The Cunningham Family: Around Here: Week 23 2024

{June 2nd-8th}

Carly's been creating a secret language for her and her friends.
I remember doing the same thing in elementary school.

Celebrating... our twins' sixteenth birthday!!! Our sweet baby boys are sixteen. I cannot believe it. We started the morning with their best friend Ainsley stopping by to give them a ride to school. And when people tell you that teenagers are unexpectedly delightful, they are telling you the truth.
On his way over to our house, Ainsley stopped at Safeway and got the twins each a Happy Birthday cake slice. I just can't even. Something about teenage boys being sweet and tender with each other just does me in.
Mid-day I picked both the boys up to go get Jack's license. As we left the DMV I rode in the back, giving Logan the front seat, and that ride home was so surreal. Once we got home they took the truck and went back to school for the day. Let me tell you, watching them drive off with no adult in the car felt like letting them jump off a cliff not knowing what lay below.
To celebrate their big day, Josh picked up an ice cream cake for them, which we all enjoyed after dinner. They both got cash for their birthday, plus their respective vehicles.
(For those wondering, Logan will get his license in mid-July, once he's had his permit for six months.)

Congratulating... our neighbors on their brand new twin boys! We are so happy for them and Big Brother A. Them having their twins so close to our twins' birthday made it even more obvious how quickly the last sixteen years have passed. It's bittersweet for sure.

Grateful... for Jack's friend Lilli for stopping by and dyeing Jack's hair for him so I didn't have to. She painted a brown and black leopard print all over his head. It looks great, but it's not my style. Haha! Luckily Jack is one to own his own choices and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks. He marches to his own drum and I'm so proud of that.

Buying... an engine for Logan's CR-V after discovering his was no good. We used the $1,000 I had saved for setting up my own classroom in the fall to buy the engine. Josh was so sweet and said he was sorry that we had to spend my classroom money on the engine. I immediately burst into tears at his thoughtfulness, but assured him it was fine. It wasn't doing us any good waiting to be spent. So Josh drove to Seattle with Logan to get the new engine, and while it's a bummer that it needs a new engine, it's a risk you take when buying a used car.

Staying... home on Monday with Josh who took a personal day. It was so lovely. We got all the kids off to school and then laid around; went out to lunch; and just reconnected. It honestly felt like a getaway even though it was only six hours. (I do have to mention that we are parents of four kids so of course we got called mid-day to go pick up Logan whose glasses had broken during PE; run him to the vision clinic and back to school again. Such is life!)

Grocery shopping... with Logan this week. We tend to alternate taking one twin or the other, and they're so helpful. We can typically get two weeks worth of food for our family of six in less than an hour. It's incredible. We seem to go through phases of Josh doing the grocery shopping and then me doing the grocery shopping. I am hopeful that soon the twins will do it without either of us. Haha! Hey, a girl can dream, right?!

Taking... care of my Carly girl as she suffered a migraine so bad she threw up. It was really heartbreaking. This is what seems like her second migraine and I feel so bad for her! I also get migraines (as does my mom, both my brothers and Logan) and wouldn't wish them on anyone.

Tuesday... Josh was home and had to go to the land for a while. While he was there, thankfully, he did a bunch of laundry because our dryer is broken (again, sigh) and we're waiting for parts to arrive to fix it. Logan was also home half a day because he wasn't feeling good in the morning, and Carly was home all day because of having vomited on Monday night. While Logan was home, he made me a chicken sandwich with pickles and oh em gee, was it delicious!

Subbing... for the afternoon Wednesday and taking home a very tired Carly after school. They had field day and it plum wore her out!!!

Protecting... the privacy of my kids, but wanting to share with you that a) parenting is humbling, and b) if it's really hard, you're not alone. I felt so many emotions on Friday this week... Frustration, fear, embarrassment, anger... it's just a LOT. It's heavy and I don't want to screw it up, but I find myself constantly wondering if I'm doing the right thing, if I'm handling things in the best way or if I am somehow emotionally scarring my children by doing things the way I am. It is just really hard. Solidarity, mamas. We can do hard things.

Meeting... with my new counselor for the first time and really liking her. The counselor I've been seeing since 2020 deployed to Africa to help counsel Navy Seals (like, okay, but what about my needs?!? haha) so I'm seeing a new one. For our first appointment she was fantastic. She asked lots of thoughtful questions, offered some useful advice and I am very much looking forward to our next meeting.

Feeling... frustrated when one part came for the dryer, and Josh put it in... only to discover we need another part. So now we're waiting for that one to get here. God bless this man and his mechanical ability... I don't know what we'd do without him. But I'd be even happier if machines lasted as long as they used to!!!

Throwing... out socks with holes in them after matching pairs for my teenagers (they just throw them all in the same drawer and call it good, whereas I like to match them up) and can you guess how many I threw out? Eleven. 11 socks that had holes in them. Geez louise!

Perusing... Logan & Jack's new yearbooks and finding that Jack is in his twice- once with a quote and once with a pic of our trip to Europe with his Europe besties. That made me smile.

Sharing... book reviews for every book I've read from January forward on my bookish Instagram page and it brings me such joy! I love talking books and sharing my favorites is the best! @shellyreadsbooks

Laughing (and helping)... as Carly & Wyatt attempted to boil & cook ramen noodles in a doll pot over a candle on the stove. Haha! It was the cutest, silliest thing and they were so overjoyed when it worked. It really is the little things.

Enjoying... the boys' friend Ainsley driving them everyday. He pops in in the morning, scoops our boys, and off they go in his Blazer. I asked if he was sad that the boys would soon be able to drive themselves, but he said no. He'd just be so happy for them cause he knows how much they want to drive.

Opening... the sweetest care package gift from my cousin Savanna in honor of my graduation, and I was just so touched! She got me pens and stickers and coolest stationery stuff that I just love!!! Her attention to detail matching the tissue paper to the gift as well was the icing on the cake.

Loving... Carly's sweet heart as she asked me to buy a present for her best friends' little sisters' birthday. So we got little Kennedy some baby bottles (the kind the have milk and juice that "disappears" when tipped upside down) and Carly wrote her a little card. So adorable.
Carly also asked her music teacher for some of the special birthday crayons she hands out to students (they are crayons melted into musical molds) and giving one to Logan and one to Jack on their birthday. So thoughtful.

Reading... Whispering Alaska, a YA novel about a set of twins' whose mom dies and whose dad decides to relocate them to a remote island in Alaska. I loved it so much. Super sweet, entertaining read!

Happy... when two of Wyatt's friends showed up unexpectedly Friday night and they all played football and baseball together in the yard. Just made me so glad for him. We moved before his third grade year, and then COVID happened, so making friends in middle school has been a slow process. I'm really grateful he's got a group of buddies now and that they have so much fun together.

Impressed... that Josh and the twins got the engine out of Logan's car Friday night and started putting in the new one on Saturday. I'm telling you, that man can do anything. It's incredible.

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