Places to go, Things to do.....

First off, let me tell you about a mistake I made. My father got 10 tickets to the Draper Temple Open house. I thought they were this Friday, so I arranged to get off work. Then I found out our reservation isn't until MARCH! Okay, so now I have a free Friday off! What should I do? Anyone up for an Archivers crop? What about a Girls Night out? Or should I just spend it with my kids..nah, they get me most every night! So, if anyone has something special happening Friday, let me know, LOL!

Onto some things that I'll be be going to, that I'd like to invite any of you too!

First, Richard Paul Evans is giving a free financial seminar next Wednesday night in SLC at the Hilton, 7 pm, based on his latest book:



I've already reserved seats for 4, so who wants to come????

Then, that following Saturday, there's this convention:



Follow the link here:

http://www.successfulmothering.com/index.php

I go EVERY year! Why? Because I need it! So, if you go there and click on the classes, and think that for $15 it'd be worth your time, (AND IT IS, I promise) then come along and carpool with me! Let me know if you'd like to come! And let your friends know too! It could be a fun Girls DAY out! And we'll all come back home, being better Moms, it's a win-win situation for everyone!

Guess who?

Guess which 2 of my kids will be needing glasses SOON?

We were sitting at church today on the last row. (Our favorite spot it seems) when one of the two brought up the fact that they couldn't see the numbers to the hymns at the very front of the chapel. We decided to conduct our own informal eye test right then and there on each child, and found another one that couldn't read them. Upon asking them if they had trouble seeing the boards at school, they responded Yes. Hmmmm, Why didn't they say anything about that before?

So, guess who??? Scroll down a little bit and I'll show you!
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Yep, Keilani, the 12 year old, and yes, she is only 12!


And, Vivian, the 8 year old!


I had to get glasses when I was in 5th grade, and it was traumatizing to me. I still remember crying outside of the Primary room because I didn't want to go in wearing my glasses, and my parents were there, so I couldn't get out of that! At school, I would just get them out when I needed to see. I hated wearing them! Then, you get those headaches while wearing them sometimes. Glad I have contacts now!

But, my little niece Maeva just had to get glasses at 5 years old, and she's being a good example to my girls. They haven't said one negative word about it yet. I think they think it will be a COOL thing!

Off to call the insurance company and see if any of this is covered or if my bank account is going to suffer the consequences alone!

Speaking of books...

Thought this was interesting, feel free to share your results:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen   You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

2008: The Year of Books!

Just wait until you see this list of books I've read. 2008 has definitely been the year of READING! Back in November I decided that I needed a new focus for the year 2009, and that is going to be the year of Health!

I'm sure I will still read just as many books, but I also want at the end of this year to be able to post just as great of accomplishments in our family of being HEALTHY. We're taking baby steps, first cutting out the junk food from our diet. Instead of ice cream on our list constantly, we can only have it once a week. Menu planning and an effort on my part to have dinners served by 6:00 pm every night. The kids input on things they would like to eat for snacks as long as they are healthy. Still need to catch that resolve to get to the gym but for now we are focusing on what goes into our bodies and what shouldn't.

So, onto my list of books read in 2008. I'll put in ITALICS my favorites! My goal was one a week, and I beat that! Compared to the year 2007 where I only read 23 books, this year I've read 67! Some of them were easy reads, but for the most part it was one novel a week.

(Edit, I am going to put how many stars I gave each book on a scale of 1-5)

1-didn't like it
2-it was ok
3-liked it
4- really liked it
5-it was amazing

January:
Goodnight nobody by Jennifer Weiner-4
It's not about me by Max Lucado-3
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella-4
Shopaholic takes Manhatten by Sophie Kinsella-4

February:
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel-5

March:
Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert-5
Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card-5
Uglies by John Westerfield-5
Pretties by John Westerfield-5
Specials by John Westerfield-5
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini-5
Can you keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella-3

April:
1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini-4
19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult-1
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult-3
102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flinn-3
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb-4
What my Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Jones-4
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom-4

May:
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett-3
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella-4
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen-2
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale-5
Extras by John Westerfield-4
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray-4

June:
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst-5
The Host by Stephanie Meyer-4
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner-2
The Road by Cormac McCarthy-5
Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer-3
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson-3

July:
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin-3
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis-5
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides-5
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey-4
Angry Housewives Eating BonBons by Lorna Landvik-4

August:
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer-3
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare-3
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray-3
Remember me by Sophie Kinsella-3
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks-3
The Book Club cookbook by Judy Gelman-5

September:
Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray-4
The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux-3
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield-3
The Sweet Far Thing by Gemma Doyle-4
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons-3
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier-2
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb-2
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli-4

October:
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian-5
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell-5
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husband by Dr Laura Schlessinger-3
The Meaning of Life by Bradley Trevor Grieve-4
The Incredible Truth About Mothers by Bradley Trevor Grieve-3
The Art of Expecting by Veronique Vienne-4
The Art of Imperfection by Veronique Vienne-2
The Art of Doing Nothing by Veronique Vienne-3
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine-3
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer-4

November:
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama-3
Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou-4
The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring-3
Meditations for New Mothers by Beth Wilson Saavedra-5
Awake in the Dark by Shira Nayman-3
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver-5

December
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer-4
Just Who Will You Be by Maria Shriver-2
When God Whispers your Name by Max Lucado-2
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Euginedes-1
The Birth House by Ami McKay-3

I LOVE, LOVE this movie!

Just watched it again the other day, and if you haven't watched it, you need to! Some movies just speak to you, and this one does to me. Maybe because it's about a boy who's searching for meaning in the world, and he finds it in music. Beautiful movie, well written, well acted, and the music goes straight to my heart! I've added several songs on my playlist, so stick around and listen to them for awhile...they're at the bottom of my blog.