Fun with Dad

I'm in my favorite city in the world for work this weekend (complete and total sarcasm), Houston. I'm sure there are great things about this city (they do have an Ikea and that does increase it's value exponentially in my book), but I'm still looking for them. I hate the weather - I don't do humidity. I hate the traffic. I don't like the airport. I'm ready to go home.

ETA: the one bright spot has been my rental car. Yes, my rental car. Normally I get the boring, shoebox-sized compact that flashes my life before my eyes at least once a trip on the Houston Beltway. But as luck would have it, they were out of shoebox-sized compacts this week and upgraded me to a small SUV! It's a fun, spunky, and CUTE (that's for PJ) Nissan Rogue! Not something I'd every even paid much attention to before, but I LOVE this car! It's like a small Murano. Or Lexus SUV. Take your pick - but I love it. But because I called it "cute" PJ said I can't have one. Cute cars are apparently not allowed in the Garcia household. Whatever. As long as it's not a minivan, I don't care! :)

PJ has sent some pics of the boys and their adventures over the last few days... Britton had "Derby Day" in his class yesterday - where each kid built a soapbox derby car with their dad and brought it to race yesterday. Apparently there was a huge track and all the kids were really into it. PJ thought he was being sooo sneaky weighting the car to make it faster (yeah, he did. we don't normally teach our children to win at all costs, including cheating, but PJ "claims" everyone weights soap box cars). He bought these tiny rolls of nails, epoxied (not really a word I suppose??) them to the bottom of the car and painted over them. Too bad several of the other dads did the same thing, and they weren't nearly as discrete - apparently several just attached weights to the top. Britton really wanted an OSU car, so they painted it black, complete with an orange racing stripe, and had me paint "OSU" along the top. Britton was so proud of it, and apparently their little race car came in THIRD out of 16! Go BK! :) So glad we all also got a lesson in cheating to win! Ha!

Britton and his friend Elliot after the race. Apparently she had the winning car...



Last night, they headed to a family fun night at the Kirk with my Mom, where they had dinner and apparently line-danced. I'm sad I missed that - My Mom, PJ, Britton, and Leyton line dancing - I bet that was quite a site...

My little cowboys (love the bandanas):

Pure Trouble

We spend a lot of time laughing around here at the predicaments Leyton finds himself in. He's my little explorer, and there is just NO FEAR. Scares me to death on a regular basis. Anyway, just thought I'd share just a few of the pictures from the last couple of months of his "adventures." Most of the time around here, QUIET = TROUBLE.

Leyton decided he wanted to play Operation too (which was on the table to keep little parts out of reach of little hands). Obviously height is not a barrier for him.

Unrolling toilet paper is great fun. And it totally stresses Mommy out on so many levels.

Why not trap Britton under the laundry basket?

I just love these sweet (and sometimes mischievous) brown eyes!

Happy Birthday Leyton!

I cannot believe I have a two year old. He's still the baby around here, and I am in complete denial that he might be closer to a kid than a baby. Last week was rough - and I mean ROUGH. Between several unforeseen issues and 2 sick kiddos for 7 days straight it was about all we could handle! But by Friday, which was Leyton's real birthday, everyone was well and it was a BEAUTIFUL day! Leyton took treats to school to celebrate with his friends (donut holes - one of his favorites), and we all went to the zoo after school. He topped off the night with a trip to play at Gigi's house (always a favorite). Saturday we celebrated at home with a few close friends and family members with a Mickey Mouse themed party as Leyton is completely obsessed with all things Mickey. (A HUGE thanks goes to my friend Michelle for keeping me on track for the party, even when things were crashing down around me - I owe you one!)

So a little about my big boy these days... At his two year check-up, he was 26lb, 6 oz (30%), 35 inches (75%!?! - Umm, really? He's tall? Have you seen his parents?) Leyton is talking up a storm - starting most sentences with "I wanna..." I wanna a snack. I wanna wawa (water). I wanna Mickey Mouse (wants to watch Mickey). I wanna Britton Amo. (I want to tell Britton "Amo" - which is I love you in Spanish). He loves to repeat anything we say - and I do mean ANYTHING, so we have to very careful! Yesterday, he said (completely on his own) - "Sorry, I broke it" when he accidentally broke an old toy cell phone. He can name almost any animal, and tell you the sound it makes. He can name all of his family members (immediate and most of his extended), and calls "roll" regularly. :) He can count to 10 on his own, and Britton can help him get to 20. He knows a ton of songs, and loves to sing and shake it. We are working on colors, and he can name quite a few shapes. He loves to read, and has recently become quite the artist - asking to "Keelah" (color) at least 5 times a day. I could go on and on, but I'll stop. I'm just so proud of my little man! :)


Here's a few pics from the last week of birthday celebrations! First, a picture from the zoo. They seem to fit in well, don't you think? :) There's a really old pic of John, Kristy, me and PJ in this same monkey thing floating around somewhere, but we won't be posting that. But it is good for a laugh (too bad I'm not willing to share it - it's funny on so many levels)

Blowing out the candles at Gigi's house:

Note the sand bucket he's holding in this picture. This was his favorite gift. After he opened this one, he no longer cared what else there was.

"Mom! I'm just trying to HELP him open it." (Uh huh, yep, not buying that)

Finally, it's open and it's MINE!


The party goodies!


A big smile from the birthday boy! I LOVED the ears my Mom made for him to wear - SO cute! Thanks Mom!

The next video is really short, but too funny. PJ and John taught Leyton and Mark how to give each other high five. We don't exactly have the timing down, but it's cute!