The craziness that is the Hiltons!

Happy Anniversary to the best husband ever!!

2011-07-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

2011-06-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

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....

2011-06-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2011-06-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

1st Overall!

Bird Feeders with Monkey

2011-04-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

Gymnastics Meet

2011-03-23T04:48:00.001-07:00

Teaching the little one to shop

2011-03-09T05:39:00.001-08:00

Looking at baby dolls

Dance-a-Cross Competition #2 Pictures

2011-02-28T05:03:00.000-08:00

Dance-a-Cross Competition #2

2011-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2011-02-24T19:08:00.001-08:00

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:-(

2011-02-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-14T05:11:00.001-08:00

This and That....

2011-02-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2011-01-31T10:14:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

Gymnastics Meet #2!!!!

2011-01-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

Weirdness....

2011-01-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

The weirdness that is trying to text your blog post is that it comes in 3 sections out of order....so I guess I'll keep this to a minimum and only post something 150 words or less from now on:-). My hubby feels that I'm not posting enough and don't have any pics, can't figure it all out, so he's gonna help out he's told me and also posted here!! He obviously doesn't have his hands full with the 5 or more blogs he has, I lost count....and the several that he's helping to take over this year too...what can I say, the man LOVES TO BLOG!!!! So, on with things....time to bathe Abbie and be all ready for our competition tomorrow morning, bright and early at 8am...Momma is a nervous ball of crazy and the girls have no idea to even be nervous, so I guess it's all me....I'll update on Sunday as to how all went!! Have a wonderful weekend all!

2011-01-14T13:54:00.005-08:00

(3/3) people race on skis and snowshoes down the trail....a day of firsts for us...I cant wait to see how it all ends!! Update on both on Sunday.

2011-01-14T13:54:00.003-08:00

(2/3) nd!! The girls have their first ever gymnastics competition tomorrow morning and then its off to The Cumming Tap to watch Daddy and a bunch of crazy

2011-01-14T13:54:00.001-08:00

(1/3) So, my wonderful husband set my phone up so I can post to the blog whenever!! So exciting for this Momma, sad, I know. Hoping everyone has a great weeke

2011-01-14T06:02:00.002-08:00

Test post

A Little help

2011-01-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

Anna needed a little help with blog updates (last update in October) so I'm helping.

"Skinny Jeans"

2010-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, I know my "skinny jeans" are not the best around being a size 14 and all, but an accomplishment none the less!! I haven't comfortably fit into these since buying 2 years ago, actually as of last month when it started getting cold, I tried the "dreaded" jeans on and couldn't pull up over my big booty!! So, I guess this whole diet and exercise thing is really working after all:-)!
When I was 26, losing the almost 70 lbs seemed like a piece of cake, not so much at 30 I'm afraid:-(. I don't know if it was because we were so busy and active then with 3 little ones 4 and under, or if my willingness/willpower was stronger then than now...who knows?! I will admit my will power is much lower now, still haven't figured out why, but I want to officially be smaller than my ever shrinking husband, so I feel thats good motivation so far! I've had a hectic last couple weeks w/ my sister having her baby, which by the way, I can't seem to get enough of, and life getting in the way of my regular walking schedule w/ my awesome friend Molly, I was up 1 lb this week after losing 3 lbs the week before which made me just 2 lbs away from my first 5% loss on WW. So, now that things are getting more back to normal, I'm hoping to loose now 3 lbs to get me to my 5% on Monday and hitting both the YMCA now that it's getting cooler and walking hopefully 4 days a week with Molly to put things into high gear to reach my 10% by Christmas:-)!!
I have had so many people around me who have been able to loose some awesome amounts of weight this last year, that it is worth the hunger pains(stomach currently growling) and the gradual pain that occurs after a good workout! So, needless to say, I'm super psyched that I could actually zip my "skinny jeans" and can't wait until my size 12 "skinny jeans" fit again too:-)!!!

I'm an Auntie:-)!!!!!

