Christmas at the Cushings :)

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house! The kids must have been VERY good because Santa brought them tons of toys.

• Mason's favorites were the Leapster and his Imaginext Pirate Ship.
• Charlotte's favorites were her dress up clothes and her Barbies (her first!)
• Isaac's favorite was the wrapping paper :)

Charlotte also got new princess pajamas and tights...she's worn the pajama top and her tights around the house for the last two days. I guess tomorrow I'll have to talk her into wearing something else :)

Happy 6 month birthday, Isaac!

Happy half-birthday to my littlest sweetheart! I love my little Isaac more than words can say. I love that I have another life to love and hold close. He is the sweetest little boy, so full of smiles, love, and laughs :) I, of course, had to get him in front of the camera this morning, below are my favorites.

He is now drinking out of a sippie cup (as of yesterday!), babbling "di-dah", "mmmaa", and blowing lots of raspberries. He's also working on a couple of new teeth, and still trying to figure out how to sit up by himself and crawl!

The first 6 months have gone by so quickly, my baby is growing up so fast! I'm certainly enjoying every minute...happy 6 month birthday, little one.

Meet Ralph

Matt, Mason, Charlotte and I all went outside while Isaac was napping this morning. It was about 30 degrees, but we managed to make a snowman out of the icy snow. The eyes and mouth were all Mason's idea :)

Here are the snowman stats:
Name: Ralph
Height: about 60 inches
Eyes: Meatballs
Nose: Baby Carrot
Mouth: Banana

Oh, and on the bottom is a picture of Charlotte with Ralph's baby brother :)

He's got it!

Mason hit a big milestone this week. We've been working on letter sound, and this week something 'clicked'. He can now tell you what letter any word starts with when you ask him (e.g. "What letter does 'frog' start with?"! And he seems to get it pretty easily...you can see the little wheels turning in his head, and then he gets it ("F, Mom!!)!

Ok, he occasionally gets 'k' and 'c' mixed up (e.g. candy cane he says starts with 'k')...and vowels are a little tricky, but he's definitely making great progress!

We were at Menards the other day and they have the words 'In' and 'Out' over their doors and Mason said "Mom, O-U-T spells OUT!" I said "You're right! How did you know that?" and he said "From Wii baseball, Mom!" Ahhh...no wonder he didn't know 'In' :)

Now I've started 'bat', 'cat', 'hat', etc words with him. He loves doing it and is so proud of himself!

O Christmas Tree

The kids had lots of fun decorating the tree this year. Most of the ornaments ended up in their 'range' of the tree...and we haven't moved them (I'm a bit proud of myself for not obsessing over it!).

I love the last picture, Mason was looking at his reflection in the ornaments, and you can see his reflection in the ornament in the picture :)

How do I do this???

Isaac would love to start crawling. He's got some of the moves down, and is trying very hard to put it all together, but hasn't gotten it yet!

What a difference a year makes!

Mason had his Sunday school Christmas program last weekend...what a difference a year makes!! It was great to see him participating, and enjoying showing off for us :)


Here is Mason at last year's program (totally NOT participating!):









Here he is during this year's program (actually doing all the motions and songs):

This one is during Silent Night

























This one is during Go Tell it on the Mountain

2007 Year in Review

Here's our 2007 best of...this year has gone by so fast, and our kids have grown up so much! Make sure you've got sound, and enjoy :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My artists

Mason and Charlotte have really been into doing artwork lately! They love to decorate their rooms, the refrigerator, and even our bedroom with their latest creations. Here they are painting away.

Here's one of Isaac doing what he does best lately...chewing!

We've been elfed

I just elfed our kids :) Click here to check it out. It's hilarious!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are so blessed today and everyday! We are lucky enough to have wonderful friends who invited us to share Thanksgiving with them and their family. We're looking forward to a fun day with the kids and friends, playing, visiting, feasting, and watching football - go Packers!! :)

A Thanksgiving quote for you...

"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. "

Abraham Lincoln
Source: October 3, 1863 - Proclamation of Thanksgiving

4 years old and growing fast

Mason has said so many cute things the last few days I just had to write them down. I can't believe how his mind works sometimes...too funny.

ONE
Mason is sitting and eating his dinner and he says "Honey Nut Cheerios, Eat Healthy, Be Happy." I said "Where did you hear that?" He says "On TV Mom, a bee said it!"

