Porter the Protector

He's my little funny-man. He loves to make everyone laugh. He got a little girl following him around at the playground one day and he got so excited to have an audience that appreciated his talent, he started churning out the funny routine. He is a silly boy. Still a little too whiny and quite the momma's boy. He found an old binky and hid it in his top bunk. He would suck on it at night under the covers. He actually thinks I don't know about it. I had to make it disappear without him knowing about it.

He's very independent and hates to go sleep and hates to wake up. I think he's afraid he is going to miss something. He loves his little brother and loves to tease him. They play cars and dinosaurs all of the time.

Him and Madi are still best friends, but get in fights alot. When they get like that I ground them from each other and they both think they're going to die.

At the park the other day, he wanted to go and explore the desert. He loved the sticks and rocks. I told him to be careful--there could be snakes under rocks. Madison gasped and he got more excited and started looking under every rock. He still daydreams and constantly has some story going. He is very tender and loves little children. He'll look out for the little guy.

Madison

She is a strong-willed little girl. She's going to be so fun as a teenager, and yes I am being sarcastic. She already thinks she is the rule maker. Such a good little helper when she wants to be, but what a temper. And, she is opinionated although she is very concerned with doing things right.

She has lied a few times about Porter and gotten him into trouble. We are more cautious about what she says now. She loves having her own room and being the only girl. Given the option, she says she wouldn't have a sister. She likes her boys.

She still likes her blanky--even though we had to replace her original one. She wakes up early and takes a nap, and goes to bed right on time. She's very proud of herself that she doesn't need any help in the bathroom anymore--including washing her hands.

She loves to wear dresses, sandals, and hair accessories. And, if she can't wear a dress she wants to wear a skirt. She runs like the wind and causes Porter a lot of distress because he can't catch her. During one of their frequent races, she purposely stopped twice just to let him get ahead of her and win. He didn't even realize it.

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

My Elph Powershot broke, so I have my cell phone and my old digital. However, the digital doesn't work on my computer so I have been waiting to get to Kim's to use her camera to download pictures. Needless to say, I am a little behind on posting pics. So here's a whole lotta them!

This was on a Sunday on the way to church. The twins will pose all day long--Lane, I have to take what I can get. Even if his face is dirty. You can see he was starting to you yell at me for putting the camera in his face.

Feeling Nostalgic

I am watching Pretty in Pink and get over how "old" it looks. And, the hairstyles...when did everything change? It's so funny, there's a part in the movie when she rushes home to check her answering machine. Then, a friend calls, and she wants to get off the phone because she doesn't want to miss a call. Remember when there was no call waiting and if someone was trying to call you they just got a busy signal? Wow! How technology has changed our lives.

Summer....almost here!

We've had beautiful weather in St. George lately. I've been dying to do something outside with the kids.

We took them to a park less than 2 miles from our home. It is on the edge of town, so we got a great view of the desert. It has a playground, covered picnic area, and water park.

Mom, Kim, Kaylor, and Dax came with me. I wish I would have brought my real camera instead of just my phone. But, I'm glad phone cameras work so well!

The kids broke in their new swimsuits. Lane was in his own little world, traipsing all over the park. Porter did his usual--he came out of the bathroom with his pants around his ankles. Thank goodness there wasn't anyone else there. He does that alot! He climbed to the top of this rock and yelled for me saying, "Mom, come here! Come here! Come see this."

I had my hands full of stuff I was taking back to the car. I said, "What is it, Porter? Can you just tell me?"

He said, "No! You have to come see it."

I walked over and looked out across the empty desert, thinking maybe he had seen a lizard or something. "What?"

Porter replied, "It's a city, Mom! I can see a whole city."

Wow! He has an imagination. I never would have seen a whole city.

White Trash Next Door

Is it rude to put your extra bags of trash in your neighbor's garbage can? I didn't think so, but I'm afraid I've offended the neighbors. Last week I put our extra white bags of trash in the their container. I have been dejunking and have lots of extra trash. We live in townhomes and we share garages so our trash cans usually stand side-by-side on the street. This morning, I noticed that their trash can is clear uphill at the next house. Considering, the logistics of the townhomes, this doesn't make any sense. They had to go way out of their way to take it up there. I hope it wasn't because of me--but I can't think of any other reason they would do that. Oops! I guess I should have asked, I just didn't think it was a big deal. I mean, you don't get charged extra for the amount of trash the city picks up.

