The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 27 2022

{July 3-9th}

Wyatt bought this for Josh for Father's Day.
It's his same car.

Wyatt made these American flags with his rubik's cubes. He's amazing.

Extra cute 4th of July outfit from Aunt Julie

This is the shower curtain that runs along the boys' bathroom toilet.
A) Boys are gross
B) Bleach and dawn are amazing
haha

My mom sent me this- Molly "helping" her pack.

I love this picture my dad sent me of my sister with my grandparents.

Realizing... that raising teenagers is like dating again. I find that whenever the boys pay me attention or compliments, I have to feign indifference, and tell myself internally "Be chill! Be chill!"
Jack made me a frozen pizza the other day when it was just me and him at home. He brought it up to me in my room, and all I could think was, "He likes me! He likes me!" I thanked him and then after he left, I cried. These men I'm raising are so good and I feel so lucky to be on the receiving end of their goodness.
I was reading in my room upstairs on another day, when Logan came in to lay on my bed and scroll his phone with me. It melted me that he'd just come into a room to hang with me.

Noticing... that I am not napping near as much as I was. In 2020 I was napping every single day. In 2021, I was napping almost everyday. In 2022 I have napped only a day or two a week, slowly tapering off this summer to not needing to nap at all. I am so thankful for this.
I attribute the difference to both my CPAP and my fibromyalgia medication. It's so amazing to not feel so entirely fatigued everyday.

Struggling... to hear about some of the very specific hard parts of my grandpa's Alzheimer's diagnosis. He was so good during our visit, I didn't have to witness or hear about a lot of those details. My sister and parents visit shed some light on the challenges and it's been heartbreaking to hear and process.

Dealing... with a very sweet, clingy Piper. After leaving her with my parents last week to go to the beach, she is like my shadow now. She's always giving me kisses (little licks) and settling in wherever I am to lay by my feet. My girl.

Helping... Carly to overcome a sudden fear she has of skeleton's. We're doing lots of talking about how amazing our bodies are and our strong they are. The part of a skeleton she hates the most is the empty eye socket, so we talked about how cool it is that our eyes fit perfectly in that spot, and how as our skeleton grows, so do our eyes. Pretty cool really.
She seemed to feel better after that and didn't have any nightmares!

Speaking... of skeletons, Carly had some deep thoughts about death. She said to me randomly one day (before the skeleton scare) "You know, we never really die because we have our souls. Our souls keep living, even when our bodies die. So we don't really ever die." Love her little brain and all it thinks.

Letting... go as Carly and Wyatt tried to have a tiny yardsale on the morning of the fourth of July. They had both collected toys they no longer wanted the day before and then set up a table and priced things with sticky notes. I was proud that they did it all by themselves, but there was little to no traffic on our street that morning so after an hour and a half of no sales, they gave up.

Enjoying... the fourth of July, just the six of us. We stayed home and didn't even get in the pool- it wasn't warm enough. Instead we played outside, doing chalk, and playing cornhole and football. I made strawberry shortcake and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in our enclosed backyard fire pit. The kids were thrilled (roasting things! fire! chocolate!) and so was I (no cooking! no dishes!) so it was perfect.

Very last minute Josh took the younger two kids to go get some fireworks for us to set off. The last few years I have really slacked on having fireworks and setting them off and I feel bad that the kids have missed out. Back in the day (before Carly) we spent every fourth of July at Josh's sisters house and we would spend hours setting off fire works, doing sparklers, and enjoying family.
I plan to make it a habit of buying at least a few fireworks, sparklers and pop-its each year from here on out. It's so fun and really makes the day memorable for the kids.

Forcing... myself to go to the dentist to get some cavity work done. I had an old filling that was not good anymore, so we replaced it and I came home numb and exhausted. The medicine they give me to numb always simulates a panic attack for me (I think it's the adrenaline) so I am always worn out once it runs its course and I head home.

