Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice and made such sweet memories with our families.

Although Grandmommy was still recovering from surgery a few weeks ago, nothing will stop her from hosting a beautiful Thanksgiving feast. Luckily Daddy was able to take off the entire week and head to Madison early on Tuesday to help prepare for the big event. 

I have said it a million times that I absolutely love taking pictures at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's house. The big front porch and country landscape are just begging for me to take out my camera. Ironically sometimes the subjects are just not interested in the photo session...

The food was delicious, and the company was even better. I could watch my babies and my nieces play all day. :)

Jacob was such a trooper with skipping his nap. It was the first time in his life that he did not get to grab any sleep at all during the day. By 5pm he was falling asleep sitting up on the couch. Daddy and I were not against the extra snuggles!

I grabbed some photos of the Peace family for their Christmas card. I am not sure which photo they are planning to use, but this one is my pick.

Maggie worked as my assistant to get the girls to smile. They were cracking up at her antics behind the camera.

Saturday we continued our Thanksgiving festivities with lunch at Gram and Grump's house. I never pull out my camera as much with my family. I think I get too distracted catching up with everyone. This year the crowd grew, and we had 30 people at the meal! I love all the new additions to our holidays.

It was a Thanksgiving miracle to get all the little cousins looking at the camera AND smiling at the same time. It may never happen again!

Gram decided to get very creative for our Christmas event. All the little children will be putting on a nativity play- complete with costumes! Clearly retirement has inspired the creative side of my mother. :) We cannot wait to see everyone again in a few weeks!

Let's Feast!

We started our Thanksgiving celebrations with feasts at school. Daddy was able to take some vacation time and join us, as well. Unfortunately Jacob's holiday party was at the same time, so we chose Tuttle and Maggie's lunch this year since they will remember it more. :)

Maggie was not a huge fan of her pilgrim attire, but I convinced her to take one photo. 

Tuttle was allowed to come to Maggie's lunch, so we could all eat together. He lucked out with two lunches that day.

I was thrilled that Jacob was feeling better to attend his Thanksgiving feast with the Busy Bee friends. He had been battling a double ear infection this week and not sleeping very well at night. He was back to his normal self on Thursday after a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and some much needed medication.

The kids are elated that they get a full week out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am looking forward to sleeping in!

We have so much to be thankful. Being a mommy to my three babies tops the list.

Datenight and Disappoint

Jay and I were able to sneak in a datenight on Friday evening before all the holiday chaos begins. We grabbed some drinks at Atlantic Station and then saw the Cirque Du Soleil performance of Luzia. Jay had never been to a Cirque Du Soleil show, so I was super excited for him to experience it! We both thoroughly enjoyed the amazing performers, especially the soccer players and the acrobats.

Saturday was filled with Tuttle's final soccer game of the season, lunch at Whole Foods, and the anticipation leading up to the Georgia/Auburn game. 

We were invited over to the Poole's new house to cheer on the Dawgs, but unfortunately our team let us down. At least we looked cute losing.....

Daddy worked hard to get all our new appliances installed this week in the kitchen, and with Grump's help today, everything is up and running! I absolutely love them and know they will be put to good use this holiday season. (Plus Jay is completely on board with my kitchen renovation now that we have the appliances in place! My old cabinets, counter tops, and floors look much worse next to my shiny new pieces. Win!)

We are ready for another week now!

A Winning Weekend

We traveled to Athens this past weekend to cheer on the Dawgs with the entire Thorne family. While we sold our tickets to the game, I think the best cheering section was right in Granny's living room. Jay and I picked up barbecue to share, and Aunt Peach brought ingredients to make a UGA house and football field out of gingerbread supplies!

I look for any excuse to pull out my camera, so all the cousins in their finest red and black made for a perfect photo session. My easiest subject was sweet Piper. She had a constant smile on her face and stayed in one spot. Holland and Jacob made a competition to see who could run away the fastest! :)

We decided to make it a day trip to Athens since Jacob sleeping in a big boy bed is so new. It was the perfect day filled with food, family, and another win for the Dawgs!

Sunday we gained an extra hour and started our day early to head to Burt's Pumpkin Farm for our annual trip to the patch. The drive to Dawsonville was lined with beautiful fall leaves, and the weather could not have been more perfect. We filled our time at Burt's Farm with photos among the pumpkins and a tractor hayride (which surprisingly Jacob was scared of and snuggled in as close to Daddy as possible). 

We were not ready to head home quite yet, so we ventured to Amicalola Falls for a quick look and then found ourselves down the road in Dahlonega at a sweet diner for lunch. It was such a memorable day that came together all on its own. 

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Happy Halloween!

We cut it close this year, but Daddy and I managed to complete our annual pumpkin carving contest the night before Halloween. I had to try five stores before I successfully found the tiny carving tools! The process went smoothly right after dinner, and we finished our designs just in time for Maggie and Tuttle to admire them before heading to bed. I was 100% convinced that my Georgia Bulldawgs design would reign supreme over Jay's spider, but the Facebook voters almost unanimously carried Daddy's pumpkin to carving victory! I just hope that my losing will not affect the rest of the football season. :)

The kids and I arrived at school eager for the Book Character Parade on Tuesday morning. Maggie made an outfit change last minute when she decided to portray her role model, Simone Biles, with a biography we checked out from the library. Tuttle's Halloween costume carried over to the parade.

I always love seeing how creative the kids get with their books. Anne of Green Gables and a teacher line of The Day The Crayons Quit were some of my favorites this year.

My next stop was Jacob's first preschool party to celebrate Halloween with his Busy Bee friends. Jacob was calmly sitting at the table eating lunch when I arrived, but he did not sit down again once his mommy was present. He has such a sweet class, and I loved seeing all his little buddies at the party.

Before long it was time to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. 

We hit a few houses on our street before walking over to Redding Road for the big event. Tuttle found a friend on the way, and we did not see him again until dark. Jay and I found ourselves asking, "Where's Waldo," all night long. 

Jacob quickly realized how the whole candy thing worked and bounded from house to house. At one point, I had to chase him inside a neighbor's home because he took it upon himself to walk right in to find the barking dog in the back. While Maggie still preferred to hold my hand to each house, Jacob was the most independent little boy on the street. 

We just love our neighborhood so much! It was another successful Halloween for our family!