Spring Break Part Deux

Spring break went by far too quickly, but we did manage to find some fun our second week as well. Shawn's scout troop had a family picnic day that the boys were supposed to plan, and decide what kind of activities we would be doing. Shawn wanted to feed ducks, but when we got to the park, his plan seemed to change. Poor geese!




Reagan and small Paul had fun at the park. He is so blessed to have so many older siblings who love him as much as he loves them. In the morning, he wakes up with a cheerful "Good morning Mommy, Good morning Emmy, I love you Emmy, I love you mommy!" Then he runs down his list - "I love Savannah, I love Shawn, I love Reagan, I love Michael, I love Shelby, I love Daddy" He is such a sweet boy. Every day I am astounded at just how over the top in love with him I am!








We spent a few days with animals this week. We have a feline rescue near our house where they have jaguars, tigers, mountain lions, ocelots, and wild peacocks running free (the peacocks, not the cats, they are safely behind bars) In Santa Clarita, about halfway between our house and Grandma Mathews', there is a great park with barnyard animals and the world's friendliest deer. He comes right up to the fence when kids approach, and tries to get his antlers through the gate to get the kids to pet him. It's awesome. There is a great, short hike up a hill, where you can see "wild" bison wandering around. The original herd was donated by Walt Disney, and now a new generation thrives there.




I really enjoyed conference this past weekend. I don't know if it was just what I needed to hear, but I felt like the emphasis on the importance of family was even stronger than usual. I love my family so much. Every day joys and struggles help me to see my importance as a mom, and the importance of the job I have been blessed with.

Spring Break Week #1

We get two weeks of spring break. Yes, I know, we are very lucky! We've been staying busy this first week, seeing some old standbys as well as a couple of new places!

Emily is very excited to have all of the kids home from school.



We started our week at Sea World with Uncle Curtis & fam. It was awesome! We love San Diego, but it is so much better with cousins.




Small Paul got to hang with Elmo...


Next we headed over to the Wild Animal Park - so cool! We saw elephants, rhinos, and lots of other animals, fed giraffes, watched a cheetah run almost 70 miles per hour, and got up close & personal with this bad kitty



Our next day was spent at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. They have an awesome Star Wars exhibit on loan from Lucas Films. Since we have two Star Wars fanatics in the family, we had to check it out.



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The Discovery Science Center was really fun. Lots of hands on activities, flight simulators, a giant dinosaur, a rocket, Diego, and a real bed of nails!





We ended week one with a sleepover with friends for all of the kids (well, the big ones). I'm tired.

Week two still lies ahead. What adventures will it hold??????? Hope you are all having a fabulous spring break too!!

Loved this

I have pulled together a preschool play group in our ward, mostly because now that Emily has arrived, it is much harder to take Small Paul to the park on my own. I am working on a field trip to the Skirball Cultural Center's Noah's Ark exhibit - a must see for little (and not so little) kids visiting Grandma Mathews. One of their temporary exhibits right now is called "Women hold up half of the sky" and it is all about empowering women around the world. It looks really interesting, but something that struck me were the remarks made by the President of the Skirball Center :

"During Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, hundreds of prayers are intoned. Among these ancient prayers, there is one that has always had special meaning for me. It takes place at the conclusion of the Day of Atonement. It is a prayer in which God is said to open the book of memories, and find there the fingerprints of every human being. The assumption is that in order for us to be listed in the book of memories, we must touch someone with good deeds. We are mandated to feed, clothe, heal, and counsel all who are destitute, struck down, impoverished, sick, young and old, men and women."

"There is much sorrow in this world, but there is also joy. Perhaps there is no joy greater or more glorious than having left our fingerprints by uplifting the downtrodden and the many strangers in our midst. We are commanded not to stand idle while our neighbors bleed. These are the teachings that have inspired the Skirball Cultural Center to produce the exhibition Women Hold Up Half the Sky."

"Fingerprints remain behind to stir our memories and keep us aware of the benediction to which our lives amount. It is my hope that the fingerprints we leave behind are powerhouses for good. For such power is meant to be everlasting."

—Uri D. Herscher
Founding President and CEO, Skirball Cultural Center

It may be just me, in my sick kid & husband induced level of exhaustion, but I think that is a beautiful message, and has inspired my next family home evening.

Would you like to meet her???

