Dreams of the Dentist

I went to the dentist a couple days ago. I know most people hate the dentist, and completely dread going, but I couldn't be more opposite. I love the dentist. I always look forward to going to the dentist because I know I'm going to get a major self-esteem boost. I grew up having dentist trying to set me up with their sons, which was a bit freaky, but flattering. They just wanted grandchildren with teeth like mine. Now, I go and soak it in as the dentist tells me what beautiful teeth I have. My dentist now is Norwegian, so I always need for him to repeat his compliments. I know I'm sounding really vain and silly, but it must be okay to be vain about ones teeth. I used to be vain about my feet, but they're no longer something to brag about, due to all the walking that I do. I have to be satisfied with the fact that the dentist only wants me to come every 9 months. Little does he know that I dream of coming more!

Tales of the Tooth Faerie

Sophia lost her first tooth yesterday! Actually, I pulled it out, but it didn't take much effort.

She was so excited to have the tooth fairy come. I had mentioned to her that I wondered if the tooth fairy would let me keep her tooth and the next thing I knew, Sophia had written a letter to the tooth fairy asking her if she could keep her tooth. She then put the note in a little container with her tooth, under her pillow.

I then wrote a letter to Sophia from the tooth fairy saying that she could keep her tooth, although it was a rather pretty one and the tooth fairy would have loved it in her tooth collection. I wrote it on a tooth-shaped piece of paper and put it in her container, taking the note she wrote away. I then sprinkled glitter (fairy dust) everywhere! She was so excited this morning. I had a blast!

I just had to add this photo because even though she just woke up and she's in her pajamas, with a missing tooth, she still had to pose! So like her mother!

7 Wonderful Years

Today is my 7 year wedding anniversary to Simon. We celebrated on Saturday, to take advantage of a free day and babysitters! I didn't know what we were doing for the day, so it was all a complete surprise to me. Simon started by driving me to this random place in Devon and we started walking through the countryside. I was waiting to see a castle or something of the sort and when we came to a marshy estuary he asked me if I had any ideas and I told him that it sort of looked like something out of the movie Sense and Sensibility. I was right, and for anyone who knows me you know how excited I would be because it is my ultimate, all time favourite movie and the scenery in the movie is so beautiful. It was so cool!

We then went to an island off the Devon coast called Burgh Island and had dinner at a 14th Century Inn. It was like something straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. The food was amazing, though. It actually came from some posh hotel on the island.

All in all, I had a fantastic time and the past 7 years with Simon have been the happiest years of my life! Oh l'amour!

Back to School

Sophia's first day of Year 1 was yesterday, so now I feel like a full fledged 'School Mummy'! The nice thing about her school is that it is really small, by American standards. (By English standards, it's not so small. I've seen village schools here that only have 2 children in them!). The children in her class are all the same children as last year, only her teacher has changed. I think this takes away a lot of the adjustment of going back. These will be the same children that she builds friendships with for the next 6 years. It makes it easier for me, too b/c I feel like I know the parents and their children pretty well.

We all really missed Sophia yesterday. The house seems so quiet without her. Chloe really misses her, too. Life is suddenly going to be overloaded with being busy now! Sophia will have Art, Choir, and Ballet after school. Her school also has a really excellent music program, so we want to look into violin lessons (her request, I don't know if I would choose something so noisy!).

The crazy thing is that Chloe will be starting school next year...aaaaaaaagh!

She is just too young to me. I'm going to have to try and forget about it until it happens!

Tuesday (or Wednesday) Tell All

Tuesday Tell All is something I found through my friend, Sarah Coyne. It seemed like a good way to write about something random and make a bit of a personal history, although if I don't like the topics, I just might change them! This weeks seemed appropriate, though, as everyone seems to be thinking about school. Sophia starts 1st Year on the 4th September. Time just flies!

So, for the first Tuesday Tell All: What is your earliest memory of school, what did you love about the first week of school, who was your favorite teacher, subject, or playground game?

One of my earliest memories was in Kindergarten and I was sitting at a round table with about 4 other children. The teacher had instilled in us that you must get permission to use the toilet, so I raised my hand and the teacher just never called on me and I wet my pants...really bad. There was puddles, and one of the girls I was sitting with just kept looking under the table and saying, "Uh ohh!". I also remember in 3rd grade, our bathrooms were in the classrooms, and I was on the toilet singing opera songs at the top of my lungs. I thought I sounded pretty good, so the singing got louder and louder and more dramatic. When I came out of the bathroom, the whole class clapped for me! The boys thought it was hilarious, too, and kept doing it when they used the bathroom after that! I seem to keep getting bathroom experiences in my head, so I'll stop those with that one!

