What do you do for a living?

As most of you know Johnny is self-employed and has a limousine business. This has allowed him the privilege to be able to be the stay at home Mr. Mom while I work full time as a First Grade teacher. He works mostly on Fri. nights and Saturdays. During the week he mostly does vehicle maintenance if needed, works on the administrative & marketing side of the business and answers the phones. On top of this he also balances the responsibilities of being the primary care giver to our little ones while I am at work.

So in order for us to not pull each other's hair out and to make some extra money on the side since I have been home on maternity leave he has been driving for his dad during the week. His dad also has a limousine business but has a Hirsch in his fleet that gets used for funerals. So herein enters a funny story.

After doing a funeral in the Hirsch Johnny decides to bring it home to grab some lunch since our house was on the way to the storage. Ati is used to running errands with daddy during the week and enjoys riding in the back of limos when they need washing at the car wash. So this day Ati decides she wants to go with daddy to drop off the car at the storage. So of course daddy would love the company and I of course would love the quiet time with Maciah. So off they go. As soon as she walks out the front door she notices it is NOT a limo. She doesn't think anything about it and is okay with her new seating arrangement up in the front with daddy in the passenger seat since there is no seating in the back. Only space for a coffin. I know.....weird. I've never ridden in one cause I think it's too creepy.

So the following conversation ensues on the way to the storage.

Ati (after looking in the back): Daddy, where do the people sit?
Daddy: Ummm....people don't sit back there. A person lays back there.
Ati (her little brain wheels are churnin'): How do they lay?
Daddy: Well they are in a box. And we put the box back there.
Ati: Why are they in a box?
Daddy: Well.........(long pause) Baby, they have died and I drive them to heaven.
Ati: This car FLIES?!?!?
Daddy: No baby, this car doesn't fly.
Ati: So you drive them there.
Daddy: (At this point he just gives up and decides the conversation will have to wait for when she gets a little older to understand or just let mommy do the cleaning up.)

When they got home I was washing the dishes and Ati runs in excited to share some news with me.

Ati: MOMMY MOMMY! Guess WHAT! Daddy drives people to Heaven!!
Me: He does WHAT??......(I look over at Johnny. And all he can do is shrug his shoulders, and gives me this face like what was I supposed to say?? Not that you drive people to Heaven! I wanted to reply. But Ati looked so proud of her daddy. We had to sit her down and explain that only Jesus can take people to heaven. But daddy helps with their earthly body.

BUT......she decided driving people to heaven was a much cooler answer and has since then decided that's what he does for a living. Weeks after this episode we went to pick her up from a Mother's Day out program she attends twice a week at a local church in which we are not attenders of. Since we don't attend the church they don't really know us. When Johnny got to her little classroom for pickup the teacher approached him with a concerned look. The following conversation ensued.

Teacher: "Mr. Garcia, I must ask, what do you do for a living?"
Johnny: "Let me guess, she told you I drive people to heaven?"
Teacher: "Yes, she did."
Johnny: "well...Let me explain....."

Ohhh....Our little Ati. We have had to do lots of explaining due to her vibrant little imagination. But we have also had to explain our own little mishaps along the way. I guess her daddy shares the same "vibrant imagination" she has. Just glad he had to do the clean up at mother's day out and explain himself. As a matter of fact we have had to explain ourselves lots of times. Hey, we're not the best of parents, but we're tryin'!

Our Lil' Pumpkins!

This weekend we visited a pumpkin patch with our dear friend Trina and her boys. We had tons of fun taking pictures and picking out a pumpkin. This day was a day of firsts for us. We had never taken Ati to a pumpkin patch before. And obviously this was Maciah's first time to visit one too. After the patch we came home, had dinner together then we carved our first pumpkin ever! With Trina's help of course. Then we ate pumpkin pie. Well never had that either. And I actually liked it! I think my taste buds are expanding as I get older. The kids enjoyed their afternoon of pumpkin adventures. Most of all I think they enjoyed taking the guts out of their pumpkin. Then they were off and Trina and I were left with the carving part. Afterwards, we had a pumpkin lighting ceremony. So fun! We may actually make this a tradition from now on. Here's to friends, new traditions, and pumpkins! Happy Halloween!

