Youth Conference 2008

This past weekend was our stake's youth conference. The committee chairs were the Stewarts in our ward and we were one of the couples called to serve on the committee with them. We had such a great time planning and working with everyone on the committee, but we are so glad it's over. Oh, to be a teenager again with all their energy.

Our theme was STAND and be COUNTED

The festivities started Friday night with breaking up into groups of 15-20 kids for a "Youth Tube" activity. They were given topics from the Strength of Youth pamphlet that they would need to stand up for and had to come up with a skit about it. Everyone participated and seemed to enjoy it. One of the bishop's emcee'd in between each of the performances and was just so funny.

Then they all moved outside for dinner which was Cafe Rio!! After dinner all the kids got on the end of 3 ropes and tried to pull a semi truck across the parking lot, proving that if they all stand together great things can be accomplished. That was part of our part since Dave can drive the trucks and got one from APCO. He then had to speak after that, to tie it all in together. And yes, they were able to pull the truck.

After the semi truck pull, they moved over to the dirt lot behind the church for a flag retirement ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony put on by some of the eagle scouts from the stake. Very moving with it being so close to September 11.

On Saturday morning our part of being on the committee was to put together the service project. We went out to Floyd Lamb Park and did a bunch of clean up out there. They had three different areas they could go to and it was a huge success with so many people coming out. This is usually the least attended activities of youth conference so I was a little worried, but we had even more in attendance than we did on Friday night!! We had lunch out at the park and then President Waite spoke to everyone.

Everyone together before leaving the service project. Wow, what a huge group of kids!! Then there was a dance Saturday night where they had a photo booth for all the kids to get pictures taken and just such a fun time. They ended the weekend with a testimony meeting last night with President Bingham speaking at the end. We were so excited to be a part of something so great but can't wait to get some sleep. Being up till midnight each night and back up again at 6 to get things going Saturday morning is a little much. But what a great weekend!!

Also a huge THANK YOU to my parents for coming up to watch the girls so that we were able to be gone the whole weekend, really only coming home to sleep. The girls had such a great time with grandma and grandpa and really didn't want us to come back home. I think we were missed in the beginning but by the end, Kelsey definitely didn't want them to go home. So thank you so much for a successful weekend with everything!!

Katelyn's potty trained

Well, she did it!! Along with painting the two rooms last week, Katelyn decided to potty train herself as well. I figured I wouldn't discourage her since I was already staying home anyway so we took it in stride and she actually stuck with it. She's been accident free since Friday and we've even made a few short trips out of the house without any problems as well!! She's been far easier than Kelsey was to potty train and that's saying something since Kelsey has been the easier baby all along!! Hooray for Katelyn. The amazing thing I can't get over is that she tells me before she has to go and runs in to the bathroom and doesn't want any help. Kelsey never told me, I just had to set a timer to remind myself that she had panties on and Katelyn is usually right that she had to go, no matter how soon she had gone the time before!!

Kelsey's first day of preschool

Today was Kelsey's first day of preschool. She was supposed to starte last week, but her teacher's daughter was due to have her first baby so she wanted to be there to help out for the first few days. So she started today!! She was so excited to go off by herself and has been talking about it for over a week, wanting to know how long until she got to go. She of course picked out her outfit and laid it all out last night. She was dressed and ready to go by 10 but very upset when she realized she couldn't go until after lunch.

All ready to go, back pack and all!!

Katelyn wouldn't hold still, but I thought this was so cute how excited she is for her big sister to go to school. Although the story was quite different when we got home without her sister. I think she thought we were staying and watching her at school, rather than just dropping her off and leaving. But she'll soon learn that she doens't have to have her sister around all the time.

A leave of absence #2

Now the other reasons for not blogging. While he was camping with his family, if Kimber had decided not to go to California, I was going to stay home as well and paint the two other bedrooms and when Dave came home it would already be done and there'd be nothing he could do about it. Unless he would paint over what I'd done and that would never happen. I've wanted to paint pretty much since we moved in and it's just been a huge argument with us. And I didn't understand because I was not asking him to paint, I would do it all, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. In his defense I think he was thinking I wanted to paint the whole house, but that was never my intention, because I like the colors downstairs, just the bedrooms needed some color on the walls. We were also supposed to be headed back down to California to help can tomatoes and to see some friends that we haven't seen for 1 1/2 years for Labor Day weekend but when he decided to go coyote and dove hunting instead, I told him of my plans and he didn't really disagree or say too much. He just said, "Don't touch the downstairs." Done.

