Cummings Kids

My Fundraising Page

2010-06-10T08:41:00.001-04:00

My Fundraising Page

Please see the link above to help out my neighbor and great friend Pam Neff. She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma 2 years ago after the birth of her 3rd daughter. She is currently in remission and in good health. We need to find a cure for this because currently there is no cure for this type of cancer. Any donation would be appreciated. There isn't such a thing as a small donation so thanks very much!!!!
Sonia

Sam's Arrow of Light and 11th Birthday

2010-06-08T10:36:00.003-04:00

So I'm a little late this time in posting about Sam's birthday. He turned 11 on May 28th. One more year of primary then he will be in Young Mens and have the priesthood- unreal! Sam wanted a sports party so about 20 kids came to a local park and we played all of his favorite games. Flag Football, Volleyball, Soccer, Kick Ball and just ran around having fun.

We are so grateful for Sam and his sweet personality. He is such a huge help to me in the mornings and is willing to pretty much do anything I ask without complaining. He is a great example to his younger sister and brother. Sam is also very talented in sports. He is really good at all of them. I think one day he will get a sports scholarship and play something professional one day.

Sam also has been working hard on his Arrow of Light award and accomplished that. That required a lot of work, but I enjoyed working with him on it. We have some good memories of building things together and fixing things.

Sam has been on the A honor roll all year. We are proud of him. He will be going into 6th grade. Off to Middle School next year.

Sam is currently reading the Lightening Thief Series and finally enjoys reading.

I love my Sam very much and I know time will go by fast now once they are out of Elementary school the years seem to fly by.

Happy Birthday Sam and I'm so thankful for you!

Mom

Eliza turned SIX

2010-05-14T14:45:00.005-04:00

My sweet Eliza is now SIX, where did the last six years go? She has grown so much this past year in Kindergarten. She went from barely writing her name to reading little small books on her own. I was lucky enough to be able to go on 4 field trips with her this year! We went to the Pumpkin Patch, Living Museum, Williamsburg and the Strawberry Patch. It was fun to be able to bond with her this way. The best part is that she didn't ignore me on the field trips like my other kids did-lol!

Eliza has also participated in a lot of different things this year. She tried Fall and Spring soccer. She took up ballet-following her big sister in this area- she was in her first Christmas program which was so cute. Her recital is in just a couple of weeks. She also has taken up swimming lessons again and according to her teachers, she is the "best" in the class and moved up two spots in one session. They want her to join their swim team, but she says "she is just too busy for that!" She is so funny. She will just tell you like it is.

Eliza would kill me if she knew I was writing this but she really likes BOYS! I'm going to have my hands full with her I can tell. She wanted a "star wars" party with all boys, (and I wanted a princess party with all girls) I was finally able to pursuade her to have a princess party! Which was really cute.

I love my Eliza girl so much. She is the "princess" of the house. She basically tells us what to do and for some reason we all give in to her. She still talks about her Connecticut friends to, but I am happy that she has some really good friends here in VA also!

I hope this year brings Eliza much happiness and growth.

Courtney is THIRTEEN!

2010-03-06T07:08:00.004-05:00

Courtney turned THIRTEEN ON Feb. 21st. We celebrated by having a MAKE-UP party on Friday night. About 6 girls came and a friend of ours is a PROFESSIONAL make-up artist so she came and dolled up all the girls. They all looked like MODELS it was done perfect, not too much make-up but just enough for them to SHINE! Courtney had a blast.
On Saturday she got to go to her first TEMPLE trip, she said it was AWESOME! She got up at 4:30 in the morning and got home about 2pm. Then we treated HER and ELIZA to a PEDICURE AND MANICURE along with my sister and mom. We enjoyed our GIRLY time. We finished the evening with DINNER out. I think COURTNEY had a GREAT BIRTHDAY!

Courtney has accomplished a lot in her short 13 years! The lastest news is that she was nominated to be a part of the JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY what a huge success. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA through ALL of middle school. She also recently joined the VISIONS which is the TALENTED AND GIFTED program. COURTNEY loves DRAMA....she is LITTLE RED this year in the school play INTO THE WOODS She has been practicing hard to learn all of her parts as it is a LEAD roll.

We are very proud of COURTNEY and she hopes to be a ROCKSTAR one day and I don't doubt that she will make it BIG one day!!!!