2010-10-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Emmalynn Joy Miles entered our wonderful, crazy world last night at 11:10pm. She's weighing in at 7 lbs 1.6 oz and 20 in. long, born on 10-20-2010(that's pretty cool too!) Katie is doing well, especially for laboring for 36 hrs and 3 1/2 hrs of pushing resulting in a forcep delivery in just 1 AWESOME push:-)!!!! I was able to be there about 24 hrs total of the 36 with which she was in labor-huge thank you to my wonderful husband and in laws for putting up with my kiddos the last couple days so I was able to be apart of Katie and Richard's amazing daughter's entrance into this world! I spent most of my time in the waiting room w/ Mom and Dad, but around 7:45 last night, our good friend Shelby, came and got me saying Katie wanted me. So, naive Anna went into the room hearing the nurse tell Katie we were starting to push(I honestly thought she wanted my advice on whether she was to start pushing or not). So, for the next 3+ hours I helped Katie and Richard through the pushing process and actually didn't pass out(I know, I can birth 3 children, but the sight of blood/stitches/etc. can make me throw up or pass out like a little girl:-)! Our sweet girl gave her Momma some awesome challenges along the way, but everyone is so excited, and kind of still feeling like we can't believe she's actually here(very surreal)! She's just perfect in every way and looks like both Mommy and Daddy w/ her awesome dark hair and eyes, like Daddy and her beautiful button nose and chubby cheeks, like her Mommy!! I just can't seem to get enough of our little girl(yes, I said our-Katie's my baby girl, so therefore Emmie is ours too:-) and can't wait until we're watching her 5 days a week and getting love and enjoy this awesome treasure that the Lord has bestowed on the Hopper/Hilton/Miles family!!! We love you little Miss Emmie!!!

Poopy Butt....

2010-10-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, while back in the saddle of Weight Watchers and exercise, my first week was a weight loss of 7lbs!! However the 2nd week wasn't near as beautiful. Although I didn't gain any weight, I didn't loose any either:-(. I walked 3 days last week and ran around like a chicken w/ my head cut off, yet managed to exceed my "extra" 35 points for the week and dipped into the activity points...ugh! Then, while talking w/ some friends at bowling on Sunday, I realized that either WW has changed their points system or I have too many points. My sister and another friend have recently done WW and had close to 6-8 pts less than I currently do, which is weird. So, Courtney and I have decided to decrease my points from 29 a day(which, quite honestly, I can't use every day unless I don't eat correctly:-) to 26 and see if that helps w/ a loss this week, and try to stay out of my "extra points" too, and definitely my activity ones...man, that's lots of points talk:-)! We're going to the YMCA later today to re-sign up for this year(it expired the end of August) and Patrick is dead set on staying to play, so I'm thinking a good weight circuit since I walked for 75 minutes this morning will be in order. (Sorry, incessant rambling, needed to get it all off my chest)...

So, other than weight loss disgust, we've been doing well. My sister is almost 4 weeks from her due date, and I can't wait to be an Auntie!!!! Sooooooooo excited!!!!!!!! It's been almost 4 1/2 yrs since a baby in this family and it's about time:-)! Although, who knew these words would ever come out of my mouth, but I'm glad it's not me having to push that baby out this time(sorry, Katie!). Courtney is finally over his cold it appears and the kids have remained cold free since school started, yahooey! That makes me one happy Momma!!! Well....long boring rambling done....Patrick won't leave me alone to help set up his bike in Daddy's shop, so until next time, have an awesome day and enjoy this wonderful fall season w/ you and yours!!

I'm back!

2010-10-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so hopefully I am back from my ridiculous almost 4 month hiatus on the blogging front, and back to the land of the living/blogging:-)! Lots has happened since early July in our household...imagine! School started in mid August w/ the girls being in 1st and 2nd grade and Patrick being in 4 day a week afternoon preschool. I've been continuing to work for my Dad 3 afternoons a week while Patrick is in school, been walking with a dear friend 3 morning a week, started back on Weight Watchers 2 weeks ago(I know, shock and awe:-) and trying to get all my "motherly/wifely" duties done in all the spare time that is now.... I feel like I'm constantly running and can never get all that needs to be done accomplished, but somehow I am always able to finish all of my to do list by weeks end, only by God's grace, I've finally figured out:-).

Wow, that is easy to sum up the last 4 months in a nutshell(paragraph).... So, that leads us up to now! Now consists of constantly counting WW points to try and get back down to where I was over 2 years ago and be back to being skinnier than my hubby, who, by the way, has finally broke the wall of his weight loss blockade and is down a good 15 lbs in the last couple months. I'm finding that this time around is much easier than the first time. I was pretty adjusted after the first few days, and lost almost 7 lbs last week, eekk!!!! I'm hoping for another 3 or 4 this week to be almost at my 5% goal!!! I'm so excited to be back where I was before and personally can't wait to wear the clothes that have been in my basement the last year too!!!

