The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 35 2024

{August 25-31st}

November 2023 :: August 2024

Canceling... a family get together in Wenatchee because my anxiety was so high on Sunday. I felt bad for not making it, but I just couldn't do it. I was so overwhelmed with my to-do list and the thought of all the kids starting school Wednesday that we stayed home and I spent most my day doing chores and my puzzle.

Sending... the twins to the dentist with Josh. Jack didn't have any cavities, but Logan had two. (His first two ever!) I was so grateful he was willing to take them. He's always great about stuff like that.

Running... errands with Carly & Wyatt and getting all the school supplies, plus doing my Amazon returns, getting the kids' schedules figured out, and going to back-to-school night with Carly. We got to meet her teacher (a friend of mine from last year) and see her classroom. I cannot believe our baby girl is going to be in third grade! Running errands with Wyatt & Carly was so much fun. Oh my gosh, we were laughing the whole time. They made like thrones with toilet paper and they just make everything so fun.

Making... tortillas from scratch for the kids for dinner. They are always SO grateful when I do. It's sweet.

Using... ProActiv for nine months for my acne and noticing a HUGE difference. It's wild.

Blown away... still at the boys driving themselves. Mamas, when they tell you it goes fast, they aren't lying.

Watching... as Carly's own personal style develops. I noticed when we were shopping that she has a distinctive style and certain ideas of what she loves and what she sees as fashion. It's going to be fun to watch it develop.

Also watching Carly be a total sweetheart and make Maddie a birthday gift when she was over the day before her birthday with Lilli hanging out with the twins. What a kindhearted girl I'm raising!

Not ready... for my boys to be old enough to have serious girlfriends... yet here we are! Jack officially has a girlfriend and I finally got to meet her. She's absolutely adorable and the sweetest.

Loving... raising my daughter. She did my hair one day, and the next she organized a drawer in the kitchen when she noticed it was out of sorts. There's just something different about raising a girl versus raising boys. It's magic.

Reading... The Other Year, a book about a mom whose daughter goes under while swimming in the ocean and in one version of the book she surfaces, and in another she doesn't. It is GRIPPING! I read some of that this week while on the porch with Carly which was total perfection! I am also reading/listening to ADHD Is Awesome by Penn Holderness, which Josh started listening to after we discussed getting Logan an ADHD diagnosis. It is such an easy/fun listen, with so much information about ADHD. If you know NOTHING about ADHD, I highly suggest starting with that book. It was a great jumping off point for our family. We have walked away from this book thinking that I am the only one of the six of us without ADHD and we will be looking into diagnoses for everyone. Really impactful.

Reminiscing... about the last time the twins were in class together (it was 7th grade and a PE class in 9th grade) because they have so many classes together this year. American Sign Language (ASL) and History as well as Culinary.

Also reminiscing about years gone by and feeling that time passing is so damn brutal. I feel like the twins were Carly's age about two blinks ago. How was that 8 years ago? I don't understand. It's an impossible math problem.

Thinking... of Josh on Tuesday as he had a long day. He was gone from 7am until 8pm. We missed him so much and I was glad to have him home on the twins and Carly's first day Wednesday. (Wyatt had delayed start Thursday, as did Josh).

Crying... and crying and crying and crying some more on Wednesday morning. I just could not pull myself together. The start of the school year hit me really hard in my feels as I had always envisioned myself starting this school year in a classroom of my own, and that not coming to fruition is a shattered dream. I know that I am blessed to be home, and that my time will come, but I am just letting myself feel my feelings, and that first day? I was feeling real, real sad.

Feeling... proud of Carly when I dropped her off for school as it was her first day of school where she had no tears at all! She's usually a bit nervous and has some tears, but this year she had none! Way to go, Carly May!

Spending... Thursday, the first day when all four kids (plus Josh) were at school making muffins and getting dinner ready. It felt good to be in the kitchen being useful, especially since my main feeling since not being hired by the district (even though they didn't hire anyone and it's 100% not personal) is uselessness. Josh assured me that I am not useless, and I have made it my goal to find purpose in my days because that feeling of uselessness coupled with aimlessness is really a recipe for disaster.

Walking... everyday after getting all the kids out the door and dropped off at school because it is so good for my mental health as well as my physical health (especially my fibromyalgia).

Setting... a goal of reading 5 physical books each month through the end of the year. I hope that this gets me reading a little more each day and that this helps me blow through more books on my unread shelf.

Laughing... when I finished my puzzle and was missing a piece, so I texted the twins to see if they had stolen it. Logan's response cracked me up. He said he hadn't stolen it, but that that idea was devious. Lucky for me, I found the missing piece under our bedroom fan.

Recognizing... that the beginning of the year car-rider line is a different kind of stupid. People blocking lanes; getting out of their vehicle to drop off their child; stopping in the middle of the drive... I can literally feel my blood pressure rising as the time passes. I can't wait until it improves!!!

Baking... up a storm. I think it's my way of coping with the enormous change of the house being empty and my dreams not coming true. I made zucchini bread, sourdough bread, pizza, cookies and sourdough cookies this weekend. It was a LOT of baked goods, not to mention a LOT of dishes. Haha!

Achieving... my goal of walking for 90 minutes for the week! I was so proud of myself that I ordered myself a new puzzle table- one that doesn't fold down the middle, which will make puzzling so much more lovely! I can't wait to get it!

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