Home with the Hobens

Colton turns 3!

2011-12-17T19:44:00.001-08:00

Our sweet Colton turned 3 on December 17 and we had a family party for him at our house! Grandma and Gradpa came. Great Grandma Dodie and Great Grandpa Bill came. Aunt Kate and Uncle Chris and Aunt Carley and uncle Dakota came. It was a fun party!!!

The evening of Colton's birthday party, we had our church's Christmas program.

Colton, his brother and his sister sang to us during the children's program and we loved hearing their sweet voices!

Kylie played a song on the piano, and she did wonderful!

During his bday party, Colton opened lots of fun presents...

...gave lots of hugs...

...ate lots of sweets...

...and he listened to all of us sing Happy Birthday to him!

----

2011 was a good year for Colton. He grew a lot. His big blue eyes got bigger and bluer, and his blond hair remained blond--to the amazement of all of us. We believe he takes after his GreatGandfather, William Hoben(aka gpa Bill)

In 2011, Colton cheered on the St. Louis Cardinals who became world champions,

he was a fire fighter for Halloween,

he enjoyed a trip to the Barnyard Blooms for the fall activities (corn maze, pumpkin patch, apple launcher, etc)

and he did lots of fun things at gma and gpa's house!

In 2011, Colton played lots of fun boy games with his brother,

...and he "helped" mom and Kylie in the kitchen when we had the courage to let him do so ;-)

We love you so much Colton Bryan Hoben!

We pray 2012 is just as good as 2011 and you continue to grow into a handsome, kind, loving, tough little man!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hoben Family Pictures 2011

2011-10-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Picnic and bonfire at Johnson's Lake

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of our friend has a private lake property that is simply gorgeous. We have camped there in past summers, but this time we went for a one day picnic and bonfire and drove back home at night so we can be fresh and ready for church the next morning.

I want one of these for my backyard.

In the car, on our way there, Colton was quite the entertainer...

His entertaining act hit a soar note...

when he got mad at Piper...

...for invading his personal space.

Kylie on the other hand, didn't mind at all when Piper invaded her personal space.

Brett pitched a few balls to Brayden---look at that hit! Can you see the ball!?WOW!

Colton played too...

....daddy taught him a thing or two about baseball.

Fun times!

Dream Big Dreams

2011-10-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Perfect Pot Roast by The Pioneer Woman

2011-09-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

I copied the Pioneer Woman's idea to serve pot roast with mashed potatoes insted of adding the potatoes to the roast. Brett and I liked it much better with the creamy mashed potatoes than the cubed baked potatoes!

If you want the recipe...look to the right under "Daily Reading" and find The Pioneer Woman Blog. Once you get to her blog, click on the tab at the top of the page labeled, "Cooking" and you will find the step by step directions with pictures!

"The best SALSA you'll ever have" recipe

2011-09-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is my mother- in-law's salsa recipe. I have been making it for years, and it is a favorite for my family and friends.

If you have these laying around...
You might as well make some SaLsA!

Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half...
Chop them. I use my Pamper Chef chopper but any chopper will do.
Next, I add green peppers.
Cilantro-- take it off the stem, wash it, dry it well...
...cut it...
...and add it to the tomatoes and pepper mixture.
Next up, it's the avocados! I love avocados!

Cut them in half.... Take the seed out
...and cut them in cubes.

This is when I add the salt to the salsa because it helps keep the avocados from browning quickly. You may add more salt at the end, to fit your taste.

When you're done cutting the avocados, you can mix in the onions. Chop them up!

The last ingredient I add are the hot peppers.
I mix it all in my dutch oven because it's nice and big. but any big bowl will do.

When I am all done mixing it, I put the salsa in containers.

When I give some to friends, I give them a couple of hot peppers in case they want to make it hotter.
ENJOY!

No need for training wheels for Brayden!

2011-09-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Brayden kept asking Brett to take the training wheels off his bike. We hesitated at first, since he is only 4, but we decided to give it a try... and good thing we did. Brayden is doing an awesome job riding without the training wheels- way to go Brayden!!!

* sIdE nOtE: Last week was "bike week" in Preschool. The kids had to bring their helmets and the preschool provided the tricycles.

I would ask Brayden every day when I picked him up if he had a turn riding the tricycles, and he would say, "No, not yet." I was fine with that, figuring he would eventually have a turn. However, on Wednesday when I picked him up, his teacher informed me that Brayden is refusing to ride the tricycles because they have training wheels, and he doesn't need training wheels. HM!

He did ride the tricycle on Thursday, after Brett and I had a little chat with our (#trainingwheelsarenotcool) wonderful and amazing son. :-)

Kylie starts 1st grade. Brayden starts Preschool.

2011-09-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

*Kylie started 1st grade a few weeks ago and she is doing a great job, working hard and learning a lot!

On her first day of 1st grade, we went to Kennedy Elementary School. Kylie is going to Kennedy for Music class.

Me with my wonderful, beautiful, smart daughter!

** A week after Kylie started 1st grade, Brayden joined Our Redeemer Preschool!

Brayden with his sister!

Brayden with his teacher, Kristy Graves!

*** Side note-- Hawkeye parties are in full bloom!

We even went as far as putting an old Hawkeye shirt on Piper-- she hated it, we loved it! ;-)

**** Last week, AWANA started

This is Kylie's 3rd year as a Spark and Brayden's 2nd year as a Cubbie.

Fall schedule is full swing...almost. Homeschooling group and piano lessons start tomorrow and Jazz lessons begin in October.

