Hostetlers: May 2016

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

right now...

Curt:

-got a promotion and is really enjoying the new department he's working with
-reads and mows the lawn and is the fun parent

{went up to Curt's work to have lunch at a nearby park one day back in April}

Carmen:

-just got called as the Primary President at church. (For those unfamiliar with Mormon lingo, our church is run by members, we each get jobs called callings that usually last a couple years. The Primary is the children's organization, we have almost 90 kids in our ward.)

It's a little bit daunting, but it will be good.
-thought I was done with house projects, but have concluded that it's just a way of life for me.
I will find new projects always.
Doing now: piano room, powder room, starting to mess with the yard.

{we've had several bonfires to clear out yard stuff}

Des:
-finished up pre-k and will be starting kindergarten in the Fall, he's so ready
-doing swimming lessons
-is in the 97th percentile for height.
Where the heck that came from I don't know, Curt and I are both short.
He gets mistaken for being several years older than he is all the time.

-We're reading the Nancy Drew books for bedtime stories, he loves it.

Evie:
-is finally potty trained. I'm such a weeny at this, but the good part of waiting so long is that they have good control. No messes and a short transition time.
-loves to bug her older brother and can reliably evoke crazy rage reactions, ugh.
-is super strong willed.
I'm trying to not beat this trait out of my kids because I think it will get them places in life, but man oh man it's sometimes like riding a bucking bronco.

McKay:
-is cutting his final tooth that he has room in his mouth for, all four eye teeth just came in at once
-runs and jumps and dances and climbs, has a melt-your-heart smile
-is getting quite the simple phrase vocabulary
things I can think of off hand: catch, don't, button (as in belly button), see, ear, ut-oh, mine, let go, down, bite, mama, daddy, there you go, phone, oh there it is, got it
-can understand most things said to him and answers yes/no questions (yes is usually emphatic nodding)
-is a lot more petite than Des was at this age and has really good fine motor skills
-I'm thinking his eyes might actually stay blue?
(all the kids have started blue, Des' turned greenish, Evie's now have streaks the color of her hair, pretty neat and unusual)

{just applied for this little guy's passport, he's so cute}

{I've been making this a lot for dinner, simple and yummy}

Friday, May 13, 2016

Time Out For Women - Orlando

In the middle of April I headed down to Orlando for a Time Out For Women event.
It was held in the Orange County Convention Center, which is gigantic.
Curt's mom was the local lead in organizing this event, and it's so fun to go down and experience it.

Friday night there were presentations from Michael Wilcox, Mary Cook, and David Archuleta.
Very good evening.
It was the first time I'd heard David Archuleta's voice in person and the music was just so pretty.

Got to hang out a little tiny bit with Megan...

...and Alison...

...and a little bit more with Grandpa Hoglund (he brought presenters from the airport)...

...and Grandma Hoglund because I stayed the night at their new home.

And I didn't get any pictures of Shauna, but she was there and super busy the whole time.
On Saturday morning I brought Grandma and we showed up for round two.
This day had presentations from Wendy Ulrich (from Ann Arbor, MI, woot woot), Tamu Smith and Zandra Vranes, Calee Reed (singing and speaking), Emily Watts, and Laurel C. Day.

While listening they had flashcard packets to color if we wanted to, these were then going to refugees who have recently moved to Florida to have a little bit of something personalized in trying to learn a new language.