In transition, we've been very busy with our normal routine of dance, gymnastics, watching some awesome cyclocross races, which Daddy is doing just awesome at, and on our way to learning so much more in Sunday School(the kids that is) and meeting new Moms/friends in the awesome MOPS group I've joined, took long enough if you ask me:-)....and finding just enough time to spend together as a family to remember why we're here day in and day out!!

So, now that I've typed my way through the most boring, not making sense movie I've ever seen...I'm off to my night of watching a little DVR shows!! Have a great one all and I will be back in just a few days!!!

Happy 8 Years!!!

2010-07-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's a few days late, but on July 6th, Courtney and I celebrated 8 wonderful years as husband and wife!! So much has happened in the last 8 years! I remember celebrating our 1st anniversary in Omaha, leaving our almost 4 month old baby girl with Mimi and Umpa and calling every 2 hours to check on her!!! How times have changed. We were fortunate to go out on our actual anniversary, thank you Mimi, and had a great time having dinner and drinks with only us...and the Tour de France, at The Stadium, on Tuesday night for a couple hours. It's nice every now and then to get some alone time to reflect on what has happened and how we need to charge into the next year w/ so many awesome changes and fun, not only for each other, but as a family!! I just wanted to give a huge I LOVE YOU to my Prince Charming, the man I can't imagine my life without!! I love you Courtney and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us...Lord knows it will go all too quickly again!!!

The crazy travelers!!

2010-06-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

So, here's an update to last week....Courtney ended up leaving on my birthday, June 17th, for his 620 mile trip across Wisconsin, and I got a phone call on June 18th around 7:30pm telling me he's calling it quits after 117ish miles in his day. Now, you have to understand my husband. In order for him to pull the plug on anything in his life, especially a pre-planned 10 days of vacation and an incredible chance to create history on a 1st time ride by gravel/single track(mountain biking, for the non-biking people) and to get to do it in a different state to accomplish this...my hubby is more than game!! After getting lost from his riding companions and taking an hour long detour, he decided to call it quits and after 2 hours of a combo of his parents and mine and myself searching for a hotel in the town of Prairie du Chien, just across the river, which happened to be having it's annual "Festival" which apparently the entire state of Wisconsin shows up for, we found him a small room 7 miles outside of town to take a hot shower and sleep in a real bed for the night. So as luck would have it, I got to travel to Wisconsin for the first time, yeah, I know, I'm sheltered, with my Bob(the oldest and youngest hanged w/ Mimi and Umpa for the day complete w/ garage sales of buying things we don't need and they're first bowling experience...which I can't wait to witness myself:-)!! I must say, taking a 5 year old on a 4 hour out and back road trip was a bit scary, but she was the biggest trooper(mind you, I would have lost my mind w/ all 3...I know, you thought I was super Mom, but guess again:-)! We had a nice 2 hour layover in Jim's Bar in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin w/ lunch and a couple cold ones, then took a small tour of the crazy roads Courtney explored the day before. Now, I was very excited for him to be back with us, but I feel terrible that he wasn't able to accomplish what was his hope for his week....there's always next year in this house:-).

Sidenote-I never realized how beautiful and hilly(mountain-like) northern Iowa and Wisconsin was, but WOW!!! That is some beautiful country and if you are anything of a landscape/bridge fanatic like I am(thank you Bob Ross), then you will just love that area of God's awesome world he created for us!!!!

So, that brings us to having a Happy Father's Day w/ our favorite Daddy and a great visit with Uncle Chris and Auntie Annie, to decide that the end of this week we'd take ourselves a little road trip to visit them and the new house!! So excited to just get out of DM proper for a day or two, don't care to where, but excited to do whatever is offered:-)!! So on Thursday, we will load the family into our little Fit(and this time it will be quite a fit), all 6 of us...Peanut included...to go and do our 2nd road trip of the summer! So fun and hopefully be back in town for the Boone 3/6 hour on Saturday to see our men in black and our PRC girls kick some serious butt to represent DM this year:-)!!