Summer 2011

2011-09-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated the blog much this summer but it is not because I have not been taking a million+ pictures. Here are some of the things that we did and some of the pictures that I took:

*** State Fair 2011!

The butter cow...need I say more?

Grandpa with Brayden on the skyride
Kylie rode with Grandma on the skyride and it is important to note that the skyride is her favorite at the fair... this tidbit of information begs the question, "Do we have a future pilot on our hands?" :-)

Clifford was at the fair also!... Seeing Clifford at the Fair, left Colton in utter amazement! hehe

We watched a very funny Western skit! The kids quoted lines from it for days and weeks to come!

We also watched "The Swampmaster's Gator show"!

Crazy bravery

*** We're going on an ant hunt...

The kids went on a bug hunt around the backyard- fun times.

*** Great Grandpa Bill turned 80 this summer!

We had a party for him at a restaurant and the whole family gathered togeher to celebrate this wonderful man!

I love this picture of Great Grandpa and Great Grandma with their 3 great grandchildren!

The HOBEN men-- Brett, Brayden, Colton, Bryan, Gpa Bill, Dakota and Bryce (LtoR)

Our little family!

This is one of my favorite pictures of all times-- I love Colton's smile and his big blue eyes, I also think his aunt, Nicole, is BEauTIfuL!!!

Earlier in the day, before Gpa Bills' bday party, we went wedding dress shopping with Kate! How fun!!! This is all of us at Texas Roadhouse after a successful day at the bridal store!

*** Mya, Lauren, Benson and Jack came over for a sleepover and a day of fun!

We had a water baloon fight-- the kids vs. Brett (I was the photographer so I was off limits when it came to water ballons....that was until I put the camera down and Brett turned all the kids on me! "Go GET mom!" )

***DAkota, Brett's youngest brother, got married this summer

It was a beautiful wedding!

The bride looked beautiful and the groom looked so hansome.

Grandma and Grandpa at the wedding

Our family at the reception dinner

Nicole did all the flowers for the wedding, she did an amazing job!

We borrowed Benji and Abby's WII and the kids had a b-l-a-s-t playing.

Brett tied Brayden's tie for the 1st time! (it was an emotional time for me...)

*** Earlier in the summer, Kylie and Brayden were in swimming lesson...

*** Kylie learned to ride her bike without the training wheels!! Woohoo! Way to go Kylie!

*** Colton found himself a girlfriend this summer...

*** ...and he gave himself a black eye, when he ran into the corner of a picnic table (scary and sad! :-( but it did not bring his spirits down, he was so tough)

**** I am sorry about the weird spacing. I am not sure how to fix the problem, I keep adjusting the space in between pictures or sentences and when I publish the post, it shows up with the same weird spacing. If you have a blog and know how to fix this spacing problem, let me know, please! :)

Happy 4th Birthday my wonderful Brayden!!!

2011-07-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 4 years since you've joined our family!

What a joy you are!!!
You love riding bikes, scooters, skateboards...

You love to play and hangout with your sister and brother!

You and Piper are good buddies...when she's not biting you or pulling on your pants and when you're not kicking and teasing her

You have always been so strong!
I remember when you were learning to walk, you had the strength to lift yourself up holding a basketball

You love playing-around with daddy, Kylie, Colton and Grandpa!
You're always up for helping Grandpa with chores

Your favorite movie is CARS and for your fourth birthday we took you to see the sequel--Cars 2

You have the most charming smile!

You love your aunts and uncles!

You were in soccer this summer and you are so good at it. You are a fast runner!!!

I am so proud of you!!!

This summer, you were in your first swimming lessons.
You were so brave!!!

(here you are with your teacher, Megan)

You learned so much and you graduated to the next level- advance preschool beginners

You love to:
*play sports

*fix things with dad

(a couple of months ago you told me when you grow up you want to be just like daddy-- get married, have kids and fix things with daddy to make money)

*do chores and work with grandpa and daddy

*read

*you paint when mommy gets the paint out and you play with play dough

*you like to bust some crazy dance moves
*your second favorite movie is "Despicable Me" and you quote from it quite often

You come snuggle with me when you wake up from your nap or in the morning.

I love your snuggles!

I love your hugs!

I love your kisses!

I love you and everything about you!

June happenings

2011-06-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Oh man...I am really getting behind on blogging. It's so much easier to post pictures on Facebook, because they load so much faster and all at once. Anyway, that is not a good enough excuse to neglect my darling blog. All that being said, here's what we have been up to in June...

Kylie and Brayden took swimming lessons at Flora Park.

* One weekend in June, we drove down to Ames for a couples' shower for Carley and Dakota. (It was a really hot weekend and the air conditioning in our van died... ugh! Thankfully, we were on our way to drop off Piper to Benji and Abby's and they felt bad for us and let us drive their car.)

Car troubles aside, the shower was held at a beautiful mansion and we had a good time!

*Before we headed back to Dubuque, Carley and Dakota took us to the Farmer's Market in DesMoines. That was a lot of fun!

*Kylie has been practicing her reading...here she is reading to Brayden during rest time.

*Kylie had a father/daughter breakfast date with her daddy to celebrate her hard work and graduation from Kindergarten!

*The kids love riding their bikes up and down our street

Piper likes to get in on the action

Chris and Kate's visit

2011-06-07T20:12:00.001-07:00

First of all.... Kate and Chris are engaged!!!

Check out this rock! (great job Chris!)
CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS Kate and Chris!!!

Here are some more pictures from our weekend...

Basketball camp for Kylie

2011-05-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

MAY- so far...

