O Christmas Tree

We are getting the tree put up in the twins room today. I cannot believe how much more fun the holidays are with children. They are so much fun to watch. They still aren't quite sure what this holiday is all about, but they know that something exciting is about to happen. It is so much fun to help them learn about the different traditions and their meanings. It's also very interesting how much interest young children seem to have in Jesus. I don't think it matters what denomination you are, children are attracted to his light. I am thankful for this special holiday that gives us an opportunity to teach our children about Christ's life and what he did for us.

Pregnancy...not mine, thankfully

Kim has been in labor (experiencing contractions) for the past week now. I am anxiously awaiting to hear she has had her baby, but nothing! I guess she is having contractions on a regular basis, but can't hit all of the numbers you need to get going. You know, dilation, effacing, consistent contractions. What a major event to get "birthed" into the world. I am so glad I had schedule c-sections. It was so easy...minus all of the suspense. I hope to post the baby news soon and will be thoughtfully thinking of Kimberly and little Kaylor that will be here soon.

Simple Revelations

I have had a few miraculous "aha's" lately that have made me so happy. First of all, while in Utah, I saw the inside waistband of a pair of Emyly's pants on the laundry room floor. I saw this cool little elastic attached to a button. The purpose of it was to expand or tighten the waistband as your child grows. I was looking at it and thought that is was so cool! Boy was I amazed. I thought they were special pants and wished that my kids pants had those. I just bought my kids belts to help them through the growing period. Then, I noticed my kids pants had it too! All of this time, and I wasn't even using this little feature. Talk about something being right under your nose. I've never been too keen on the obvious or common sense. It makes me wonder what else I may not be noticing. I am looking everywhere for that next obvious invention. It seems small, but it just goes to show you there are little miracles everywhere. BTW, I love my kids jeans now. They having worn jeans every day since my discovery.
The other thing is my Ipod. Well, it's not really my Ipod I am just taking over Brant's because he doesn't use it anymore. I have been wanting to copy audio books onto it so that I can listen to books on tape since I don' t have as much time to sit down and read as I would like to. I kept waiting to get to Utah so that I could have one of the computer geeks in the family help me. I asked my brother Jake, but he never got around to it while I was there. Here's how our conversation went:

ME: Jake, can you show me how to put audio files onto my Ipod?
JAKE: What do you mean show you? (Asked incredulously)
ME: I don't know how.
JAKE: How can you not know how? (Asked emphatically)
ME: Uhhh....I'm 38 and technologically challenged.
JAKE: Oh my gosh! Are you serious. You don't know how.
ME: Yes, I'm serious. (Like I would make it up or something.)
JAKE: Do you have the Ipod?
ME: Yes.
JAKE: Do you have the cord?
ME: Yes. (Excited that we might get this fixed.)
JAKE: Do you have Itunes?
ME: Yes. (I hope I am giving him all of the right answers.)
JAKE: Then what's the problem?
ME: I don't know.
JAKE: It's not hard.
ME: Yeah...I can't do it.

Jake laughs, rolls his eyes, and thinks I must not be serious or cannot be this stupid.

Anyway, he never did get around to it. A little bruised by his comments, I thought I would try again to figure it out. And, I finally did. So yes, I'm a little proud of myself. I did categorize the book as music and can't figure out how to put it under audio, but it works. I can listen to it.

