13 YEARS!

On Monday November 9th, Wade and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Wow! 13 years sounds so long. It seems like just yesterday that we got married but at the same time it seems like we have always been together.

When I was 16 my family moved into the same ward as his. He was leaving for a mission to Korea and remembers seeing me but we never spoke. We didn't officially meet until a few months after he got home. By this time I was 19. He loves to brag about how I was the one to call him first. Yes, that is true but only because I had a question about a singles activity (wink, wink). (I did have a question about a singles activity which I knew he would be very willing to answer since I caught him checking me out every Sunday! )

Our first date was to a Korean restaurant (he claims he was having a craving...right). I guess it was a test to see if Kimchi would scare me away. What he didn't know was that I'll try almost anything. We saw each other every day for 2 weeks after that. We always had so much fun together... and then he left to spend the summer in Las Vegas. We talked on the phone often but I didn't expect him to come back. But he did in the fall. He claimed he came back for me and I was thrilled! We dated a while longer. He was always so polite. He always opened doors for me and even asked me if he could kiss me...every time! A year later we were married.

Now here we are THIRTEEN years later with 5 kids. Craziness! It has gone by so fast. We have had so much fun together and still do. On our anniversary we went out to dinner at Texas De Brazil. It was yummy!

I'm looking forward to many many more years with him. He doesn't ask if he can kiss me anymore...and he doesn't have to. He can kiss me as much as he wants. I love him so much!

Diaper cake

I'm not a crafty gal. I'm not even creative. I can be a copy-cat, if my limited skills and talents allow me to. I was helping to throw a baby shower for a girl that I work with and needed a center piece. So I made a diaper cake. I was so surprised at how easy it was. And it turned out cute! (if I do say so myself)

So, for all of you baby-having friends of mine...you may be seeing more of these. (still act surprised)

And for Le and Mar...stop laughing at me. I know this doesn't even compare to the gorgeous baby bedding, blankets, and diaper bags that ya'll make. I'll just continue to marvel in my ghetto-craft :)

(sidenote: for all of my western friends...when I ran a spellcheck on this post the only word that popped up was "ya'll". I started to change it. But I didn't. I left it for you. )

...and again!

What do you get when you combine this...



And this...?

WHO KNOWS!!! I'm not sure what in the world he was trying to create. Or maybe it was some kind of experiment. Or maybe he just likes to see the expression on my face. I took the relish out of the fridge to make tuna salad. When I opened the jar I found an entire stick of butter inside. It took me a minute to figure out what the heck it was. Of course there was no need to ask who did it. But I am curious as to how it got neatly back into the fridge with the lid on.

got junk?

This is the back of my SUV from 2 different angles. A lot of stuff! And all stuff that I got rid of...well, mostly. I am a member of an organization for parents of multiples. I joined shortly after the twins were born. It was helpful to have a support group during the early days of being a mom of twins. I have been involved with this club in many different capacities including president, vice president and for the last few years as part of the Clothing Sale committee. We call this sale the "Everything for Kids Sale". And that is truly what it is. EVERYTHING for kids. We hold these sales twice a year in the spring and the fall. The proceeds support the club's events and meeting throughout the year.

Every spring and Fall I clean out our closets, dressers and toy boxes and get rid of our outgrown things. I spend hours washing, ironing, tagging, and pricing each item and then even more hours helping at the sale itself. It's a ton of fun but also a TON of work.


I sell quite a bit of things. Of course, I buy quite a bit too. My goal is always to sell as much as I buy. That way you could say that I clothe my kiddos for FREE. Free=awesome!

This is what the sale looks like right before we open. Its a huge room so I had to take multiple pictures to get most of it in.

I have never seen so many double and triple strollers in my life! We sell a lot of baby equipment.

This is our small toy area. I didn't get a shot of the larger one. (I try not to bring home too many toys)

This year my twins got to come up and help all day on Saturday. They loved and and I'm sure will want to help again. We had so much fun together and it was good for them to see all of the hard work that goes into this event.

Lucas the Menace strikes again

Did you know that there are millions and millions of tiny Styrofoam balls in a large piece of Styrofoam?

