Squeezing It All In!

34 weeks!

We are in the final weeks of this pregnancy, and with the holidays rapidly approaching...we are trying to squeeze a lot into a small amount of time.  Of course Christmas shopping has been a priority for me this year, and I am happy to report that I am almost finished (personal record to be this close).  In addition, I have been busy getting the nursery ready, and just doing other "nesting" activities around the house.

Lastly, I am trying to enjoy my final weeks with just two kids.  Though I keep telling them that things are going to change when the baby gets here, I am not sure they get it yet.  So, I took advantage of a scheduling problem Steve and I had today, and set aside a date with each child.

Every year Preston's school hosts a Thanksgiving Feast for all of the kids and their parents.  Every family brings a side dish, and the school provides the turkey.  Since we have had a child at this school, I have NEVER participated in this activity.  I have a problem eating mass produced food, and food prepared by people that I don't know (I mean who knows if they washed their hands, or if their cat was on the counter when they were making their dish?  GROSS!).  Steve has always taken one for the team for this activity, but that didn't happen today because he was playing golf.  So rather than sit through an unappetizing meal watching my picky son eat peanut butter crackers, I checked him out and took him to McDonald's.  I know you may be questioning my reasoning...I mean it is fast food that is mass produced by god knows who, but it is better than canned turkey and random sides...plus I got to hang with my boy for about an hour uninterrupted.


After our quick lunch date, I returned him to school so I could get my hair cut and colored one last time before this baby arrives (priorities people).  Following that appointment, I hightailed it back to Bennett's school to pick her up, and then over to Preston's school to pick him up.  We ran a couple of errands, and then met Steve back at the house.  He and Pres were meeting a friend and his son for some guy's time, while Bennett and I had a date.

I wanted to take her for a real pedicure, and then out for dinner.  This place has the little kid chairs so the girl's feet can easily reach the water, along with DVD players to keep them entertained.  Bennett selected her color, was offered a juice box, and got comfortable in her fancy chair.  She was fascinated with the bath salts while her feet soaked, laughed when they filed her nails (she is ticklish), and thoroughly enjoyed her leg massage.  She felt and looked like such a big girl  After her pedicure, we went out for pizza, where we colored and chatted before our dinner arrived.

It really was a nice day, and a great way to hang with the kids individually.  They each thrive with that quality alone time.  Five and a half more weeks to go for this family of four!

Boo!

Another Halloween has come and gone, and we still have a mountain of candy to prove that we conquered it!  This year it was supposed to rain, so we decided to hit the pavement early.  We headed over to Mimi and Papa's first, and the kids received their first "brick" of candy.

 



After a few photos, we returned home where we joined Steve and hit the neighborhood.  Since we didn't want to be caught on the other side of Homewood in the rain, we decided to park at the Jarmon's house.  We then went trick-or-treating with them for a bit.  It started to sprinkle and Bennett lost interest in a hurry.  Fortunately we were near Louis and Michelle's house, so she decided to stay and pass out candy with her cousins.  Preston, on the other hand, wasn't going to let a little rain slow him down, so he kept going until his pumpkin was full!

Ironman & an Angel

Then we returned to the Jarmon's house where they had a spread of food out!  The kids had fun handing out candy to the other kids who came by, and the adults enjoyed each other's company.  After a couple of hours, it really started to rain.  However, it didn't slow down the children who were on a mission.

When it finally thinned out, we were able to go pick up Bennett and go home.  Another long Halloween, but a fun one!  Kids had a ball with their friends and family, and everyone is happy with the loot they scored!

Carving the Pumpkins!

For the past couple of years, Steve has carved pumpkins for the kids.  They are pretty easy to please, but he has always had trouble with standard kitchen tools.  So this year, I bought a carving kit to make it a little easier for him.  Enclosed with it were several stencils for ideas.  Of course the kids got ahold of those and picked which ones they wanted Daddy to make for them....and they weren't the easiest ones.

Once Steve got the tops cut, he handed the pumpkins over to the kids to clean out.  Like last year, they wanted nothing to do with cleaning out the guts.  It is just "too slimy" for them.  So once again, I cleaned them out.  Since there were so many pumpkin seeds, we decided to roast them for a little snack.

