It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

A long long time ago (like, 2 months), back in the peaceful ages before my son knew about Peanut Butter Jelly Time...things were quiet and serene in my house.

And then...
My thoughtful and helpful girlfriend looked at us in shock when she realized that Ashton and I were unfamiliar with Peanut Butter Jelly Time...

Stacy remedied that oversight quickly.




Ashton LOVES Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
I mean, he REALLY LOVES it.





Now here's a YouTube video that Ashton and I can agree on...


That vid always cracks us up!

(And Ashton is perfecting his British accent...

...his Aunt Judit would be proud)

Once again at the pool...

Spending another wonderful summer day
with several friends at Karen and Pete's pool.






Ashton and his ladies...
:)
(Kailey and Avery)

*~* FIREWORKS *~*

2008's 4th of July was celebrated near the Westin Hotel overlooking the Savannah River.

Last year Stacy, Ashton and I found a spot on Hutchinson Island, next to the Westin, that afforded us an excellent vantage point for the show. It also gave us access to a little-known shortcut providing quick escape to the interstate once the festivities were complete.

Needless to say, we definitely took advantage of that again!



Don't worry...
Ashton only had first-degree burns after playing with the sparklers :)

So sweet....

Yes, I'm still sans hair in this photo...
No, Stacy didn't like me clean-shaven...
Yes, I now have hair again.

This is SUCH a cool pic!
Love it!!
Grand Finale...

June 2008 - Beach, Pool and Stick your tongue out and bite it

Jekyll Island

First off...yes...I am sporting the Lex Luthor look in this pic.

From time to time...much to my poor girlfriend's chagrin...I like to suddenly shave...my face...my head...my...

Making an in-ground pool

Stacy getting some sun

Mr. Cool

Karen and Pete's Pool

A couple of friends of ours have very graciously invited us over several times during the summer to enjoy their hospitality and their pool.

It has given Ashton some wonderful deep-water exposure.




We're still a ways away from him swimming like a fish, but at least he's slowly getting over his fears and having a blast doing it!

Stick Your Tongue Out And Bite It

This is nothing more than a "night in the life" at our house.

The following video is VERY typical Ashton behavior.

He cracks me up! :)

Loving Spring time...

My Easter Lily!
(oh yeah...and my son)


Smile, Smell...POPCORN!





For my parents anniversary Ashton and I dog/house-sat while my folks got away for the weekend. That we managed to get their home put back in one piece and (somewhat) the way we found it before they returned was amazing. I had to sort through my videos carefully in making the following selections (had to make sure that we didn't incriminate ourselves)



What a look!


My parents beautiful German Shepherd "Ajax"

May 2008 - A Day at the Beach

Tybee Island...
We made it to the beach a couple of times this summer, though truth be told, daddy more often than not pushes for the pool (not a big fan of cleaning sand out of 3 year old).

This, however, was a great day at the beach!
Ashton is becoming more and more comfortable with the ocean. He LOVES the waves and when daddy has to lift him over each new set.

We swam, collected shells, and made castles (pile of collapsing sand). Of course, no day at the beach is complete without Cheez-Its!

Tybee Island Lighthouse

This was the first time that Ashton and I explored the lighthouse together.

He did great!

It was SUCH a beautiful day on the island that when we finished playing in the surf we weren't quite ready to go home.

Ash wanted to see the lighthouse and I still had just enough energy to make a day of it.
There are 178 steps in the lighthouse, and since Ashton was aching to see it, I made sure he climbed (and descended) every last one of them! :)




The grounds of the lighthouse are beautiful and very well maintained.
The staff were wonderful, and they all seemed to go out of their way to interact with Ashton.
Of course, the best part of the visit was reaching the top.
WHAT A VIEW!
I've been to the lighthouse before but it's been many years.


Now all of the wind up there did make me a bit nervous...
but if Ashton could do it then so could I!

April 2008 - Hip Hop at Uncle Josh's

With the Backstreet Boys recently making a comeback...
I will certainly encourage Ashton's expressive side...

Do you think that child celebrities
really take care of their parents?
Hmmm....



Hanging out with Uncle Josh

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!