An apple a day keeps the Dr away!

My adorable Abi has always walked a little differently. It is a cute walk and I can't explain it. It is just a little different. In fact when she is just walking you hardly even notice it. But when she runs, then you notice it. She is alot slower than Bella and wants to be carried a lot. She often trips when she runs. It really isn't very bad. In fact I never thought any thing of it until one evening when we were eating dinner at Del Taco with the Goddard's. My Mother-in-law noticed that she was turning her right foot in. So I called her Pediatrician and he recommended that we take her to a podiatist (SP?).

I talked to Abi and explained that we were going to the Dr and he would look watch her walk and run and make sure everything was ok. Abi was excited to go to the Dr. She kept asking if it was time and if we could leave. Finally it was time!

Jason, Abi, Bella and I all went to the Dr. He was very nice. He watched her walk and examined her feet. Her Feet and legs all look great! She is turning her whole leg when she walks - not just her feet.

The Dr. decided that the problem is the muscles and ligaments on the outside of her legs are more flexible than the ones on the inside of her legs. All she has to do is stretch the muscles twice and day and in a month she should be walking much better.

We are very grateful that it wasn't any thing worse and that she doesn't need braces or casts on her legs. Abi was very brave, but while the Dr was showing us how to do the stretches little tears started rolling down her face. This worried Bella! Bella became very concerened for her sister. I don't think the stretchs hurt, I think Abi was just scared!

Abi has been excited to do her stretches at home. Bella and Isaac do them with her. I am not sure how this helps, But the dr said riding a big wheel or trike would help. So for FHE tonight we went for a bike ride. We went down to the church and back. The church is only 2 blocks away but Abi was so slow it took us an hour. I tried to take a picture of Abi on her bike. She did NOT want her picture taken and stuck her finger up her nose... Bella wanted in on the picture and came running.

Trains!

OH.... MY..... GOSH!!!! I can NOT believe I have lived in Utah almost my entire life and had NEVER heard of Promontory Point before!!!! Isaac studied Utah history last year in school and learned about the 2 rail roads coming together and asked us to take him to see it.

Promotory Point is west of of Brigham City in the middle of no where. And you haven't been there, you should plan a visit!!! Every Saturday in the summer they reinact the last spike being driven in the ground. You get to see the trains. There is a museum and movies to watch.

Abi and Bella loved seeing the trains. We went a few weeks ago and they still talk about how much fun they had and how loud the trains were.

Bella LOVES to have her nails polished!!! But she insists that ONLY her and Maura can cut and polish her nails. Most of her polish from the 4th of July has come off so she wanted them done again. She was throwing the biggest tempertantrum to do it herself so I finally gave in...


Bella's Toes
Bella's hands

Abi's toes

Abi's hands

This picture of Isabella was taken a couple months ago when she climbed on the counter, got her own bowl and cereal, and then poured out all the cereal. She was so proud that she had done all that ALL by herself. It sums up what the last week with her has been like!

She is constantly climbing everything she can and opening and pouring things. This afternoon she poured her apple Juice on the carpet then poured Karter's apple Juice into her cup, poured out Isaac's water (luckily this one was outside), took the lid off the sunscreen on my purse, took the lid off Abi and Karter's candy and dumped the sugar inside on the floor, and the climbing... well it was too many to mention. I know her climbing skills have improved because at the park tonight she was able to climb a ladder that last time we were there she couldn't do. Oh yeah, and while I was helping Abi put on her shoes Bella disappeared. I panicked for about 30 seconds til I learned where she was. Isaac was riding his bike and she got on her bike and followed him out of our cul de sac and around the corner.

People keep saying things like, "I bet your twins are getting easier now!" and I respond with something to the effect of, "No, actually it's just getting hard! But I am loving every second of it!"

I love you!

When the girls were little Grandpa Dale taught them to point to their eye and say, "I", then point to their heart and say, "love", and then point and say, "you".

It is so cute! I just love it when they do it! But if anyone else tries to do it they say, "NO! Papa Dale do dat!"

LIFE IS PERFECT!

I never in a million years thought I would ever get to say these words, but now I can...

I am a stay at home mom!!!

