September 21

There were quite a few things going on for members of our little fam today.

Adam took Brady to Ripon (read: out in the central valley) so he could guest play in a tournament. He pitched two totally boss innings (and we just won't think about the third one because the first two were just that bomb). Adam said he hadn't seen him pitch as well as he did in months. So that was pretty cool.

Meanwhile in a town just outside Chicago, Abby picked up her blue and orange poms, installed her giant hair bow, donned her uniform, and debuted as a Wheaton College cheerleader at the season's first home game. She's talked about cheering for years now and very nearly talked herself out of doing it, but she decided to be brave. And I am so proud of her for venturing so far outside of her comfort zone. She may well come out of the experience still knowing nothing about football, but I'm pretty sure she'll have made some new friends.

Finally, back on the home front, Isaac and I had a "Mom and Bup" day. He drove us to the Mother Ship, where we chilled for a while over coffee and water and an everything bagel with cream cheese (his) and an egg and pesto sandwich (mine). It was strange and wonderful sitting there with him in my usual spot, since Abby and Brady have both gone with me so many times but he hasn't. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood and I listened as he wove a creative yarn about a chicken and a processing plant. (It's not as potentially gross as it sounds. It's actually quite clever, but he doesn't want me to share it so I won't.) Then we finished up by playing Mario Party. I rarely play actual video games (phone variants are a different story), but it was really fun. And we creamed our opponents, which made it satisfying, too. It was, all in all, so sweet to spend one on one time with him. He's such a great kid.

It was a busy day, but it was a day filled with varied blessings for all of us. So for all of those very good things, I'm thankful to God.