Egg Hunt Mayhem

We hunted for eggs twice this week to celebrate Easter. The first event was held at Jacob's preschool. Initially he was uncertain about putting the eggs into his basket, but once he observed his friends, Jacob was ready to search and pocket as many as possible!

We proceeded to a little party in his classroom after the hunt. I had to keep a close eye on our little boy because he attempted to steal eggs from all the Easter baskets while his sweet friends enjoyed a festive lunch. 

This morning the entire family dressed up for our annual church egg hunt hosted by generous members at their beautiful home. We arrived right on time and were able to ride the ponies, visit the Easter bunny, get out some energy on the bouncy slides, and blow bubbles before the hunts began. While it was a little chilly when we first arrived, the sun quickly warmed up, and it was the perfect spring day!

This wild boy had tubes placed in both ear yesterday. After a long nap, he bounced back 100%. I am crossing my fingers that he feels relief from months of a lingering ear infection.

The kids are officially on spring break, and the weather is finally cooperating!

Early Easter Celebration

We decided to celebrate Easter early this year since we are leaving for Disney next Sunday. Easter sneaked up on me this year, especially with the lingering cold weather! Our church makes Palm Sunday special, so it worked out well.

My family tolerated my need for coordinated spring clothes despite the low temperatures and rain. :)

Our church hosted a luncheon after the service. We enjoyed some delicious food and met some new members. We have definitely found the perfect church for our family at Peachtree Road United Methodist.

Happy Early Easter!

"They took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

- John 12:13

What A Weekend!

I cannot believe how much activity my little family has packed into the weekend, and it is only Saturday! I am including our crazy Friday since everyone is really on weekend mode by then anyway. 

Our Friday started out early with the kindergarten egg hunt at the elementary school. It was also hat day which was a double win for Maggie! The hunt was in the courtyard and was fast and furious. Maggie found her twelve eggs right away and was completely surprised by Ms. Fleming's stuffed animal and book gift.

Jacob and I went home right after the event to meet Gram and head to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. She had given Jacob a membership for his birthday in January, but we waited until it was warm enough to enjoy to actually purchase it. I knew we needed to act quickly to enjoy the tulips. It always sneaks up on me how early they bloom!

It was a chilly morning, but the flowers did not disappoint. The orchid room was unbelievable. I cannot keep a plastic plant alive, so I am so lucky to have the botanical gardens so close by. We wrapped up the visit with some time in the children's garden. Jacob could have spent all day crossing the rope bridge, climbing on the snake trail, barreling down the slide, and exploring the bird nest treehouse. We cannot wait to return with Tuttle and Maggie!

As soon as the kids got off the bus, the babysitter arrived, and I scooted off to a much needed haircut. I absolutely love my cut- it might be my favorite style ever! I hopped in the car right after the appointment to meet my mom and her friends in Kennesaw (a 1.5 hour drive with traffic!) for a wedding shower to honor Brittany. I lucked out spending time with all these special people twice in a week!

Our Saturday morning required an alarm clock to arrive to our church's Great Day of Service on time. We only had an hour to volunteer, but the kids accomplished so much in that short time. Tuttle and Maggie painted compassion rocks to hide in the community, packed 1000 snack bags for a local children's charity, organized donated food for the local food pantry, created cards for a homeless recovery group, and assembled Easter baskets for a children's home. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to rush off to Tuttle's soccer game.

I failed to snap any pictures during the game, but it was one of our best games to date. We played a difficult team with players MUCH bigger than our crew, but the boys hustled, held their own on the field, and ended with a tied game after Tuttle's teammate scored on a penalty kick at the end of the game. I could not believe how invested I was in the game. I spent the entire hour yelling and biting my nails. :)

After naps at the house and some playtime in the yard, we ventured to the Cherry Blossom Festival at Blackburn Park. While we have attended for several years, it was significantly larger this year. The sun warmed everything up, and it finally felt like spring might be here to stay. 

Since we are leaving for Disney on Easter, we will be celebrating our "Easter" tomorrow during Palm Sunday. Even though it will be a little cold in the morning, my entire family will be dressed in their best to fulfill my Easter picture requirements. :)

The Three Musketeers

Checked All The Boxes

This past week was full of conferences, sports, quotes for our upcoming renovation, an ENT appointment, and setting up a hospitality room for Career Day at school. The entire week was a whirlwind, but luckily everything was completed on time!

