New Year's Eve 2009

Just a note for anyone who is just starting to read. I am binge blogging today in reverse chronological order.

New Year's Eve we split between our house and my parents'. We started with a day of games, food, and fun. Then we headed back to our place with the intent of putting the little ones down for bed so we could stay up and ring in the New Year. Cousins Isaac and Lily were quite cooperative...as was Emma. All three were tuckered out after a long day. Spencer, however, came down in his pajamas when the rest of the family showed up to continue the party. He remembered staying up last year to drink sparkling cider and stuff 12 grapes into his mouth at the stroke of midnight. When a 4 year-old kid has a memory this good, and his negligent parents let him stay up as a 3 year-old, what are they to do but repeat the pattern? So, Adam went off to Harris Teeter to buy some last minute party supplies (how could forget the grapes!), and we all put on our game faces until countdown time. The high school aged kids were all the at the New Years' dance, but we got to hang out with all of the grown kids. Aaron even joined us on his way home from working some crazy hours at a DC law firm, and Melinda's friend Breann hung out with us as well. (See...we are cool enough for college kids).

Games we played waiting for the New Year:
Operation
Don't Break the Ice
Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots
Uno
Condotierre
That one that starts with M...the one Sarah always wins

What else am I missing, gang?

Here's a quick snapshot of our group about to drink cider and eat grapes at midnight.

New Year's Day 2010: Picture Perfect

We were lucky enough to see just about everyone on both sides of the family at some point during the holiday season. On the Cummings' side, it was never everyone at the same time, but I'm realizing that as the family continues to grow, that becomes more and more difficult. I am resolved to be happy seeing whoever we can, whenever we can. (Beach week, anyone???) I love being a part of this big Cummings clan.

New Year's Day, we celebrated by basking in laziness. We got together at the Clagett St. home for games, food, films, and fireworks. The film of choice this holiday was "Cranford," a recent BBC production and probably my favorite series. It's even giving "Pride & Prejudice" a run for top billing in my book - no small feat!

Here is the cast of characters (at least those who were able to be there at dinnertime):

Grammy and Papa


Michelle and Greg (the newlyweds)


Isaac, Nathan, and Jenny (sorry I caught you mid-blink, J)


Celeste, Trina, Joel, Sarah, Emma, and Adam


Grandpa Bezzant and Celeste


Heather and Melinda



Marie and Dan


Uncle Dan was an absolute favorite with all the nieces and nephews because of this fun game. Since it was cold and snowy out of doors, Uncle Dan became the indoor swing. Others took a turn to help with what would otherwise have been an incessant line of hopeful children, waiting for a turn.


Emma snuggles up to Dan to check out his Itouch. This girl LOVES technology, and she navigates tech toys with authority.


I love this photo. When we were outside to watch Aaron's South Carolina firework display, this group snuggled up. It represents the inseparables. Spencer tagged along with Trina pretty much all day, and I can count on one hand the number of times all week that I saw Greg and Michelle apart.


Grandpa Bezzant is a Christmas regular, and we wouldn't have it any other way. He's a mover and a shaker, this year tackling a Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown trip with part of the fam. He's also about the smartest fellow I know, with an amazing memory for detail and ability to figure out how everyone he meets connects in some way back to the good folk of the San Mateo ward. He runs the Bezzant B&B in Orem and puts us up every time we visit Utah. LOVE you, Grandpa!


Another fun moment captured - Melinda, who is a musical genius by my reckoning, let Emma climb up to play piano with her and proceeded to play song after song at Emma's request (all by ear). We love you, Lin!

The Great Library

Morning Update: Here is the end result of the kids' library project. These kids LOVE books! It reminded me that Emma's first word was, after all, "book."

Wride B&B

One major benefit of living for in the Larsen home is that we get to entertain house guests! We had a fun visit from the Gardner family who moved away from our area last fall. Spencer and Emma got to spend a good amount of time with Cole (age 5) in particular since Cheryl and I served in the Relief Society Presidency together and would have weekly meetings. It was a very happy reunion for all. Spencer was SO sad when they had to go home, so we are hoping for a repeat visit soon. The Gardners know how to raise some really good boys. A big thank you to Jim and Cheryl who let Emma follow them around all weekend.

Emma, Cole, and Spencer


Adam, Marie, Kyle, Cheryl, Jim, Derek, Spencer, Emma, and Cole


We're still accepting reservations at the Wride B&B...let us know when you are coming!

Teeny tiny

Emma is the earliest riser in our family. When I return from seminary, she has either woken the boys or waited to hear the garage door open to call out, "Mommy! I'm awake!" Some mornings, we are quiet enough that we have our morning girl time without waking Spencer up. This photo is from one of those mornings.