LOVE YOU COURTNEY!

we had a GREAT Christmas

2009-12-30T19:38:00.003-05:00

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already- my favorite time of the year. It went by too fast. We did a lot of fun activities throughout the Christmas season, too many to name my favorite but some of the highlights were:
Courtney and Eliza's Christmas program
Christmas Town at Busch Gardens
Rockettes with some really great friends
visiting with friends and then going to see the lights in Hampton
Christmas Eve in Charlottesville visiting family
Christmas Day of course
Day after Christmas my parents came. We missed my sister this year, she didn't make it in.
Baking, time with the family and having Eber home.

I'm sure there is a lot more we did but can't name them all. We also got to enjoy a little snow here in Williamsburg which is unusual for this area!

So as we start the New Year of course I have some goals- they seem to be the same each year but this year definitely get into shape- Eber and I started in the fall and he has lost 15 lbs and I have lost 16 lbs so its a small start but we hope to go to the YMCA more often to work out. I also want more quality family time-so much running around always that we are going to have a schedule of how much TV is allowed each day, or Wii etc.. and have more family time.

Here are a few pictures through out the season. I also hope to blog more-ha.

my four kids as elves

2009-12-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/hFX5cs3S20GFRfkw?cmpid=ey_fb_self

Long time since I lasted posted! A lot to update!

2009-09-27T11:24:00.010-04:00

WOW- where did the months go- It was a fast summer! I didn't know it had been so long since I last updated.

We had a great summer- The kids joined their first Swim Team (Courtney and Sam) the were the "WAVES" They had a great time getting to know the kids in the neighborhood and also feeling more comfortable in the water and learning new swim skills. They both did a great job and earned many ribbons through out the season. Eliza hopes to join next year!

Our main vacation was going to Nags Head with Eber's two brothers and their families- we had a blast. We hope to do this every year. The highlight of that trip was seeing my kids try to drive Go-Karts- not very pretty! It was so funny. I already posted pictures from that trip so if you missed it go back and check those out.
The rest of the summer was spent at Busch Gardens and Water Country, Neighborhood Pool, Parks, Bowling, Movies and some lazy days at home (my favorite-ha) I tried to get the house organized but its back to being a mess already! We also did some landscaping which I got poison Ivy really bad! I had to go to the Dr. twice to get a shot for the pain and itching- it was miserable. The last little trip we took was to my parents house in Wytheville, VA. Its about 5 hours from us. We had a big cook-out with my aunts and uncles and cousins. It was fun to go see their house and to catch up with family.

Now we are back into school. Courtney is in 7th. Sam is in 5th and Eliza is in Kindergarten! Brady is stuck home with me for a few more years. I love having my kids home with me but now at least Brady can get back on a normal nap schedule! Summer was crazy trying to keep the house quiet for him to sleep! The kids are doing great in school. Courtney is back into choir and drama. Sam is taking an after school soccer club, unfortunately for Eliza's age they don't offer any after school programs just yet!

Sam and Eliza are in the county league for Soccer- it is so fun watching their games. They both have won their first 3 games! They also have both made a goal. Sam was goalie this past week for half of the game and he blocked a lot of shots! Eliza loves chasing the ball-sometimes she gets confused and starts doing her ballet moves out on the field though-too funny.

Courtney is in a couple of fall shows for her Dance Revolution Team. She auditioned for a solo and is singing a duet of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" She will be doing a dance to "Thriller" also. She is a "dead" ballerina for Thriller!

Brady is still scooting- but he has learned to crawl now (yes he is 14 months old and just learning to crawl!) He stands alone but refuses to walk to us. He walks around the furniture holding on but won't let go. He is so funny. He loves to make us laugh-he laughs at himself, and it sounds like an "old man" its so loud and deep- he's a cutie. Besides the last few nights he finally improved on sleeping, but now he has a cold so he is waking up more.

I love fall time- besides the Christmas season this is my all time favorite time of year. The crisp mornings- great for my morning walks, the leaves are changing and the excitement in the air for

Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. I love pumpkin patches and hay rides etc.. I haven't done much with apple picking but that would be fun too. So enjoy this time of year.... I love it!

Would love to hear from everyone shoot me an email or join facebook! email is eberhoo@hotmail.com

Brady's first birthday!!!!

2009-07-17T09:52:00.004-04:00

Brady I can't believe you are one! This has been the fastest year with so many changes! You are truly a blessing to our family. It was hard getting you here, then you were in the NICU for a week but are a strong fighter and have been ever since we brought you home. You bring so much joy and laughs to our family.

Your milestones:
first smile- 3 weeks old
first laugh - 6 weeks
rolled over- 5 months ( a little late!)
sit up- 5 1/2 months
NEVER CRAWLED
Scooting 10 months old
taking a few steps- 11 months to current

Only has slept through the night a handful of times! Need to work on that!