We met with a new ENT doctor to check on Jacob's persistent ear infections. His hearing was analyzed, and it did not seem to be affected much by the infections, but he is scheduled for ear tube surgery the Friday before we leave for Disney. Luckily it is such a routine surgery, so he will be back to normal as soon as the anesthesia wears off. In true Jacob fashion, he will be the first of my three children to tackle tubes. His medical record has kept me on my toes since Tuttle and Maggie never had HFM, thrush, the flu as a baby, or ear tubes. 

Tuttle and Maggie both conducted student-led conferences after school. They shared work they were proud of, showed me unique ways they use technology in the classroom, and discussed strengths and weaknesses. I was very impressed that they could reflect on themselves as students and clearly discuss it with me.

The highlight of Maggie's week was creating a leprechaun trap to bring to school. The students set up the traps before leaving for specials and returned to a huge mess that a mischievous leprechaun left behind- glitter thrown all around, upside down chairs, pieces of red beard dropped, and unsuccessful traps set off with bait strewn around. I absolutely love the memories that the teachers make for my children. I know this will be one they will never forget!

As the entire family was walking out the door on Saturday for Tuttle's soccer game, it started raining heavily and a text was sent to cancel the game. We decided to grab lunch at Lucky's Burgers since we were already set to go out. The rain was short lived, and after naps, we spent several hours outside enjoying the warm spring weather. A family walk wrapped up our evening, but sadly it included a major scooter fall for Tuttle when he lost control down a big hill. A sweet neighbor stopped to check on him until we caught up.

Today I took the kids to church while Daddy got some work done at Starbucks. I thought Jacob look adorable, but Daddy teased me about the fabric ruffle on his collar. I explained that it is a boy ruffle, and he responded that I cannot just put "boy" in front of everything to make it acceptable. :)

Maggie and I were able to sneak off to Gram's house for a wedding shower today. I love spending time with my mom's BEST friends. Maggie spent most of the time playing Barbies in the basement with another daughter attending the shower. They were such sweet little girls together.

My mom has just finished a bathroom renovation at her home, and they looked beautiful. We are getting closer to starting our own renovation, and while I am nervous about the whole process, I cannot wait to see the end results!

School, Soccer, and Splits

Maggie was so proud to finish the first project for her gifted class at school. She and Tuttle were accepted into the program a few weeks ago, and they both are loving all the challenges.

It is almost comical now, but school was cancelled two hours after it started on Wednesday due to a water main break in the district. Jacob had a doctor's appointment to recheck his ears, so I hauled all three to the office.

We have battled Jacob's ear infection since November with four rounds of different antibiotics, and they are still not clear. We are headed to to ENT on Tuesday for our next step. We are thinking tubes are in our future. I decided Waffle House was necessary after that news. :)

Run Club started for Tuttle this week as well as soccer. Most of team came back together for the spring season, and Tuttle's karate buddy joined the team, too. 

The newest Baldwin, Grace, made her appearance at the game. Maggie could not get enough of the newborn snuggles!

Immediately after the game we loaded up the car to drive to Athens for a Gym Dawgs meet. It was the last home meet of the season. The college makes the experience so much fun with prizes thrown into the crowd, cheerleaders, and the band all making an appearance. Jacob lasted about half the time and then had to spend the rest of the meet running around the lobby area. Daddy and I took turns chasing him. It was no surprise when the Dawgs took home a WIN!

Today has been filled with a lot of lazy time. The rain insisted that we stay home in our pajamas all day. :)

Dr. Seuss Week

The kids celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday with Read Across America Week at school and daily spirit days inspired by favorite Seuss books. 

Monday's theme was Fox In Socks with crazy sock day.

Tuesday was Green Eggs and Ham, and the students wore green clothes.

Oh, The Places You Will Go was read on Wednesday, and the students wore clothes to represent their favorite college. I was just excited to go get doughnuts after school. :)

I missed a photo on Thursday because the kids received mustaches at school to read The Lorax.

Friday's book was Cat and the Hat, and Tuttle and Maggie wore stripes!

I dealt with my own animated story at home while Jacob committed to the terrible 2's with a lot of tantrums. I am in uncharted territory here because Tuttle and Maggie never threw fits.

Jacob knows how to balance it. Right when I think I am going to give up, he just shows his extra sweet and adorable side.

I somehow managed to finish submitting my items for the local consignment sale, and it has been my most profitable season yet. It ends on Saturday, but I am already so happy that I participated!

We were also able to support our sweet friend, Caroline, with her fight with brain cancer at Ihop's National Pancake Day fundraiser. Free pancakes and the chance to help children like Caroline was a win/win for us!

We are geared up for another week, and the kids are adding more sports to the mix: Run Club and soccer. Say a little prayer for us as we adjust to our new crazier schedule!

We are already a little nutty at the Thorne home. :)