kid birthday party

We had to cancel Addelyn's 6th birthday party with her friends because Jace had a touch of the flu. With the holidays, we didn't get rescheduled until after the new year. Addelyn's theme was a book party. We read "When You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and decorated our cookies. It was fun to listen to the kiddos talk as they decorated. 

Even more fun was to see the final products. Yikes. Sprinkle overload!

Then we decorated pizzas to bake. Gotta love Mini Murphs!

Then they had some time to play freely- I think they could have done this all night. 

Legos, babies, all sorts of happenings!

We read Cat in the Hat and had special Cat in the Hat fruit kabobs.

 We also read all of the favorite books that Addeyn's friends brought along. They all listened so attentively while they ate! I was surprised- I wasn't sure how the reading would go over and it was great! It was fun to see the different stories they brought.

Until little brother showed up and tried to get everyone's attention by dancing and dressing up. Of course, they all thought he was the "funny guy!"

Addelyn got some fun presents from her friends. So sweet.

Then it was Twister time! They had a blast. 

Jace kept walking around and getting in everyone's way.

At one point, he got on Avery's back and tried to hug her. That kid, oh little brothers!

Austin was quite dedicated to this game. He was bound and determined he would win.

He did!!! He was so proud!

We ended the night with a dance party which was a blast! The kids loved it. I of course didn't get pictures of this part but I did get some great videos of the kiddos dancing. What a great group of kids. Addelyn had a blast at her 6th birthday party.

celebrating the new year!

New Year's Eve is pretty wild around the Hoskinson house. We all wear fancy clothes (even Mom in an old bridesmaid dress), we have dance parties, we have sparkling drinks, and we have special party hats! 

Cheers to the New Year! (The kids were in bed by 8 pm! Woo hoo......who says you can't countdown early!?) Mark and I ordered out some Soho for a late dinner and watched a movie! I would say that counts as a pretty great date night! 

a gift in 2014

In May, we'll be meeting this little gift. We are so excited and thankful!

family christmas celebrations

We have had two of our three extended family Christmas celebrations so far. The other one is in late January. 

The first one was at my Mom's house in Ackley. We spent the night and hung out. We played lots, opened gifts, and ate way too much food. Did I mention that my mother made a 28 pound turkey for 8 of us!? It was so good...needless to say...we had plenty of leftovers!

Jace and Addelyn with some of their favorite gifts.

Jace was always helping people this year open their gifts.

This little lady loves her uncle Levi.

The train was definitely a hit this year. This boy has played for hours with it!

Loving this little Santa baby and her cute smiles. Yes, I'm an aunt that takes way too many pics!

The next celebration was at my Dad and Lora's house. We spent the day on Saturday with just our family and then the extended Kramer crew came over at night. We had a great time- again, eating too much, opening gifts, and laughing. We played a game Saturday night that lasted until way too late and kept us all laughing! Did I mention my kids stayed up the latest they ever have, until almost midnight? The adults were having fun playing games and the cousins were there and there was no way they were going to sleep til the party ended. Jace was all messed up and ended up getting up at 4 am. A rough night...but we took great naps the next day!

Addelyn and Autumn are the same age and love playing together. Aiden and Jace are a year apart and they had fun running around too. They are my cousin Jen's kids and we grew up playing together so it is fun to see our kids doing the same.

Can't forget- the matching pj picture. Lily got in on our matching pjs this year- I think she will be joining the tradition every year now. What a wonderful Christmas!

our Christmas traditions

I love our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions- each year that goes by with kids- it gets more fun. Christmas Eve- we spent a chunk of the afternoon/evening at church- both serving together (at this stage of life- it is in the nursery so we can be with our kiddos), and then going to Candle Light Service. This year- Addelyn sat well through the service for the first time and I loved how she looked up at me after we sang Silent Night while holding our candles, and whispered..."This is the best part of Christmas."

We come home and the kids each open one gift (which is their matching pjs). They get pjs on, we make a bed on the floor, we have popcorn, and we read the Christmas Story together. Then after that- we watch a fun new movie- this year Despicable Me 2.

I love these two goofballs!

Christmas morning we get up and open gifts together as a family. After opening, we have a fun breakfast (something tasty like cinnamon rolls) and then spend the day at home together. We don't change out of our pjs- we don't have an agenda- and we just play and enjoy our time together! 

We even got to play out in the snow this year after gift opening- we got sleds so of course we had to! It was a such a wonderful Christmas time. I love these special people.