Thanksgiving Part II

We celebrated Thanksgiving for the second time on Saturday with my family. Jay, Tuttle, and I arrived at my aunt and uncle's house around halftime during the Georgia/Georgia Tech game. Gooooo Dawgs!

Tuttle cuddled with his great-grandmother for a minute, but he rarely wants to sit still for long. 

My family is pretty small, and everyone is very close. We all live in the Atlanta area, except my cousin, her husband, and their seven month old daughter, Gwen. The babies were definitely the stars of the show. When Gwen woke up from her nap, she was very interested in Tuttle's hair. Tuttle did not seem to mind her pulling on it a little bit. Good practice for the next baby! :)

 

We ate another delicious Thanksgiving meal. This one has my favorites: mashed potatoes, my grandmother's dressing recipe, sweet potatoes with marshmellows, corn souffle, and rolls. Deviled eggs are my normal contribution, but I have decided all eggs are plotting against me to not cook thoroughly. I have cooked a batch at least six times in the last month, and they are NEVER finished! 

Tuttle does not last long at the table, so I took him outside to play while everyone else finished their food. He was in HEAVEN! 

We have a lot of November birthdays in our family. Presents are always opened after the big meal. Jay even snuck in this year even though his birthday is at the end of December. :)

Robb and Gwen

Jay catching up with my cousin, Anne. 

She does it all-teaches writing to several classes at Kennesaw, grades milions of papers (the things I miss least about teaching) and is working on her novel!!

Gram sharing her banana pudding with Tuttle. Yum!!

My little boy has a clear obsession with anything musical. Once he spotted my uncle's guitar, there was no going back. Larry let Tuttle strum along with him for a little while. I pulled out my old guitar today, and it was a huge hit!

 

I cannot wait to see everyone again at Christmas!

Thanksgiving Part I

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jay's family in Madison yesterday. We decided to make it a day trip because it requires so much packing for one night with two adults, a toddler, and a dog. Tuttle grabbed a quick nap on the drive to his Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house, so we was ready to celebrate the rest of the day! :)

Allison and Brooke

Matt and Haley 

Grandmommy always hosts the best Thanksgiving meals. She starts working on the presentation and prep work a week before, and her efforts pay off. The house looks festive, and the food is delicious!

Jamie and Laurie Beth

After lunch, everyone headed out to the backyard to catch up and throw the football. Tuttle was able to charm multiple people into pushing him in his car. :)

Later, we relaxed inside with our annual Scrabble game. I really liked the new version we learned to play because it is very face paced. I had the high score of 109! Woohoo!!

Tuttle relaxing with Grandmommy watching Frosty the Snowman. (He found the DVD after snooping around in Grandmommy and Granddaddy's room!)

The best part about Thanksgiving is that we get TWO day of family. Up Next: Corbitt Thanksgiving on Saturday accompanied with some Georgia football!!

Big News for the Thorne Family

Tuttle has something special to share. Hint: Check out his shirt. :)

That is right! He will be a big brother in July!!

Although it is suggested that you should not share your baby news until the second trimester, I am not one to keep a surprise for long. We are just so excited!! Please keep our little peanut in your prayers.

We were able to share our exciting news with our friends at Val and Paul's Thanksgiving Potluck. Paul used his Green Egg to make a delicious turkey, and everyone else supplied the rest of the traditional sides. (We brought green bean casserole and my grandmother's dressing.)

My husband hubby and the grill master

Newly Mrs. Burke and Soon-to-Be Mrs. Poole

We are truly thankful for our friends. It was so much fun to share our baby news with them, and like usual, Paul and Val were the best hosts!!

The Pink Pig/Santa/GNO

Wow! What a busy weekend, and it is only Saturday night! :)

Friday we met Stella and Dylan for a playdate. We have missed them so much and could not wait to see them! I rememberd the Pink Pig was already open at Lenox Mall, so Sarah (the kids' mom) and I decided that was a great place to meet up.