My favourite thing to do at play time was to play hairdressers. My name was always 'Vicky'. We had a babysitter named Vicky, and I thought her name was so cool! I also loved to twirl on the bars on the playground. I can't remember any favourite teachers. I pretty much loved them all! I don't have any school pictures with me in England, so here is the closest one I could find to being school-aged.

Ward Camp

This weekend we went to the New Forest near Bournemouth, for our Ward camp. It's a tradition that our ward has started this year. It was also our first experience camping as a family.

The New Forest was such an interesting place. It's completely wild and said to be the same as when William the Conqueror used to hunt there. There was wild horses and ponies everywhere. Chloe was obsessed with them, but one of the ones in these pictures charged at me and snapped at me, so she kept her distance after that! One horse opened a tent and went in for a sneak. It was mental.

We were pretty lucky with the weather b/c this year has been a complete washout. We only had one night of rain. The clearest night was also the coldest one, and I didn't sleep at all! It was also a bit nippy in the day time too. We went to the beach for one of the days and it was me and a bunch of English friends. Now, the English seem to have some sort of thermal protective skin that enables them to enjoy a cold, wet, windy day at the beach...for me (being an Arizonian), it was a bit more difficult. The last thing I want to do when it's cold is hang out on the beach waiting for the sun to shine. I'm just not built for it. I need my sunshine. It only made me miss Lake Powell and the warm rocks and water. I don't know how long I'll survive in this cold!

I did enjoy being with our ward, though. I love being in the Bath Ward. It feels like having a family to me. The people in our ward really do care about and love each other. We got to know each other a lot better, too. So, despite freezing to death, I am looking forward to going at it again next year.

I've not included a lot of pictures b/c they have my friends children in them and I haven't asked them if it was okay to post their children on here, so I had to not post a lot of the best ones.

I've Been Tagged!

My lovely Aunt Pam has tagged me, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her tag. This is a few things to know about Jaime.

My Joys

1-I've made one thing combine all the obvious things in my life, just so this wasn't 3 of the obvious things, b/c the obvious joys I have are also the most important to me (did you get all that?). I'm married to the most amazingly perfect and wonderful man and I've been blessed with 3 wonderful children to go along with him. I have the most supportive and loving parents, that live too far away. My awesome brothers and their families, all of my fantastic extended family...which, again, live too far away. I have some really wonderful friends. And, of course, having the Gospel is something that keeps me in awe every day.

2 - Chocolate. I love chocolate, especially Cadbury's. I'm not tempted by any other sweets. Only chocolate!

3 - Talking. I sometimes don't let others have a word in edge-wise. I just go on, and on, and on.

Fears
1 - Dying before my children are raised and Simon gets remarried (which he has had to swear he wouldn't do) and someone else raises my children. Call me juvenile, but this is seriously my deepest fear!

2 - The dark. I still can't go downstairs at night by myself.

3 - Someone hurting my children.

Current Obsessions/Collections

1 - Collecting costumes. My parents are burdened with most of them in their garage. I'm slowly getting them here. This kinda goes along with my obsession with fashion in general.

2 - The temple and family history. I love going to the temple and anyone that has spent any time talking to me knows this, too. I never shut up about it. The place is just amazing, and I've had so many wonderful experiences there. I wish we lived closer to one, but my goal is to have a Bristol Temple, someday.

3 - Missionary work. I am secretly, or not so secretly, trying to convert everyone! This goes along with my Bristol Temple goal. I am always looking for ways to share the Gospel.


Surprising Facts

This was hard b/c I'm such an open book that I think everyone already knows everything about me, so I tried to think of some things that would be somewhat interesting.

1 - I knew I was going to marry Simon before he ever even talked to me. This had my father seriously worried about me b/c I told my parents and they thought they were going to have to come to England and save me from a broken heart.

2 - I spent my teenage years being seriously obsessed with Def Leppard. My wall was covered with them, I bored my family by talking about them and singing their songs constantly! I even obsessed about marrying one of them and converting them all. I was a complete loonbag!

3 - I'm not a very tidy person, but my house is so clean you could eat off of any surface in it. I owe this to Bobbi Jo and my houseboat cleaning days. She taught me what clean meant. I also get really annoyed if anyone else tries to clean my house or do the dishes b/c they just won't do it as good as me!

Some things about the person who tagged me (I added this one):

My Aunt Pam tagged me and she is the funnest person, ever! She's always happy and positive. She's a great mother and has two of the most handsome, good boys. I try to be more like her.

People I've tagged

1-Sarah G.

2-Lindsay

3-Ally Pally

4-Sarah C.

5 - Maria