Little Sweetie's Birthday Cake

Just thought I would post a photo of Abby's Giant Cupcake Cake I made for her 3rd Birthday Party. I was tickled it turned out so cute.

Have a Super Sweet Weekend!

Thursday's Thought

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than you dreams." ~Dr. Seuss

BLOGEMERGENCY!

Did anyone notice that the very day I post and brag about the easy way I know to make pictures big on a blog, that I delete all of my code and settings and my side bar goes totally South? I have screwed this whole thing up and can't figure out how to get it back to the way it was. I even enlisted very technical savvy Mr. Hill for his wide range of Internet services and together we were unsuccessful. I know it's possible to have it all, you know...big pictures, side bar, 3 column background....but I've messed it up some how.
Can anyone help me????
Where did I go wrong and how can I fix it?

Do We Just Have The Worst Luck Or What????

We took the kids floating down the Provo River this past weekend. I failed to get any photos because I wanted to be mindful of their safety the entire time and focus just on that. It was something we were excited to do but weren't sure if we should get a sitter for Abby or not. We agreed to take the raft out at some of the more treacherous parts of the river, mainly the famous bridge that everyone seems to have issues with. Floating the river have been something on Jus and I's Utah bucket list for the past 10 years......

Everyone loved it....well, except Ethan. He would, at times scream, "I HATE this and want to go home." Isaac said it was even more fun than having a birthday party and Abby was totally tickled the entire 2 hour float! She even got out of the raft and floated in the river with me for a bit. It was at a really smooth part and you have to know I made Justin tie her to me for the entire duration.

We had a little moment at the end. We pulled out at Vivian Park and guided our boat perfectly up to the side but our friends behind us came in quickly behind and as we pulled their rope it began pulling us further down the river. Ethan was already on the shore and looked in horror as his entire family began to float away. We got past that little moment and began putting the boats in the truck. As I was standing in the parking lot just 10 feet away from Abby, I watched in horror as she stepped right off a 3 ft. ledge and ended up hitting the back of her head on the concrete. We are doing a new treatment on her eye called Atropine which basically blacks out the vision in her "good eye" in the hopes to help restore the brain function and vision to the "bad eye". This obviously was a contributing factor to her fall. It bled a lot, but head wounds always do......since she was not unconscious, seemed to cry right away and stop quickly, we thought we would just keep her awake and watch her for awhile to make sure everything was okay. Then she threw up. We both kind of freaked out knowing that is a sign of head trauma. So we raced her down the canyon to the ER and had a CT scan done. Long story short, she's FINE. The throwing up was probably remnants of the virus she had a few days before. And the wound was only a small abrasion not even needing stiches, who would have thought after all that blood. The important this is that she's okay, and going to the hospital was kind of an adventure for her.

Easist Way to Make Photos Larger on Your Blog!

Many of you have been asking about how I am able to get my photos so big on my blog. Here's another great share from my friend Rebecca. This is a faster and easier way then having to upload your content into a third party like FlickR or photobucket. This way lets you do it right in Blogger, GOOD LUCK!

EDIT: BEFORE DOING THE FOLLOWING YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE SETTINGS ON YOUR ACTUAL BLOG TEMPLATE TO BE WIDER....If I can figure out how to do this I know you can too! P.S. Any background you choose will now have to be a three column to support the larger photos.

Step one...upload your pictures like normal to your blog and then go to the "Edit html" tab:


Step two...Delete the part shown in blue
Step three...Replace the 400 (part in blue) with either 640 or 800 (leave the s)

***Don't worry, the first couple of times I had to really work at this and then I screwed up the entire post's code....a couple of times later, i can do it with my eyes closed! YOU CAN DO IT!

Is It Weird?

That I'm thinking of SNOW right now......
It's SO HOT! This Utah Weather can never give me what I want!

