a little conversation about the differences -- you know, kindness, toys, a nice place to live, good food to eat, etc., etc., etc., but that's just downright hilarious.

The Rest of the Day

I have felt significantly better today.  Enough so that I have been able to tackle all the dishes and am 99.7% done with ALL the laundry.  It's even put away!  The girls were mighty helpful with putting away their own this afternoon.
And special thanks to Masterpiece Theatre and their excellent and lengthy (just how I like 'em!) production of Emma for keeping us all company while in the midst of the piles. 

Speaking of this new production of Emma -- I'm loving it!  I didn't love the gal who plays Emma when I first started watching it, but she's really grown on me over the last 3 hours.  I remember the exact same thing happening as I read the novel.  I'm really pleased with how they captured that on film.  And what can I say about Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly?  Oh, only good things.  Reeeaaaaalllllyyyy good things.
In fact, all the characters are just about perfectly cast.  And Miss Bates.  She's played so perfectly and I have such greater love for her and her situation seeing her on the screen.
I'm loving this production so much.  It's reminding me of my beloved Pride & Prejudice.  Not as perfect, simply because I love Pride & Prejudice as a story so much more, but seriously wonderful.  PBS is getting a big thumbs up on this one.

The Thing I Hate About Being Sick

Here are the things I hate about being sick (besides the violent chills and 102-104 degree fever):

1. The sink full of a day's worth of dishes I get to wake up to the next day.
2. The laundry that, while always piled high but with clean clothes, is now in two enormous piles and all dirty and can't be washed right now because I have to wash my sweaty disgusting sheets and mattress pad and quilt and even comforter.  They will take nearly the entire day, which means that the other mountain of laundry will just continue to grow.

I'm whining.  Whatever.

It Turns out Cannon and Amoxicillin are incompatable...

Family History Friday -- Laundry Edition

I'd love nothing more than to be here at the computer spewing about my childhood, or gushing about the girls' dance recital last week, or yacking about the fantastic trip we took to Las Vegas this weekend. I, however, have a date with some very neglected laundry and Pride & Prejudice. I wonder if I'll actually make it through all 6 hours with the amount of laundry that needs to be folded at put away.....

Family History Friday -- Childhood Edition

What activities and games did you enjoy as a child?

I had an awesome childhood. Seriously. Growing up in a tiny community was so fun. We ran around all day long with not a worry in the world that something might happen to us.
My favorite things to do as a kid were to ride my bike, play tag with the huge green rock in the yard as home base, play on the slip & slide, and weed the garden. We had an enormous garden and it really was fun to listen to the Jets (I've Got A Crush On You) and look at the daddy long legs that would crawl up my arm.

I loved going out to the barn and watching Matt milk the cow and spray the milk right into the cats' mouths. He had incredible aim.

What childhood memories do you have or cherish?

My best friends were Bill, my cousin, and Becky Jo Carter. She was my closest neighbor at a quarter mile away. We would walk each other home and then half way home over and over again until our moms had to threaten us to get home.

I have very vague memories of childhood. Little snippets here and there -- swinging in the hammock and snapping beans & peas, riding Lady, our buckskin horse, bareback in the pasture, eating graham crackers & Tang for snack in Kindergarten, eating 14 fish up Indian Creek after catching them fishing. Just little moments here and there. That's a key reason I've kept this blog -- as an attempt to remember my kids' childhood better than my own.

I do have one not-so-cherished memory from my childhood. That same cow that Matt used to milk in the barn pooped all over me once when I got too close. I remember that pretty vividly.....

Having children has rekindled some of my childhood memories -- remembering chewing on my ring and getting it stuck on my finger (which led to a trip to the ER to have it cut off). Chloe has been chewing all sorts of things lately resulting in some frustrating moments where things have been ruined. This morning as I was feeling so frustrated with her, I couldn't help but remember doing the same things. I wanted so much to be in control of myself. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but somehow I just couldn't stop myself. I know it's the same for Chloe. She really can't help herself. Having those little childhood memories pop up sure helps me have more patience.

One more -- Bill and I took permanent marker and red crayon to my cousin Natalie's beautiful white bedroom when we were about 3 years old. We were pretty mischievous together. We had really fun times, too, like making mud pies in the sand box with the old toaster oven Aunt Janet put out there. We also built Fort William in the grove of trees East of his house (East, right Dad?). We would whittle things (not recognizable things) and sweep the dirt like it was our kitchen floor. I wonder how many hours we spent out there.

