A season ending.....

 

I cannot begin to tell you what this year of preschool has done for Addelyn. She couldn't have been blessed with two better teachers for her personality. Jennie and Kristen both have unique strengths and I believe they really drew on Addelyn's strengths and weaknesses and helped her to be stretched but also feel safe and loved. They truly loved our little girl, helped her to grow in both social and academic ways, and also taught her about Jesus. I love the experience she had at Orchard Hill Church Preschool. Honestly, some people may assume I would say that or send her there just because it is where I work/we go to church. However, I looked at our options before deciding on OHC and I can say that I am so thankful this is where we landed.

 

 

On the last day, with Mrs. Kimball. Addelyn thought it was so cool to have a teacher that once babysat her (when she was younger). Kristen makes me smile- I love her honesty and the way she says it like it is and also just loves the kiddos.

 

 

By her coat rack, sad to think I won't get to walk her down the hall anymore to this sweet little spot. I loved that we got to have special time each day, just the two of us, as we would head to Orchard together- her to preschool, me to my office. It was great being in the same building- getting to have sneak peaks of her day all the time. I'll also miss her sweet little face, walking by my office and running in for a quick hug. The moments I'd love to pause in life....

 

Mrs. Knapp, Addelyn's head teacher and also the Director of the Preschool. She is amazing. This woman seriously loves each and every kid at preschool- I believe it. She pours her heart into this preschool and the families that are a part of it.

 

The last day in the classroom, as Mrs. Knapp reads a special story.

 

 

Singing their songs at the program on the last day.

 

Getting her hugs and her certificate!

 

 

Special love from Mom and Dad- proud of this girl and how she has grown.

 

This little buddy....I have been thankful for the friendship these two have. Don't you love his face in these pics? On the hard days, it was nice for them to have the familiar face of each other. I can only pray they will stay great buds like this into elementary school when boys and girls are gross to each other:)

 

 

What a beautiful ending to a special season. I can't believe my little girl is headed into her elementary days!

garfield smile

Have you ever seen The Garfield Movie? Mark and I have! At least twenty times in the last few weeks since my son has started getting up at 5:15 am every day. One thing happens when you watch a movie over and over- you start to quote the movie and make faces that the characters in the movie make. So at the Hoskinson house- we often make the "Garfield face." Jace knows exactly what we are talking about and usually is the one to get us going!

Even Mom and Dad have to join in on making the "Garfield face!"

Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert

I am enjoying my Blogging for Books opportunity of free books for the exchange of writing reviews. 

I picked up Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert because I really enjoyed her other book, Wildflowers from Winter. Ganshert is from the Midwest and I love that the book setting takes place in Iowa. 

This book was about Robin Price, a single mom and widow. Robin, during her early days of grieving the loss of her husband, built a cafe in her small town, Peaks, called the The Willow Tree, which helped her to deal with her loss. She is a proud owner and also sees her cafe as a place to minister to others in the community. Then a developer, Ian McKay, shows up in her small town and has plans to build condos. This condo plan happens to be exactly in the place where her cafe is located. Both Robin and Ian are stubborn and much of the book is focused on their battle of figuring out which option is best for the town of Peaks. At the same time, they begin to battle with their feelings toward each other.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down and read it within a few days. It was a simple story line but one I enjoyed- especially since I had already read Wildflowers from Winter and there were some of the same characters. Overall, it was a great book. I hope to see more Katie Ganshert novels coming out!

easter

I love celebrating Easter with my kiddos. Although we try to share the Good News year round, I feel like Easter is a great time to really focus and understand what our faith is all about.

The Resurrection Rolls we started doing with Addelyn a few years ago and this year, Jace was able to join in making them (he may or may not have eaten a lot of marshmallows in the process). Addelyn worked hard to make most of the rolls for our family. 

How to make Resurrection Rolls-  Get crescent rolls, sugar, cinnamon, melted butter, and marshmallows. The marshmallow represents Jesus. You dip him in butter to represent the oils they used on his body after he died, roll him in the sugar mixture to represent the spices used on his body, and wrap the crescent roll around the marshmallow to represent the tomb. After you close the tombs up, put them in the oven for "3 days" and see how Jesus is gone from the tomb when you eat it! He has risen!!!

I learned the hard way- to be sure to close those tombs up well! Last year, Jesus did not leave the tomb. Try having that teachable moment! 

Making our rolls...

While they were baking, the kiddos opened their Easter baskets. 

Jesus has risen! The tomb is empty this year, woohoo!

The crazy part is- even Jace ate the resurrection rolls. He doesn't eat much so this was a big surprise for us. Maybe because he saw a marshmallow go inside of each one? He has Risen indeed!!

college ladies

Every once in awhile (okay, not often enough at all) I get together with these beautiful ladies. We were all college roommates and they are women that will always hold a special place in my life, each one in their own unique way. 

This get together involved children and lots of tasty snacks that we munched on throughout the day while we caught up on life. I don't think this kind of get together has happened for a long time, especially since there have been many children added in the past few years!

Little Lawson, cutie pie!

We kept having them say "College" instead of "Cheese!"

