A Spring Math Problem

10 Pretty little rows of planted peas
+ 2 boys
+ 1 hose =




-They had been planted for 3 days

-To their credit...the boys didn't know I had planted anything there

-When I pointed the floating seeds out to Michael he said he thought they were Kix

-I did not yell (or scream, or cry)

-There's a special reward in heaven for moms of boys right?! (please don't tell me if there's not...I survive believing this delusion)

for the love of STRAWBERRY JAM!!

This is 5 minutes after we came home from putting his brothers on the school bus...

...and 10 minutes before we had to leave so I could go volunteer at school

Needless to say we were a little late

Heaven help me...here we go!!! (again)

(this is in addition to the fact that he woke me up at 6am by pouring out a whole cup of water left on my nightstand...yes his brothers have been instructed to quit getting him out of bed)

P.S. I mopped the floor and washed the rugs and all the jackets in the house yesterday...good thing I practiced huh!

Budding Artists :)

I've been wanting to hang some artwork on the wall in my bathroom for quite awhile...but I could never decide just want I wanted...so one day I had this idea and thought.."why not"

I bought some 11x14 blank canvases and acrylic paint in the colors I wanted and let Michael and Thomas paint some pictures for me!

The only rules they had were not to mix the colors, and to make something that would look nice and that we all would want to look at

Here are the results...

This one is by Michael. It says "Family Stays Together Forever" I thought I liked it better before he put the word on it, I was wrong!


This is the second picture he painted...it definately makes my "happy" when I see it. Notice his signature in the bottom corner...a true artist!!



This is one of Thomas' paintings..Flowers in a rainstorm. It matches the other flowers we have in the bathroom really well.


This is his other painting. Of course you can tell it's a horse because it says "Nay" just like a horse! And wow...check out that signature at the top...he signed it so carefully and in cursive to boot!! (his signature on the other picture is between the two flowers)


Here's what they look like all together on the wall...

I love them!!!

Such a fun project!!

Not expensive...but PRICELESS!!

April Fool's Day!

I do love April Fool's day...it just usually sneaks up on me...I was taught well by my mom that it is a day for good silly pranks (nothing mean EVER)

But I was ready for it this year!! For about a month I've been planning the trick I was going to do on Dave, it was one my mom pulled on my dad years ago...and the situation was perfect for me to do it.

Dave goes to work early every morning to work out in the company gym. He showers and gets dressed/ready there...so the night before, I snuck his garments out of his gym bag and sewed up the leg and neck holes using white thread so as not to be detected (I just hand sewed big stitches...remember...nothing mean!)



Well, I waited and waited to hear from him...I even tipped him off to the fact that it was April Fools Day before he left home, and I've told him about this prank that my mom pulled on my dad, so I was sure he would know what was going on...

...well it backfired a little...he did have a hard time putting his garments on, but didn't realize what was going on...he just thought he was tired, and pulled extra hard and they went on...then he couldn't figure out what all the extra strings were...It didn't occur to him what had happened till I asked him if he had a hard time getting dressed...then he realized what had happened...not as funny when you have to explain the joke...oh well :)

After feeling a little defeated by this...I called my mom and sisters and got re-excited about the day. Then I was off to the grocery store to prepare for the rest of the day.

The boys loved their lunch!!



Cheetos and Baby carrots (the look on Thomas' face when he opened the bag of cheetos was soooo funny!!! he was totally shocked...but it was o.k. because there were cheetos to be had...I don't want to think about what may have happened if there were only carrots available)

We also had inside out sandwiches...balogna on the outside, bread in the middle...

They were a big hit and I'm sure they'll be requested again!!


Then it was snacktime...

They laughed and laughed at this one...and were a little unsure about it until I showed them their favorite candy (reeses pieces) inside (I may not be able to buy anyone in my house a princess dress...but I'm always guaranteed a laugh at any joke containing boggers or underware)

When Dave came home from work...the boys pretended to be asleep in bed...they were so tricky...totally fooled their dad :)

Then it was time for dinner (thanks mom for the fabulous idea) before they came in the kitchen, I told them that It had been a long day and that I was really tired and didn't want to hear ANY whining about dinner...NONE...they promised and sat up to the table to find this...

one of their favorite dinners...TOTALLY FROZEN!!

They weren't sure what to say or do, they just kept looking at each other then at me, I just kept telling them not to whine and please eat...


Dave joined in on the fun since his plate looked like this

He kept shrugging his shoulders and just put his finger to his lip telling the boys to be quiet...I had even frozen their drinks that they started at lunch...

...they said the dinner prayer and were still not sure what to do until I said "April Fool's" and they all laughed

They loved the fact that we got to eat a hot dessert (chocolate lava cake) while we were waiting for our cold dinner to cook

I then swapped out their frozen drinks for cups of milk...which MAGICALLY changed color when I poured the white milk in the cups...so funny!!

They tricked me while I was standing at the stove cooking dinner...my water turned blue...little stinkers :)

It was a very fun day.

