Cheez-Its & Laughter

One of the joys of this Blog is in getting to share our laughter with you, and hopefully, getting you to laugh a little bit (at/with us) as well.

Date Night...Southern style...

Ashton spent most of a recent weekend with his Mommom and Poppop (oh thank god....OH thank god) :)

I missed him terribly (ok...that might be a wee exaggeration).

After making the transfer to his grandparents over breakfast at Denny's in Richmond Hill, I spent a few (peaceful) hours at home working on a furniture-refinishing project of mine.

Later, I cruised on out to Rincon to pick up Stacy and we headed to the Outlet Malls near Hilton Head for some shopping. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast.

As the sun started its descent, we make our way out to the Hwy 21 Drive In. This was my first Drive In experience and I loved it!


Despite a little rain moving us from the back of the truck into the cab, we thoroughly enjoyed our double-features.

Strawberry Festival!

The Ottowa Farms Strawberry Festival in Bloomingdale, GA


Strawberry Fields from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Strawberries!

What a beautiful day it was this past Saturday as Ashton and I headed out to Bloomingdale, GA, to meet up with some friends to enjoy the Strawberry Festival. On top of great weather we had inflatable slides and castles, pony rides, hay rides, homemade strawberry ice-cream, crafts, reenactments, and of course, all the strawberries we could pick!

Pony Ride from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


"Blue Steel"
Of course I couldn't resist getting him a souvenir farm cap!

Bunk Beds a.k.a. Ready-Made-Fort

...my house
has never been cleaner
AND there was money
left over...

So I've been wanting bunk beds for Ash's room for about a year now. They're kind of expensive to buy new, and I hadn't had any luck finding a nice used set.

Finally, I decided that if I cleared out and sold all of his nursery furniture (along with the 3.6 tons of miscellaneous stuff I had crammed in my attic), I'd probably make a pretty good dent in the cost of his new furnishings. Following Stacy's suggestion, I posted my lot on Craigslist over the course of 4 weeks. Not only did I completely pay for his new bed (and chest of drawers), my house has never been cleaner AND there was money left over!

Ashton's New Bunk Beds from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Of course... he can never decide whether he wants to sleep on the top bunk or the bottom bunk... but I suppose there are greater hardships in life :)

Dallas' Birthday at The Flying Frogs

Ashton & his friend Dallas on her birthday...
celebrating at 'The Flying Frogs'


Dallas' Birthday Party from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

This birthday party included most of the children from Ashton's daycare (including the birthday girl - who is also the daycare provider's granddaughter)

This indoor playground for kids has tunnels, chambers, crawl-spaces, video games, a train ride and much, much more! All the kids had a blast!!
Of course... what's a birthday party without pizza, cake and ice-cream?! Amped-up on sugar, Ashton was NOT ready to leave as the party came to an end.


THANK YOU DALLAS for having us at your terrific party!!

Easter Eggs, Easter Basket and CHOCOLATE!

Stacy and Ashton dyed Easter Eggs together this year (I had to work). He certainly seemed to thoroughly enjoy decorating the eggs... there's no doubt that he enjoyed breaking them with daddy the next day!


Ashton's Easter Basket from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


Ashton LOVES Chocolate!
After digging through Ashton's Easter basket,
he and I made up a basket for his Uncle Jon
(who happedened to be working that day at the Fire Station across the street from us)


Stacy, Ashton and I after church on Easter.

St. Patrick's Day & a Visit from Cris!

Another St. Patrick's Day came and went in Savannah, GA. Despite the parade being held 3 days before the actual holiday, Savannah still had very large crowds and lots of fun.

A week before the celebration, the Southern Sturgis' were delighted to get to enjoy several days worth of visit from my cousin Cris. She was making her way cross-country from California to New York, and managed to find time to spend several days with my parents, my brother Jon and Ashton & I (she kept a beautiful blog of her journeys...check it out!)

