Friday, March 28, 2008

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sugar and SPICE

And Everything Nice. That's what my little girls are made of!


Now that a baby boy is on the way (which thrills us), I am realizing that my baby girls are growing up so quickly. A friend told me that while raising young children the days may at times go slow but the years fly by. Every time I put a darling outfit in the "too small" bin I feel a little sad. Another friend of mine said that when you have a little girl you should always ACCESSORIZE. So I bought these Easter hats just for the sake of putting them on and taking some pics. (And for dress-ups later)

"Savor the moments that are warm and special, and giggly." Sammy Davis Jr.



"So quickly you grow with bounds and leaps but the sweetest memories are mine for keeps." Unknown

The day Will returned to school after Christmas vacation was hard for me. The neighbors saw me bawling on my walk home from the bus stop. So we came home and decided to get girly. We painted nails and baked in the EZ Bake oven. Caroline has always been my sidekick in the kitchen. Desi is now fully obsessed with nail polish and lip gloss. So I entertain the obsession. She is my little girl.



Thursday, March 20, 2008

Published!

Just incase you missed this in the Lehi Free Press...(I am so proud :)

Dear Editor:

I am writing upon return from an enjoyable and impressive morning spent viewing the puppet show put on by the Lehi High Special Education class. The show exceeded the expectations of both myself and my children in many ways.

The set and the puppets were very high quality and visually engaging. Although we entered a moment late, my girls were immediately drawn to sit down and join in the fun! The music and other material were age appropriate and very familiar to the target audience of toddlers. Many of them were singing along to the “Mickey Mouse Club” theme song, the “Wheels on the Bus,” and others.

The show was very well rehearsed by the students and flowed easily from one song to the next with clever scripting in-between. The cast was happy to be on stage and interacted well with the children, encouraging them to “get up on their feet” and dance during the Dragon Tales segment.

Easy to see signs which read “B,I,N,G,O,” and “Yes We Can,” were a wonderful incorporation of literary elements such as letter recognition and decoding of shorter words. The helpful and informative posters made by Lehi High students to advertise the show were also a brilliant real world literacy application for them.

I commend the teachers at Lehi High for their efforts in creating such a fun avenue by which their students are developing organizational, social, literacy, and public presentation skills. I also commend the Lehi Library Staff for providing a venue and making arrangements necessary for this production to be seen by the story time crowd. Lastly, I congratulate the students who worked hard to add brightness and excitement to the lives of fellow citizens of Lehi through this puppet production.

Sincerely,
Julia Lloyd Whitehead

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

American IDLE?

I am posting 2 days in a row and it is because Brooke White just made my list of most memorable American Idol performances :) Yes, I like her because she has never seen an R rated movie, but she also is a smooth alto (woo hoo) and just so sweet, especially tonight. I was tearing up right along with her. As for the rest of my list...
- Taylor Hicks- PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC!!! I was OFF THE COUCH dancing!!!!!
- Melinda Dolittle- W, O, M, A, N- When we got high speed internet and my sister introduced me
to You Tube, this music video was my first request. Talk about empowering :) And her skills
were consistently unbelievable.
- Blake Lewis- You Give Love A Bad Name- very creative- and yes, I do have a
PERSONALIZED (to Julia), autographed 8x10 of Blake, thanks to Vall
- Katherine McPhee- Somewhere Over the Rainbow- A favorite of my Dad's, it reminded me of
when he used to sing it to us. Too bad Kat went a little scary.
- Chris Daughtry- Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? - very sincerely sung to his wife
- Carrie Underwood- Although I think she is a DOLL, she never really captivated me during the show, but I was smiling when she did "I'll Stand By You" in Africa.

Which brings me to reasons I can't deny I am a fan of this show. "Idol Gives Back" is one of them. Obviously it raised tremendous amounts of money for charity. Other than that I think I just like to watch and wish that I had powerhouse soloist vocals. I like that a regular Joe (like Elliot) can make it big. I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I knew all the lyrics to Paula's songs in her day, and we still work out together (right Amber W?!) although that is true. It is a good conversation topic because it is so widely viewed. And it has been a tool to help my mind relax over the past few years. Nothing but fun. Sometimes I try to do things like vacuum, bathe the kids, etc. on the commercials so I don't feel so much like I'm watching Alisa's spelling: "American Idle," especially on the 2 hour nights. But other nights I put my feet up (Doctor's orders) and let myself be entertained. I like when it is down to 6 or less and it is just one night a week for an hour. I don't usually watch results except like the very last one. So now I must go vote for the first time this year. I don't want to see Brookie go. And I do of course have to support cute David A. Go Utah!
P.S. How do I make the lines single space on my other post???

