Happy Anniversary to the best husband ever!!

So, today at 4 pm officially:-), my husband and I will celebrate 9 years of wedded bliss!!!  It's been such an honor and priviledge to walk alongside such a wonderful man for these last years!!  Yes, we've had our ups and downs(AKA, 3 children in 3 years), but we've mustered the strength and love to carry on and barrel through life's crazy adventures/rollercoaster.  We are going out for dinner tonight and that will be the 1st time since, ever, that we will be able to go on our exact anniversary since we got married!!!  We are going to take the tandem out for a ride, in true Hilton style and have dinner and drinks in peace;-).  If I knew how to post pictures, I sure would.  I'll pester my other half to get right on that for me!!!  Here's to another wonderful 50 years honey....I love you more than words can say!!!!

Happy birthday to ME!!!!!

So, the inevitable has happened, I'm officially old now:-)!!  Last year, turning 30 really didn't faze me at all, and quite honestly, I'm thinking 31 won't either, but still, 31 is old!!!!  My husband was so kind to text me this morning after getting to work, and wished me a Happy birthday, which when the kids read my text, they thought Daddy was wishing me a Happy Father's Day;-)-(I politely reminded them that Father's Day was on Sunday, not my birthday(it was the same day last year, so I'm not surprised by the response) and also, that I already had my Mother's Day(in combination w/ Patrick's birthday party) but thanks for the thought)....and then he sent another text asking if it was okay for him to officially refer to me as "his old lady", and of course, it was early, so I said sure, with no witty comeback/sarcasm response.  I wish I had one now, but I'm working on my witty comeback tonight, don't you worry honey!!!

A few months ago, Austyn was asking me about something and I told her, sure, that happened to me 13 years ago.....then I stopped and thought a moment and corrected the response to 23 years ago!!  Wow, I'm old enough to have had something happen to me 23 years ago and I still remember it;-)...PS-Thanks to my bestie, Jennifer for the awesome birthday card in the mail yesterday w/ the old man reminding me how old I am and how I can now excusably be forgetful!!

But really, I'm just so honored to have so much to look back on in my last 31 years!!!  It's been almost 9 years of marriage w/ my wonderful husband, I've had not 1, but 3 blessings in the last 8 years(yeah, they annoy me here and there, but I guess I'll keep them around and say they are mine most of the time;-), an awesome group of friends, lots of extended family, a wonderful blessing of 2 church families(my home church and the church my Dad pastors where I grew up) and everything in between!!!!  A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who already has and for all the people who will take time out of their busy day to say Happy Birthday to little "old" Anna today and this weekend!!  You're such a wonderful group of people to make someone feel so special and wanted/needed!!!  GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU!!!!  

Craziness at it's best....