He caught me so off guard with agreeing to let me paint that it was numerous trips to the paint store for different chip colors and trying to get just the right color scheme in each room. Way too much pressure to get it right the first time and hoping that he liked it enough to let me do it again sometime.

The Before:

The After:

Don't be deceived, the polka-dots were so much work, and that is the only help I asked from Dave was to make it all work together on all the walls. I love the outcome and so does he. Instead of just drab white walls, now everything is crisp green and white and we love it. It took a week for both rooms, and the other room is not quite done yet, just waiting till my dad comes up this weekend to help with the finishing touches!! Stay tuned for that as well.

Katelyn kissed one of the dots when it was still wet and it was all I could do to get her not to cry for the picture before washing it off. The girls were so excited to get their toys back from under the plastic for a week and now everyone is happy.

After I did one polka-dot, Kelsey looked at me and said, "You love it, don't you?"

And Katelyn just kept kissing the wall (once it was dry) and said it looked pretty. They even got to help with painting the closet. They weren't too keen on how long the dots took though.

A leave of absence #1

**Warning** very long post ahead

While I have been contemplating the title of this post for a couple of days now and am not so creative and clever in that department, I have neglected to post our trip to California. Mainly because I don't think the post would do it justice. So it's not one I've necessarily been looking forward to as much as I know I need to document it before too much time passes. Let me preface this with it was such a great trip, filled with fun activities for the kids, laughter, great food, and family. How could you go wrong? You can't. And so you see the problem I have with trying to convey this to all of you. Now on with the show.

It all started with Dave's dad wanting to plan a "man-cation" where he got all his boys and their sons (the older ones that were allowed to come) together for a camping trip over a long weekend. Apparently this is something he would do in the summer with his 5 sons and Dave looked forward to this each year as a young boy.

So in March, they figured out a weekend that would work for everyone and set a date. It wasn't until the 3rd weekend in August. Who can wait that long? Anywho, going along with this, all us girls decided that if the guys were getting together, we would too. A sort of female bonding, back in college experience, except with kids tagging along. I must admit, I was a tiny bit skeptical about the whole thing since we haven't all been around each other for any extended amount of time. I mean, with Dave's family of 5 boys and 3 girls, and only 1 sister not married yet, it can get, for lack of a better word, overwhelming. The girls that ended up getting together were none of Dave's actual sisters, just the in-laws because one sister went camping for their last family vacation before school started, one is in Iowa, and the other isn't married and didn't want to hang out with us and all our kids.

I invited Kimber to ride down with me to sound more appealing for her to go and she agreed. So we had the girls in the far back of the car and Vance in the middle seat, with the other seat folded down so everyone could watch movies and get back to them. The ride down was pretty uneventful and we made great time with only 1 bathroom break. We stopped at Fo Fo Figgily's to let the kids run around for a couple hours and then it was the last 1/2 hour in the car to grandma's house for swimming and pizza. Five minutes into it, Elise broke her foot so she was out for the rest of the planned trip, but made the best of it.

A huge undertaking, but she decided to take all 9 kids to Target to pick out a toy. With 15 people in the toy section it can get a little hectic, but everyone came out with something to play with for the weekend. Kelsey picked a little piano and Katelyn picked yet another tea set. I'm questioning Kelsey's choice because I didn't take into account the drive home. But with her all the way in the back it wasn't too bad!!

After that we went to Heather's house where we were all staying and the kids all played outside again while we figured out the sleeping arrangements.

They all thought it would be fun to pile in the power wheels while Kelsey chauffeured them around.

Katelyn and Vance getting in the action. And although they never went anywhere, they didn't care!!

The next day it was off to the beach. We went to Paradise Cove where they have a few umbrellas out on the sand and pretty close to the water so we could watch the kids play in the water while we were in the shade.

Katelyn was not sure about the whole water thing at first, but eventually "warmed up" to the idea. The water was freezing but that didn't stop them for long.

This is about much of her body that got in the water, once the waves receded.