It's been almost two months since Emily danced into our lives.
She has added so much, that we didn't even know we were missing.
We all love her so much and our home is filled with her sweet little spirit.




She's an excellent sleeper, thank goodness, just the occasional monkey noise during the night. I can only assume she is dreaming, but of what?





Everyone is enjoying her, especially now that she smiles and is trying to laugh.
She is really peaceful and mellow, we hardly ever hear her cry. She is very curious about what all of the kids are doing, and likes it when the girls hold her.




Amazingly enough, a big surprise... curly hair!!! She makes up for quantity by having overcome the super straight Mathews' hair gene. Emily may not look like me, but I did manage to leave my genetic mark on her after all!



Seriously, how cute is this little pouty face?

Emily & Paul like to play the "tounge game" every day. Paul sticks his tounge out, Emily smiles and sticks her tounge out right back at him. He sticks his out again & she tries to laugh. Anytime Paul holds her now she assumes this is what they will be doing.

I am totally in love, once again. Becoming a parent fills your heart with so much love, it doesn't matter if it is your first, or in this case, your seventh. Welcome to the family Emily Elizabeth, we are so glad you are here!

Hooray, she is here!

Well, I am so excited to be sitting in a hospital room tonight holding my sweet, beautiful, and sleepy baby girl! I will post pics soon, but right now she looks like Small Paul did at about a month, which makes sense since she stayed in a month longer than he did, for which I have already forgiven her. Her hair is as dark as Reagan's though, which is a surprise, but fun, because she has kind of a lot of hair...

Getting her here wasn't too tough (I may have said something different yesterday). She wasn't coming on her own so I was induced yesterday afternoon. The pitocin didn't do much so my midwife broke my water, which was a game changer for awhile. After I got stuck for a few hours and was getting tired, I agreed to an epideral in hopes that it would help me to relax a bit. I had one last time and not only did it hurt going in, it didn't work very well :(. This time was different, thankfully! It didn't hurt, numbed me nicely, but made me throw up as soon as it went in, which was sad. After I threw up for a bit I was able to sleep, which was nice! I napped for about 45 minutes and woke up throwing up really hard. I startled Paul who had been sleeping, and he knocked something over, making a big bang! I told him the baby was crowning, but he didn't believe me. The nurse came in because she heard the commotion, I told her the baby was coming out, she moved my blanket and sure enough, Emily was out all the way to her tummy, the nurse turned to grab gloves and Emily slipped out the rest of the way! Paul believed me then!

So, our very special girl, was born in a special way, on a special day, 11/11/11! Not only will she get to take her birthday off from school because of Veteran's day, her Daddy will be home from work for the holiday too. The kids are excited that Harry Potter 7 part 2 was released on DVD on her birthday too. I'm just glad she is here, safe, sound, and healthy in my arms and in our family!

Dear Emily...

Please come out, soon. I've enjoyed feeling you dance around inside of me. Your Daddy has enjoyed feeling you kick, toss and turn, and hiccup. I think it is time for us to meet. I think you agree because I have gotten the "this is it" feeling when I have been slammed with contractions every 2 1/2 minutes for several hours, but then you seem to change your mind. Is it because you hear all of the kids and their insanity and it scares you? Is it because of Rusty's horrid habit of barking All. The. Time? Is it my need to blast the stereo and sing along when I'm in the car? Whatever it is that is holding you back, we can work through it, but first you need to get here. We are nice, the rest of the family is awesome too, and your Daddy doesn't know how to say "no" to anyone, which may help explain the insane behavior from the kids, and Rusty. Anyways, think about it. Today is a good day to be born...

Introducing Zed...

This is Zed. No, he is not a mouse, he is a sugar glider. We did not have a sugar glider before, so we needed him. He is very sweet, and it is lots of fun watching him play. We love him!

A tragic accident...

We have a woman in out stake who is a lot like the rest of us moms try to be. A stay at home, busy mom of 5 kids, all under the age of 10, busy with church callings, cub scouts, play dates etc...

Thursday, while leaving her home with 3 of her kids, and 3 others who were over for a play date, the dog came running out of the garage. She hopped out of the van to grab the dog, but the van started rolling. While desperately trying to stop the van, she tripped and was run over. It took quite awhile for help to arrive, and during this time the kids had exited the van to see what had happened to their mom, with one of them screaming "Mom wake up!". It has been touch and go, with much fasting & praying over the past few days as her family members arrived from Utah.

