Here is a brief (well, kind of) look at life in the Cousino home during the past year...the important and the trivial, the serious and the amusing...the best of us and the worst of us...Enjoy!

January:
~We began the second semester of home-preschool with Gene, Lucy and Norah Mitzel...Jane
began staying home instead of going to the Mitzel's
~Kids built lots of "houses" for their animals

~Jane was just getting steady on her feet (walking!) and her hair was straight!




~Hannah and children began the second semester of Community Bible Study (CBS)
~Lucy came with the other kids and I to the gym at the Rec Center and had so much energy that
she ran a whole mile on the track around the perimeter...in socks!
~Jane proudly learned to identify the toothbrush of everyone in our family.

February:
~We finally got our act together and hung some family pictures on the family room wall
(arranged on the carpet first).


~Janie learned that she could take Gene down (well, if he started on the floor...)

~Gene "said Mass" alot since it was the off-season for every sport he was interested in. Began to
include the Prayers of the Faithful (time at Mass when we pray for different things) and
prayed for President Obama and President Bush "down in Texas".
~Gene learned to dial the phone, and soon was calling to arrange his own playdates at the
Mitzels.
~Lucy learned to blow her own nose (thank goodness!) She had a cold every other week or so
throughout the winter.
~Jane started saying "Mama" when she wanted me to pick her up. And when Brendan wanted
her to say "Papa".
~Jane started using the potty (but we haven't gotten much farther on the potty training front, a
whole 10 months later!)

March:
~Jane learned to say "no"...and put on her own hat and mittens
~Jane was officially deemed "not allergic" to milk, despite having gotten hives from merely
touching the stuff a few months ago. We took her to the Allergy Doctor and had her drink
milk straight from the cup, and then observed that nothing happened. Thank you Lord! We
were advised to wait on peanut butter, but she could begin having diary products, and eggs as
well.
~Brendan learned to throw pizza dough, and Hannah improved her pizza-making abilities:)


April:
~We all enjoyed celebrating Easter, especially because of the beautiful weather that day.

~Gene and Lucy had a miraculous day at the pool, where they both improved their swimming
skills by about a hundred percent!
~Gene began biking around the neighborhood (but not crossing any streets) independently, and
loved it. Still on training wheels...
~Kids had Spring Program at CBS, and both Gene and Lucy participated and enjoyed
themselves.
~Janie really got comfortable walking, and began walking aimlessly around the house, just for
the fun of it.
~And she was introduced to our "stone box"




May:
~Gene learned to take a bath by himself, and tie his shoes!
~We all went to the Memorial Day parade in Saline. Gene rode his bike the entire way there (a
few blocks, some uphill), and Janie enjoyed sitting on the curb with the big kids.



~Gene started his summer t-ball league

~And played lots of baseball at home


~Lucy began using the starfall.com phonics program on our computer (she faithfully watched
Gene use it for a whole year and a half, and her time finally came!)
~We put in our garden this year, using a lot of advice from a book Hannah found- Weedless
Gardening by Lee Reich. We did have a drastic reduction in the number of weeds in our
garden, and the best harvest yet. Highly recommend the book!

~Janie's excema began to flare up again, despite the weather turning warmer. Seemed to get
worse in the heat.
~Hannah took the kids to Niles to visit Grandma Lucy (H's grandma).


~Brendan and Hannah ran their second 10 kilometer run.

June:
~Gene learned to hit a whiffle ball from a tee at the far edge of our yard all the way over the
fence into the street.
~Jane learned to strip off her pants and diaper in the middle of a nap...so I would go in to check
on her and she'd be half-naked, sound asleep.
~Jane moved in to the big kids' room, so all three kids began sleeping in one room.
~Brendan and Hannah finished their 2nd triathlon! And beat their personal bests by a long shot!
~Gene and Lucy got terrible coughs and I gave them "terrible" medicine (in their own words...it
was really just honey).



