Hello again Dr. Holt

We all had a pretty good day. I had an eye doctor appointment in Hot Springs and my Granny and Brent met me there to keep an eye on the girls.I love my eye doctor, by the way. Good choice, Nana. ;o) Brent took us all out to lunch for my birthday (Thanks Brent) and we stopped in at Ambrosia and got some sweet treats. It has been a week long birthday-celebration because Mom and Daddy took us out to eat on Saturday(thank you too).

Olivia on our way to Nana's on Saturday.


Thanks for the gift too, Brent. "The World According to Mister Rogers"


At Chili's









We played Hungry Hungry Hippo and had a good evening of playing. We are ready to see Alex! Only a few more days until we see him. Olivia saw a man walking out to his car when we were at Chili's and she screamed "DADA!" I thought the guy looked like Alex too.
Hope none of you got pinched today!

Finally!

Abi finally mentioned Miss Merriweather tonight before she cleaned with mouth wash. She said that she tried to see her but she couldn't and that she thinks Miss Merriweather is playing peek-a-boo with her. I didn't have the heart to tell her....


Makayla has been acting puny today. I couldn't get her to eat much and she almost fell asleep in the car after gymnastics. I had her lay down when we got home before supper and she was asleep by around 6:30. I'm hoping she isn't coming down with something.


Since I haven't been taking many photos lately, I thought a flash back might be fun.
Hope you have a good time looking back on our babies!

Olivia's first birthday 2008


Olivia's second birthday 2009

KayKay, March 2008, in Memphis



Chuck-E-Cheese


Abi and Poppa, Easter 2008


Abi at the Memphis Museum, March 2008


Baby Oliiiivia


I remember that face!



This made my heart melt.


I went to visit my friends Kyla and Kenny this afternoon. They just had a little baby boy named Oliver. I got to hold him and he is the most beautiful baby! So, between holding a sweet new baby boy and looking back at our babies, I am getting antsy to add another to the clan! I know, I know. I am trying to learn patience, and I think that our three have a way of helping to snap me back to reality.

Just Us

Well, we spent a few minutes this morning trying to get a group picture. It never did work out quiet right with the timer on the camera. So we opted for the good old fashioned way of me taking the pic myself.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Crackin' Me Up

Kids are just priceless. I have become a Food Network Nut. I can't get enough of it: Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, Rachael Ray, Paula Dean. So, I caught some of Paula Dean tonight. She was making "breakfast in bed" foods and the show opened with her and her husband in their pj's laying on the bed. Now, just in case you have never seen Paula D and her man, he has a pot belly, white hair, and a white beard. Olivia was playing on the floor and glanced up at the tv. She turned to me with such seriousness on her face and said," Momma! Ho, Ho, Ho!!!" While pointing to the tv. I cracked up! She thought Paula Dean was shackin' up with Santa. Olivia takes things very seriously too. She was excited to see St Nick again so soon.

All of the girls are doing good. Makayla has been such a sweet heart lately. Randomly saying, " I just love you so much Momma." She has been enjoying working on puzzles a lot this week. Oh, and I learned quickly that I am going to have to edit my music more. She was sitting at the table singing along to "When you see my face I hope it gives you hell" yeah, I guess Momma needs a time out for that one. I immediately turned the radio off and started singing "Jesus Loves Me" with her.

Abi is doing great too. She is teaching us about evaporation, precipitation, and condensation. She practices her gymnastics every day on her tumble mat in the living room floor. She has a friend in her class that is in a higher level of gymnastics than she is and Abi is trying to learn the stunts that her friend does.
She comes home every day talking about a new boy that she "loves" at school. (What am I going to do with a love crazed Kindergartner?) She tells me how she blows kisses and flirts with them. I told her one day that she has to be 30 before she can get married and have kids. She crossed her arms, looked me in the eyes and said, "How old are you, Momma?" I stood there in shock. Eventually I laughed and told her that I was the exception.

Sorry, no pictures tonight. My camera battery is still recuperating from last weekends adventures. I will have some soon.

Time Out for the Toddler

It's legal. Olivia is old enough for time out and that form of discipline was put to use yesterday. I put her in time out and she screamed at me. And I calmly explained to her that her time out didn't start until she quit screaming (Did she really understand that?) I think so. She stopped screaming and sat quietly. She peeked around every couple of seconds to see what everyone else was doing, but she completed her two minutes and then happily rejoined society.
She looked adorable sitting there with her face against the wall. Lol. I had to get a couple of pictures. And now looking at them, she looks pitiful. Hush Nanna!

The Foodie Post

So, Friday night I was in the mood for some comforting, fattening, and not healthy. I always try to incorportate some veggies and nutrient rich foods into each of the kids meals, but I just couldn't do it! So, I decided we would be bad. I made homemade mac-n-cheese and homemade chicken-n-dumplins. And it tasted GREAT! The girls ate two helpings of each. And afterwards, we made ice cream sundaes. It was a fun night of food.


Olivia always keeps her eyes on her food while she is praying. Smart kid.

They were so excited about being rebellious


They should be in advertising.




Sweet Dreams.....

Zoo Hysteria

We had a great weekend, as I am sure most people did. It was gorgeous and felt amazing outside! We headed to the zoo early Saturday morning. Coleman Dairy was sponsoring a day of free admission.We thought we were being smart by getting there as soon as the zoo opened, but there were already a ton of people there. The line to get in was long, but it moved quickly. We met our friend Dedee and her children there. We had a wonderful time and Dedee's kids are always such a great help with my three. We saw (and smelled) almost every animal there. After the zoo, Dedee had the great idea to go across the street to a little park and have a picnic lunch. It was nice to get to sit down and chow down. We had the best time.

