Sweet Shot Tuesday

Posted on January 18, 2011 Written by 3 Comments
I’m participating in Darcy’s Sweet Shot Tuesday. If you’re visiting from Life With My 3 Boybarians, welcome! Please feel free to browse my other posts. I do hope you’ll come again!
This is a shot that I took last fall at the botanical gardens. Pitter Patter found a quiet spot beside the lake to enjoy her lunch. She looked so serene and peaceful, which I wanted to capture with my lens. I had to lie on the grass to get the angle I wanted. Shooting into the sun is never a god idea, but it was my only option this time.
Filed Under: Family and Friends, Places We Go

Guess Who Is Nine!!

Posted on January 17, 2011 Written by Leave a Comment
I can’t believe that it has been nine years since this sweet girl came into our lives. What a privilege it has been to be her mom! She is the essence of sweetness. She is smart as a whip. She is more of an athlete than I ever thought about being (although, admittedly, that’s not saying much). She loves God with a simplicity that is admirable. She is a homebody and a people-pleaser. All in all, she is a joy to be around and I really, really like her.
This year she decided to have her birthday party at the ice skating rink. Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know we had an ice skating rink in Birmingham. A friend invited us to her birthday party there and it was SO MUCH FUN that Mary Anneliese declared it as her new favorite party place.

I love this group of young ladies! They are so much fun and get along so well. They are sweet and kind to each other. They are usually very encouraging to each other. Not at all the “mean girls” that you hear so much about. We are so very thankful to have them in our lives! Their sweet spirits were the REAL gifts at this birthday shindig.
Happy birthday to my firstborn! I can’t believe nine years has passed with you. I would be happy to spend the next ninety with you!
Love,
Your Biggest Fan
Filed Under: Family and Friends

Our Snow Days

Posted on January 14, 2011 Written by 1 Comment
Boy, have I had a hard time uploading pictures from our snow days! I’m not sure if it was Blogger or operator error, but I was finally able this morning to get them onto the blog. We were expected to receive between 6-8″ of snow in our area. The kiddos were as excited as you might imagine. We got our fire wood ready, loaded the pantry with non-perishables, readied the grill and gas heater. And then we waited. It turned really cold, but no snow. The girls waited up as long as they could, but finally bedtime called. They hoped to wake the next morning to a winter wonderland. This is what they got…
We probably got about an inch of snow, but lots and lots of ICE! The sleet and freezing rain (did you know there was a difference? We did a little science research on the subject.) made the snow a big frozen mess! Instead of nice fluffy powder, it was hard and crunchy and SLICK!
No matter! This girl is happy to be out in it anyway. She had the best time jumping on the trampoline, which was covered with the crunchy, slushy mess.
The absolute BEST part of our winter weather was that Daddy got to stay home from work an extra day. While he doesn’t like to miss work, I think he decided that he might as well enjoy the day off. The girls were excited to have him home, and so was I.
Bitty tried her best to make a snow angel, but the snow just wouldn’t cooperate!
My girl’s love language is TIME, so you know she wanted everybody out in the snow with her. She is in her happy place when EVERYBODY is experiencing the fun with her.
Poor little Pitter Patter had a bad cold, so she didn’t get to participate in our snow fun. She was quite content to stay inside and watch movies all day. Isn’t she pitiful? Thankfully, she is feeling much better now.
I loved seeing all of your cute snow pictures on facebook! It looks like everyone made the most of the time off from school and work and had a lot of fun!
Filed Under: Family and Friends

Christmas in List

Posted on January 3, 2011 Written by 2 Comments

We’re (almost) back in our regular schedule this morning. It’s sad to see the holidays go, but we like a good routine in this house, so I guess we are ready. Don’t get me wrong, we loved EVERY MINUTE of having our Daddio home with us and were heartbroken to send him back to work this morning, but we are choosing to be thankful that he has a great job to go to so that we can stay home doing our thing.

