Author name: hill

dry ice.

a sweet friend sent me something scrumptious for my birthday.
and do you know what was packed alongside the yummy treat?


of course you don’t.
how on earth would you guess that it was dry ice?

doesn’t B look so mysterious in this shot?
i love it because mysterious he is not.
and that is yet another reason why i love him so.


D didn’t want to get very close but K
(our adventurous one)
was of course, fascinated.

126. being inspired
127. enjoying a much needed girls night out and getting completely pampered.
128. a sweet husband who so willingly watches the big kids
129. L experiencing a tear-free snack time at mommy-and-me
(never done before)
130. a surprisingly productive day

happy 4th of july.

happy, happy 4th of july!

we’ve been listening to this all day.


here are their interpretations of our great flag.


well, at least her dress is cute.
thanks to her Grammy!


they are getting all geared up to celebrate this great holiday by
going to bed early
and watching the fireworks on tv tomorrow morning!


and a big thank you to all the people who have served our great country.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

some goodness.

one night, i received this text:
“check next to the front left tire of your car.”

and this is what i found.


yum.
yum.
yum.

so the next day, i was inspired to make a little goodness of my own.


and boy was it good.
absolutely, positively one of my new favorite desserts.

and yes, both of these recipes were made from our freshly picked blueberries.
and for those of you who have asked, we picked them right here.
but you’d better hurry because you only have a couple weeks left to do it.
although, their other location has some great stuff to pick year-round .

and, for those of you who would like the recipe
for the ice cream cake i made for B’s birthday, here it is
(this is my mother-in-law’s recipe – just slightly changed):
bake an angel food cake from the box
break the cake into bite size pieces and drop them into an angel food cake pan
make one layer
put vanilla ice cream on top of that layer
pour chocolate syrup over the ice cream
repeat the angel food cake, ice cream and chocolate syrup layers until the cake pan is full
cover with saran wrap and freeze

Now arise, O LORD God, and come to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
May your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
may your saints rejoice in your goodness.
2 Chronicles 6:41

121. a sleeping baby on a beautifully sunny afternoon
122. having the windows and doors wide open
123. finding an incredible PT for L
124. an open spot in the new PT’s schedule
125. holiday weekend dessert plans.
bet you thought i was going to say holiday weekend plans.
nope. B’s working
all
weekend
long

one lonely bug.

K and i had a girls only date today.
we of course, went to starbucks.


but we then went to coffee bean, to pick up a little something for B,
because that’s what he prefers.


her eyes reveal that she is a silly, silly girl.
my eyes reveal that L had a night waking last night.


this poor little guy must have thought he won the jackpot…
until it started getting really, really cold.
i found him when i took the popsicles
out
of the freezer.


and if you think i look worn out,
you’re absolutely right.
i was a bit chipper this morning.
but only a bit.


in moments like this,
i really appreciate that the color of our popsicles match our table.


K seemed to enjoy hers but then dropped it on the ground more than once.
and more than once i had to pry it from her hand to wash it off.
gross.


happily eating outside.


first bite of popsicle.
ever.


wait for it…


and success!


needless to say, he
loved
loved
loved
it.


just chillin’.


and if he could do it,
L would give you
two
thumbs
up
for summertime.

116. strawberry popsicles
(made from the foam i scraped off of the fruit rollups we made for my birthday)
117. the youngest two asleep by 6:30pm
118. driving through the clouds to the sunshine
119. new bathing suits
120. a clean floor under the dining table (all too rare)

building books.

what have we been up to?


a lot of hanging around, reading books.
that’s what.
K prefers reading books from big stacks.
even while at Grammy’s house,
K promptly removed the books from a basket to stack them.
she goes through about forty five books a day.
i only wish i were exaggerating.
that makes for a lot of books
that need to be put back at the end of each day.


we’ve also been using those books to build all sorts of things with blocks.


but mostly libraries.
seems only fitting.


we’ve also been putting weird toys on our heads.

