more pics, more updates!

Since I pretty much missed the last six months of blogging, I decided to re-enter the blog world with picture updates. A picture is worth a thousand words! Here is what we've been up to the last months of our lives, continued from the last post!

We painted.

We played babies. Over and over and over.

We made cookies.

We licked the beaters, of course!

We waited patiently for cookies!

Target trips of course.

Jace did lots of fun things he shouldn't do.

Mark made me a beautiful picture for our anniversary. I love it.

We did lots of carpooling after school with our friends the Hansens.

We had more quality time with Lily and Jill.

Doughnut dates for just Jace and I after dropping Addelyn off to school. Numerous days we would head to Hy-Vee for a special breakfast (not gonna lie, this preggo always wanted an excuse for a doughnut).

Nonnie gave Addelyn a pedicure!

We went on a walk with Miss Lily.

We played outside as soon as it was nice enough!

Whatever we did, we were tired!

I was a part of the leadership of an amazing social enterprise group of high school gals called Try Pie. We made and sold over 200 pies.

Addelyn went to a princess play in Perry with Nonnie.

Selfies with Mom.

Two cool chicks.

We played outside with our neighbor boy.

We hid and found Resurrection eggs.

We found our Easter baskets on Easter morning.

We made resurrection rolls to eat on Easter morning.

We had an Easter egg hunt at Papa Marvin's house.

Jace gave his love to Papa, of course!

We ate out with friends for lunch.

This mom convinced everyone to have Cherry Berry for dinner!

More painting projects.

We took a Sibling Class at Covenant. The kids loved it. 

Good try Jacers.

We played with our pet bunny Snow White.

Frozen yogert after school with our friends. 

Addelyn played with her sweet cousin Lily.

Need I say more?

We got pedicures together.

Addelyn even got her nails done!

Painting never gets old at our house.

Jace took Hobo, his favorite little dog, on a walk.

We planted our tomatoes and some flowers.

More dress up!

Jace got a new Spiderman hat.

What a blurr....it all went so fast! From now on, I'll try to update better and keep up with the blog.

update with pictures

I really have been MIA from the blog for months. I had a sick pregnancy - which equaled not very much extra energy. Now I'm trying to play a little catch up. So I'll update with few words, more pictures. Here is our update, starting mid- winter (yes it has been that long!)

We made forts.

Lots of crafts.

Dress up!

Jace dropped a jar of coconut oil on his foot, which meant for a broken toe. He had to wear a boot for almost two months.

Had a girls day with college friends. Love these gals.

More boot pics just cause he is cute!

We snuggled with our cousin Lily, almost every Wednesday we got to hang out with her and Aunt Jiller! 

We painted.

I got my first ever flowers from my husband! (And Addelyn got one too!)

We brought snow inside. Since it was ridiculously cold outside!

We decorated our house.

Mark and the kids cheered on the Panthers.

We rented out, then cleaned out, then listed our Williston house. It sold! WOOHOO!

More forts.

Movie nights!

Cute haircuts (Mom is doing it herself!)

We went to the bouncy house with our friend Chivon.

Addelyn and her friends got to have a fun date to Pursuing Picasso and to eat at Los Cabos.

More pictures to come! 

Love Does by Bob Goff

This past year I had the chance to hear Bob Goff speak at a conference. He is funny and challenging and a little all over the place. I enjoyed him! So when I had the chance to get this Love Does DVD study and study guide, I was excited to review it.

I really like Bob's stories and practical ways to think about living with love. He talks about this as an action that is meant to be lived out. His DVD and Study guide are based on the book. It is meant to be used in a small group, I just went through it personally. I will definitely suggest it for small groups though. The study guide is great, it has a "Hearing the Word" section where the Bible is connected to what is taught. I also like the hands-on exercises that are encouraged to be done. This is great curriculum that I would definitely encourage people to check out.

10 Days Without by Daniel Ryan Day

This book is not a book about poverty but a book about how to raise awareness to various challenges and issues in the world by taking some personal action.
In the book, the author, Daniel Ryan Day did radical experiments in his own life by giving up certain things, ten days at a time. He gave up shoes, coats, media, furniture, legs, waste, speech, and human touch. It was interesting reading his experiences and what that time did in his life. He also chose to raise money to make a difference in the issues that he focused on, as each thing he gave up focused on a different issue.

This book was a little cheesy but at the same time, I felt the author was genuine. For me the book wasn't a game changer, but was a good challenger and reminder. What am I willing to give up?

from the mouth of my sweet boy

These days with Jace are filled with lots of laughs and some days, I feel like the mom from the book "No, David!" by David Shannon. She is constantly telling her son what he shouldn't be doing. At the end of the day with this two year old, I often feel that way. "No Jace, you can't jump off the kitchen table, especially with an already broken toe! No Jace, please don't spread peanut butter across the kitchen island! No Jace, please do not write with a marker on our wall.....and so on!"

That is why I love ending the day, laying next to this little boy in his big boy bed, chatting away with him as he slows down for the day and is done punching and head butting and wrestling and will just lay with me. (Just so you know, this isn't every night but it happened tonight so I will blog about it while I am in the moment!) Every night with our kids, we sing the song "I Love You Lord." Sometimes they sing along, sometime not. Tonight it was just me singing as Jace closed his eyes and smiled a big ole smile. He opened his eyes, wrapped his little arm around my neck, and said, "Mom, you make me smile when you sing." Ahhh, love that boy. Then, two seconds later, he lets out a big toot and says, "Mom, do you think God laughs when I toot?" Oh Jacers, I do think God has great big smiles on your little life and what is ahead.

Perry Christmas in January

Because of this little beauty that was born at the end of December, our Hoskinson family Christmas was held off til the end of January this year. Her name is Tenley- isn't she sweet?

Cousin picture! We are going to keep the grandparents hopping this year by adding two new babes.

The present of the year- legos! All our kids love legos. So they spent the whole weekend putting together legos. Fun times.

As you can see, Tenley was the hit of Christmas. Addelyn couldn't get enough of her!

Neither could Papa Tom.

We love our family celebrations where we get to spend a full weekend all together! 

100 days of school

Hard to believe this girl has been in school 100 days already!