The Cunningham Family: 2025

{August 17th-23rd}

Old vs New

My mug collection makes me stupid happy!

Loving this TikTok shop purchase by my kid.
Let's pass them out at the high school, mmkay?

Logan & Elyssa: aren't they the cutest?

My parents' cats India & Max. I love how sweet they are together.

Enjoying... a breakfast made by Carly for the two of us. She made us eggs and sausage, and brought it to me in bed! She spoils me!

Loving... how Carly enjoys organizing. I ordered her a new set of drawers and an organizer for her makeup and she went to town getting everything just so. I told her that her Aunt Roxanne would be jealous (she loves organizing) and so proud!

Staring... at the house every time I step outside. The paint job that Josh and his brother did is amazing. I am blown away and so grateful! It looks so good!

Chatting... with my sister-in-law Julie when she came over to hang out and catch up on Monday. It was so good to talk to her and just commiserate how hard life is currently.

Swapping... Wyatt for my nieces so my mom & sister could take Wyatt school clothes shopping for me, and I could have the girls for a playdate with Carly. It was a super fun day and I think the girls enjoyed it. Wyatt was able to get almost everything on his clothes list (thank you ladies!) and he came home very happy. Meanwhile, I took the girls to the park; they had a tea party (with hot cocoa instead of tea); they made a fort in the living room; and they played American Girl dolls in the front yard. They were so cute.

Seeing... Logan's girlfriend when he had her over one afternoon. She's so sweet and puts up with the chaos of our house well.

Setting... up a Disney subscription for ourselves after weeks of not being able to log in to my mom's account. For the longest time we were able to use hers, but that got increasingly more challenging and then impossible. Luckily it's only about $15/month and includes a basic Hulu subscription as well, so I'm pleased. We love Disney, and I love Hulu, so I'm happy to have it.

Taking... family pictures during a short & sweet 20 minute Sunflower Session with Kalahan who has the most beautiful sunflower field she planted with her daughter and had the most adorable mama-belly, due with a baby boy in just a few short weeks. I was grateful for the chance to take quick family pics for a great price ($200 for 20 minutes & 20 pictures). I get my Christmas card pics, and Josh & the kids don't have to suffer too greatly. (They all loathe family pictures)

Feeling... all the feels as we finished our family pictures (trusting she got some great shots) knowing that it could well be our last family pictures as a family of 6. Next time we do pictures, there could be a fiance, wife, or child. Or one of our kids could be missing as they have flown the nest and aren't in town.

Filling... with tenderness when Josh surprised us all by driving to Shari's after our photo shoot to take us out to dinner. I can't remember the last time all six of us went out to eat together, just us. There was so much laughter and I stored every second of that evening in my heart for later.

Smiling... cutting dahlia blooms from along the back fence to put in vases all through the house. The one that I love the absolute most is a cafe au lait that didn't bloom for me last year. It is the most beautiful ivory, soft pink and the blooms are huge! I am obsessed!

Receiving... a rude email that awakened the ability for me to be sad about multiple children growing at the same time. It's bad enough that the twins graduate this school year (June 2026)... but I got an email for Wyatt (a freshman as of next week) talking about the Class of 2029, and damn if that didn't hit my in the chest. This is it. The final countdown for that baby boy of mine. I know how quick high school has passed for the twins (the days are loooooooong, but the years are short) so I am fully aware of how quickly time will go from Wyatt's first day of freshman year to Wyatt's first day of senior year. Brace yourselves, mama. It goes just as fast as they say.

Suffering... a bit of a migraine and getting loved my all three of my boys. Wyatt turned on the oven for me so I could make myself a Totinos pizza for lunch, and then Jack ended up cooking it and bringing it up for me. And on top of that kindness, Logan bought Crumbl cookies for everyone, and I got spoiled with the most amazing strawberry cookie cake thing. It was amazing.

Spending... one last hurrah at Lincoln Rock State Park with my parents and my sister & her kids. Gosh we had a great day, but I did miss Josh so much. Thankfully with my parents there, I still got to sit and read and relax for a lot of the day. I dunked my head under and swam, and I breathed deep and enjoyed the views. Wyatt thought about jumping off the wall, which his siblings and I have done. He stood outside the railing for a while and I thought he would do it, but he said he just doesn't like the feeling of going under water and not being sure how far he has to swim to resurface. While everyone else was encouraging him to jump! jump! jump! I was glad that he was listening to his intuition and how his body felt. It made me proud of him that he wasn't coerced into doing something he wasn't comfortable with. I have a love/hate relationship with the end of summer. I love how it makes me soak up every sunrise, every ounce of warmth and every vista that takes my breath away, but I hate knowing that it's coming to an end.

Comparing... the boys' high school schedules which went live while we were at the river. They have many of the same teachers, but none of the same classes at the same time.