Kelsey kept calling the ocean a "river" or that "pool" when she asked to go back in. She liked it a little bit better, at least until she walked out of the ocean and had dry sand sticking to her wet legs. She did not think that was fun at all. I don't blame her, I'm not a lover of the beach either, the whole sand thing is just gross. I prefer the pool too.

After the beach, we went home and it was off to the salon where Dave's mom set up appointments for all of us to have pedicures and manicures done while she watched the kids. Thanks so much, Val, it was so nice to be pampered for an afternoon.

The next day we were off to the Santa Barbara Zoo and then over to the pier for lunch and a boat ride to see the sea lions. That was the highlight of the trip for everyone.

The boat ride over to see the sea lions.

I love the look on Katelyn's face, still not sure about this new adventure.

Kelsey and Chanel checking out the ocean.
It was pretty cool to be that close to them and by the time we left the kids were all "barking" like the sea lions.
Just relaxing on the buoy and swimming in the water.

The pelicans and they all thought of Nemo.

In one straight stretch of the trip, the captain let each of the kids who wanted to, drive the boat. Kelsey jumped at that opportunity first and thought it was great. And for a treat, she got a sucker.

Katelyn was next, but her look is not one of joy. Of course she could not be outdone by her big sister. I think the sucker was more what she was wanting out of the experience.

Amazing what a sucker can motivate the kids to do.

After the zoo and boat, it was back home. Heather got 3 girls to come over and watch the kids while we all went out to dinner. It was such great food and a wonderful time had by all. Val ended up picking up the tab and paid for the babysitters as well. Way too generous, but thank you again. Each night after the kids went to bed, we stayed up way too late, watching the Olympics, talking and enjoying each other's company and laughing way too hard. We all had a great time and all the kids played and got along together. Other than Elise breaking her foot, there was no other drama the whole weekend. The next day it was time to drive back. We all had to say good-bye and the kids did not want to leave. With the promise of doing this again next year in a different location, they got in the car and we headed for home.

The guys seemed to all enjoy their trip as well and it was a huge success all the way around. Thanks to Heather for planning all the festivities, getting the babysitters lined up and hosting all of the craziness that 9 kids can bring into one house. To Kimber for driving down with me and continually throwing snacks back to them and keeping the peace. A huge shout out to Valerie for pampering us more than we needed while we were all together and to everyone else for coming and making this possible!! We had a blast. Anyone up to coming to Las Vegas next year? No painting party necessary!!

Stay tuned for the next leave of absence.

Wish list #1

About this time of the year, the marketing for toys goes way up and it really gets to be overwhelming prying screaming children away from the toy section of any store. Yesterday we were out running errands when we walked by the digital cameras. Kelsey's been taking pictures with our cameras but it's hard to hand her my nice one that would cost way too much to replace. I was just glancing at prices and kind of thinking for Christmas. We totally missed the boat and should have gotten one early for her birthday so she could take it to Colorado, but oh well. Kelsey picked out a pink one and said she liked that one best. Of course. We started walking away and I told her to keep it in her mind for a couple more months when Santa would be here and she could sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted. "That's just too far away, mom."

I told her she was just going to have to wait and without missing a beat, asked, "Well, does he have a phone?"

Well, no but that would definitely make it easier if he did!!

If anyone walking by was listening, they would have got such a kick out of her matter-of-fact tone of voice!!

He DiD iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hooray for Michael Phelps. He accomplished his goal of 8 gold medals and with it set 7 world records. He is just so amazing to watch on the last leg of each race as if he is skimming across the water. What an incredible feat for him and he did it almost effortlessly!!

Also a shout out to Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson for taking gold and silver in the Women's Gymnastics All-Around competition!! This has been such an exciting Olympics to watch so far.

Beauty School Drop Out

It's still too soon to be laughing and I had to let a couple days pass before doing this post because I'm not sure who I'm more mad at, myself or Kelsey. Without further ado, let the pictures explain for themselves. Let's just say it wasn't such a good day with the scissors.


Notice Kelsey only cut half her bangs off. Apparently after she did it, she thought twice about finishing the job at what I would do to her when I noticed or she just likes the "half done" look. Not sure which option she went for, but she was in so much trouble for it.

Her's is not so bad, just by her ear, under most of her hair so you really only notice it when it's all up in a ponytail, well, because it's too short to fit in a ponytail.

