Pizza Mania...

Ok before I get to the real post...I have to share a confession:

Stevie B's is my **FAVORITE** pizza place! I only "invited" the kids to Stevie B's for a "Pizza Party" so I wouldn't look like a fool going to a kids joint with my big girl friends and gorging myself on their mouth watering pizza buffet.

Nick's Nest and Mommy's Joy "get me" so they indulged me in my splurge and off to Stevie B's we went. 3 Momma's, 11 kids and ummm 15 or so WHOLE pizzas were consumed by our hungry crew...

The Girls

The boys...

Oh and I think it might be worthy of mention that 4 year old Nick ate more than every other person in our party and I am absolutely SURE Stevie B's lost LOTS of money on us...

I'm thinking, they just might lock the doors the next time they see us coming...

Cold Winter Nights...

Ha! We live in Florida who am I kidding?

Well just because we live in Sunny South FL doesn't mean we have to miss all the winter fun.

We still sit around a fire, enjoy hot cocoa and eat smores. We just do it in our tank tops, flip flops and pool side :-)

Oh! I'm sorry is that mean???

I must warn you - if you think that was mean you may not want to check out the next picture...

My sweet Molly thinks her cocoa is "Good To The Last Drop!"

Not-So-Clean Family Fun...

Tonight after dinner the kids suggested we have another pie eating contest - after all it was SO much fun at our party on Saturday.

Since we had all the fixin's we gladly obliged.

These crazy kids are SO MUCH FUN!!!

Just look...

Monster Truck Jam

We went to the Monster Truck Jam for the first time and I don't know what we appreciated more: The GREAT company (we love you Carroll's!) or the GREAT show or the fact that we scored FREE tickets for both our families!!!

The night was indeed perfect!!

Before I show the pictures I have to confess something...

Brian and I are wannabe Rednecks. We really are! We live in the city simply because we like the luxury of gas stations, grocery stores and neighbors. But other than that we are ALL country.

The people, the entertainment, the atmosphere, the music, the animals, even the smells - WE LOVE IT!!!

So we began our evening like any other country folk headed out for a night on the town. We stopped at Sonic and splurged on a dinner "out".

Had our fill and made our way to fairgrounds.

Waited in line with the Carroll's and all the other Ft. Pierce residents.

As our turn approached we noticed the sign read $20.00 Adults. $15.00 Children. CASH ONLY.

Well you see, that poses a problem for us "city slickers". We only use plastic.

So we continued to wait in line and once it was our turn I asked a logical question.

"what do we do if we don't have cash"?

The lady politely tells me to get back into my car, get on the main road, drive about 3 miles and stop at the first gas station. There I would be sure to find an ATM.

So the 9 of us walked away dumbfounded. Wondering if that kind lady behind the window actually thought I would drive 3 miles to get cash!!

Thankfully a kind officer heard and saw all that had transpired. He must have been from the "city" because he understood that what was being asked of us was completely beyond our comprehension. Not only did he understand but he showed compassion.

The type of compassion that really only someone from the "country" would have. So maybe he was really country. Or once city now country....I don't really know. What I do know is he was kind and showed compassion and GAVE us 9 FREE tickets to get into the show.

Blessed our socks off!! And here are pictures to prove it.


Ethan, Aiden, Madison, Sadie and Drew - notice the tire behind them is twice their size!

Me and my boy

Brian and Sadie screaming with excitement

Boys are SO weird!

I guess girls are too

Aiden was sweet to escort Madison through the mass crowds.

Oh yeah - there were Monster Trucks too

We had the time of our lives and are thankful for yet another great Family Fun Night.

Family Fun Night

For our Family Fun Night this week we took the kids to a Demo Derby and Rodeo at the fairgrounds.

I had NO idea how fun a Demo Derby would be. It was like real life bumper cars but the cars really crashed and banged into one another. Dirt was flying, engines were roaring, cars were smoking. One car actually caught on fire. It was SO amazing and SO fun. We can't wait until the next one.

After the Demo Derby there was a Rodeo. This started out fun but then the City Slicker (ME) got the run down on why the bulls and horses buck and kick and throw the cowboy off their back...I spent the rest of the evening feeling bad for the poor animals :-(

The kids had a grand time nonetheless. Madison (MY MADISON) even cried when we left. She wasn't quite ready for the night to end. Who woulda thought??

Here are few pics:


Vin & Ethan

Sadie & Kelli

The Girls

The Boys

The Whole Gang

Ahh, even the parents got a photo opp :-)

Madison posed with with one Demo Derby Driver

The other man of the hour

These two were quite the buds tonight. No worries - our radars are on!! :-)

Oh, and the bulls. The sweet kind bulls. The bulls that never did anything to anyone until their you know whats were strapped and tied then they bucked and kicked and threw who ever where ever. :-( So sad really!!!

The professionals did say that the bulls and horses were trained for such torture and I have to say they were quick to release the you know what's after the 8 second count.

Still sad though :-(

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Our family set out to carve pumpkins this weekend and what a blast we had!!!

Sadie picked out a cute white pumpkin. And she requested her daddy to carve a cross, a smiley face and a heart. She thought she'd help, but quickly realized she didn't really like the slimy stuff inside. :-)

Ethan had the traditional orange pumpkin and his formal request was his 2 hands with a cross in the middle. Ethan LOVED the slimy stuff inside. That boy is ALL BOY!!

Madison picked out the heaviest pumpkin and her special request was a butterfly, a cross and a heart. She is undecided about the slim...

My beloved Brian is one heck of a pumpkin carver - I was SO proud.

Family Fun Night

The Kids wanted to watch a movie for Family Fun Night. The movie was picked (A Knights Tale), the "camp" was set up and the popcorn was popped....

I left the kids for a few minutes to clean the kitchen and switch the laundry around.


This is what I found when I came back into the room:



Either Family Fun Night wasn't very "fun" or these kids were VERY tired!

Family Fun Night

How do you spend your Friday nights?

Here is a sneak peak at what goes on at the Growing Garcia's....


Super Soaker Alert

Super Saoker Aim

Super Soaker Fire

Next Victom

Hmmm...Who's next?

Friend or Foe?

Ethan's BFF Sal - Noodle Man

Brian has had TOO much influence on this young
man :-)

Kelli - This girl can really hold her own with all these boys!

Nick - sweet - incognito - Nick!

You might have noticed that 4 of the great kids freatured are not actually "Growing up Garcia" but we sure LOVE them like Garcia's!! We enjoy many family fun nights with them and their parents.