Wade's spring band concert!

We are so proud of Wade's accomplishments in concert band this semester.  He got moved up from beginning band in the middle of the year to join the 7th and 8th graders, and he has done well!  Check out his awesome solo at the very end of the last video, too.  So fun!

Piano Piano Piano!

The past two Saturdays we went to two piano recitals!  Rhiannon played in an honors recital in April, and yesterday both Rhiannon and Wade performed at their piano teacher's Spring recital.  We are proud of these kids and their efforts to learn and "grow" their talents!

Every year gets better

Mother's Day was spectacular this weekend.  I feel so happy and relaxed and GRATEFUL for all that Jason and the kids did to make me feel loved.  Every year I say, "Wow, this Mother's Day will never be topped!" and then the next Mother's Day rolls around and it's just amazing.

This year we celebrated for two days, haha!  Last night Jason treated us all to a family movie experience watching Captain America: Civil War (which was AWESOME!), and then we went to the local Olvera's Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Half the fun was watching the kids try something new besides Taco Bell.

Then this morning I slept in and then read wonderful Mother's Day posts on Facebook on my laptop (still in bed, what a luxury, haha!).  Rhiannon and Wade made a delicious breakfast, did all the dishes, and gave me lots of hugs and kisses.  Jason helped the kids with dinner--hamburgers, fries, salad, apple slices, and a chocolate cream pie for dessert--delish!

At church we got to hear Wade give his first talk in sacrament meeting, on gratitude, and he did a wonderful job with that!  Ward members served ice cream after church, too, to make the day extra special.

This day can be up and down for so many women.  Sometimes women feel only guilt, or sadness about life circumstances that are out of their control.  Today I'm grateful for the divine nature of women--that innate, ennobling power to "mother" others, whether we have children or not.  I know our family has been guided, supported, and loved by many wonderful women.  Happy to set aside a day to honor them and let them know they are appreciated!

Awards, awards, awards!

Proud of these kids!  They got some cool awards at the end of the school year!

Wade:

Battle of the Books recognition

5th grade Accelerated Math completion (he's in 4th grade)

Top 10 Accelerated Math student

Top 10 Accelerated Reader student

Word Masters recognition

Rhiannon:

Citizenship Award

PE Award

Honor Roll for 3 Straight Years

CJSF recognition (honors/service society in California)

President's Award for Academics

WOO-HOO!  Way to go, Cushing Kids!

We love these piano kids!

A week after Rhiannon's Honors recital, both she and Wade performed in their piano teacher's spring recital. They did a great job!  We're proud of them for putting so much practice time in, with very little reminders from us!

Rhiannon's 2014 Honors Recital

Rhiannon participated in an Honors Recital the beginning of May and did such a wonderful job playing L'Orage.  She was the very last performer and didn't like that too much; she said by the time she got up there she was pretty nervous and played the song too fast.  We still think she did a fantastically amazing job on her piece, though.  We love to hear her play!!!

With her wonderful piano teacher Melanie McDonald

800th Post: Halloween 2013

Halloween was fantastic this year!

Jason:  Chicken Hat man
Verity:  bag of Jelly Beans
Rhiannon:  Dr. Who
Wade:  Ironman (make sure you know it's the Ironman 3 one!)

We had a good time at 3rd Ward's trunk-or-treat, seeing old friends and passing out candy.  Fun!

For Dr. Who lovers:  the Tardis, River Song, Dr. Who, and a weeping angel all in one parking lot!

Cool places: Horseshoe Bend

This world is filled with beautiful places.  One of those places is definitely Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona!  After the 1/2 marathon, we went there with the Tomlinsons and Whitings.  It was a little trek through soft sand to get there, but so worth it!

Boy for hire!

About three days ago Wade came to me and said, "I'd really like to earn some extra money.  What can I do?"  He made a very comprehensive list of how much money he had, how much he wanted to earn, what Lego sets he was interested in, and how much each set cost (both the WalMart and Amazon price).

Jason and I came up with some "money chores" he could do, things that were big projects and went way above and beyond the small monthly allowance that he gets once a month.

So this morning Wade got outside and started in on a $10 job--weeding and turning over all the dirt in the garden.  It's been left alone for several months, the dirt was hard, and there were quite a few weeds.  Jason and I both expected Wade to get maybe a third of it done and then work on it throughout the 4-day weekend. 

Well, we were both astonished and very impressed at the effort Wade made this morning.  He worked on the garden all morning long, drank Gatorade and hooked his iPod up to a speaker, took a couple short breaks here and there, and finished the entire thing before lunch, with only a little help here and there from his mom.

I think I'm out of a job.  Wade is the son of two very excited, happy parents! :)

 

Rewind: Mt Whitney August 2012

A couple weeks ago our ward had a Court of Honor.  I tagged along with Jason and really enjoyed the presentations given on the Scouts' summer adventures, especially the one that Jason was a part of--the 50-miler goal to climb Mt. Whitney.  There were hundreds of pictures taken and lots of stories, but that's something you'll have to get from Jason.  I didn't experience the altitude changes, the blisters, the exhaustion, the worries, or that once-in-a-lifetime feeling of accomplishment that I'm sure the group felt as they stood at the top of Mt. Whitney. 

For now, these wonderful pictures will tell some of the tale!  Way to go, guys!

Dayton's Legs

In case you missed this, it is well worth the view. So awesome!

Happy Sunday!