Play Dough Cookies

We made Play Dough cookies on Saturday. The twins had a lot of fun making them. The colors looked cool, but the cookies weren't too tasty. I'd use a different recipe next time. It's fun for kids.

By the way, if you blow this picture up you can see Madison's cut and bruised eye from her encounter with the stocking holder. She is careful to warn all who come near how dangerous it is. She even took Grandpa into her room to warn him. (Even though he stands taller than the dresser and is unlikely to be below the holder.)

You can see the recipe for Playdough Cookies and better pics at mommydazerecipes.blogspot.com

Ward Dinner

These pictures are from the Ward Christmas Dinner. Brant and I stayed home and Grandma and Grandpa took the twins. Brant worked so much all week he just wanted to rest. We kept Lane. Grandpa said Porter was singing with him on the way home and had perfect pitch. He doesn't get that from me.

They were so excited when they came home. It's amazing how much they can grasp about the Christmas story already. Apparently there was a live Baby Jesus and real angels. They were so excited to tell us about it. I asked Porter to sing for me and he sang, "Ooh, La...La, La."

Random Pics from Thanksgiving

These are some of the pictures from a few weeks ago. I did a horrible job of taking pictures while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving.
So I only have a few.

The top is of me and Jaymi. We were all sitting around in Mom's room talking. Kimberly was having mild, occasional contractions. We were hoping she would go into labor before we left, but that didn't happen. The middle is Lane in bed. He would wake up so happy. He slept really well even though he didn't have his usual bed. I was so glad.

And the bottom is Bobbi's third daughter, Brianna, and Jaymi's only child, Krew. The twins had so much fun with their cousins. I wish we could see everyone more often.

Thank You For Today's Donations

I received a $5 donation for the Christmas donation today. Thank you. Every little bit will count. I sincerely appreciate all those who are trying to help. I know most people are struggling or trying to get by or are already donating to projects.

Thank you for today's donations

Today, we received $55 dollars and a pledge for another $5 for the donations and one anonymous angry email. I was really excited that people are participating and cannot wait to anonymously deliver the cash. I know it will mean so much to her family and will help her out. She is a good woman and will be on her way up.
Please forward the link to anyone you know may want to have an opportunity to give this Christmas. Or, post the link on your blog. The more people that know, the more money we can give her. Thanks a ton everyone. I know she will be very grateful. Here's the link:
http://lizlanehibbard.blogspot.com/2008/12/do-you-have-christmas-spirit.html

Madison "Rocky" is back

I never fully appreciated the design of our skull as it pertains to protecting our eyes. Madison gave me a very good lesson in Biology today. She pulled at one of the stockings. As she did so, the stocking holder came tumbling down on her. It was a very heavy piece and banged her up in three places around her eye. She has a red mark and bruise on her brow; outer eye; and a cut underneath her eye. We're very lucky her bone part of her skull protected her eye.

Would You Like to Give This Christmas?

Dear Friends and Family,

It has always been my hope that I would raise children who would feel compelled to give and think of others. Especially when times are tough. Brant and I have talked about this at length many times. As early as October of this year, we were brainstorming trying to think of something we could do to help someone during the holiday season. Our finances are tight and we don't have a lot ourselves. However, we both have a sincere desire to help someone in need. We both agreed to pray for an opportunity to come along.

I have recently spoken to a wonderful new friend of mine who is a single mother of four children. Recently divorced, she is struggling to make ends meet this year. She isn't worried about getting much for her children this year, she's worried about being able to pay her bills. She was near tears as she expressed to me the heartbreak she is feeling watching her children have to do with so little. Her youngest son was so sweet as he jumped into her lap. But, I noticed he was wearing no socks and his pants were a little short.

I am so glad I was able to speak with her, as I feel like this is an opportunity for me to help her and her family. I have an idea, but in order to make it work, I will need help from you. There are alot of people that read my blog. I know you may have wanted to do something to help somebody around Christmas time that may be in need. This is your chance. Talk to your family and explain how much this would be helping someone else. Your children can help too and learn how important it is to give. They can even donate a dollar.