After the zoo, we loaded up and headed to Nana and Poppa's house. They grilled out for supper and it tasted awesome (as ususal). Granny, Pawpaw, and Memaw came over and we had another fantastic weekend of visiting with everyone. We got to meet Seth's friend Irena, who is now a family friend. He doesn't get to keep her all to himself anymore :o) She is from Russia and one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She greeted us all with a hug and an open heart. It felt like we have known her for years. I pray that she has a safe journey home and doesn't forget about us! Come back soon, Irena.


Now to document our day at the zoo.

I can completely relate.


The flippin' line to get into the zoo (we got there as soon as the gates opened at 9:00)

The funniest looking orangutan!

Best Buds

The Dynamic Duo

We spent the next 5 minutes practicing our "flamingo stance"..well, I did anyway.

CHOMP!

All aboard the choo choo train

My greatest friend, Dedee and her daughter Sydney

The sheep were so cute

Some of us got tired....I won't name any names.

All of the kiddos

Giraffes are my favorite.

This One's For You

Word on the street is that there are blog readers out there that occassionally need a break from the hum drum work routine and use that break to take a gander at what is going on with The Hill Clan. So, this one's for you (you know who you are!)

Not too much has been going on with us lately. Olivia got sick almost as soon as we were done with her 2 year well visit. (always happens, doesn't it)So we were back in the doctors office the very next week. She was running over 103 temp, runny nose, coughing, complaining of her mouth hurting. This seems to happen to her about once a month. I usually just let it run its course because by the time I get her an appointment they tell me that there is nothing I can do for her but let it run its course. I finally broke down and took her to the doctor. We waited for like an hour just for the doctor to say, "It just has to run its course." UGH! But she is doing better now, apparently the course has been ran.


This was when she sick and sporting her very PINK outfit.

Abigail was promoted from a Level 1 to a Level 2 this week in gymnastics. She was really excited, but she is so focused that I don't think she will be completely satisfied until she has conquered all that there is to conquer in the gymnastics world. She comes home from school with new information to shower us with every day. She is currently trying to teach Olivia how much a dime is worth. ;o)

Olivia came up to me while I was rushing to get us out the door this afternoon and I wasn't sure what she was telling me (because I was half way paying attention). Until I realized that she had her hair clip in her hand and was saying "bow, bow". I am trying to teach her to tell people her name. When I ask her what her name is, she says, "Abi". She does something new everyday. Her pull up has been staying pretty dry. There are some mornings that she has wet during the night, but she is doing well. I still haven't brought myself to buy panties yet. I think part of me really doesn't want her to quit being a baby.

She had some serious coloring to tend to tonight.



And then there is my darling little Makayla....She had a rough day at school today. She has one particular teacher at her school that she insists on being defiant with. She tells her "No" and doesn't follow her directions (I'm so sorry Ms Nikki). Makayla has a hard time being quiet occassionally also. But besides that, she is getting more beautiful every day and catching on to this whole growing up thing too. She wants so much to be big and go to Kindergarten.

Oh, by the way, last weekend Alex took Abi and KayKay in to see the family and Olivia and I stayed home because she was sick. On Sunday I noticed Miss Merriweather (Abi's beta) nose first in the sea shells at the bottom of her bowl. Usually she does this but will swim around once I tap the bowl. She didn't move this time. I flushed her to her watery grave. I was debating on what and when to tell the girls. Alex said that we should just make a little experiment out of this and see how long it takes the girls to notice. I put the sea shells in the sink (this is all in the girls bathroom, by the way) and forgot about them. The girls came home Sunday, moved the sea shells out of the sink and onto the counter, and NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT THE FISH! I cleaned the shells and the bowl and put fresh water in it. And to this day, almost a week later, none of them have noticed that poor Miss Merriweather is gone. Go figure.

Makayla picked out a game from the Cracker Barell gift shop and it's lizards with sticky tongues and you pick up these confetti flies with it. The girls were having some fun with that tonight.


A good friend of mine had a birthday this week. This is the ghetto cake I made her.(Hope it at least tasted good, Deeds)


Oh, and one last thing, I love American Idol and am SO excited that Kris Allen from Conway made it to the Top12. You need to watch him if you aren't already! (Alex makes fun of me for being so excited about it, but I can't help myself. I also shed a tear for Anoop Dog tonight when they let him go through)

Alex left again on Monday to go back to Tennesse. He should only be gone two weeks this time. So, Hi Daddy. We love you.

Goodnight from these two cuddle monsters!

Etsy

I stumbled across a blog through Kelly's Corner. It is about a family with a baby girl named Cora. Cora was 10 months old and her parents took her for a routine visit because she had chronic ear infections. At this visit, her parents found out that Cora had cancer. They immediatly began treatment but 3 weeks after being diagnosed, Cora passed away. This broke my heart. I can not tell you how touched I have been by reading their family blog and I check in every time I can to see how they are doing.
They have started a fund to build a playground in Cora's honor and her mother and grandmother are making items to sell online. The profits go toward the fund. There is a website www.etsy.com that sells home made items from individual venders. Dresses, outfits, bows, burp clothes, everything adorable! I have become an addict looking at what all they have to offer.
You should check it out if you have time. You can go to etsy. com and the shop is named "Cora's". There are also many other venders that are donating a portion or all of their proceeds to the Cora Playground.
Happy Hunting!