The Feel of Royalty

It's amazing how something simple, like putting on some mascara, or wearing a new pair of shoes, can make you feel like a whole new person. Why is that? I don't think I can put my finger on the answer; however, I have recently discovered another one of those simple things. This blanket.



Well, this is actually a stock photo of several blankets; the one I own is the ivory one. I'm sure any of them would do though. I know it's hard to believe, but this blanket has magical powers. When I purchased it last winter, for a cool $150.00, I didn't know what a deal I was getting. I ran my fingers over it a few times, admired it for a day or two, and then boxed it up to bring to our new house. This winter; however, it has been my companion almost everyday. And every time I wrap myself up in it, the same magical thing happens. I suddenly feel like royalty. Yep, royalty. I don't know how it does it, but it just does. And someday, when we are really rich, (if that day ever comes!) I am going to send everyone I know one of these blankets. Then you will know for yourself what royalty feels like. Add a cup of creamy hot chocolate and a good book, (plus four sleeping children) and it might even be a step above royalty. What is that anyway? Heaven?

Off to Neverland!

As many of you know, another year older at our home equals another crazy Hoskins' birthday party--and Emma's second birthday party was no exception. Although I usually shy away from spotlighting specific characters at our birthday parties, and instead focus on a more general theme, (i.e. having a cowboy party instead of a "Woody" party) Emma's second birthday party became the first exception to this rule. You see, we really struggled with coming up with a theme for her party. Emma is such a crazy little woman, that we originally were going to go for a "wild animal" theme, or maybe even do a "Where the Wild Things Are" party. After much consideration; however, we decided to try and pick something that would at least encourage some amount of feminine sanity in our daughter. As a result, we settled upon the theme of fairies. A problem arose, however, because the children that are her age and her friends are both little girls and little boys. As a result, we needed to neutralize our fairy theme a little bit. So, we just plain broke down and made it an all out Disney Peter Pan Party. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, that is. The catch phrase for the party would be "Off to Never-land" and the children attending the party would all become either Peter Pan or Tinkerbell. The invitations beckoned the children to "join us for a one of a kind adventure mingling with mermaids, pow-wowing with the Indians, and battling pirates aboard their pirate ship to reclaim the lost boys treasure!" They even included little pouches of "pixie dust" so the guests could appropriately "fly" to the party.

Here is a picture of some of the party goodies including: one of the invitations, fairy wings and hand-made Peter Pan hats for the little guests to wear during the party, and Peter Pan books and Tinkerbell puzzles for Party Favors.



And what would a Hoskins' birthday party be without a homemade, themed birthday cake? I have to confess that I have recently realized that I really don't like making birthday cakes all that much; but, once you do it the first time, then you're bound for life. So, after scouring over a hundred fairy cake images online, we finally settled upon a little fairy mushroom house. Here's a picture of the culinary creation.



And here's a picture of our own little TinkerBell and Peter Pan as we waited for the guests to arrive.



The first order of business upon arriving at the party was to color pictures over in the Mermaid Lagoon. Afterwards, we gathered the children around the Indian camp and participated in our faithful second birthday party game--a cake-walk. Here is a picture of the kids parading around to the music of "We're Following the Leader" right from the Peter Pan movie.



After the cake walk, we distributed treasure maps to the children and went on a treasure hunt aided by color coded arrows placed throughout the house. At the end of the treasure hunt we arrived in Cannibal Cove where the "pirate ship" awaited us. We battled the pirates and finally recovered the lost boys sweet treasure. (The kids seemed amused by the activity; however, it was an adult who had to ultimately defeat the pirate ship!)



After we had games, we ate cake,



made a joyful noise,



and watched our little fairy open her birthday presents.



The party was a great success, and I think the look on Tinkerbell's face says it all!



Thanks Grandma and Grandpa McArthur for the Tinkerbell outfit! And Happy Birthday little one! We love you so much!

Fabulous Four

Luckily for us, our children almost always look like they are on their way to have their picture made. In other words, they are almost always dressed up in matching and/or coordinating outfits. And it really paid off the other day when we went to get Emma's second year photos made. After they were done snapping the shots of her, they decided they wanted to pull the rest of the kids into the shoot and take a few group pictures. So, we wiped faces and shirts, ran a few fingers through Maddi's long hair, put some of my Bath and Body Works hand lotion in Spencer's hair to make it stand up, and--Presto! We got the first pictures of our four children all together.