For the 2nd year now, Ashton and I participated in the 'Shamrock Run' in downtown Savannah.
First, there's a Kiddie Run around City Market (Ashton strutted... jogged, then strutted again), and then a 5k for the adults. Despite the rainy weather, I did ok on the run this year and shaved 2 minutes off of last year's time! I was pleased. Ashton waited for me at the finish line with Stacy and Cris (my cheerleaders).



Here's a super-quick vid from before the race:

Waiting to race! from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Random...

Just a random peak into the past few weeks...



Toddler Control from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

My oscar likes his new 55 gallon home...though he insists on redecorating it at will...


Nail-Biting Entertainment from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.





All for now folks!

My new "friend"..........Stacy

Well she met the folks last weekend, and as she'll likely (hopefully) be showing up in more and more blog posts in the future, I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce Stacy to the rest of you.

I'm not going to jinx anything by talking too much about her...besides, a picture is worth a thousand words...or in this case...a video:
My son...the artist (and an introduction to Stacy) from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

The Little Jumping Bean

Recently, Ashton, Stacy and I went to visit a kids playland known as "The Little Jumping Bean".....(thanks for the recommendation Gina!) The place is full of indoor inflatables that my little man LOVED!!!!


My Jumping Bean from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.











Ahh...to be 3 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.






Thank God He Bounces! from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.




Our visit to The Little Jumping Bean lasted an hour and a half, but Ashton never stopped once the entire time. I've never seen him SO excited for SO long. It was great. We'll definately visit there many times in the future!

Mike Vies for the Subway Guy's Claim-to-Fame

So, as many of you know, I once had lived a very unhealthy and lethargic life. I had managed to turn myself into a sloth (and not the cute kind of Ice Age sloth either). As I found myself, at the end of 2006, facing bachelorhood for the first time in a long time, I decided that I was just too much man for any one woman to handle....too much around the middle, that is.


One of the hardest (and most rewarding) things I've ever done in my life was to go into my local gym for the first time...


Mike's 30 seconds of fame... from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


Now the above mini-commercial shows me trying to act. I did my best to make one of their scripted lines sound like my own. Don't think I quite pulled it off. :)


I have a new-found respect for my brother and sister-in-law and for all of the acting that they have truly done.


This last commercial is a little longer. Both of these ads will be playing on TV here in the Savannah area over the next several months. And for those of you wondering...YES, that half-naked fat pic was really me, and I've lost a total of 55 pounds.


Mike's 120 seconds of fame... from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

What a year to be Thankful for...

The only thing more enjoyable then my brother Josh trying to "add color" to a family picture is when I post that pic on this blog for everyone to see (your welcome Joshua). As always, Mom's efforts in the kitchen were GREATLY appreciated when her holiday feast proved to be mouth-watering and delicious!!
I'll be posting today's updates in reverse-order so that you can enjoy the events in the order that they happened...


Thanksgiving with the family from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Ashton's 3rd Birthday!!!!!

Ashton's birthday this year was a 5-day celebration! After work on Friday (the 7th), we made the 4 hour drive to Atlanta and stayed at one of my company's Doubletree properties in Alpharetta (delightful room and hotel!) The next morning, we woke up early and headed out to the Georgia Aquarium. What a treat that was! It was our first time visiting there, and we had a great time. Ashton especially loved the sea lions...

Georgia Aquarium Sea Lions from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


Georgia Aquarium 3 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Georgia Aquarium 4 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

I've heard tales of how uncomfortably crowded the Aquarium can get, but I think we got there early enough to leisurely take it all in without feeling cramped or rushed.

After our visit with the fishies, we strolled across the street to Atlanta's Centennial Park and played on the playground, watched the ice-skaters and enjoyed the holiday decorations. Next was a little "daddy time", as we headed out to Atlanta's IKEA store for a bit of shopping. VERY COOL store!


That night we drove out to Lake Lanier Islands'...
...Magical Night of Lights


Magical Night of Lights from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.
I had obviously overbooked our Saturday, because by the time we got there, Ashton slept thru the hour and a half that it took to drive the entire light show. I did enjoy it myself though!


