100th Day of School

 Jacob celebrated his 100th day of school today which is a huge accomplishment during such a crazy year. His teacher requested that all students dress as if they are 100 years old. In the past Jacob has been reluctant to dress up in any costume for school, but he loved planning his old man costume. He even asked if I would drove to Madison to borrow Granddaddy's cane, but he settled for a sweet neighbor letting us use hers.

Jacob has learned so much in his 100 days at preschool. He is starting to read and is proud to show off his completed work each day at pickup. We are very proud of our big little boy.

I cannot even believe that we will be registering Jacob for kindergarten soon!

A Dream Party

 Maggie was invited to Eden's birthday celebration on Saturday, and it was a girls' dream come true. We met Ms. Stacie and Eden at the outlet mall in Woodstock for a shopping spree! Eden presented Maggie with a Visa gift cards, and the girls spent three hours deciding on the perfect things to buy. It was so sweet to listen to them deciding if a purchase was worth the cost.

We ended the day with ice cream sundaes. Maggie left with three dresses, a bathing suit, a pair of glitter Converse, a mood necklace, and sunglasses. Successful shopping trip if you ask me!

We absolutely love having Stacie and Eden is our lives. It is a huge bonus that they moved close to us, so we can see them much more often!

Thankfully all three kids returned to school today after two weeks of digital learning for Tuttle and Maggie. I am crossing my fingers that they stay in school and away from any Covid exposure. We all need a consistent schedule.

Happy 70th Birthday, Grumps!

 On Sunday we celebrated Grump's 70th birthday with my mom, stepsisters, and siblings. It was probably the first time we had gotten together with only the adults, and it was such a fun afternoon!

Cathy planned the entire event, and it was the perfect combination for our family. We began at The Escapery for an escape room experience helping to detonate a bomb within the hour time limit. I had never visited an escape room before, and I was very impressed with the process and our family's ability to solve the codes and puzzles. Each person played a big part in winning the challenge!

Afterward we enjoyed dinner at Chuy's. The highlight was going around the table revealing our favorite and least favorite thing about Grumps. :)

Happy Birthday, Dave! We are so lucky to have such a smart (ass), generous, clever, fixer of all things, blunt, loving Grumps in our lives!

My Day With Tuttle

 Tuttle had sweetly requested a day alone with me as one of his Christmas gifts, and we both could not wait to spend time just the two of us. Saturday we slept in and then headed out for breakfast at Crazy Love Coffee.

We actually happened to run into Aunt Peach and Uncle Drew at the coffee shop, so we shared a table and chatted for a while. Crazy Love Coffee is one of Jay's favorite work spots, and we enjoyed it so much! 

Next we went to Barnes and Noble to pick out new books. Tuttle and I are both huge readers, so it was such a treat to browse all the shelves for the perfect new selection.

With Covid restrictions, we did not have a place to sit at the bookstore, so we drove to Panera to read, eat lunch, play on the computer, and relax. We took over a table for almost three hours. It was our perfect day.

Finally we walked around Target and Old Navy. Tuttle had been shopping for a Mandolorian shirt for a while, and we found a great one and had to buy it!

Our day was filled with nothing too extravagant, but it will be a memory that I carry forever. One day Tuttle will not want to spend all day roaming around town with his mommy. While Tuttle thanked me all day for the outting, it was really a bigger gift for me.

Back to Digital Learning....

We had one final birthday celebration for Jacob on Monday with treats for his preschool class and a homemade cake for dessert after dinner. I still cannot believe he is FIVE. 

Tuttle and Maggie's school returned to digital learning after an increase in cases in the area. Luckily Jacob's preschool remained open which is a HUGE help while I am trying to help the other two navigate online lessons.

I will say that Arnold Mill Elementary is doing a wonderful job with instructions, live teaching, and communication. Tuttle is 100% independent all day. Maggie needs a little more guidance, but she is getting it done.

The big kids also started back piano this week with a new teacher in the neighborhood. I observed the first lesson at her house, but the kids will ride their bikes going forward. Both Tuttle and Maggie loved Ms. Becky's energy, and they have been practicing on their own with no prompting from me. That is a big step for Maggie- she was anti-piano until she met her new teacher. :)

Maggie is officially in competition season now. She had her first meet last weekend at the Infinite Energy Center. It was not her best work, but she did take home 6th on the bars. The meet was a little intimidating with amazing teams from all over the southeast. I am so proud of all her hard work. Between joining a new team, recovering from an injury, adapting to all the COVID restrictions, and competing brand new routines, she still amazed me with every event. I know the rest of the season will allow her to really showcase her skills.

Sadly we just received word that the kids will remain in digital learning next week, as well. I am trying to look on the bright side that we can sleep about 45 minutes later than normal....

Jacob Turns 5!

 The celebrating for our family continued into January with Jacob's 5th birthday! The pandemic actually worked in our favor when we were able to book an entire movie theater to ourselves for $100! Jacob invited some buddies, his cousins, and his siblings to join him for The Croods: A New Age on Saturday. 

It was the perfect afternoon to snuggle up to a movie with popcorn and candy. The kids took up one row in the front while the parents relaxed in the back. I think everyone had a blast!

We rescheduled a family party with the grandparents due to an increase in COVID right now, but they treated Jacob to a trip to the sporting goods store to stock up on all his baseball equipment for the upcoming season. Jay and Tuttle helped him pick out a glove, bat, helmet, pants, belt, tshirt, cleats, a bag, and balls. He cannot wait to play soon! Thank you Grandmommy, Grandaddy, Gram, and Grumps!

Even though he really wanted to stay in bed, he reluctantly went to school today to celebrate with his classmates. Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts on the way helped sweeten the morning!

We cannot believe our little boy is already FIVE! I need time to just slow down a little bit.

Happy 2021!

 Our family can honestly say that 2020 was not completely horrible for us. We bought our dream house, Jay has continued to learn and grow in his position at Amazon, the kids love their new school (and they are able to attend in person!), and I have found a new group of friends in Roswell and am starting to establish a new routine.

A high note for Maggie was adding a family member to our crazy household. Taylor arrived Christmas morning from Santa, and Maggie has taken full control of her care. Initially she was a little afraid of her, but now she carries her around the house and builds mazes for her.

Another huge accomplishment for our family was playing and FINISHING our first Monopoly game. It only took over 6 hours, three separate days of game time, and multiple trades, but Daddy came our victorious with Maggie hanging onto 2nd place.

The kids still have two more days of vacation until they return to school, but we are excited to see what 2021 has in store for us!