Thanksgiving Holiday

I wanted to write a lot more about our trip to Utah. It was so fun to see everyone. We haven't been able to go back to Utah for over a year now. There are ten children in my family and everyone except Vicki was able to make it back. What a fun time we had. The cousins played and played together and there was not one fight among them. (Except for the time that Madison and Porter cornered Krew and tried to twin fight him. Poor guy.) BTW, a twin fight is when you bring your twin with you--Krew didn't bring his twin so he lost.
My mom has a cute little porcelain toilet in her mud room that is actually a watering bowl for her poodle. Porter thought she had toilets for little people and helped himself to using it. He just couldn't figure out why it wouldn't flush.
We had a huge dinner. There was a total of 34 people and two pregnant women. Jaymi was smart enough to give out assignments to everyone so that Mom did not have to make everything this year. We had pies coming out of our ears. Travis is the unofficial activity chairman for the family. He kept everyone busy. There was basketball, paintball, picture taking, dirt bike riding, Halo playing, WOW marathons, and lots of women sitting around visiting.
The twins played with Krew the most. At one time Jaymi, Mom and I were in the dining room. I could hear the twins and Krew playing through the baby monitor. I assumed they were upstairs outside of the room Lane was sleeping in. (Where the monitor base was located.) Unbeknownst to us, the threesome had slipped out the front door. The reason we could hear them was because they were playing below Lane's bedroom window. All of a sudden we hear Madison screaming bloody murder. I ran up one set of stairs and Jaymi went towards the other. She discovered they were out front. We both got there as soon as possible.
They had meandered over to the electric fence where the horses were kept. Apparently Madison had made contact. As soon as I got outside Porter started crying. I said, "Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" He said, "No, Madi scared me." Later we were talking about it and I said, "Madison you don't touch the electric fence with your hand do you?" She said, "I didn't." I said, "Where did you get hurt?" She said, "I put my mouth on it." Someday down the road I can hear myself saying, "You know, she's struggles with school. It must have been from the time she put her mouth on the electric fence." She's never going to live this down.
The weather was very cold compared to what we are used to in Vegas. Today, the kids were out in the backyard barefoot and in t-shirts. In Utah, they were dressed from head to toe in warm clothes. Anyway, it was certainly a fun time. I love being with family.

Christmas Card

We finally got our Christmas card done. I am so excited--that it's done. Not necessarily about the actual photo. I don't think it's the best picture of me, but oh well. At least everyone else looked decent. It was very hard to find a picture that most of us were looking at the camera. It's always such a chore. Even before we had kids, I had to pull teeth to get Brant to take a picture. But it is done and recorded as our yearly family photo. Yeah! We took this picture in Mt. Pleasant using Dona's barn as a background. I wish we could have done more photos. I love taking pictures, but it was too hard to get everyone to cooperate.

Descendants of Jay and Minalyn Lane

Here's everyone for the family photo: Back Row (l to r) Brant Hibbard, Liz Hibbard, Travis Lane, Haley Lane, Arianna Lane, Brian Lane, Jakeb Lane, Donalyn Shock, Corey Shock, Brooke Shock, Colton, Jay Shock, Jaymi King, Krew King. Middle Row (l to r): Lynsey Shock, Ashley Shock, Taylor Lane, Tanya Lane, Minalyn Lane, Jay Lane, Brianna Frampton, Bobbiann Frampton, Emyly Frampton, Jeremy Frampton, Jake Hart, and Kimberly Hart. Front Row (l to r) Madison Hibbard, Porter Hibbard, Scott Shock, Taylor Lane, Alaina Lane, and Averi Frampton. Those who were not in the picture include: Lane Hibbard (he was sleeping) and Kris King. And Vicki's family: Ron, Vicki, Travis, Jayley, Brent, Jake, Jaden and Sam Taylor.

We Made It To Mt. Pleasant, Utah

After months of telling the kids we were going to Grandma Mimi's house for Thanksgiving, we finally made it here. They were so excited. And, they were much better in the car this time. Last time we traveled for Thanksgiving with the twins they were only 4 months old (a couple months younger than Lane is now). Brant didn't go and they screamed the entire way. I was a nervous wreck. Anyway, all three kids were good in the car for the six hours we spent driving.

Brant is having so much fun too. I'm so glad he gets along with my brothers and the brother-in-laws so well. Last night almost everyone went and played basketball. Kim, who is 39 weeks pregnant, went and played too. She didn't last for a long time, but at least she did it. Wow! I can't play and I'm not even pregnant.

The kids could not get enough of being outside. It was freezing cold when we got here, but they still wanted to run all over the place. Plus, it was raining. They were fascinated with the horses. I kept thinking they would come in, but they refused. Finally, I went out and dressed them much warmer. Thank goodness Aunt Geneva sent us with some warm clothing. You can see how red Porter's hands were. They have also had so much fun with all of their cousins around. Travis' kids are here and Jaymi's son Krew is here. They have had the most fun with Krew. He is such a sweet kid. He is a year younger than the twins. And, they are all sharing and getting along great. Last night the three of them shared an apple. They would just pass it around and take turns biting out of it.

