December 2015

Nothing like making gingerbread houses to really make it feel like DECEMBER!!

Lilly's class had a gingerbread house making party...and since I was the one who glued them all together, I got to bring Charlie along for the fun too! :) 

I thought I was going to have to HELP Charlie make his...but after I showed him how to use the frosting to stick on the candies, he was 100% independent. He had so much fun being with the big first graders too!

And of course I pretended not to notice when he squirted the frosting into his mouth!

Our next door neighbor, Adelaide, is such a sweet, squishy baby! We get to tend her once in a while...and usually Lilly, Tyler, and I will take the most turns holding her and playing with her. She is getting super  big! 

Mom of the Year....making chocolate chip cookies with the kids and letting them lick the spoons when we were done! Tah-dah! 

Charlie is a super trooper whenever we go to Costco. On this particular visit I decided to buy him a chocolate frozen yogurt for being an awesome kid in general. However, we hit the lunch rush hour and the line was FOREVER long. I asked him if he wanted something else from another restaurant and he did NOT. He had his heart set on that Costco goodness. So we waited in line and tried to make the most of it. We talked to a lady who was in line with us and chit chatted for a good 20 minutes while we waited. After her turn we waved goodbye and then put in our order for a frozen yogurt...then the cashier said, "the lady in front of you wanted to buy your son a treat...because he was such a good boy waiting in line!" AWESOME!!!! Luckily I was able to catch the good Samaritan before she left the store and thanked her for her kindness. It totally made me want to do something random and kind for a stranger. 

I posted this picture on Instagram and later that day I heard from my BFF that she had paid for the car behind her's in line at McDonalds!!! Random acts of kindness are super cool!

Dad got to go with Tyler's fourth grade class for their free ski day at Brighton! It was Tyler's first time going skiing EVER and Dad was thrilled to be able to get off of work to go too! 

Dad even wore his "Smurf Suit" (that he wore during the 2002 Olympics) and his matching crazy hat. Super stylin'! 

It was a beautiful day for skiing and now Tyler wants to go back for more!

 Charlie's preschool class presented a Christmas program, which was held at the Murray Library.

 The kids sang songs and it was absolutely adorable. Charlie was being silly about getting his picture taken though...hence, the weird faces.

Both Grandmas came to watch the preschool goodness!

Sam's Lego Mixel mixing skills are getting better and better each day! Look at this amazing "Max!"

 Charlie and I were reading a book from the library called "Yummy, Yucky." One of the pages it said: "Fish food...yucky. Fish sticks...yummy." Charlie was curious what a fish stick was!! He had never heard of it before. So the next time we went to the grocery store I bought some and he tried them (with ketchup, of course). Surprisingly enough, he LIKED it!!! I was sooooo proud of my boy for trying something new! (Which he struggles with!)

We had a sweet reunion with one of Sam's old preschool friends from the Carmen B. Pingree School for Autism. His buddy, Alex, came over so we could give him a big box of sprinkler parts (Alex's obsession...our neighbor works for a sprinkler company and gave us a bunch to give to him). Sam and Alex were friendly with each other but quiet. Alex and Sam are a lot alike in their temperaments and Alex's mom is one of my dearest "autism momma" friends. 

My friend, Stephanie, and I wanted to give our kids a fun opportunity to do some Random Acts of Kindness. We got the kids together and had them make generic Christmas cards. Then we went to a shopping center and looked for people to give the cards to. We also had candy for them to give away. 

 When we went inside of Toys R Us we also left money by the vending machines so that kids could walk by and use the coins to buy a little vending machine toy. The only bummer was that while we were in the toy store, Sam got lost and went outside. It was a moment of pure panic...but we eventually found him. It was a bit of a stressful event for the moms, but I think the kids liked it. ??? Hopefully!

 For Family Home Evening we went to visit the Tree of Life in Draper. It truly is such a beautiful site!

Because of the way the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day arrangements worked this year, we had to do our annual Christmas Eve Cropper party quite a bit earlier in the month. We had dinner, a cousin talent show, the cousin present exchange, and Minute To Win It games. It was quite a night!

 Sam loved his new "Anger" toy!!! This was his "Anger" impression. 

Charlie flipped a lid (in a good way) when he opened his new motorcycle toy. He had been wanting it for months and I told Aunt Suzy about it when she needed an idea of a present that one of her kids could give to Charlie. His reaction was priceless. 

The boys had fun playing this funny Minute To Win It game with nylons and balloons. Kazi, Uncle Matt, Tyler, and Jessie didn't mind posing for a picture. 

We celebrated with the Cushing side of the family on Christmas Eve this year. Aunt Rochelle joined us for part of it and spoiled all of the families with new cozy blankets. I know that our family will be taking turns with the new super soft gray blanket.

Rhiannon had Lilly's name for the cousin exchange. She sent Lilly an Olaf purse with girly stuff inside of it and a new teddy bear.

Sam got a cool new Lego Chain Reactions set! 

Charlie loved the Paw Patrol game and blanket that he got. 

Close up of Sammy's Christmas colors on his braces.

 

Lulu and her "Papa Bear."

Sweet picture with my pretty mama. 

