Surreal.

In less than a week...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

...Christmas!

Per our tradition, we spent the Friday after Thanksgiving gearing up for the Christmas holidays.  I know I say it all the time, but I really can't imagine a stage more fun than where my sweet kiddos are now.  They ate up every single second of decorating!  Harris helped bring all the boxes out of the attic and even worked with Ben to decorate the yard.  Babe spontaneously sang Christmas carols all day long, and both kids gasped and exclaimed and grinned like crazy at every item we pulled out of the boxes.

Decorating the tree was a HUGE hit this year.  Once Ben got it set up, Harris, Hadley, and I went to town with the ornaments.  The kids were engaged the entire time and loved hearing stories about each ornament before placing it on the tree.

For the record, they're wearing their pajamas by request.  Harris said the only thing more fun than decorating for Christmas would be decorating for Christmas in his pj's, so we went with it...it was a great decision!

Hadley was thrilled with all the "Christmas animals," and everybody got a big kick out of all the noise-making items we own. :)  Reuniting with the beloved Rudolph and Clarice dolls we made at Build-a-Bear last year was by far the highlight of the morning, though.

In just a few hours, we managed to set up and decorate two trees, line the inside and outside of the house with lights, find places for all of the figurines, hang stockings, set out the Christmas china (totally Ben's!), and even read a few Christmas books.

We celebrated our accomplishments with lunch at Johnny's and a quick rest time before moving on with the rest of our day.  We'll spend the next few days anxiously awaiting the arrival of Herman, our Elf, who according to Harris arrives on December 1, and then counting down the days until Emmy's debut not too much later.

Merry, Merry Christmas, y'all!

Thanksgiving, 2011.

After spending a wonderful afternoon with Ben's family, we couldn't wait to get back with the kiddos and celebrate Thanksgiving all together!

We met up at Granti's house just in time for dinner:  turkey, ham, mac and cheese, asparagus, apricots, dressing, and buffalo chicken dip.  Harris is a turkey-loving fool!!!!

After filling up (again!), we cleaned up, packed up, and headed to downtown Lawrenceville to check out the Christmas tree lighting.  I love, love, love this Thanksgiving tradition, and the kids really enjoyed themselves this year as well.  Hadley, especially, was mesmerized by the "beautiful, colorful" lights, and both Harry and Babe were stoked to wave to Santa as he made his way up the courthouse steps.

Singing along with all the Christmas carols was a big hit, too.  So far this year, favorites include:  Rudolph, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, and "Funny Big Cooper," otherwise known as a crazy version of the The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Thankful doesn't even begin to describe the state of my heart these days. :)

The Polar Express.

We decided to make our trip to the North Pole a little bit early this year.  Ben is typically not a big fan of Christmas celebrations before Thanksgiving, but with our crazy schedule and Emmy's birth right around the corner, this past weekend seemed like the perfect time to make a quick afternoon trip to Chattanooga.  We had a fantastic time!

For the record, I can still fit into my candy cane pants from last year (they just sat a little lower on my waist!) and Ben and me were not the only adults sporting our pajamas, either!  We saw one other mother getting in on the holiday spirit...looks like we might be rubbing off on some folks!

Our timing was perfect, and we arrived at the station just in time!  The ten-minute wait to board was excrutiating for Babe.  She could not focus on anything else but getting her little booty on that train!!!  I seriously think she was soooo nervous that it would leave without her.  Harris, on the other hand, was beside himself excited.  He ran, jumped, clapped, sang, and literally bounced off any wall he could find.

Once we made it to our seats, Hadley was stoked, too.  Both kiddos had such fun checking out the Christmas lights, listening to the Christmas stories, and digging into their gingerbread cookies (we all opted out of the yoo-hoo this year).

We were soooooo pumped to find out that Chef Thomas, our favorite character from last year, was on our train car again this time around!  He and Chef Debbie helped guide us through the magic tunnel and all the way to the North Pole, where Santa and Mrs. Claus boarded the train!!

The kids received their special jingle bells and proceeded to shake them all the way back to the station.  I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday season!

And The SEC East Goes To...

Ben, Harris, and I had a fantastic time celebrating the Bulldogs' victory today in Athens!  Babe spent a "Girls' Day" with Auntie, so Harry got to run the show this afternoon..which bascially means he didn't have to share his cotton candy.

After a slow first half (and a soft pretzel and coke!), we spent the third and fourth quarters screaming, dancing, and cheering the Dawgs onto victory.