The kids hung around while Steve worked on Preston's pumpkin...a Cyclops.  However, they quickly bored and moved into the living room to watch TV while Steve's hands cramped up and he kept carving Bennett's pumpkin..."Enter if You Dare."


Showing off Preston's pumpkin

Bored already...

 

Off to Old Baker Farm with Preston

Today I had the privilege of going on Preston's first field trip of 5K - Old Baker Farm.  He has been looking forward to it for several days, and thankfully, we had a beautiful day.  I drove a carful of kids and Preston's teacher, Ms. Cassie.  We started the day visiting the baby cows, and watching them feed on giant bottles of milk.

 

my little hotshot

 

Then we took a potty break and let the kids unwind a little on the swing set, before going on a hayrack ride to the pumpkin patch.  Every guest gets to choose a pumpkin, but they are all smaller.  However, leave it up to Pres to find the biggest one in the entire field, by a long shot!

Maddox, Pres and Luke K.

 

We finally made it back to the barn where we enjoyed a quick lunch before visiting more farm animals.  The kids learned a little about each one, and got to pet them.  Finally the kids went through the hay maze (Pres was the first one out)!

Ms. Cassie's class of boys

Pres with Ethan

 

 

Love hanging with my boy!



Happy 42nd Birthday Steve!

Kadie, me & Lauren

Unlike me, Steve actually enjoys his birthday.  So I decided to try out a new restaurant in town the weekend before Steve's big day, and I invited some of our friends to join us.  We had a great group celebrating, and I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt!  The restaurant ended up just being mediocre, but we still had fun being together and telling stories.

Tonight, on his actual birthday, we watched one of Preston's soccer games and then hit a local Mexican place for a late dinner.  Our whole family loves Mexican food, so it is always an easy choice for us.



Steve with Brian J, Brian T, Michael & Ashley

This Saturday, we are sending the kids to his parents for another sleepover so we can have one day/night away from the kids before we add a third one to the mix.  We plan to do a little clothes shopping for Steve, Christmas shopping for the family, and then hunker down at a local spa for a few hours and enjoy some relaxation.  Finally, we look forward to going to our favorite local eatery, Gian Marcos, for some yummy Italian food and Alabama football!! 

Though Steve has a tough week at work, I hope he has enjoyed his week long birthday celebration!  He certainly deserves it, as he works so hard to provide all of us with the comforts of life.  We love you honey and wish you only the best!



Cheers to another awesome year Miz!

AL vs. GA St - Homecoming Game!

At the beginning of this football season, Steve vowed to take the kids to their first Alabama football game.  We decided that Homecoming would be the perfect game since there would be a parade, inflatables on the quad and hopefully lots of our friends with their kids.

However, when the game time (11:20am), and then parade time (7am) were announced....we thought about changing our minds.  We ultimately decided to go for it though, even though Bennett wasn't getting home until 9:30am from her night in Atlanta at the American Girl store with Brian and Henley.  When Bennett got home, we had her change, and we hit the road.

As soon as we parked the car, we walked into the stadium for kick-off.  The Mizeranys have fabulous tickets, but they are in the sun.  And wouldn't you know, mother nature gave us a record-breaking hot day for Oct 5th!  Though the kids were treated to ice cream immediately by their Uncle Dan, it was hard to ward off the sweat.  In between wiping our faces and taking breaks in the shady breezeway, we watched Alabama kick Georgia State's bootie.  Surprisingly the kids made it through the third quarter (all of the trips to the concession stand certainly helped).  In fact, I think they could have made it the entire game, but I was ready to call it since it was a blowout game and I was done sitting in my pool of sweat.

Following the game, we met Sara at the Chi O house for a quick tour and a break in the air conditioning.  We waited out the 4th quarter there before meeting everyone else back at the tailgate.  We spent the remaining couple of hours relaxing under the tent, eating some more food and hanging with the family.  It was a great day, regardless of the heat, and I think the kids had fun at their first football game.