We had a lovely, quiet night with the Cushings...presents, dinner, and games. Who could ask for more?

When we got home from the festivities, the kids got the milk, cookies, and carrots ready for Santa and his reindeer.

The next morning the kids woke up to special new "buddies" (stuffed animals) in their stockings. The animals just so happened to be the exact same stuffed animals that they had picked out to put in their Operation Christmas Box packages for kids in need! 

The pile of presents from Santa was impressive! I think Santa "nailed it" with the gifts....

Sam was THRILLED to receive the Lego Mixel named Flain! It was the ONLY Mixel out of all of the series that Sam didn't have yet! I think I even saw some happy teary eyes! 

 Tyler got a new Nintendo 3DS "Hobbit" game! 

 Charlie got a huge crane toy...with remote control!!! Pure happiness! 

Lilly got a Lego Rapunzel set! The kids were all so delighted with Christmas joy...that they had to have a group hug!!!! 

I love Christmas morning smiles like this one: 

 ... and this one:

 ...oooo, and this one:

There were plenty of happy moments and surprises! Dad surprised me with a rhyming poem with gift cards to some of my favorite places! He also had worked long hours to put our wedding video on DVD for me! (It was on VHS before and I was sad that we had no way of watching it anymore...with no VCR in our home.) 

Here's a picture of Christmas tornado: 

Here's the "before" picture of Charlie in his crib/toddler bed:

Charlie got a BIG BOY BED for Christmas...so after our initial present opening festivities, and breakfast, Dad and I got started on putting his bed together. This is the final product:

Charlie is super excited for his big bed, new bedding, and invited Betty Ralph to join in on the fun. 

Later that day Grandma and Papa came over for a bit to see what the kids got. Later that afternoon, Dad took the kids to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Leigh's house. (I had to stay home because I started feeling super sick and had a migraine-type headache!)

Overall, it was a very fun Christmas season full of family, fun, and new memories.

 While Bobby was in town for the holidays, we had a party with all our friends and their hubbies. 

 Of course we needed a picture of all the ladies....both "normal" and "silly" versions!

November 2015

November lovin' coming right at you!

Miss Lilly is CONSTANTLY, (ok, not literally), making cute cards and notes for others...not just our family either. Teachers, friends, cousins, etc. The card she is working on in this picture was for Tyler's birthday. She definitely knows how to make others feel loved with a little note. 

Speaking of Tyler's birthday....he turned 10! Whaaaaaat???

This year Tyler wanted just one big present...a Nintendo 3DS game system. It was a lot of money, so he combined birthday money from us (me and Dad), BOTH sets of grandparents, and a little of his own spending money. We found a great deal on a used one on KSL.com which came with some of the games he really wanted too. On his birthday, I decided to play a little prank on him. Since he really only had one present to open, and he knew what it would be, I decided to wrap a can of canned chicken (about the same size and weight as the 3DS). When he opened it up he was a little surprised! I'm glad he likes my sense of humor!

Tyler got to have a birthday party with his friends this year. He chose to go to Classic Fun Center to do Laser Tag, Bounce Houses, and the Blast Zone. He invited cousin Alex, Brock Ploeger, Jeffrey Gillmore, and Trillyen Drage. Dad took the boys and I stayed home with the other kids. They had a rowdy, sweaty great time!

Scenes like this make my Momma Heart so happy! Tyler is so sweet with Charlie. He even helps him get ready for church by doing his hair. It doesn't happen every Sunday, but often enough. Tyler and Charlie like to gel and style their hair extra special on Sundays.

On this particular Sunday we had our very own hair salon in my bathroom. I was curling Lilly's hair, after I had curled my own. Then Charlie and Tyler came in to do theirs.

Lilly's curls turned out just so pretty! She is such a beautiful girl.

Later that night we celebrated Tyler's birthday at Grandma and Papa's house. He requested a Cinnamon Cake...which I was more than happy to make. YUM! It's not the prettiest looking cake, but OH-SO-DELICIOUS!

We had a special event with Sam this month. He got his first temple recommend to go do baptisms for the dead!

It was a very tender, sweet moment for Dad and I to finally take one of our kids to the temple! We invited Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Leigh to come along. Grandma Nancy had prepared some family names to bring to the temple. Aunt Heather, Uncle Matt, and cousin Andrew came too! It was wonderful to be all together in the temple. 

Tyler worked SUPER EXTRA HARD to earn his Bear rank in Cub Scouts. In our Pack we do this cool ceremony when the boys advance and we get to use face crayons on them and give them tribal stripes. Way to go Tyler!

Near the end of the month we were blessed to have Uncle Jason's family come up from Ridgecrest! They were able to stay for Thanksgiving again...which we LOVE! 

This year was our family's turn to plan a Cushing family service project for Christmas...although we did it extra early this year! We chose a charity called Operation Christmas Box. All of the Cushing cousins packed a shoe box full of fun stuff that a kid of their same age and gender would enjoy. We got together at Grandma's house with bags full of fun toys, activities, treats, and other items to send to a needy child somewhere in the world. We had so much fun putting the boxes together. 