I really don't want Kim to have her baby yet. She has helped so much with Lane, I've hardly had to take care of him. She even bathed him and got him ready for bed last night. What a break for me!

Taylor and Tanya, Jake and Amber, and Bobbi and Jeremy (with their kids) are all coming today. It will be a house full, but lots of fun. The only family not here (out of ten children) is Vicki's. Alaska is a little too far away.

Miscellaneous Pictures

These are some miscellaneous pictures from the past week. The two boys, Lane and Porter, on their way to the eye doctor. Lane, alone, sitting in Madison's favorite purple Dora chair. All three, with eyes glued to Barney first thing in the morning.

Kim's Baby

Kim just called me. She is 38 weeks and still no obvious signs of going into labor. I hope she has the baby while we are there next week. It would be so fun to be there when she has her baby. By there, I mean in Utah, I don't care much for the hoopla in the delivery room.

Working Hard for the Money

I haven't seen Brant much this week. He's trying to get all of the overtime in that he can. Maybe so I'll buy him an Xbox. He worked a shift Thursday morning (yesterday); then went to welding class; came home to shower and went back to work another shift for another department. He got home at midnight and then left for work again at 4 a.m. this morning. He's going to be tired tonight!

Porter's Picture of Health

Thursday night I gave the kids ice cream. I handed them each a small cup of it. The sugar bug (Madison) was all over it. Porter said in an interrupted voice, "Mom, I'm eating Broccoli!" I said, "Well, you can have ice cream too!" He said, "Oh!" And, decided to dip his broccoli in the ice cream. He finished the broccoli, but not the ice cream. If only I could find a way to reproduce his good eating habits. I could bottle it and sell it.

The Eyes Have It

I finished with all of the eye appointments today. Lane and Porter went in this morning. We were checking to make sure they didn't have a lazy eye. Brant had one when he was younger and my MIL thought she the kids might have it. So, better safe than sorry. Madison went in on Monday. She screamed her head off when they dilated her eyes. Porter wasn't very happy about it, but he did okay. Unfortunately, he had to have it done twice because they said for some reason brown eyes don't dilate with the drops as easily as blue eyes. Porter got a lollipop when he was finished. Madison did not. The doctor also made sure to let me know that she was relocating next year and gave me her card. (After Porter's appointment, not Madison's.) They came back with perfect results...all of them have no problems for now. I'm more worried about them inheriting my nearsightedness. Lane was stealing all of the Assistants hearts...he has such a bright smile. He would grin and giggle at them. They loved him.
I told Porter that we could get french fries afterwards. He was quite pleased with that. We went through the McDonald's drive-thru. I ordered him a water as well. He was so happy about his water he didn't want the french fries. I kept asking him if he wanted them and he said, "No, I have water." He finally did take the fries.

Quips

Porter--When he pees on the toilet he says, "I'm empty, Mom!"

Madison--She held earrings in her hands and said, "You have holes, Mom. I don't."

To buy or not to buy...that is the question

My husband wants an Xbox 360 for Christmas. Here's my dilemma...we don't have cash to pay for it. We would have to put it on credit. He doesn't ask for much and this is all he wants. He always buys me tons of stuff for birthdays and Christmas. His love language is gift giving. I could care less for gifts or giving them. I'm a bit of a tightwad, Scrooge, whatever you want to call it. Mostly because I actually get very excited at the thought of paying off bills. I don't know why. There is just an immense thrill for me in not having a debt. I realize I have a problem. I'm not saying it's good. I actually wanted to get movies and books out of the garage and wrap them up for Christmas. (An original idea from Bobbi, I might add.) They're brand new to the kids. And, they're only two. What do they know. We have to take advantage of their guilibility while we can.
Anyway, I can't decide. I know he would like it, but it makes me cringe at the thought of getting into debt over Christmas. By the way, I don't have to worry about him reading this. He never reads our family blog.

Little Lines of Laughter

I was singing Kids songs to the twins today. I started in on "I've been working on the railroad...." Madison interrupted me and said, "No you haven't, Mom."