Boy, oh Boy!

My two boys. So cute together that they almost look like twins. I was trying to get them into the church, but they were lollygagging. We had to take Madison home--she woke up early and got very tired. We only have room for ONE Drama Queen in our family.

Viva Las Vegas...as Viva as you can get with kids

We went to Vegas for the weekend to visit family. Brant's Dad, John, was in town with his girlfriend Laurie (sp). They met us at Chuck E. Cheese as soon as we got in. The kids had a blast. Unfortunately, I ended up using John's camera to snap photos and didn't get much on my camera.

After Chuck E. Cheese we went straight to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house. They could not have been anymore excited to see, "Gamma!" Lane especially. He was all hugs and kisses for her. I think for a brief period of time they forgot their mother even existed. It was so great to see them happy. It made me feel good about the 5 months I had to leave them every week to work in St. George. I know Rhonda took such good care of them.

I really miss all of the talking Rhonda and I used to do. I can totally understand how those polygamist women could enjoy living together. It was nice to have someone to trade off babysitting, someone to talk to, and someone to go to the temple with. I used to learn so much from her. She is a really good example to me.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

We loved Saturdays as kids...we actually thought cartoons were like color TV. I guess we confused animation with color. Dona and I would always watch the Flintstones or Tom and Jerry. I remember we thought it was so clever of us to try to be quiet so we wouldn't wake up Mom and Dad. Now that I'm a parent, I want to pretend to be quiet so my kids don't know I'm awake.

Too Cool for the Pool

What do you do when it's too cold to go swimming?

...Jump in the "Hot Tub"

Too Much Time On My Hands...

I got carried away with my not-so-good cake decorating skills. We had a BBQ at Travis' so I brought carrot cake.

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.