Our family decided to include pictures and letters from our kids so that the child who received the box would be able to know a little bit about who it was from. I loved this extra idea I found on Pinterest...to trace your child's hand on the lid of the box and write, "Put your hand on mine and we can pray together."

Charlie loved the little stuffed walrus that he included in his box...it was hard for him to give it up, which made it even more special.

Brett's family had so much stuff that they were able to fill some extra boxes too!

Jason's family provided some candies that we all used to fill in the empty spaces in the boxes.

Lilly and I enjoyed picking out "girly things" for her box! This magic wand was a "must!"

Rhiannon and Wade are experts at photo posing! Word!

Rhiannon is also an expert "photo bomber"....as you can see!

She's a good example to the other children...isn't she? This was supposed to be a picture of just Charlie...and then Tyler, Lilly, and Wade jumped in. Awesome! :)

After Sam got his box done, he was DONE. He found a quiet corner and Grandma's Kindle...then he was a happy boy.

That same night we celebrated Grandma's BIRTHDAY!!!! Isn't she the cutest? Surrounded by all her darling grandchildren!!!! What a special birthday present!!!

The next night we got together and delivered our boxes to a random church in the middle of industrial Murray! We loved the sign on the wall..."It's all about Jesus!" The church was a delivery location for finished boxes. The boxes are then gathered from all over the world, checked at various warehouses, and then sent to needy children in third world countries.

After our delivery, we needed some yummy goodness...so we headed to Iceberg and got some ice-cream and shakes together! 

What a bunch of crazy kittens!!!

While the Cali Cushings were here, we HAD to go bowling....it's tradition! (Gotta love Sam's "gang signs!")

There was some FIERCE competition...but all in good fun! 

Sam was just glad that Grandma brought her Kindle so he had "something to do" in between his turns. (Sigh!)

Selfie with my girl.

Later that same night we busted out a new game to try..."Bean Boozled!" Basically it's like playing Russian Roulette with jelly beans that could either be a yummy flavor or a SUPER NASTY flavor. Not everyone was up for the challenge...but those who participated will probably NEVER forget it!

This is my "I just ate a jelly bean that tastes like SKUNK" face. Seriously, I've never had anything more disgusting in my life!

Aunt Jaymie couldn't play because just WATCHING us play was disgusting enough!

Here are the last 6 surviving players. If it weren't for Verity's moral support throughout the game, I wouldn't have been able to make it to the end. I think some of the worst flavors I had to eat were: Skunk, Booger, and Vomit...but some of the "Bad" ones weren't all that bad, like Baby Wipes. Thank goodness Grandma Deb had a stash of York Peppermint Patties that we could eat to try and get the nasty tastes out of our mouths! However, by the time I went to bed later that night I could still taste SKUNK! Ewwwww.

Thanks for the memories, Jelly Belly.

Lilly has a new trick: she calls it "Magic Spiderman." She climbs up the door jam and can hang there with her just hands touching. It is quite amazing. It's almost like watching a gymnast do the "Iron Cross" on the rings.

This year we were able to go visit Santa Claus a bit earlier than normal! We went to see him at The Train Shoppe...which is a new tradition for us! 

Lilly was as friendly as ever.

As usual, this was as close as Sam could get to Santa. He had written down his wish list and gave it to Santa.

Tyler has almost reached the "too cool" phase of going to see Santa! Boo!

And we couldn't get Charlie even CLOSE to Santa this year. Santa's elf was very friendly and talked to Charlie instead. She got Charlie's wish list and was going to pass it on to Santa. 

This family picture is truly miraculous! It was hard to get Sam and Charlie to agree to it. Luckily we had a train ride as an extra "bonus" AFTER we had our picture taken with Santa. Just a little "motivational bribe." The kids also had fun driving the little model trains too. 

This picture just melts me. I caught Sam and Tyler at the piano together one Sunday. Sam was listening in and Tyler didn't seem to mind. Love it.

Lilly and Dad went on a donut date for their 1-on-1. Nothing like a maple bar and pink lemonade to bring a smile to your face!

Lilly still has her Papa wrapped around her little finger! She can get him to do things that no other grandchild can usually do....like read "The Sneetches!" 

The toilet in our master bathroom finally bit the dust. Dad thought it would be a great idea to list it on KSL and have someone come pick it up from us. (It worked!) When we left it out on the front porch for pick-up I couldn't help but laugh. I had to take a picture of this unusual porch "decor." 

I took Tyler to Target one night...and we decided to have some fun in the accessories department. I think he looks quite smashing in this furry hat. He did NOT, however, appreciate my "Whip and Nae Nae" dance moves that I busted out while we shopped. It's kind of fun to try and embarrass him in public! :) He is the only one that can handle it. 

I got to babysit Roxy dog (Brett's family's dog) for a few days...I gave her her medicine in a big blob of peanut butter. I think we bonded and I loved my time with her each morning. Of course, a selfie was in order! (Side note: I love dogs...other people's dogs. I do not ever want a dog in my house. Too much mess and stench involved.)

Charlie loves it when I help him do a huge train set up in the family room...either with wood tracks, blue tracks, or GeoTrax. This particular track set up was quite impressive, so we took a picture (naturally).