The End of a Decade

Well, here we are, not only at the end of another year, but at the end of another decade of living. It's kind of crazy to think of where we were ten years ago at the turn of the century. I was home for Christmas after completing my first semester at what was then Ricks College. Nicholas was finishing up his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Brisbane, Australia. We all wondered what the infamous Y2K would bring, but as the clock struck midnight, the world kept right on turning.

Now, ten years have passed. Nicholas and I got re-acquainted when he returned from his mission. We were married, finished our schooling, and now have four beautiful children of our own. It's crazy what a decade of living can accomplish! It's wonderful though, and I'm pleased to say that this decade, though full of ups and downs, has contained some of the most precious days of my life. Who can ever forget those tender feelings on your wedding day, or the tears that are shed over each new baby as you first hold them in your arms? I know I never will. So, even though we turn now to a new decade of living, and all of the changes and challenges it will bring, we end this year, and this decade, will a fond farewell. Good-bye 2009. And 2010, here we come!

Three Generations of Fishermen

Our latest trip to Oklahoma to spend time with my side of the family included two very special occasions (That is unless you consider me kicking Jason's butt on the Wii boxing game a special occasion!). The first you can read about in the previous posts--Mason's baby blessing. The second was an outing with just the boys that we had been planning for quite some time. Let me explain. For any of you who know anything about the McArthur men (McArthur is my maiden name), they are all crazy hunters. They love to hunt anything and everything. (A little too much if you ask me) Every year, all of the McArthur men and boys cast their lots at the chance to hunt in the Annual Southern Utah Deer Hunt. If they are lucky enough to "draw out," they make the trek to St. George, invade poor Grandma McArthur (now Rogers), and hunt until all of the tags are full. It is a family tradition that goes back and back. The only problem is, I am not a McArthur man, and neither is my sweet and tender-hearted husband who honors my dislike of hunting by avoiding the sport. So, that places Nick in kind of a hard place--trying to mingle with the McArthur men, but not going on the yearly McArthur Men Bonding Trip. It also creates a disconnect between our boys and the McArthur boy cousins who will inevitably be inducted into this hunting practice as soon as they can legally carry a gun. Consequently, this "McArthur" woman, and her clan of Hoskins men, have been trying to come up with a good solution to this problem. The obvious answer: A new tradition. Not one that takes place of the old tradition, but another tradition that my boys can participate in. Therefore, may we present, an equally manly, yet more humane tradition: The annual McArthur/Hoskins Fishing Trip. This year the boys (Grandpa McArthur, Uncle Jason, Nicholas, and Spencer--hopefully all of them will eventually participate.) simply drove a few hours to Lake Watonga in Southern Oklahoma; but, hopefully, as the years progress, and the pocket book enlarges, they can all go, and go to bigger and better fishing locations. As for now, Lake Watonga will have to do. And even though it was the middle of winter, and most of the lake was frozen over, the trout were still biting.

Here is a shot of them on the outing,



Spencer reeling in his first fish, (don't mind the pink gloves!)



Spencer and Daddy holding his fish--Daddy had to hold it so it wouldn't bite Spencer :)



and Nick and Spencer with the catches of the day.

All Dressed in White

A Name and A Blessing

We recently had the privilege of giving our final child, Mason McKay Hoskins, a name and a blessing. The blessing was supposed to take place at my parent's ward in Edmond, Oklahoma; however, after a terrible snow storm hit, we found ourselves stranded at home with all church services being canceled. We were stressed and discouraged, especially since Nick's parents had made the trip from Utah to be with us for the special day. Having no other real options, we decided, with the bishop's permission, to hold the blessing in my parent's home. My oldest and youngest brothers braved the storm and joined us for the ceremony. What at first seemed like a disappointment, actually turned into a tremendous blessing, literally. As Mason's blessing stated, the Lord intended for the blessing to take place at home; it was supposed to take place in the presence of family alone. In that way our little family gathering was not only very significant, but as his blessing stated, symbolic of his life to come. We chose to name Mason after the beloved prophet David O. McKay, mainly because of President's McKay's strong positions on the family, and especially fatherhood. In choosing this name, we hoped our precious baby boy would choose to make his primary focus in life fatherhood and family. On this special day, he certainly was blessed to this end.
I am so grateful for modern prophets who lead, guide, and inspire us to be the Lord's chosen people. I am grateful for the inspiration for this little baby's name, and for his special spirit and apparent capacity to honor it. I am grateful for a husband who holds the Holy Priesthood with the power to speak on behalf of the Lord, prophesying of the life this child will lead and the joy he will be to our family. I am especially grateful for this precious baby boy, for his brother and sisters, and for the sealing power avaiable in the Lord's temples which allow us to be together forever as a family. Although on this day we gave our son Mason a name and a blessing, in many ways we were all reminded of the name we all bear, even that of our Savior Jesus Christ, and the blessing that discipleship affords.

