The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 45

Taking... Jack to the doctor to see if his nose was broken after he and another kid on his basketball team bashed their heads together at practice Wednesday. One of his nostrils isn't working, so I wanted to make sure that he was okay. The doctor says it is likely just swollen and once the swelling goes down, he should be able to breathe normally again. I'm so glad it's not broken, but he is sure in a lot of pain. Poor kid!

Enjoying... a visit from my mom last weekend. It was short lived, but we squeezed in lots of love & hugs. She helped me sort through the kids' winter gear (I was only missing one thing- boots for Carly- which made me so proud of myself) and she spoiled us with a super fun movie night.

Watching... our first snow fall of the season. Thankfully, we were ready-- Josh got the snow tires on the van, I had the yard all cleaned up (no stray nerf bullets or toys left out like last year) and Josh had the snow blower up and running. Josh even pulled together some some winter gear organization that I shared here on the blog. Josh was talking to his dad (who used to live where we now live) and he helped us set a new "Winter Ready" goal date: October 31st. Where we live in central Washington can get cold (and have snow) in early November, so to be sure we're ready, he suggests setting Halloween as the cutoff date. I think that will really help us be prepared.

Playing... in the snow with my kids. I knew this snow wouldn't stick around long, so we geared up (even Carly!) and headed out. We had so much fun!!!

Screwing up... my no yelling goal (& blogging all about it). If you struggle with yelling, I highly recommend following Ralphie on Instagram. She breaks good parenting down into super simple actions that anyone can do. After this most recent "losing it" episode, I have decided to try something really weird. If I yell at my kids, I have to take off my earrings and I don't get to wear any the next day. I don't even know how it came to me, but I wear very little jewelry, and with my new short haircut, I love wearing earrings. I figure this will motivate me to SHUT MY MOUTH when I feel like yelling & swearing. Ha! I'll keep you posted.

Focusing... on what I do well as a mother. (This is also inspired by Ralphie.) She says we all have things we see where we don't measure up, but that only brings us down. Instead she wants us to look at what we do well as moms. Where are our strengths? What are our gifts?

Starting... on my Christmas shopping, using:
Something you want,
something you need,
something to wear,
& something to read
for my kids.
The "something you want" will be from Santa, the rest from Josh and myself. I am excited to keep Christmas simple and not extraordinary or out of budget. I am also working on a fun Christmas gift list (like Oprah's Favorite Things) to share on the blog this month.

Spending... too much time on social media. I'm not sure what my action plan is to combat this fact, but knowing it's a problem is half the battle, right?!?

Loving... Carly's reunions with Wyatt & the twins everyday after school. Little heart melter.

Grateful... for many things (see my #30daysofgratitude instagram recap below) but this week I am grateful for the opportunity to raise readers. That is one area of parenting where Josh and I are totally on the same page, and something our kids love. Bedtime stories, silent reading and readaloud chapter books are all part of our nightly bedtime routine, meaning our kids get about 45 minutes of reading everyday (not including school time) and that's something I am really proud of.

Still.... not reading anything myself, though. So this week I am determined to find a new book for myself to start. I think it will be The Handmaid's Tale. Fingers crossed it gets me hooked so I can get back to reading.

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#30daysofgratitude

Day 4: Wyatt