Jace and two of the Kacer's boys. Love them!

Addelyn is only a bit obsessed with this little Miss.

Surprisingly, this many kids together all day and there were no big issues and we even got to actually have some real conversations (the moms). Addelyn being the only girl (except baby Jules) struggled at first as the boys wrestled, played with guns and swords, and were pirates capturing each other- and Addelyn (the only GIRRLLLLL) was the enemy. Finally, we helped the boys and Addelyn "discover" the idea that she could be the pirates mom (which satisfied her "play house" option) and then the boys wouldn't stab her or capture her. It was great! From that point on, they had a great, fun day together!

I love my ladies (and their beautiful kiddos!) Cheers to girls weekend in May and to the fact that even our lovely Christina gets to join too!! 

memories

Sometimes there are moments I really don't want to forget! Here are a few of the latest.....

*Jace loves books! Sometimes it will get quiet and I'll get nervous about what he is up to. I'll peak into a room and he'll be sitting looking at books. How sweet. Playing with tractors is usually the other option- or standing on the counter, pouring out drinks- or playing in the toilet. Not always so sweet but we'll focus on the good stuff on the blog, right?

*The kiddos are sharing a room now. We had a few rough nights but overall, it is going really well. Addelyn was coming in our room every night for the last few months and no one was sleeping well! Now, other than one night in the last few weeks- she has stayed in her own room, all night. It is a new routine for bed and in the morning but it is good. I love that it will help to grow their relationship too.

*The best moment, putting the kids to bed the other night- I was rocking Jace and Addelyn was laying in her bed. They were both giggly but I was trying to calm everyone down. Jace is quite the clown and that is a story in itself- when we rock him- he is always trying to get us to laugh. He'll put his face right up next to yours and stare at you with his grin until you respond or stick his nose in your eyeball. Finally, the giggles stopped and the room was quiet. Jace had his little head on my shoulder. Out of the blue, in the silence, Jace sings, "Gangnam style...."

*Jace doesn't call Addelyn by her name- he calls her "Seester." He loves her so much.

*On the way to preschool a lot of mornings, we'll spontaneously pray for the day- for people- etc. I'm trying to naturally pray throughout the day with my kids, outloud- when the moments come up. The other day, I got a station all ready at our table to read about the Easter story and then color Easter eggs. Addelyn got so excited when she walked into the room and saw everything set out. We sat down and before we started- she exclaimed, "Thank you, Mom, for setting this up! Thank you God, for letting me do fun stuff with my Mom!" I love that she is learning that you can talk to God anytime, anywhere!

advocare journey

I am a little nervous to tell people about my Advocare journey because I'm more private about certain things. However, I'm learning that there are some things that are worth sharing, especially when they have been a great thing in your life.

A little over a year ago, I felt like I was in a black hole of tiredness. Jacers was going on month eight of not sleeping through the night. With Addelyn, she started sleeping through the night at four months but this boy wanted to party all night and hang with his Momma. For those who know me, I have narcolepsy and usually take Ritalin but can't when I'm nursing. So I was struggling! I could hardly get through my days. Some of you may remember, those were the days when I often started crying daily, almost quit my job daily, and I'm guessing I wasn't really fun to be around! Sleep matters! A really good friend of mine suggested I try Spark, a "healthy" energy drink (not like all of the latest ones on the market). I was skeptical but since I trust her, I tried it out. (After secretly going on Mayo Clinic's website and looking up every ingredient first.) After a few days of Spark, I honestly felt like a different person. It wasn't like a had a quick burst of energy but more that I felt like I could focus more and even stay awake much better.

After using Spark for months, I decided to try a 24 Day Challenge. I would say I've considered myself a pretty healthy person (one that likes to eat junk food at times of course!) but overall, a goal of eating healthy 90% of the time. During my first 24 Day Challenge, I noticed a lot of my eating habits that weren't very healthy. My sugar addiction. My Diet Pepsi addiction. Although I already ate a lot of fruit and veggies, I wasn't very aware of how much wheat and dairy (too much!) I was eating. I also didn't realize how little protein I was consuming each day. So as you can see, I had a ton of learnings. Plus, it helped me to lose some of that stubborn baby weight that didn't want to come off after baby number two- around 15 pounds of it. I'm still on the journey to a healthy eating lifestyle- I probably ALWAYS will be on this journey but this has given me some framework to help with my eating habits.

Around seven months ago, I became an Advocare Distributor- mostly for the discount it offers when buying the products. I even have my own little website, https://www.advocare.com/120835572, because along the way, it has been fun to help some others on this journey too. One friend of mine (I'll let her share when she is ready- has lost more than thirty pounds and is still going strong!) It has been amazing to watch! It has been fun also to get to know some really great people through the Advocare team. So that is my journey so far! I haven't told tons of people unless it naturally comes up. The main reason I share it- I had someone get frustrated with me the other day because they didn't understand why I hadn't even told them about this journey. I would say my main deal is that I never want to come off as a salesperson. I love to share it with others- if you want to hear more about it:) Otherwise, that is my story, to be continued I'm sure!!!