Finished!!!!

Warning: Don't read this if you have not read the entire Twilight series yet.



Alright. . . first things first. Before I even started Breaking Dawn I heard so many reviews I was nervous about the ending of this book. I had one friend tell me, "I was very disappointed at the end of the book. I think that Stephanie Meyers fans were really upset with her." I had was so bothered by this comment that I was hesitant to get to the end. It wasn't until my sister said, "It is a good ending. . . Stephanie Meyers wouldn't have gotten this far if it is was a poor ending." Thanks Shelley that is what I needed to hear to keep my momentum to finish.

So last night at 12:45 I finished the book. I don't understand any of the negative comments about this book what so ever. I even had heard, "It just ends way too fast." I didn't even get that feeling. There was no better way to end this book. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I have no mixed emotions about any of the book.

As I read the other three books I found that I was so engrossed in them that I could hardly sleep because all I did was think about them. I have to admit that this book there was enough resolve earlier in the book that I didn't loose as much sleep over it. I had been thinking deeply about everything from early on in the previous books. I even started writing down my predictions at the beginning of the second book and would change and write down different predictions as soon as I would get more information. Interestingly enough my predictions were mostly correct. ( I guess it helps that I had about 15 different predictions so the odds were on my side about getting something correct.)

Predictions from New Moon

1. Carlisle or Alice turn Bella (This was a weak prediction, but I put it at the top of my list as a possibility.)

2. Edward turns Bella

3. Bella and Edward get married before she is turned.

4. Bella and Edward have sex before she is turned.

5. Bella gets pregnant.

6. Bella is changed when she is pregnant and have a vampire baby.

Wrong Predictions from New Moon

There were many many more predictions that followed these first ones, but many of those ended up being wrong. I really wanted to make sure I have all possibilities covered.

7. Bella is hurt while spending time with Jacob. Jacob takes Bella to Edward in desperation of her dieing situation. Edward changes her, but there is a mutual respect given to Jacob by Edward for bringing Bella to him.

8. Charlie and Renee die before she is turned. . . then they cannot be hurt by her absence in their lives.

9. Having sex with a vampire turns Bella into a vampire without actually being bitten.

Predictions from Eclipse (book 3).

10. Edward dies and his dieing request is that Jacob care for and love Bella.

11. Edward and Bella have a human daughter and Jacob imprints on her. (As soon as I understood what imprinting was in book 3 this was my thought.)

Predictions from the first few chapter of Breaking Dawn (book 4).

12. Bella has a human baby, but has to be "changed" as she give birth of she will die.

13. Edward dies saving Bella.

I really didn't see that there could be a happy ending unless Jacob could be happy. I really wanted everything to turn out for the best, and with the negative comments that I'd heard I could not imagine that everything I wanted from this book could be possible. Up until the very last chapter I was still expecting something to go terribly wrong. I was surprisingly pleased!!! I found that I was more drawn to the previous books than this one because of the drama, but I think this was the prefect ending to the story. I actually felt that it could have happily ended about half way through this book after Jacob imprints and Bella is turned. I felt like the last half of the book was to tie up any loose ends. . . the Voltri, Bella's power, the resolve with Charlie, etc.

I cannot believe that anyone would have felt negative about this book in anyway. It was a prefect ending!

The only thing negative that I can say about the ending of this book is this: Now I have to come back to reality because it is over.

I almost forgot to mention how much thought that I had put into the names and covers of each of the books. My predictions were even somewhat influenced by the covers. . . especially Breaking Dawn. I totally understand all of the covers except for New Moon.

Twightlight. . . Totally the forbidden fruit.

Can anyone explain what the hybrid red and white flower has to do with anything on the cover of New Moon.

Eclipse. . . The torn decision between Jacob and Edward.

Breaking Dawn . . . A white Queen (Bella) and a red pawn (baby) .

Ok I just keep coming back to the computer to add more. I had one question that was never answered at the end. . . why did Bella kind of skip over the new born faze? Was it her mental power to block everything out? I guess I still kind of feel hazy on that one question.

Marrital Problems

So apparently my wife is having an affair with a book....
I should have known the other night while we were, uhh....you know......and she shouted out the name "Edward."

Just for the record, my affair with fly fishing will no longer go unmatched.
That sweet sensation of pulling that beautiful trout into the boat.....the smell of fresh fish that looms on my hands throughout the day....the rush of casting a new fly rod for the first time...the feeling i get every time i'm picking out new flies....fighting a huge fish all the way to the boat only to be tantalized by the escape at the last minute...

so let it be written.

Addiction!