111. K’s desire to help me fold the laundry
112. a long soak in the bath
113. nothing on the schedule for tomorrow
114. planning for a trip
115. reading the Word and coming across the verse
that passed through your head earlier in the day.

putt putt.

yay for birthdays!
we just celebrated B’s birthday.
and you know that i love a good birthday celebration.
my husband loves this country
and since we are nearly to the 4th of july,
i figured it would be fun if i made a red, white and blue cake.

this was the beginning of the ice cream cake that he requested
unfortunately, i don’t have any gel food coloring, so my red turned out pink.
fortunately, it didn’t matter because the cake was so delicious.
phew.

for part of his birthday wish, he wanted
the whole fam to go mini-golfing and then out to dinner.
we grabbed our clubs, we each picked a different color ball
and B grabbed a scorecard.
about ten seconds into the first hole, he recognized how silly that was.
all rules were thrown out before one of us even teed off.
at one point, i saw K accidentally kick her ball
and once she realized that it went a lot further using her foot,
she kicked it again.

even though the red club was the medium size,
K had to use it because it matched her hat and her ball.
even L got to go on the greens.
the kids were kind of spooked by this hole until B showed them how it worked.
then, they wanted to play it again and again.
back in 2001, i made my very first
hole
in
one
ever,
on hole #11.
that’s probably when B fell madly in love with me.
i nearly made it happen again.
nearly.
and if any of you watch modern family, B experienced a very phil birthday.
same mini-golf course.
same batting cages.
and yes, it was awesome.
while we were eating dinner,
we realized that in the one year that L has been born,
that was the first time that we were all out to dinner…
without anyone else there (a.k.a. any grandparents) to help.
needless to say, we made it through the meal.
just barely.
today, K and i set up our inflatable pool in the backyard.
of course, it was one of the gloomiest days around here yet.
it even rained (barely) this morning.
but that didn’t stop the kids for one instant.
since the water was fresh,
i declared it close enough to a real bath
and jammies were put on right after they exited.
i think they put in plenty of toys.
106. celebrating B’s birthday
107. an understanding husband when i fall asleep while watching a movie.
even on his birthday
108. meeting another little one with the same diagnosis as L
109. being encouraged by that little one’s progress
110. L getting approved for a couple extra weeks in our mommy-and-me
without even having to fight for it.

capture it.

these days are going by so quickly.
when my head hits the pillow each night i can’t believe i’m there again.
once more.
it is such a daily reminder to capture motherhood.
capture it.
embrace it.
love it.
snatch it up.
soak it up.
drink it up.
so that at the end of each (sometimes long) day, you long for them.
the moments.
you yearn for those moments that mesh together to form a day to stay.
to linger just a bit longer.
to not leave
and not turn into the next day
and the next day
and the day after that.
but here we are.
firmly and completely in the next day already.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34

101. finding lost photos
102. the humbleness that comes with knowing the photos were lost utterly and completely due to user error
103. a cleaned up house
104. a very early bedtime (for little L)
105. a delicious dessert waiting for me (thanks, Laura!)

one. year. ago. again.

it’s {embrace} the camera day!


eating these delicious cupcakes we made for an early birthday celebration for B.


mu little K, stealing my heart at a mommy and K only
tea party and nail painting session.


the happy little man.

thanks to Auntie B’s sweet momma for the reminder,
today marks the one year anniversary of bringing little L home from the nicu!
we were so excited to bring him home and begin
whatever this new life was going to be all about.
and boy has it been a new life.
for us all.
it was one year ago that i was able to start nursing L.
it was one year ago that we could hold L whenever we wanted
and for however long we wanted and
we didn’t have to ask anyone for permission
or try to maneuver him around cords, wires, monitors, feeding tubes or ivs.
he was ours and ours to keep.
and boy are we grateful.

and this has been currently rocking my world.
Kat is so incredibly incredible.
she is hearing God speak to her and is sharing it.
if you are a mom, you must subscribe to her blog.
right.
this.
second.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
Psalm 67:1-2

96. transferring all of my photos onto a new drive and only losing all of june
(i just keep telling myself… it could be worse, it could be much, much worse.)
97. sweet prayers from D that i would find all of the missing photos
98. a good cry (over lost photos)
don’t we all need a good cry every once in a while?
99. swinging in our front yard
100. receiving unbelievably encouraging words from a sweet friend. thanks, Britta!

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