Joy of Declutter!

So my goal this past summer was to declutter our house. We accomplished it thanks to my nesting period during pregnancy. It feels so good to know that we can open any closet, drawer or cabinet and everything is organized. Everything has a place and a spot, so when we walk in the door with miscellaneous items we know exactly where they are supposed to go. Our house wasn't cluttery from the outside but if you looked behind closed doors it was a mess. Especially our attic and garage since that is where odds and ends got stored. Not anymore! I can compare our home in a spiritual sense to someone who looks great on the outside but deep down in their hearts there is some mess that needs dealing with. Ahhhh...it feels so good when you finally heal and let Jesus come in to your life to do his clean up in you. Oh the joys of his saving grace! Well that's how my house feels like. Just thought I would plug in a little bible lesson in here. ; )

So this weekend is our last and final step of the declutter process. And since I am on a roll with the whole living life simply theme I figured it was perfect for me to share online. Oh and a little advertising doesn't hurt either! All proceeds are going to our current Financial Peace baby step and what's left over is being donated. Best of both worlds! So come by and hang out with us, you can shop or just bring your "junk" and maybe you can make some cash while lounging on a lawn chair with a cold soda! It doesn't get better than that! Our whole neighborhood is having a garage sale weekend so I will be trying really hard to NOT walk around to visit the bargains down the street. Last I need is to add more clutter to my already neat home.

On the road to livin' the simple life!

A Simpler Life

Did you know that disposable diapers take an estimated 250-500 years to decompose in a landfill?? Kind of interesting to think that your used disposables out live you in some landfill somewhere. hmmm...

Some things have changed in our household in the recent couple of months. Yes, the arrival of our cute little boy is one of them! But other than that we have officially transitioned into cloth diaper users! Of course one reason being for the environmentally friendly cause but the money saving cause was the winner that won us over. Or should I say me. Johnny is not too happy...but he'll get over it once he sees how much it actually does save us.

Johnny and I are doing Financial Peace University at our church and have learned some great financial lessons and are trekkin along the baby steps needed to become a family free of financial bonds. Cloth Diapers are not one of the baby steps mind you but one of the things we have done to help accomplish the very first baby step.

This looks different for everyone but for us we have had to shed and get rid of some things and habits around here. Maybe I'll post our progress on the blog later. But for now we are excited about our cloth diapers! No more last minute trips to the store cause we ran out of diapers! Check it out, I even installed a clothesline in our backyard. I learned online that they last alot longer drying that way and the sun bleaches any stains that the washer might not have gotten. The natural power of God's Creation! Amazing!

So we officially have a clotheline in our backyard! I make Johnny feel better by adding that it's a retractable one! So easy to hide when we are back there. So in addition to our clothesline, we have also cut our TV cable. This one was the toughest for my dear husband. But through some intervention and hand holding he(we)managed to pull the plug. Johnny likes to poke fun at me by saying, "What's next? You wanna get rid of the cars and just get some horses?" He probably shouldn't give me any more ideas:) Well, we are taking it slowly, I am gonna give him some time before I start making an organic garden in the backyard. We'll see what he has to say about that! In the mean time we will be getting used to cloth diapers, and enjoying some local television with the bunny ear antennas! On the road to a simpler life! (Or maybe going back to the 1960's.) Who knows.

Check out that awesome, user friendly cloth diaper and my handy dandy retractable clothesline!

5 Yrs....Oh My!

Our little Ati turned 5 yrs. two weeks ago. Five years went by too fast. She has got a personality like no other! She is vibrant, loud, sassy all traits from daddy! Although she is also smart, loves books and is somewhat organized thanks to mommy : ) Here is a little walk down memory lane of her firsts to the very recent.

Her First Birthday....


Her Fifth Birthday....(those are popcorn bucket cupcakes! we had an outdoor movie theme party. Fun! )


Her Very First Day of Preschool.....


Her First day of Preschool this year.....(note, she can carry the backpack now!)

My how they grow so FAST! We love you Ati! We look foward to many more years together full of love, laughs, and hot pink nail polish with sparkles! I pinky promise!