Weekly Quote 2/28/11

"Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's coooooold out there today."

OK, apparently I haven't been good about changing the weekly quote, because this quote was from Groundhog Day the movie in honor of Groundhog Day the day. So, here's to March!

New quote up!

More Juliaisms

I can't get enough of these. Julia is forever saying crazy things, and I am forever wondering where she came up with it. We've taken to making a list of them on the fridge for easy reference. I like to think it's also so I can laugh about something during the day when I'm ready to pull my hair out. Here we go!

• After dinner, Julia looked over at Clark and said, "How was work, father dear?"
• One morning, she put on her lip gloss and said, "Get the camera, I'm ready for my close up!"
  
• Ella the Crawler was on the move, doing what she does best (getting into things). I asked Julia, "What is Ella getting into?" The response: "She's getting into mischief!"
• Before work, Clark was holding Ella. Julia spots him and says, "Dad, will you leave Ella here? You can't just take away my baby! We want to keep that girly girl!"
• She fell down at the grocery store and wanted a Hello Kitty band-aid. Since band-aids always make a kid feel better, I obliged. While putting them on she looked up at me and said, "Oh, thank you, my darling."
• Julia loves to play doctor. Just tonight she gave Clark a checkup. After a thorough exam, she opened her scriptures to divine the prescription: "I think you need to stay in bed for 50 hours."
  
• This one is more Clark, but it has to be included. Julia found her sun hat and put it on. So Clark called her Blossom. So then Clark got another one of Julia's hats and put it on. Then, courtesy of the internet, they sat down on watched an old episode of Blossom together. This was particularly enjoyable as I found them doing this after coming home from spending 4 hours at the Urgent Care Center with Ella (another tale for another post). Fabulous comic relief, right there.

30 by 30, #2: Cross-country ski in the city forest.

Clark's birthday was last week (Happy Birthday, Clark!), and as fate would have it, he had the day off work. (We are big fans of getting every other Friday off.) So we dropped the girls off with a sitter and headed over to the city forest for some cross-country skiing!

I'm a fan of cross-country skiing. I haven't done much of it in my life, partly because I've lived in "land of no snow" for the past 4 years, partly because I didn't have my own skis, partly because, well, life gets busy. But when we moved to Michigan, I decided that the time had come to take up skiing. And then one of Clark's co-workers sold us some used skis for pretty cheap. And then I discovered the city forest.

The city forest is a 520-acre nature park run by the city of Midland. They have a sledding hill, toboggan run, outdoor skating rink, and ski trails. Groomed ski trails. The beginning trail is even lighted until 8pm. How cool is that? So it was decided. We'd be going skiing this winter!

Unfortunately, it's hard to go skiing with 2 little girls. If anyone has any suggestions on how to take your 2-year-old and infant skiing, I'd love to hear it.

But, like I said, we got a sitter, and we went for Clark's birthday. Holy smokes, it was fun. Like hiking, but in the winter, and with more glide. We couldn't have had better weather for it - sunny, but not warm, so things weren't melting. And being a Friday, it we didn't see many other people there, which added to the serenity of it all.

And then, we got hot chocolate from 7-11. Because they have 7-11 here! (Can you believe there are no 7-11s in St George? You'd think the slurpee sales alone would keep them in business.) February 11 was pretty much a perfect day. I sure hope Clark felt the same way.

30 by 30, #14: Read all the Harry Potter books again.

In case you aren't familiar with the 30 by 30 Project, here is the original post, with the big fat list.

Um, spoiler alert? Is there anyone out there who hasn't read Harry Potter and is still planning to? If that is you, you should skip over this post. And if that is you, why on earth haven't you read it before now?!

Anyway. So I thought it would be great to go back and read HP from start to finish now that we have all the answers from the 7th book. See all the little references made in book 5 that we don't understand until book 7, that sort of thing. And I especially wanted to re-read it with Snape's motives in mind. And Dumbledore's, too.

Ohhh, it was good. I love Harry Potter. For the past couple of weeks I've been "Potterized" you might say. And it was so fun to catch all the little things, like I hoped I would. But the most surprising thing? I remembered practically nothing from book 7. Like, seriously, it was a whole new book. I only read it once, the day after it came out, and I read it fast so I could know what happened. Turns out that method is not optimal for retention of knowledge. But, on the upside, I got to read it again like it was a brand new book! All the excitement! The suspense! The feeling that every spare moment of your life must be dedicated to reading! that! book! There are Deathly Hallows! What are those again? And we're hunting horcruxes. . . what were they? The ring, the diary. . . what else? And how did they find them? I was surprised at every turn. They broke into Gringotts?! REALLY?! How did I not remember that? It was all terribly exciting.