Here are a few pictures of the special day including:

The men in the blessing circle,



our own little family, (well not so little anymore)



and those present at the blessing.



It was a day I will never forget. And by the way, Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad. What a privilege to bless our baby boy on your special day.

On Christmas Day in the Morning

I saw three kids come running in,
on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
I saw three kids come running in,
on Christmas day in the morning!











(Phew! Christmas is hard work!)

For Unto Us A Son Is Born

There is something about having a baby close to Christmas that seems to give clarity and added insight into the familiar Christmas story. I distinctly remember being in church one Sunday during my pregnancy with Madison. It was the day after my due date, and I was rather emotional--as most post date pregnant women become. I was sitting on the second row, and a close friend of mine was giving the talk. I don't remember everything about her talk, but I do remember a few words she spoke about Mary, the mother of Christ. She discussed the young mother, and the hardships she faced as she traveled so many miles at the end of her own difficult pregnancy. That day, as I sat in church and contemplated Mary's struggles, it put my own struggles and suffering into perspective. I couldn't help but weep as I considered the common thread that all mothers share. For the special musical number that day, the relief society sisters sang and signed the words to the beloved Christmas Hymn "Silent Night". As I attempted to sing those words, the tears came again.

Silent night, holy night.
All is calm. All is bright.
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child.
Holy Infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

The image of the innocent and yound Mary, finally holding that precious little child, gave me hope and courage to endure the final days of my own pregnancy. It also made the moment of seeing my new baby girl so sweet and so fulfilling. We brought her home from the hospital on Christmas Eve night, the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for.

Now, again, I have had the privilege of having another baby near the Christmas season. This time, a special baby boy. As Mason was born a month before Christmas, his birth caused me to reflect more on Mary as a young mother rather than Mary during her journey to and her first nights in Bethlehem. One day, as I was listending to a holiday CD, the words of the song touched my heart and gave voice to the feelings I had been having about my new little one.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Did Mary know and understand the importance of that little babe she rocked? Did it change the way she treated him? Was she kinder? More patient? More loving? It is my opinion that she was. She raised the very Son of God, the Savior of the World. It made me wonder, who is it that I am raising? And how does the knowledge that my own children are an inheritance from the Lord affect what kind of mother I am? Perhaps my days would go better if I asked myself these questions every morning before facing the day.

Madison's Five Year Photos

I know I shouldn't be one of those "braggy" parents, but I just can't help it. I think I have the most lovely children around. Hence, the need to post a few of the photos from Maddi's five year photo shoot.









And the best part of the photos is, she's more beautiful inside than out!

Our Girl's Day Out

While some people think it is strange, I have decided that I will only have birthday parties for my children until they are three years old. Yes, you read that right, three. There are a host of reasons for this decision including, but not limited to, the fact that I am insanely picky about what toys my children have and I don't want to deal with the drama of who to invite as children grow older. In lieu of parties, Nick and I decided that as they get older, we will make our childrens' birthday celebrations more private and personal. Since four is the first year without a party, we decided that for our kids fourth birthdays we would do something extra special just with family members. (i.e. Maddi's fourth birthday trip to the American Girl Store in NYC). Then, beginning with their fifth birthday, they can invite one or two of their closest friends and have a special birthday outing.