July:
~Gene learned to hold his breath underwater for a long time (15-20 seconds).
~Went to Long Lake with the Cousino clan.



~Lucy learned to take apart Grandpa Ken's mechanical pencil and put it back together again
~Jane learned to sing the ABC song and talk in complete sentences.
~Hannah's sister Kate came to visit for Chicago, and we celebrated her birthday.


August:
~Gene found a friend down the street who shares his obsession with sports (both outside and on
the indoor "field" with little people.
~Lucy began riding Gene's old training wheel bike (he "borrowed" the new one that Grandma
Hendricks bought to keep at her house)
~Jane learned how to run, to jump on Grandma H's trampoline, and to climb up to the top-bunk.
~Gene participated in Saline's Safety Town week-long program.

September:
~the kids all got surprise flu-shots, and learned to mistrust me when I said we were just "going
for a check-up"...oops!
~Lucy began a gymnastics class...and is still loving it!


~Jane turned 2

~We all got the swine flu (pretty sure anyway...)
~Both Gene and Lucy learned to make toast...this was helpful since they took turns making it for me when I was sick on the couch
~Lucy learned to fasten her own seatbelt- yeah!
~Took the kids to the Saline Fair, which included a Gemini concert, some rides, and lunch. We all
wished we could have stayed longer...
~Jane memorized her first book, and read it about 50 times a day to anyone who was interested.
~Enjoyed a huge tomato harvest...the kids liked picking them, and Gene learned that he could
eat a whole tomato just like an apple...
~We picked great, enormous raspberries and a ton of blueberries.


~Gene and Lucy began the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Atrium) program at Christ the
King.

October:
~Gene turned 6


~And he became the proud owner of a Michigan football program, and began reciting stats to
anyone within earshot.
~Brendan and the kids carved pumpkins while Hannah ditched out to go to class.







~The kids dressed up for Halloween and went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with a
bunch of friends





November:
~Gene moved into the little bedroom, Lucy moved to the top bunk, and Jane to the bottom. All
kids fairly happy with the arrangement:)
~Janie learned to completely dress herself...down to her socks and shoes.
~Lucy turned 4, and was the proud recipient of her own nail polish (thanks Aunt Bekah) along
with numerous other gifts.






December:
~Gene started a gymnastics class after watching Lucy's class for a few months...Jane wishes she
could take a class, too.
~We are still homeschooling...and enjoying it. Most of the time:)
~The kids have learned all the words to O Come, O Come Emmanuel and are worried that our
shortest purple candle on the Advent wreath won't make it till Christmas...
~Got a tree and put it up, decorated the house, bought presents (haven't wrapped them yet),
have plans to make cookies, made gingerbread houses, and are eagerly awaiting Christmas
morning!


Life goes on, and Life is good! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Janie wins the Funny Kid of the Week award

In the last 24 hours, Jane has notched up her goofiness a bit more. She is talking so much these days...and her thinking has definitely been taken up a notch, too. Here goes:

Last night, we were coming home from a family party, way past bedtime, and she should have been pretty tired. But she didn't fall asleep in the car, and as we pulled into the driveway, she assessed the situation, and told Brendan, "I have a lot of energy. You get trampoline out for me?"

This morning she brought her two pacifiers (her constant sleep companions) downstairs and was about to hand them to me so she could eat breakfast. But first she said, "I rinse them off first". And she proceeded to suck and lick each one in turn before putting them in my hand.

And tonight, after she and Lucy had been in the bathtub a long time, Brendan was ready to get them out. So he asked them, "Who's ready to get out of the tub?" Lucy said, "Not me". But Janie elaborated, sure that she could convince him, "Not me. Not Janie. Not Miss Jane."

