SIX

At 4:28PM today, Britton Kasey Garcia was no longer my favorite five year old. He now holds the title of "favorite six year old." :) Keeping with our annual tradition, we let him choose what he wanted to do with his special day. Past birthdays have included lunch at Red Robin, a visit to the Aquarium, going to work with Daddy, golf, the park, and bike rides. This year he raised the bar a bit with a request for Eskimo Joe's, in Stillwater. Weird as we are, we all love a good road trip, so we were happy for the excuse to visit the best school in the country. :) We headed out for lunch on this beautiful day (I say that b/c if you read last year's post, you'll remember there was a ridiculous amount of snow on the ground) and made it to Joe's. It was busy as usual, but the wait was short, and the server made his day with an extra special ice cream sundae for the birthday boy.

Back at home, we hit the neighborhood park where the boys played and played. After opening presents, we ate his special birthday dinner - spaghetti, as requested - and had homemade birthday cake. I think it was a great day for all of us!

So a little about BK this year... We've now lost 2 teeth, he loves Kindergarten, playing soccer, basketball, and gymnastics, and keeps us laughing with his antics. His latest is the imitation of "Peggy" the man/woman on the credit card commercial (see it here). It's hysterical and he does it perfectly. I think we have finally broken 40 lbs, and he's actually about average for height (shocking for this family, I know). He's become quite the reader and we are so very proud of him in every way. I love my little man more than words, and he'll always hold a very special part of my heart as my firstborn.


And for those wondering, for some reason this year was much easier on me than last year. It's still sad that my sweet little peanut is growing up WAY TOO QUICKLY, but I love what each new age brings.

Lunch at Joe's:
PJ and his mini-me:


Celebrating at home (Please excuse my Mr. Roger's jacket. It was cold in my house today!)



ETA: At his 6 year check-up, he weighed in at 40.2 lb, which is in the 15th percentile (Hey, we are so thrilled to be over 40 lb finally), and 45 inches tall (45th %)!  YAY for an "average" height kiddo in our family! 

Graham

Meet Graham, our sweet little houseguest for the weekend!


I heard from one of Leyton's preschool teachers that the Animal Rescue here in town does a foster program for Christmas for the animals. Obviously they come in to feed and let them out over the holiday weekend, but I'm sure the time they spend there is less than during normal hours. The foster program looks for families willing to take a doggie home for a few days and give them a warm bed and loving family for Christmas. I'm a sucker when it comes to animals (they truly have my heart - especially those that don't have a "forever" family), so we decided to participate. We've really been trying to teach the boys about giving to others this holiday season in a variety of ways - giving time, money, and love, and this was a wonderful opportunity to help a sweet dog.

I WISH we could keep him. He really is the sweetest little guy (and by little I mean a bit smaller than mimi - he's part german shepherd, part lab) - potty-trained, playful, crate-trained (for nighttime and when we are away - didn't hear a peep out of him last night, and he was in our room), and gets along well with Mia. But that's the problem, right? So Mimi has been the princess around here for the last 8.5 years. She is a member of our family in every way and we love her dearly. I worry that by allowing another doggie to join this late in the game is unfair to her... Not to mention the costs of TWO dogs - food, vet visits, etc.

So he's supposed to be returned on Monday. I've already told PJ he's going to have to do it. I would absolutely lose it if I had to, and I'm still going to cry here at home. But if any of you out there in blog-land are looking for a wonderful new addition to your family - go see Graham. He's perfect. :)

And do me a favor and say a little prayer for sweet Graham. He deserves his own wonderful forever family.

Merry Christmas!

...from our family to yours!

And stay tuned for an introduction to a very special guest in our home this weekend... I'll post that tomorrow. :) Nothing like a little suspense, right?

the many hats of the garcia's

I realized as I was flipping through the camera that PJ and I wear a ton of weird stuff just to entertain the boys. And generally we forget about it, and end up walking around like that for hours. Case in point...

Mickey Mouse Ears. Leyton wanted me to wear the ears, so of course I did. Too bad this picture was about an hour after he went down for his nap and PJ noticed I still had them on (and I had no idea why he was taking my picture until I went back flipping through the camera)... Good thing I hadn't gone to Target yet - that would have definitely gotten me some strange looks.

And there is just no way to explain this next picture. Doesn't he look so very manly in his headband and pink dish gloves? Should I mention the "headband" is a piece of his flannel pants he had just cut off (b/c apparently he prefers flannel shorts)? He and the boys decided it would help our respective football teams win (GO BRONCOS). This was taken about 1 1/2 hours after the boys were in bed one night....

Oh, and no, it didn't work. The Broncos are 3-11 this season if anyone cares. It's breaking my heart. But we're playing for draft position at this point - at least that's what I'm telling myself...

