Happy 6th Birthday Walker!

Every year Walker's birthday just sneaks up on us.  With him going to school now, he more than ever wants a party that his friends can attend.  However, his birthday falls just five short days after Christmas, so many people are out of town.  We told him that we would have his birthday party at Highpoint Climbing Gym, like he chose, in January.

But like any 6 year old, he didn't want his birthday to go unnoticed, and he wanted gifts to open.  We struggled at Christmas, so his birthday was just as difficult.  But I bought a could of items, and Steve found a couple of items, so he ended up having a great day.  He slept with Bennett the night before his big day, and came downstairs to find several gifts to open.  Nene facetimed him, so she could watch him open his presents, and he loved them all.

Last night as a 5 yr old

He immediately had Steve putting items together, charging  them and showing him how to use them.  Then Walker and I snuck out of the house and went out for donuts.  He ate two at the donut shop, and came home with two more for himself and some for Bennett and Preston.  We had a fairly lazy day around the house, but Walker wanted to go out for dinner, and demanded that we go to Gian Marcos for their yummy pasta (love a kid with good taste in food).

We went right when they opened at 5pm, and came home and invited family over for cake and ice cream.  Initially he didn't want us to sing to him because it embarrasses him, but I told him "no can do," so he agreed.

After dinner, Walker and Lucy put on a dance show for us, with some of the most inappropriate dance moves.  Seeing those two gyrate around and shake what their mamas gave them was hilarious!

Dinner at Pizzeria GM

Since it was at night, Mimi and Papa didn't come over, so they invited Walker over the next day to come get his birthday present. Little did he know he would have another birthday cake, along with several presents from them and Uncle Dan.  Of course, he was pumped when he got his own bag of donuts. HA!

This boy is definitely the spoiled baby of the family...getting presents from everyone, and having family drive over just to eat cake.  We love him, and we are so happy everyone else does too.  Cheers to our baby, who loves to boss everyone around, paint and draw, dance, play on his ipad, watch Sponge Bob, ride his new hoverboard and snuggle in our bed.  We love our blue-eyed baby big!

Preston's First Deer

Preston has become more and more interested in hunting.  It started about a year ago, but with no hunting land to spend time on, it has taken another year for him to get to go out.

Fortunately for Preston's sake, he and Steve were invited to Five Star, an elite hunting club just outside of Birmingham, in mid December.  One of Steve's clients is a member, and has a son about Preston's age so all four went out.  Though the boys couldn't actually hunt, they were able to walk alongside of their fathers and watch as they flushed the birds up and had a successful morning chukar and quail hunting.  Afterward, they went clay hunting and target shooting and Preston did fairly well for his first time.  It was that day that allowed Preston to get some practice shooting a big gun.

Once he got back home, he was anxious to kill the rodents in our backyard.  So he got in position (hidden from all the neighbors) with Steve's pellet gun, and began shooting away at the squirrels.  He had success injuring a few, and killing two.  However, all of this practice just got him more excited to go out and shoot something bigger.

Several of our friends have hunting land, and when one heard that Preston got a new gun for Christmas from my parents and was anxious to use it....they invited Steve and Preston to tag along with them.  They drove up to Smith Lake Friday night, and got up VERY early Saturday morning in hopes of seeing deer.  Steve was in a blind with Preston, while our friends were in other blinds.

Pres was pretty excited when he saw his first deer cross his path.  He and Steve quickly put a plan in place and Pres executed it, with a clean shot.  The doe went down, and Preston was over the moon excited!  Miles Smith (younger brother to Fletcher and uncle to Fletch and Bennett) was nearby and he cleaned the deer right there in the field.  

My boys didn't bring home much meat, but Pres saved his shell casing and the doe's tail as souvenirs.  They went back out that afternoon, but I think the boys were pooped from getting up at 4:15AM, so the lack of action made them sleepy.

The guys all got back early that evening, and Preston was so excited to recount his first kill.  He had such a fun day, with the doe in the morning, target shooting over lunch and napping that afternoon. ;) Pres is already looking forward to his next hunting trip, and hopes to have a good enough trophy some time in the near future so that he can have it mounted and hung in his room.

Christmas with the Bantas

This was my first Christmas without my father being present in my entire life, and to say there was a void was an understatement.  I am proud of my mom for coming to Birmingham without him, but she missed him terribly, as we all did.  She flew down a few days before Christmas, and stayed with us this year.  We all went to dinner the first day she arrived, and kicked off the break.

The next morning she went shopping with Bennett and Walker.  Then they came home and made some cookies.  That night she went out to dinner with Brian and Shannon, Reed and Melanie, and Dick and Trish, since they too were in town.  The following day was Christmas Eve, and she accompanied Brian and his family to church that afternoon and dinner with the Murphy's (while we were celebrating with the Mizeranys).

walking down xmas morning

Christmas day was going to be a much quieter day than what we are accustomed to this year, so we tried to come up with plans to stretch it out and make it fun for all us.  We told the children to sleep in, which they kind-of did (they all slept in Preston's room and stayed upstairs until we called them down).  The day started around 8am, and mom came down with the kids to see what Santa brought them, and watch them open the gifts that we gave them.  I think all of the kids were happy with their Santa gifts.  Walker got a "fast" remote control car, a hoverboard (which was BY FAR his favorite gift) and a fitbit.  Preston got a chromebook, skimboard and a go-pro for his ski helmet.  Bennett got clothes, shoes and more clothes!  She is getting to the age where that is all she wants, so that is all she got along with some cash and skincare items.