I was brushing her hair getting ready to leave and noticed I pulled out a huge clump of hair and she didn't even cry about it. I thought I pulled it out, until I looked closer - that's funny, no snarls. And then I remembered she was cutting paper a few minutes before. I was mad, but looked at the silver lining: she's not starting school in a week, no photos coming up and it's under the majority of her hair. She told me she didn't want long hair because it gets in her way when she talks on the phone. (Meaning she has to brush it out of her face and tuck it behind her ear). Seriously, she doesn't talk on the phone that much. For reference see here.

I then asked her if she cut Katelyn's hair and she said no. So I go on with getting ready to leave. And then I went to put Katelyn's shoes on and I saw it. So not only did she cut her own hair, she cut Katelyn's that looked so cute until now and lied about it. Here again, more mad for cutting her sister's hair or lying to me about it. Definitely the lying. Busted!! All errands halted. Katelyn just had her hair cut a few weeks ago, looking so cute, growing her bangs out because she just had too many, she has her birthday pictures coming up in a month and her hair just doesn't grow.

Like I said, I'm not sure who I'm more mad at. Everyone I told this story to, their first question was, "Where did she get the scissors?" Well, from me of course, but she was cutting paper and has never even pretended to cut hair before. And I was just talking with a friend of mine a few weeks ago about this same thing. I guess I just didn't knock on wood hard enough.

I haven't tried to fix it because once again, it's the hair underneath and as each day has passed since "the incident" her top bangs that now hang down in front of her eyes almost cover it. She could maybe pull off the swept bangs look, but her part is on completely the wrong side. I'm still at a loss. She's just lucky to be alive.

It's finally open

The waiting is over. No more driving across town just to have a tasty bite. That's right. Cafe Rio has arrived and just as hoped, does not disappoint!! The girls and I decided to treat ourselves to it for lunch since Dave is up in So. Utah shooting. So for all of you waiting and wondering when it is going to open, it's here!! Enjoy

Shark Reef

Yesterday we headed off to Shark Reef. Kelsey and Katelyn have never been and I was just tired of waiting for Dave to be able to go with us because he never wants to brave the strip, especially on the weekends. I decided that since the girls were free anyway, I'd just take their little friend, Ethan along with us since his mom just had a baby last week and give her a much needed break. We loaded up all the kids and I couldn't believe how good they all were considering the days leading up to the outing, were not such good behavior days. I did get quite a few pictures considering I had three little bodies to chase around. Unfortunately they wouldn't look at the camera because there was just way too much to look at. But some of their expressions were pretty good.

The first tunnel they walked through. They at least all sat still so I could snap a few.

They were all pretty excited to put their hands in the water to touch the sting rays...

...But when this big guy came by, they were much more skeptical and all took a step back!!

There was a diver in the tank cleaning all the surfaces so they thought that was pretty cool.

Can you see the question on her face? "Mom, what's that?"

After braving that, we went out to lunch for the kids to get out more wiggles and then it was home to take naps for all of them. What a successful outing!!

August Family Dinner

Once a month, we get together with Dave's family for dinner and have a great time catching up with the happenings of the families. Not to mention the cousins have a blast too. Usually not as much eating as we would all like, but definitely a good time had by all. This month it was at Kaylene's house and she put a movie on for the kids while we all watched the Olympics in the other room. They seem to be enjoying themselves, don't you think?


From left to right: Vance, Kelsey, Katelyn, and Elise

Tired?

Apparently this is what happens when you get out of your bed but are still too tired so skip your nap!! I went upstairs to find her like this. She must have been like this for about an hour before I found her and moved her to her bed. I doubt this will keep her in her bed for her nap though!!

Funny conversation

We were driving to Costco on Friday and here's what happened:

M: "Kelsey, there's a police motorcycle." (She obssessed with policemen, especially motorcycle cops.)

K: "Does he have a gun?"

M: "Yes."

K: "To shoot bad people?"

M: "Yes, if he needs to."

K: "Good. Because we have guns too. Everybody should have guns."

It took all the control I could muster from not driving off the road laughing hysterically. Straight from the words of her dad. He was so proud when I told him this.

The Olympics

For the next couple of weeks, we will not be posting much because, well, what do you blog about when your glued to the TV? With the opening weekend of swimming, Kelsey has been so excited to watch right along with us.

