Gobble 'Til We Wobble

 We finally returned to our Thanksgiving traditions this year after missing all the memories last year for COVID. 

Like usual we started our feasting with Thanksgiving at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's house on Thursday. It was a much smaller crowd this year with only our crew, but Grandmommy made sure all our favorite dishes were covered! We fit at one table this year, and the kids were spoiled with using the fancy china and silver. :)

Tuttle, Maggie, and Jacob really missed playing with their Holland and Piper, but we are looking forward to Christmas with the Peace Family. 

Thank you to Grandmommy and Grandaddy for hosting another successful Thanksgiving and taking on ALL the work. I did not have to bring anything! We stayed one night in Madison before returning to prepare for Thanksgiving #2.

Gram and Grumps hosted a HUGE gathering of about 30 family members. While they provided most of the food, each family brought a dish to share, so I was assigned squash casserole like always. Maggie helped me cut up all the squash for the dish, and I may be passing on the entire job to her very soon!

The tables were configured a little differently this year, and the kids quickly claimed one of the large tables as their own.

We spent the afternoon cheering on the Dawgs, eating entirely too much, and laughing. 

We might have pulled a prank on Gram with an embarrassing photo hidden all over the house....

I rarely take as many photos at the Corbitt/Wehr Thanksgiving, so I was very happy to get some many great shots with the family today!

We have so much to be thankful for this year, and we loved celebrating it with our favorite people!

Athens Family Weekend (and My 1,000th Post!)

 I am so excited to write my 1,000th blog post. I started writing right after Tuttle's first birthday, and he will be 12 in April! I love looking back at all our memories, and we frequently will pull up a post to verify an event or date. I do not post as often as I did when the kids were babies because our lives are much more fast paced now, but I hope to continue capturing snapshots of everyone for years to come!

Jacob and I celebrated his Thanksgiving Feast on Wednesday with his kindergarten class. He told me he is thankful for his family, friends, dog, cat, and home. Rosie was the most prominent on his turkey hat, and he wanted to show her as soon as we got home.

The kids had a digital learning day on Friday, so we were able to leave for our family weekend in Athens by lunchtime. Everyone immediately feels so relaxed walking into Granny's house.

Jay took the kids to the game by himself since we only have four tickets. I was happy to drive the crew to the game and have a few hours by myself around Athens. It was a chilly day, but the kids bundled up and brought a blanket and Hot Hands to cheer on the Dawgs. Between Dippin' Dots and a shopping trip to the bookstore for a new Georgia gymnastics leo, everyone came home happy and ready for a nap!

Jay and I snuck away for a quick date night while the kids stayed at Granny's house with takeout and limitless screen time. We just grabbed sushi and browsed around Home Goods for some Christmas decorations, but it was the perfect escape with my favorite guy.

Another successful football weekend in the Classic City is in the books!

Hitting Pause

 Things have seemed to calm down a little bit in the Thorne household after our insane end of October. It is only a matter of time before the holidays kick into full gear, but we were able to pause this weekend and recharge.

Jay became Mr. Fix It with home projects including replacing a leaky toilet, organizing the garage, and repairing Christmas decorations. I swear that man can do anything if he just gets the motivation!

After a lot of begging Maggie convinced the family to start decorating for Christmas early. We will still get our live tree and garland after Thanksgiving, but there are touches of the holidays in almost every room now. The freezing weather helps to put us in the spirit, too!

We all enjoyed extra snuggles this weekend. We are going to need that rest for November and December festivities! :)

Celebrity Sighting

 This past week we had the opportunity to attend a photo shoot for a major pharmaceutical company. One of my neighbors posted about it on our Facebook page, and I decided to randomly submit pictures of our family. I was shocked to receive the email that we had been selected! Unfortunately Jacob was too young for their needs this time, but Jay, Tuttle, Maggie, and I took a day off of school to have our big break! (I convinced Gram and Grumps to participate, but their photo shoot was two days earlier.)

Maggie was obsessed with the hair and makeup trailer. I practically had to drag her out the door.

We were involved in several different scenarios during the half day process. The company will keep our photos on file to use in promotional material in the future, so we do not know exactly where our faces will appear. Just know that one day you could be sitting in a doctor's office and pick up a brochure, only to see our beautiful faces staring back at you!

For a small fee, we will offer autographs. I can put you in touch with our agent if you are interested.

While we are clearly A List celebrities now, we did play hooky for another day this week to cheer on our Atlanta Braves at the World Series Championship Parade. Jay surprised the kids with a trip to The Battery for this monumental event. It was CROWDED. There were expected to be over a million fans along the parade route. It has been 25 years since the Braves won the World Series, so this was a huge deal for Atlanta!

The kids all managed to get front row seats for the parade, and Tuttle even got high fives from some of our top players!

We are so proud of our Braves and hope the momentum continues with a National Championship title for our Bulldawgs!

Halloween 2021

 Our family started Halloween 2021 with our annual pumpkin carving contest. We have been so busy recently that I was relieved to accomplish our tradition in time. Maggie and Tuttle were completely independent this year while Daddy and Jacob worked as a team. I admit that I am too much of a control freak to let my children near my pumpkin. :)

My Braves pumpkin has been declared the winner with Jay's smiley pumpkin coming in at a solid second place. To be honest, I am using everyone's love for the Braves in the World Series to my advantage. Hopefully this helps the Braves secure the last win they need.

We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with a family from Tuttle's baseball team. We loved spending the evening with Sergio, Krista, Raine, and Gab. They recently moved here from Chicago.

Maggie was elated to do Tuttle's makeup for his costume. I honestly think she could have a career in movie production!

Just to note that Jacob declared his disappointment at one house when he yelled, "This house isn't giving out candy! They are giving out snacks!" when he was presented with a granola bar. It would not be a Thorne outing without Jacob making himself known.... (We explained some Halloween manners immediately!)

The kids racked up with candy, and we were back home in time to watch the Braves. Unfortunately they did not clutch the title, but we are optimistic for the next game!