It’s hard to recount the entire Christmas vacation in one post, but since I like a challenge, I’m going to attempt it. And because I know you don’t have all day to read my ramblings, I give it to you in list form. You’re welcome.

  • Finished school on Friday, just short of our goals for the year. No big deal. We’ll just hit the books a little more diligently in 2011 and knock it out.
  • Had a friend over to make reindeer cupcakes and spend the night. I (big heart) my girls’ sweet little friends. Have I mentioned that before?
  • Did several days worth of Christmas baking and candy-making. I must say, it was one of my best years yet: fudge, peanut brittle, mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing, carrot cake muffins.
  • Hours after sending our friend home, MA and I came down with the stomach virus. While no stomach virus is ever fun, this one was particularly brutal. At one point I considered a trip to the ER. Whew! Glad that’s over.
  • The girls had planned to spend a few days in Meridian with their Gran and G, but… see the above bullet.
  • Threw out all the food I had spent days cooking so as not to spread the”love” with our family.
  • Spent two days recovering, and while I was barely strong enough to stay upright, I packed suitcases, gifts, and food for four people to spend five days in Mississippi. Did I mention that this required moving all of our Christmas gifts? Are we crazy?
  • My father-in-law called to say that the bike Santa delivered for our little girlie-girl was in fact a BOYS red dirt bike. Mad rush to replace it on Christmas Eve ensues. My poor father-in-law drew the short straw and had to go to Geoffrey and Wal-Mart to correct the mistake. Did I mention it was Christmas Eve?
  • Finally rolled into Meridian on Christmas Eve night, just in time to miss the Christmas Eve service at church.
  • Unpacked for what seemed like hours while trying to keep the girls awake so that we could do our family Christmas Eve service. Mary Anneliese read from Luke 2 and I read The King’s Christmas List. Our family does this every Christmas Eve, and it’s one of my favorite traditions.
  • After the girls went to bed, we did the mad Christmas Eve dash that parents with small children do.
  • Had a fabulous Christmas morning. Opened gifts at leisure and played with our new toys ALL DAY.
  • The Hill family started arriving and we had a lovely Christmas dinner of charred fried turkey and all the fixings. It really was fabulous, and we all ate way too much.
  • Jonathan woke in the night with the stomach virus.
  • Spent two days nursing him back to health.
  • Packed up all our STUFF and started the trek back to Birmingham.
  • Put away Christmas decorations. Organized closets. Made room for Christmas toys. Gathered Hannah Home donations.
  • Made over Pitter Patter’s room so that she can have a big girl bed. She has stayed in it for two naps and two nights. I can’t believe how smooth the transition was, and she LOVES her new bed. I’m still mortified that she might get up in the night and walk around the house, but so far so good. Unless I’ve slept through it.
  • Dropped MA off at a friend’s house yesterday and haven’t seen her since. She called to stay for dinner. Then she called to spend the night. Then she called to stay for lunch. Fun times!

While reading through this list, I realize that the sickness would be enough to turn a good time sour for some people. This year, since I’m going to focus more on the good and less on the bad, I will choose to see the joy and good times in our holiday. It was a great time with our extended family and friends. And we have reason to celebrate because…

Our King was born.
Filed Under: Family and Friends, My Christian Faith, Places We Go

Top 2010 Posts

Posted on January 1, 2011 Written by Leave a Comment

2010 was a great year for the Hill Hang-Out. We had lots of new readers this year, and I’m so tickled you all decided to take a peek into our little lives. As you know, this blog is about a little of this and a little of that, and my most-read posts reflect that. I am nothing if not a jumbled mess of unrelated topics. “Eclectic,” I prefer to call it. Judging from the list of Hill Hang-Out posts you read most often, you are an eclectic bunch as well. Maybe that’s why we get along so well. 🙂 Here are your 2010 favorites:

10. Sweet Shot Tuesday

9. Five Favorite Gifts

8. My Mississippi Day

7. Book Review: Jesus Calling For Kids

6. This Little Lady Got A Makeover

5. The Only Thing I’m Committing To Is Being Non-Committal

4. Home Is Where Your Art Is

3. The Decorating Files

2. Old Made New: Thrift Store Finds

1. Hill Preparatory Academy for Girls: Curriculum Choices

Several of these most-read posts were posted on blog linky parties, and many of my readers have come to the Hill Hang-Out from these fun events. Many thanks to Darcy and Emily for sharing their success with others!