Ever since I had three months maternity leave with the twins I have wanted to be at home. Jason and I talked about it several times but it just didn't seem right to give up health insurance and a second income. Then in January, things changed with his work, and it finally made sense for me to stay home with the kids and help him with his paperwork. I gave my notice at work and agreed to work until they found a replacement. Feb 28th was my last day at work. It was a day full of lots of emotion. I was happy to get to stay home, scared to stay home, and sad to leave all of the friendships I made over the last 8 1/2 years.

When I first thought about staying home I got all excited and thought, "I'll run my house like a business. We will be so organized! I will keep my house clean! I'll do laundry during the day! Everything will be perfect!"

Well, I'm sad to report my ideas were good but they are NOT reality. Jason summed it up best last night when he said, "wow, the house is a BIGGER mess now with you home than it ever was when you worked! I guess that is because the kids are here all day messing up our house instead of trashing somebody elses."

It is harder than I thought to clean the same thing over and over and over again. Day after day after day. At least when you work you get a break and get to do something different for a few hours. I started to feel like why clean up the toys when they are just going to get them out again. I thought, "I'll just clean them all up at the end of the day". But then I would get tired or distracted and it didn't happen.

In my defence, I did have about a week where I just felt like CRAP. I blame that on the bad habits setting in. I still get up early and I am recommitting myself to keeping a cleaner house. (notice I said cleaner - I am not promising perfection here.)

I spend about 3-5 hours a day helping Jason with his paperwork. I have loved every minute of being home! Bella seems more confident and Abi has become more clingy. I'm not sure why that is but she seems to think that I am the ONLY one who can do things for her and she throws the biggest temper tantrum whenever Jason or Isaac try to help her. Being at home has allowed me to attend some school things with Isaac and I think he likes having me more available for him.

I am almost scared to say this (don't want to jinx it)...

Right now,

LIFE IS PERFECT!

A Royal Picnic

You are here by invited -

to view pictures of the

Royal Picnic

that took place on Feb 15, 2011,

at the royal castle!

(OOPS! Once again my pictures are in Reverse order! You might want to scroll down to the bottom and then read up to the top.)

After eating so much GOOD food the Queen and Princess were too tired and full to stand for a picture.

King Isaac packed a delicous dinner into the picnic basket.

The dinner consisted of

Left over heart shaped Jell-o,

Left over Pancakes,

Left over chicken nuggets,

(are you noticing a theme?)

Left over Peaches,

Left over Pears,

and a bottle of water.

Then he took the lovely picnic to the

CASTLE

where his queen and princess were waiting for him!

(P.S be sure to notice Isaac's head sticking out the window in the above picture)


King Issac, Queen Abi, and Princess Bell

(I didn't come up with the names - they did!)

Inivite you to view pictures of their Royal Picnic!

Pack meeting

At Pack Meeting tonight, Isaac earned his whittling chip patch and his map and compass belt loop. He has also earned the nickname No-Hugs-Isaac by the Scout Masters (see my last pack meeting post for details on how he got it). Those of you who know Isaac, know that he CAN'T STAND to be called anything but Isaac. As you can see in the picture, he is less than thrilled with his new name. I don't think the Scout Masters care. Sorry Isaac I think your stuck with it!

Dinner at Myndee's

I got to watch Jo's Boys again today! I picked up all the kids and then headed to Best Buy because they needed a disk to finish fixing my lap top. All 5 kids were amazing! They were helpful and listened and we did not have a single fight. On the way home, I was thinking, "what can I make for dinner. that I can feed the kids, get homework done and be to pack meeting in 2 hours?" Just then the phone rang. Myndee said she was cooking and she invited us to dinner. There was my answer! Also, I wasn't about to pass up the chance to see for myself that she actually was doing the cooking!

Because she made spaghetti (And she has nice white carpet) I suggested we have a picnic outside.



As you can see the kids loved eating out side. I was surprised they actually sat there and ate.

While Myndee cooked (see her in the background), The big boys got their homework done.

Here is the up proof that she did cook!

Thanks Myndee for a delicious dinner!

