Loving Nature!

My sweet little Isabel

As most of you know little Isa has been the healthy kid in our family of early birds. Recently though she has been having seizures. We took her to the doctor and they referred her to a neurologist. He then had her have a EEG done. She really was a trooper. After blood work, EEG, cat scan and many other tests we are still as clueless as before. But luckily since we went to the doctor she has been seizure free. I have learned that in life there are trials waiting behind corners everywhere I go. And that in my life when it rains it pours. But I think that for the first time I am ready for what life is throwing at me because I have a grounded testimony and understanding that I AM NOT ALONE. Without this knowledge I don't know if I could possibly have made it out sane from the last 6 years. So I hope that all of you have that same assurance but if not then work to get it. There isn't anything that will help you be happy more than knowing for yourself the plan for life and that you are never alone.

Anyways enough of that serious talk here is a cute picture of Isa during her most recent test!

I actually learned something in school!

Okay like I said before, this semester has been crazy but if only one good thing comes of my hard work it will be the fact that I have learned to take MUCH BETTER photos. We had a photography assignment where we had to do four different types of photos. I really am proud of myself (so don't comment unless you have something nice to say cause my self-esteem is getting a bit small these days with stress).

Depth of Field
(aka close up shot with blur in distance)

p.s. this is my favorite new way of shooting!!

Action

Landscape

Portrait

Blogging Slacker!

Okay so I have a really good excuse for not posting anything in weeks... I am actually in school. I know who would think that I would randomly go back to school after 2 years. But with Brian getting ready to finish up here at BYU-Idaho I thought I should take some time for myself and learn something other than the best way to get out grape juice stains. Anyways I am enjoying classes and learning a lot but man it is a fast little session and I am totally exhausted everyday. I barely getting my homework done and finding a few minutes to spend with Brian everyday. The house is usually a mess when he gets home from work and not much better when I leave for school in the morning. And oh my gosh I haven't been ready for the day by 7:30 this many days in a row in YEARS!

But I am enjoying taking some time for myself. I probably won't attempt to take on these short terms EVER AGAIN but I have learned that I need to spend more time thinking about me and cultivating my interests and desires. I love being a stay-at-home mom but this mom needs to remember who she was before the kids and the never ending potty training. So sorry for the lack of posts but if I can I will take some time to put up some pictures and until the end of the month I hope everyone is having a good summer!

Getting better at the splash park!

So the Girls are total girly girls and don't like to get into the cold water at the park. Slowly over the course of the summer we have been working on getting them to go down the slide. However this might take the rest of the summer to get them to enjoy it, we have gottan them to at least play in the water and get wet while still having fun!

4th of July

Ohh to be a kid again!

Okay so I am totally not the cool mom I want to be because I am still not good at coming up with fun things to do everyday. I swear we do the same thing over and over everyday. I am not surprised that the girls get bored, I get bored. But when my mom came out I remembered how to just make it up as you go. This is just a picture of the girls getting turned into a mummy together and then they attempted to walk. Suddenly looking at this picture again I thought of three legged races and running with spoons in the grass. Nobody tells you that when you become a mom you also have to become a game specialist! But keeping two toddlers happy and excited day in and day out you must be able to come up with a new game at least 2 times a week.

So to all moms out there thinking I am bored too... lets all just try to come up with at least one new game every two weeks and then SHARE so we all don't die of boredom. I mean I love hide and seek but after playing for a year there just aren't any new places to hide.

All dressed up!

After church we actually got a few pictures of everyone in their Sunday best! The best is that we got a few pictures of Brian and I which never happens!

Jackson Hole

Saturday we went to Jackson Hole. The girls had a blast and it was nice to get out of Rexburg for the day. Here are some of our highlights!

Running around with Grandparents

The girls and I loved to have Grandma and Grandpa here because we actually got out of the house and did stuff all the time. The girls love the park and are even warming up to the splash park these days. Anyways the girls had a blast running round while having Nana and Papa tell them how cute they were. They went into show off mode for sure! It was cute and we had a blast. As for Grandma and Grandpa, I think they finally realised why I sound exhausted every time they call. Girls this active wear you out. I can't imagine having boys!