That brings us up to speed, other than the dog chewing Daddy's Father's Day gift(a new wallet), trust me, not the happiest Daddy ever, and the crazy wacky dog who loves tabletops, countertops, anything that is off limits, every trash can in the Casa de Hilton and has officially learned her name, although I think it's more screamed than spoken lately....we're golden:-)!! Have a great rest of your week and I can't wait to share our fun adventures from this weekend, because you know it will be interesting:-)!!

The Big 3-0!!!!

2010-06-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been told that turning 30 is the best thing ever...the beginning of the rest of your life. I'm hopeful for this to take the wonderful adventure that has been the last 30 years and create a new chapter w/ the next 30! I've had a wonderful time celebrating with Courtney a couple nights ago w/ dinner w/o kids...Huge thanks to Auntie Katie-who on a side note is going to be the mommy of a baby girl!!! Also, great times with the kids, if you include screaming and fighting as great times, hey, it's my life w/ all 3 home for the summer and 102 heat index outside:-)!! We've gotten used to the relaxed schedule this summer...but I feel it's time to ramp it up and put an orderly schedule if you will into effect so they have certain things to do w/o driving me or each other crazy several days a week.

On a segway...Courtney has left for a week long trip to Wisconsin on the TransWisconsin "Race"-it's gonna be a mountain bike touring ride for he and a couple buddies, complete w/ tent camping, lots of exploration and 620 miles on the bike over the next week. I still can't comprehend how he can pound it all out, but I know he can accomplish anything he makes his mind up to, so it will be so exciting to hear all the fun stories and posts throughout the week and after he gets home too!

So, here's to the next chapter for me!! My 30's will be fantastic, or at last that's what they all say:-)! Now, to go sit outside for 1 1/2 hrs at swimming lessons!!! Have a good one and talk w/ you all soon!!

Laying guard.

2010-06-12T18:27:00.001-07:00

Our new little addition!!

2010-05-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

So America, we have the newest family member announcement to the Hilton family upon us....and NO, it's not #4...it's a NEW DOG!!!

Courtney and I have been talking about this for about a month, and then last Saturday morning, low and behold, my precious husband offered up the idea of checking out the Animal Rescue League here in Des Moines in the effort of finding us a poochie!!! So our journey started at the West Des Moines location, which had one beagle that was being reserved. So we traveled onto our next location on the South Side, which had only 1 dog that was not too great w/ kiddos under 7! So our final destination was the main site in almost Saydel(like 30 minutes from home for all you out of towners), and we went right past the big dogs, which I figured we'd get, just solely because we've been around them for so long, and went right to the medium sized pooches. After looking at a beagle and a jack russell terrier(wow, that dog never stopped barking), we came across a beautiful little bassett hound that appeared to have the Hilton name stamped all over her! She had been found wandering on the side of E 14th Street(a busy one for the out of towners again), and had been there just 9 days as luck would have it:-)! We asked to take a look at her and w/in the first couple minutes of talking and playing with her, Courtney was ready to start the adoption process before anyone else snatched up our little baby!

SIDENOTE: We told the kids that after Patrick was potty trained we would get a dog, but last summer just didn't seem right, so we put it off and the kids had kind of forgotten about it until spring hit and dog fever was back in full swing! In all reality, the idea of potty training another child, oh I mean puppy was daunting to me, as I kinda suck in the dog potty training dept. So when we actively started looking a month ago, we decided to go with a dog from the ARL(Animal Rescue League) that was older, but not too old:-).

We were signed, sealed and delivered w/in 1 hour and we had our new baby girl, Peanut, weighing in at 24 lbs(still a little underweight, but she's finally eating her food now, so hopefully we'll get up there soon) and a huge ball of love and laziness:-)! She's even responding to her new name of Peanut, chosen for Patrick's peanut allergy(her previous name was Arwen, poor dog) and has started to tell us when she needs to potty and is not doing it on the one room of carpet in the entire house, yeah Peanut!!! We feel like she's always been ours and can't wait to find what the future holds for us and our newest addition.

Sidenote(again): Yes, this does mean we're officially done w/ the baby making factory now that #4 is of the canine variety, sorry for all you hopefuls out there!! Here's a few pics of our new little lady!

Date Time with Daddy!!