Sleeping Babies

Abi did not want to go to sleep tonight. She kept throwing her blankets and her dog out of her crib and and then crying for me. I would let her cry for about 10 minutes. Then I would go in lay her back down give her the bankets and her dog and tell her she had to go to sleep. This went on for over an hour. Finally it was quite in her room. I knew she would have thrown her blankets out, but they are such light sleepers I was afraid that if I went in the room I would wake them up. I dressed them in their "summer Jammies" and not in a sleep tonight. I was worried that she would be cold with out a blanket. I finally got brave enough to try to enter the room. I open the door as quitely as I could and tiptoed in. To my surprise neither one of them moved. Abi was sleeping with her head facing the opposite way and her feet hanging out the end. She doesn't look very comfortable, but I didn't dare move her. Instead I coved her up as best I could and grabbed my camera. The pictures are not very good because I didn't use the flash.

Here are Abi's feet hanging out of her crib...



Here is Abi finally sleeping...

Here is Bella sleeping...

And, I couldn't leave out Isaac (even though, he is going to be upset about this). He is such a deap sleeper that I used the flash in his picture.

Good Night, Everyone!!!

New security system

I have decided NOT to clean up the lego mess tonight, but only for safety reasons - the towers will help keep all potential robbers out!

I just have to say that I have the BEST in Laws in the whole world!!! Seriously, They are so nice, helpful, loving and just amazing! They always make everyone that comes to their house feel loved and welcome there. On Thursday evening we went to their house. Sue made a delicious dinner, we had a sleep over and then they watched the girls on friday while I worked.

Since my parent and my oldest and youngest sisters are all in California, I decided I'd us "middle" children should get together. We made Navajo tacos for dinner and then had a dance party!!!

Mikielle and felicity stayed a fewhours. Then they had to go home because Mikelle is taking a Tai Message class that she had to be to early. JO and her kids stayed all night! We made a BIG bed in the basement for the boys. Jo and I watched Movies and stayed up WAAAAY to late talking. It was a fun night!

Day 4

Today was a very BUSY day! After work, I came home and got Abi & Bell. Then we ran a couple errands on our way to pick up Isaac. Then We went straight to Cub Scouts. I am the assistant Bear leader. I love going and participating in Scout with Isaac. Today we made bottle rockets. I have never done anything like that before. (I guess that's because I don't have any brothers) The Boys loved it! They said it was the best thing they had ever done. I loved it too. I wish I would have taken some pictures.

Then we went to McDonalds. I think this was the first time Abi and Bell have been inside McDonals! I usually take food home because it is too stressful for me to feed and watch 3 kids there by myself, but I promised Isaac we would go while Dad was out of town.

I told the kids they had to eat before they play. (Isaac already knew that was a rule because we used to go there alot before the twins). Abi ate her food but all Bell wanted to eat was "Fech fys" Abi really wanted to play so she stared feeding Bell.

This was the first time Bell went down the slide. She loved it and didn't want to leave.

Abi wasn't as impressed. She only went down once.

After McDonald's we went to Karter's soccer game.

GO KARTER!!! He is really fun to watch! He loves playing.

During the game, Isaac decided to play in the bushes. He got a sliver. Since Isaac thinks only my mom can get slivers out, we had to stop by her house after to get it out. We didn't get home till about 8:30. Isaac still had to do his homework. I started blogging while he did it. HE just went to bed. Now I get to take out the trash, fold laundry, straighten the house and get organized for tomorrow!

Day 3

I missed posting yesterday due to "technical difficulties". After spending an hour on the phone with Qwest my internet is working again and I am back in business!

Yesterday I got to pick Karter up from daycare. Then I picked Kaden and Isaac up from School and we all headed to the library.

These pictures didn't post in the order I wanted them and I am NOT going back to fix it. Here we all are leaving the library with our books.
Abi Bell and Karter read some book while Kaden and Isaac were still looking for books. Karter really want a Buzz Lightyear book. We couldn't find one. He settled on a cute book with bears called "Kisses for Daddy".

I made meatloaf and potatoes for dinner. When MariJo got here after work, she decided to stay for dinner. Marijo, Kaden, and Isaac and I made a yummy peach cobler for dessert!