2011-05-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

When Kylie is not learning basketball skills from the Spartan Ladies at University of Dubuque... (next post will be about Bball camp!)

... she is playing games on PBS kids...

...or she is pushing her youngest brother UP the slide.
Speaking of youngest brother....he is getting big in a hurry!!!

...Well, I guess he's not that big... he still cries in frustration when he can't climb up the slide.

And here is the "older" brother, antagonizing Piper.

Until she gets tired of it, chases him around the yard in an attempt to pull his shorts down!

When Kylie is not climbing up the slide, she slides down backwards.

Brayden William! Never a dull moment with him!

Colton and Brayden burst into laughter as they say or hear the words: "poop, toot, burp, "lightbulb" and "whhhaat?" (in a Gru accent from the movie Despicable Me) One of these days, I am going to count the times these words are used by my boys over the course of one day.

Kylie laughs at their poop and toot jokes, but every once in a while she just says "Mommy, all the boys talk about is poop."

I am not sure what Piper thinks of all this silly talk...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last week we had a few warm days, so we got the sprinkler out and the kids had a blast! (thanks gma and gpa for the sprinkler!)

Also last week, Colton got a pretty bad case of hives :-( Benadryl was his best friend and of course his mommy, who was not allowed to put him down from her arms for longer than 5 minutes.

This last picture is for my brother, who has been wanting to see a picture of Brett's new truck.

Silly boys!

2011-05-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

Brothers!

Brayden (almost 4) and Colton (2 1/2)

*** Pozele astea le-am pus pentru tine mamaie, de ziua mamelor. Uitat-te la postul mai de jos pentru poze cu printesa voastra si de la Pasti. Va pup! ;-)

EaStEr 2011

2011-04-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

*** Saturday night we attended "A Picture of Calvary" dinner theater that was put on by Grandview Community Church.

The Townsley sisters helped with the event.

Julia, Bethany and Sarah

Another wonderful helper at the dinner theater, was non other than my sister-in-law, Nicole. Look at her go!

Brayden was really proud of grandpa for doing a great job in the play.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

2011-04-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to mom and dad's house for Easter.

Every year they have an Easter Egg hunt for our kids and another one for the big kids.

Every year we start the Easter egg hunt with Bryan shooting his gun.

Every year Bryan gives instructions for the "big kids" egg hunt.
(My husband found the jackpot egg this year. Bryce found the second one.)
*This was Piper's first egg hunt.
Unfortunately, one of the farm cats scratched her eye and it was a lot less enjoyable for her.

Fortunately her eye is going to be okay!
Here she is cuddling at Kate's feet.

Brayden stepping in his father's footsteps.

*Carley helped Kylie with the egghunt

Kate helped Colton

Dakota helped Brayden

...and Brayden squeezed the life out of Piper :-)

My 3 musketeers!

* Carley liked Piper...

... and Piper liked Dakota's hair...it was quite chewable.

Piper Hoben

2011-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

We have a puppy!!!!

Her name is Piper (named after the Piper aircrafts, of course) ;-) She is a Goldendoodle- mix between a Golden Retriever and Poodle. She looks more like a Golden Retriever, but she does NOT shed (i should say she sheds very little, which is more characteristic to Poodles) She is 6 weeks old She is very good with kids, as you can see She will grow to be around 45 lbs

Welcome to the family, Piper!!!

2011-04-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

We are concluding the "Continents and Oceans" thematic unit with each family doing a presentation on a continent. Our family (Kylie and Brayden mainly) presented

South America!

Kylie and I made a yummy Colombian dessert that was very much enjoyed by everyone in our homeschooling group. (we doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9X13 dish)

Kylie did a fAnTaStIC job reading the facts we researched about South America.

(I will be posting a video of her reading in the next post...stay tuned)

Brayden helped by holding up a map and then a poster with images from South America as a visual for the facts Kylie was reading about.

Kylie is demonstrating how people mix hot chocolate in Colombia.

*Our friend Ale, who is originally from Colombia, was kind enough to let us borrow so many artifacts that are specific to South America... a big THANKS to Ale!

Showing a miniature model of a Colombian traditional home. A presentation about South America would not have been complete without dancing. Kylie and Brayden taught everyone a few dance moves. For crafts, we made maracas- using fancy, colorful eggs that we filled with dry, white beans. Brayden wore his soccer gear for this presentation(cleats and all...), since Soccer or Fotbal is the most popular sport in South America. Kylie wore a white embroidered dress accessorised with a handmade necklace we borrowed from Ale.

I am so proud of my kids for working so hard, for doing a fabulous job presenting, and for having some serious moves on the dancing floor. ;-)

Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

2011-04-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

As part of our "Continents, Countries, Oceans and other masses of water" unit, we scheduled a field trip to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.

The kids learned so much and enjoyed every minute of it, especially the water-land at the end of our field trip. They were all soaked when we left.

2011-03-27T12:26:00.001-07:00

Kylie was telling me yesterday morning about a conversation she had with her AWANA leader this past Thursday.

Awana leader: - Ms. Kylie Hoben, do you have your book?

Kylie: -Yes.

-Do you have your vest?

-Yes.

-Did you go to Sunday School?

-Yes.

- Do you have all your teeth?

-NO!!

My kids are growing up too fast...

2011-03-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

I am feeling a little bit of nostalgia today.

It could be because I was looking through some "old" pictures.

I think my kids are growing up way too fast... I just wish I could stop time.

Here are some of the pictures I was looking at...

My sweetheart!
Colton! I guess Cotlon doesn't look that different, but still...:-)

Oh Brayden, I love you!

My beauty!

