The Five Hobbits

Why the Hobbits?

Our last name is Hobbs, and we’re raising a bunch of little people. Hence, Hobbits!

This blog is primarily for friends and family to keep up with us, as we begin a great Adventure of moving to a new town and job. As we’re about to enter a new stage of life, now seemed to be the right time to start writing on this blog again. I’d like a fresh start, so I’ve archived all of the previous posts.

One of the things that has made me slow to start blogging again is I’ve been trying to get a focused vision for what I want to write about. I want a place to share family updates and adventures, especially for family and friends as we move away. I want to be able to post recipes of things that turn out particularly well in the kitchen. I really want to write book recommendations and reviews, both of books I read or listen to myself, and of children’s books I read to my girls. And I also want a place to share pictures of the projects I’m working on, whether they’re knitting, sewing, spinning, weaving, upholstering, re-decorating, etc. Any one of these interests would make a good special-interest blog, but I don’t have time to keep multiple blogs, and I’d like the ability to write about any of these. So they’re all going on my personal blog, and if I write about a topic that doesn’t interest you, you can just scroll on through.

Although I am writing mostly for our real-life friends, it seems like a good idea to introduce you to our family here at the beginning. So here’s a little bit about us.

Who we are

We’re Christians. I always like to know where people are coming from, so if you want some labels, we’re reformed and evangelical. I like the term “Deep-water Presbyterian,” since we’re big fans of elder rule, but believe in believer’s baptism. Our home church while we've lived in Bloomington has been Clearnote Church Bloomington.

Collin and I have been married for five years. I grew up in Bloomington, and Collin moved here from Wisconsin seven years ago for graduate school. We live in a little 1940s rental house close to downtown, and some of our favorite evening activities are walking downtown to visit the library or get ice cream. Here's a little more about each of us:

Collin is in the final few weeks of his doctoral program in ecology. This fall he will be starting work as biology professor at a small Christian college. In the spare time that he doesn’t have right now, he loves gardening, outdoors activities like hiking and canoeing, woodworking, and restoring old things.

Kara (that’s me!) is a full time wife and mama. In a few weeks I’m going to complete my Ph.T. I love my job, and wouldn’t trade it for any other. This fall I’m looking forward to preschooling my (then) 2 and 4 year old girls. Besides Collin and our girls, I love sunshine, happy colors, books, food, fiber arts, and restoring old things.

Annie (3 ½) is a girly girl. She’s totally a firstborn, and loves rules and alternately taking care of and bossing her little sisters. She loves the color purple, picking flowers, and reading (looking at the pictures and listening to) books.

Laurel (22 months) is hilarious, independent, and adventurous. She presents a very serious face to strangers, but can be a total goofball at home. She also takes eating food very seriously, but is quite pleasant as long as her belly is full. Laurel is always making us laugh, and just old enough that she consciously enjoys doing it.

Jenny (4 months) is our little red head. She loves rolling around and chewing on things. Her first two teeth just came in, much to all of our relief. Generally she’s a pretty happy baby, and her smiles and giggles are infectious.

That’s about it, except for a quick note about comments. I love hearing from you, and knowing that you’re reading and hopefully enjoying this blog. Please comment! I hate that I even have to add this one caveat, but let’s keep things friendly. One of the reasons I stopped writing three years ago was because my blog got attacked by Internet trolls. Disagreement is fine, but personal attacks or threats really kill any enjoyment in blogging. Like our mama’s used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

I’m excited to share our adventures with you!