Drop Out

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When recently asked by my best friend if he was excited about starting Kindergarten, our middle child promptly replied:
"No, actually I'm going to quit school."
All I can say is that Mrs. Headman really is going to have her hands full with this toothless wonder. No really, he loved school last year and did really well. Let's hope he's not a drop out just yet!

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My Boys

A typical rainy Saturday morning in the Hill house.

I love them so much, even when they are ignoring me!

Special Thanks to Rebecca for capturing this moment for me :)

Yuck......

Abby has had some sort of stomach bug over the past 24 hours.

We were laying on the couch together last night when the first (of many) sets of pukies happened all over her and me. Jus and I spent the night consoling her and eventually cut her off of food and liquids for a bit to get the throwing up to subside.
I woke up this morning and sweet Isaac was cuddling with his sickly sister on the couch......

I say, "Thanks Isaac for taking care of your sister."
He replies, "Really mom, it's no problem. I even told her she could throw up on me. Actually she asked if she could throw up on me and I said yes. It's really don't mind at all."

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL BROTHERLY LOVE!

Thursday's Thought....

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." ~Marjorie P. Hinkley

Cupcake.....

I put the birthday girl to bed tonight and said,

"Abby, I am so glad I get to be your mom."

She thoughtfully replied, "Oh thanks mom, I am glad I get to be your sister."

Maybe there's some truth in what she said.....

I look forward to my little girl growing up and hope that I can always be the kind of mom to her that's like a sister.

Thanks to all of you who sent Happy Birthday wishes to little Pinkalicious!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tweeter!

To our Marvelous daughter who sprinkles our lives with sunshine!
She's earned A LOT of nicknames in her 3 years with our family

(most courtesy of her daddy):

Abilicious
Tweeter Pie
Crabby Abby

Abbycakes
Chica Boom
Abby Cadabby

Whatever she's called...It's WONDERFUL!

Treasure....

Someone wrote THIS about me today and it's the nicest thing I have ever read.........
***********************
I love you Rebecca, you are a TREASURE & you make my heart happy!

Calling All Pirates!

Arrrrgggghhhhh! Pirate Island is opening this week in Orem and we're BLOODY EXCITED! Even better that it's in walking distance from our house. Our little pirates can't wait to go.
Go here to learn all about it MATEY!

Where The Wild Things Are....

Warning: Cheesiness Ahead

I just booked out tickets to NYC to celebrate our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary!
It's particularly exciting for one special reason.
When I flew out here 11 years ago to see Justin for the first time in 5 years, I had one question:
"What is your favorite children's book?"
His answer:
"Why don't you bring yours with you and we'll share when you get here."
That first magical night here, it was discovered that we share the childhood love of the exact same book!
Why does this have anything to do with our anniversary you're wondering?

Well, the movie opens up on October 16, 2009.....
10 years to THE DAY we said our "I Dos" in Maui!
We love reading this book to our kids, telling this story and we can't wait to see the movie in New York!

It's OFFICIAL....

Our baby, is NO LONGER A BABY

oh and....

We're a bottle-free, binky-free, DIAPER-FREE HOME
...and we're ALMOST sleeping in our own bed all night long!
sniff, sniff....I MEAN:

YIIIIIPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!
P.S. Isn't She Soooo Very Beautiful?

At The Car Wash.....

Speaking of SIMPLE things,

I got out the buckets and sponges last week for FHE and added a little suds to the mix.

We had a blast washing the cars and had a little talk about ways

to keep our bodies "clean"

The kids loved it.....doesn't take much to make a happy memory!

P.S. I learned how to make a collage today...hoooray! Look at me go!

Thursday's Thought

Am I The Only One Who Forgets This From Time To Time??????

Things that are filling my time this week.....

Hello Kitty Underwear (size 3T)
Temper Tantrums of the female type

Tons of encouragement!!!

Lots and Lots of Resolve

Giving Princess 6 baths a day

Flushable Wipes

Urine in Public Places

Even a new Princess Potty Throne that sings and lights up when a potty is deposited!