Not too bad for being shot on the fly!

Our Beautiful EmmaLee

Even though I can hardly believe it, our beautiful little EmmaLee has reached the milestone age of two! And although there is never a dull moment with this little firecracker, no one can deny that she is sure cute despite all of her mischief.

Note to Followers--If You Exist!

Some of you may have noticed that there are long periods of no posting on our blog, followed by seemingly sudden spurts of posts, all of which are past dated. Let me explain the reason for this phenomenon. You see, I am the one that writes all of the posts, usually on the date they are listed under on our blog. Then, after writing the posts, I wait, and wait, and wait for Nicholas to upload our pictures to the computer so that I can spice up my text with the accompanying photos. Now why don't I just upload the photos myself , you may be asking yourselves. Well, it's not because I don't know how. No, on the contrary, it's because I am not allowed. Nicholas is the only one who can upload, organize, edit, label, and sort all of our pictures so they are all bright, red-eye free, and easily accessible at the click of a button. So, while this is a wonderful scenerio if you want perfect pictures that are perfectly organized and perfectly accessible, it does not lend itself so much to blogging. Oh well. Life goes on. And so does the blog.

Our Two Littlest Loves

Well, just over two months have passed, and our family's two littlest loves have been through quite an adjustment. With EmmaLee already steeped in "Third Child Syndrome," we wondered how a new baby would affect her already fragile persona. I hoped that having someone in the house littler than her would help her feel like a big girl and be a boost to her self-esteem. She could become mommy's little helper and feel a special stewardship over the new little visitor. I worried; however, that the new baby would make her feel displaced and further drive her towards wanting more attention , whatever the cost. Since Mason has been born, I have to confess, we've been through a little of both.

When we came home from the hospital, Emma was enchanted with the new little creature lying in the car seat. She loved to look at his little hands, watch mommy feed him, and of course, "hold you." (It was quite confusing for a few days because Emma would say "hold you" or "hold me" and we would have to establish whether she wanted to be held or whether she was asking to hold the baby. Finally she learned to say "hold baby" or "hold Mason" simplifying the request.)
Here is a picture of EmmaLee holding her new baby brother shortly after we brought him home from the hospital:



In addition to holding Mason, in the weeks after we got home from the hospital, Emmie also wanted to help take care of him by wrapping him in his blanket, showing him toys, and helping change his diaper. (After being peed on a few too many times, we were grateful that Grandma and Grandpa McArthur got Emma a little diaper bag and changing set for Christmas so that Emma could just change her baby's diaper when mommy changed Mason's diaper instead of being on the front lines of Mason's diaper changing disasters.)
Here are some shots of Emma taking care of her new baby brother, both literally and vicariously:







Not long after the holidays ended, however, and everyone returned to their own homes, the feelings of displacement finally set in. The transition to having four children on our own had to be made. And without Grandma and Grandpa or Daddy or Uncle Kyle around, Emma started to feel the change and desired her old place as "littlest love". The problem was confounded by four new teeth trying to make an entrance into Emma's little mouth. For a few weeks things were pretty rough. Nightimes were split with Mommy taking Mason and Daddy taking Emma--who now was waking up all night long. Daytimes were a constant adventure with mom often juggling two babies in her arms and being completely exasperated by the time daddy arrived home at night. As January drew to a close, and Nick prepared to leave town for a conference in Georgia, we knew that we needed a little help. Thankfully, Grandma McArthur flew out for a few days, followed by a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hoskins. Mommy and Daddy were renewed, Emma's teeth finished coming in, and all of the kids, including Emma, seemed to bounce back from our month of madness.

Now Emma is back to her usual self, her usual mischief, and her love of taking care of baby Mason. In fact, just the other day I snapped this photo of our two littlest loves:



Our little family, which has somehow grown into not being so little anymore, is embracing it's newest member and finally settling back into our life. Thanks to all of our friends and family for helping make the adjustment possible. And thanks be to God for the blessings of family. We sure do love ours!