Maddi is the first of our children to reach this milestone age, and after careful consideration, we planned a fun outing to commemorate her special day. The theme for this outing was to be "A Girl's Day Out". And what do girls do best? Well, shop of course. So, I constructed two darling purse invitations and invited Maddi's best friend and her mother to join us for lunch and an afternoon of shopping. In addition to purse invites, I also created two lovely purse cakes for the girls with real coins baked into the batter just like my grandmother used to do. I also gave the girls each some money to shop with.

Here is a photo of my handiwork.



We had a lovely time at lunch,



and the girls were so cute as they shopped and shopped.



The highlight of the shopping trip; however, was a stop in the jewelry store to get Maddi's ears pierced. She had asked and asked during the previous year, and so I told her she could have them done for her fifth birthday. In all honesty, I thought she would back out, but, she fearlessly jumped into the chair and bravely endured the piercing without a single tear. (The local anesthetic Daddy provided probably helped a little with that! Hey, a doctor husband has to be good for something!) She is so proud of her new earrings, (If I wouldn't have been such a nervous wreck I might have thought to get a photo!) and the "big girl" status they afford her. Truly she is a big girl, and such a beloved daughter and grand-daughter. She is a joy to have in our family, and such a good helper.

Happy Fifth Birthday Maddi! And thanks for a fabulous girls day out!

Oh Christmas Tree

As I have mentioned in several of my previous posts, shortly after Nicholas and I were married, we sat down and created a list of traditions we wanted to have in our family. One of these traditions was to cut down our own Christmas tree rather than having a fake one or buying one from a Christmas tree lot. When we decided to make this a tradition, we didn't think it would be that hard to accomplish. We did a little research on tree farms, and one cold Decemeber afternoon, after we both had returned from work and school, we set out to find the perfect tree. We drove to a tree farm up in Ogden Canyon. It was dark when we arrived, and the ground was covered in several feet of snow. We hiked out to the Christmas trees with our ax and rope in hand. After looking for over an hour, we decided the trees were "inadequate"--in other words, pretty scrawny little things. We posed for a few make-believe pictures of us cutting down a tree (Sometime I may dig out a few of these and post them), and then drove back and purchased a beautifully shaped little tree from a tree lot in Bountiful. It was a lovely little tree, with even branches and a fresh pine scent; but, after flooding the tree stand and warping $200 worth of wrapped books from the BYU Bookstore which were lying under the tree, we gave up on the quaint tradition. The day after Christmas we bought ourselves a fake tree and used it for the next six years while we attended college and then medical school.

At the end of medical school, when we were preparing to move to Pennsylvania to complete our intern year of residency, we pulled out the tree and Nick agreed to let us sell it and set aside some money each year for a real tree. Since we couldn't locate a tree farm close enough to our Pennsylvania home to prove practical, we settled for a tree bought at a nearby tree lot. It was also a lovely little tree, and this time, we put down plastic under the tree stand and kept all "perishable" gifts out of reach so that when we flooded the tree stand (which we did) the damage was much more manageable. Our experience with this real tree was a positive one, and we vowed to never have a fake tree again.

Having a real tree, however, was not the original goal. The tradition was supposed to be cutting down our own real tree. So, not long after arriving in Minnesota I went to work to find a tree farm where we could finally cut down our own tree. Much to our delight, we found a tree farm not too far out of town with beautiful and reasonably priced trees. As a result, for the first time in our eight and a half years of marriage, we cut down our own Christmas tree. Hooray!! The tree farm workers looked at us a little strangely as we carried our two week old baby out onto the freezing tree lot, but hey, tradition is tradition, and this one was long overdue!

Here we are at the tree farm in front of the tree we picked,

and here are Dad and the kids working hard to cut it down.

Here are the kids stringing popcorn and cranberries for the tree,

decorating the tree,

and sitting in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve in their matching Christmas Jammies.

Mason McKay

Our Darling Angel...