TWO
Mason saw a bouquet of flowers on TV, and said "Look at the pretty flowers, Mom!" I said, "Yes, they are pretty, almost as pretty as the ones I got from Daddy on the table downstairs." Mason says "Yeah, they're almost as pretty as my sister." :)

THREE
Mason and I are playing Nintendo Wii. I am playing tennis and I hit the ball. Mason says "BOO-YAH!" I said "Where did you hear that?" Mason says "From the Money Man on TV, Mom!" (Matt watches Mad Money with Jim Cramer on CNBC and he says it)

Mason is doing a great job listening lately and is a great helper around the house. He is learning better how to handle his emotions, which is hard when you're four years old!! We're debating whether or not he'll go to kindergarten next year since he has such a late birthday. Part of me thinks he'll be ready, but part of me thinks he could use another year to develop his social/emotional skills a little better. One day at a time...we'll decide next July :) I'm just so proud of my big boy and can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Here's a pic...I figured I was due since I haven't posted any in a while! :)

The unexpected

Thursday night, Matt had his appendix taken out! He wasn't feeling well, so he went to his doctor. A CT scan and a bunch of tests later, they confirmed appendicitis. By 8:15pm Thursday night he was taken into surgery and he got out of surgery/recovery around 11:30pm. They were able to do it laparoscopically, and the appendix hadn't ruptured or perforated at all, so there were no complications. He came home Friday night and is at home recovering.

He is doing well, but will probably be in subpar condition for a week or so yet. Thank God he went in when he did, and that they figured it out right away.

Thanks to all our friends in town who have helped us out the last few days (Sarah, Grandma Spillman, Jennie). And thanks to all those who have kept us in their prayers through this unexpected event. We're lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Spunky little Charlotte

Here was my conversation with Charlotte in the bathtub last night:

Me: "Just a couple minutes and it will be time to get out of the tub."

Charlotte: "NO, I don't care!"

Me: "Oh my. That's some pretty sassy talk, would you like to go and sit on the step?"

Charlotte: (pouty face) "NO!".............(sudden change to sweet face) "No fank you, Mommy."


That little girl just cracks me up :)

You gotta try this :)

The kids and I made playdough last weekend and it was SO easy and the playdough is so nice and soft and fun to play with! I will seriously never buy playdough again! Here's the recipe:
-----------------
1 cup warm water
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time.
-------------------

"Stir over medium heat until smooth" means until it comes away from the edges of the pan and forms a ball. I used the gel/paste food coloring and mixed it in after the playdough was cooked and I split it in half so we could get two colors out of the batch. The gel/paste food coloring gets you nice bright colors.

Have fun!

Tooth number ONE

Isaac got his first tooth today! He's been working hard at it...chewing on everything. It was almost through this morning, but by tonight it had finally popped through.

Also, he found his TOES yesterday :) It's so cute when he lays on his back, pulls his legs up, stares at his toes, then reaches up and grabs them.

Here's a pic of him a couple days ago chewing away!

Pumpkin carving

We carved our pumpkins a couple nights ago...the kids were SO excited to do it, and I think we did it in record time! The kids didn't want to scoop out any of the guts, but they did tell us what they wanted their pumpkins to look like. Mason found a picture of a scary jack-o-lantern in the newspaper, and Charlotte wanted hers to be a bat :)

babies, babies, babies

I'm at Julie's house with Isaac for a few days, and Sarah was able to come with Joseph too. So it's me, my sisters, and our babies for the weekend :)

We've had lots of fun, and we're really enjoying a nice long weekend with each other and our babies. It's a bit surreal having all three of us and our babies in the same house at the same time! Here's a few pictures...Josie is 5 months old, Isaac is almost 4 months old, and Joseph is 7 weeks old.

Here's a few new things Isaac has done since being at Auntie Julie & Uncle Brett's house:

• grabs objects (rattles, toys, etc)
• rolls over (back to tummy)
• takes a bottle (after three days of trying and going through three different kinds of bottles!)

Oh, and while I'm at Julie's, Matt took Mason & Charlotte to Grandma & Papa's house for a long weekend. They are having tons of fun and hopefully Matt's taking tons of pictures so I'll be able to post them in a few days :)

Movin' on up

Isaac traded up - we took the swing out of the living room and replaced it with the exersaucer. He loves it!! :)

What every mother likes to hear

Today, on the way home from preschool Mason was sitting in the back seat and said:

"Mommy, you're the best at taking care of me."

Can you guess I'm having a good day? :)