Are we there yet…

This Thanksgiving marked a new era. An era where three kids, all under the age of two, ruled the roost. An era where five dogs roamed the house, and an era where all formality was thrown out the window.

This Thanksgiving, the fine china was replaced by paper plates. Mismatched flatware and turkey printed napkins took the place of Chantilly silver and freshy pressed family linens. This Thanksgiving, we exchanged the formal dining room for an oil stained carport and drank sweet tea from red solo cups.

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated what mattered most–good Southern cooking, lots and lots of pecan pie, and of course, family!

Hendley (21 months) and Mary Reese (14 months)

Big Daddy holding Trent and MR doing what she does best, waiving.

“Cook” and Hendley and Uncle Brother and Mary Reese

Aunt Ju-Ju and MR

Big Daddy and the girls

We waited in line with dozens of others for a ride on the Pink Pig. The Pink Pig has been a holiday tradition in Atlanta since 1953. For two whole minutes, MR grinned from ear to ear as we rode Priscilla, the pink pig, through a life-sized story book of Christmas in Atlanta. Christmas trees, candy canes, and lots of sweet southern pigs dressed in their Sunday best filled the tracks.

After our adventures on Priscilla, we headed to meet Santa Claus. Last year, it was the “deer in headlights” look. This year, it was sheer terror. MR sent elves scrambling and had Santa seriously considering early retirement. She kicked. She screamed, and she cried like I had never seen before. $24 later and much to the relief of the staff, we left Santaland with two 5 X 8 pictures of this…

Here are a few other “keepers” that Garrett took…I’m pretty sure none of these pictures will be in the running for this years Christmas card.

Some call it obnoxious, I prefer  “eagerly festive”. So what if it’s a week before Thanksgiving….we’re in full-out Christmas mode at the Harvey house! The decorations have started to surface, my XM radio is set to “Continuous Christmas”, and sweet Mary Reese is dressed in all of her Christmas best. I simply adore this time of year and feel so blessed to be able to celebrate this holiday season back home!

A dinner party on Thursday, a weekend trip to Athens on Friday, G’s 29th birthday on Saturday, and the arrival of Trent and Lauren’s new puppy topped off our weekend. We’ve been mighty busy around here lately, but having lots of fun!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

* ½ cup butter
* ½ cup sugar
* ½ cup brown sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1¼ cup flour
* ½ tsp baking soda
* ½ tsp salt
* ¾ cup macadamia nuts
* 1 cup white chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 375°
2) Mix butter with sugars until lumps are gone.
3) Add ingredients in following order: egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and salt.
4) Mix until creamy.
5) Stir in macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.
6) Spoon dough on parchment paper and bake at 375° for 10 to 15 minutes.

1) Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes or until it’s well browned on both sides and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
2) Prepare the stuffing in the skillet according to the package directions except let stand for 2 minutes.
3) Return the chicken to the skillet. Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with the cheese.
4) Cover and cook over medium heat until the mixture is hot and the cheese is melted.

Recipes aside, here are a few pictures from our weekend in Athens…

On Friday night, MR stayed up til’ 9:15 -two hours past her normal bedtime- watching the Wizard of Oz and eating a big bowl of Big Daddy’s frozen yogurt. Those dancing Lollipop kids sure got her giggling.

On Saturday, we watched the first half of GA/Auburn game at Locos. MR, knowing very little about football, chose to wear an orange dress instead of a red one.  Her daddy was not too happy with her decision, but decided to let it go when she ate 2 of the 4 crayons that the nice waiter gave her. Sometimes, you just have to choose your battles.

Look closely, the “golden” Elmo and MR are slowly but surely becoming an inseperable pair.

We spent the second half of the game at Uncle Brother’s and Crazy Aunt Cookie’s (CAC) house.

CAC quickly moved to MR’s #1 spot after taking her outside to play in the leaves.

And finally, meet Vince, Trent and Lauren’s adorable new puppy. I’m thinking about photoshopping Uncle Brothers camouflage jacket so that this can be their Christmas card picture. And while I’m at it, I might as well take care of that pacifier hanging out of Aunt Cookie’s pocket…

where baths in the sink are the norm,

where the sunrise is worth getting out of bed for,

where a 7 year old dog becomes a puppy again,

where an old dock has heard em’ all,

where the townspeople are always glad to see you,

where there’s a fair most weekends in the fall,

where people live and breathe Georgia football,

where a goose named Goolsby rules the roost,

where three sets of grandparents, one great grandmother, and countless other relatives spoil you rotten,

where there is no such thing as a bad hair day,

where fields of cotton line the street,

and where I hope this baby girl will always call “home”.

She pitched a big one, right there on the floor of Barnes and Noble for all to see. Back arched, screaming and kicking. I tried my best to calm her down. And then I gave in. She won. Her prize for labeling me a pushover mom– a $25 Elmo that she hasn’t touched since she’s gotten home. If I had known that that little red devil cost that much, I would have left him in the middle of B&N for another helpless, defeated mom to stumble upon.

Now that we are the proud owners of yet another stuffed animal, you better believe that I’m doing my best to make these two inseparable. We’ve taken the ridiculously overpriced Elmo on a stroller ride, to Target, and on a spin around the neighborhood in Lil’ Miss Rosy. I’ve even threatened to take away Pink Poodle if she doesn’t form a fast friendship with her furry red friend.

I’ve also explained that this impulse purchase may prevent her from receiving the Giddyup N’ Go Pony that Garrett and I desperately want she is dying to receive. Check him out, he’s way cooler than the Teddy Ruxpin of my time.

We also picked up this “Musical Dora” book so we could brush up on our Spanish during our 5 hour ride to the coast.

A small purse was all the incentive Mary Reese needed to get on her feet and take her first steps. Without missing a beat, she slung that purse over her shoulder and took three BIG steps! By the time I grabbed my camera, she back to her crab crawling ways. Needless to say, we spent the remainder of the day practicing our new trick and celebrating this much anticipated milestone. Part of the celebration included a trip to the Department of Transportation to trade in our Virginia plates for Georgia ones. Personal pan pizzas and bow making followed. But, the real celebration will begin tomorrow as we head to the coast for a long weekend of family, fun, and lots and lots of bbq!

Because I know my sweet husband has always wanted a personalized tag like this…

The other mom’s were right…I made all of these bows for the price of one. Each bow cost less than a dollar to make!  

If you’re ever on Lee Street around mid afternoon, look for my future politician. She’s the one standing in the front yard, smiling and waiving to all of the cars as they go by. She learned this “trick” from her Papa Joe. We’ve been telling him about it for weeks, but this past Sunday he was able to see for himself.

Mary Reese has always been a social child. She loves to laugh and smile. I’m thinking she would make a great politician one day. Who knows, maybe she will join forces with Piper Palin in the 2044 presidential election. If being a politician doesn’t suit her fancy, I’m quite confident that she would make a great Walmart greeter. Whichever she chooses, I hope she will always hold on to her sweet smile and loving spirit.

We are anxiously awaiting the results of tonight’s election. Fortunately, the voting lines were not too bad this morning. Garrett waited for an hour and a half and I only had to wait 20 minutes. With the vote behind us, you can bet that I’m aiming for an early afternoon nap so that I can stay up late to watch the election coverage!

If she does decide to run for political office, I hope these nude pics will not resurface during election time…