Brayden standing up holding a basketball. He was still learning to walk here, but he could stand up holding a basketball. Strong boy!

Oh yeah, I thought my husband is growing up too... I mean look at this picture from 2003! Bryce, his brother, looks quite different too, those of you that know him, would agree, I think.

My goal in life is to stop time... and since that's an impossible goal to achieve, I am just going to enjoy every minute of it, or at least make an effort to do so.

That being said, I am off to play "house" with my kids.

Authentic Chinese food

2011-03-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

NK is a Chinese student that is studying to get his Masters in Business at University of Dubuque. The University has a program that connects International students with faculty members and their families. Since I was once an international student, this program was something that Brett and I thought it would be fun to be involved in. We found out at the beginning of the school year, that "our" international student was NK, from China. He speaks broken English and it's hard to communicate with him sometimes, but Brett has built a good relationship with him and he has visited our church a few times, plus he is one mean cook!
This Monday night NK came over and cooked authentic chinese food for us!

We also invited Victor over.

Victor comes from a missionary family in Japan; he is now studying at Emmaus and goes to our church.

*Victor's parents, older brother and sister-in-law are in Japan right now. They are safe and are trying to help as much as possible in this crisis--if you don't know what I am talking about, watch the news :-)

Brayden and Colton are trying out chopsticks!

Chinese soup

Yumminess!

Thank you NK for a delicious dinner!

No, thanks.

2011-03-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Brett and I have been teaching Colton how to politely decline an offer, how to say "No, thank you." instead of a screeching"NOOOOOO!!"

What we meant to teach him was to politely refuse to do something that he has a choice about, like: playing with a certain toy, or if I offer him something to drink and he is not thirsty, etc.... However, he has now mastered the art of politely saying "no" in a very matter-of-fact, calm tone for everything he doesn't want to do.

For example:

"You need to eat a few more bites of your food before you have dessert"

"No thanks."

" Colton, please share with your brother!"

"No thanks"

"I need you to be sweet and gentle"

"No thanks."
...and the one in the video is the classic
"It's naptime/bedtime!"
"NO thanks."

AWANA Grand Prix 2010

2011-03-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was the annual AWANA Grand Prix and we were all at Emmaus watching Brayden's and Kylie's cars race. They did not win the 1st prize for speed, but Brayden won 1st Place for Original Design in Cubbies and Kylie won 1st Place Patriotic Design in Sparks!!! And with that they won 2 blue ribbons to add to their "collection."

This was a "daddy and me" project since it involved trucks.

Night out with friends!

2011-02-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

Me with my best friend

Abby and I

Amy and I

Ale and I

Mary Ellen and I

...and last but not least....Aimee and I!

Brett and I are so very blessed to have these wonderful, godly people in our lives!

I'm a Hawkeye... just like my grandpa!

2011-02-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

My boys love their grandpa!

They love doing chores with him, they like to wrestle and play catch with him!

On Friday, grandma and grandpa came to Dubuque to spend the afternoon with us, and go to the play "Buddy-The Buddy Holly story" that night with Brett and I.

Kylie is reading a magazine and books with Grandma...
...while the boys are playing catch with Grandpa!

The boys are wearing their new Hawkeye Tshirts that simply stated a fact: "I am a Hawkeye...just like my Grandpa." (Kylie got one too, but she didn't put it on right away because it did not match her outfit) :D

(*snuggling on the couch with Grandpa after nap)

Brayden and Colton dancing...pretty funny!

2011-02-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Water line break

2011-01-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

This looks like a picture from a construction sight

Instead, it's a picture of our street this Friday night.

The water pressure was very low, our driveway was flooded and a mini river was forming from our house spilling into our street and neighboring street.

I asked the workers if it was okay if I snapped a couple of pics for my blog.

They laughed and one muttered..."blog?"

At about midnight, they informed us that they have to break the cement and dig a hole in our driveway because it looked like it was our water line that was the culprit in this major mess.

Hole in our driveway

This is what it looked like in the morning.

They were out digging and covering holes until at least 3 am.

(the crazy thing is, the kids slept through all the noise and commotion)

The good news is: the water line is fixed and our water pressure is the way it was.

Finger Painting

2011-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

...I think Colton was getting tired of smiling for the camera.

***

After all the finger painting fun, it was time for lunch.

Colton waited very patiently for me to pick up, clean up the paint, and get lunch ready...

Here he is waiting...

waiting...waiting some more...

really getting tired of waiting...

speaking of tired...

(the good news is, lunch was ready after i snapped this last picture but I couldn't stop laughing at the many faces and noises he was making as he was waiting...oh I love this boy!)

CHRISTMAS 2010!

2011-01-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

*Church Christmas program this year was held at Emmaus. Brett and I were in charge of planning the brunch, decorating the Emmaus Marble Chapel and organized the kids Christmas program. We had a lot of help and it was a success. :)

Four generations Hoben women-Great-gma Dodie, aunt Kate, Kylie and Gma Jill

Kate and Kylie :)

Our UD foreign exchange student from China, NK, came to the Christmas program as well!

(pray for his salvation, he has recently asked to come to church with us, praise the LORD!)

After the program, Gma Dodie, Gpa Bill, Bryan, Jill, and Kate came back to our house. Colton opened his bday presents and gave everyone hugs. Love the one of him hugging gma!

Aunt Kate got a good ol' hug from her nephews!

Colton LoVeD all the presents(yes, he's a bit dramatic-he gets that from his dad, haha!)

* Wilson-Hoben Christmas!

This is a good picture of Kate and Dakota at the Wilson-Hoben Christmas party!