2010-05-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

So after Courtney cranking(literally) out 135 miles yesterday, I know, insane:-), we decided that we'd go for a ride downtown for some breakfast while Patrick was in school this morning! These times are few and far between for us, but so grateful for them when we're able to make things happen!! So my sweet dear husband saddled up and we ended up deciding to hit Panera at Jordan Creek instead, better breakfast than Java Joes, says Courtney, I would have no idea...I lead a sheltered coffee shop life! Nice ride out on a incredibly beautiful day w/ only a few huffs and puffs from me, thank goodness Courtney enjoys riding company and rode "slow" with me the whole way there:-). Excellent breakfast and wonderful time sitting on the patio at Panera with the love of my life getting a chance to talk about anything and everything we could cram into an hours time w/o little people sticking their oh so precious little noses in the middle of. It's so nice to take time to remember what is important in our life together and make plans for the future, mind you, we don't make long distance plans, we make how are we going to survive another week plans in our home, and things are much calmer now too! We recalled today after seeing a mom at the mall with her 2 little girls, probably 2 and 4, pregnant w/ #3, very pregnant, how that used to be us!!! I look back now and have decided that when the kids were little, we must have survived only on pure survival mode itself!! I constantly see families w/ 3 little ones like we had and think how on earth do they do it? Then again, how did we do it??? I think we were crazy for popping those little babies out so quickly, not that I'd change a single thing about any of it! It definately made us so much closer and be able to connect on a totally different level than just husband and wife, the role of Mom and Dad suit us very well and I can't imagine being on this roller coaster ride w/ anyone else but him!!!

So I digress, but it's fun for us getting out once every 3-4 months alone for an hour or so, I know it's not much or often, but it's better than nothing, right:-)? Can't wait for our next fun outing together and hope it's a wonderful birthday dinner in a month before my hubby takes off to brave the gravel in Wisconsin for a week! I know, crazy, but hey, we wouldn't live up to the title of this blog if there weren't random adventures to keep us all on our toes!!

So much has happened around here!!

2010-05-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

So, I know it's been what seems like forever since I've last posted, and that would be true, 6 weeks to be exact, but lots of weird crazy busy things have been happening in Hilton Land!! Where to begin???? Well, lets start back in April, when we found out that we are going to be getting a new cousin in our house!!! My sister, Auntie Katie, as she's affectionately called around here, is expecting her first baby, due November 5! She told the world on her 25th birthday on April 15th, and we couldn't be happier!! We told the kiddos about a week ago while she was overseas for a college class, and now that she's back home, the kids think it's weird still that there is a baby growing in her tummy, but I'm sure they will figure it out soon enough!! The next week after Katie's birthday and grand announcement, she graduated from Grandview College after a mere 7 years in the collegiate world and is going to be furthering her education through the University of Chicago, I hope I'm right on this:-), getting her masters in Child and Adolescent Psychology hopefully in the next 2 years, while becoming a Mommy!!! Right on the tail of this wonderful landmark came the death of my Grandpa Larsen, my last living "official" grandparent(I have a step grandma, hence the official thing). He had battled lots of things in the last 6 months, with a partial leg amputation and the possibility of another, when he peacefully past away in his sleep in early May. I was unable to get to the funeral in Milbank, South Dakota, but have been able to grieve the best way you can long distance. A few days later, my little baby, Patrick, turned 4!! Oh my word, how is this possible?? I am now a Mom of a 4, 5 and 7 year old, ahh!! We celebrated his birthday on Mother's Day, which was a big Transformer's bash! I have to be completely honest, I really never thought I'd ever know so much about one subject that I care so little about!! But, he's my world daily and if I'm gonna survive, I'm for sure gonna need to know every Autobot and Decepticon's name and what they transform into and what their powers are:-). Too fun!!! Mother's Day was wonderful home with the family and dinner out on the eve of another big event around here(I know, it never ends lately)! Last Monday morning, my father in law has hip surgery to get a new one! We spent many hours this last week traveling back and forth downtown to Mercy and many trips to Mimi and Umpa's house to let out the dog! He threw us w/ a little scare when his little ticker decided to not cooperate post surgery and he was taken to the cardiology floor for a day, being released on some meds to help control things for the next couple months during recovery. He is now home and impatiently waiting to back to "normal" again real soon:-)! In the midst of all this, we had a member of our family become famous, well, to the Des Moines community anyways and of course w/ family!! Courtney had been interviewed by a friend who blogs for KCCI Channel 8 news, a while back about being Car Free in DM. He is officially car free and we are a "Car Light" family, according to all parties who determine stuff like this:-). His article was published to the KCCI blog now 2 weeks ago and then was approached by the actual anchors of the 10pm news for KCCI, for an on air interview which happened 4 days later!! Our famous Daddy!!! He then received a call on Thursday night saying that he had been picked as "The Commuter of the Year" by the Bike to Work Week staff and will be doing a ride tomorrow, Monday morning, which is the first "official" day of Bike to Work Week, with Leonard Boswell and other elected officials and then will be given his award by the Mayor of Des Moines! WOW, is about all I can say about that!! He's very deserving of such an award and any and all of this "fame" he has received in the last couple weeks, we're SOOOO PROUD of our Daddy!! He's accomplished so much for himself, his family and his community and we're so happy someone else also sees how wonderful he is!

