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.

 

 

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday Preston!

Hard to believe that my lil baby boy is now 5 years old!  Since he was born, he has been a mama's boy, and we certainly have a special bond.  Preston has always been an animated little guy with more faces than Jim Carrey, and a personality to match!  He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing with his silly antics.  Pres loves most everything he does, and is always up for a challenge.  He loves his big sister, and I know he'll be a great big brother to the new baby.  Though he has been more challenging the past month of so, we are confident our little "attorney" is just testing his boundaries.

Here is his birthday interview from this morning:

 

We love you John Preston Mizerany, and all of the joy you bring to our lives!  Happy Birthday buddy!

Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party!

As Preston's birthday approached, we began talking to him about what he wanted to do for his birthday.  Initially, he couldn't decide, but he ultimately decided to have his party at Chuck E Cheese!  Since we knew the kids would receive hand stamps on their way into the facility that match ours, we thought we could handle it if it was a drop-off party...so we went with it.



The shark fin he wanted to wear all day!

After shark week aired on television, Pres was obsessed with sharks and wanted the party to have a shark theme.  He began circling items in the Oriental Trading magazine, and chose exactly what would go in the goody bags.  He also knew he wanted a shark on his cake, and a piñata (what four year old is so choosy?).  Unfortunately, Chuck E Cheese doesn't allow piñatas, so we had the children back to our house afterward to break it open.  Between Pres and I, we had the party planned and hoped it would go smoothly.

This morning, all of the Homewood kids were dropped off at our house, and we shuttled them all to the restaurant, and were amongst the first ones to arrive.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first hour, so things went smoothly as the kids played the arcade games.  The second half of the party involved the kids eating their pizza, Chuck E Cheese singing "Happy Birthday" to Preston and then the cutting of the cake.  At the end, we cashed in all of the kid's tickets and let them choose their prizes.  We left shortly after noon with the kids and headed back to our house.  Here are photos of our fun at the restaurant:

Pres with William Tanner

Hen and Bennett

Steve showing Pres how to play

George Brockwell and Batch Bennett

Banks Harmon

Giving Chuck E some love!

Luke Serotsky trying to win more tickets

My "mama's boy"

Preston's Cake

Pres in ticket blaster!

tickets were even in his goggles!

All the kids before we left (minus Banks)!

Steve strung up the piñata, and let Preston take three swings at it first.  Then each child got one good whack at it, with the last one leaving a good dent in it.  We looped back around to Preston, and with that swing, he took it down and it broke open.  The kids were like sharks with all of the candy, quickly loading up their bags (and eating some of it).  Once it was all collected off the driveway, we loaded them up and returned them to their respective homes.

Before the piñata!

Pres had the lucky shot at the end!

Lil sharks attacking their prey

Pres with his loot!

It ended up being a great party, and Preston received some awesome birthday gifts from his buddies.  When Steve asked him if he had fun, he said it was "the best day ever."  So if the birthday boy is happy, we are happy!  Happy 5th Birthday to our little man!