My Maddy-moo

Here is (finally) my spotlight post on Madisen. She was born on April 24, 1999 in Corvallis, OR. Maddy, as she prefers to be called, is a by the book, follow the rules, never be late kind of girl. Having these traits in my oldest child is very helpful to me as a mother. While she does freak out (literally, she's going to giver herself an ulcer) at the slightest possibility of being late for school (we have to factor the chances of hitting a deer on the way, just in case), she also always has her homework done on time (usually early), and I never have to hound her to do it. These are just a few of the reasons Maddy is a fantastic young lady.

Being the oldest, Maddy gets a lot put on her shoulders, and most of the time handles it with good grace. Every once in a while I encounter the "why me?" response, but I guess that is to be expected.

Madisen is beginning to explore the world and what it has to offer. She has found that she enjoys cooking and photography and is getting quite good at both (she took the picture of the sunset). It is neat to see these talents developing in her and watch her learn and discover new things. Not to mention how the cooking is helping her with the fractions she's working on in math.

While I hate to see her grow up at what seems an alarming rate, I am so proud of the young woman that she is turning into. As her mother, I get to witness the potential that she has, and the world had better watch out, because soon, Madisen Lee Hill will be making her mark!

Ode to Ellie-belly, so sweet and smelly

So I think that I will do a special post for each of the children. Each one is so unique and special in their own way that I can't possibly lump them into any one descriptive group except to say that they are definitely "Hill's with a bit of Sorhus thrown in." Admittedly some of them have more Sorhus in them then others. Such is the case with my first spotlight (these are in no particular order, I just found these pictures that I'm assuming Maddy took). Elizabeth Margaret Hill was born on August 17, 2004 and is affectionately known as "Ellie." She is the our third child and has an older brother and sister.

Ellie is hard to put into words. To really get the sense of her one must really experience her. But given the medium, I suppose that you readers are not near enough to experience her, so I will do my best to convey some bit of her personality. If I had to sum her up in a word I suppose it would be gregarious - very prone to performance with a good bit of craziness thrown in. I have often said that she is the child that my mother wished upon me when I was a kid. She definitely has a mind of her own and does not hesitate to make her opinions known, and once she has her mind set on something it is very hard to convince her of anything else, whether it is taking a bath or wearing sandals in six inches of snow. I have learned with her, more than any other of my children, that sometimes they have to make their own choices and deal with the consequences.

So, on to the pictures, as you can see, she is not one to shy away from the camera lens. Aways a willing subject, sometimes I'll catch her posing while she's watching TV or something. When I ask her what she's doing, she replies with,"Mom, I was pretending that Andy was taking my picture." Did I mention that she has an uncanny ability to put that "duh" tone in her voice that tells you that she thinks you're an idiot? She may think that I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box, but she loves me anyway. That is another of her numerous talents. She is one of the snuggliest kids I have ever met. Granted our whole family is prone to the snuggles, but she perfected the art, at a very young age, of weaseling in between John and I and claiming the space as her own (may I also mention that she has passed this trick on and now Andy is just as good, if not better, at it than she is).

So to sum up, Ellie is the quintessential third child, who does not put up with being overlooked for any reason. She has made her own place in our family dynamic and we certainly wouldn't be as dynamic without her.

Ahh the memories...or not

Well, I've been scolded about not updating the blog. Let me just be clear that this was John's big undertaking, but alas, here I am picking up the slack. On the other hand, I suppose he is upstairs doing the laundry so I guess I can post a few pictures.

Earlier this week John and I had a chance to meet up with one of his old friends who came to town with the BYU Folk dancers. We talked about how things were going and caught up with the news of people from their old stomping ground. It was great to see him and find out what was going on with everybody. The thought struck me though, as we are all in the semi-same phase of life that these are the days that old people always tell us that we will look back on and miss. Seriously? Has time warped their memories, or did they do a little too much "living" in the 60's and 70's? Do they really remember those days, or have times changed enough that daily life was significantly different then? I don't think so. They had days like we have, the days that we struggle to pay the bills and not lose what little sanity and patience we have left with their children. The days that we feel like robots, getting up, eating, taking kids to school, doing endless laundry, helping with homework, making dinner, tucking in kids, and then falling asleep with the realization that you forgot to put deodorant on that morning. Oh well, the kids don't care, right? I guess it is that unconditional love and acceptance from our children (especially when they're too young to know any better) that spurs us forward and hopefully sometime during the day we lose the robotic actions and realize what we have been told for years, these really are the days that we will miss, long for and treasure when they're gone.

These are just a few picture of two of my little treasures/terrors.

P.S. The tongue thing is completely from their father, I have no other explanation and genetics is the only excuse.

Tracks

Maddy decided to document the different types of tracks in the yard.

Andy is addicted to playing the boxing game on the Wii.

Here Goes Nothing!

Andy insisted on wearing his underpants that Aunt Alli got him for his birthday last July. I'm not sure I'm ready for it, but we'll see how the first attempt goes.

It was a Great Party that Costco put on for its Employees. Check out the Hotties!! Anyway if you ever hear me talk about "Girls Night Out" this is the basic group of "wild" women that get together.

Well Christmas has arrived, and the end of the dog poll has been tallied. The Ayes have it hands down!! So Erin came up with a compromise. He is Big, Cute, And Stuffed. His name is Bernie and the Kids Love Him!!!

Why is it that most of the roads in Helena never get plowed? It would make it safer to drive & bring down our Auto insurance rates that are already high thanks to the deer. It would Invigorate the economy in different ways. 1) more jobs for Snow plow drivers. 2) People would feel more comfortable in going out to eat to movie or shop if they did not have to worry that they would get Hit just trying to get onto Custer or Montana or any of the main roads. In Utah the roads were plowed, sanded and if it froze, salted. Why not here? Andy is crying so I will continue this Rant Later.

So When I say Snugglers, I really mean Snugglers. Here are some examples of how things always end up with our kids. Even Grandpa Hill was not immune to the Snugglers.

I am overwhelmed by the amount of information that I feel must be put on this blog in order for you to understand what a bunch of Crazy Snugglers we all are. I could do a whole blog on just Ellie & Andy alone. So I apologize in advance for the lack of a real time line as I catch up on the last 2 years of pictures & adventures.

My Princess, Prima Dona, Child with most Attitude

Hi everybody,
We are just getting our blog up and running, so it may be slow in coming. Erin takes so many cute pitcures of the kids that I had to start a blog so I could share them. I will try to upload them as fast and often as I can.
John