This evening she was declared brain dead and passed away. I cannot imagine her young husbands pain, losing his companion at the age of 33, or how he is going to explain this to their kids. Her poor parents, what pain can be worse than losing a child? Her youngest children never had the chance to experience what life had to offer with her as their mommy.

I am grateful for the knowledge that they will all be reunited one day, but my heart is breaking for everyone who knew and loved her.

I am grateful for every moment I have to spend with my kids, and my husband. They are everything to me.

Other mothers

I don't talk about my family or childhood. I am aware that doing so raises eyebrows and curiousities, and while that is not my intention, I just don't go there. I have several "other mothers" who came into my life here & there and I learned good and bad things from them. My parenting is a mish-mosh of all of these other mothers, with my own insanity blended in.

My first unofficial foster mom stayed in my life longer than any of the official ones (state licensed homes with placement by DCFS aka Gabriel). This mom was a bit quirky, and sadly I have grown apart from the family more and more over the past 5 years or so. This mom was one however, that would have still welcomed the kids & I unannounced on any day, or at any holiday event. She was a mom that never once told me things that hurt me, but instead let me know she thought I was smart, strong, and encouraged my independent spirit. She counted my kids among her grandchildren, and their portraits were proudly displayed among the rest leaving hardly any open space on the shelves and cabinets in her home.

Because of this mom, Michael has memories of big Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve celebrations filled with laughter and cousins. Through the years, as Michael became more aware of the chaos and drama that this family seem to thrive upon, (think Jerry Springer) his recounted memories have been peppered with many stories that start with "Oh my gosh, there was this one time..." and end with "...it was completely insane". This is how the family was, and she wore the matriachal crown with pride.

Thursday evening, she fell. She seemed ok, but fell several more times throughout the early morning hours until she blacked out around 4 am. Her boyfriend took her to the hospital and while they were trying to get an arterial line in, her heart stopped. They were able to revive her, but only to put her on life support. As the biological kids, foster kids (I wasn't the only one), and grown up grandchildren gathered you could feel the love in the room. Once everyone who could get there had arrived, they disconnected the ventilator and it was done.

She was only 64, not a very long life at all. Her husband passed away 6 years ago this September, and I know she has missed him. She had a son who had died within a few days of his birth who would have been about a year older than I am. She has waited my whole lifetime to hold that baby boy. What a great reunion that will be.

I am grateful to Sharon, and all of my other mothers along the way from whom I have learned so much, and continue to learn today. I am also so very grateful for the knowledge that this isn't the end, and that families can be reunited for eternity. I am so excited to start taking the temple prep classes so that Paul & I will be able to be sealed to each other, and Small Paul, and one day Reagan. I am so grateful for the Mathews family, and so proud to be one of them.

Just because you can.

I am at the gym alot these days, actually for the past 6 - 8 months or so. This is not a New Years thing. I like going to the gym for stress relief, and honestly, I really like food. I also like fitting in my jeans, so if I work out, I can eat and still wear my jeans. It would be nice to see them a couple of sizes smaller, but I'm not going to kill myself to get there, I'm just not that determined. It will happen, and in the meantime, someone please pass me the mashed potatoes.

Since I like going to the gym I kind of understand people who run outside. I even ran *jogged & walked* a 5k a few months ago, and it was fun. I understand the excitement of a race where there is a possibility of winning, I am super competitive, just ask Paul!

I have a friend, actually he's the husband of a friend, but he's my facebook friend, which totally counts. He is a darn running rockstar. He has been running a marathon every 5 weeks or so for the past year. He also competed in an ironman competition. He takes his running seriously. A couple of weeks ago he ran in an ultraman 50 mile race, impressive right? The following weekend he threw in another marathon just because he was in the area. He has another marathon coming up, and then another 50 mile race in April. He just announced that he is training for a 100 mile race. Seriously? Rockstar I say! I had to sit down and rest after reading his announcement.

On the one hand I have to admit I'm totally jealous because he could eat an entire lasagna for dinner, followed by a gallon of ice cream without having to worry about his jeans splitting the next day.