So, to say that our last week has been dull and boring, is being tooooo kind in soooo many ways!!  The girls finished out their school year last Monday, the 6th, which was followed by an evening of staying up until 9:30 playing outside:-)!!  Tuesday afternoon we had the girls dance pics, way overpriced, but always adorable:-).  Thursday had us at dance dress rehearsal for the recital over the weekend, from 7-9:45pm, which was following an hour of gymnastics class also!!!  Super busy doesn't begin to describe it I'm afraid, and we haven't even got to the kicker of the weekend.............THE ACCIDENT!!!
So, Austyn was helping me out by bringing in the dogs Friday evening, when she told me she was bleeding, which I, of course, put off as normal Austyn drama, so ignored.  Then my sweet, screaming 8 year old comes down the stairs w/ blood GUSHING out of her right foot.....panic set in immediately!!  SIDENOTE: To top things off, Courtney and Abbie were out on the Friday Night Tandem Ride that has just started here in Des Moines, which seems to be a normalcy lately when injuries happen....ugh!!  I swooped her up, all 62 lbs of her, like she was 10 lbs, and carried her to the bathroom to rinse off her foot to find out where it was bleeding from and how bad and if there was anything still stuck in it.  I had Patrick grab my phone, PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE $50 REPLACEMENT PHONE(my phone died over the weekend in Kansas by a very large glass of water) that had just arrived earlier the day before, and tried to get ahold of Daddy.  No go....of course...  So, onto Mimi(Courtney's mom), to which I commented, "YOU TOLD ME ONLY HEAD WOUNDS GUSH....YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT FEET!!!!!"  We decided to drop Patrick off at their place and take Austyn to the walk-in, which closed 45 minutes later, we made it just in time, with the fastest appt, w/ the exception of the one we had today(thought she had strep/ear infection...apparently I'm slipping in my super human illness detection skills lately, no go on either:-().  The doc gave us 2 options, stitches or sterile strips( her slice was over an inch long and sliced kinda like you slice cheese on a mandolin, right on the bottom/back of the foot right next to the heel)....I choose the easy way, I wanted to avoid holding her down while numbing the heel, only for her to be hysterical while watching them stitch her up, and we were sent on our way with a very bandaged foot and a very heavy heart.....the doc told us she wouldn't be able to dance in her recital the next day, no matter which option we choose, so all that work for the year, seemed to be for not:-(.
Abbie ended up dancing by herself w/ the class, she was sooooo lost w/o her partner, but it reiterated to Austyn and us, that she wanted/loved to dance and we made the correct choice for her to continue dance next year!  We have had lots of tv watching and lounging for Austyn since Friday, along w/ whatever this virus she's also fighting now, that we have been about spent over the last week....geez, that was only a week's worth, oofftah!!!!
Today was good, thank goodness, with only the visit to the walk-in again for what seems to be a virus....and an awesome time walking to the closest elementary for both breakfast and lunch(free for children 18 and under all summer Monday-Friday), which was also bittersweet w/ a walk home in the middle of today's storms, if you live here in DM, you know what I'm talking about....crazy!!!!!  Patrick is taking a class called "Safety Town" at the same school from 9-11:30 am all this week, which is a fun safety of all things and a trip to the fire/police station on Thursday, which he has yet to know about, I forgot to tell him....and the girls and Emmie and I are chilling:-)!!  Daddy goes back to work tomorrow after having the last 11 days off, which it will be nice to have my routine back, but I LOVE the extra Daddy time we've had the last 11 days:-)!!

Well, I suppose I've done enough rambling for today, I'm off to move a sleeping monkey from my bed to collapse myself:-)!!  Have a great and eventful week!!!!

New Look!!!

Time for a new look, since I haven't written anything forever...sorry about that:-(.  I always want to write things and have ideas but I'm not anywhere near a computer, so my ideas fly out the window as fast as I get them.

We are now at the end of this school year, Patrick has graduated from pre-school and is ready for kindergarten RIGHT NOW!!!!!  We keep counting down the days until he gets to go to Hillside with his sisters, they can't seem to get here soon enough!!  Abbie is almost done with 1st grade, and has flied through with flying colors!!  She is so excited to be an almost 2nd grader and I can't believe she's still only 6, trust me, I asked her the other day whether she was still 6, and she laughed and said, "Of course Mommy, my birthday's not until August!!"  She seems so grown up for a little 6 yr old!  And speaking of size, Patrick is now just a few inches shorter than Abbie and they wear the same size shoes and could share clothes if Abbie wouldn't mind super heros and Power Rangers:-)!!  Austyn is a huge growing weed!!!!  She is now 8, getting ready for 3rd grade, and is now one of the tallest girls in her class and is beginning to show the early signs of puberty rearing it's somewhat ugly head, can you say hormonal mood swings in an 8 year old???!!!  She is always going and has TONS of friends that she now roams the neighborhood with.  She has powered through her 2nd grade year, and her teacher has almost survived her first year of teaching with a very rambunctious class too:-)!

The girls are deciding to part ways this next year in activities, as Abbie is going to pursue gymnastics, Austyn is going to continue with dance.  I was hoping that they would at least choose the same activity, but I also want them to be happy with what they are doing, and that they thrive in their chosen sports.  So here we go on the roller coaster next fall, but we will be getting a small break for a few short weeks, then back at the grind!!  Patrick is wanting to do flag football this fall, which should be lots of fun for him to learn an organized sport and the basics of football!!  It will be cute to watch him run around too:-)!