(Two weeks old)

Our "Thankful Tree"

Since we started this blog a little over a year ago, we have taken the opportunity to share some of our family traditions at each of the major holidays. As Thanksgiving approached, and I reflected on past holidays documented on our blog, i.e. Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, I realized that we had few Thanksgiving traditions that weren't related to food. (Since holiday recipes will be the theme woven throughout next years blog, I won't share those traditional recipes here.) As a result, I decided we needed to establish some sort of tradition to commemorate this first feast of Thankfulness. Although we spend the whole month of November learning about the history of Thanksgiving, and making crafts and treats related to the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians, I felt like there needed to be something we did each year with a little deeper meaning. After talking with Nick, we decided to create a "Thankful Tree" on our wall with leaves made out of everyone's hands. (Really original, I know.) We introduced the "Thankful Tree" in Family Home Evening along with the theme of having "Daily Thanksgiving." During Family Home Evening we made exactly enough hands for us to take turns placing hands on our tree every night between Halloween and Thanksgiving. When it was your turn to place a hand, you had to write something you were thankful for on it and place it on the tree. In order to help the kids really think about what they were thankful for, we made it a rule that you couldn't repeat something someone had already listed. The kids loved the tree and as a result were extra mindful of things they were thankful for each day in their prayers. Really, it helped our entire family to remember our many blessing all month long.

Here is a photo of our family "Thankful Tree". (Hopefully on a less busy year I will get the time to make a cloth or felt tree that looks a little less ghetto--but for our first year, our construction paper tree will have to do.)




Here are the things our family members listed:


Nicholas:
A living prophet--Thomas S. Monson
Our Holy Scriptures
A House
Friends
Good Food to eat

Jamie:
My Children--Madison, Spencer, and EmmaLee
Husbands and father who hold the priesthood
The Holy Ghost
Our new baby Mason
Jesus Christ

Madison:
My Family
The Church
The Temple
My Grandma and Grandpa
My Brothers

Spencer:
Treats
Cows, Sheep, and other animals
Balloons, Trains, and Toys
Watching movies together
Playing games together

EmmaLee:
"Mamma"
Stories
Shoes
Chocolate "Mult" (Milk)
Pens and drawing pictures

Momentos

I just thought I would include a brief post about how cute my kiddos are. As I got ready to leave for the hospital to be induced, the kids got together and chose some things they wanted to send with me to help me get through the delivery and to help me not miss them while I was away. (Maddi's idea.) Here is a picture of what they sent:



Maddi made me a necklace to wear while I was in labor. She said I could wear it and it would help me be brave. As a matter of fact, it did help me. Right when Mason started to crown and I realized I was going to have to deliver him without the epidural, I reached up and took hold of that necklace and thought over and over again about how precious my babies are. This saved me during his birth.
Spence sent a little toy car--pink, just for mom. And because he thought his new little brother would like to play with it too.
And sweet baby Emmie sent a baby bottle to give to the new baby.

I just love all my kids!

It is finished!

I just want to take a moment and declare to the whole world that I, Jamie Hoskins, am done being pregnant for the rest of my life!!! After enduring six pregnancies, and bearing four post-date 8+ pound babies, all in the last six years, I am finally finished, and what a relief it is! Some people may think that because we have had our children so close together, that I must have wonderful pregnancies that I simply love. The exact opposite is true. And after hanging in there for the last time, I am sighing a huge sigh of relief. I'm done. And my maternity clothes are already up for sale on craigslist. Now I just have to make it through twelve months of breast-feeding and then my body will be officially mine again. (All except for that handsy husband of mine--of course! ) I can actually start getting in shape, buying clothes, and all of those wonderful things you take for granted when you are not constantly pregnant or breast-feeding. And I mean constantly--all but five months of the last six years!! So, while this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, it is a HUGE deal to me. Hallelujah! It is finished!

He's Here!!

Mason McKay Hoskins made his grand entrance into the world at 6:04 a.m. on Friday, November 20th, 2009. He is healthy and handsome and we are so glad he is here!! He was 8 lbs 8 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Here are a few pictures of our little man.

About 2 minutes old.



With an exhausted mommy.



On the scale.



Getting cleaned up.



With a happy daddy.