A couple weeks ago I turned the girls forward facing. Bell is way back in the back of van. When I look in my rear view mirror I can see her. She is always sitting there so calm and relaxed that I wanted to get a picture of it. (Don't worry I wasn't taking pictures while I was driving - I was stopped at the second longest red light ever!)

That didn't turn out as good as it looked so I pointed the camera and looked at the display in the rear view mirror to take this picture. ( I don't know why I didn't just turn around and take the picture????)

Abi wanted her picture taken too. And was saying cheese so I took her picture too.

Day 2

Today was day 2 of Jason being gone and we SURVIVED! Abi and Bell were still asleep this morning when I left for work, so I was extra excited to see them when I got home. Bella wanted to "go go go" So we went to Sam's club. I like Sam's since their cart's have 2 seats. If I go to a "normal" grocery store, I have to push the girls in their stroller. And I can't get very many things unless I have Isaac there to help me. Abi was EXTRA friendly today. She said, "hi" to everyone we passed. Some people ignored her and others would stop to talk. When they did stop, Bella would HIDE her face in embarrassement.

We went to my perents house tonight for Homemade Hamburgers and French fries. This is my FAVORITE meal. The only thing missing was a chocolate shake! After dinner we played "Just Dance". This is the funnest game ever!!! Thanks Mikelle and Russ for bringing it over. I only wish I had a picture of it :(

Isaac got his DS taken away last night, because I found him playing it in bed. He has been a big helper the last couple days so I let him play Wii fit plus for half an hour.

Good news!!!! My home computer is back!!!! But with good news there is always bad news. :( Jason is in good ole Conway Arkansas for TWO weeks! I don't know how I am I ever going to to survive. Jas says he has it harder because He will be away from home, but I don't believe it because I will be a single parent. That's gotta be harder - Right?!?!

Well, to try to make it a little EASIER for Jas I am going to try to post something every day about what what we have been doing.

I took Jason to the airport early this morning. When I got home the girls were still asleep (and Isaac ate all the cereal) so I made dutch babies for breakfast. I thought Isaac would be excited about it but he said, "why are you making THOSE now? Dad is gone so we CAN eat them for DINNER!"

Here is me and Isaac at Breakfast...


Abi and Bell were being so cute giving each other kisses. This is one of those MOMENTS where I absolutly LOVE having TWINS!!!

Isaac was so excited that Dad was GONE so he didn't have to weat a TIE to church! - WRONG! One of my high school seminary teachers had made all the girls in the class learn how to tie a tie. I dug real deap into my memory to do this -I think I did a pretty good job at it!!!

It was a good day, but we all miss DAD!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth again. I have not made any post lately because I have been computerless. The motherboard in my laptop went out. Luckily it is still under warranty. Then our home computer got a virus. Jason has been nice and lets me use his work laptop to check email and facebook. But I think posts without pictures are kind of boring. Hopefully, my laptop will be back soon!

9 things about Isaac!

Last Friday Isaac turned 9! I can't believe how fast time is flying!!! We started the day right with Strawberry crepes, bacon, sausage, eggs and Snowcones! He got the snowcone maker for his birthday and loved making snowcones for every one. ( I said loved because it died today - Tomorrow I will try to return it/ get it replaced).

After breakfast, Isaac and Maura played croquet. Then he spent the day playing with friends. He had requested Nacho's for lunch, but he was so busy playing that he hardly ate anything. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese for his party. We only have friend parties every other year. Since I did a big Star Wars party last year, this one was a family party but we had a big group and we had a ton of fun.

oops! I got side track! This was going to be 9 things about Isaac in honor of his birthday. So, if your still reading... here we go...

1. He is a terrific BIG brother

2. He is very helpful

3. He cares about others

4. He loves video games

5. He loves movies (he wouldn't be a true Goddard if he didn't)

6. He loves to ride bikes and play with friends

7. He hates cleaning his room and doing his daily chores (don't all kid hate that)

8. He does NOT like vacuums any more (as a toddler he loved vacuums! At 3 he wanted a

Dyson and when we got one, he put it together while I was reading the instructions)
9. He is a great kid who loves to play jokes and have fun!

Happy Birthday Isaac! I love you Bud!!!