Updates

It has been too long between updates. I guess that life has been busy. There are a few new developments to share, though. First, Abbie has started volunteering at the botanical gardens. She also attended a training to prepare her to volunteer in the butterfly exhibit, which is coming up.

A recent self-portrait on a cold day

Second, our stray kitty, Pumpkin, has decided that warm houses are better than cold patios. :) She now stays inside with us at night and is in-and-out periodically throughout the day. Importantly for Abbie, she has taken to sleeping in Abbie's room. Of course, Emily feels slighted by this, but Abbie is thrilled to have a little buddy on her bed at night. Pumpkin usually hears me get up around 6:30am and wanders down for her breakfast, so we have definitely settled into a routine. She is going to be in shock soon, though, as we will be out of town skiing for a week. I think we'll have someone look in on her and put food out, but there won't be any cozy nights inside while we are gone. Poor little baby.

Sleepy kitty

Other very big, very exciting news for Abbie is (1) she is scheduled to get her braces off two days from now. Of course that is the same day as a winter storm is supposed to cover us with ice, so there is a good chance that her appointment will be delayed by a week, but the punchline is that the end is in sight!

And, (2) she is going to a Conan Gray concert in a couple of weeks. It is on a school night, but the following day is a half day, so we are just letting her skip. Don't ever say that we aren't cool parents. :) Anyway, she is super excited about this. She thought that the chances of us letting her go were slim, so when we said yes, she was pretty happy. She said, "I'm calm on the outside, but I am screaming on the inside." LOL.