The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 48 2024

{November 24-30th}

Jack & Cadence

Post blowdry, pre makeup

Grateful... for Carly's teacher for telling Carly how fast she can unload the dishwasher. (Four minutes is her fastest time) Carly came home raring to do her chore to see how fast she could do it. (Normally she drags her feet and is NOT motivated to complete this daily chore of hers.) She beat her teacher's time by ten seconds!

Loving... how Logan calls me "ma". For a while it was "madre", but it's now been shortened to just "ma" and it melts my heart.

Waking... up at 5am so I could be ready for counseling at 6am. My normal counselor is currently deployed to Africa, and my temporary counselor was entirely unhelpful through Jack's depression diagnosis, so I stopped seeing her. Now I am seeing someone new, but she's on the east coast, so her hours aren't perfect for me. 6am is the only appointment I could get. I took the call downstairs while my family slept and it was good. Hopefully for future scheduling I can find something better. Waking up in the 5's is rude to my soul. Haha!

Working... with Jack's school counselor to get a 504 set up for him. 504's are for students who: (1) "have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, and (2) need accommodations, aids, or services—because of their disability—so they can access and benefit from their education." Jacks' is for his depression. In an effort to get him to stay at school, we are making accommodations for him to take 5 minute breaks as needed in the hallway; take 10 minute breaks in the counseling office; and have more time to complete his work since he's been absent a lot. We also wrote the use of fidgets into his 504 as they help with his distress tolerance which we are working on so he can stay at school for longer and longer periods. During his breaks his therapist wants him to use sensory grounding (naming 5 things he can see, 4 things he can hear, 3 things he can feel, 2 things he can smell & 1 thing he can taste) to help get him out of his head and into his body.

Subbing... in a really challenging class on Monday & Tuesday this week. It was a class I hadn't planned on subbing in again after the first time, but desperate (financial) times call for desperate measures. I will say that knowing what I was going into helped some, and I just focused on the kids that wanted to learn. It made me really sad though because I brought a Christmas story to read aloud to the students, and the little ones that had been struggling so mightily to listen and behave, were transfixed by the story. It made me want to just scoop them up and take them home and read them stories every night before bed. Despite their older elementary age, all kids want to be read to. Sometimes teaching can break your very heart.

Enjoying... Carly's conference a week late since she missed last week during conferences. She was so happy to share her wins with me, show me her writing and talk about her testing scores. I am so proud of Carly and so grateful for her teacher who tells me constantly that Carly's her daily dose of sunshine. How lucky we are to have someone who appreciates our girl.

Letting... the kids stay home Wednesday since their cousins were in town. It was an easy decision because Wednesday was a half day in our district. Josh's district had the day off, so we did some baking/Thanksgiving prep. Thankfully Josh and Jack ran to the grocery store late Tuesday night so we didn't have to go fight the Thanksgiving crowds on Wednesday.

Falling... in love with my husband all over again when he sent me a picture of two store-bought pumpkin pies and asked if I would like him to bring them home so I didn't have to bake any from scratch. I think "chore avoidance" is a love language. Haha! Thanks babe- you're the best!

Taking... Jack to his first counseling session with his new therapist. Thankfully he likes her and he's comfortable going in on his own. I am so proud of him for taking his mental health seriously and for being willing to do whatever it takes to feel better, which is really hard when you feel like shit. He's my inspiration.

Getting... all the teenagers together with the twins and their cousin while I baked sourdough bread and special k bars on Wednesday afternoon. They had so much fun (seriously, so much laughter) and it made me see why people say they love teenagers. They are really fun and funny and I'm grateful my kids have such awesome friends. When their friends left, it was just them and their cousins, and all seven of them played hide & seek both inside my house and outside in the neighborhood (in pairs) and they had SO much fun! Carly has three walkie talkies, so when they played outside they had those to stay in communication and/or give up if they couldn't find each other.

Noticing... that my hair is getting so long all of a sudden! I love it so much, which surprises me because I have always had such short hair.

Hosting... Thanksgiving, but not getting any pictures of the day. We kept it very casual for Josh's family and we all ate like a buffet, sitting anywhere that was available. Before we ate, though, we all went around and said what we were grateful for. Logan was grateful for family, but mostly Jack and Josh which just gave my mama heart the best squeeze. Jack was grateful for his friends & Cadence. Carly was grateful for her family, especially her cousin who was Josh was grateful for our house and his job. And Wyatt was grateful for ???

Missing... my cute little nieces (can you even?) and my parents and sister on Thanksgiving but knowing next year is a Raatz year and we'll be together again.

Reading... A Wild & Heavenly place, which I'm enjoying, but I haven't loved as much as My Name is Mary Sutter, her first novel.

Enjoying... pie for breakfast with my coffee. It's so delicious. And pumpkin pie is made from a vegetable, so it's basically healthy.

Making... turkey broth from our turkey carcasses from Thanksgiving. I picked up carrots, celery and onions to make it, and let it simmer overnight. Then I stored it in freezer bags, four cups in each one, and labeled them.

Starting... Elf on the Shelf for Carly on the 1st. It's honestly kind of nice that she's my only believer because my boys all help with the magic making. Also, our kids have always been able to touch the elf. We tell everyone it's because ours are from Alaska, so they have different rules.

Crying... when Carly told me the wish she had made when her and her cousin Liesel broke last years' wishbone. (I saved the wishbone, letting it dry out for them to crack this year.) She told me excitedly that she had won, breaking off the larger half, and then she told me, "I wished for Jack to get better." I instantly burst into tears. This girl. Her heart. She's just so good.

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