Did you know that the only way to get it out of a 3 year old little boy's hair is to vacuum it out? (Did you know that 3 year old boys don't like their hair vacuumed?)

Maybe next time he'll think about that vacuum before he decides to "make snow".

...nah probably not.

Back to School

I can't believe the kids started school again already! The summer was way too short! This year we are at 3 different schools and everybody starts and stops at different times. CRAZINESS! The twins are liking all of their teachers. Well, maybe not all but most. (oh, and FYI our school dress code is shirts tucked in with belts. The kids hate it. I don't blame them. They looked so confined)Its hard to believe that they were starting kindergarten just 6 years ago and in 6 years from now they will be almost graduating from High School!!!

The younger kids LOVE school. They were excited about seeing all of their friends and both got awesome teachers. (Gage's T-shirt reads "Homework kills trees-stop the madness". Way to make a statement on the first day of school, son!) I get to be the "room-mom" for both of their classes this year. FUN!

My baby boy even started pre-school! After his first day he wanted to know why his friends at school were crying. I explained to him that they were just sad because they missed their mommies. So of course he reminded me that he didn't cry because he didn't miss me. :( He loves school and wants to go every day. He is a very good boy at school and his teachers love him. Do you blame them?

I wish that I could just freeze time. They are all growing up too quickly. Every year goes by just a little bit faster. I want them to stay my babies forever and ever and ever.

So now we are officially back in the swing of things... school, homework, soccer, band, ballet, guitar, scouts, activity days, art club, Italian club, Photography club...

My friend Kayleen

My friend Kayleen is seriously one of, if not THE most creative person I know. She is incredibly talented and I definitely look to her for craft inspiration. She has a passion for photography and I love looking at her photo blog.

She also has an eye for good junk. You know, the stuff that you buy for a buck at a yard sale and then turn it into a work of art. It is always fun to see what she'll do next.

You can check out all of Kayleen's creations on her blogs. www.photosbykayleen.blogspot.com or www.thisoldchair.blogspot.com . Maybe she'll inspire you too!

We did it!!!!!!!!

I have to say, when it comes to parenting I tend to think I'm not terrible at it. I'm certainly NOT the best by any means. No Mrs. Cleaver here. I am always repenting(especially of yelling) and trying to be better at it. I guess I have just had a lot of practice. I was the oldest of 4 children and now I have 5 of my own. So far, I haven't messed anybody up too bad so maybe I'm doing ok. I love my kids to pieces and always try to do what is best for them. I discipline them when they do wrong and praise them when they do right. I give them all that they need and a lot of what they want. I teach them things and help them to make good decisions. I've gotten really good at diagnosing their minor illnesses and knowing when its a real cry or a fake one. I try to volunteer at their schools and be a good "soccer mom". I don't do a lot of baking and I can hardly sew a button but I have been blessed with really great kids so my job has been quite easy.

But if there is one thing that has had me completely baffled its POTTY TRAINING. It has honestly been one of the biggest challenges of my entire life! I despise potty training. It is not for inpatient people. If I could have paid someone to do it for me I definitely would have. Everybody always says "don't stress, it's not like they will go to kindergarten in diapers". But they WILL if you don't POTTY TRAIN them! Every single one of my kids have done it differently. They were all mostly different ages, different incentives, and different motivations. I have read books, asked for advice and used every treat you can imagine.

I have been attempting to train Lucas for over a year now. He was never interested. So I kept putting it off and then starting back again later. He would fight me tooth and nail. As evident by the expression on his face here...

This summer I knew I had to do it. He couldn't go to preschool without being potty trained. UGH!!! I gave up until all of the kids went back to school because they were so excited for him I think it was driving him crazy. Who wants an audience when you are trying to do your business, right? I only had 2 weeks to completely train him before preschool started. I broke down and made quite elaborate treat jars(whatever works at this point) and threw all of the diapers out. No exceptions(well, except for sleeping...I hate laundry almost as much as potty training) THE STRESS!!! But I did it!!!! YEA!!!!!!!

NOBODY IN MY HOUSE WILL GO TO KINDERGARTEN IN DIAPERS!!! I can't believe it! I have successfully potty trained 5 children. GO ME!!!