Park Valley was such a dream home. I loved growing up there. It was really hard for our family when we moved to Tremonton. I had excellent friends there, too, some of whom I keep up with on Facebook still. I really don't remember too many details of my time there, though.

Blackfoot, again, was a terrific place to grow up. We moved there when I was 11ish. It felt like such a big city with its stoplights and multiple grocery stores. I loved being able to ride my bike to the library and the convenience store. I made great friends in Blackfoot, too, many of whom I keep in touch with.

I can really say nothing but good things about my childhood. My parents were loving and good, I had great friends, and lived in really neat small towns.

Stanton as Dentist

I really don't interact a lot with Stanton the Dentist. He's Stanton the husband and Stanton the dad around our house. That made these pictures all the more precious to me when I found them. A preschool class came on a field trip to his office and you can tell how much fun they (and he) had.

This is Kellie, one of his awesome assistants, teaching the kids how bacteria + sugar + teeth = cavities.

He's got most of their attention.

Coolest part of dentistry? The stretchy gloves (and power tools).

Words can't express the joy I feel when I see this picture.

I've Got the Funk...

I don't have "The Funk." I'm just sort of in a funk right now. I can't seem to keep up with the house, the laundry, the kids, etc. Stanton & I have been sick this last week and I'm sure that's played a role along with these brutal, depressing Cache Valley winters.
This morning I got up and showered and just felt the funk. I put on my loose fitting ABCPD polo and did my hair, makeup, etc. I just didn't feel good. I went to my closet and thought, okay, Jul, make a new outfit out of the things you have in here (believe me, I have plenty of clothes and cute ones at that -- they just don't seem cute when I'm in a funk....). I put on a pink shirt with a bright green sweater, jeans that fit and some jewelry. Guess what? I'm still in a funk, but I feel a whole lot better. It's weird that clothes can do that. I'm liking the bright colors as a sort of contrast to the drab, bleak days outside.
Next step is to tidy up and do something for somebody else. That should help even more.

3 Things Tag

My cousin Lindsay, who has a beautiful new baby boy that I haven't met yet because I've been sick but I can't wait and he is so cute, tagged me for this 3 Things Meme. It was hard to just put 3 things on many of them. Fun, though! Thanks, Linds!

3 Names I go by:
1. Jewel
2. Momma, Mommy, Mom
3. Juge

3 Jobs I have had (but wait! there's more!):
1. Carhop at a burger joint
2. That person who calls you to do surveys
3. Secretary

3 Places I have lived:
1. Park Valley, UT
2. Columbus, OH
3. Buffalo, NY

3 Favorite Drinks:
1. Water
2. Chocolate Milk
3. Coke

3 T.V. Shows I watch (or more...):
1. American Idol
2. The Office, Community, 30 Rock, Conan O'Brien
3. Modern Family

3 Places I have been:
1. Hawaii
2. Alaska
3. Niagara Falls

3 people who text me regularly:
1. Stanton
2. Kiki (or I text her regularly, at least!)
3. Cousins

3 Favorite foods (I have so many favorite foods...this is just a sampling):
1. A good burger and french fries
2. Ribeye steak
3. Vegetables

3 Favorite books:
1. Man's Search for Meaning
2. Pride & Prejudice
3. North & South

3 Favorite Colors:
1. Pink
2. Blue
3. Red

3 Favorite Hobbies:
1. Making Cards
2. Reading
3. Blogging

3 Things you can find in my refrigerator:
1. Milk
2. Butter
3. Cheese

3 Things I do everyday:
1. Shower
2. Make my bed (okay, 9 out of every 10 days)
3. Yell and give hugs

3 Things I am good at:
1. Singing
2. Being nice (to everyone except the people who live in my house)
3. Cooking

3 People I want to tag:
1. My mom
2. Sara
3. Lori
4. Cindy

I Love Moments Like These

Name That Nursery Rhyme

This picture is slightly out of focus and it's freaking out my eyes.

Anyway, Chloe put this together all by herself and came in to show it to me. I love her little creative streak.

Can you name the nursery rhyme? (hint: Cannon has nothing to do with it)

*Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

Obligatory Spaghetti Face Picture

I made a chicken parmesan dish a few nights ago that Cannon really liked.

I've been trying to capture this face that Brigham has been making lately. It's his "What are you even talking about, ya Dummy?!" face.

This isn't perfect, but it's close. I've got to keep trying. It cracks me up every time he makes it.

You know your world's been taken over by children when.....

It's been a (mostly) happy surrender.