"That's the freestyle, mom."

or

"They're doing the butterfly."

Can we swim team next year?

I couldn't be more proud that she has an awesome aunt to teach her all these strokes. Kelsey knows the freestyle and is currently working on the backstroke and butterfly. Thanks so much Kaylene, you're the best. Words cannot express how indebted we are for teaching our girls to swim and giving them the confidence to do it!! We love you.

Now we're just waiting for gymnastics to start on Thursday.

Before and After

Note: We had every intention of sitting down to a relaxing evening with the opening ceremonies but that so did not happen.

It all started with Katelyn not sleeping well. Again. She has not been the best sleeper since day 1 really, and last week we noticed once she really fell into a deep sleep, she moaned all night long. Not great for us light sleepers. I knew it was problem when Dave even heard her in the middle of the night. He ususally doesn't start hearing them until around 5. So something had to be done. So we moved the toddler bed out and put her in a BIG bed. On Friday after lunch I took the matresses off and started to rearrange the room. I moved even the frame, with a little help from Kelsey even and it was starting to look like a room again. After I got everything put back, I decided I wanted the dresser back in the room so they could have one room for playing and the other for sleeping and dressing. Not having to walk back and forth like before. But with the set up of the room, there was no way to not block even half the window.

So I called Dave at work to prep him for moving the dresser back into the bedroom because he didn't want it in there in the first place. When he got home, we started measuring everything out and had me convinced it wasn't going to work anyway we moved it. And then I got a sneaky idea. I knew he was not going to like me very much so I didn't tell him exactly what I was planning or thinking, but it did not take him very long. His only response was, "Get thee hence, Woman!!"

We had come home from a trip to Lowes for another project on my To-Do list for the weekend and started the forbidden moving of the rooms at 6:30 with dinner nowhere in sight. Surprisingly it only took 3 hours from start to finish, with dinner in there and the girls were in their beds.

The before:

The after:

Notice Kelsey's making of her bed. Pretty good job, for bunk beds. I hate making them!!

So now everything fits and the room finally looks finished. Well, almost. I have a few last touches that will be added in a couple of days.

But now the toy room looks really boring. I'm not allowed to touch that room. Until the next one. So it'll be awhile.

The Latest

This is the most recent project I've been working on. My goal was to have it finished before Breaking Dawn so I wouldn't have to divide my time because how would I choose? She wasn't due until the 16th, but was doing all she could to have it early. Well, I finished it Friday night, only a couple of hours before leaving to get my book. Too bad I have to pass it along. But I can make more. Katelyn was so cute, when I was laying it out, she kissed, then touched each individual square and said, "Soft, pretty." Good news, she had the baby last night so it's not spoiling anything for her because she's in the hospital and we'll be seeing her later!!

Lied Discovery Museum

With Dave being out of town for 4 days, I had to come up with some fun things to keep the girls busy. We went to Lied Discovery Museum on Friday with a massive playgroup and the girls had such a blast. Having never been, it was all new and they loved every minute of it.

Don't they look cute? Kelsey's friend Paige refused to get in the picture but still so cute

Katelyn and her friend Kate playing dress up. Of course when Kesley and Paige came over, Katelyn was done and already moving on to the next thing.

Kelsey trying to twirl in a dress that was too long.

Here's Kelsey at one of the bubble set ups. She was fascinated by this station.

It was great and a fun time had by all.

Out with the old, in with the new

A week or so ago, I took Katelyn to get her first haircut because she won't sit still for me to cut it at all. I just love it, although it does make her look older. Not my little girl anymore. It's just so thin and stringy, something had to be done. I think she looks like her cousin Chanel.


Here's the new look. Not sure what she's doing on the wall, other than looking cute. A little bit of a bed head, but still a cute haircut.

Breaking Dawn

I finished the book yesterday and what can I say about it? I love, love, loved this book. It was so well written, as always, she tied up all the lose ends, and it had a happy ending. Everything was just perfect about the entire thing. I have nothing but rave reviews to say about Breaking Dawn. As always, another #1 from Stephenie Meyer. Way to go!! Can't wait to see more from her in the future.

