Today was my birthday. It was a lovely day, if fairly ordinary. I opened a few presents from my mom and the kids this morning in my PJs, went for a (very slow!) 4.5-mile run in honor of turning 45 (!?) today, and did a science lesson with the little kids before lunch. Trevor called on his lunch break just to chat. After lunch we had a nice visit from a friend and the two little ones she nannies for. Romilly made me a delicious on-plan peanut butter cheesecake, and my mom brought me Chick-fil-A for dinner. Trevor and Niko left for our church’s men’s retreat while I did the AWANA run. We wrapped up the night with popcorn and a movie for the big kids. Sweet.
The fact that today is my birthday turned my attention to my blog for two reasons: 1. I was reminded that my last post was about Coraline’s 10th birthday, and that yesterday she turned 11! That’s a long time to not blog. And 2. Having finished Coraline’s birthday present, a crocheted backpack, I now have time to blog again! At least for a little while 😉
Time fails me to give a full update on everyone, but I thought I’d give the big updates and sprinkle in some new pictures of the gang.
I’ll start at the top: Pippa is in college. College! She is living at home and commuting to a wonderful Christian school 10 minutes away, where she is studying to be an elementary school teacher. She is thriving, and I am so excited for her.
She also has a boyfriend! She did not meet him at college, but has actually known him for more than half her life. Their story is sweet and amazing, but I won’t tell it just yet. I wasn’t sure what the kids-in-relationships stage would look like, but it has been such a pleasant surprise.
Romilly is also going to the same Christian college two days a week as a dual enrollment student, as well as babysitting for my sister’s two babies one day a week (Bea watches them another day.) She has an English comp professor that she loves, and I am loving watching her spread her wings and pursue her passions.
Delia and I have been pursuing a new therapy for a little over a year. It is called the Sonrise program, and I believe it is helping her. I wish I had more hours in the day to give to it, but I love the time we spend together in the playroom each day, and I think she does, too. We realized when ABA started back up after COVID, that it was no longer serving her well, so we let it go and took a different tack. We have stepped back from focusing on skills and are now focusing on relationship, which is perhaps what we should have been focusing on all along.
The boys are all still homeschooled. Niko volunteers at least once a week at my mom’s thrift store where he is well loved and known as a hard worker. Lewis and Teddy are both making progress, each in their own way.
The other big girls (I daresay I have to put Coraline in this category now, too!) are so independent with their school work now that I sometimes forget who is home and who is out on any given day. It is definitely a new season of everyone having their own interests and pursuits. It’s busy, but in general things are fitting and everyone is thriving.
It’s been a very full year. We went to Kentucky back in April with Trevor’s brothers, and the summer brought its usual assortment of camping adventures.
Last month Trevor and I and the original five girls got to see one of our family’s favorite bands, The Gray Havens, in concert. Like, we seriously love this band, and I think it had been well over a decade since I had been to any concert, so we may have geeked out over it just a little bit.
I will leave you with a few pictures of our littlest family members for now, or else I will never get this posted. My birthday ended a couple hours ago, and these cuties will probably not get the memo that Mommy needs to sleep in tomorrow because she stayed up too late blogging!