*****

Oh, I have to add one more story here...Dave's boss told him that they were going to be announcing raises, and that they were based on internet usage. Meaning that those who spent more time on the internet were not working as hard as others, thus not deserving as big of a raise...

Dave, somewhat jokingly, asked his boss how much he owed him (it is no secret how much Dave loves the internet)

His boss then told him "April Fool"...maybe you have to know Dave's department to know how funny this was...but we laughed about it for a good long time (and hope the real raises come soon!)

One last Disney post...

I needed to show these two pictures of Katelyn...I don't want to think about how grown up she'll be next time we go!! (but I hope no matter how grown up she gets she'll still act like a monkey in the pink Casey Jr. train car!)

Just one more comparison...funny thing is I remember the first time like it was yesterday...where does the time go!

And this is a video of the kids helping Goofy bake a cake in Goofy's Kitchen

Goofy's Kitchen was one of the big highlights for us...it was worth the mad dash across Disneyland and Downtown Disney to get there in time (we were planning on riding the Monorail...but it broke down just as it was time for us to get on)

We love Disney...where "Dreams Do Come True"!!! I now understand why people in Utah get season passes...I could go every month!!!

California 2010...Highlights & Lowlights :)

I'm putting together a photobook of this vacation, so all the pictures will go with the stories...but I thought I'd share a few of my favories here...

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dave catching Adam's hat when it flew off on Splash Mountain (Adam was in the front, Dave was in the back..."my hat!!!! I've got it!!!")
• Watching the magic in my children's eyes during so many moments...
• Having fun with cousins that seem more like brothers and sisters...everyone got along so well!
• Seeing how brave Michael and Thomas were!! Michael's favorite ride was Splash Mountain, and Thomas' was Thunder Mountain Railroad (Thomas also went on Tower of Terror...so brave!!!)
• Eating at the Blue Bayou Restaurant...soooooo yummy (even the kids food was unbelievable) and excellent atmosphere
• Hundreds of people wishing Dad a happy birthday because of the silly hat we bought him. Even Pete (from Pete's Dragon) wished him Happy Birthday during the electrical parade!
• Cool double decker bus and funny driver on the way to SanDiego
• The Shamu show was amazing and the sea lion show so funny (Thomas didn't stop laughing)!!! (just like I remembered it as a kid!)
• Watching the sun set over the ocean on the way home from San Diego...It was gorgeous...Michael said he thought that only happened in the movies!
• Thomas and Robert thinking everything in the Tiki room was real...right down to Thomas asking us all if we had brought our umbrellas :)
• Roz hitting on Dave at the end of the Monster's Inc. ride "Hey...you in the front...I like your glasses...I get off at 5:00"...and her singing Happy Birthday to Madi...
• Wandering around the Farmers market with Sherry while the babies napped and touring a bakery and tortilla factory and getting yummy Mickey bread (thanks Dantzel!)
• Having dinner at Goofy's Kitchen...the older boys made me laugh while they danced and got autographs and enjoyed eating whatever they wanted...and Robert made my heart melt when he reached out for Goofy and Minnie...so cute!!!

LOWLIGHTS

• It was not a lot of fun to have a sick baby :( He had a high fever on and off, had a runny nose and cough (which made him throw up quite a few times...even during the fireworks) but a little (o.k. a lot of) Motrin, and some incredible priesthood blessings for him and me helped us survive it all and still have fun (Sorry for sharing the germs Matthew)
• I felt like we (the Garritson family) were always running late and holding everyone up...not sure what was up with that...in fact one day I got in my head that we needed to leave the hotel at 7:15 so I kept telling myself that we needed to be ready at 7:00 so that we weren't late. Well, at 6:40 I realized that we needed to leave at 15 mintues TO 7:00 not 15 minutes after 7:00...that started the day off great (not)
• Dave and Michael got stuck in a line for a ride and then the crowd closed in and they weren't able to get back to watch the fireworks with us...they did see them...and they did find us right after...but I was sad to not be with them (the fireworks were amazing though even despite this and cleaning up puke during them...Thomas LOVED every minute...even though he was less than impressed with Tinkerbell's flying "she's just on the wires")
• To go along with this....Dave said his lowlight was realizing halfway through the hour line for space mountain that he should have listened to his wife and got a fast pass earlier in the day :) (this is the ride that made them late for the fireworks...Michael loved the ride and saw the fireworks though...so all was well)
• We didn't have enough time to try all the wonderful food that everyone recommended to us...we gave it a valient try though!
• None of my kids would let me take them to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for a princess makeover...what makes me think that if I have a granddaugher she will be a tomboy!!
• We had to go home :(

This trip was magical from beginning to end...despite anything bad (which was totally outnumbered by good), we would do it again in a minute, and the boys have already started saving their money again...is next week too soon to go again!!

The Slideshow :)

Long awaited...and just plain long :) I'll add some commentary about the trip in another post :) sit back and enjoy...(you may want to grab a snack..it really is long)

Create a photo slideshow