Box-o-Boys

Saturday morning, I walked through the living room to find this:

Both boys, crammed into one little amazon box, propped up with a couch pillow, complete with a OSU blanket. "Snug as a bug," according to Britton. :) And there they sat, watching t.v. - until the box starting bursting at the seams....literally.

Love these two little guys!

And you can only appreciate how small this box is if you see it from the top. Seriously.teeny.tiny.

Then and Now

It's amazing how much things change in 8 years. In 2002, we went to Dry Gulch (the Christmas Train) with John and Kristy - no kids (unless you count PJ and John, and yes I guess they do count). I don't remember many details of that trip, other than PJ and John absolutely shaking it in the middle of the Christmas village to whatever Christmas song was on and laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. I don't even remember riding the train, although I was informed this time that we did (I hope so, since we drove an hour to get there). :)

This year was a bit different. We made the trek again, although this time in 2 cars since we are now too big of a crowd for a single car. One 5 year old and two 2 year olds in tow, things were a bit crazier. I think we corralled them well though and managed to leave with all children we came with. :) They rode the Elf train, saw Santa (no pictures b/c we decided we weren't paying for a picture - yep, we're cheap like that), played on the playground, rode the Christmas train, and had dinner. The boys are still talking about it! Church on the Move really does a great job of telling the story of Christ, but I will say there are a few parts that were maybe a bit too graphic for little ones. (Like the very real-looking, live Crucifixion). But it was fairly easy to divert little eyes and keep them from really seeing some of those parts, so don't let it keep you from going.

2002: Wow. We look so YOUNG...

And 2010! I didn't get a pic of me and Kristy this year... Wish I had!

Absolutely HUGE corndogs...

The Elf train!

Britton patiently waiting for his turn on the Christmas train. He really did so good helping with the little boys and was so patient - I was so proud of him!

Probably one of my favorite pics of these two... They really are the best of friends, and it's so cute! They talk on the phone now - it's hysterical to listen to... ;)

And this was Leyton when we got home - poor kiddo was DONE... No nap at school that day + long night at the Christmas train = one pooped Leyton.

Deck the Halls

Our little immediate family doesn't have a ton of Christmas traditions. I know. BAD Garcia's. My excuse though is the number of family traditions we still are expected to partake in on each side of our extended families. I'm a willing participant, but it doesn't leave much room for adding new ones for our little family! So that's something we are working on this year, adding a few more to the list that are unique to us.

However, one of the few we do have is that we decorate for Christmas on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm not a huge black friday shopper (I'm just not nice at 3:00am), and PJ insisted on this the first year we were married, and now it really is a tradition (and I love it). PJ generally spends several hours cursing at the lights for the outside of the house (sorry, did I say cursing? PJ would NEVER do that. :) ), and I wrestle the inside decor. I'm rather picky about my tree, and letting go enough to let two little men help is difficult, but I try. I can't promise I don't do some rearranging of ornaments after they go to bed, but hey, I think if you know me, that's not at all shocking. This year, we had some extra hands with Gigi here while we decorated the tree, and the boys loved that! In the end, we are all excited to spend the day together, and really love the excitement it brings the boys. Once the sun goes down, we have a "lights on" ceremony of our own in the front yard, and it always thrills the boys.

Thankful

In 2010, I have much to be thankful for. I have an amazing, supportive husband, and two beautiful, spunky, healthy, little boys (who I love more than life), wonderful parents, family, and friends. Even among the curve balls life throws our way every so often (and in the last few years, it seems we've had our share), we are so thankful for what we have been given.

This year we enjoyed a rather quiet Thanksgiving day. We normally make the rounds to both sides of the family, which is fun, but WEARS ME OUT. This year, PJ's parents were out of town, so we only went to my Mom's. While we missed seeing PJ's family, it was nice to be able to relax! We were even able to finish early enough this year to take the boys to Utica Square's lights on event (a first for all four of us). The half hour they drug out the "lights on" presentation was rough with an almost 6 year old and 2 1/2 year old (who was going on no nap) in the cold, but totally worth it to see their faces when they finally went on.

We spent some time on the way home talking about what we were thankful for as a family, and I thought I'd share the boys' answers - just too cute.

Britton - "I'm thankful for Santa Claus. And family." (Glad Santa now outranks us)
Leyton - "I thankful for Thanksgiving!" (What can I say, the kid loves to eat)

FINALLY, the lights are on!

Britton was in love with this telephone booth. Not sure what the draw is (it was yucky on the inside), but he would have stayed there if we let him.

Pilgrim BK. :)

An Annual Adventure...