Mud (then) Bath

This is what happens when you're busy cleaning house, baking, and noticing the kids have been quiet for a long time....Wait! They've been quiet for way too long.

Their clothes were in a pile on the patio. There were fun little mud holes created from yesterday's rain. How could they resist.

I love child labor

Yes...I forgot that a video camera is not like a camera and you can't adjust the horizontal angle, but you can still see what he is doing. He loves to vacuum. He'll be two in one month! I hope he is still this excited in 10 years.

I'm not perfect

This is just a random, late night contemplation, but I can't help thinking about it. Today, I told Madison that "I'm not perfect!" I was referring to not doing something exactly right. I thought about it later and realized most people say, "I'm not perfect," but no one ever says, "I'm perfect!" Later today, Brant was upset that I had moved something where he couldn't find it. My excuse to him was, "Look, I'm sorry I'm not perfect, but I'm pretty good." There it was again...those words, "I'm not perfect."

I give a lot of credence to positive self-talk and try to make sure I'm being as positive as I can. Especially, in the private moments you have with only yourself. I kept thinking about what I was saying. If I am constantly saying, "I'm not perfect," I probably won't be. What if I started saying, "Look, I'm perfect." It sounded kind of funny and unnatural, but it makes as much sense to say that as it does to point out that I'm not perfect.

I put ice cubes in the freezer and didn't spill a drop. In my mind I said, "Wow! That was perfect." It didn't make sense to say I was perfect. Several other things happened today, and I kept telling myself how perfect I was. By the end of the day, I could say, "I'm perfect!" I was also giggling alot as it still sounded funny.

I thought of Matthew 5:48: Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

That scripture clearly states that we should be perfect. We are led to believe that perfection is impossible, unattainable, and therefore not necessary to pursue. How many times have I held myself back because I didn't believe something could really happen. How can we achieve anything, if we don't believe it's possible? Perfection will never be achieved if we don't believe. I probably won't reach perfection anytime soon, but I can start working on it one little thing at a time.

I AM perfect...and so are you.

The Road Not Taken...or the Road You Were Afraid to Take

Sometimes, or even oftentimes, life changes the course you are on. Of course, it's unexpected. Of course, it's scary and even seems unsafe. Sometimes the lack of stability keeps you from making choices that would help you to follow your dreams. But then, sometimes fate steps in and you find yourself on a road you didn't choose. Sometimes it doesn't feel like a road, it feels more like the edge of a cliff. But then, something happens. That part of you that is a warrior; that seeks to not only survive, but to thrive comes outs. You exceed in ways you didn't know that you could. You have a reason, almost a desperation to follow your passions that were only dreams before. You've got nothing but the dream. And, you've got nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain. That is when the test of life helps you discover what you're made of. And then, you find yourself thanking Fate for throwing you a curve; because you've been walking all of this time, when you could have been flying instead.

Ari's Haircut

Written by Elizabeth (Lane) Hibbard, Ari's Aunt

Ari's hair has gotten so thin since the chemo, she literally has a few strands of hair growing out of her head. Haley decided to even it all up with a buzz cut. Ari got a kick out of getting her head shaved. She looks like an official cancer baby now. The hospital called and offered Ari a free trip to Disneyland as part of the Make A Wish Foundation. It is bittersweet. She is returning to the hospital on Tuesday for more chemo treatments.

At one time while I was there, Haley started putting some cream on her skin. She started screaming. I thought it was because it must have hurt or something. They had to assure her they weren't taking her to the hospital. She thought the cream was part of the hospital ritual and she did not want to go back.

Other than her pot-belly, shaved head, and Ethiopian legs, she runs around like a normal kid. She hasn't grown much in the last year. She is still quite tiny. She kind of waddles around like an old man. Mostly from the atrophy her legs experience from being in the hospital so much. She played with all of her cousins this weekend like she was just as alive as everyone else. You would never guess with her smile and disposition, that she has had more hardship in her short life than most of us put together.

