Thanksgiving- The Good, The Bad, and The Turkey

Our Thanksgiving events were turned upside down when Tuttle and I became sick on Wednesday afternoon and quickly escalated into fevers, achy bodies, and a very sleepless night. Unfortunately it caused us to miss our first Thanksgiving celebration at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's house. This was the first year ever that I have been sick on a major family holiday, and I was so sad to miss it. Tuttle cried and cried when Daddy and Maggie left Thursday morning. :(

The best part of Thanksgiving this year was celebrating the engagement of Aunt Peach to Drew. They announced it several weeks ago, but Drew's family came to Madison to meet the Thorne family. Jay has RAVED about how sweet everyone in Drew's family was, and I hope there is another opportunity very soon to visit with them. On top of the engagement celebration Allison and Drew announced that they are expecting a BABY GIRL in June!!!! Tuttle and Maggie could not be happier that they are getting a cousin. Bring on the pink and monograms!!

After a rough few days which included Gram keeping Tuttle over night Thursday because I was DYING, everyone felt good enough on Saturday to attend our second Thanksgiving meal at my mom's house. It was a smaller gathering because Emily and her family did not fly from Philadelphia this year, but we always have the best time telling stories and laughing with the Corbitt clan.

I am so disappointed with my lack of pictures from Thanksgiving this year. I will have to make up for it at Christmas! :)

We picked up our Christmas tree today from Home Depot, and Daddy hung most of the outdoor lights and decorations. Bockle, our elf, arrived this morning, so Tuttle and Maggie must be on their best behavior now for Santa. We are ready to continue the holiday season! 

Our Weekend

This was the last lazy weekend for the foreseeable future, so we enjoyed getting some things done around the house and spending time as a little family.

 

Friday afternoon Tuttle had his second basketball practice. He is still loving it, but he admitted that he preferred kicking a ball in soccer. Unfortunately Maggie slipped on the water fountain and busted her lip, so practice ended with a lot of tears and blood. I decided pizza for dinner at Newk's would make everyone happy!

 

 

Saturday I had an appointment at the hair salon. This usually only happens one or twice a year. I knew that chopping off my hair was my only chance at actually styling it instead of the daily ponytail for my long hair. I love the change and even curled it for church this morning.

 

 

Aunt Peach came over to visit and helped assist Jay in switching around furniture. I wanted to unbunk Tuttle's beds and switch Maggie's crib into a toddler bed.

 

 

Maggie was thrilled to have a big girl bed until bedtime. It was a rough night, but I know she will learn to love the change.

 

 

Today we successfully made it to church despite ALL THE RAIN. I really just wanted an excuse to style my new haircut! Tuttle went directly to Sunday School, but Maggie requested to go to Big Church with Mommy and Daddy. She was so good and quiet and finally fell asleep on Daddy. I think her restless night in her toddler bed caught up to her. Sweet baby.

 

 

We are spending the rest of the afternoon running a few errands and snuggling on the couch. We need all the rest we can get to tackle the holiday events coming up!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday Tuttle and Maggie celebrated Thanksgiving at their preschool with a feast complete with all the traditional foods. 

 Each class was responsible for providing a specific dish, and Maggie's class prepared fruit salad. Each child brought in a different fruit to share. Maggie was so excited to bring her raspberries to school to mix with her Pound Puppy friends.

Tuttle and Maggie created placemats and table runners to show what they were thankful for. So sweet.

Tuttle was really only interested in the chicken nuggets, but Maggie was eager to try everything. This is completely unusual for her because she practically lives on air since she is so picky! She got upset when her class was leaving because she was still eating, so I moved her to a little table to finish her yummy lunch.

We actually enjoyed some warmer weather yesterday, so we played on the playground after the feast. We are looking to more Thanksgiving food with family next week!

Happy Turkey Day! :)

Basketball

Tuttle and Gigi started basketball this past Friday. We are trying out a new league at Peachtree Presbyterian. I am thrilled that the team is co-ed, so we can go to only one practice each week. :)

I can tell that I will like the coach. He challenged the kids the entire practice. They worked on passing, dribbling, and shooting. He dove right into real basketball skills.

;

I promised Tuttle that we could go to the YMCA next week to practice basketball. He told me he already likes basketball more than soccer. 

We are enjoying our weekend with a birthday party and football. And trying to stay warm!

Spaghetti Dinner and Family Dinner

We started off our weekend with lunch at Chickfila with our best buddies. I had been scrambling all morning to prepare for the Spaghetti Dinner that night, and I needed a few minutes to relax!