Wednesday... we picked up eyeglasses (new prescriptions for Wyatt & Carly May!), grabbed some groceries and then enjoyed an afternoon swimming with cousins. I am so happy we have our pool. I can't even express how much entertainment it provides, and how lovely it is to know we don't have to go anywhere to have a great time!

Taking... care of Logan again when he got another migraine. It always starts with strange visual disturbances in one eye and then morphs into a full migraine, with nausea, light & noise sensitivity, and eventually vomiting followed by sleep. I wish I could shorten his suffering, but instead I just do what I can, offering water, ice and backrubs. And I always sit in his room with him, as he doesn't want to be alone when he feels that miserable.

Sending... three of our four kids to grandma's camp with Josh's mom and feeling excited at the thought of having the house to myself for a day! I spent my time working on the blog and it was so lovely to be uninterrupted.
Carly was sad when I dropped her off (she has a little bit of separation anxiety) but Wyatt came to the absolute rescue, reminding her of all the fun things that they were going to do (a pinata! water balloon fight!) and she was able to walk off with him without crying. Bless that big brother!!!

Updating... you on Molly. As many of you know, Molly is the sweet orange kitty we got over quarantine who grew and became the puffiest, silliest, dog-acting cat I ever knew. We loved on her, and she loved on us, until she started eating our clothes. She ate underwear, t-shirts, dresses, pajamas... literally nothing was safe from her. Now if I didn't have four kids, I would have been able to just keep my clothes (mostly) away from her, but with four munchkins running around, leaving sweatshirts and socks everywhere, we knew we couldn't keep her.
My mom volunteered to take her, and do you know that since Molly has moved in with her, she's only eaten some shoelaces (sorry dad!) and clothes that my kids left at my mom's. What?!? Something about being raised with us made her want to eat only OUR clothes. She doesn't eat their clothes. So bizarre.
Anyway, Molly is doing great. She snuggles with my mom in bed in the mornings and sometimes at night, she thinks she is one of the dogs (my mom has three smaller dogs) and is just living her best life at Nanny and Papa's. The best part is that my kids still get to see her. It's been fantastic.

Reading... The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh which is my pick for book club this year. I enjoyed it very much, and am so happy it was a good one. I hate when I pick a book for book club that I haven't read and it turns out to be a dud.

Rafting... on the Wenatchee River with my sister, brother-in-law, nephews, dad and my twins for the twins' birthday gift from my sister. It was absolutely so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Our guide was amazing, the kids were great at following directions and rowing their little hearts out, and the weather was perfect.
I had been nervous because I am not as strong as I used to be, and I weigh a lot more than I have in the past. But I did awesome. I was able to do everything that everyone else could do, and I had absolutely so much fun! If you get the opportunity to go white water rafting, do it. You won't regret it.

Surprised... when a box arrived in the mail that was a gift for me! Josh ordered me a hammock and hammock stand and I am {swoon} so excited and grateful. I've been wanting a hammock for ages, but we couldn't find a way to hang it that we were happy with. The hammock stand solves that problem, and I can't wait to lay in it reading for the next few months.

Watching... Turning Red finally for movie night, and enjoying it. I don't get the conflict around it. I found it to be a really sweet, realistic movie that didn't promote disrespect in any way. The kids enjoyed it as well, and since the twins were gone (they're spending a few nights at my mom's house) it was nice to have movie night just the four of us.

Asking... my friends if I was giving a TED talk what they would assume I was going to talk about, and their answers blew me away. So kind and generous. I want them recorded here so I can look back on them.

How to read with four kids
The importance of hope
How to show up and genuinely love people for who they are
How to love and leave organized religion
Anxiety & raising children: pulling back the curtain
Exploring your own vulnerability
The therapeutic benefits of reading regularly from organic, turn-the-page books
How to begin & continue writing a successful blog
How to make time for your passions while raising four children
How to lovingly stand in your own beliefs & set boundaries with friends & loved ones

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