The kids loved their many presents from the Wilsons and Snyders!

Mother and son(aunt Jackie with Eric)

*The Motts come over!

Brett, Jim and Dakota

Dakota with his favorite blondes

*Christmas morning at gma and gpa's

*Christmas afternoon at Gma Dodie's and gpa Bill's was a lot of fun!

Gma made all of us girls bracelets and Kylie a necklace out of her grandma's jewelery-neat!

Hello Kitty birthday party!!!

2011-01-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

Kylie's 6th birthday party was a Hello Kitty theme and a whole lot of fun!

She and I made the birthday cake and it was a mother-daughter bonding time! :D

Here is Kylie choosing the perfect eyes(not all jelly beans are created equal)

Kylie wanted to invite all the girls from her homeschooling group!

For dinner, everyone created their own pizza

Kylie loved all the presents!

The girls made a pile on Kylie (yes, she is under there somewhere) and gave her lots of birthday kisses.(now if you know Kylie, you know that made her uncomfortable)

The girls had their nails painted and their make-up done!

In between pizza creating, "Happy Birthday"singing, present openings and so on...we also had a small dancing party led by non other than my very own husband! Enjoy! :D

Kylie is 6!

2011-01-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

Smart

Beautiful

Tender Hearted

Thoughful

Sweet

Curious

Uses words(correctly) that some adults don't know the meaning of

Daddy's little princess

Mommy's sweetheart

Our gorgeous daughter

WE LOVE YOU!

HaPpY bIrThDaY to the most wonderful girl in the world!!!

HaPpY 2nd bIrThDaY COLTON!!!

2010-12-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

My "baby" is turning 2 today!!!

He is one handsome little man. Funny, sweet and smart. He has a wonderful sense of humor, great cheesy smile. He is the baby of this family and he lives the part.

This picture captures the very essence of Colton-funnyman!

He is much loved and cared for by his older siblings.

Adorable!

Handsome!

Sweet!

Naughty!

(hard to discipline him when he makes that cute face!)

He loves his daddy!

Colton next to our family's 1st Christmas tree since he was born.

He looks up to his big brother and wants to be just like him!

I can't believe it's been 2 years since he was born! Time sure flies. We are so blessed to have you our wonderful, wonderful baby boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTON!!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2010-12-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Countdown to Christmas fun activities! part 1

2010-12-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

The kids and I embarked on a new adventure this December. We do one fun activity (crafts, baking, play fun, etc) every day until Christmas. The kids are always so excited to see what activity we have planned for the day!

December 1st- ornaments from G. Dodie (thank you!)

December 2nd- baked and decorated sugar cookies-yum!

December 3rd-- snow man and Christmas tree picture.

December 4th- went on a play date at our friend's house

December 5th-played in the snow!

December 6th- made sticker books!

December 7th- made snow men out of baby socks

December 8th

We had our homeschooling group over to make cinnamon/nutmeg ornaments, beads ornaments and paper snowflakes.

For snack, we decorated our own sugar cookie and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate.

MORE to COME...

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

The Hoben sisters-n-law.

Kate(the original Hoben), Carley(the future Mrs. Hoben) Me(thebabymaker Hoben), Nicole(the wild card Hoben) :)

Looking at adds in preparation for our Black Friday shopping spree.

My sons and I :)

Daddy with his precious little girl

The food was delicious!

Here's a sneak preview of the Hobens Christmas card this year(i have Jill's permission to post this pic) Carley is joining us in the Christmas card this year, because she and Dakota are ENGAGED!!! WOOOT! :)

Wood cutting

2010-11-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

A couple of years back, my in-laws installed a wood burner to heat their home and shop in the winter. There are great benefits to it, but the only down fall is that Bryan has to do a lot of wood cutting to keep it going.
Last year we asked what he wanted for Christmas and he said he would like it if all of us "kids" help him by having a day of wood cutting. This is how the tradition began.
One day over Thanksgiving break we cut wood as a present from us for his birthday.
Over Christmas break, we also have one day when we all get bundled up and head outside to cut wood. This is our Christmas present for Bryan. It works well for everyone, it is a fun time of family togetherness and plain physical work and Bryan is always so pleased to not have to worry about cutting wood..it's a win-win!

This is the wood pile at the beginning of our work day
This is one of the piles at the end of the day...

...and this is the second pile.

The wood burner is the red and black box.

Two of the little ones came out with us for...20 minutes or so. It was cold and not much fun for them do to, so they went back inside with grandma!

The Hoben girls (minus Carley)

One of the wood splitters we use

Second wood splitter

The headsets had radio and we were jamming to the music...and we were being silly :)

Lunch break!After lunch, we cut down a tree and here are Brett and Chris cutting branches off the tree.

Hawkeye fans gather here!

2010-11-21T20:13:00.001-08:00

We enjoy getting together with friends on Saturdays to watch the Hawkeye games.

We always have such a good time!

The guys: Kevin, Sam, Brett and Benji

Benji and Abby
Kevin and Hannah
Sam and Ale

Good times!

All things Football...

2010-11-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

These 2 boys are brothers

...and these 2 brothers love football!

They like to play catch

They like to make silly poses when mommy asks for picturesThe older brother tells the younger where to stand to catch the ball

...and the little one listens (every once in a while he does!)
He makes pretty good catches! They both do!

The football itself is a much loved item in our home...and some of us give it kisses

They learned all things football from their dad

...and they LOVE it!

Slow dance

2010-11-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic fly?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Do you run through each day on a fly?

When you ask "How are you?"