Well, I think that brings us up to speed, with the exception of Patrick learning to ride his bike w/o training wheels a few days before his 4th birthday, Momma getting her own "commuter" bike for Mother's Day/Birthday(not til next month, but hey, who won't take an early present especially w/ the deal we got on it!!) We've now got the end of the school year trips, picnics, dance recitals and the beginning of what we hope to be a laid back summer, with some swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School, and maybe some camping/biking adventures scattered in there too!! So here's to the craziness that will now ensue here at the Hilton household for a wonderful, relaxing, busy summer!! Hope everyone has a wonderful May!!

Spring is Finally Here!!!!

2010-03-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

So I know I'm not the only person who has been desperately wishing for spring to get here, but I feel like I'm the happiest that it's here now:-)!! It was a long winter for the Hilton's w/ early bedtimes, lots of tv time and lots of screaming, bored kids and parents! We are such an outdoors family that it was one brutal winter season this year that Patrick woke up every day from January 1st on asking if it was summer yet! We were able to get out several times last winter and go for some good snow hikes on the local mountain bike trails, but we didn't get a single one in this year due to the ridiculous snowing and the freezing cold temps. We even only went sledding a couple times, we went close to a dozen times last year b/c it was sooo cold! Well, I'm going to optimistic and say that winter is officially over, at least for the Hilton's and move on to much greener, warmer pastures of spring!! We've already hit our first family bike ride w/ dinner and playing at Raccoon River Park last week, Patrick and I have gone out for several bike/runs, he bikes and I huff and puff my way through a run, and we've walked to get the girls from school every day but one in the last 2 weeks! Not a bad start if you ask me:-). Also, I've started early this year on working on my bronzed self with spending the afternoons outside watching Patrick play, we got new sand and toys for the sandbox today, highlight of the week let me tell you!!! I've been working on getting moving as much as possible and we've started a new "healthy living lifestyle", if you will, to kick start our spring/summer with more whole grains, fruits, veggies and less meat, but lean cuts/kinds when we do. I've already seen a 6.5 lb loss since we started the beginning of last week, and I can't wait to see how this pans out. I will say that I'm not near as hungry now, with cutting out fast food, diet pop and candy(I did sneak a 1/2 of a 3 Musketeers bar today, but I did stop at 1/2!) And with today being a wonderful 75 degrees here in lovely Iowa, we spend all day outdoors and grilled our little hearts out:-)! So here's to you and yours: Have a wonderful spring!!! Enjoy all the warmth and time w/ your loved ones!!

Holy cow, what's with the baby boom lately??

2010-03-10T19:37:00.001-08:00

Austyn at almost 7!
The day we brought her home...12 days old
The first pic of our Little Peanut!!

So I've found it very weird how so many friends/acquaintances have had or are going to have a baby in the last 6-12 months!! I was told that over the long cold winter that there was nothing to do, but that doesn't account for all the babies born during the snowy season here!! We've had close to 8 friends have babies in the last 6 months and have about 4-5 more due in the next 6 months...crazy!!! I've been thinking that it's in the water, and my lovely hubby has been repeatedly telling me to stop drinking said water:-)!! We've been so fortunate to have 3 healthy, happy kiddos in the last 7 years and couldn't imagine starting over again(hard for me to swallow!) We had always wanted 4 kids, but after Patrick came along it seemed like the perfect fit had finally made his appearance, along with the fact that Daddy thought he might loose his mind if we entered any more little people into our flock:-)! This being said, our first baby will be turning 7 this Tuesday, the 16th. 7!!!!!!!! Am I old enough to have a 7 year old???? According to Courtney I am, he never lets me forget my age, which isn't officially OLD quite yet, give me 3 more months and then we'll talk. Austyn came into this world with such a surprise for the whole family with coming almost 7 weeks early, breech and emergency c-section! She's kept us on our toes from day one!! But being such a big baby, 5 lbs 6 1/2 oz, for that early, she was huge, she only had to spend 12 days in the NICU at Blank and was able to meet the world a month after her birth for the first time! Had we known then what we know now, she was just the beginning of the roller coaster that would insue in our lives over the next 3 years! We can't imagine that our baby is going to be 7, perfectly healthy, opinionated and a fashion forward little girl who's pushing 16 faster than I'd like her to!! Just thought I'd take my trip down memory lane to what was and how far we've come in these last 7 years!!! Happy early birthday to my Austyn!! Mommy loves you so much, no matter how crazy you drive me!