About 12 hours old.



Despite our past labor experiences, I was convinced I was going to go into labor on my own with this delivery. Unfortunately, this did not occur. Instead, we went into the hospital for a scheduled induction on Thursday evening. Rather than going right on Pitocin, my doctor decided to start me on Cytotec first and see if that would do the trick. Within two hours, I was having regular contractions. Since I was contracting on my own, I thought I would get to skip the pitocin this time around, but the resident on call wanted to augment the delivery by giving me the pitocin anyway. (Darn those residents!!) I warned her that my body doesn't agree with pitocin--and that if she wanted to put me on pitocin that I wanted the epidural right away. She would not give her consent; however, so, much to my dismay, I started the pitocin with no pain relief. Just as I predicted, the pitocin sent me into hard and fast labor. They finally called for anesthesia, but an emergency C-section was holding them up. They checked me at 5:46 pm and the resident said I was only dilated 4 centimeters. Eighteen minutes later, at 6:04 p.m., Mason arrived. Unfortunately for me, he arrived before the anesthesia team. (You'd think with a husband in that department, we could have worked something out--but no!) I guess I misunderstood the very strong impression I had that I would have this baby on my own. I thought for sure that I would not survive the experience, but I have, and ironically I have felt better after this delivery than any of my others. We came home after 24 hours, and we are loving our newest addition.

It's Here!

Earlier this week while Nick and I were enjoying a quiet minute after the kids had gone to bed, I turned to him and said, "I really hope our baby boy comes this week." He was quiet for a minute, then thoughtfully replied, "Yeah, I really hope the piano we ordered comes this week."

Shocking, I know.

But I guess we see who got their wish.

The best kids ever!!

Every parent needs a blog where they can occasionally spend a moment bragging on the most beautiful, most bright, happiest, most helpful children in the world--theirs!! This will be one of those posts.

A few weeks ago, after being particularly grumpy, I sat my kids down and had a little end of pregnancy talk with them. I explained that mommy gets very grumpy and moody in the last month of pregnancy. I tried to impress upon them that it wasn't anything they were doing, and that they were going to have to try and be patient with mommy. Then I asked them if they would be my special helpers over the next few weeks. They cheerfully agreed, and amazingly, have complied with such exactness that I feel compelled to declare them the best kids ever.

The list of little "surprises" (I hear them whispering to each other--"let's surprise mommy by...") that have been orchestrated in my behalf could go on and on, but a few examples include: always carrying their dishes over to the sink after meals--without being asked, wiping the sink and hanging up the towels after washing their hands (something I'm always nagging them about), folding their jammies and putting them back in their drawers after getting dressed--again, without being asked, and making their own beds and turning off their nightlights every morning right when they get up. Now most of their surprises have been simply doing things they normally have to do, just doing them without me having to ask or nag them; however, making their own beds has not been on their "chore" list as of yet. (My kids don't actually have set chores, they just help with what I ask them to.) This is mainly because I am such a perfectionist that I just prefer to make the beds myself. Maddi, however, being the mini-me that she is, surprised me one morning with her perfect imitation of my bed-making--putting the decorative pillows and throw blanket in exactly the same position I would have placed them and actually straightening the blankets perfectly. She even tucked in the sheets and blankets that hung out below the quilt. After making her own bed, she proceeded to teach Spencer how to make his bed, carefully showing him how his blankets and pillows went. They were both so proud when I came into their rooms. It was adorable! And they have done it again every morning since then. Every single morning. In some ways, I am so glad it was a chore I never assigned them since assigning it would have never yielded this success, or given them the obvious satisfaction that surprising me has. And this morning, when I had to un-make their beds to wash their sheets, I decided I had better take a few pictures first and post them on our blog for them, and everyone else to see. So here they are,

Maddi's bed



Spencer's bed



Thanks guys...you really are the best kids ever!!