Distractions

To all you Twilight fans out there, this is for you. To preface this, Dave was out of town for 4 days on a Priest trip to San Diego, due to come back sometime Saturday afternoon. Not the most perfect timing since I had to have my book at midnight and had to figure something out to do with the girls. But the trip was already rescheduled once so off he went. I had a few thoughts and he vetoed the most promising which was going to California while he was gone only to drive 5 hours back on Saturday to be here when he came home. Which wasn't the best thought out plan either since I would have to spend those precious 5 hours driving instead of reading. So I just decided to stay here and wait it out. I couldn't fathom the idea of getting it on Saturday so I had my sister-in-law come over while I could run out. The midnight party was pretty fun, since I found to friends whom I had no idea were into it. And here I was thinking I was the only closet Twilight fan out there. To those of you I saw there, your identity is safe with me!!

I got home at 1:30 and while driving home, I toyed with the idea of staying up and reading or just going to bed and getting up early to read before the girls did. With Dave gone, I had to be the one to entertain the girls until he returned. So I opted for choice #1 and managed to stay up for the first chapter. When I woke up to the landscapers, sadly it was 7:45. I normally wake up at 7 to the girls and even more important, they hadn't woken up yet. So I jumped out of bed to begin reading. Within 5 minutes they were downstairs wanting to know why I wasn't still in bed. So needless to say I was a little frustrated of the possibility of having 45 minutes of uninterrupted reading.

So I tried to do the best I could. On top of this, I had a baby shower that I was starting to feel guilty about not attending just because of a book. I already had a gift, and it wasn't like I wouldn't see her before the baby was born but my conscience got the best of me. So I loaded up the girls. I wasn't planning to stay the whole time and while I was having a good time, there was a constant nagging in the back of my mind that I needed to get home. After a quick lunch it was naptime for Katelyn. No such luck for Kelsey. So I put a movie on and just told her that I wanted to read my book. An hour and a half of uniterrupted reading was great, but that just made it worse. I had played with the girls all day the day before hoping that on Saturday they would go off on their own and play, but to no avail. They just wanted more. I even tried sitting in the hall to keep the fighting to a minimum and that didn't work. I was sunk.

With an update with Dave, they changed their plans and wouldn't be home until dinner, which I thought would be better so I would have more time to read because I knew when he came home there would be no more reading for the rest of the night. Also we are big fans of Shark Week and with them running new programs all week, there was a lot to catch up on.

On top of all these distractions, I woke up this morning with "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins stuck in my head. More importantly the 3rd verse. Here's the lyrics for any of you who don't know it.

She was starin' out the window of there suv

Complainin' saying i cant wait to turn 18

I'll make my own money and I'll make my own rules

Momma put the car in park out by the school

And she kissed her head and said i was just like you

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good days so take a good look around

You may not know it now

But your gonna miss this

Before she knows it shes a brand new bride

In her one bedroom apartment and her daddy stops by

He tells her its a nice place, she says it'll do for now

Starts talkin bout babies and buyin' a house

Daddy shakes his head and says, baby slow down

'Cuz you're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good days so take a good look around

You may not know it now

But your gonna miss this

Five years later theres a plumber workin' on the water heater,

Dogs barkin', phone's ringin', one kids crying

One's screamin' and she keeps apoligizin'

He says they don't bother me I've got 2 babies of my own

One'Ss 36, one's 23, huh its hard to beleive

But you're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times so take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this

You're gonna miss this

Yeah, you're gonna miss this

Okay, total guilt trip right. It just kept going through my head that I have all the time to read, but the girls aren't going to want to play forever. So I should just relax and wait it out!! No can do. With it being fast Sunday, Dave didn't make breakfast, but he did do the dishes and then asked what he could do so I could read. Hallelujah!! A got a couple hours in before needing to get ready for church and it took all the will power in the world not to sneak it in the diaper bag and head off to church. We came home and he was back to entertaining them again. They've had more playtime with him since he's been home than they've had in a week with him!! So a huge shout out to him for taking them to play games and all kinds of things. But I'm still not done!!

Granted I've only been reading for 6-7 hours total, so while you are all out there and have finished your books, I will not be blogging, emailing, or checking anyone else's blogs until I have finished this book. If there are any of you out there that have unsuccessfully been able to finish as well, may you have many more distractions to keep you on the edge as well!!