Monday, March 10, 2008

Mushy Stuff

A post in celebration of our 8 year anniversary (today)...



To Jessica and Bart Jensen

By John Alden and Julia Whitehead

Written May 2, 2002 (after 2 yrs. of marriage)

Italics signify John speaking



In our years of marriage, we've learned a thing or two.

So tonight at your reception, we share these words with you.



No degree or title qualifies us to do so.

But even with our differences, romance is still aglow.



Like ebony and ivory, or pale white and bright red,

Our differences don't clash, they're complimentary instead.



"My Mom makes the best white bread." "But I prefer the wheat."

"So now that's what she usually buys," "Which makes white bread a treat!"



"I panic when he tailgates cars. He says he's saving time."

"I'm just being assertive. I assure her she'll be fine."



"When we exercise together, we go at different speeds."

"I think my pace is nice but he's 4 blocks in the lead."



"So now HE gets the baby when we jog or bike together."

"But tennis, lifting weights, or shooting hoops is even better."



"When I listen to music, I like to feel the beat!"

"I always turn it down so we can hear each other speak!"



"When he's by himself, he cranks it up, I'm sure."

"But when she's in the car all I listen to is HER!"



"She dreams of traveling to Spain or back to Mexico."

"Good thing I ski cuz Powell's about the only place he'll go."



"We're different in so many ways." "But share the same last name!"

We're both aiming for forever, and that's always the SAME.



Written to each other Sept. 25, 1999... (looking through rose colored glasses :)

"52 Reasons Why I love you (and counting)" by John Alden Whitehead

-Enjoys kids

- Looks on the bright side of things

- Doesn't judge

- We work out together

- Go biking together

-She goes fishing with me

- Wears her dress on Sunday

- Pays attention to peoples' needs

- Is a friend to those who need a friend

- Loves her family

- Helps her family to have FHE

- Smart, good common sense

- Never gets mad

- Puts up with me being an airhead

- Easy to talk to

- Friends with everyone

- Keeps the commandments

- Reads her scriptures

- We can talk about a lot of things (church, school, personal things)

- Open about her feelings

- Picks up cans and trash

- Doesn't tell me my ideas are stupid (except when I want to throw a rock at butterflies)

- She bares her testimony

- She's not an RG(rich girl) She can shop at DI

- Appreciates things people do for her

- She always laughs at her own jokes before she tells them

- She cries when I leave

- Hard worker

- Very huggable, kissable

- We enjoy sharing things (gummy life savers, mints, etc.)

- Makes good decisions, even if it's not always what she wants.

- She's beautiful

- Enjoys just being together

- Good self control

- Great singer

- Great dancer

- Patient with my dancing

-She likes the outdoors

-Comes skiing with me

-Cheers me up when I'm down

- Warms me up when I'm cold

- Sits close to me in the Buick

- Holds on tight on the motorbike

- Courage to stand up for the right

- Magnify your calling

- Enjoy nature

- Get along with my family

- Great cook

- Creative, writes poems, scrapbooks

-Loves holding my hand

- Perfect combination of being dependent and independent

"Things I Love about John Alden Whitehead by JML."

- He calls

-He works HARD

- He brings things up which need to be discussed

- He shops at DI

- He is inquisitive, doesn't feel dumb asking questions

- He prioritizes Home Teaching and his calling

- He treats his sisters nice

- He obeys his mother

- He is a builder

- He wrote me faithfully for 2 whole years!

- He never pushed me to do anything while we were dating

- He was kinda shy (admitted he got nervous calling)

- He is sporty (b-ball, ice hockey, water skiing, golf, weight lifting)

- He appreciates good music (country, gospel)& movies (clean ones)

- He can sing!

- He is studious of secular and spiritual books

- He makes conversation with strangers

- He is a safe driver

- He can fix bikes, tape players, etc.

- He likes to take KOOL pictures

- He remembers funny things and refers back to them

- He is always sincere

- He knows about loving people- how important it is in anything

- He attends the temple and shares his feelings with me

- He is clean cut and has a healthy physique

- He's not afraid to get dirty

- His teeth are straight, his eyes are brown, and his hair is soft

- He respects authority and his elders

- He knows about his ancestors

- He likes to study about other men of God

- He's a church history lover/ expert

- He's theatrical- does the best imitations (George McFly, Screech, Barney, Burt...)

- He likes my cooking, or will learn to

- He cares about my life, prays for me

- His future hopes and dreams match mine

- He is pure in heart

- He's what my Young Womens leaders described and emphasized and promised I would get if I kept myself temple worthy- my perfect- tall, dark and handsome R.M. And whether I deserve him or not, he's mine forever.