On the other hand, I have a car. If I need to get to someplace 100 miles away, or 50 miles away, or really even 26.2 miles away I will drive there. If my car breaks down someplace remote, I have a cell phone to call for help from, and I don't think there are any gaps in Verizon's coverage areas that are 100 miles wide. This is not a skill I need to master - thank goodness!

Furthermore, if some wild animal or invading space alien is going to chase me on foot for 100 miles I say it has earned a Laura sandwich for lunch.

Does moderation in all things include things like running? I've always thought of it as more of a rule about cheesecake, but now I'm wondering... I will go ahead and assume that for me, it does. I will exercise at the gym for a reasonable amount of time, and I will exercise a reasonable amount of self control (most of the time) when I am placing an order into a drive thru speaker. Diet Coke is not included in anything related to moderation. Diet Coke is my friend :)

Happy Birthday Shawn E Boy and New Years Resolutions

Happy Birthday Shawn!!! Shawn is officially 8, which of course means big, BIG things! #1 - Baptism... We are shooting for the first Saturday in March, so we want everyone who is in town to come on over & "set a spell" with us! It will no doubt be fun and food filled! #2 - Scouts! Even though he is a little bit nervous, there is no question that Shawn will absolutely love scouts once he gets going. He is all boy, and will love doing boy things... he gets stuck here with all of us girls who just don't get it sometimes :). Small Paul just isn't quite up to speed on these things yet!


As a new year is upon us, I am trying to look ahead, rather than behind, and think about some goals I'd like to see us accomplish as a family. I take on this responsibility because otherwise our family goals would include things like "play more Wii, chat with online friends we just saw at school, or book more gigs"
Last year our big goal was to never miss a FHE, and I am so proud to say that we made it!!!! I was less proud when Reagan asked me this morning why we stopped having them - she thought it had been for-ever. No Reagan, we've just had some Family away from home evenings... the Temple, a movie night, Sea World etc... these things still count right? Geesshk - I'd like to see her come up with 52 lessons & treats & battle plans for getting through a traditional FHE in this house!

This year goals :

#1 is for Paul & I to go to the Temple, and to start the process to be sealed. We have to have permission from the First Presidency for it to happen, but I'm feeling confident!

#2 is to continue our winning streak with FHE, and to also make sure we have family prayer EVERY day. This one should be easy, and we are probably making it happen about 60% of the time, but I want to try for 100% this year. I know it strengthens us as a family and provides a solid footing for the kids as they grow into adulthood.

#3 is to make healthier food choices and exercise more! I have got to get the kids to eat better - any tips? They are quite the stubborn bunch, and out of fear that they will famish someone (who shall remain nameless) will disregard my "this is what we are having so you need to eat at least some of it" statement and drive to 4 different fast food places. I think our next FHE may involve a viewing of SuperSize me.

#4 is to learn to use my new, exciting, full of many tricks camera! My one trick is demonstrated above (poorly but whatever). See how the background is all blurry? I meant to do that - no really - not like when I change our dinner to "cajun style" because I'm on facebook.

In an effort to keep #4 I will end this quickly - cajun style lasagna isnt fun for anyone!

#4

Baking madness... and Small Paul cuteness

Last week was our official cookie tray handout for family home evening. In total, I baked 896 cookies, plus 5 different types of candies for about 36 trays we handed out to families, teachers, and other assorted friends. It was a lot of fun! I love baking sooo much, it is probably my favorite thing to do, other than hanging out with the kids! The best part of the crazy number of cookies is that by the time they are done I have no desire to eat ANY of them - the thought is just overwhelming. If you received a Mathews cookie tray, we sure hope you liked them! If not, you will still probably get your hands on something I have baked this Christmas season - I normally have something loaded with sugar in hand wherever I go... I hope everyone knows how much I appreciate having them in our lives, and my feeding you is just my way of showing it!


Small Paul is 15 months old already - seriously, how can that be? He is a super genius with an ever expanding vocabulary... He now says:
Bird
Arf
Out
Up
Dad
Mama
Ana (Savannah)
Fish
That
Boob (thanks Paul)
And most importantly, bap (any Christmas decorations, especially lights)

However.... HE WONT WALK! What gives? He can stand, will furniture walk, and is a master of going up and down the stairs. He can also escape from any grocery cart seat belt faster than I can grab a can of corn off of the shelf, but no walking... I know that part of this is because he has a harem at the ready knocking each other down to get a chance to hold him, but really? 15 months? Michael was running at 9 months, and I was worried when Reagan didn't start until 11 months. Is this a Mathews thing? Is this a baby with lots of older siblings thing? I keep reminding myself that life is easier when they aren't walking, but I'm getting a little worried!