You are cute scooting around! I don't think you will ever crawl. You are taking a few steps so you might be our quickest to walk.
You are a people person, you don't like to be by yourself much. You are also a busy bee- have to be moving. When you were really little we used to have to stand and walk you around, as soon as we stopped you would cry!
You have us all (including Eliza now) wrapped around your little finger. We all spoil you because its so fun too.
This next year I'm sure will go by just as fast with you doing more and more cute things. We love you so much. Happy FIRST birthday BRADY BOY!

Beach Week was a BLAST

2009-07-14T10:11:00.005-04:00

We had a GREAT time at the beach this year. We went with two of Eber's brothers (Calvin and Mike) and their families and lots of cousins, it was so fun! We were able to do some fun things, like of course go to the beach a lot. Courtney and Sam became experts on boogie boarding- well they tried but they had fun! A few times the waves were pretty choppy. Sam got wiped out once really bad and then when we were coming onto the land he got caught in the undertow; so you have to be careful that is for sure! Eliza mainly had fun playing in the sand and chasing Uncle Mike with buckets of water! Brady ate sand, so he didn't go to the beach much with us!

Besides being beach bums we did Go-Karts for the first time. My kids didn't have a clue how to drive! They have only driven their little power wheel cars and bumper cars at Busch Gardens- so braking was a new experience. I don't think Courtney ever learned to brake! It was the best laugh though, it was crazy. Little Eliza raced in her car too- she was passing everyone and then she would giggle! She got a little mad when someone ran her off the track!

One day we hiked up the dunes in the heat! It was sooo hot. We bought the kids kites so they could fly them up there- it was a lot of fun. Kids have so much energy; Eliza kept rolling down then climbing back up. One time of climbing was enough for me!

The kids also played laser tag and went putt-putt golfing and movies.

We are looking forward to next year. A HUGE thanks to my sister-n-law Darlene for everything that she did to make this trip possible, it was great memories for us and for the kids- we love you guys!
Here are a few pictures from the week. There is more posted on facebook under Courtney Cummings and Sonia White Cummings.

99 balloons

2009-06-17T17:22:00.001-04:00

If you need an uplifting story...go to you tube and type in 99 balloons. Its a touching story. I thought it puts life into perspective to live everyday to the fullest.

Answer to a prayer

2009-06-15T08:37:00.005-04:00

I'm documenting this so one day Sam will remember this....

This morning Sam woke up sad because he couldn't find his glasses. He looked everywhere and just couldn't find them. He asked me to look. I also tore up the bed, looked under things, no sign of them. He went back one more time to double check. Still no luck. I could tell he was still upset and I kept telling him he's just going to have to go to school without them. ( it was almost time for his bus). I finally asked Sam if he would like to say a prayer and I'll go look one more time. I was hoping he would say it, but he asked me to. So after the prayer I went back up to look and I was panicking because I wasn't having any luck still. As I was walking by the bathroom (after checking in there before) I checked one more time before going down the stairs, and as I was leaving the bathroom I looked behind the door and on the floor there they were!!! It was amazing to me and I felt the tears coming and I thanked Heavenly Father for helping us find them, but most importantly for giving Sam the faith that prayer does work and he can help us when we need him. I could barely talk to Sam after wards for being overwhelmed with the feeling that I had. A small little prayer was answered but probably a life changing moment for my Sam.

Brady Scooting from point A to point B

2009-06-14T13:04:00.003-04:00

Brady's nickname is now SCOOTER.... We've never had a "scooter" before. He is cute getting around this way. He has NO desire to crawl, but shows interest in walking....we'll see if he walks before he is one. Only ONE more month until then though so the count down is on.

preschool days are almost over for Eliza!

2009-06-12T15:38:00.005-04:00

Its hard to believe that Eliza only has two more days of preschool left! She has had a great year making a lot of new friends and growing academically! Its sad to say good bye to these precious years. She will however be going to the same school for kindergarten and will ride the bus with Sam so she will have fun doing that. She was a late talker but her teachers now feel like she is "caught up" with the rest of the gang so we are proud of that. I got to enjoy many days with her at her school this year. We love you Eliza and hope by chance you will remember some of these early days of school. Good luck in Kindergarten!!!

2009-06-12T12:28:00.003-04:00

Brady trying to stay awake for dinner but he didn't quite make it. He is 9 months old in these pictures! He is a joy to have. He is a very good baby and loves to be around his older brother and sisters. He also loves to chase the doggie around the house now.

Sam turns TEN....DOUBLE DIGITS!