I was pleasantly surprised that we did not have to wait in line very long. I heard it could take over an hour to ride the classic Christmas pig!!

Tuttle seemed very excited about the ride until we actually sat down. He did not get upset, but his face looked a little nervous!

Since the ride was so quick, we decided to treat the kids to cookies inside the mall. The cookie stand was right beside Santa, and there was NO LINE to talk to him. I never thought I would see the day that you could walk right up to Santa. Stella and Tuttle sat on Santa's lap. I figured this was a good trial run because I wanted to take him back in his Christmas clothes. He did not cry at all. He was too busy being mesmerized by Santa's shiny buttons on his red coat. :)

Later that night, I met up with my girlfriends for a Girl's Night Out!! I had been looking for the this dinner for weeks! Everyone who came lives in Ashford Park (our new neighborhood), and I am beyond thrilled that I will officially live near my friends on December 29 (the closing date.)

Me, Laurel, and Mary

Calley, Tracey, and Jamie

We ate the yummest dinner at Twist. It was only 8:30 when we finished, and we decided that was ENTIRELY too early to head home, so we went to a local wine bar, Pour.

I could not stop laughing all night! This was a much needed night out, and I insisted that we do it once a month from now on. :)



Preschool Thanksgiving Party

My preschool class celebrated Thanksgiving today since we are out of school next week. I absolutely love creating the traditional holiday crafts with my kids as well as adding some original ideas. The kids created the tried and true handprint turkeys and later decorated pilgrim hats. Everyone could not wait to show off their artwork to their moms and dads at the party! :)

I made some special turkey sandwiches. Gobble! Gobble!

Some of my preschool cuties!

 

I was able to catch the tailend of Tuttle's Thanksgiving party. He did not know what to think of his mommy being in class with him because he is so used to being dropped off and avoiding my classroom. He did not want me to set him down!

The parents asked my advice to get their toddlers to eat since Tuttle had devoured so much food at the party! I told them it must be their yummy cooking because he is getting very picky at home. The only foods he will ALWAYS eat are waffles, goldfish, yogurt smoothies, crackers, Chickfila nuggests, and Gerber ravioli. The only vegetable he will always touch is lima beans-very random!

The food must have been great! He wanted to bring two handfuls to music time on the rug! Hehe

Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for this year!

Officially Under Contract!

Today we went under contract on our first home! I am so excited I can barely stand it, especially after the mountain of house drama we experienced in the past year. This is my absolute dream home, and I cannot wait to make lots of memories (and blog posts!!) in our first house!

Here are some pictures from zillow.com:

Home, SWEET, Home!!

UGA/Auburn Game

This past weekend we headed to Athens to cheer on the Dawgs as they played against the Auburn Tigers/War Eagles. Our family holds a special place for Auburn in our hearts since Jay got his Masters Degree from there, but we still bleed red and black. :)

Our best family photo with a toddler

This was the game that most of Jay's friends decided to come to, so they put together a huge tailgate. I decided to bring Tuttle, so he would not miss all the fun! I was a little nervous because we would be on campus for a LONG time, but I crossed my fingers that he would fall asleep in the stroller if he was exhausted enough.

Jon and Stephanie

Tuttle wanted to keep up with the big boys!  
The sweetest group of guys let Tuttle "play" football with them.

 Tuttle was practicing for his college tailgating days with an EMPTY bottle.

Why does my husband always make crazy faces in pictures???

Tuttle and I ventured across campus to visit some of my friends.

 

Courtney, Beth Ann, and Michelle- My Sigma Kappa Sisters

 

My good friend, Kris. 

We cannot wait to visit you in Macon very soon!

 COMPLETELY exhausted, chicken leg in hand! :)

The Dawgs did not disappoint at all! They KILLED Auburn 45-7. Jay even had to leave the game around halftime because he thought it was too good to be true! :) Tuttle and I headed back to Granny' house after tailgating and both took naps. Perfect day in Athens, Georgia!!