It's December, and duct tape cant fix everything...

Still no pics, why? Well, my camera is literally held together with duct tape, which is really silly because it still doesn't work 99% of the time. Why bother with the duct tape you might ask, but I am still holding out hope that it will magically repair the camera, if I just believe hard enough...

Christmas is pratically here!!!! Can you feel the excitement in the air? OMGoodness I am just flat out giddy with anticipation! This weekend is the Creche festival in a nearby ward bldg., and it is always very cool. Last year there were over 700 nativities from around he world - I just love seeing them all. They have everything from the most simple to totally ornate, toy ones, hand carved ones, itty bity inside a walnut shell ones, and giant living people on the stage ones.
The rest of the lights at the temple go up this weekend, so that will be our FHE for next week - totally excited about that too!

I think that the LA area is going to be invaded by a gagillion (slight exageration) Mathews family members soon too, which is very exciting for all of us! Man, I sure do love me some Mathews cousins/aunts/uncles etc...

To quote Shawn, "I'm so excited my head is going to explode!"

Best evers...

No photos this time, I just want to say how grateful I am for my wonderful, fun, and very blessed life! I am finding that I am having more and more days, moments, and events that I've walked away from thinking "that was the best_________ever". This year has been great, and I am so grateful that I have such a fantastic, loving, caring, supportive husband, along with such wonderful kids to share my life with! I can't imagine how things could be better. Our house is crazy, and loud, and I love it! Our kids do silly, random things, and will stand their ground going toe to toe with whomever, including me, and I love that... My girls are stubborn, but as they mature, that will be what makes them strong women, and no one will take advantage of them. My boys are strong, determined, and see the world through their creative, imagination filled eyes, and they are sensitive enough to become great dads and husbands, just like Paul. Life is good, even if no one but me eats all of their veggies, or picks up their dirty socks.

The Big "1"

This face...



I SO LOVE this face!! Every day for a year now we have had this beautiful face, and this beautiful person here making our lives more complete. Small Paul is the happiest baby I have ever known... he has a smile for everyone, and laughs at everything the bigger kids do. One day we were at the doctor's ofc., waiting to check in, when an older woman came over & was staring at him - I was distracted by trying not to lose Shelby, Reagan or Shawn when I noticed her. She had tears in her eyes and told me that he was so beautiful, and that he had just made her day so much better. Just a week or so ago another woman was looking at him while I was waiting for copies at Staples. She told me "you know, I've never had children of my own so maybe I appreciate them more, but your baby is overwhelmingly beautiful..."

I have to agree with them.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend & photographer, Chrissi Richards, got the brilliant idea to have Small Paul, her daughter Julia, and our tortoise, Dorothy, race... Dorothy won - Small Paul kept heading the wrong direction!

One busy summer!

I have to narrow down my pictures to decide what to post... We are having one crazy, busy, fun filled summer vacation!!
We have visited St George where we saw lots of family we love to visit with... the beach, botanical gardens, museums, the aquarium, Disneyland (of course)... the list goes on, BUT - yesterday we went to the Skirball Cultural Ctr in Los Angeles. It was so much fun!! They have a ginormous Noah's Ark that is totally hands on interactive splendor!! I'm making sure that Grandma Mathews steers all of the visiting family with kids towards it. It's not too far from her house, maybe 20 minutes without traffic, and your kids will love it!!!

Peace, Love & Shelby

We have been under construction around here for the past few weeks. Our goal? Shelby's very own brand new bedroom!

Shelby is all about peace signs, owls, & color. I had a few people look at me like I was crazy when I explained my color pallet - but I think it turned out cute and totally Shelby-styled!

Check out my attempt to be creative, or at least somewhat original curtain tie backs. Is that what they are even called?
Reveal day was today - minus a ceiling fan - and Shelby L.O.V.E.D. it!!! I'm so happy for her to have her own space!

We also have added a small stretch of hallway, and a great big walk in storage closet for all of our *stuff*, but neither of those areas have tile, or even a completed paint job so I won't be sharing pictures of that quite yet. I have major organization plans for in the big closet though, so I may share that soon!