2009-05-28T17:36:00.007-04:00

Sam my man is 10 today! (May 28th!) I can't believe my sweet boy is turning into a young good looking guy! Sam has always been a very sweet kid. He will do anything that I ask him to do. He absolutely loves his little brother and watches him for me every morning while I pack lunches and I get Eliza ready. Sam's teachers have always said what a nice quiet student Sam is and listens very well and is everyone's friend. Sam has maintained an A/B honor roll with only getting one B and the rest A's. The 2nd semester he had all A's so we are hoping for that this time too! Sam is very talented at sports, any sports that he plays he is good at. I know I'm prejudice being his mom and all, but other coaches of other teams have come up to us and have whispered, " I hope I get Sam next year!" Sam is on the waiting list for the local football league here in Williamsburg. (can't believe there is already a waiting list so we hope he gets on!) Sam is a very loving kid too. He loves to sit next to you and hug up on you and sneak and hold your hand. I love that about him how he still likes to be around us. I know in just a few short years he won't have anything to do with me. I got to go to Richmond with him on a field trip and I thought for sure he would ignore me ( Like he did in preschool at the pumpkin patch-ha) but he sat with me on the bus and hugged on me all day long. It was nice to spend the day with him! I also had lunch with him at school today. He wanted his favorite subway! Thanks to Eber for watching the other kids so I could enjoy lunch with Sam. Sam loves seafood...so he wants to go out for crab legs! That will be his weekend treat. We all love you Sam, so glad that you are apart of our family. You bring much joy to it and you are a huge help to me. I will post pictures tomorrow of our day today. Love you Sam!

Eliza is FIVE!!! Happy Birthday Eliza

2009-05-09T12:14:00.007-04:00

My sweet little girl is FIVE- Five is such a milestone you know- Kindergarten next year, no longer a "little girl" now a "big girl!" Eliza is so funny! She has been our child to constantly keep us on our toes with not a dull moment. She has many different personalities throughout the day! Not much of a morning person, however looks forward into riding the bus to school and has a great time and listens at school. In the afternoons she cuddles and plays with Brady and have mommy and me time. Eliza is a great little swimmer. She has taken off this round of swim lessons and swimming like a little fish. She also wants to take up gymnastics again, so hopefully we will start that again soon. Eliza loves playing with the neighbor kids, they all ride their little barbie jeeps in the cul-de-sac. Eliza is a great big sister now. She loves to hold Brady and make silly noises at him so he laughs. Eliza says great prayers too. She is really understanding the whole prayer thing now and not just pray that we go to chuck e cheese! Eliza is a character and we love her soooo much! Thanks for being a cutie Eliza and we love you. Happy 5th Birthday my girlie girl.

Courtney in Seussical the Musical

2009-04-26T13:26:00.006-04:00

We had a blast watching Courtney in Seussical this past week. For a middle school, the production was really good. Several people, including the director of the high school drama club commended Courtney personally on a great job and she said Courtney would just draw people toward her with her eyes! She is a great little actress, singer and dancer. I'm going to hopefully upload a video clip of it if it works. Here are some pictures too.

Courtney Odyessey of the Mind competition

2009-04-15T10:45:00.005-04:00

Courtney has been participating in the Odyssey of the Mind since the beginning of school. They had their local competition a few weeks ago against the local schools and her team came in FIRST place. Way to go team. Now this weekend they go to the state level competition and if they win that off to the nationals in Iowa. Courtney plays the "tan man" similar to the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. They had to make up a play and do all props etc... without any adult help. It was pretty amazing. One of these days I'll post the video.

Next weekend Courtney will also have her Drama Club play Seussical. She has a couple main roles in that play too. I'll post some pictures of that after her play.

Spring Break

2009-04-14T08:33:00.001-04:00

We had a great week for spring break. We were all ready for a break from the normal routine. The kids had off 7 full school days so they were excited. The weather was so nice on some days but chilly on others but we found indoor things to do too. We hit the parks, chuck e cheese, roller skating, movies, busch gardens twice; we painted two rooms and organized several closets and rooms. Some days we just stuck around the house to get some things done. We spent Easter Sunday with Ebers family in charlottesville which is always fun. I love spring and fall time. The change of seasons seem to bring new life and everyone is happy. I love being able to go for walks again and to take in some nature. Here are some pictures of our week during spring break..

COURTNEY TURNED TWELVE!!!!