We're Pulling out ALL the Stops!

Everyone says that girls are easier to toilet train than boys....I'm not finding it so.

I'm NOT giving up, we're doing this right here....right now!

I AM THE BOSS OF ABBY

Date Night

What does a stressed out mom & dad do for date night?
Candlelight Dinner, You Ask?
How about a toy store or two?

We sure know how to have a good time!

Underwater Human Torpedo

The title of this post is all-telling. It may even offer up some advice for those dense parents (like us) in the world. In all the 10 seconds of horror I was experiencing, I did not have the thought to snap a photo. I did, however contemplate jumping from the moving watercraft to save my offspring...

How does a 6 year old boy become a underwater human torpedo you ask?

Well, that's easy....It's when the child's parents fail to tell him what to do when he manages to get up on skis and then falls down.

Ummm, yeah...that would be to

LET GO!!!!

After all was said and done, we had a good laugh. And Jellyman even agreed to do it again, the next time he's sure to not hang on so long!

Thursday's Thought

Justin and I recently took the children to see this movie.

I fell in love instantly with the charm and message it had to offer.

That message made a V-Line for my heart, and went right to my soul....

I imagined that I was Ellie and my sweetheart was Carl.

I imagined our life together flashing forward just as it did in the movie.

Sometimes there's PAIN, and that's a normal part of what our earthly experience is suppose to be. It tests our "true grit" and shows who we really are....

It made me really happy to think of all of our hopes and dreams coming to fruition.

You see, the fact that we met and got married is still a complete MIRACLE to me, (that's a story for another day)...so I know there are many more miracles in store for us.

It made me smile to think of growing old with this handsome, tenderhearted man of mine.

I was really able to feel Carl's pain.

It's what I do for a living....It's what keeps me going on those days that I just want to be home being a MOM to my three unbelievable babes.

I have the greatest opportunity in the world to change the lives of others.

I hope I do a good job.

I hope I give my ALL to those around me.

If you haven't seen this movie, you should. It's enlightening for young and old and really makes me grateful for the opportunity to be right here, right now, living this fantastic life!

The Daily Buzz......

I was making dinner last night and teasing my honey for basking in the sun while I served everyone. I made his plate for him. Yes, I am that kind of girl....

The kind that feels good making hubby's plate for him and filling his belly with goodness, despite my teasing. Traditional, I know....

After serving everyone, I went back in the house to get a plate of my own.

Jus comes back in with a funny look on his face.....

THERE IT WAS.....A FLY IN HIS FOOD!

I promise it WAS NOT intentional, but it did give me a little laugh inside.

Party...Party...Party....Provo Parade Style!

"Magic" of the Provo Freedom Festival
Balloon Launch
2009

We had a MAGICAL Fourth of July. As you can tell from the lack of posts, it was jam packed with FUN! We started the weekend of festivities by getting the kids up at 6 a.m. on Friday morning so we could experience the balloon festival in its fullest. We have missed the balloons taking off every year. A certain wonder filled the air as all the hot air balloons lifted off. Then we enjoyed the Kiwanis pancake breakfast, went to Discovery Park and swam the afternoon away. Hubby was sweet and crazy enough to get up at 4 a.m. and get a parade spot reserved for our family! And yes, the 4th f July parade IS REALLY THAT BIG OF A DEAL AROUND HERE! We had Justin's parents and both of his brother's families come over for lunch at our house and headed to Mapleton that night. The kids had a blast playing in the mud with cousins, racing on the go carts and doing fireworks. WHEW! That was a lot to jam into the weekend but it sure was worth it!

Thursday's Thought

I don't feel like I live in a BUBBLE, but many say it is true......

This is one of many great cartoon's by Justin's amazing cuz Kurt Francom...

Go to kurtscartoons.blogspot.com to be blessed by more of his great humor!