So proud of my hubby!

2010-02-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

I have always been proud of my husband, but after reading his blog today, I feel a new found love through thick and thin with one heck of an awesome man!!! Check it out, I've got the link on my blog! I can't believe he's the same man I married almost 8 years ago, but love him more every day that passes and can't wait to make more memories and spend many more years with the love of my life!!! I love you baby!!!!

My 3 hour commute

2010-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

So, our girls have been involved in gymnastics at Jacobs Gymastics in Waukee for the last 3 years. Fabulous facility, wonderful, caring teachers and reasonable prices(my favorite in all three of those)! However, in the past 2 years my girls have either been in the same class or when their ability levels changed, were in different classes at the same time. This fall brought the new schedule with staggered classes, which for us means one goes from 5:30-6:30 and the other from 6-7. Add in drive time to drop Patrick off at Mimi and Umpa's(my in-laws) house and the almost 30 minute commute out to the middle of Waukee and back to pick up little man and get home, we're gone from 4:45-7:30 every Wednesday night. I'm done! I feel like my Wednesday nights are nothing but driving and listening to complaining children about how hungry and tired they are on the way out and back. So, I've done some research here closer to home and found a wonderful gym close by that is actually a little cheaper(happy Mommy) and has the same structure for their classes, by ability, not by age. Corner House Gymnastics is just off 72nd and Douglas in Urbandale and on a good day, 15 minutes from home, which will mean a 1 1/2 commute total which saves my time and gas!! I'm very excited to have the girls start, we'll be starting the beginning of March, had to give notice at the other gym, but looking forward to the new journey we will experience! The girls were actually not too upset about the change, hoping tonight was at the new gym! I'm thinking they're just as tired of the driving and waiting as I am, but have just never said anything. I'm going to miss the relationships we've built with the owner of the gym, the teachers and the other families, but know that this will be a very welcome change in our lives so we can spend some more time together!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

2010-02-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

So, with tomorrow being Valentine's Day again, I'm reminded of our first Valentine's Day we spent together, we being Courtney and I! We were married the July before and I was 7 months preggo with our first daughter, Austyn and we had a blizzard, surprise, surprise! And to top off the blizzard happening, my parents were moving out of our current house, they rented it from my inlaws before we found out we were expecting, 4 weeks after getting married, and they offered to downsize so we could have the "big" house for our growing family! I don't remember going out to dinner at all, funds were short back then, but I do remember my first Valentine's gift from my beloved. A huge green frog(I was obsessed with frogs, being I grew up w/ the last name Hopper) holding a big red heart saying "I love you". The fun in this gift is the playful childlike spirit of my husband and soon to be "the world's greatest Daddy", was oozing from this!! Also, he had hidden it in moving boxes about a month before and I had no idea until he went to unpack every box to figure out which one it was in:-)!! Those were the days!!! Simple, to the point, goofy gifts from my baby!! In the years since, I have received lots of boxes of chocolates, special cards from my little ones and the love of my beloved for another fantastic year!! I know, sappy, but man, I appreciate every moment I'm able to spend with my Courtney and the wonderful children he and I have been so greatly blessed with! I know my husband hates the commercialized catholic holiday, but it's just another reason to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to be so loved by everyone in our lives and to be able to love them unconditionally in return! Hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day with your loved ones!!

When will there ever be enough time?