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Family and Friends, Food and Recipes, Home and Garden, Homeschooling, My Christian Faith, Places We Go

Fun Book Birthday Party

Posted on December 15, 2010 Written by 1 Comment
My nephew Jon David just turned two. His mom planned the CUTEST birthday party for him that we attended last weekend. The invitation said to bring a book, old or new, for the birthday boy. She had the Very Hungry Caterpillar tablecloths, plates, and napkins. His grandmother (my mother-in-law) read the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to the boys and girls. The birthday boy obviously loved it!
His other grandmother has been many mission trips to India and Costa Rica, where her job is to work with children teaching them about Jesus. She uses a flannel-graph set to tell stories about Jesus – His birth and His life. She brought her flannel-graph stuff and told the Christmas story to the kiddos. She is very animated when she tells it, and the kids were enthralled.

She had my girls’ full attention!

The birthday boy had a great time with his friends, and I hope he got a whole new stock of books to read!

Happy birthday, little buddy! And thanks for inviting us to your cool book party!
Filed Under: Family and Friends

Christmas Card Outtakes

Posted on December 15, 2010 Written by 1 Comment

There are few things in life that are as stressful to me as trying to get a good Christmas card photo. I mean, it is almost enough to make my head start spinning around while hurling obscenities at my two precious grace-gifts. Almost. Somehow, some way I did manage to maintain some self-control, but it wasn’t easy.

But, you know, to get one good picture, you have to take a bazillion that are not so good. Here are this year’s Christmas card outtakes:

These girls are a HOOT and I’m glad I’m their Mommy!
Filed Under: Family and Friends

Dana Wolter on Cote De Texas

Posted on December 14, 2010 Written by 2 Comments

I follow a fantastic decorating blog called Cote De Texas. Joni is an interior designer on the Texas coast, and she always has the most beautiful photos of breathtaking, French-inspired rooms and homes! They all look so plush and expensive, and there are always things I would like to incorporate into my own home (on the cheap, of course!) I was thrilled when I saw that her latest post was about the home of Birmingham interior designer Dana Wolter. I have met Dana a couple of times when her girls were in a children’s theater production with Mary Anneliese. She was always so stylish and personable and I was eager to get a look inside her beautiful home. I knew she has fabulous taste because she has purchased a couple of pieces of art from my sister-in-law to be used in clients’ homes. Hope you enjoy looking around Dana’s home!

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Home and Garden

Wekend Recap… From LAST Weekend

Posted on December 12, 2010 Written by Leave a Comment
I love the Christmas season! Honestly, I do! But we move at the speed of light from one activity to the next, which leaves no time for sitting down and writing about those memories while they are actually happening. Since I have two little girls who are a bit under the weather today, which has caused us to stay home from church, I will take advantage of my time and catch up.
Last weekend was actually one of the BEST family weekends we have had in a long time. Because of several family Christmas happenings, both Jonathan’s and my parents were in town, along with Jonathan’s grandparents. Grandma and Papaw Hill are 88 and 90 years old, and have not traveled much over the last few years. However, they got a wild hair and decided to come to Birmingham for the weekend. What a fun surprise it was for us to have them come for a visit! We knew if we were ever going to get them to come back, we better show them a good time while they were here!
On Saturday morning while MA and I were at rehearsal for our church Christmas program, Jonathan took his grandparents for a ride through Birmingham, showing them all of “our” sights. They enjoyed seeing his office, our church, and they took a drive through some neighborhoods where they were blown away with the size of the houses! 