Lucas has since developed a love for his underwear and has also found new uses for them. Like this marker holster. You never know when you will need a place for your markers. This kid is prepared for any coloring emergency.

Here is another thought that will make you cringe... The Garrett family has used about 32,850 diapers of the years. That means I have spent over $10,000 on diapers in the last 11 years. Sounds like we need to look into patenting that Marker Holster idea. Whew...

Summer...come and gone

I was such a blog slacker this summer! I posted sooo little. It went by so fast I can't believe its gone already! So here is our summer in a nutshell...

25 days swimming at the YMCA
6 bottles of sunblock (or as Lucas says "sunscream")
350+ popsicles
4 drive-in movies
20 netflix movies
1 day at the Pink Palace Museum
2 dentist appointments
2 very infected bug-bites
21 Jerry's sno-cones
3 Birthday parties
1 week of Young womens camp (just at night, though)
1 week of scout day camp
2 days in Florida
1 day at the Animal Shelter
30 or more pic-nics
1 day at the sprinkler park
2 Tornados
1 candelight wedding after tornados
1 Releif Society Garden Party
1 night at the Orpheum Theater watching WICKED!
20 playdates
10 sleep-overs
2 weeks of science camp
2 Girls Nights out
1 day rollerskating
1 visit to Ci-Ci's pizza with friends
2 days at the mall
lots of wii playing
lots of Guitar Hero
50 library books
4 dates with my husband

whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Florida

We weren't planning a vacation this year. Work was busy for Wade and the summer seemed shorter than usual. Wade called me from work one day after he learned about a death in his family in Florida. My tenderhearted(yes, that is Wade) husband decided, without hesitation, that we needed to be at the funeral to let the family know that we love and support them. That is one of the things I love about him; his love and dedication to family. He would do anything for family.

This was a long trip to make in short notice but we arranged it and left as soon as we could. We could only be gone a couple of days and our children understood the purpose for our trip and that it was not a vacation. We attended the funeral and spent some time with family. I was so proud of the kids and how they behaved. They were great in the car and respectful at the funeral. Since we had traveled so far we decided to spend one day at the beach before we headed home.


We rented a condo on the beach. The kids LOVED the condo. It was the perfect size for our family. Lucas especially loved the "bed-couch" were he and Gage slept.

The kids had never really played at the beach before. On our first trip to Disney World several years ago we stopped by a beach to let them see the ocean. Macy was a toddler and Lucas wasn't even born yet. We were only there for about 20 minutes so this trip was a whole new experience for everybody.

We walked down to the beach from our condo as soon as we finished breakfast. The weather was perfect. The water was perfect. Not too cold and not too seaweed-y. I was amazed at how well the kids played together. They had so much fun together. They fight so much at home sometimes I wonder if they will ever get along. It's nice to know that they can :) At lunch time we walked back up to our condo to eat. The kids ate on our balcony and loved it! Then back down to the beach we went for the rest of the day.

Macy was being her typical 'social' self. Chatting with any other kid that walked by. She loved watching the waves. Her main mission though was...seashells. She hunted for seashells the entire day. Her daddy helped her find some really good ones.


Lucas liked the water a little bit but LOVED the sand a lot. I have never seen anything entertain him for longer than 10 minutes but he played all day in the sand and didn't want to leave. He was a very happy boy.

Gage loved swimming in the ocean and trying to make a sand castle. He and the girls worked on their sandcastle a lot but could never stay out of the water long enough to finish it. The big girls loved swimming in the ocean too and trying ot dive into the waves.

Of course, no beach trip is complete without burying somebody in the sand. So everybody took turns burying each other in the sand...even daddy.

Even though our trip was out of unfortunate circumstances, and we only spent one day on the beach, it was the most relaxing 2 days we have had in a long time. Maybe ever. We were humbled by the reason we were there which made us love each other more and squeeze each other harder. We enjoyed the simple time and just being together more than we have in a while. We watched our children play together for hours without one single argument. The entire trip reminded us of the importance of our family and how much we love it!

Another Birthday...or 2!! Our miracle babies turn 11!!

Its hard to believe that these girls turned 11 years old! I can remember when the Doctor told us that we were having twins. It was over 11 years ago but seems like just yesterday. We were both in shock but so excited.