2009-03-03T16:39:00.000-05:00

Courtney is now 12! Hard to believe that she is in young women's now! Where did the last 12 years go. Courtney is a really good student. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA since the fall. She is in 7th grade math and will be in an accelerated English class next year which she had to be recommended for by her teachers. She tried out for several clubs like Odyssey of the minds and auditioned for seussical and made it. She is very busy with both of these activities. Courtney is a great big sister to her little brother Brady. She loves to sing to him and it calms him down immediately. On Brady's first night home from the hospital Courtney wanted to stay up with him and let me sleep-how sweet. I should have took her up on it! Courtney is a friend to everyone she meets. She is happy, lively and witty!

For her birthday we went and got her nails done with 5 other girls and then out for pizza and a sleep over. It was so fun.

Courtney you bring so much joy, so much fun and so much character to our home. We love you so much and so glad you are part of our family. Our family would be much more boring without you. Thanks for being YOU!

Sam's Pinewood Derby

2009-02-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun at Sam's Pinewood Derby. For those who don't know what that is, Its a car race that the kids make a car and they race against each other. Its fun just to see what designs the kids come up with. For the past two years Sam has wanted to make Army cars. Last year he came in 4th place over all, this year he came in 2nd place over all. He was excited. There were about 16 boys racing their cars. Eliza had fun watching too. Brady of course was excellent. Courtney was at the 5th grade orientation to give the 5th graders a tour of the middle school so she wasn't there.

Nothing else much new. Both kids made straight A's on their report cards. We were thrilled with that news. We are going to celebrate this weekend with letting them pick what they want to do. Even though its Valentine's Day weekend! I wonder what they will come up with.

Next weekend is Courtney's 12th birthday! I can't believe she is 12 already. The time really does go by fast. She wants to go to William and Mary now so that will be great that she will be close to home if we are still here in the Williamsburg area!

Eliza is doing well. She's come a long way this year too in school. She just finished writing out all of her Valentine cards (just adding her name but at least you can read her name now!) She loves playing with the neighbor girls because she misses her friends from CT so bad. She talks about them all the time still.

We would love to hear from you all, send us an email!
Sonia

Pictures from Christmas

2009-01-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

OK- a lot of pictures here to share what few of the things we did over the Christmas season. My niece got married!!! We got the privilage of going to the Washington DC Temple to see her get married, very happy couple!! Then one night we went to the illiumination in Williamsburg, it was freezing that night but had spactacular fireworks! Then at church we had a party and the kids acted out the Christmas Story, Courtney sang with 3 other girls Silent Night. My parents and sister were here for Christmas had a great time with them. Brady had his first ear infection on Christmas Day so he wasn't feeling good that day. Hope everyone had a great holiday and I'm already looking forward to this year's Christmas!

decorating Christmas tree

2008-12-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

Christmas Traditions....

2008-11-24T06:46:00.000-05:00

what are your Christmas Traditions?

I remember growing up that my dad would always go behind our house in Crozet and chop down a pine Christmas tree-it had to be the biggest one or my dad wasn't happy. He would drag the tree all by himself and spend all day long trying to figure out how to get the tree into our house. He would some how manage to get it in and then he would have to use several ropes to secure the tree to the wall because it was so heavy. We would have to use one of those metal ice buckets (the big round ones to set the tree in because a traditional tree stand just wouldn't cut it. Then that evening us kids would decorate the tree. I remember the smell of the pine tree smelling the whole house up like Christmas-it was the best smell. Then my dad would use the trimmings of the tree to make garland for the stairs and wreaths for the door. It was definitely Christmas with this big huge tree in the house. So the tradition has carried on with me with always wanting a "real" tree. Last year in Connecticut instead of just buying the tree from a lot we went to a tree farm with our own saw and searched for the perfect tree! After searching and searching we finally found it. (It was the biggest one in the area of course got that from my dad, Eber wanted one of these little trees but they just wouldn't do) so we chopped it down ourselves and put on top of the van and headed home to have the kids decorate the tree. It was a great memory. This year we decided to go "artificial" this year which I'm a little skeptical about because will it be the same? We just got tired of the mess and I like to decorate early (my house is 90% down now even before Thanksgiving) so I can enjoy the season. We ordered it online and should be arriving in the next day or so. I'll let you know how it goes and most importantly how it looks! (it has to be a large tree!)
Some other traditions that we have are:

-Bake Gingerbread men cookies and decorate them
-buy a new ornament for each child to represent that particular year
-a friend of mine suggested wrapping up all Christmas books and then read one each night in the month of December (so we are starting that one this year) and buy one new Christmas book each year.
-drive around one night and look at lights (we do this quite a bit because I love looking at lights, back here in Hampton VA there is this neighborhood that goes crazy at Christmas with tons of animated decorations, with a sled and usually Santa sits out there for the children. The houses compete with each other it is so funny. They really could be on HGTV Christmas! Then we go out for hot chocolate.
-On Christmas Eve the kids get matching PJ's.....shhhhhhh this is a surprise (ha)
-Since we are close to DC again we go to the Washington DC Temple (where Eber and I got married) and look at the Temple lights which is amazing and they have a live nativity scene and Christmas programs.
-Of course we go and see Santa and take lots of pictures
-This year since we have a baby boy and our family has gotten a little bigger I want to act out the Christmas story with my family
-Last year in cub scouts we took baked goodies to the local volunteer units (firehouse,police station and rescue squad)that was a fun experience for the kids-hope to do that again.
-Since Courtney was two my sister,my mom and sometimes my aunt Janet and others have joined us in going to the Nutcracker. In CT we managed to go to NYC twice to see it-which was amazing I don't think anyone can top that performance, but we also went to Boston last year which was also fun. This year we are going to Richmond since Brady is still so small, our goal is to see the nutcracker in each state so I think we've seen it in just 3 states so we have a while before we reach our goal! This year Eliza who is 4 is going to join us in this tradition for the first time!

These are a few traditions that I can think of. PLEASE share some of your traditions as I always like to add new ones each year!

Enjoy Thanksgiving this week. We have a lot to be thankful for!!!!

Sonia and Gang
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2008-11-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

Brady 4 month old pictures

2008-11-21T13:21:00.001-05:00

Brady's new discovery his thumb

2008-11-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

Brady's new discovery

2008-11-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

Update on Brady:
Brady is almost 4 months old. About a month ago he discovered his hands and arms, now he has discovered that sucking his thumb (and sometimes his whole wrist) is way cool. He is the cutest thing sucking his thumb. I never have had a thumb sucker (always just pacifers) but he loves his thumb. I know a lot of people are against thumb sucking but i think its cute and ok for a while. He is getting really big. At his 3month check he weighed almost 14 and a half pounds so we will see what he weighs in a couple weeks at 4 months old. He still isn't sleeping well at night. Not sure what it is with my kids not sleeping at night but hoping soon he will get the idea that sleeping at night in his own bed is a good thing.

I'm one of those crazy people that like to do Christmas decorating early because I like to decorate a lot. So i'm starting to dig my things out from the attic and hope to be done by Thanksgiving. I used to make fun of people doing it before Thanksgiving until I did it last year and loved having the house all festive for Thanksgiving then I have more time just to sit and enjoy the season. So you should try it to so I won't be the only crazy one.

Sonia and Family

halloween pictures

2008-11-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

HALLOWEEN

2008-11-04T12:47:00.000-05:00

We had a good Halloween. My mom came up from Georgia but unfortunately she came down with a terrible virus which lasted the whole time she was here. She was a trooper though and still went trick or treating with kids feeling miserable. Hopefully she will have a better visit at Christmas time. At least she was able to see how big Brady had gotten. Courtney was a rock star (of course) Sam was an Army man, Eliza was Minnie Mouse and Brady was a bumble bee. They were cute. We had great weather for trick or treating. We went around with our neighbors which was fun.
The fall colors are finally here and its the peak of them. I love fall time. I miss fall in CT because you get a "true" fall up there but its nice here to. We hope to go to the mountains in the next week so we can enjoy the fall colors up there too. Hopefully we won't miss all the leaves.
Sam and Brady are now sick too. Sam has strep and Brady has had a cold for a while but hopefully he will get better too. Sam has also been a trooper even though he doesn't feel well. He might have mono too.
Hope all our family and friends are enjoying fall!
Sonia and gang

2008-11-04T10:27:00.001-05:00

2008-10-18T12:09:00.000-04:00

HI! Its been a couple weeks since I've posted any updates. Brady is now THREE months old! I can't believe he is already that "old". He has grown so much, he is a BIG BOY! He is so much fun to have around. He really is a GREAT baby. (still not sleeping through the night, not even close but that is my only complaint!) He loves looking at his hands and arms now. He'll hold up his whole arm and just look at it, its the funniest thing. He likes laying under his playset too and looking at all the toys that move. When he smiles his whole face is in a grin. He has the fattest cheeks too. We all love him so much. Even Eliza is warming up to him, although she still asks almost daily if we can get a girl baby instead! (poor Brady) I think she is finally realizing that he isn't going anywhere. Courtney and Sam still want to hold him a lot and love him so much. They are great helpers espcially since he can hold his head up now I'm not so paranoid anymore.

We are enjoying some fall weather finally here in Virginia. The beginning of the week were actually in the high 80's but today is finally in the 50's and 60's. I love fall. Its my favorite season. I went to a pumpkin patch with Eliza on a field trip which was fun, I'll upload those pictures soon too.

