Sarah's three months

Hello friends, Time is once again flying in the Hoskins' household. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. It sure went by fast for us. We had a busy summer of friends, family, and a couple of camping trips. The first trip we took was up Golden Gate Canyon. Well, I've lived in CO my whole life and didn't do my research. I thought that we would only be at 7500 ft. At the time, we only had two sleeping bags meant for the cold, so I let the boys use them, and I took blankets for Tom and I. Well, we froze to death!!!!! Oh my gosh, I was shivering I was so cold. I also forgot how cold I get camping and didn't pack my hat or wear a hoodie like I usually do. The boys slept great, but Tom and I didn't get much sleep at all. We were able to go for a beautiful hike the next day. The wild flowers are just gorgeous this year with all the rain that we have had. The boys had fun catching grasshoppers and chasing butterflies. After dinner that night, Sarah was very fussy and I was at the end of my rope and the thought of another freezing, sleepless night was just too much. I felt like our neighbors were tired of hearing a screeming baby, so I went into the car to just sit for a bit. As I was sitting in there, I thought, I'm going to tell Tom that I'm going home, and I'll pick him and the boys up tomorrow. I got out of the car and we were enjoying the campfire when I told Tom what I was thinking about in the car. He said, I can have this site broke down in 20 minutes. Obviously he wasn't looking forward to another cold night, either. So, we broke down camp...Alex was already asleep in the tent and we went home. We didn't get to bed until almost 11pm, but we were clean and warm. :-)

Our second trip went ALOT better. I was much better prepared. I took lots of warm clothes and we had warm sleeping bags this time. We went together with Mel's family and mom and dad and had a wonderful time. I almost didn't want to come home. We camped at a charming tent only campsite by a stream. There was a path that led straight from our campsite to some fun rocks for the kids to climb on. The dogs were able to chase squirrels to their hearts' content and except for a little rain, we couldn't complain about anything. Okay, maybe the smell. Because we have had so much rain this summer and we were by a stream, the whole campground smelled like a compost pile. Kinda rotting wood/vegetation. At first it was really bad, but you kinda got used to it. We saw some deer and had a wonderful time.

So, Alex has started Kindergarten and is loving it!!!! He is doing so well!! Right now they are studying fairy tales. They read them, act them out, draw about them, write about them, etc. On our camping trip, Alex told a very amusing version of Billy Goat's Gruff. Too fun!!!

Callum is still soooooo much fun!!! He got a couple of trampolines for his birthday and he jumps almost non-stop. He loves to dance and has a wonderful outlook on life. He is a free spirit. Just an example, he recently got a new kitty, all black, and named her, White. Alex is going nuts and refuses to call her White. Alex thinks the cat should be called Midnight. So now we will have a cat with a complex. :-) Alex got a kitty, too. A tigerstriped named Sunshine. Very cute. You can see pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144855&id=689655497&l=feab050bc3 You don't have to be a part of facebook to see the pics. But if you want to see more pics, I have several more albums on Facebook.

Sarah is now three months and smiling and "talking" like crazy. She is soooooooooo adorable. She did great camping. There are a couple of pics on the website above.

Tom is crazy busy with school and work right now. We are VERY thankful for the work. He is taking three classes this semester, so we don't get to see him a whole lot. :-)

I'm still doing childcare for an adorable 2 year old girl named Izzy. We have a lot of fun playing. My house is always full of toys, but also full of fun. I'm so thankful that I can stay at home with the baby this year.

That's pretty much it for now.

Blessings

Amanda