...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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!