Any Mo Willems fans out there?

Mo Willems has written some very fun books for children. We love, love, love Knuffle Bunny, about a little girl who loses her favorite stuffed animal at the laundromat, or "laundry-mat" as Wade says. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is great, too. Wade is slowly starting to read a few books on his own. He likes We Play in the Dick and Jane series, but I thought hearing Knuffle Bunny might be more entertaining than "Play. See Jane play. Play, Jane, play," if you know what I mean. Enjoy "story hour," compliments of Wade Cushing!

Knuffle Bunny, written and illustrated by Mo Willems, narrated by Wade Cushing

Part 1



Part 2

Happy reading!!

Random goodness

Tonight I was thinking about good things that I've learned so far on this East Coast adventure. I thought I'd share one of those very good things with the world, and it is my Relief Society president's salsa recipe! When we moved into the ward, she delivered some chips and salsa instead of the usual cookies or homemade bread. We've been hooked on her recipe ever since. I know it's time to go to Costco when the canned tomatoes are all gone. :)

CYNTHIA'S SALSA

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
Handful of cilantro, stems preferably removed
Dash of garlic powder, to taste
Dash of salt, to taste
4-5 slices of pickled jalapenos

Dump all ingredients in a blender and pulse 5-6 times, no more.***
(I added 2 ingredients: about a teaspoon of lime juice and 4-5 squirts of hot sauce. Yummy!)

More birthday celebrations...

Today is Aunt Traci's birthday! We hope she's having a great one. It'll be so fun to have her and her "boys" so much closer this summer. They'll be in New York!

Mount Vernon opened its doors for free today and invited everyone to come celebrate George Washington's 276th birthday. Man, it was beautiful this morning. Sunny and warm, we didn't even wear jackets! Jason took some good pictures of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. The guns going off made all the babies around us cry. For once Rhiannon and Wade thought all the noise was pretty cool.

We got up close and personal to the General himself and wished him a Happy Birthday!

The Guard. They stopped first right in front of us.

A second after Jason took this picture, the soldiers let out a yell and ran up the field!

More formations and gunsmoke.

Hurray for a fun family day!

"There's alotta love out there, ya know, man?

I tried to paraphrase Fillmore from the Disney movie Cars. It pretty much describes our Valentine's Day yesterday. Jason called a couple times from Nevada, we went to Burger King for dinner, ate yummy heart sugar cookies, and enjoyed presents and fun Valentine's parties at school/Joy School. Hope everyone had a great day, too!

Rhiannon stands behind the valentine curtain hanging from her doorway--a Cushing tradition. (And another fabulously easy idea from FamilyFun magazine, I might add!)

Wade shows off his new cars that he got--Snot Rod (appropriate after all the nose-blowing we've been doing this month), and Fred.

Rhiannon is the very proud mama of a new Webkinz stuffed animal, Quackers.

I (heart) Spiderman!

Quadruple the fun

"Hey, Mom, come look! There are FOUR Wades!"

Puppy "Bling"

My first idea for a title for this post was: "Does life get any better than this?" Rhiannon joined me on my big Saturday errand run today. First stop was the toy section at WalMart. Head to the huge Littlest Pet Shop aisle and right next to it you'll see the newest craze at our house called Puppy in My Pocket. Well, now they're expanding, much to our happy surprise! Can you imagine the excitement we both felt to find that now they're making PONIES in My Pocket!!!! :)

Here are a few pics of Rhiannon modeling her Puppy "bling." SOOOOO fun!

Rhiannon has purchased a few pieces with her own money and got a healthy collection going at Christmas time, too. With the Pony line out now, she's got lots to dream about.

She's holding one of her new Pony in My Pocket horses, called Stella.