I would like to collect donations from anyone who reads this blog. I guarantee one hundred percent of the money will go to this family. I am going to email, blog, and recruit as much as I can until December 15th. That's about 10 days from now. If I can get $50 per day, we can anonymously give her $500. That's alot of money, but not alot to pay bills and buy things for a family of five. So, here's what I need from you. Donate $1, $5, $10, or more if you have it. Because it is such short notice, Paypal is the quickest way to send it. My Paypal address is lizlane717@gmail.com. It's easy to send money. If you have a Wells Fargo you can transfer it instantly to my account. If you want to do this, please email me and I will give you the account information.

I also need help getting the word out. If your friends or family would like to help someone in need, please copy this post and send it to as many people as you can. I'll keep my blog updated to let you know how the collections are going. Remember, even $1 will help. I would love to help this family and make their holidays a little brighter.

Thanks,

Liz Hibbard

Madi has Daddy...

...wrapped around her little finger. I warned him about this BEFORE she was even born. He didn't listen to me. He thought he was going to be able to resist the mesmerizing spell a little girl can have on her Daddy. Today, he smiled so deep and so genuine I know she's got him for the rest of his life.

He was getting ready to leave for work and I was saying goodbye to him. Madi came at a full run yelling, "Daddy wait! I have to tell you something."
As she approached him, he squatted down to her level and put his hand on her back. "What honey," he said.
She said, "Come here!" She meant come closer.
He leaned in. She leaned toward his ear and held her hand up like she had a secret. Then she planted a kiss on his cheek and said, "That's what I had to tell you."
Then she ran off just as quickly as she had shown up. He melted like chocolate M&M's on the asphalt at noon.

Check out and add recipes at mommydazerecipes.blogspot.com

As a busy Mom, I am always on the lookout for meals that contain ANY of the following:1) Easy; 2) Fast; 3) Nutritious; 4) Tastes good; 5) Cheap; 6) Will feeds lots of mouths; or 7) Can save for later.I love to cook and especially like it when my family likes what I cook. As I come across great recipes I have always liked to share them. There are six girls in my family and we all like to trade and share great recipes. I wanted to use this site as an opportunity to share some of our favorites.Please contribute your recipes and comment on the ones posted. If you have a recipe to submit, email it to lizlane717@gmail.com and I will share it with everyone. Watch it at: www.mommydazerecipes.blogspot.com. It will grow!

No TV...how will we ever survive?

A couple of weeks ago we started caving under the high cost of living and decided to cut back on our expensesthat we don't need. We had the cable turned off. We were both dreading how we were going to be able to get by. I am a political/news junkie and can't go through the day without hearing from my good friends, Sean, Bill, Glenn, Greta, and Nancy. Brant watches (or used to record and watch) Sons of Anarchy. I know lots of people do not have 100 TV channels and the good news is they don't die. Now we have nothing--we haven't even one out to buy an antenna so that we can get the basic stations.

Here's what's I don't know anymore:
I have no idea how the recession is going. Is it up, down, or turning around.
I don't know what the President or President Elect are promising that probably won't happen.
I haven't heard about the latest gruesome murder, kidnapping, or traffic accident.
Worst of all, I don't know who lost the most weight on the Biggest Loser.

Here's what I have done more of:
Play with my kids.
Clean the house.
Read Books. (An ancient method of communication our ancestors used to pass on stories, self-help, non-fiction.)
Set goals.
Think, ponder, evaluate, and improve myself.
Looking up recipes.
Found something to do in bed with my husband, besides watch TV. (Backrubs and talking...you dirty minded people.)
Oh, and a little more blogging. Hence the rapid-fire, lengthy blogs the past two weeks.

I know people say this can happen, but I actually do feel happier. The world has now become my world, not the world the media is filtering into my home. It's a pleasant feeling.

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.