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short,

The music won't last

Ever told your child,

"we'll do it tomorrow"

And in your haste

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say "Hi"

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there

When you worry and hurry through your day

It's like an unopened gift thrown away

Life is not a race

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over

(Unknown writer)

Field trip to the FARM!--Homeschooling

2010-11-05T08:47:00.001-07:00

We concluded the "Life on the Farm" thematic unit with a field trip to the Farm!

We went inside a combine

We visited a pig farm

We got piggy back rides at the pig farm(well-Mya did!)

We picked eggs from the chicken coop

We climbed a huge hay bale stack...

(i loved my farm girl boots!)

We also fed cows, goats and played with farm cats

We went on a hay ride at Barnyard Blooms

We ended our field trip at the Corn Maze...followed by a shopping spree(for moms) at the Barnyard Blooms antique shop.

We learned so much and we had such a good time!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Kylie was a leopardess!

Brayden was IRON MAN!

Nate and Liz helped us get ready for trick or treating

Colton was an IOWA Hawkeye football player!

Discussing strategies with Dad!

Kylie and Brayden with friends

Field trip to HYVEE!

2010-10-24T10:43:00.001-07:00

Every Wednesday we get together with our homeschooling group.

We study Science and Social Studies together, art and if we have time, we have PE as well.

*Our first unit for Science this year, was "LIFE ON THE FARM."

To learn more about produce that comes from farms, we went on a field trip to a local HyVee.

The kids learned so much and it was a fun experience!

Fun Fall pictures

2010-10-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

...wait! I'm pretty sure I have a leaf in my mouth!"

"...yeap, here it is!"...

"Much better NOW!"

Kung Fu with leaves

I love this picture of Colton and I! :)

KYLIE reading magazine

2010-10-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

We are on Week 5 of homeschooling and is going really well! Amongst the many things that Kylie is learning, she is also learning to decode words. This -beginning reader- stage is a lot of fun for her and she now enjoys reading the"High Five" magazine by herself!!! okay, with a little help ;)

Soccer 2010

2010-09-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am officially a soccer mom and Brett is officially a soccer dad.

Kylie and Brayden are taking lessons with the Dubuque Soccer Club this Fall!

After his game, Brayden called Grandpa to tell him that he scored 2 goals!

The boys are trying to stay warm during Kylie's game.

Proverbs31:26

2010-09-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 31:26-- "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness."(NkJV)

A group of ladies from our church made a trip to Chicago to see Beth Moore live!(my favorite speaker and writer) She spoke on Proverbs 31:26 and here's why she thought the Holy Spirit guided her towards this verse and this topic.
Exhibit A- We live in a mean world and it is only going to get worse- 2 Timothy3.
Exhibit B- ..."she openeth her mouth!"... Everything that we say is a published book on our feelings and thoughts and we cannot take it back(facebook, blogger, twitter, texting, emails, etc.) One huge problem here is that we do NOT have an editor, so we need to let the Holy Spirit be our editor! This is why we need to open our mouths with kindness!

8 Tastes of Kindness!

1. Kindness is not weakness!

Luke 6:35-36-- "But love your enemies, do good to them without expecting to be repaid full. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful just like your Father is merciful."

Kind is not the same as nice, since Webster defines nice as-" not to know, or to be ignorant." Nice is fine but kindness is divine! In Psalms 41:5 we read,"Let a righteous man strike me, let him rebuke me." Kind does not mean nice and kind does not mean weak! You can fake nice, but you can't fake kindness!

2. Kindness is not an action, it's a disposition!

Kind means profitable, fit, good for any use, useful towards others, good natured. Kindness is the grace which pervades the whole nature.

3. Kindness wears down when we do!

When we are worn down, we need to be built up. We don't need our egos built up, we need our spirits built up. *Ephesians 4:12-Body of Christ being built up....* Ephesians 4:16- builds itself up in Love... *Ephesians 4:29- ...builds others up...

4. Kindness looks pain in the face!

5. Kindness is a Savior!

God works through us when He uses us as a benefit to others, but if you are being a "savior" to someone, quit today! Direct them towards Christ! Jesus is the ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR!!!

6. Kindness has good memory!

Psalm 106:7 "When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles, they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea..."

Understand that HE has never let you go-- but you need to let your past be the past and only remember his saving grace.

7. Kindness craves an outlet!

2Samuel 9: "When David became king, he wanted to do something kind to his family." Do something kind for others, be it small or be it big, just get it done!

8. Kindness leaves a legacy!

If our children grow up to be kind, it will be no accident-- because we live in a selfish, narcissistic world. Will our legacy to our children be one of kindness and love(Jesus), or will it be one of selfishness and rudeness (Satan)? Nothing has authority to take control over you, but Jesus Christ!!!

Beth Moore speaking

(it was tough taking a good picture of her, this woman moves alot during her speaches and she talks with her hands!)

Worship band! AWESOME!
Our group of ladies, having dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory.

AWANA

2010-09-20T14:43:00.001-07:00

AWANA 2010-2011 started this week.

It's hard to believe that we have two kids in AWANA this year.

Kylie is in her second year of Sparks and Brayden is now officially an Awana cub!

He liked Cubbies okay mostly because he knows his teacher and the girls in his group.

* Colton was not exactly thrilled about his brother and sister leaving for Awana and leaving him behind at home.

SO...he cried at first....
...then he got really mad!...

...after that, he thought for a minute and realized: HEY, i have mommy's undivided attention!"

...he was a happy boy from then on! :)

KINDERGARTEN!