Taking... creatine after learning that it can help our brains experience less mental fatigue (something I struggle with thanks to fibromyalgia) and can help reduce our risk of alzheimer's. If you want to learn more about alzheimer risk reduction, you should follow @bootyandbrains.co on Instagram. She's amazing.

Thanking... my dad for sharing the cutest little honey bears with me. He wins these at his trivia nights and I am obsessed with how cute they are.

Attending... Josh's back-to-school staff pool party and getting to meet a lot of people I have heard of, but never met. It was a lovely evening, and an even lovelier drive, getting to just talk to my guy without any of our children or life interrupting us.

Helping... Carly pet sit our neighbor dog Rusty. She loves that dog so much (more than our dogs, maybe) and it makes me happy that she can help them out when they go out of town. I remember pet sitting at that age and feeling like such a big kid.

Falling... even more in love with my husband when we got home from his work pool party and he immediately jumped into helping Jack, who was working on his truck. He's such a good dad. I snapped a picture of the moment and when I looked at it later, I realized I caught an orb in the picture. I like to think it was Papa Carl, Josh's dad, whose truck Jack drives. We love and miss you, Carl.

Watching... the most recent season of Couples Therapy on Paramount. Oh it is so good. Even though I'm not in a marriage crisis, I walk away with brilliant insights, nuggets of advice and thoughtful ways of approaching my marriage every time!
Also watching... Fit For TV which is about the damage that The Biggest Loser had on its contestants (and maybe the country). It was fascinating and I thought that Jillian Michaels was a huge wuss for not being in the documentary. (I used to watch that show religiously every Tuesday. I was obsessed!)

Hosting... my sister and niece Daphne for the day Saturday. Carly & Daph played so well, and my sister hung out and chatted with me while I went through my entire closet. It felt SO good to have it organized and decluttered after a summer of it being a mess! Then I made pizza for dinner with Daphne's help and it was so cute. She LOVES being in the kitchen. We then enjoyed the pizza and cookies we made, and all laughed at Grady begging from my sister. He *adores* my sister, and the feeling is mutual, so I'm pretty sure he walked away with a good share of pizza as well.

Finding... pictures of the twins to post every Sunday now through May for #seniorsunday on the blog. Oh man, going back to their baby & toddler days equally fills my heart and breaks it.

Dealing... with teenage audacity and confidence in droves. That's all I'm going to say, but I continue to wonder if they're picking it up at Costco cause they seem to have loads of it. Actually, I will also say that I had a gut feeling and while I didn't doubt it, I also didn't follow it all the way through, and this parenting experience has taught me to 100% trust my gut and not to be swayed from it. It rarely steers me wrong.

Reading... about staying home with teens in this blog post by Melissa Fenton. Fenton, a mom of three, shared her thoughts on being a SAHM to infants & toddlers versus teenagers:

"Another common response was the fact moms felt that their teens needed them more on a deeply emotional and supportive level than their toddlers ever did. Toddler issues like tantrums and missed naps are generally solved quickly and easily, but the problems and potential issues today’s teens face are much more important."

She referred to the saying, "Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems," and said that it may be cliche, but it's also incredibly true. I agree. My (now seventeen year old) twins tend to come home and "download", letting me know mostly everything that happened in their day that frustrated them. I am grateful for this, because then we can discuss what they should/could do to improve the situation, but it's also really hard on my empath heart, because hearing about all the ways they were beaten and bruised throughout their day upon seeing them after hours apart is brutal. On the other hand, in this era, no one could take my place. When they were toddlers, it was easy for someone else to read them a story, kiss their boo-boo's, or lay them down for a nap. (That's not to say I wanted that, or that it was easy. It was just easier to find someone to fill that role when necessary than it would be now.) My teens are unlikely to open up to outsiders. They are going through things that are deeply personal and that I don't share on social media, the blog, or even in conversations with real life friends.

Our boys are the only ones of their original friend group that are headed back to school this fall for senior year. We have lost so many to dropping out, one to earning his GED, and countless others to being expelled. This period of time is so integral to a bright future for them, and I have never (ever- even when I had newborn twins) been this exhausted and emotionally bankrupt. Everyday, it seems, there is some new challenge that we face as parents of teens in this day & age, and I feel both vital to their success, and weighed down by the immensity of the job.

Sorting... school supplies to see what we need to get before the first day of school next week. Eeek! It's getting real that summer is ending.

Wondering... why we keep finding Piper in Grady's crate. In all her three years, she has never gone in his crate. And now she's often in there sleeping. I don't know if she's doing it for comfort (her hip has been giving her trouble lately) or if there's some other reason. I'm just glad that Grady doesn't seem to mind.

***

Carly is such a delight.

I often walk into my room to sticky notes all about.
This night they were for me & Josh.