Happy Birthday Isabel!!!!

Isa had her 2ND birthday hence the random trip from my parents! It was a small party just family and her best friend Addi. Seriously besides Layla this is her best friend in the whole world. It really is fun for me because I remember being little and having my best friend Mary. We were seriously the same. We spend all our time at each others houses pretty much EVERY DAY! I really hope that they remember this time once we have all moved on from this stage in life and move out of Rexburg. As much as I want to leave and go to a bigger city and be closer to my family I am happy we are here cause I love that the girls and me have such wonderful friends just a dozen steps away!

The girls decided that opening presents was more of a group effort so they all worked together to open the present from the Clews Family. Needless to say it is a present for all and man do they use it. The girls have dancing time everyday when they just twirl around in princess dresses pretending to be at a ball. The music is driving me nuts but it is fun to watch them in their own little world.

Like the pretty cake, that would be a wonderful homemade cake... yeah right! This was a no stress party so this cake is complements of Broulims Grocery!

What do you remember?

This is a fun tag that allows me to share with all my friends meaningful memories we've had together! My friend had it on her blog and I thought it was great. So here are your instructions-

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Have fun reading all the cool things that people remember about you and sharing your favorite memories with your friends.

LOVING PAPA!!!!!

"It's always fun when Grandpa comes, when Grandpa comes Hooray!!!
He always says the kindest things and in the kindest way!He has a wrinkly, crinkly smile he's happy all the day!
It's always fun for everyone when Grandpa comes!"
The girls just love their Papa, almost as much as I love him. It was so great to spend time with my dad. The girls from the first moment were attached to his hip. And since he has left the song above (by the way those are words to a primary song) has been all they sing when we are outside playing! I can't wait until September to go out and see my parents in Kansas!!!!

Long awaited update!

I know that you all have been stalking our blog and wondering if we were ever going to post anything new. Well you will be happy to see that we have a dozen posts to check up on for your viewing pleasure! Anyways it will probably take me all day and night long to finish since today and laundry day. But keep posted for all of our fun happenings and stories of life with two DRAMATIC GIRLS!

Craigo's Pizza Again

The girls were so excited for our "special visitors" that were coming that we decided to get them out of the house and away from cleaning for a little while. And of course the girls wanted to go to Craigo's for some pizza!

Singing Layla

Anyone know what song she is singing? We sure don't!

Easily Entertained

Oh to be a kid again and so easily entertained. Layla makes up all sorts of games for her and Isa to play. On this particular day that used sticks to play samurai swords and bippitty boppitty boo. They also have come to love collecting rocks. Every couple days we go down the street and collect a few smooth rocks for painting. Then when we get home they decorate them and sit and watch them dry. I used to try to come up with things for us to do but now we just go outside or change rooms in the house, give Layla a few minutes to explore and then we are off on another adventure!

Splash Park

I don't know why but our children love the water yet are scared of the splash park. But today they were brave and actually got into playing just a little. Layla had so much fun with Brian. She loves him so much it is precious to watch. I am really glad that she has grown into a daddy's little girl just like I was when I was her age (okay actually that is misleading I still am a daddy's girl).

I am lucky though cause even though Isa loves her daddy, she is definitely a mama's girl. She is the most cuddly kid and constantly is using me as a slide. But who can resist those beautiful eyes. These two kids totally have us wrapped around their fingers.

Best Friends!

My future model Isabel Tenay.

Code cracked!

So my friend and serious motherly role model Kristi had this posted on her blog and I laughed for like 10 minutes. I am not one to laugh out loud so that was huge. Anything that makes me that excited needed to be passed on some more. So thank you Kristi for the laugh I really needed. For the rest of you I hope you enjoy it and can figure out which of these things tend to come out your mouth!

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to # 3

(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying............F you

Need motivation to exercise....