We are going to Charlottesville today so I need to go. Email when everyone can!
Sonia

Brady's 3 months old birthday

2008-10-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

Brady 3 months old!

2008-10-18T11:47:00.000-04:00

Pictures of kids

2008-10-01T15:28:00.000-04:00

Brady's first playdate

2008-10-01T14:06:00.001-04:00

Our visit to Jamestown

2008-10-01T13:43:00.000-04:00

Since we live here in Williamsburg now we thought we should at least learn more of the history here (besides what we learned in Elementary school) so we took the kids to Jamestown Settlement for the first time where they could see the ships and boats and huts that the first settlers lived in. It was fun. Eliza had a good time seeing the boats. She wasn't too crazy about the loud noises from the guns but she was a trooper. Courtney and Sam got to participate in a reenactment of being attacked and how to load their weapons. We saw their church and their little huts. It was interesting. Sam is learning Virginia history this year and since we were in CT the last 3 years we are a little behind so this was good for him. We had a good time. There is so much history here in Williamsburg and Yorktown where we should be history bluffs soon!

Jamestown Settlement Jamestown Virginia

2008-10-01T13:37:00.000-04:00

BACK TO SCHOOL DAYS

2008-09-03T14:19:00.000-04:00

Well the kids had their first days of school starting yesterday. It was a good day. I always cry when I see the bus (why is that) its not tears of sadness but tears of JOY (ha). The day started out bright and early as COURTNEY's middle school starts at 7:20 so the bus comes around 6:45 which means she has to leave the house at about 6:30. This is the first year that my kids have rode the bus in 3 years because we lived too close to the school in CT. Its nice having them old enough now to walk to the bus stops alone! (Courtney and Sam both have buddies they walk with which is good) Courtney enjoyed MIDDLE SCHOOL. She was nervous to go but ended up liking it. She has made 7 friends so far. The school messed her schedule up so she spent most of her time getting that fixed. She is taking Drama (and Drama Club) Latin, 7th grade math, chorus and then the basics that everyone takes. She is excited mostly about Drama. SHe is our DRAMA QUEEN for sure. ONce I got her off it was time to get SAM ready. His bus comes just about 8:00. He started 4th grade and he has always been our shy one (takes after his mother) so he was nervous going to a new school but he quickly found someone else that was new and sat with him on the bus. The boy "Owen" ended up in the same class with him too so they were BEST FRIENDS by the end of the day. I'm so glad he made a friend. He also has a couple of friends that live right across from our new house but they aren't in the same grade. Sam had a good first day. After Sam it was ELIZA'S turn! The last couple of days she was saying she wasn't going to go to school so I was a bit concerned to see if she would get on the bus. When the bus arrived she had a look of TERROR in her eyes but it quickly turned to EXCITEMENT and she went on and got on. ( I have to admit I was sad to see her go-and all the kids too) It is sad to say good-bye to summer time. The freedom that summer brings is great but back to reality! Eliza had a nice first day although she doesn't like to talk about it when she gets home-so I have no clue what she does for 4 hours. Hopefully soon she will start telling me about it.
BRADY and I just hang out for 4 hours, we did go on a WALK around the neighborhood this morning. Hopefully that will be our morning routine. In just 4-5 short years he will be getting on that bus too then I really won't know what to do with myself. (maybe sleep all day since i'm so sleep deprived now)
That is our update for now.
SOnia and CO.

BACK TO SCHOOL DAYS

2008-09-03T11:28:00.001-04:00

BRADY 6 WEEKS OLD

2008-09-03T10:44:00.001-04:00

2008-08-18T15:51:00.000-04:00

LIFE IS BUSY NOW!

2008-08-13T18:15:00.000-04:00

Ok- I thought I was busy before the baby came, now I'm super busy with no time and so sleep deprived! However we are enjoying Brady so much and treasure these first few weeks because they are going fast! Brady is four weeks old today-I can't believe that! He is a really good baby, I think the best baby as far as not crying (just to cry) and he sleeps a lot during the day so I can get some things done, but he is up for half of the night still, but we are working on that. Courtney, Sam and Eliza all love the baby. Eliza is acting out in other ways, very demanding and controlling right now. Hopefully all that will change wants we get back to a normal routine with school. (two more weeks to go!) We've had company since Brady was born which has been a huge help. My mom leaves this Sunday and my Aunt Janet leaves on next Wednesday then I will be all alone and won't know how to function. Thanks for all the help. We are still figuring out where to put things in this house. We changed some curtains today and still need more closet space some how. We basically just have the garage now to unpack which will probably take a year. We don't have a basement in this house so we are trying to get used to that.