Mommy and Daddy are keeping busy with all the little things, oh and Daddy has been training for his upcoming 200 mile gravel race this weekend!!!  I'm soooo looking forward to a vacation, even if it is just for 3 days!!  We get to travel to a new state, and see another small town, which I love to do!!  I keep trying to figure out how I'm gonna cram everything into the weekend to get the maximum enjoyment out of the weekend.  I'm sure it will all come together!!  Well, here's hoping for a lot less time between now and the next posting!!  Good night all!!!

Abbie Won 1st at State Gymnastics

1st Overall!

Bird Feeders with Monkey

Gymnastics Meet

Teaching the little one to shop

Looking at baby dolls

Dance-a-Cross Competition #2 Pictures

Dance-a-Cross Competition #2

So we have our 2nd and final dance competition today at Adventureland in the Palace Theater at noon today!!  Granted we've only had 2 competitions, but the girls are worn out w/ it....Abbie was bemoaning putting makeup on again for this dance, really, is she really a 6 yr old princess????  They have more than loved the challenge of doing more dances, learning more difficult moves and being challenged with the experience overall, but I think this will be our only year in competitive dance:-(.  Awesome friends made, fabulous times had, but just not for the Hilton ladies I'm afraid.  They are super excited to actually learn the other 2 dances throughout the rest of the season until our recital in June, they've begun the ballet dance, and I don't think they've started jazz yet, our competition dance is tap, so they will be encouraged and challenged these next few months, but will be just happy to go to gymnastics meets and that's it, competition wise.  We are hoping for another 1st place day today, but will be very happy with whatever we receive, as long as they tried they're hardest in the end!!!!

We have 2 gymnastics meets in March and another 2 in April, I'm sure a few in May, and then Nationals are in June, which if either girl places well enough all around, from what I understand, an invite will be extended for Nationals.  We are loving getting the girls into the competitive end of sports and I'm glad they are having as fun of a time as we are!!!  Well, time to go finish getting everyone ready, then we're off!!!  Will update tomorrow on how we did!!!!  Happy Sunday!!!

School Conferences!!!

We had the girls conferences tonight and they are both soaring thru 1st and 2nd grade w/ flying colors!!!!  Austyn is finally up just above 2nd grade reading level and she's mastering her math skills like a champ and has a deep love of anything science related!!!  She's finally opening up in class, I know, really, I'm talking about Austyn, and she's just an absolute joy to have, teacher's words, not mine:-)!!  Abbie is literally exceeding at all things 1st grade and doesn't show signs of stopping:-)!!  She's always quiet, but excited to learn anything she can.  She's very friendly/social but knows that school is priority numero uno:-)!!!  She's having some issues w/ counting money, but let's be honest, we can all have some issues with that now and again, even as responsible grown ups:-).  All in all, she is thriving and making excellent headway towards 2nd grade!!!
Today, the whole school of Hillside got to go to the Iowa Energy Basketball game, a 1st for the girls, and they had such fun!!!  The Iowa Energy won and the girls now get to check going to a "professional basketball game" off their fun things we've done list!  I just love how our school has such exciting and wonderful opportunities for the students to see/do that a lot would of otherwise never had the chance to!!!

One last thing.........................we have a major success for our household this week, and it's the getting along of 2 doggies!!!!!  Oh yeah, we got another dog, Marley, a 2 1/2 yr old Chocolate Lab, last Friday from some friends who had decided that 2 grown labs was plenty:-).  The 2 of them wanted nothing to do w/ the other at first and Peanut was not okay with another puppy invading her space, but something clicked last night and they are now the best of friends!!  You know how hard it is trying to keep 2 dogs from fighting like cats & dogs:-)....our house is not near large enough for their playing of swords, but we love that they are now getting along like brother and sister:-)!!!  Praise the Lord for the little things!!