Lovie loves all things "teeny tiny." She also loves her babies. For Christmas, her cousin Lily gave her a "teeny tiny" pack-n-play, which is set right next to Emma's bed so she can put her babies to bed. This particular morning, Emma and I decided we would make pancakes for breakfast. Emma wanted "teeny tiny" ones for her baby, and I was only too happy to oblige.

My baby with her baby:

Play Dates

Our kids are super lucky in that they have many good friends in our area and, particularly, in our congregation at church. A few fun playmates came over the other day for play dates, and I snapped some fun pictures.

Spencer and Luke in the midst of a marathon 5 1/2 hour play date. These two are amazing...they play WITHOUT argument. I kept checking in just to make sure things were still going well. They have the best imaginations and are similar enough in interest that when one suggests a change in their play, the other one always seems to think it is a good idea. We love Lukie.


This is a new development. My friend Sandra suggested we start getting our girls together for a weekly play date. I jumped at the chance since I had dropped the ball on being organized enough to do a co-op preshcool for Emmy this year. (There's always next year, right?) The girls have had a blast playing with all things pink. Remarkably, they both get along really well even though both have had to fend for themselves in the midst of only brothers. They are strong girls, and good friends. Sienna - thank you for being such an awesome friend! Emma loves having play dates of her very own. (The first time I dropped her off, she made sure to tell Spencer, "This is MY play date. You're not coming." Too often, Emma is the one left in the car while Spence runs in to a friend's house. The tables are finally turning in her favor.)


In the absence of outside friends, my two kids play like the best of buddies. Most mornings (after breakfast - food makes a big difference in the level of peace), I am amazed at how well they take turns. Spencer is a very protective brother; he takes such good care of Emma and has such creative ideas for play. Emma, in turn, likes to tag along and mother him when permitted. Emma is more of an independent spirit while Spence requires a companion before he will venture to another floor of the big house we currently occupy. Emma is happy to oblige. At present, they are upstairs. Already this morning they have made a tent out of chairs and a blanket, set up a library by putting books between the rungs in the banister that lines the stairs, and at any moment I expect them to break into one of their other standard games: jet planes, flap-flap (where they pretend to be birds and jump off stairs to fly), or doggy. (Emma goes by the name "teeny tiny pink puppy," and Spencer by "Woof-woof").


I love these kids!

Before and After

Since church is canceled today due to inclement weather, I decided I'm going to invest a little time in recording some of our family stories. I'll work backward from present day and see how far I get, given that all the usual distractions are still hovering around. (Have I mentioned before that my kids LOVE the computer...especially when I am on it). For the moment, they are happily engaged in what has become a ritual Sunday morning activity: watercolors. Spencer, per custom, is still in his pajamas, while Emma has donned her pink shirt and skirt. She refuses to come down for breakfast until fully dressed for the day. In addition, she picks out her own clothes and most of the time matches quite nicely. She has strong opinions in these matters, so if you see her in a lime green skirt and pea green shirt...just go with it. They are both green - therefore, they match, and she will readily remind you of that fact.

Watercolors have ceased to be captivating, so in an effort to involve the kiddos, we'll post their commentary with the pictures that follow.

Emma: "That's Emma and Spencer and a bag. So, there's tigers in that place, and Lukie was in that place. So, that's it. Do another picture, Mommy!" (My addition: Spence and Emma were so cute when we were getting ready for Spencer's preschool carpool one day that I decided to take picture. They were snuggled up on the carseat booster. Little did I know this would become the "Before Preschool" picture. Scroll down to see the "After" one.)



AFTER preschool, this is what greeted me at the doorway. My friend Meagan dropped off the kids. Her son Luke is one of Spencer's best buddies, and we took the opportunity to take a little photo of the tiger cubs. Spencer loved this look SO much that he slept with it on so he could show everyone the next day. We even skyped with a few family members at Spencer's request so we could share his look. When Emma woke up from her nap, Spencer ran in to greet her. She was terrified that we had sent a boy to preschool and that he came back a tiger. She wouldn't let him within a 10 foot radius for a full half hour. After that, she adjusted nicely to having a tiger for a brother and they played out their stories for the rest of the day.

Spencer: "Once upon a time, Spencer got painted as a tiger. I did it at preschool. And I, Spencer, played with Luke. We were playing with tiger cars. Really deep in the bucket (at preschool), there are some tiger cars. GROWL! SNARL!!!
(We need some video to capture how truly he has mastered the tiger sound).