Pitter Patter Turns 3!!!

There was big, big excitement at the Hill Hang-Out this weekend! Our little Pitter Patter turned THREE years old! I can’t even believe it. She is such a little monkey! She is full of fun and laughter. She keeps us in stitches all the time. She has to everything her big sister does. We are constantly entertained by her silly made up songs. She’s such an entertainer and loves for people to watch her perform. She thinks life is a party and that every situation should be funny.
She is her Daddy’s heart.
She is her Mommy’s giggly girl.
She is her sister’s sweet playmate.
She is a joy and a treasure.
To celebrate our little sweet one, we had a family party at the carousel. Her sister made the cupcakes for the party. I think she could hold her own on Cupcake Wars.
This was the first year she really understood what it means to be the birthday girl. She was quite excited that she was the guest of honor!

I have never seen a child so meticulous about opening her presents and cards. It took her thirty minutes because she had to very carefully tear each little piece of paper off.

Our sweet friend Kailey came for a carousel ride.

Big Sister and Cousin Ivy had a good time on the carousel, too.

Our little family. I am so thankful for my people!
Happy birthday, Frances Patterson Hill! We love you and are so glad you are ours, you little monkey!

The Beautiful Game

Mary Anneliese is playing soccer this year. Our church has a 4-week instructional league for her age group. She had her first game last weekend, and she loved it. She started at goalie – the other team only scored on her 3 times :)! She was, of course, the cutest little thing you have ever seen.

We will play the first 4 Saturdays in August at 8:00 a.m. Join us for a fun time on the green field at Shades Mountain!

Patterson Meets Granny Smith

The other night at during dinner, I was eating a granny smith apple. Patterson kept reaching for a bite. I finally let her try a bite, just to see what she would do. Here’s a shot of the face she made. She must have had 10 bites, and each time she made the same face. But each time, she came back for more.

Everybody told me thay would be different…

and they certainly are! I never really expected my children to be exactly the same. I just didn’t expect them to be SO different. For starters, Mary Anneliese looks like my clone and Patterson is the spitting image of her daddy. Mary Anneliese was/is as laid back and easy-going as they come. And Patterson… well, she’s just Patterson! Happy when she’s happy and NOT when she’s not.

What brings these differences to mind today, you ask? Those of you who know me might well remember my foray into making baby food for Mary Anneliese. Although it might have looked gross in the bottle, my sweet baby girl was being introduced to a bounty of healthy foods. She ate spinach, turnip greens, broccoli, beets, cabbage (plus all the predictable foods), all of which I made from scratch in my kitchen. She was and is one of the healthiest children I have ever come across. Patterson, however, much to my chagrin, will not eat ANY of my home made delectibles. Not even ONE!! She would rather starve than eat anything I have made for her. (Not likely to happen soon as seen in the attached photo.)

Thank you, God, for the differences in all of us. Without them, the world would be boring!

What a whirlwind week!

So much has happened since my last blog that I really don’t know where to begin. Patterson had her first overnight visit to Gran’s house. Gran and G have been looking forward to having her spend the night for a long time. However, if any of you know Patterson, you know she can be high maintenance and usually she just wants her Mommy! She did great, and ended up spending 3 nights in Meridian. There were no major meltdowns (at least none that I know about!). We look forward to her next trip to Gran and G’s or CC and Pop’s at the beach!

Last weekend I went to a homeschool conference and curriculum fair in Georgia. I went with a friend from high school, who is also a homeschooling mom (Things are always more fun with friends!). There were several speakers, but the ones I really went to see were Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. They are a mother/daughter who started homeschooling in the early 1970’s when homeschooling was unheard of. They have written a book, called The Well-Trained Mind, that is regarded as the handbook in homeschooling using the classical model. Susan (the homeschooled daughter) is now a published author, professor of literature and writing at William and Mary, and homeschooling mother of 3 boys. It was so great to see that homeschooled children really can go on to become extremely successful and productive because of their homeschooling education (not in spite of it). So we are now gearing up for the year and extremely excited about how much Mary Anneliese will learn.

My Beautiful Dancer

One of Mary Anneliese’s favorite things to do in this world is dance. Yesterday we registered for our third year at the Briarwood Ballet. It is an unbelievable ministry of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. Not only do they teach the fundamentals of dance, but they present dance to the girls as a form of worship. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that my little dancer will grow up having an outlet for her praise! I pray that she will always enjoy worshipping her Heavenly Father in this way.

By way of introduction…

I guess we should start with introductions. My name is Ashley and I am wife to Jonathan and mom to Mary Anneliese and Patterson. We live in Birmingham, where Jonathan is the controller for a granite company and I am a stay-at-home mom. Mary Anneliese is 6 and will start homeschooling for first grade in the fall. Patterson is 7 months.