THE FLU OF THE WEEK:-(

We've had the distinct privaledge of being blessed with a week of family flu fun!!!!  Courtney got the bug last Saturday night and it lasted through Sunday night, then he had his back/sciatic nerve flare up, which actually got bad enough for him to seek medical help for the first time in 9 yrs!!!  He's currently on some very low strength muscle relaxers and naproxen sodium, and with heading back to work tomorrow and an impending 63 mile race on Saturday, I hope he's able to hold up and know his limits!!  Sidebar:  Today is the 4 yr anniversary of Courtney quitting smoking and changing his life beyond belief!!!  We are so proud of him for all he's accomplished and what we have yet to see:-)!!!!  So, back onto the flu train.....Austyn came home from school on Monday afternoon w/ a tummy ache, which she claimed to have had since Thursday the week before, and started vomiting at 9pm and continued every hr/two all night long, ugh!!!  Then the next day we actually went to the doctor for Courtney and Austyn slept a lot of the day w/ Daddy while watching every tv show and netflix!!  Austyn felt really good today, but after we got home from school and a visit to the library, Abbie started complaining of a tummy ache, not wanting dinner, same ammo that Austyn had just 2 days before, and before we knew it, screaming from the bedroom of a sick tummy in the works:-(.  It was my Super Mom moment that I actually had a bowl next to her the first moment she told me of the tummy troubles, and she actually was able to hit it...win/win here!!  She went to bed early tonight and hasn't thrown up since...hoping it was just a one time thing b/c all of the kids school is going to see the Iowa Energy Basketball game tomorrow and Abbie has been so excited for it!!!!  Just hoping this doesn't spread to both Patrick and myself, although I'm guessing we won't escape it, no matter how much doctor scrubbing up we do:-)!!  Here's hoping others have had a flu/yuck free week!!!  Praying for you all who have been going through this!!  Hang in there, it's ALMOST SPRING!!!!!

Austyn and Abbies Dance

This and That....

Not much has happened in Hilton land the last week-ish to talk about, but here goes anyways:-).  Finally got over my stomach bug from a couple weeks ago and then Patrick got some upper respiratory thing, which is always made worse by his asthma, a few days after I was feeling better.  It was a few scary days for this Momma, soley because he can't control his coughing from taking over and his breathing being labored...poor little man:-(.  We pumped him full of preventative and quick responding meds and he was doing better and on the mend by this past weekend.
The kids were super excited to have a snow day last Wednesday, I wasn't b/c I had, by then, been cooped up in the house w/ a sick kid for 2 days and a semi-sick baby(our niece Emmalynn), that I about went out of my mind by Wednesdays end.  However we mustered on and came through the end of our week w/ flying colors and overall health, which makes me very happy!!!
Saturday brought the annual BRR(bike ride to Rippey) ride that Courtney went on, and the adventure of finding a new town in Iowa to pick my husband up from later that night.  Bouton is a very small town, but has a very hoppin' bar scene on a Saturday night:-)!!  We had a very nice and relaxing Sunday w/ church, potluck lunch following, a trip to Sam's to finally get me my own card, I know, it's 8 yrs in the making, a trip to Bass Pro Shop to get Daddy a new pair of work pants and then home to sledding fun, the kids and Daddy, not me, and then watching the Super Bowl w/ Courtney and Abbie!!  Great game last night by the way.  I'm not a huge football person, I enjoy watching, but don't have a favorite team and all.
Today brought us a sick Abbie, headache, tummy ache, ear ache....an all over my body and just won't go away ache I think, but we've been giving her meds and she perks up for a couple hrs to my normal Bob, so I like the time w/ her!!  She and I also got our hair cut today after taking Monkey to school....way frizzy and crazy right now, oh, okay, it's always that way, but very much so since I didn't style or product it myself, but I'm liking the new do!!!  Which leads up to me loosing my last 1.5 lbs to get my hair cut, actually I lost 2.5 this week, which thrilled me to no end!!!!  Now that I'm getting soooo close to where I was almost 5 yrs ago, I can't believe how fast it's come off, which wasn't the case early this past fall.  I've got 13 lbs to go until I'm at my next goal of the lightest I ever have been before and then I'll forge on for another 25, hopefully 40 lbs from there....we'll see where it takes me and where I feel like "me" again:-)!
Well, enough blabbering on about my boring life, just needed to get it all out of the head and on "paper"...time to go get Austyn from school and head to dance.  Our first competition for dance is this Saturday and I'm excited to see what the girls think of it!!!  Until then, have a wonderful week!!!

