Sorry. Can't. Sports. Bye.

 We always attempt to stay busy and active during the winter months, so we can forget how cold it is! We are just not build for icy temperatures. 

Jacob and his Warrior team achieved the impossible with an undefeated season and took home the championship title. We loved watching these boys grow as players. They were unstoppable and really won as a team. Coach Matt promised them a party at Chuck E. Cheese for the championship win, so we have one more celebration with the Warriors to look forward to this weekend!

Tuttle finished his wrestling season with the River Ridge Knights. He did not get to compete as much as he would have liked being an 8th grade on a high school team, but he gained a lot of confidence and even more muscle. It took some convincing to get Tuttle committed to wrestling, but he cannot wait to continue training and solidify his spot on the team in 9th grade.

Tuttle and Jacob immediately moved into spring baseball with evaluations at the beginning of February. While Tuttle knows a few kids on his Reds team, Jacob is starting out fresh on the Mets with new coaches and teammates. Practices have started three days a week for each team, but I will definitely enjoy baseball more when I am not freezing on the bench!

Maggie continues to improve during meet season. She is BACK and ready to show out. Our home meet, Champions Cup, is always a great experience for the girls, and Maggie achieved several goals this past week. She received her highest score ever on any event with her floor routine of 9.7, and she crushed her beam personal best score with a 9.55 and a 1st place medal. Bars had a strong performance with a 9.45 even though she was competing with a ripped grip. Maggie is now focused on bringing her vault score in line with the other events.

Jay and I are also focusing on our health as we creep closer to Spring Break. I am on Week 3 of intermittent fasting, and Jay is back to running. We are crossing our fingers that we are as mentally tough as our kids to stay committed to exercising. :)

Meet Season

 Meet Season came on fast and furious with half the season already over. After a few weeks break for the holidays, the Level 7 girls competed in three competitions in January. 

Maggie has experienced some mental blocks on bars and beam, but she has continued to train and fight through them. We have talked a lot about how to handle yourself when you are not performing at your standards, and the importance of staying positive for your team. Gymnastics is so much more than back handsprings and pointed toes. Maggie has been hit with opportunities to grow as a person with her setbacks, and I am proud of the work she has put into her skills and her attitude.

Our travel meet sent us to Orlando to compete in the Sand Dollar Invitational. Maggie and Riley loved flying down together. Their airport antics had us laughing the entire time!

Our hotel was connected onto Disney Springs, so we made reservations for dinner at Rainforest Cafe for our first night before the meet. I was not ready for the freezing Florida temperatures!

Meet Day allowed us to actually sleep in and enjoy breakfast at the hotel before arriving at The Wide World of Sports.

Beam was the first event and did not go well , and it’s hard to recover from that. Bars were last. Not to be dramatic but Maggie was paralyzed during warmups. She was not able to complete a full routine and finally couldn’t even push herself to touch the bar. Frozen in place. Her turn was up first. She came out of NOWHERE and showed up with a beautiful routine. I am SO INCREDIBLY PROUD of what Maggie represented today. It’s not always about the medals.

We extended our trip an extra day to experience a little Disney magic at Magic Kingdom. I do not think our group was prepared for our boot camp style of tackling all the rides, but we kept them in line. :)

One of the most special parts of the day was eating in the West Wing at the Be Our Guest Castle. Our three course meal was delicious, and the atmosphere was incredible. I was a big fan of the French Onion Soup and the "grey stuff."

Our group successfully tackled TWELVE rides from rope drop to 6pm. Maggie and Riley loved Tron, but I always enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain the most! Everyone was Disney tired and ready to fly home.

Maggie had zero time to recover before returning to the gym just hours after landing in Atlanta. Atlanta Centennial Classic was in less than a week, and Maggie was determined to overcome her blocks and make her scores to train Level 8. Roswell requires two 36+ all around scores from meets during the season. 

Riley was Maggie's good luck charm, and she achieved her goal of a 36.325. She medaled on bars, floor, beam, and all around. Maggie was very pleased with her performance and now gets to focus on tightening her skills for three weeks before the next meet at home.

Gymnastics is definitely a roller coaster of emotions from long hours at the gym, mental blocks, potential injuries, and balancing life, but Maggie would not have it any other way! :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Jacob!

 We celebrated Jacob turning EIGHT!

After another basketball win with his Warriors team (Undefeated 7-0!), we loaded up the car with three buddies and headed to Atlanta for an escape room. This was Jacob's first time experiencing an escape room, and I was excited to find a basketball locker room themed location. The boys were FULL of energy and ready to tackle the challenge.

With Daddy and Tuttle's help the boys escaped with six minutes to spare!

Initially Jacob wanted to eat dinner at Wendy's, but we convinced him that The Varsity was the better choice, especially since we were so close.

These boys had so much fun celebrating Jacob. The afternoon was full of noise, laughter, and memories. Jacob adds to much animation to our lives, and I cannot wait to see what year EIGHT brings!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Christmas Cheer and Birthday Bash

 Once the kids were officially done with school for the holiday break, I organized a gingerbread house decorating contest for the teenage crew in the neighborhood. I love these sweet kids and hope to make this an annual event.

We saved one of our favorite Christmas traditions for the last weekend and enjoyed the garden lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens after eating all the pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

On Christmas Eve we attended the early service at Peachtree Road Methodist to watch Jacob as a shepherd in the Nativity. Unfortunately Maggie started to feel under the weather, but she made it through the service and sushi dinner.

The Thorne kids have no issue going to bed early on Christmas Eve, so everyone was asleep before 9pm. As the kids have gotten older, Santa does not have much assembly for toys, so he was able to come and setup the gifts early enough to watch a movie in the basement before heading to bed, as well. :)

Early to bed means early to rise, so we were opening gifts by 7am. Everyone made the Nice List and received all their wishes!

Around lunchtime Grandmommy, Grandaddy, and the Peace Family arrived for food, fun, and more presents! We love hosting Christmas!

Maggie really hit a wall and retreated to her room for the rest of the day.

The celebration continued with the Corbitts the next day. I never take enough pictures when we are around my family. I think I am too busy talking! The visit was short but sweet. Maggie was still sick at home, so we did not drag out the afternoon.

Unfortunately the germs gave me one last gift of Christmas when I woke up the next day feeling absolutely horrible. I am thankful for a flexible job that gave me the extra time to recover as a huddled in a ball on the couch for days.

I refused to let the flu keep me down to celebrate Jay's birthday. We typically treat it as our New Years night out, as well. This year was extra special because we were able to enjoy drinks with The Gersons and dinner with The Burkes- a twofer! It was such a great evening to end the year and recognize my favorite guy! Happy 43rd Birthday, Jay!

We are looking forward to what 2024 is going to bring to our family!