I am so excited that the Spaghetti Dinner at Tuttle and Maggie's school is officially OVER! It was the biggest success to date, and I am thrilled that all our hard work paid off. I organized a small raffle for the event, and it was a new addition to the fundraiser. I am pleased to report that the raffle raised over $1700! It included five premium items from vacation homes to birthday party packages. I think we will definitely utilize another raffle at future dinners. :) I was also happy to come home and delete the gazillion emails in my inbox related to the raffle. Haha

Saturday we pretty mellow at the Thorne house. I ran some errands with Tuttle and Maggie while Daddy did some work at Starbucks (No rest for the weary!). Saturday afternoon I volunteered to do a mini photo session for Ellie for their Christmas cards. I cannot share any of the pictures because they have not seen all the work yet, but I will post as soon as I get permission. :) I am very pleased with how they turned out. Ellie was so easy to shoot because she smiled the entire time.- A photographer's DREAM!

After church and some quiet time at home, we headed over to Larry and Beth's house on Sunday afternoon to visit with Emily, Gwen, and Silas. Unfortunately they will not be here for Thanksgiving this year, so we were eager to spend time with them. I did not bring my camera because I have injured my foot somehow and was literally hobbling around the house all evening. I am much better today, but I was very useless at the Corbitt gathering! Gram was a huge help to me and entertained the kids the entire time. Maggie has such a special bond with her Gram, and I love watching her admire my mom the same way I do. She tried to go home with Gram and told me she was going to live at Gram's house. 

Have a great week! :)

Checking In

We have a busy week ahead preparing for the Annual Spaghetti Dinner Fall Fundraiser at Tuttle and Maggie's preschool on Friday evening. I volunteered to organize a new aspect of the fundraiser- a premium raffle. Families and businesses have donated vacation rental homes, personal training sessions, choice beauty products, and birthday party entertainment and decorations. I am so excited to see how much our premium raffles raises for the preschool!

Other than preparing for Friday, we have a pretty normal week. This obviously does not stop me from taking a ton of ADORABLE pictures of Tuttle and Maggie. :)

Have a great week!!

Halloween and Bert's Pumpkin Patch

Halloween was a very successful event this past Friday. Tuttle and Maggie were beyond ready to dress up as a Star Wars Clone Trooper and Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. We started trick-or-treating on our street. Maggie was interested in collecting candy for about five houses until she was too tired of walking and wanted to ride in the wagon. Tuttle was completely independent and asked to go up to each house by himself while we waited in the driveway.

 Originally Jay and I had decided we would not make the trek to Redding Road (a major road in our neighborhood that is closed to traffic on Halloween night) because Maggie was a little overwhelmed by the holiday, but since she was pretty much over getting out of the wagon, we wanted for Tuttle to see his friends and experience all the fun Halloween decorations. 

We stopped by Ellie's house on our way to Redding Road.

It quickly got dark, and we had the best time bumping into so many sweet friends.

One of the highlights of Halloween this year was the petting zoo set up in the front yard of one of the homes on Redding Road. The home belongs to one of the major real estate agents in the neighborhood. He is one SMART man to bring so many people to his house. :)

Our night pretty much ended at the petting zoo. It started to rain, and Maggie and Tuttle had collected enough candy to feed a village! We walked home, changed into comfy jammies, and counted and organized all the loot. :)

Saturday morning we did not waste any time. We decided that our annual trip to Bert's Pumpkin Patch would be the day after Halloween to avoid the crowds. We successfully avoided the masses, but we traded that obstacle for SNOW. Yes, you read that right. It was snowing when we arrived at the pumpkin patch!

I would not be honest with the blog if I did not post a picture of how Tuttle and Maggie truly felt at Bert's Farm this year. :)

Daddy helped pull some smiles out of our babies by falling on the ground behind the camera. Pumpkin patch pictures are one of the highlights of my year, so this trip was a MUST.

If you have ever visited Bert's Farm, this picture will shock you. When I say the patch was practically empty, I was not joking. Usually you would barely see the ground with all the families trying to snap pictures.

We literally only made it about 20-30 minutes outside until we could not take the wind or cold anymore!

Someone found a nice warm spot under Mommy's sweater. I was soaking up the extra snuggles!

 Luckily we found another family to take our annual family picture. I love my sweet and COLD family. :)

 Even though this year was a struggle due to the weather, we are going to try going to Bert's Farm the day after Halloween in the future. We honestly would trade the cold for the crowds any day!

Happy Halloween and Fall, Y'all!