Probably less exciting for my poor children, who got noticeably less Mom time. But we all survived. Even Harry. Though, I must say, I think I cried a whole lot more while reading book 7 than I did the first time around. I'm such a baby.

And now I can focus on the other 8 books I've got to read by August, which are somewhat weightier, and will definitely take more time. Ah well, they can't all be Harry Potter.

30 by 30, #6: Read and study all of the conference talks from October 2010.

In case you aren't familiar with the 30 by 30 Project, here is the original post, with the big fat list.

I love General Conference. I love hearing the words of counsel and testimony from the general authorities. It gives me peace and strength. But since having kids, General Conference is kind of a lost experience. I don't think I could even sit and pay attention to one 2 hour chunk of time, let alone four. There are too many busy little hands getting into mischief, or asking for my help, or just generally causing a raucous.

And you know what? That's ok. This was confirmed to me during the Relief Society General Broadcast last September. I was hoping that Ella would sleep through the meeting and I'd get to sit and enjoy the speakers, but alas, she did not cooperate. Instead of sitting in the quiet, dark chapel with everyone else, partaking of the sacred experience, I was pacing the halls, bouncing the baby, hoping she'd fall asleep, slipping into the mother's room to feed her, bouncing some more, trying my hardest to listen, but not really succeeding. And I thought to myself, "This is so unfair! I just want to listen! This is important!" And then the thought came to me: What you are doing is more important. There will be other Relief Society meetings. You can read the talks in the Ensign. But there is only one Ella, and she will only be a baby for so long, and right now she needs you.

And so I quit my belly-aching and rocked my baby with pleasure.

And I also made a goal to actually read all the conference talks in the Ensign, instead of just saying I will and forgetting all about it. When 30 by 30 came together, I thought it was the perfect chance to make the goal and be accountable for it.

I finished a couple of weeks ago. Oh, it has been a wonderful experience! I've been reading about 1 talk a day, usually over breakfast. I would read through it, and then read through it again and underline things that stuck out to me. I'm so grateful for the men and women who put those talks together, they have strengthened my testimony and left me with an added measure of the Spirit. It has been a great way to start the day. I haven't read a talk for a while now, and I think I'm going to have to go back and read them over again, because I miss them too much! April can't come fast enough.

30 by 30: 6 Months to Go!

Today is my half birthday. That means I've only got 6 months left of youth! No, I'm only kidding. But it does mean I've only got 6 months left to complete 30 by 30. So I thought I'd give you a little update.

I've completed a few more goals, and those posts are forthcoming. So, total complete: 7, with an eighth coming on Friday. That doesn't seem very impressive, does it? BUT, there are at least 3 that will have to wait for warmer weather, and I've started working on 5 more of them - reading the entire works of Jane Austen is going to take some time - so I think real progress is being made. The day for the pie party is set (Pi Day! 3/14!), Niagra Falls and my passport stamp (do they even stamp passports anymore?) will be the same day, and I have a new arrangement for William Tell, but no piano. I'm going to have to figure that one out.

The point is, I think I might make it. I might actually complete all 30 goals. Of course, I have no idea where I'm going to learn to milk a cow, or how to find a family name to take to the temple, or how to even begin thinking about creating a new recipe. But hopefully, something will pan out.

Happy half birthday to me! That is all.

Oh, Julia

Julia is constantly saying crazy things, and I've been trying to write them down as she says them. Here are a couple of gems from yesterday.

• She was playing with her new My Little Pony Happy Meal toy (don't tell San Francisco), and the horse fell off her platform (which it is supposed to do, there are a couple of pegs and holes in the hoofs to reattach it). Julia has a very tough time getting that pony back on her platform. She is constantly asking me for help. Well, after a few failed attempts, I hear her say, "Oh no! It fell off! I can't do it! I'm doomed! I don't have any money!"

• Clark went out the front door to help take some boxes out to the moving van (I know, we moved in 3 months ago, and we are just now having the movers pick up the boxes, it's ridiculous). Julia watched him leave and said, "I don't have anybody. I don't have a father."
  

I really have no idea where she comes up with this stuff. You don't have any money? What does that have to do with My Little Pony? And since when does Dad walking out the door mean you don't have a father? And since when does she say, "Father?" Lately she's been calling him Dad-Dude, which is odd, but certainly not Father. Makes for some great entertainment, though.