Catching Up

 Ultimately this is just a photo drop of my favorite people. :)

Jay has been working extra long hours recently after his transition to a full Amazon employee (as opposed to his affiliation with Fabric.com). He starts his day at his typical time and then works until West Coast offices wrap up for the day. He is enjoying the fast paced work environment and challenge of a new position. We could not be more proud of him!

I hosted a sleepover for all the kids and one friend. The evening was filled with Nerf battles, video games, extra gymnastics, and a nacho bar. It was Jacob's first time ever having a friend spend the night, and it went perfectly with all the kids in bed by 11. I think the older kids stayed up later in their rooms, but the little boys were out almost immediately.

The next evening we had dinner with one of our favorite couples, the Burkes. It is always so easy to pick up where we left off even if it has been months between seeing each other. 

I survived a four day substitute teaching job over the past week, and I am now even more convinced that teachers need to make a seven figure salary. 

These photos of Maggie are only to document how much I love this independent, sassy, and stylish girl.

Tuttle put a lot of time into preparing for a big math test that was necessary to pull up his grade. (Accelerated Math in 6th grade is so fast paced and demanding for our boy. He can barely enjoy a success before he needs to focus on the next milestone!) I was excited to text him after his test to let him know that he received a 100%! 

Baseball evaluations are tomorrow, so Tuttle has also been training with a coach for batting. I cannot wait to watch my favorite short stop back on the diamond, but I would prefer the weather to warm up above freezing!

Jacob was invited to join the Talent Development class at school that provides enrichment once a week outside his regular classroom. He absolutely loves math and numbers, so this opportunity allows him to be challenged even more. He is constantly asking us to complete math problems in our heads, so he can learn more difficult equations.

Maggie's second gym meet was held today at the International World Congress Center. This was a national meet with over 80 gymnasts in her session alone. Thank goodness that I was not sick this time because I was not about to miss Maggie showing off her skills! There was a lot of hard competition but our Moo scored her highest AA (36.2) which qualifies her to train Level 6 in the summer. This was her main goal, and it is amazing that she achieved her two 36+ scores in the first two meets! She also had a personal record on vault with a 9.075. The final scores resulted in a 1st place trophy for Roswell! We do not have to wait long for the next meet because Paws for a Cause is in six days!

We can report that the Thorne Family is happy and healthy. 

Turning Six and SNOW

 Our favorite big boy baby turned SIX! Six years of antics, snuggles, dance moves, and laughs. We could not love our Jakers more!

Everyone was looking forward to kicking it at Jacob's karate party on Saturday, but a call from the school nurse on Friday with a 103 degree fever for the birthday boy halted those plans. :( We will definitely reschedule for February, and luckily Jacob understood and has been on the mend with practically no symptoms today. It seems like everyone is sick right now!

The much anticipated SNOW DAY blew in today with predictions of 1-3 inches of snow. Maggie was determined to make sure the snow happened, so she put spoons under everyone's pillow, wore her pajamas inside out, and flushed two ice cubes down the toilet. It did not look good for most of the day with only light flurries and no ground coverage, but right around 3pm, it started to stick. The kids immediately went outside to throw snowballs and "sled" on the golf course. 

We take what we can get for snow in Georgia!

Sports Mania

 We have filled our last few days will ALL the sports.

Jacob went to his karate orientation on Saturday morning. He received a trial session (+ a month if he likes it!) for Christmas from Grandmommy and Grandaddy. He has been asking to take lessons for a while now, so he was thrilled to open a karate uniform on Christmas morning. He took his orientation very seriously and is looking forward to his next class!

Tuttle also cashed in a Christmas gift with his first private batting session on Saturday. Grandmommy and Grandaddy made sure the boys were set with sports this year! Jay took Tuttle and Jacob to the lesson while Maggie and I prepared for her gymnastics meet. 

The time had finally arrived for Maggie to shine during meet season. Since Xcel Gold was scheduled to compete at 8am at a location an hour away from our house, we opted to get a hotel for the night. Two teammates joined us, and the girls loved spending time together at dinner, doing makeovers, and recording dances.

Alas after we went to bed, I woke up around 1am with a pounding headache and felt achy resulting in literally no sleep. I feared the worst and made the decision to drive home at 6am. Our gymnastics team is the absolute best village. Tiparny immediately jumped into action to get Maggie dressed for the meet, including the stressful job of hair! I received multiple videos and pictures of every event as well as text commentary from several sweet friends. Maggie was in such good hands.

It did not seem to phase Maggie that I was not there because she absolutely excelled at the meet. Our tiny gymnast placed 2nd on bars (9.3), 4th on floor (9.3), and 4th All Around (36.1) in her age group. There were 54 gymnasts at the meet, and Maggie placed 10th overall. The team also scored FIRST PLACE!

I did not feel well all Sunday, but luckily I woke up today feeling much better. I am hoping it was a combination of stress and an extremely uncomfortable hotel bed that resulted in a horrible night. I do not have time to be sick! I cannot wait for the next meet to cheer on my favorite girl.

The excitement did not end over the weekend because the Bulldawgs were set to play in the National Championship Monday night. Jay hit the jackpot and received tickets in the lottery, so he headed to Indianapolis with his guys to see the victory in person!

The kids and I were ready to cheer on the Dawgs at home. Maggie and Jacob lasted until halftime, but Tuttle and I were in for the long haul! What a stressful but AMAZING game- GEORGIA BULLDAWGS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 

Jacob headed to bed for his last sleep as a five year old. We have begged him to go backward and turn four, but he insists are turning SIX. Wasn't he just born?!??

We are ready to celebrate our birthday boy in the morning! His party will be Saturday!

Looking Forward to 2022

 We survived AND enjoyed the holidays, including celebrating Jay's 41st birthday. Jay and I kept it simple with dinner and a movie, but we loved slipping away for a few hours by ourselves. 

The days from Christmas until the kids start back to school all run together, so we are trying to soak up some down time until the homework, sports practices, games, piano lessons, and early morning alarms return.

We are optimistic about 2022. Jay will begin a new position with Amazon, and we have several family goals that we are motivated to achieve this year. It always helps to start January 1 with Jay's traditional meal, especially when it provides good luck and good fortune to our family. :)