The Joy of Taking Turns

We have a very small, one-person trampoline at our house, that we keep in the garage and sometimes bring in when the kids have energy and they can't go outside to burn it off. It was getting to be a source of contention, because the child on the trampoline never wanted to get off, and the other two children had a lot of trouble waiting (especially Janie...). So, I started giving them my digital kitchen timer to help them wait...the two big kids know how to set the timer, and they can set it for either one or two minutes, and then one person who's waiting gets to hold the timer until it rings.

It is wonderful! Janie and Lucy are taking turns jumping now, and they both love holding and using the timer as much as they do jumping. It has really made trampoline jumping a peaceful activity at our house:)

Lucy is Down for the Count...

So, Lucy got it. "It" being the bug that's been going around our house lately. She started looking poorly Saturday evening, and on Sunday the thermometer confirmed that she was indeed sick. She's taken her turn on the couch, her turn to eat toast and drink from a sippy cup, her turn to choose the movie of the hour. What did people do with sick kids before the invention of television? Sickness in the house is one of the few times we watch movies, but right now I'm milking it for all it's worth. Mostly because all the kids sit there and watch, and I have a chance to clean up the hundreds of toast crumbs and dirty kleenexes that litter the kitchen counters. And a chance to breathe:) Although I'm afraid I may have breathed in one too many germs, because I have a funny feeling in my throat, and it's not making me laugh...

Please pray for me, everyone out there who prays, that I don't get sick. We have two parties coming up this week for Gene's birthday, and I don't want to spoil them. I was just hoping the KIDS would be better in time!

Compassion in Action

Jane and Gene are still sick today. Janie is the worst, with a fever and an awful cold. Not the flu, but I think about as close as you can come...poor girl! Lucy is still healthy as ever, and she's been a help over the last couple days. This morning she was helping to clear the table after breakfast, when she tripped and fell on top of the sugar container she was carrying. Her hand was caught underneath, and got pretty bruised. I was comforting her, and Janie climbed down from her chair and came over. I saw her thinking, and then she went over to the animal bin. She chose her favorite little dog, and brought him to Lucy.


"You want my doggie?" (no answer, Lucy doesn't usually like to be helped by a sibling when she's sick)

Jane put it down next to Lucy and asked, "You like him?" (still no answer)

Finally Lucy moved over to the couch, carrying the dog, and Jane was ecstatic. "She likes him! She feeling better!"

So sweet:)

Curly Girly

Jane's hair has not always been curly. This is what it used to look like a few months ago:



Pretty straight all over the front and top. It was starting to get long enough to get into her eyes.


The back was getting curly, though...

And then one day she got her first haircut.... Voila! Curls all over!

They started out pretty short (obviously, she had just had a haircut). Now, though, the curls are starting to grow. And grow. And grow. Here's how they look now:

And from the back:


And the most telling view is from the side:


This is definitely hair from my side of the family. If I had some close at hand, I would post pictures of my sister Bekah when she was little, and possibly my Uncle John. Hendricks family, you know what I'm talking about! And how about that family picture of us in our curls and running shirts:)

We love you Janie!

Apple Picking

Here are some pictures from our apple-picking day last week...the kids picked a few, but mostly just ran and played with their cousins. And climbed trees! That was a definite highlight for everyone, as there are no climbing trees in our yard and this is about their only chance to climb a tree for the whole year (although our neighbors the Mitzels have a good tree in their yard, but the kids play in the tree house and it's not exactly the same thing...)






We're going to go picking again for applesauce apples, so stay tuned for more pictures:)

The Next One Succumbs...

Gene is sick now...fever yesterday afternoon, and threw up this morning. He is such a good sport when he's not feeling well, it makes me feel doubly bad for him. We are on our second movie already today, and it 's only 8:30...Jane has already had a bath, Lucy is in the tub now, we've eaten and mostly cleaned up breakfast, I've already changed the laundry, and everyone is dressed and have brushed their teeth. We don't usually accomplish so much on a typical well day!