We had Brady blessed two Sundays ago which was really nice. Eber's family came up for it and my parents were still here. It was a great day. I will have to post some pictures soon of the blessing.

The older kids are finally finding some kids to play with in the neighborhood. Of course I think that is what they miss most of CT are there friends! They have some great friends in Newport News but we don't get down there to often now with the baby. We went to the park for the first time yesterday and it seemed to take two hours just to get ready and we lasted 30 mins at the park! (not worth going) I'm sure things will get easier I've just forgotten all the demands of a baby again.

Thats it for now,
Sonia and gang

Baby Brady

2008-07-23T15:48:00.001-04:00

Brady is home with Mom!

2008-07-21T18:48:00.000-04:00

BABY BRADY IS HOME AND HEALTHY.....
Brady and I were discharged today from the hospital and everything is going well. He is a healthy little boy now. It was very scary in the beginning but we were always reassured from the beginning that he would be just fine. Its always scary though when they say they will have to admit him to the NICU! He progressed quickly everyday and after the lung steriod his grunting noises stopped and then he had to learn to eat. We are just so thankful that he turned the corner quicker then what they were saying at first. At first they were telling us up to 3 weeks which I was a basketcase because I couldn't imagine leaving the hospital without him. I also couldn't hold him for the first 2 days which killed me too.
He is a good baby. He hardly cries. Everyone in the NICU called him PIGGY because he was so big compared to the other little babies in there. They rarely get a 8 pound 2 ounce baby!
I'm going to try to post some pictures but I'm still on drugs so my mind isn't totally together, so not sure if I can do this yet or not, but thanks to all for your calls, prayers and thoughts. We are so blessed to have a wonderful family that has helped us out tremendously and friends who are constantly calling and checking on us so thanks for all of those phone calls. We will do another update soon when I feel better.
Sonia and Brady

WE ARE MOVING IN

2008-07-12T08:29:00.000-04:00

We finally closed yesterday on the house, so we took a few things over last night. We will be taking more stuff from the apt. today. Movers come Monday, I will be so glad to sleep in my own bed come Monday night! Late last night I went to the hospital because I have been having lots of pain around my c-section area. (not labor pains or pressure) but pain-pain. It hurts to walk, move, sit anything. They hooked me up to monitors to check the baby, and he looks great. They couldn't really tell me why i'm having this pain except "normal stretching" so I hope that is all that it is and nothing else. I think I usually have a high tolerance for pain, so this is scaring me a little. If any of you have a had similar pain with a c-section in the last few weeks of pregnancy please let me know. ( I will try not to complain of the pain anymore!)
The kids were excited to spend the night with their friends last night since we didn't get home until after mid-night. Even Eliza had her first sleep over. Thanks Mel for watching the kids!
Thanks also for all the comments, this is fun to do a blog! Courtney is much more creative then I am. She is enjoying it too.
Write more later!
Sonia

Doctors appt. today

2008-07-09T18:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, well we all know that we have BIG babies right? Well i'm 36 weeks today and my doctor says that the baby is probably 7 and half pounds already! Huge since i still have 3 full weeks left. She is doing an ultrasound in 2 weeks (if I can hold out that long) I'm having a lot of braxton hicks contractions and pain near my c-sections because of the pressure and with him constantly kicking me! Got to love it though. I have to make it past monday since that is our move in day, but he can come tuesday if he would like!
We'll keep you posted if any other news come in.
Sonia and Brady!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-07-07T23:25:00.001-04:00

2008-07-03T18:52:00.000-04:00

We have entered the world of blogging. This is a great way to keep family and friends updated. I'm new at this, so I hope I can have a cool blog like a lot of my friends do. We just moved from Connecticut to Virginia about a month ago. We are still getting adjusted to the big move. We've enjoyed lazy days at the pool, hanging out with some friends and finally settling on a house to buy. We move in our new house on July 14th. We are excited about setting up a house again. Our fourth child ( Brady) is due on July 31st, so we are anxiously awaiting his arrival too. We believe he is our last so we will enjoy all the little things that come with a newborn! Eber is enjoying his new job at Northrup Grumman. He has been with the same company for 9 years now and seems to like it pretty well. We aren't sure if this is our last move or not. I guess we will have to wait it out and see. The kids got an extra long summer this year because we left two weeks before school was out in Connecticut and they don't start school here until after labor day so they get a long break. Some days I'm already for school to start again, but once we get into our house we won't be on top of each other so much anymore. That is it for now, we will post some more updates later.

the CummingsClan