We barely had time to get used to the idea when I went in labor at 23 weeks. I was terrified. I could not imagine a baby being born that early and surviving. After a very long week of trying to keep them from being born, my water broke on July 7, 1998. A tiny little Riley was born at just 1 lb. 5 oz. and at only 24 weeks gestation. I got a quick glimpse of her before she was whisked off the the N.I.C.U. to be hooked up to ventilators and machines to keep her alive. Her little lungs weren't quite developed and she had a little bleeding in her brain. Because the girls were fraternal twins and in separate sacks, the doctors were able to keep Tyler in utero for a little longer. 5 days later she was born weighing 1 lb. 7 oz. and joined her sister in the NICU. She was also so little and fragile. She had a little bleeding in her lungs that went away in time.

The first few days and weeks were critical and scary. They had good days and bad ones. Wade and I visited the girls in the hospital daily sometimes more than once. We would sit next to their isolettes and talk to them for hours. They were so tiny and yet so perfect. We weren't able to hold them until they were about 6 weeks old and only then for 5 minutes every other day. They continued to grow and develop at a rapid rate. They surprised all of their doctors and nurses, especially the ones that that said that they would never live.

After 2 1/2 months we were able to bring them home. They came equipped with apnea monitors and oxygen which we used for about 6 months. They saw many many specialists during that time who monitored their progress.

Now here we are 11 years later celebrating birthdays. I am so grateful for the Doctors and nurses who were so good at their jobs. I know the spirit lead them to the good decisions that saved my babies. I am grateful to all of the people who prayed for the girls. I was told of many church congregations in other parts of the country that prayed for my babies. They may not have been the same faith as me but were obviously faithful people. People whom I have never met and probably never will. And of course our family and friends who supported us. All of those who fasted and prayed for us. The girls received many priesthood blessings during that time. How grateful I am for the priesthood. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much!! I am so glad that we were given an experience that helped us to grow and become closer to him. He has watched over us and our family and for that I am truly grateful.

The girls obviously have different Birthdays (which they love by the way). But they still have mostly the same friends so we usually have a party together. This year they decided that they wanted and 7o's themed party. We had some dancing in the backyard and lots of yummy snacks. We had a disco ball although it didn't work outside very well. After a little Cha-cha slide and some glow-in-the dark kickball they all got to Tie-Dye a pair of socks which they loved.
Then we came inside for cake and ice cream. I made a Tie-dye cake (thanks to my friend Betsie who I stole the idea from. Thanks Betsie!!) It turned out really cute and the girls all loved it. In fact, there wasn't much left.
Of course there were SIXTEEN girls!! I guess that's what happens when you have 2 sweet girls with lots of friends.
Happy Birthday Riley and Tyler!!! We love you so much!!!!! I am so proud of you!!

Lucas the Menace

Do you see the resemblance? Don't let those dimples fool you...


Maybe this will help. Lets see if you can see the resemblance now...

Ahah! You do!! Hot pink fingernail polish ALL over the bathroom. And this was round one. Between taking this picture and cleaning it up he found another shade of pink and filled in the rest of the white that he had missed before. I was over pictures by then.

I'm not quite sure what to do with this child. None of my other children did stuff like this. Not even the twins. I was not like this as a child. I was pretty well-behaved and mild mannered. I'm not sure about Wade but I honestly can't imagine him putting forth this much effort to mess something up. Where does he get it?????? This is seriously EVERY day at our house. Sometimes its kind of funny. Other times...not so much.

So I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me. I'll do my best at trying to answer them.

Q: Where did he get the fingernail polish?

A: We have 3 little Divas in our house...go figure.

Q: Did you get it off?

A: Yes, mostly.

Q: How did you get it off?

A: Fortunately, we happened to have a gallon of acetone in our garage.

Q:How long did it take you to get it off?

A: Oh, about 4 hours on and off.

Q: Did he get punished?

A: Abso-freaking-lutely!! (although I don't how much it helped)

Q: Were you sooooo mad??

A: Initially, yes. But, after being in a room with a gallon of acetone I wasn't feeling it as much.

A BOY!!