It is uplifting to see her in good spirits, but no one really talks much about the inevitable. Her life is completely in the Lord's hands.

Dance, dance, dance

Bobbi is in town with her family for a dance competition. Her two oldest girls were competing. I took Madison with me to watch. We had such a fun time with "just the girls." She was mesmerized with the costumes and the dancing. Although, she got bored towards the end. She wanted to go up on the stage and dance with them. She started twirling and "dancing" in the aisles at one point. It was a lot of fun.

Springtime in St. George--LOVE IT!

We've been going to the park alot! The weather is SO perfect right now. I love it. I love warm places. I would not ever want to live in a place with snow again! The kids are having a good time, too. They went through the park sprinklers. I tried to talk them out of it, but they couldn't wait to run through the water. Of course, they were freezing after.

Lane STILL gets ticked when I take his picture. I took all of these with my phone and he still wouldn't look at me. I tried to be sneaky. He has no fear. He climbed up this grid that scared me to death. Then he tried to climb down another side. I wonder if he has any depth perception. He has decided to call Madi "M". He used to say something that sounded kind of like Madi, but now he clearly refers to her as "M". I hope he doesn't grow up to be a rapper. He has been wearing underwear--at home--he has used the toilet a couple of times. I hope he keeps it up. He'll beat Madi and Porter on getting potty trained.

Madison loves to run. She will run from one end of the grass to the other. And, believe me, it's a long distance. Porter can't even touch her. She is so fast. She has gotten really bossy. I try to tone it down. I understand she has great potential for leadership, but great leader/bossy sometimes is a fine line. I tell her to quit being so bossy. She usually responds, "I am not bossy. I am Madison." But...she's bossy.

Porter is always in the land of make-believe. He is always pretending to be Simba or Tarzan or that the monsters are attacking him. That kid has got an imagination. He is so done with afternoon naps. My two little mini-me's still like their naps. But, Porter wants to get in on all the action. It is fun to have him all to myself while the other two are asleep. He is so sweet. He is proud to be called a Mama's boy. Brant tries to tease him and call him a "Mama's Boy." He thinks it's a compliment and says, "Yep! I am." He's the one that always insists on giving me a kiss and a hug whenever I leave. This morning he also added a kiss on the cheek.

They're so much fun at this age.

The Golden Years

Someone once told me that the Golden Years of life are not when you are in your 50's and ready to retire. You're real Golden Years are the years that you are able to enjoy your young children. They are the years that your children look up to, love you, and don't argue with you. The years that you are their best friend. They're the years that your children rush to you with hugs and kisses; overjoyed with excitement that you have just walked in the door. They're the years they are happy just to be in the same room with you. I don't know what is ahead of me. Maybe there will be happier times. Right now, I just want to enjoy my Golden Years with my precious little angels.

Potty Training And Other Bathroom Stories

This time is going to be so much easier. I only have one--and I have not one, but TWO little helpers. The twins remember getting potty treats so every time Lane goes on the toilet they all want one. They are highly motivated to get him potty trained. I don't usually push very hard before they are two. I just start talking about it alot and getting all of the "tools" for potty training out. Then, when they turned two, I started really heavily with it. I was surprised how quick the twins caught on. Soon, our house will be diaper free. It will be strange, but can't complain. Lane is such a sweetheart.

Yesterday we had "potty" incidents at church. I was in class when someone came to get me because Madison had an "accident." I was like...what? Madi? Hmmm. Come to find out she told them that....and this is exactly what she said, "When I peed I sprinkled a few drops on my underwear." I told them that and they said that's what she told them, but they weren't sure how bad it was. While taking care of her, Porter had apparently gone to the bathroom. They said he had been in there for a long time and were about to send a man in to find him. About that time, he pulls the door open and he is standing there with his pants around his ankles, full on showing off his private parts. He announces, "Hey! I need wiped."

Fortunately, I was standing right there. I scooped him up before he made anyone else scream and took him into the ladies restroom. I can't wait to tell him that story when he gets older. How nice it would be to have the innocence of a child. I can just hear one of the many people he flashed going home and saying, "Guess what? I saw a penis at church today."