2010-02-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

I have come across a common problem with me. I'm either too busy or bored out of my mind! The last couple months have been pretty low key after losing the job cleaning the church building we meet in. My wonderful Daddy took my inexperienced secretary of a self and allowed me to help him out 6 hours a week while Patrick is in preschool, which was just the right amount of hours to feel like I'm contributing something so my family can buy groceries and still fulfill my duties here at home also. Then my eager self accepted a cleaning position with my Dad's church just a month ago, which ends up being around 2 hours once a week, which the kids have helped with quite a bit(yes, they love to clean toilets, who knew?) And if this wasn't enough, I found someone needing part time child care, which I love Patrick to have a playmate and the extra cash helps too(groceries:-))! I love being active and busy, but I always seem to be all or nothing these last couple years! I just think I have a problem finding the balance between doing something but not too much... How do I find that right amount of time? I don't even have time for a workout lately, ugh! How does one find a balance in it all??

Who ordered this new snow?!?!

2010-02-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, as far as I'm concerned, enough is enough already!!! I'll surrender! Uncle!!! We have got to start spring sometime this year, right??? I think I'm so fed up with all this snow and ice and yuck! I have 3 little kids that are officially driving each other nuts with their stircraziness, a Mom and Dad who are about to throw the kids out in the snow to camp out there and a car that appreciates the initiation into winter, being it's first and all, but golly molly! I'm hoping to find some things in the following "ending" weeks of winter to help curb our stir crazy family. Any thoughts on the matter?? I'm open to any and all ideas, although free ones are always terrific! My mother in law suggested going to Open Gym night at the YMCA, which I have to check the schedule on, but beyond that, I think I'm out of ideas right about now. I feel like the other parents we see at the mall play place are about to become our new best friends if we don't find other outlets for creative loud play here soon! What fun things do you currently do or did when you were growing up to pass the winter blues away??? I look forward to any and all ideas to come!

Valentines is just around the corner!

2010-02-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

You know when any holiday is about to make an appearance in the Hilton household. Little ones start to mill away about how things will be and how they will be planning and what they will be wearing for it. It's all about Valentines right now, and has been strongly the whole last 2 weeks! Abbie took her box to school last week and got to decorate it on Friday with her Tiger Pal(6th grade buddy). Austyn and Daddy decorated hers today in only a way that a fun creative Dad can do:-) and Patrick keeps talking about how he is going to be decorating his bag at school for his Valenpines(3 yr old speak). We took out the cards that I got last year on clearance, Crayola color your own w/ a stale lollipop and have started coloring and writing names on them! The craziness that ensues in this house around a holiday is incredibly exhausting! Then there's what to wear!!! Now any of you out there with little girls, or fashionable little boys, know where I'm coming from here! The girls and Patrick are already deciding how they are going to color coordinate with each other and how exactly they will pull it off! Each year they're grandparents, Mimi and Umpa, always get them new shirts/outfits to make the day even more special!! I love this year because all my kids are now old enough to understand what this whole Valentine's Day is all about. Now, I'm talking beyond the cards and candy here! They are beginning to see how it's a special day to spend with those you love and care for in your family/life. It's so neat to see all of this instilled in them at such a young age and see those little eyes and faces light up when they realize how important they are to someone and how much someone care about them!! That's why I love this holiday. It may be utter craziness here almost 24/7, but when it all comes down to it, it's about spending time with the people who care about you the most, FAMILY!!

The beginning of the Hilton Blog!

2010-02-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

So, I've started a blog! I've decided that without a whole lot of adult interaction, this would be the perfect time to start this up! To start things out, I'm a psuedo-stay at home mom, I work part time, 6 hrs a week for my Dad, as his receptionist at the church, and 2 hours a week, cleaning said church, and occasionally do part time drop in child care too. Sounds crazy, but all is going good with trying to provide for my family what I can and still fulfilling my duties as mother, wife and home manager! A little about me, for those of you who don't know! I am married to the most wonderful, caring beautiful man in the world, Courtney!! He and I have been married for 8 years in early July. We've been through so much together and I still get butterflies every time I see him and can't wait to see what the Lord has next for our lives together!!! On the Mom end of things, I'm an almost 30 year old mom of 3 wonderful and active kiddos!! My oldest is Austyn, she will be 7 on March 16, ugh! My middle beauty is Abbie, who will be 5 1/2 at the end of February and my baby, Patrick, who will be 4 in early May. They are all the highlight of my life and everything I could have ever imagined for my life!!! Well, that's a little about me, tomorrow onto the craziness that is the Hiltons!!!