Flat out bragging...

We are so happy that summer has finally arrived, and we are SO proud of our kids! We ended the year by sweeping the awards ceremonies once again!

Shelby and Reagan both made the Principal's list - yay!! I apologize for the photos, trying to get in a good spot at these ceremonies is a full contact sport amongst the parents! Savannah also made the Principal's list, but alas no photos. Her awards ceremony was at the same time as YW, and she really didn't want to miss YW. They are getting ready for girl's camp and having so much fun! I can't wait for Shelby & Reagan to get their chance in a few years!




Shawn was chosen for the citizenship award for being wonderful and charming, and for having his homework in all of the time! (I trapped him for a photo - you can just feel the excitement when you look at him right?)




Genius children I tell you - every last one! Those Baby Einstein videos really paid off ;)

catching up...part deux

Springtime in So Cal of course means we a headed back to the beach! Actually, we don't need it to be spring or any other time, we just like the beach, ALOT.





Totally unnecessary photo of my cute monkey thrown in just because I love him so much. Look how comfy he is sleeping on daddy's chest *sigh*




This week (which means I am caught up, yay!) we declared a ditch day & headed to Magic Mountain. We had a great, wonderful, superfun time - I love Magic Mountain! It is so nice that it is only about a half an hour or so from the house - no long drive there filled with "how much longer" cries from the back of the car, and at the end of the day we are home before we know it! It was a beautiful day & because all of the responsible parents of the world make their children go to school, we never waited in any lines! Can't wait to go back - hopefully we will have some cousins out here visiting that will come along with us????? We went over spring break when Kathy & family were here and Curtis and his family came too - it was so nice! I hope we get lots of visitors from near and far this summer so we can hang out! I think we are heading to Utah at some point this summer too, we just have to figure out the specifics! Yay!


I would like to tell you that I won this beast in some game of skill, but alas, I lack said skills. In reality, when we were in the parking lot loading up the car, some really nice guys stopped & asked if we wanted him - he wouldn't fit in their car! Of course I said yes without hesitation! When can ANYONE say no to a gigantic stuffed gorilla? They come in handy for some many things... none that I can think of, but seriously, he's huge, and huge gorillas just announce that something fun is about to happen. I have no idea what to do with him. I was thinking that it would be fun to share the gorilla love by taking him to an unsuspecting friends house, set him at the door, then ring the bell & run & hide. Then they could decide his best use. Other ideas that involved keeping him were bungee cording him to the top of the suburban and driving around with him pretending that we are in our own little parade, or at the very least stuffing him into the back of the car for trunk or treating? I'm open to creative ideas. Shawn thought we should hang him on the family room wall...I'm not really feeling that.

All caught up! hooray!

Catching up... volume 1

Ok, I am way behind on my blog updates, which wouldn't be a terrible thing except, unlike all of my talented and more organized friends, this blog also is my attempt at scrapbooking, baby booking, and maintaining a journal. I know... I'm bad.

Confession time is over - Happy Easter! We had a great time at home with baskets, then went to G'ma Mathew's for her once again fun filled, fabulous egg hunt! We had a blast!


Since it was spring time, that meant for a moment the desert was bright with orange poppies! We had a ton of wildflowers this year...so beautiful to look at, but we all are still sniffling from all of the pollen. I think this may have been the most colorful year I can remember out here - so pretty!



Springtime 13 years ago brought Savannah into the world, and so we celebrated her b-day with friends & family. She is such a wonderful girl, it is so much fun watching her turn into a wonderful young woman! She is so talented, so much fun, and a great big sister to everyone. Savannah is always there to lend a hand with the baby, and makes everything we do so much fun! Happy Birthday Savannah! We love you bunches!!


Family home evenings are our favorite night of the week! This time (sometime last month) we went to Mountasia in Valencia where we had a blast! Because it was a weeknight the place was empty! We had the golf course to ourselves, then the arcade, and finally we had dinner at Farrel's (and ice cream of course) where we were still alone so it didn't matter that Small Paul was screaching his happy scream throughout our meal!

I will post more soon - I am still pulling together my activity for our Primary Activity day that starts is 3 hours...yikes! Thank goodness for the last minute - I'd never get anything done without it!