No, no, no, I'm NOT having a baby. Those baby-having days are over for me. But my little sister is having a BOY after having 3 girls!!! We are so excited for them!! We need more boys in this family. Congratulations Amber and Reed!!!!!

The Part-ay!!

About a year or so ago, Macy checked out some Fancy Nancy books from the library. She fell in love with that fancy little girl. Probably because they are so much a like. Macy has always loved everything fancy. She loves to play dress up and she loves anything PINK ! She decided months ago that she wanted a Fancy Nancy Tea party for her Birthday.

So, that's what we did. It was so much fun to plan! My sister found Fancy Nancy invitations at Target on clearance. I found exactly what I needed at Goodwill in one trip (that is totally luck). I found a china tea cup and saucer for each girl (.49 ea). They were all different but it added character. We served pink lemonade in them. I also found long stemmed parfait glasses(also .49 ea) for everybody. We had parfaits (fancy ice cream sundaes). I made cupcakes with white icing that I sprayed pink and purple with icing spray(sooo cool). I already had a cupcake stand which made it really cute. I made little triangle sandwiches with fancy toothpicks in each one (with the crust cut off of course). Also cheese cubes with toothpicks in them and a little plate with fancy chocolate chip cookies( a must according to Macy).

I hung tulle strips and curly ribbon from our chandelier over the table. I bought pink and purple table cloths, napkins, plates, forks and spoons all from Walmart really cheap. We tied purple ribbon in a bow around each pink napkin to make them a little more fancy.

I bought 3 plastic white table cloths from the Dollar store and cut them to fit over each chair as chair covers. I took some of the tulle that I bought and tied a big bow around each chair with a plastic flower in the middle(also from the dollar store). The left over flowers were put in a vase on the table along with pink rose petals and white doilies I picked up from the dollar store.

I had 2 stations set up and made my twins help with them. Tyler was in charge of the "Fancy station". She painted their nails, gave them lip gloss, and shimmer powder. I had them each a crown and a boa. The boas were from Hobby Lobby and were really long so I cut them in half to make them shorter for the little girls and help cut costs as well. She also let them pick sticker earrings. The other station was a craft. I picked up pink hand mirrors from the Dollar Store and some jewel stickers and Riley helped the girls make them fancy. They turned out cute!

For party favors I got most everything from the Dollar store. I found candy jewelry, ring pops, necklaces, and even little plumes(fancy pens with feathers on the end). They also got to take home their boas, crowns, and tea cups and saucers.

Macy had so much fun and the other girls seemed to as well. I had fun decorating and planning myself! Now I can start planning the next party...the twins birthday in July!

The little princess had a birthday

My baby girl turned 6 years old this month. I can't believe it. She is such a sweetheart. She is so much fun and we love her so much!! She loves music, singing and dancing. She is a great reader and loves to go to school and play with her friends.

The day of her birthday we celebrated with presents and her choice of dessert...brownie sundaes. Since her birthday was on a Sunday we chose to have her party on a different day.

What a little diva this girl is. About a year ago when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she would say "a teenager". Her answer has changed now to "I want to be on the TV". I'm not sure which one is worse! This girl will most likely give me a heart attack!!

I try so hard to keep her a little girl but she wants to grow up so fast. So I'm cherishing every minute!! We love you Macy!! Happy Birthday!!!!

It's finaly here!!!!!!!

This is what's its all about... just chillin'. We are so excited that summer is here!!!!!! No homework, no school, no dance classes, no getting up EARLY, no schedules. We were so ready for a break. We don't have big summer plans, just a whole lot of nothing!

This picture was taken at the sprinkler park. Georgia, Riley, Lucas, Tyler, Carly, Jenna, Gage, and Macy all sat still for about one minute so that I could get a picture.

Mysterious Mustash Man

Lucas got to pick a treat at the Dollar store for being good(yes, I bribe my kids sometimes) and this is what he chose. He calls it a "dithgithe". So he wore it all day. He wore it into the kids' school to take something to Macy. He wore it to his Nana's house. He wore it all the way to eat lunch with daddy. Although he got too embarrassed to wear it into the restaurant (thanks goodness, right!), he wasn't too embarrassed to show his uncle Reed when we were leaving. He had so much fun with them until they got broken. But that's ok, I bought him another pair the next time we went to the dollar store. He's such a jokester!