Alright. . . I have a confession. . . I am in LOVE!

Over a year ago for Christmas my friend, Kim, gave me a book. She told me that she wanted me to read it so that we would be able to discuss it together. I was in the middle of reading The Work and The Glory series. Well I knew that if I stopped reading in the middle of the series I would never return to finish it. I was cruising along reading about a book a month out of the series and figured that I would be able to finish it quickly. Well by book 7 I was really loosing momentum and started to get sick of the books. Again, I knew that I had to finish them or I would never return to get them done. So the last book alone took me about 7-8 months to read. So I FINALLY finished reading the last (9th) book a little over a week ago. I was thinking "Alright I guess it is time to dive into this book that I have heard so much about." So I took Twilight off my book shelf where it has been patiently waiting for me to pick it up. I read the first chapter last Monday or Tuesday night. I read one chapter the next two nights. . . then I was caught I couldn't put it down.

I became a Twilight-aholic after three reads. I finished the first book on Saturday. On our morning out with the kids I had Andrew stop me by Barns and Nobles so that I could pick up my next fix, New Moon. I was half way through New Moon by Sunday afternoon. I CAN'T STOP!!!

I would have already finished it, but since Andrew had the day off yesterday we spent the day as a family and I promised that I wouldn't read so we could all be together. Andrew asks me how I can read for so long. (6-7 hours is not long if you get to spend it with Edward.) Today the books calls me so much that I can barely function, but again, I have had to ration my reading. I have been cleaning house all day with the kids and I plan to reward myself after I have finished a few things on my list. Plus, my Mom said that she had book 3 at her house for me and would bring it to me this weekend. Well. . . my first thought was "How can I wait until this weekend for the next book?" Then I realized I can just get it from the library and read book 3 until she gets it to me. Well it is impossible to just go get this book from the library with 7 holds already on it, so I am trying to read this book slowly so that I can wait for the a anxious arrival of my next fix this weekend.

I knew that Twilight would probably be a book that I would like just from what I had heard about it, but I was not prepared for a full on addiction. I would read all day if I could and finish the books in just a few days, but with all the other demands I have to take a little bit longer. I plan on having them finished in just a week or two. Until then there may not be many postings on the blog. I had big plans to finish the curtains and quilt for Hazel's room, but that will have to wait. The kitchen is a huge mess at this very moment, but the kiddos are having quiet time so I have got to go get a quick fix to tide me over until tonight after they are in bed.

Kim. . .I failed you. . . sorry that I didn't read the book as soon as you gave it to me. I now know that you were needing to go through this addiction with others along your side and I let you down. Friends shouldn't let friends read Twilight alone!

Lisa. . . I know that you said that when I started reading that my house would go to pot, and we would all stay in our pajamas all day. I honestly thought that I was stronger than that. I'm not!

If any of you would like to know what the Edward in my mind smells like. . . I just got a new type of hairspray the other day. I just went into Cosmo Proof (professional retailer for stylists-my sister loaned me her card) and asked for a good hairspray. Well the gal gave me a suggestion and it was decently priced. So I got this new hairspray and again wasn't prepared for this addiction. I used it on my newly cut hair the other day and just about melted onto the floor. EDWARD! This hairspray is not extremely strong, but it smells like cologne. It is called Rusk w8less Plus (Red cap). For around $7 you too can have Edward's sent with you all day long.

"Hello, my name is Becky and I am a Twilightaholic. "

I'm A Big Girl Now!

Hazel 2 years 4 months

Hazel keeps telling us, "I'm a big gwirl". She is completely potty trained, other than wearing a diaper for night just to be safe. Here is a picture from yesterday when she went into the bathroom all by herself and did her business. We are just glad that she was so easy to potty train.

She also has a "big gwirl bed" now. We decided to switch her out of her crib when Andrew's parents delivered a toddler bed to our house that had been in their play room for years. So now I wake up to her right in my face in the mornings instead of yelling from her crib, "I have to go potty." I am just starting a little quilt for her new bed and will be making curtains to match. I will try to post pictures of the finished results later.

3 Day Birthday Celebration

Day 1

Kimball had a 3 day celebration for his birthday this year. Wow!!! Grandma Connie came to stay with us for a couple of days. She got to our house on Wednesday and watched the kids while I worked that night. Thursday we took him shopping because Grandma Connie wanted Kimball to pick out his own present from her and Grandpa Dave. So after spending way to long at Toys-R-Us Kimball finally picked out a new bike. (With a little persuasion) While the man at Toys-R-Us was finalizing the fix-ups on the bike we went to lunch. We went to the Olive Garden to celebrate. Kimball was very impressed that at the end of the meal when the waiters and waitresses came and sang a birthday song to him and he got a birthday cake. We picked his bike back up from the store and went straight home. Luckily it was not a terribly cold day so he could try his bike out. I meant to get a picture of Kimball on his bike with Grandma Connie, but I didn't get a picture of the two of them together so this one of him with Hazel will have to do.