Last year, while I really enjoyed being in Europe and seeing things and places I'd never seen, it was really HARD to be away from my family for 2 weeks. So yeah, it was fun. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself for actually doing it, surviving, and coming home in one piece. Did I want to do it again? NO. So when I found out earlier this Summer I had to head back over the pond, and this time by myself (last time I went with a co-worker), I wasn't exactly thrilled. The time was shorter (8 days this time), but I was far more anxious than last time. Travelling that far, to 4 different countries (one of which I'd never been to), and doing it SOLO wasn't exactly high on my list of things to do. Not to mention I left 2 days after sweet BK started Kindergarten!

I started in Vienna, Austria, and spent exactly 20 hours there. What I saw of the city was beautiful, and I'm dying to go back and really explore, as I really didn't get to see much of anything. You refer to your location in Vienna by whether you are inside or outside "the ring." There really is a street that runs around the middle of the city (which is the street behind me in the pic below). It's just a gorgeous city. Very clean, friendly people, and seemed easy to get around.

This was a monument that was right near my hotel, and I walked over there the evening I arrived to take a look. I was told the next day by the client I was visiting (that just happens to be Russian) that it was a monument to the Russian soldiers that died in liberating Vienna.

Next stop, Paris (via a very scary plane ride that involved people screaming in foreign languages because of the awful turbulence, and no english from the flight attendents so I had no clue what was going on. And I'm sure everyone remembers from last year how much I love to fly)! PJ and I spent 6 days in Paris when I was pregnant with Britton, so I actually know this city fairly well. I speak very little french, but have no trouble navigating the city after our time there 6 years ago. Also, a co-worker of mine, who used to be my office neighbor and good friend, was on a project there, so we arranged to meet for dinner on the famous avenue des Champs-Elysées and had a great time catching up! Too bad I still hate french food. I thought maybe it was because I was pregnant last time, but no. Everything is cold (except the drinks, which are WARM), and nothing's all that great. Yuck. Call me a spoiled American, but honestly, I'm not picky. I just can't stand French food.

Beautiful Paris...

This was a really cool shot. The client I was visiting was in the La Defense area of Paris, which is very much a business area - EMPTY after working hours. We walked over there the night before so I could figure out where I had to get to the next morning... Just outside the office was this amazing view of the Eiffel Tower! A bit blurry, but you can still see it.

The famous Arc de Triomphe on avenue des Champs-Elysées... We made no attempt to play frogger in the traffic circle this time around, but that's always worth the entertainment. :) Somehow we managed to get a picture with no cars, but trust me, it's crazy.

The best street for shopping in the world!

From Paris, I took a train to Dusseldorf, Germany. This was actually REALLY cool. The train took us through the countryside of France, Belgium and Germany, and I really enjoyed the scenery - just beautiful! Again, Dusseldorf was a very quick stop - like 18 hours. But we did get out that evening to have traditional German food, which I do just love! I had Schnitzel and Apple Strudel... Yummmmmmm... And total number of pictures from Dusseldorf? zero. zilch. nada. Sorry.

Last stop, London, my European "home." The weather was beautiful - Fall was in full swing, and I really enjoyed running the streets of London one evening - can't beat the scenery of the Tower of London, London Bridge, and the Thames on a run! Loved it! And I always hear people say they don't like the food in London, but I think those people are crazy. I've never eaten anything there I didn't like! And I've tried it all... Traditional english (I eat a lot of this - can't go wrong with fish and chips), last time I tried traditional Indian Fare in that area of London, and this time I went with Japanese! It was great!

A fun venue I want to visit there - this place was PACKED in the evenings! It looked to be a group of bars/restaurants that were covered, yet open to the outdoors - a "market." So cool!

And finally home. Can't beat home sweet home. :) This was my "welcome home" party, courtesy of Britton... Complete with a princess crown, which of course had to be taped to my head. And I wouldn't have it any other way! Love ALL my boys! (Forgive my horrific appearance in this photo - I was going on being awake for 24 hours straight by this point)

First Day for Little Man

Leyton's first day of school was August 26th, so I'm a bit behind on blogging it seems... :)

This year, he's in the TWO year old class (or the big boy class as he calls it), and he LOVES it! Most of his friends in this class were in his class last year, so he feels right at home. He also has one of the same teachers from last year that decided to promote with the kiddos, and a few other new ones (to him, not the preschool) that we just love! He loves going to school every day, and I think he kind of enjoys being the only one that goes there now - it's extra special for him! He comes home singing all kinds of songs, and talks all about his friends every day - so cute!

This is what I get when I say "Smile Leyton!" Not exactly sure what this face is, but he's convinced he is smiling! :)

More smiles(?) from Leyton...

Hello, cheeseballs...


A hug for his best bud - Britton Kasey.

In front of his cubby, with the always present "double." (his lovey - he named it, we didn't!)