Grays SOOO EARLY!!!!

So, at the ripe old age of 30, I seem to have more gray hairs than brown, and they take over more every day!!!!  Getting ready today I have finally decided to give into my sister and color my hair, when I loose another 5 lbs....I'm doing a 5 lb challenge through WW.  You set a goal, non food related, for every 5 lbs you loose.  I have 1.5 more lbs to go before I get to my first 5 lb goal, I started this 2 weeks ago, which will be a haircut, much needed and I've decided to set my 2nd goal to be a color job, haven't colored my hair since I was 19.....now all I need to figure out is stay the same color as my currently brown hairs:-) or to go lighter????  I look forward to any thoughts on the subject, I stink at making decisions like this!!!

Gymnastic Pictures

Gymnastics Meet #2!!!!

The girls had their 2nd meet today at their home gym, Corner House Gymnastics, and knocked the socks off of themselves:-)!!  Abbie finished 1st place overall in the Level 2, 6 year olds and Austyn finished 5th place overall in Level 2, 7 year olds.  Abbie moved up one spot and Austyn moved up 2 spots from last meet, so we are just so overjoyed and proud of our girls!!!  Austyn is learning to slow down her moves and take the time to achieve perfection and Abbie is swinging her way on up the charts!!!!  Such proud parents we are!!!!!!  Pics will come soon once Courtney downloads and shares for the world to see!
On a second note, we have Emmalynn's dedication at my parents/sister's church in the morning and we are so excited to go!  Courtney isn't gonna make it because he's having to play manager of everyone tomorrow unfortunately, but Emmie's godfather will be there in thoughts and prayers!  It's such a neat time to spend with family and friends and we can't wait to see some old familiar faces coming to celebrate the joy of a child being committed to the Lord and the awesome responsibility that we have for raising her in the ways of the Lord as well!!!  Makes us so happy and honored to named Emmie's godparents and be apart of this awesome journey she is on!!!  So, that wraps it up for me...gotta get the tail end of the stomach flu I have gone so we can celebrate with family and friends tomorrow morning!

So proud of my girls!

So, as you've seen, the girls had an awesome first competition at their meet this morning!!  Both did such a great job and only Austyn was a little nervous.  I was up half the night worried about if they would be nervous at all, which made for lots of lack of sleep for this Momma and a very long day for all of us.  We had to get up earlier than normal and get across town by 8am, and saw our lovely ladies knock it out of the park with their first time out!  We've got another meet on the 29th, so hoping they are more comfortable and knowledgeable about how it all works and what to do when.  Austyn got 7th place for the 7 yr old Level 2 category and Abbie got 2nd, YES 2ND place, GO BOB GO, for the 6 yr old Level 2 category.  They each had their own strengths and we have talked to Austyn about how she can improve and bust her way through to the top 3 so we can advance to Level 3....I know, I have high hopes already, but I think they've found something they are super great at and want them to excel at one thing so we can put all our focus on just one thing instead of Mommy driving here and there and everywhere....:-)!!!
After leaving the competition, we made our way to The Cumming Tap to watch about 50 people snow shoe and ski a fun course, including grown men and women running through obstacles and going down slides....great time had by all!!  Tons of fun for those racing and cold fun time taking pics.  It was amazing how right before the race started, it was snowing!!  It was perfect for picture taking and awesome to see people doing what they love with the perfect conditions(snowing)!!  I can't wait to try out snowshoes with Courtney some afternoon we don't have kids...looks like an awesome fun time!!  So until next time....have a great one all and talk to you soon!!!

Austyn and Abbie's Gymnastics