Sickness

The cold virus has struck our house this week, and Jane is the (first?) unfortunate victim. She woke up in the night with a barking cough (I honestly thought when I first heard her that she was crying because a dog was barking...there would be a few "barks" and then a cry, and more barks. So we watched a baby movie at midnight with hot water, lemon juice and tea made with care in a sippy cup. She is very congested and sleepy today, but in a fairly cheerful mood.

I have noticed about myself (I don't know about anyone else) that when there is a sick child in the house, we tend to have a great day. Crazy, huh? I think it draws out my compassionate side, instead of my "Why don't you go play so I can get some stuff done?" side. I tend to drastically reduce my list of priorities for the day, and I don't mind sitting on the floor and cuddling the sick one.

It's been a really great day so far. Here's to a few more good ones!

Ponderings...

Gene was waiting his turn to jump on the trampoline, and asked me, "If the first will be last and the last will be first, what will the second be?" And a few days later he figured it out while the kids were all jostling to brush teeth. "The last will be first, the second will be last, and the first will be second." He, of course, volunteered to be the last one to brush his teeth. He has a definite competitive streak!

Lucy, staring at my purse one day (one I got just a few months ago after having had my old one for a few years), "Mama, I'm getting bored of your purse. When are you going to get a new one?"

Counting

Janie is in the "counting stage", and is starting to count EVERYTHING! She especially likes to count when playing hide-and-seek, as she can now count up to twenty, and likes to do so often (she used to count up to just nineteen, skipping a few numbers here and there, but proudly emphasizing NINETEEN at the end...) She and the big kids played hide-and-seek with Aunt Fiona this morning, and she had a great time counting when it was her turn. She also entertained Brendan's extended family this evening by hiding her pacifier under a cup, closing her eyes and counting to twenty, and then retrieving it:)

Why Kids Need a Dad

Since Brendan got a new job, he hasn't been home as long in the mornings anymore, so the kids rarely see him when they wake up. He leaves around 7 or earlier, so if they do manage to see him he's usually running out the door. A little different than the usual 8:30ish time he used to leave to walk to his office in town. When he comes home we usually eat, do dishes, maybe play for a bit and then baths and bed. Not a whole lot of Papa time.

So...when they do get a chance to play with him, I have to be a little more lenient with things like bedtimes...because it is so good for them! They are tired of being with me all day, and sometimes their attitude shows it.

Over the last few weeks, Lucy has had many bouts of the "grumps". She is sad, pouting, hurt, mad, whatever...but her reaction to all these things is to cry loudly and then just grump about for a while. I haven't found anything that can really cure it, but I really don't want it to become a habit so I am still trying.

However, I think part of the answer is Papa-time. Last night she was radiant, in her Michigan sweatshirt and blond pigtails, as she came in from playing baseball and practicing somersaults to get a drink. And then she went back outside (in the dark!) to keep playing. Mind you, it was cold last night, and it was past her bedtime...but I couldn't keep her in. She needs that time with him!

I am a person who runs on schedules, but I can't schedule these times...so I just have to let them happen:)

Growth Spurt?

Am I just not feeding a kid enough when, after a full dinner (including a second helping) and a large dessert, he comes into the kitchen while I'm washing the dishes and reaches into the sink. "Mmm, I like this" and starts scraping a piece of old muffin off a tupperware lid. Eww, gross!

Names

I'm thinking (just thinking!) about using "fake names" for our family on my blogs. I know a lot of others in blogland do this, and the options are more or less:

-use the initial of the first name instead of the whole name
-use the age of the person (i.e. 3 year old)
-or make up a goofy nickname

Any suggestions here? An initial would be the easiest, but nicknames would be fun. I can think of a few here that would be appropriate (see if you can guess who they're for):

Red
Sportsfan
Curly

Ok, but I can't think of any for Lucy. Well, I mean I thought of some but I don't really want to call her "Blondie" or "Pigtails". Gene and Janie could really use the above nicknames, but what about Lucy?