Halloween Night

After a busy and exciting Halloween day, and a short evening of trick or treating, we decided to cap off our Halloween celebration with a big Halloween party at our home. (A Hoskins Halloween tradition.) We combined our efforts with the Gillette family and put together quite the little get-together. The highlight of the party was of course, the treats. Kaicie brought over homemade sugar cookies, an Oreo/pudding dessert, home-made pumpkin pie, and fresh hot apple cider. Then we provided caramel corn, puppy chow (or as Kaicie and Blake called it--Muddy buddies), home-made root beer, and we decided to try our hand at hand-dipped and decorated caramel apples. (Thanks Aunt Jenny for the inspiration and instructions--though ours weren't quite as pretty as yours!)

Here's a shot of a few of the finished apples. (We went a little over-board with them and had tons left over.) Just for the record, we made plain apples, apples with caramel and chocolate, apples rolled in peanuts, apples rolled in peanuts and then drizzled with chocolate, and two specialty types of apples: rocky road--rolled in marshmallow and pecans and then drizzled with chocolate, and s'more--rolled in graham cracker and marshmallow and drizzled with chocolate. They were pretty tasty.



Here is one of my favorite shots from the night: a few of the kids peering into the witches cauldron as our home-made root beer began to bubble. (Isn't Emmie's lion hair stunning!)



And a few shots of the guests at our party. At the end of the night we counted 12 families who had attended--



with over 26 children!!



Happy Halloween Party!!

"For Narnia!"

For the last year, as past posts delineate, Spencer has had quite the obsession with cowboys. He has carried his Woody doll around and randomly donned his cowboy attire, sometimes by itself. As a result, we thought the obvious choice for a Halloween costume this year would be a Toy Story Woody costume. We talked about it with him, looked at pictures of the costume online, and even convinced Madison that she should be Woody's girlfriend Little Bo Peep with EmmaLee as one of her sheep. The kids seemed excited about the costume choice, and I was glad we would be returning to a more themed Halloween since last year the kids costumes were unrelated. Long about August, however, a new obsession took hold of the children in our household. It all started with a simple family movie night...
Let me explain. Since Madison has gotten older, and begun doing some reading herself, I decided to start reading actual books with her, rather than just picture books. Whenever we finish a book, if there is a movie of the book, we celebrate with a family movie night and watch the movie. So far we have read the original Alice in Wonderland (I wouldn't recommend this for young children-by the way), Charlotte's Web, Charley and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and the book of this particular movie night, the beloved C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. While I originally debated whether or not to let the kids watch this movie, in the end, Nick and I decided we would give it a try and turn it off if the kids got too scared. On the contrary, the kids fell in love. All of a sudden, all Maddi and Spence wanted to do was watch Narnia, and it wasn't long before they re-named themselves Peter the Magnificent and Queen Lucy. They even began to call Emma Aslan, and encouraged her to roar like a lion. We knew the obsession was serious when on Labor Day weekend we went shopping for a twin size bed for Spencer and managed to lose all three of the kids in a furniture store. We searched frantically only to find an empty stroller outside of, you guessed it, a giant wardrobe. Madison and Spencer had been pushing Emma around while we talked with the store salesman. Upon seeing the wardrobe they had unstrapped her and all climbed inside. We were so amused by the stunt we couldn't even be mad. When we opened the wardrobe door, they climbed out of the wardrobe, put their hands in the air together, and shouted, "For Narnia!"
From there, it was obvious a Halloween costume reassessment was in order. So, after endless searching, and quite the international shipping fee, we somehow managed to outfit the three most adorable children in true to life Narnia costumes. Without further a due, let me present:

Queen Lucy



Peter the Magnificent



and our female version of Aslan.



Here they are on Halloween night getting ready to trick or treat.



And a shot of them at the neighbor's door as well.



The kids Narnia costumes actually cost more this year than all of the rest of the Halloween costumes we have ever bought combined, but I have to say, they loved it so much, it was worth every penny. Maddi and Spence have already begged to keep their costumes out with our dress-up clothes collection, and hopefully we can indoctrinate the kids with The Wizard of Oz next year and re-use our lion costume for our new baby boy. Who knows. In the meantime, beware when you visit our house. You're liable to be cast as The White Witch and assailed by my children. And Aslan has quite the fearsome little roar too.