We even celebrated with a little "champagne" after returning to our tailgating spot.

It's been a pretty sweet season for both Harris and the G-Dawgs.

The next two weeks should be exciting!

The Thanksgiving Feast.

Harris chose to bring macaroni and cheese to the Primrose Thanksgiving Feast today.  It's possible that I helped him make that decision; I LOVE me some macaroni and cheese!  Regardless, the kiddos had a great time helping me in the kitchen before bed last night.

They have suddenly become very interested in cooking.  I'm thinking it has something to do with the aprons...I mean, it's not like they're mimicking a behavior they see on a regular basis or anything.

Anyway, Ben and I had the pleasure of delivering the mac and cheese to the Kindergarten Feast today.  Primrose, as expected, provided a fantastic start to the holiday spread, and the parents in Harris' class filled in all the gaps.  We ate turkey, corn, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, dressing, pie, and some of the best apple dumplings I've ever put in my mouth.

And the best part is that we got to share lunch with this crazy Indian:

We are so very, very thankful for that sweet boy.

And so completely stoked for the holiday season! :)

Game Day!

We met the crew for breakfast burritos as we geared up for a win over New Mexico State today.  The kids were able to get in a little cornhole action and enjoy some time with our "younger" adult friends before we headed to the stadium.

I still can't believe that both kiddos get to tag along with Ben and me whenever they're able.  I never, ever thought we'd bring them so often, but they get so excited about Game Day that it's impossible to say no.

My two favorite parts of the day, in fact, include both Harry and Babe.  On our way to the stadium this morning, Hadley, while riding on Ben's shoulders, led the crowd in a cheer (Hadley:  "Georgia!", Ben, Biggie Chase, and other bystanders:  "Bulldogs!") and Harris shook his little bootie and danced like a fool every time he heard musc inside the stadium today.

Of course, we indulged in cotton candy and pizza, and the Bulldogs "almost got all the way to 100 points," so a fun time was had by all.

We even ended the day with a stop by Mema's house, which is always a treat.

Harris, I'm sure, has already begun counting down the days to the Kentucky game, while Miss Priss will have to settle for coming back next season.


Goooooooo Dawgs!!!

The Provino's "Sprinkle."

Catherine hosted a "sprinkle" for Emmy and me last Thursday night at Provino's.  Awesome doesn't even begin to describe the evening.

We laughed, ate, laughed, ate, laughed, ate, talked about reality television shows, laughed, ate, opened gifts, laughed, and enjoyed a double decker cookie cake (which, of course, is the only thing I took a picture of).

Holy smokes!  My stomach is huge!

It was such fun to get a night out with good friends and great food, and our family was once again blessed with lots of things we need to get ready for Emmy's arrival.

It's so hard to believe that she'll be here in just about a month! 

Celebrating Emmy.

I was so blessed to get to spend a morning last week celebrating Emmy's upcoming arrival with some of the super awesome people at work.  I didn't take a ton of pictures (again!), but so enjoyed the delicious breakfast casseroles and unbelieveably generous gifts from my co-workers.

I don't talk about my job much, but I absolutely love my school.  And I absolutely love my BWF (Best Work Friend), Jennifer.  We work hard, play hard, and just generally have a good time together.

And she loves me enough to nicely fold every piece of tissue paper I was given simply because I asked her to do so.

It's hard to believe that less than two years ago, these lovely people were helping me celebrate my upcoming wedding. 

I love my life.

Happy Halloween!

Many, many months ago, Harris and Hadley announced that they would like to dress up as Rudolph and Clarice (from the claymation movie) for Halloween.  Turns out they held true to their word...and we ended up with the cutest Halloween reindeer ever.

Halloween has become a family affair around these parts, and this year was no exception.  Mom and Mo even got in on the costume action...Mom as a "librarian" (no offense to the librarians out there) and Mo as a "Jamaican."  Cassidy was just herself.

Quinnie and Pay Pay came to Trick or Treat as well, and Raven and Sam Sam joined in on the fun, too.

The kids did a great job hitting up about a third of the neighborhood and had an even better time working on their candy inventory at the end of the night.  Babe and Harry especially enjoyed handing out candy to everyone who knocked on our door after we'd returned home.

The kids are already counting down the days until next October.  Costume ideas are floating around and Ben and I are preparing ourselves to dress up three kids rather than two!!!

Not that I'm complaining.

Not at all.