2010-09-19T13:42:00.001-07:00

Our beautiful daughter, Kylie started Kindergarten this year!!!

After many discussions and much praying, we decided to homeschool; and we embarked on this exciting adventure on September 7, 2010!

We wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion by having a not so healthy, but oh so yummy doughnut for breakfast. We loaded everyone in the car and headed out to the Doughnut boy

*That's one of the many advantages of homeschooling, we can make our own schedule!

Kylie is loving Kindergarten and she is learning so much!
I usually do the lessons with her and Daddy does the homework.

The Lord has blessed me so much by allowing me to be my daughter's Kindergarten teacher! :)

Babysitting one month. date night the next month!

2010-08-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have kids know that date night takes a lot of preparation: find a sitter, clean house, make dinner for sitter and kids, pay sitter (not always but sometimes) and you usually end up feeling rushed during your date night.

These are only few of the reasons why Brett and I decided to have date-night swaps with our good friends Benji and Abby Leverentz. This means that one month we have their kids overnight and they have the whole afternoon, night and morning to themselves and the next month they have our kids overnight and we have date night.

We love this deal because there's minimal preparation to take kids over to their house, we don't feel rushed during our date, it's free and the kids have a blast!!!

Last month we had the Leverentz kids over to our house and Benji and Abby had date night!

It just so happened that the night we had sleepover at our house, there was also a tornado watch and we ended up on the couch downstairs until it was safe to go back upstairs and finish watching Shrek 3.

Brayden is so silly! :)
Hmmm....
The kids slept in sleeping bags in the living room. Benson wanted to sleep on the couch like Brett.

Brett and Benson are buds!

Brett made pancakes for everyone the next morning! Thank you honey!

Aunt Kate was visiting us for the weekend and she was here during sleepover night!

Good buddies!

Colton, Brayden, Jackson and Benson

Playtime outside the morning after sleepover.

I think this is a brilliant plan and this month is our turn to drop off the kids and have a night all to ourselves! Wootwoot!!! ;)

Carley and Dakota's visit!

2010-08-16T06:36:00.001-07:00

Dakota and Carley came to visit us this weekend and we had a lot of fun!!!

*Friday night we had a fondue/cooking potting night at our house for dinner. We invited our friends Benji and Abby to join us and we took our little gang of kiddies (all 7 of them) to church for babysitting night (our church's youth group has a free babysitting night every other month and we try to take advantage of it every time we can!) I forgot to take pictures of our fondue night and for that I deeply apologize :D

* Saturday morning we headed out to the Farmers' Market NOT so bright and early...

* After we were done walking around the farmer's market, we drove a few blocks down to "The 4th street elevator" which is the world's steepest, shortest scenic railway.

* When we got back home we had lunch and it was nap time for most of us!

* Brett took Kylie to Annalea Leverentz's birthday party while Dakota, Carley and I waited until the boys woke up from their nap and we joined daddy and Kylie at the bday party.

Slip and sliiiiiiiiide!!!

* We got back home from the party and we enjoyed dinner on the patio

(BLTs and sweet corn-yum!)

Thank you Carley and Dakota for loving on our kiddies, they lOvEd having you here!

After church on Sunday, we had lunch and our last chocolate fondue dessert(for now) and Carley and Dakota headed back to Ames.

It was so fun to have you both here!!!

The question is....

2010-08-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

All children have an inquisitive mind and my daughter is no exception.

She is spending the week at Grandma and Grandpa's to attend "day camp" and here are a few of the random questions she asked grandma over the course of one day:

1. When did my daddy grow up?

2. What is a relative?
3. Do Chris and Kate live together?

4.When Dakota and Carley have kids, will you be their grandma too?

5. Why doesn't Bryce like the sound of a sewing machine?

6. If mommy mails my swim suit today in Dubuque why won't it come till tomorrow? It's going to take them all night? It only takes us couple of hours to get here.

Barnyard Blooms fun in the sun...

2010-08-03T13:43:00.001-07:00

Last week we were at Grandma and Grandpa's for the week(as you know from the last post) and on one of the days we decided to head out to visit Aunt Nicole and Uncle Bryce at The Barnyard Blooms (check it out here- http://www.barnyardbloomsonline.com/)

The kids wanted to help aunt Nicole water the plants, but we got there a little too late for that. However aunt Nicole never disappoints so she set up the sprinkler and got out an antique aluminum tub that the kids and Brynn enjoyed to the fullest.

Thanks aunt Nicole and uncle Bryce, that was fun!

Colton and his obsession with wheels...

Aunt Nicole filling up the tub for us
My supermodel and surfer dude...
Kylie is changing the settings on the sprinkler

"Kylie, I don't think Colton likes this new setting"

"Don't worry mommy, I"ll get him out.... "

Oh...and of course I have to mention one of my recent favorites from Barnyard Blooms-- Nicole, you are one creative lady!

Blue Ribbons!!!

2010-08-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Kylie and Brayden had the opportunity to enter a few art projects at the Louisa County Fair.

The kids and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa for the week, since Brett had to work at the Oshkosh Airshow. Our week at Gma and Gpa's coincided with Louisa County Fair and Grandma thought it would be fun for the kids to enter a couple of their art projects, and what fun it was indeed!!!!

Kylie entered 3 paintings for the Children's Expressive Arts expose

She won "Judge's choice" "Best of class" and a Blue ribbon for this absolutely beautiful picture that she actually painted when she was 31/2 years old!!!
The judge was impressed with Kylie's choice of multiple bright colors.