Okay so I don't want to post this twice so I am just leaving the link for my lovely post you know you are all dying to read about my new weight loss motivation. Anyways here is why I am getting off my lazy butt to get off those last pounds....

NEED TO EXERCISE

THANK HEAVENS!!!

Well after a nice trip to the doctor where I think they know us by name now, we have found that the girls just have serious sinus infections. It is painful for them and pretty miserable but it beats strep or croup which Layla has had about 15 times in her short little life. After a day of antibiotics they are coming around to their old selves. I really think that nothing is worse that sick kids. When I hear of others struggling it really makes my heart ache. We have gone through all the worry that stuff is wrong since day one with Layla and really have been blessed by the lord that both girls are so healthy with such rough starts. Anyways hopefully in a few days we will be back out wondering the great big world of Rexburg Id. (Okay so it isn't big but to a 3 and 2 year old it sure is!)

Feeding the Ducks

The girls just love to feed the ducks and little Isa sometimes forgets to let go of the bread so she got nipped a couple times. But all in all they love to just get out of the house and go look at nature and enjoy the beautiful weather. Hopefully we will all get well and be able to get out and enjoy it again soon!

Sick kids Again!

Okay so for about the thousandth time since the girls were born, they are sick again. It is so hard to watch them just roll around whining because they don't feel good. We are headed to the doctor soon but i am sure he is going to tell us they either have Croup or strep but we will pray it is nothing that long lasting the hard. Wish us luck!

Much belated Tag

So I got tagged like weeks or even months ago and totally for got to post it. But don't worry I finally am here to do it. Here are the directions-
1. Pick up the nearest book, turn to page 123
2. Find the 5th paragraph
3. Find the 5th sentence in that paragraph
4. Post the 5th sentence
5. Tag 5 people

"They seemed to posses all the commanalities that are supposed to assure fewer conflicts in marriage."

Tag: Kristi Clews, Tiffany Harris, Stacey Coons, Heather Bird, and Julianne Weaver.

Isa loves to feel big and is turning into my little shadow lately. She especially likes taking care of little Robby. She thinks he is so cute cause he is smaller than her. She doesn't really pay that much attention to the small girls in the ward but she sure does love the boys. I know that one day she would love to big a big sister but for now we are glad that there are little ones she can practice on.

Someone wants to be a BIG GIRL!!!!

Okay so Isa is by far the funniest kid when it comes to the things she does when we aren't around. Last week we were talking to Layla about how she needs to start getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. We went over and over how it works then put the girls to bed. Later that night Brian and I made a midnight snack and ended up setting the smoke alarm off. He went up to check on the girls when he saw... a diaper on the floor and a couple pairs of pants that were now wet. He looked at Isa and she was still in her pj's but he knew that she was the only one who wears a diaper. So he went in to look and sure enough Isa was only wearing pants.... nothing else underneath. He called me up and I couldn't help but crack up. Funny funny little girl!Last night of course since it was a long day and the girls got to bed later then usual they just went to sleep without much fuss. Isa however did think that it was time to get up a couple times and I heard her open and shut the door. Of course that was followed by the pitter patter of her running back to bed. About 11:15 when Brian got home from work he heard Layla crying and went in to calm her and say goodnight. As he was walking out of the room he looked over at Isa and saw her little bare butt sticking out under the blankets. He lifted up the covers to reveal a totally nude child. He searched the room and found pj's and a dirty diaper she apparently didn't want to sleep in.

So after watching this little girl for a while I have realized that she needs to be potty trained. Whether of not she is really ready to comprehend what she needs to do or not is no longer relevant. She can't keep stripping so I must break down and do it. We will keep you posted on any other good stories from out little self teacher.

Cute Kids!

I don't have time to post much but I finally finished editing the group photo from Adi's birthday party this past weekend. It turned out really cute and I almost got everyone's best face in one photo! The kids were so cute and really had a great time so thanks Clews for the wonderful party!

P.S. If anyone didn't have a camera and/or just wants a copy just let me know and I will get one to you!