Summer 2026

It's been a while since I checked in here. Summer 2026 has been good to us. I've been enjoying the slow pace of the days, floating around the pool, taking more half-day trips to the beach than ever before, and of course, reading a lot. We do a roll call multiple times a day, as we attempt to keep up with the comings and goings of our kids. "Who's here?" "How many plates am I setting?" Many are the times we ask one another or the family group chat, "Where's Thomas?" 

Tim and I gave our bedroom a refresh after six years living here, and I love it so much, can't wait to share. It's waiting on just a couple finishing touches.

I'll call Annie's and Thomas's birthdays on May 19 and 17, respectively, our unofficial start of summer. Annie is 17 and going into her senior year of high school. She's had a busy summer with a babysitting job in addition to her work at a little restaurant downtown on weekends. The cheer season started again in July, and so now we don't see much of her.

Thomas turned 4 and got a little dirt bike for his birthday. He is quite a little talker, incorporating catchphrases like "not gonna lie", "if you ask me, " and "that's what I'm talkin' about" into conversations. He also makes pronouncements that don't entirely make sense, such as, "This bath is freedom of life." He's getting to be such a big boy, but he is still a mama's boy 100%. He tells me he loves me about 20 times a day, and is very affectionate. Every night I tuck him into bed with a ghost story, and I have a few that I made up, as creepy as I could imagine. Think of abandoned places with lots of dust and cobwebs, strange sounds, and poltergeists. Thomas looks at the ghosts and ghouls as they make their appearance in Lowe's every late summer, as his old friends. He went to see Spider-Man last night, his first movie in a theater. Tim said he definitely had ants in his pants after the first thirty minutes, but he was at least quiet. He says he liked it.

my Mother's Day flowers

We went to Topsail end of June/ beginning of July, this time with Dad and Scotty and Grace and their families.

We had a full "strawberry moon," and it was spectacular watching it rise every night.

Aspen's fiance Noah came along this time. They're getting married in November, and Delaney, Thomas and I will be going to Cincinnati for the wedding.

The thing that had me bawling the morning we left was the thought of how these little boys were such buddies all week.

The kids love nighttime crab hunts.

This isn't so bad to come home to.

Delaney had a good first year of college, and she traveled a lot more than I expected her to, all throughout the year. She came home many times, but she also took weekend trips other places, most notably New York City to see the musical Hadestown. She drove there from Boone for a three-day weekend, as in did all the driving while her friends snoozed the whole way, and parked the car and everything. How is she my child? 

She made plans to see The Outsiders (for the fourth, or maybe fifth time-- who's counting, she could never see The Outsiders enough times!) in Richmond, VA, with a couple close friends this past spring. Tim reserved her a hotel in walking distance, but with 24 hours until check-in time, they discovered a snag in their plans: the hotel required guests to check in in-person, and none of them were 21. I volunteered to be the over 21 adult in the room, and I met them there the afternoon before the show. It was a rare opportunity to just be tagging along with her and her friends, and I saw a really funny side of her. For instance, when the elevator doors were closing as we were walking up, she karate-chopped her hand right into them. One of the girls remarked in mock disapproval, "College has changed you, Delaney."

She worked at Harris Teeter most of the summer. She went for a quick trip to Massachusetts with Tim and Timmy, and she saw Noah Kahan in Raleigh a couple weeks ago. She has a nest on our living room loveseat where she does her crafts and watches YouTube, and she has many things in reach for whatever mood hits. It's back to school for her in a little over a week.

Joey at ten-and-a-half has been living his best life, riding his dirt bike and fishing with his friends, being invited on their boats, spending as little time at home as possible, and staying in the same clothes for as long as he can get away with. He'll start fifth grade in a few weeks.

Tim, Delaney, and Timmy drove up to Massachusetts last month, stopping along the way in Annapolis, MD, for a tour of the Naval Academy. It was just for fun, not a real college tour for anyone, but all the same I did mention to Timmy while I was on the phone with Tim that I'd be a proud mama to be see him in those dress whites.:)

If we hear some noise in the kitchen late at night, we can be almost sure it's Timmy; if we hear cereal being poured into a bowl we know it's Timmy. (If we hear the ice dispenser, it's Annie.) Nothing hits the spot for him like a bowl of cereal at midnight. He loves playing on his Xbox, he makes a mean quesadilla, and is loving driver's ed. He just came in from his last lesson all smiles. The soccer season at school has started again, and that gets him outside for a couple hours a day. 

Once a month I volunteer to teach the Budget for Baby class at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society on Cherry Point, where Tim works as director. One rainy Friday morning as I was wrapping up a class I told the participants that although many people don't like the word "budget," having one actually gives you freedom within the limits you set, so that you can enjoy your money and be generous to others. A few minutes later, Tim joined me at the door as we chatted with one of the expectant couples a few extra minutes after everyone else had left. At one point Tim looked at me and said, "She doesn't like the word budget." 😶 

I meant every word I said, but admittedly the subject has not always been a favorite of mine, especially if I look back ten or fifteen years. As with anything else in life that requires discipline, it's much easier to talk the talk than walk the walk.

I might be back to teach my next class, we'll see.😆

One last thing, happy birthday to my dad and brother, Scott Sr and Scott Jr!