You might be a redneck if...

... you sit in camp-chairs on the curb while eating pop-corn.

Yes, that would be my children enjoying the afternoon sun and a snack. They asked if they could have popcorn and before I knew it this is what they were doing. Honestly I'm surprised that almost all of them have shoes on! I have to say...they come by it honestly I guess.

The Decoration

Every year on the fourth Sunday of May we travel to Finger, TN for "The Decoration". I'm not sure if other parts of the country do this as well but here in the south its also called "Homecoming" because this is the day when even the people who moved away come back to visit. I have been doing this my entire life, or at least as long as I remember. Now I do it with my children.

My great grandfather Albert Plunk helped build a very small Methodist church in Finger a very long time ago. It was there that he was a preacher and filled the small chapel every Sunday. Some days, especially on "Homecoming" people would even stand in the open windows to hear his sermons or the hymns. Afterwards they would have "dinner on the grounds" which is a pot luck dinner outside on make-shift tables stretching across the church yard.

At the decoration we go back to that same small church that my great-grandpa built. Even though we don't share the same faith, on that day we participate in the traditions of my family. It starts with a sermon from the preacher. Afterwards is the "dinner on the grounds". This potluck dinner could easily feed a group 3 times as many as are in attendance. It includes good southern favorites like fried chicken, butter beans, fresh veggies, pecan pie, and cornbread dressing. If you're lucky, you might even come across some fried Bologna or okra.

After the dinner we gather back in the chapel for "the singing" or what most of us call around those parts "the sangin'. (Macy and my niece Carly pictured above during the singing. They love sitting on those old pews together) Together we sing classic old hymns. There are also volunteers to sing solo or with a small group. Some people play the guitar or maybe another musical instrument. My mom's cousin Retha is always playing the antique piano. Just hearing the sound of that old piano almost seems to take me back in time. We always marvel at her talent. I love hearing the twang in the voices of these people expressing their love for God and the Savior.

Across the street from the old church is the cemetery where the graves are decorated on this special day. Many of my relatives are buried there including my great grandpa Albert and great grandma Ollie. Their graves sit under a little awning. Behind them is the grave of Buford Brock and will someday be my grandmother June Brock or "Nanny". Buford was only my grandfather by marriage but I loved him like my own.

When we leave the old church we drive about a mile down the country road to an old house that my great-grandparents once lived with their children. The extended family gathers together to visit.

Here is Nanny tickling Lucas' nose as they sit in the porch swing on that old porch. Tyler is sitting beside Lucas and my niece Georgia is examining her chicken leg.


Wade, Lucas and Riley enjoying the porch.

Gage, Tyler, and nieces Jenna and Carly playing in the yard.

What a great day! I am so grateful for the heritage that I have. I am thankful for my family and our southern roots. I love that my kids get to take part in that, even for just a day. They get to sit in an old church that has so much family history. Sit on the pews that their ancestors sat on and sing songs that have been sung for generations. They get to meet extended family that they would normally never meet and play with them in the yard of a home where their great- grandmother was raised. They can sit in a porch swing with her and make memories with her. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Graduation

Can you believe the twins graduated from elementary school!?!? It seems like just yesterday they were starting kindergarten!! They are so excited to be moving on to middle school (even though I am scared to death). They were very proud of their diplomas. They also received trophies for having been at the same school since kindergarten. They also both received citizenship for the entire year and also honor roll for the entire year. Riley also received 2 more trophies because she was a HERO reader and had the second highest AR point average in the entire school (617). (notice the height difference...crazy huh!!)


Here they are with some of the other graduating 5th graders in our church ward. Their friend on the far right made them each candy leis for graduation which they are proudly sporting around their necks.

And of course this was the huge highlight of the day...a bubble gum pink LIMO...a.k.a "Pinky" which picked them and some of their friends up from school and took them on a 2-hour ride and scavenger hunt around Bartlett.

Oh, to be a kid again...

I am so proud of them but it makes me sad to see my baby girls growing up so fast!!!!!!