This is a painting that Kylie made for Grandma and Grandpa-- Christmas 2009.
She won a blue ribbon for it!!!
Kylie used glitter pens to draw this picture and it is one of my favorites!
She also won a blue ribbon for this picture and let's not forget about the cash....Yes, there was some cash to be made at the fair and from all the awards she received, Kylie earned a grand total of $9, which I am sure she will love spending on our next mother-daughter shopping spree!
Brayden had entered a project as well!!
His was a snow man picture he made this winter.
The judges liked that he used a multitude of cut-out shapes to create the picture and the use of markers and crayons to color it in.

Brayden won a Blue ribbon for his picture and a cash price of $2. :)
We are so PROUD of our little darlings!!! Good work pumpkins!!!!

The many faces of Colton Hoben

2010-07-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours from church took the pictures...thank you Kevin Bradford!

Independence Day 2010

2010-07-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated 4th of JuLY this year with family in Grandview, Iowa!

We went to the parade and enjoyed time spent with loved ones!

An American legacy

Grandma Dodie with 2 of her "great-grands"

Uncle Bryce driving the fire truck in the parade
Kylie's favorites ;-)

Two cowboys and their mama

After the parade, Bryan and Jill's church puts together a "game time" in their gym. Brett took the kids to it and they had a good time!

The kids played at the Grandview park before and after the parade...

In the afternoon after a little rest...

....we drove to John and Bethany's (friends of the family) new house in the country.

I am not a big fan of living out in the middle of nowhere but I enjoyed the open floor design of the house and the few acres backyard and the huge white barn and pool...not too bad, I'd say.

The kids enjoyed throwing the ball for Brynn (Bryce and Nicole's dog) to fetch...

Brayden helped Gpa with chores before they both joined the party making a big entrance on the 4wheeler

Colton couldn't bear the thought of being left out of this adventure so Gpa took him for a spin as well.

We had a picnic at John and Bethany's

...and Colton had fun with the ketchup

Brett played ball with Brayden

and we later snuggled up in our lawn chairs and watched the fireworks from their backyard.

What a fun 4th of July weekend did we have!!!!!

BRAYDEN is 3!

2010-07-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

Brayden turned 3 on July 5th!

We had a CARS birthday bash for him at Gma and Gpa's house!

Brayden with grandpa, right before the party began.
Brayden's birthday cake!
He loves the movie CARS- so we had a Cars theme!
Lightening McQueen, Mater and Doc Hudson racing on the Oreo road!

Mommy made the cake and grandma Jill made the pies - from scratch...YUMNESS!

Brayden shares a birthday with his Great-Grandpa Bill!!!

Grandpa turned 79 and he and grandma celebrated 58 years of marriage!

(July 5th is a big day in our family-lots of fun events to celebrate!)

Brayden lOvEd all his presents!

We had a few games going, to keep everyone entertained.

One of the games involved water balloons...enough said! :D

Another game we played was "Bags". Brett's cousins, Ken and Kevin were master olympians at this game, winning 9 or 10 consecutive matches. I don't have a picture of them playing but I do have a cute picture of our youngest crew sitting and watching a game of" Bags"

My boys and I

Me: "Happy Birthday my first born son! *kisses

Brayden: "Mommy, I not fistbonson!...I'm Brayden!"*We both laugh!

Brett was taking a picture of his mouth-watering plate of dessert, when I decided i should be a part of this picture ;)

Relaxing, chatting, watching a game of bags, cheering, laughing = FUN TIMES!

Happy Birthday to our first born son!

We love you to the moon and back a thousand times and then much more!

Mommy Rhapsody

2010-06-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

http://links.mkt1031.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MzUwNjExNTIS1&r=NTAwMDgzMTE5NQS2&j=NzY1MzQ3MjAS1&mt=1&rt=0

This is too good not to post! I wanted to post it as a video but the computer took half the day to process the video and it still wasnt done yet when I decided...I think a link will do. Enjoy! :)

Home with the Hobens

Colton turns 3!

Hoben Family Pictures 2011

Picnic and bonfire at Johnson's Lake

Dream Big Dreams

Perfect Pot Roast by The Pioneer Woman

"The best SALSA you'll ever have" recipe

No need for training wheels for Brayden!

Kylie starts 1st grade. Brayden starts Preschool.

Summer 2011

Happy 4th Birthday my wonderful Brayden!!!

June happenings

Chris and Kate's visit

Basketball camp for Kylie

MAY- so far...

Silly boys!

EaStEr 2011

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

Piper Hoben

Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

My kids are growing up too fast...

Authentic Chinese food

No, thanks.

AWANA Grand Prix 2010

Night out with friends!

I'm a Hawkeye... just like my grandpa!

Brayden and Colton dancing...pretty funny!

Water line break

Finger Painting

CHRISTMAS 2010!

Hello Kitty birthday party!!!

Kylie is 6!

HaPpY 2nd bIrThDaY COLTON!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Countdown to Christmas fun activities! part 1

Thanksgiving 2010

Wood cutting

Hawkeye fans gather here!

All things Football...

Slow dance

Field trip to the FARM!--*Homeschooling*

Halloween 2010

Field trip to HYVEE!

Fun Fall pictures

KYLIE reading magazine

Soccer 2010

Proverbs31:26

AWANA

KINDERGARTEN!

Babysitting one month. date night the next month!

Carley and Dakota's visit!

The question is....

Barnyard Blooms fun in the sun...

Blue Ribbons!!!

The many faces of Colton Hoben

Independence Day 2010

BRAYDEN is 3!

Mommy Rhapsody

Field trip to the FARM!--Homeschooling