Day 2

Kimball's Birthday was on Sunday this year, so we had his birthday party on Friday with all of his friends from church and preschool. This year he had a camping theme for his birthday party. We had the party at the church.

When the kids first arrived they were given little green drawstring backpacks that I spent the week making, and a foam visor that they were to put their names on and decorate with stickers. Then we went to the gym where they were given plastic frogs for a frog race.

After the frog race was over we "hiked" to Camp Kimball down in the basement of our church in the Scout room. The night before Grandma Connie and I took Kimball and Hazel over to the church to decorate for the party. We put up a tent, made a pretend campfire in the middle of the room, laid a piece of blue fabric on the floor in one corner for a lake, decorated the poles in the middle of the room to look like trees, and put glow in the dark stars all over the ceiling.

The kids threw "rocks" (little denim pillows I made out of old jeans) into the "pond". They searched in the balloon filled tent for plastic snakes and bugs. We sat around the campfire and "roasted" marshmallows on sticks as I read them some funny ghost stories. Oh ya and we did the Going on a Bear Hunt chant.

We turned the lights out and looked at the stars and then each child was also given a flashlight to go in their backpacks for home, so we had to turn them on and off a hundred times. After our star gazing activity we turned the lights back on, sung Happy Birthday, and then served cake. The cake was actually chocolate cake that I baked in clear glass mugs and then put marshmallow cream on top to look like hot chocolate. (I should have just used cool whip because the kids were not all that fond of the marshmallow cream.)

In all it was a fun time for everyone. . . even me. As you can tell I love planning and preparing for such a celebration as much as the kids enjoy the party. Kimball had a really good time and was able to help with the preparations for days before so it was great. Although, I could not have pulled it all off without my Mom's help. It was fun that she could come and celebrate with us.

Day 3

Superbowl Sunday!!!

Go Steelers!

In primary on Sunday they asked Kimball what he was going to do to celebrate his birthday. His response, "watch football." I was a little bit embarrassed by this remark, but it was no secret that we would be cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers as all of us wore yellow and black to church in some fashion. We didn't look too tacky. I wore a white skirt with a yellow and white sweater and my black leather jacket. Hazel wore a white sun dress with a yellow shirt underneath and her black boots. Andrew wore black dress pants and a yellow dress shirt. Kimball was the more obvious out of us all. He wore black dress pants, a white shirt, and a black vest; but to get the yellow in for him we put a yellow shirt under his white shirt. You could see the yellow around his neck.

Kimball requested tacos for his birthday dinner, so we ate quickly so we didn't miss much of the big game. Then after dinner we had a football shaped rice crispy cake. We had a great time watching the game. . .even me, and I hate watching football. (I was even yelling with all of the excitement.) Andrew went on his mission to Pittsburgh, so Kimball has grown up with the mentality that the Steelers were the only team. One of his first words was "dut-down" as he would throw his hands in the air. My grandpa reminded me just a couple of weeks ago that Kimball always cheered for the "Stee-wers". So as you can imagine his birthday was quite amazing because it was again on Superbowl Sunday and his team was playing . . . and won!

Happy Birthday Kimball!

Kimball was were born on February 1, 2004 at 7:38 in the morning. He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz. It was Superbowl Sunday. Now when we tell him that he was born on Superbowl Sunday he says in this deep voice, "yeah Dad give me five that is awesome."

(This picture was taken about 3 minutes after he was born. Interestingly his mouth still is crooked like that when he cries.)

I never knew before that day that the human heart could feel that much joy. I just kept thinking "Wow, Heavenly Father loves me so much that he would allow me to be this happy." Then I remember being totally shocked when I realized that all parents love their children just as much as I love my boy. I always heard my parents say, "You will never know how much your parents love you until you have a child of your own." I had never understood it until that precious moment when I first layed eyes on you. It was love at first sight! I will never forget how Daddy looked at that very second. He had tears in his eyes and could hardly talk.

Kimball, you are growing so fast, and you are so smart. We are so proud that you became a member of our family 5 years ago! Daddy and I thank Heavenly Father everyday for you in our lives. We love you so much Buddy! Happy Birthday!!!