Now, if you're familiar with this blog, then you already know what a Doodlebops fan my son is. Sooo....for the main event on our weekend getaway, we wrapped up the trip by seeing his favorite "rock" band Live in Concert at the Philips Arena!! Holy cow! What an experience that was! Of course daddy had to blow a wad of cash before we even got to our seats...what with the new hair, photos, strobe-light flags, and other oh-so-necessary Doodlebop gear...


Doodlebops Concert 1 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Doodlebops Concert 2 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Suffice it to say, Ashton LOVED the show and LIVED in his Doodlebop halloween costume after we got back to Savannah!
After getting home Sunday night, I took Ashton in to daycare on Monday and spent the day in my pj's recovering from the weekend :)

Well Tuesday finally rolled around and the Birthday celebration was ON! I had decided to do the Atlanta trip instead of having a big birthday party, so the folks came over and we had an ice-cream birthday cake and presents...

Ashton's 3rd Birthday Cake from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


Ashton's grandparents were quite proud of themselves when they brought over his thousand-piece present

Ashton's 3rd Birthday....Grandparents' revenge from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


After the gifts were unwrapped and the dust finally settled, Ashton's favorite gift was the box-turned-fort that his new desk came in!
After all of that, I don't think I had ever been so happy to go back to work '-)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Merry Christmas One and All!

What a glorious Christmas we have had this year!! I guess I'm s l o w l y getting older, and perhaps wiser, because the best present I received was Ashton...healthy, and under my roof.

In Savannah, we have to go through several cycles of warm-to-cold-to-warm before Winter finally sticks. As such, Ashton started getting sick in early October, and he seemed to stay that way through November. Thankfully, we were sickness-free during the Holidays (of course, as I type this I can here him starting to cough back in his room).

Ashton went on his first 'field trip' this year when he and the kids from his daycare ventured out to the Savannah Mall to take pictures with Santa...
On Christmas morning, he and I started the crazy gift-unwrapping extravaganza at our home, and then went out to Mommom and Poppop's house for Part Two, with uncles Josh and Jon.

Opening gifts (with the cat's help) Christmas morning...

Christmas at home from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


More gifts (and tape)...

More Christmas at home from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


It took a little bit of time for the adults at Mom and Dad's house to get around to opening their own gifts...we were all having so much fun watching Ashton tear through his like a Tasmanian devil!

I'm not sure that Mommom was too impressed though, when one of her 'smart --s' sons gave her a beaded necklace for her glasses....personally, I think they look very grandmotherly :)

All and all, a very lovely Christmas this year. It would have perhaps been even better if we had been able to visit with Ashton's Nashville family, but we send Season's Greetings out to Janma, Aunt Rachel and Uncles David and Jon!

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a BUSY holiday season this has been! To wrap up the old year - and to welcome in the new one - Ashton, my brothers and I met up with my folks at the Sunbury Crab Company for New Year's Eve dinner. It was wonderful. Delicious food!! While we always try to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family, this is the first time in a long while that we've all been together for New Year's Eve.
The only one missing was my sister-in-law Judit, who spent the holidays with her family in Hungary. She was SORELY missed (especially since there was no one here to keep her husband in check....or to help Mom with the kitchen....or to help keep Ashton occupied....ahem, I mean we love and miss her very much).

Here in Georgia, we can not buy "real" fireworks legally, but we can buy non-explosive fireworks (big Sparklers, really). Luckily, Ashton is still at an age where these displays are quite thrilling. Enjoy the vid...

New Year's Eve 2007/2008 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.
The fireworks in the above vid had pictures of butterflies on the package. Ashton kept waiting for the butterflies to fly up out of the sparkles and pops :)



And with that, another holiday season comes to an end. It was a bit tiring, but extremely enjoyable...one of the best years ever, IMHO. I don't know why Ashton is so wore out in this picture...Daddy did all of the work! We wish peace and prosperity on all family in friends in 2008! Take care everyone!!