Saturday afternoon we went to the nursing home to have a Mills family Christmas with my precious grandmother. It was such a joy to be able to gather her family together to spend a great afternoon celebrating with her. Almost all of her grandchildren were able to be there. (We missed my brother’s family who live in Dallas and weren’t able to be there.)

Several of my grandmother’s siblings were able to join us, which she was so excited about. She is very close to her brothers and sisters, and she lights up when they come to visit.

Our rather large family came from all over to be here. My dad’s cousin John and his wife Elaine made the drive from Mentone, Alabama. It has been years since these cousins have gotten together, so it was nice to catch up with them and hear about Mentone. We will definitely be planning to spend some time in this beautiful little community very soon!
But the star of the day was my cousin Danielle’s new baby, Luke. He was born last week, and they stopped by on their way home from the hospital. Don’t worry… she didn’t bring him in to the party. Too risky for a little guy! She stayed in the car and we ran out to take a peek at him. He’s a cutie patootie, for sure!

Saturday night everyone came over to our house for a casual soup buffet dinner. It was one of the easiest dinners EVER, and it was a lot of fun. I prepared all the soups beforehand and warmed them for the party. We had Spicy Tomato Soup, Loaded Potato Soup and Santa Fe Soup. I added a fabulous new Greek Feta Salsa that my sister-in-law passed on to me, garlic bread and banana pudding (also made ahead of time), and I was good to go! I enjoyed getting to visit with everybody instead of being in the kitchen the whole time. We will definitely do that again!
Sunday morning, the Hill family all joined us for church. We weren’t sure how Grandma and Papaw would respond to the more rocking contemporary atmosphere at Shades Mountain since they are accustomed to a much more traditional worship style at FBC Meridian, but we were excited to have them join us. They were good sports, and I think they even enjoyed it!
Sunday afternoon, we all went back to church for our annual Christmas by Candlelight program. This is a HUGE production that our church does every year, and the children’s choir always has a part. Mary Anneliese sang with her choir and also was a part of an ensemble this year.
Once again, I was humbled by the fact the my girls get to be a part of a church that teaches them how to worship with their whole heart. Our music staff does not treat a  performance like this as a “performance”, but rather shows the kiddos that they are leading the audience to the throne of Christ. And they do it while helping them build relationships that will last a lifetime. These girls will one day be each other’s support and accountability to keep their lives clean before Christ. They will inspire and encourage each other to greater heights and depths in Him. Can I tell you how grateful I am for that?

Hope your Christmas festivities are well under way as we celebrate the birth of the King of Kings!
Filed Under: Family and Friends, Food and Recipes, My Christian Faith

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Posted on December 7, 2010 Written by Leave a Comment
The winter weather is finally arriving in Birmingham, and we LOVE it (for a little while, at least)! We have had temperatures in the thirties, with lows of 19 expected by the end of this week. BRRR! We are staying a home ALL DAY today and are bundled up in our sweat suits and fuzzy socks (the littles are still in pj’s) with this going in the fireplace…
We are sitting in front of it doing our school work, just like in ye days of olde. See, I have been telling you all that I could have been a pioneer woman. Well, except for the fact that we also have the heat and dishwasher going. But, really… I could have survived!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but around here we are slightly off the beaten path. We march to the beat of a different drummer. We take the road less traveled. We… okay, that’s all the cliches I can think of right now. Anyhoo, while most kids excitedly color pictures of Disney princesses, we… umm… well…
What little girl doesn’t love to color pictures of Louis XIV?!? 

And William Penn?!?

We have also been working on a few Christmas projects.
It has been a perfect day to stay in and recover from our busy weekend. More about that later!
Filed Under: Family and Friends, Homeschooling
« Previous Page
Next Page »