But the real excitement began when they opened their last gift from us, which was the beginning of another scavenger hunt (which they love).  We sent them on a wild goose chase out front, upstairs, out back, downstairs and all over again to find out that we were taking them once again to Breckenridge to go skiing over Spring Break, and then to London and Paris in July for their first abroad trip.  To say they were excited was an understatement.  Preston started crying, and Bennett was shouting with enthusiasm.  Walker was just excited because they were, ha!

Following all of the running around, we slowed down and made a late breakfast....quiche, cinnamon rolls and bacon.  We then got ready and went to see a new movie that came out on Christmas Day, "Spies in Disguise."  It was a family-friendly movie, that actually was entertaining enough that I only took a very short nap.  It has always been a fault of mine, so I was proud of myself.  Once the movie ended, we returned home and ate an late lunch/early dinner....bacon grilled cheeses and tomato basil soup.

That night, we invited any of our friends over that were done celebrating and wanted to get out of the house.  We had a charcuterie tray and some grilled sausage that we nibbled on, and of course....some wine.  Only the Jarmons and Frys made it over, but it was nice to just converse with a few folks.

On December 26th, Brian and family came over late morning and we did the "Banta Christmas."   We snacked on a couple of appetizers and opened gifts, and then the kids played while we cooked, drank and talked.  The kids all were thrilled, as mom and dad gave each of the kids something big along with cash.  Pres was definitely the most excited since his gift was a surprise, his first rifle.  Man how my Dad would have loved to see the excitement on his face.  It was certainly a special gift, and one that I think Pres will treasure forever.

Definite excitement from this boy getting his 1st gun!

I love my family, but boy was it tough getting a good group picture using a timer and cell phone.

Christmas Baking and Christmas Eve with the Mizeranys

Like every year, Myra loves to invite the kids over to make her infamous Christmas sugar cookies.  Since school ended later than usual this year, they couldn't get together until Dec 23rd.  The kids love to pick out their designs and decorate each cookie, and recently they even have been making gingerbread houses.

Frannie, Sara's little friend, joined the kids again this year, and the four of them along with Sara and Myra had a blast together.  Myra always goes above and beyond with new cookie cutters, and this year fancy gingerbread houses (each one was different).  The kids definitely loved their creations, and each came home with their unique house and a plate of cookies that they decorated themselves.

What fun memories our kids have with Sara and their grandparents.

Look at all of those cookies and those gingerbread houses!!

This Christmas Eve, we went to church at 4pm.  Though we arrived early, we sat in the narthex of the church since it was packed out and we wouldn't otherwise be seated together.  It was fine though, because we could see the beautiful sunset from our seats.  After church, we headed over to the Mizerany's house for some Lebanese snacks and our Christmas celebration.

Once everyone arrived, we did our obligatory cousin picture and then tore into the mountain of presents.  Everyone seemed genuinely excited about their items.  Steve and I received a case of Lebanese wine and some Lebanese beer from Uncle Dan, the kids all received cash from Uncle Dan and Mimi and Papa, in addition to a few other items.  Then, when everyone thought it was all over, Louis and Michelle went out to get the kids the gift they were giving all three... a pac-man arcade game! 

Of course they immediately starting playing the arcade game, and then Walker wanted his new punching bag set up (which we couldn't do), so we ultimately left to get ready for round 2 on Christmas Day.

Cousin Christmas at The Club

Like last year, Dan invited all of the first cousins and older kids to The Club to enjoy cocktails, dinner and Santa!  We all met up in the bar for a couple of rounds, and then went to see Santa.  We had quite the crew crowding around him, but what great pictures we got!  We then went and had a great dinner and more conversation.  It is always a fun night, and we thank Dan for the invitation to ring in the holidays with everyone.

Mizerany boys renacting their old Santa pics

Even Santa got in on our fun!

Group (sans Louis and Steve)

University of Alabama Basketball

Preston is all about Alabama sports....football, basketball, baseball....pretty much anything that he can attend.  Since Uncle Dan has tickets to just about every Alabama sport, he sometimes has extra tickets.  He is always kind enough to ask Pres to accompany him.

About a week ago, Preston went with Dan to Tuscaloosa to watch Alabama beat Stephen F Austin 78-68.  They had a blast cheering them on together, and I loved the pics!

Then this week, Steve went with Bennett and Preston, and 97 other HMS students and parents, to
watch Alabama play Samford here in Birmingham.  It was another fun game, and of course Alabama won!  Cheers to making memories.

HWD Christmas Parade

B dressed in her ugly xmas sweater with Snickers

Every year December moves at warp speed as soon as Thanksgiving is over.  Between the Christmas parties, the gift buying, the school parties and just keeping up with our jobs and the kid's normal schedules.  But the Homewood Christmas Parade has a way of slowing things down, and putting us in the spirit, and it is always the first Thursday of the month.

This year Bennett was asked to have dinner and watch the parade with a few friends.  So she wore her tacky Christmas sweater and left.  Preston was supposed to throw candy and walk in the parade with his football team, but had basketball practice and didn't want to be late.  So Steve and I took the boys to our usual spot by the library.

The boys got in their candy retrieving position, and Steve and I stood behind them.  I loved seeing all of our friends and their children in the parade.  All of the kids had a blast, and Steve and I had fun watching everyone else enjoy themselves!  Bring it Christmas!

Santa is always the finale!