The Porter's Place: 2012

Stop the HATE!

Recently, a lot of things have been getting under my skin. I am haunted by stories of hatred and intolerance, and general lack of humanity. I feel frustrated and powerless to do anything to improve the current social climate. There is nothing I can do to improve the quality of life for women in India. I can not force people to behave less like animals, as much as I would love that power. Words are the most powerful resource I have. Words can bring people peace or incite them to war, spread truth or keep entire nations in ignorance and my words teach my children how to think of other people and how to treat them. So my new mission in life is to use better words, to eliminate hateful words entirely and to speak to my loved ones with more kindness. I will teach my children to respect human life, to be kind and to show empathy to those around them and to be tolerant and open minded when people believe differently than they do. I can not change the world, but I can improve my little corner of it and maybe if enough people make small changes the world as a whole will improve. If enough people teach their children respect and patience, then the next generation will be better off than this one.

I am only one, But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

- Edward Everett Hale

Merry & Bright!

We have had a pretty amazing Christmas season this year. Kati was in a play at school and was the lead actress. She did so good and was so very proud of herself. :) My mom and Tom and sister in law and some cousins, were here to celebrate my oldest sister graduating with her bachelor's degree(Go Liz! ) and Kaitlyn's baptism into the LDS church. It was so fun to have them visit and to be with my family for a while.

We had our annual gingerbread house party at Grandma Porter's house. We made rice krispy houses this year. It was awesome, and the kids actually ate them afterwards.

Kati in her new sweatsuit, and Hailey in her new dress up. Logan of course, wouldn't let go of his remote to his truck.

Our Christmas morning was so much fun. Casey got to be home with us this year and it's really been wonderful! Kati got a pottery wheel and spent her day perfecting her sculpting skills. She's getting pretty good! But oh what a mess! :) Logan got Battleship and he and Josh had a blast playing that and racing their remote control cars around the house.


Hailey's new gash!

Hailey had a little tumble and we ended up in the ER for some Dermabond! That was an adventure, but it wasn't very busy and we were in and out in about an hour. And they gave us a big discount on our copay so that worked out well.


But she's still smiling. :)

Next year, I'm going to try for caroling because I miss that tradition from when I was a kid. I am so blessed to have my amazing family. I love my husband and my sweet kids, and it's been so much fun to have Josh with us for the holidays (and the rest of the year too) I hope you all have a great holiday too! Merry Christmas!

New year resolutions (if the world doesn't end first)

It's been a busy (and kind of horrible) couple months for the world, and it's got me thinking about my life. I've been looking at my priorities, like REALLY looking and I have decided that I need to make some changes. So here are my resolutions for 2013.

#1- I'm going to be a better Mom. I adore my kids. In my opinion they are the most charming, beautiful and funny people to have ever walked this earth. I would walk through fire for them and give up every personal comfort to ensure their well being. BUT, I don't think they hear "I Love You" when I'm cursing under my breath because they just dumped soda on the floor I spent 3 hours mopping or when we are in a knock down drag out fight because someone forgot they had a book report due TODAY even though I've been reminding them all month that they needed to get it done. So I'm going to be better. I'm going to spend more time with them, be more involved. I'm going to not sweat the small stuff. There will be plenty of time to have a clean house when they are all off to college and don't need me anymore. I'm going to tell them how much I love them. Even when they're tired of hearing it. And I'm going to be in their business ALL the time. I want to be able to put names with faces when they are talking about BFF of the week at the dinner table.

#2- I'm going to take better care of ME. As a new mom, there isn't a lot of time for pampering and self indulgence. When the kids are tiny it's a miracle if you get a shower every day. But my kids are not tiny anymore and I have been neglecting myself too long. So, I'm going to hit the gym 5 times a week. I'm going to eat better and I'm going to indulge a little bit (I see pedicures and girls nights out in my future) because a happy woman makes a happy mom.

It's not a long list but I'm looking forward to seeing the changes in my family during the new year. When things get hard and crazy, family is what you have to hold you up and help you along. I want my kids to have the same strength that I have with my family. I want them to be just as sure as I am, that whatever happens they will never be abandoned and alone. We have the most amazing family! Generations upon generations of love and strength always there to offer help and support, and comfort in times of grief. This is my legacy to them. I probably won't ever be rich, there won't be buckets of money waiting for them to inherit. But the people in our lives are irreplaceable and valuable beyond price.