tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15368802113439268802024-08-28T04:49:28.926-06:00The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.comBlogger529125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-40534424331951145222010-12-28T19:35:00.000-07:002010-12-28T19:35:30.034-07:00

I had been toying with the idea of changing my blog address. My blog traffic was in the toilet while I was only sporadically posting and it's been hugely increasing for the last few weeks. Before things take off too much, we're gonna skip on over to a new address. I've imported all the old posts and comments over there and will be posting over there from now on. So bookmark the new link!

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-12294535376958996592010-12-28T07:14:00.000-07:002010-12-28T07:14:00.334-07:00

Let's face it, New Years Resolutions never work out too well. But goals...with a measurable objective and a regular progress update, that's another matter entirely. So I'm going to try my hand at planning, and sticking to, a few goals for 2011. Save at least 10% of our income: This means cold, hard, emergency fund cash. Paying towards student loans or the mortgage doesn't count. Only money

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-90872592606830819962010-12-27T07:28:00.000-07:002010-12-27T07:28:00.139-07:00

At the end of 2009, I did a post to wrap up the year. Seeing as how the end of 2010 is upon us, it seemed appropriate to make up a new list:Josh successfully defended his dissertation in JanuaryI started a quilt and began a quilting 101 series in February (a little thing called "Secora" got in the middle of my grand plans with these, but they are nearing completion)We found out I was pregnant in

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-90908655880478094682010-12-27T05:27:00.001-07:002010-12-28T00:12:04.036-07:00

It's cold here in Montana (surprise, surprise), so we've been doing more hot meals, even for breakfast and lunch. Last week, Josh and I made up a batch of wraps to keep in the freezer. We've been using this recipe for about 7 years now. We go through periods where we eat these for lunch every single day for months at a time. They're tasty, and reasonably healthy and very easy to "grab and go"

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-37861968857216912562010-12-26T07:40:00.001-07:002010-12-26T12:56:31.569-07:00

I grew up celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve, and that's still what we do, so Friday was our big day. Started out by making the big Christmas dinner (which we ate at lunchtime because it just worked out better). I let the girls have real champagne glasses for their sparkling cider and they thought that was pretty cool. After lunch, Sedona took a nap while Sierra made her cookies for Santa.

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-44695147588879898702010-12-24T23:14:00.003-07:002010-12-24T23:17:06.376-07:00

Merry Christmas.....from "sugar and spice" We had a great day here yesterday, I'll get a post up in a day or two!

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-59812199951182898332010-12-24T06:38:00.000-07:002010-12-24T06:38:00.337-07:00

Santa got a little confused and dropped off my Christmas present 6 weeks ago. Still fits in a stocking though ;-)We always celebrate on Christmas Eve, so we're gearing up for a big day around here tomorrow!

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-73798904848732642712010-12-23T07:30:00.000-07:002010-12-23T07:30:02.307-07:00

On Monday night, we had clear skies and a good view of the lunar eclipse. It was also 11 degrees though, so I wasn't interested in staying outside to watch. I picked a spot on the sidewalk and every 15 minutes, I ran out, stood in the same place and took a picture. Apparently my photography skills (and/or equipment) leave a lot to be desired because you can't really see the red that showed up

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-53380673737589534372010-12-22T06:46:00.000-07:002010-12-22T06:46:00.658-07:00

Recently, the big girls helped me do some baking. We made Mini Gingerbread Cakes (which only need half the amount of frosting they tell you to make) and Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting (which need the batter doubled to make bigger cupcakes) I forgot was too busy eating to take a picture of the final product

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-39770366980404145162010-12-21T07:35:00.000-07:002010-12-21T07:35:00.885-07:00

It's been a while since I had an all out rant and I'm feeling a little rant-y.I've recently come up against a very small group of people I describe as "militant unschoolers". Let me clarify right off the bat, I am NOT talking about people who say, "Hey, have you checked out this book?" or discuss their own homeschooling methods on their blogs. Those things are just contributing to the

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-61531210025977237252010-12-20T07:26:00.000-07:002010-12-20T07:26:00.212-07:00

For a little while now, I've been helping the kids make gingerbread houses each year. I always make and build the house from scratch, and then they decorate. They're nothing fancy, but maybe as the girls get older, they'll choose to do something more elaborate. Hundreds of years ago, Nuremburg, Germany became the "gingerbread capital" of the world. Master bakers, called Lebkuchler, would

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-64245027134250872152010-12-19T06:15:00.000-07:002010-12-19T06:15:00.509-07:00

When we first got back to Montana, there was a lot of snow on the ground, but everyone told us that was really unusual for this time of year. Sure enough, it eventually all melted. This morning there was NO snow on the ground. I was really starting to get a little ticked. There wasn't any snow on the ground and there wasn't any snow in the forecast and I just feel like if it's going to be

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-75356723736837281392010-12-18T07:44:00.000-07:002010-12-18T07:44:00.415-07:00

I have this theory. Okay, it's not really my theory. It's something I heard from someone else years ago (when I was working at WIC, I think, but I'm honestly not sure). But the theory makes sense to me.Babies don't want to be put down because they're afraid a bear might eat them.Hear me out.It's not at all advantageous for babies to be content with being left alone. In certain times and

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-64007662661806478682010-12-17T07:38:00.000-07:002010-12-17T07:38:00.086-07:00

I had the girls make their own ornaments this week. First, I glued popsicle sticks together and let them decorate themAnd of course we had to get out paint, because everything is better with paint When they were done and dry, I printed a picture of each girl and glued them to the frame. Voila! Instant Christmas ornament (not sure why the pictures look washed out, they're not like that in real

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-55601178298571370872010-12-16T06:54:00.000-07:002010-12-16T06:54:00.132-07:00

In the past, we have always used stockings that have a bit of family tradition behind them. You can see them in the background of this picture (yes, my dad got a popcorn machine that year...the girls love it. The plain stocking on the end is the dog's) My grandmother made us all these stockings when I was a kid. Right after we got engaged, my mom made Josh his own stocking that matched for our

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-40186478519829456472010-12-15T07:12:00.000-07:002010-12-15T07:12:00.211-07:00

Sierra lost her second tooth a few days ago. Kinda hard to see, it was the bottom right one. The grown-up tooth on the bottom left is already about halfway in and I think it pretty much pushed the other baby tooth out of the way. I was sooooooo sick of hearing about that tooth. Several times a day, every day, for weeks she would start talking about how loose it was. And she was right...it

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-25546623956372397562010-12-14T07:05:00.000-07:002010-12-14T07:05:00.527-07:00

Before Secora was born, our homeschooling days were pretty relaxed. Sierra loves worksheets, so we have workbooks for each subject and I would copy worksheets she needed a few days ahead of time. I decided what she was going to do each day based on how far along she was in each book and on her requests. So, if she was through week 12 of spelling, but only week 10 of science, I'd pull out some

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-54944322839888086002010-12-13T07:15:00.000-07:002010-12-13T07:15:00.207-07:00

I accomplished a few things on my to-do list this weekend and probably added ten more. Josh got the mudroom cleaned up. I want to do a little more organizing (maybe tomorrow while it's relatively warm) and then I'll do before and after pictures along with an explanation to help out any other poor sap who moves 2,000 miles North and needs to suddenly know the best way to set up a small mudroom

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-58602646364184313352010-12-12T08:35:00.001-07:002010-12-12T08:35:00.181-07:00

An old high school friend does these fabulous update posts and takes pictures of her kids with a sign saying their age. It seemed like a great idea to me because sometimes the pictures get mixed up and you forget when they were taken, but if the date is in the picture, no problem! So, I'm stealing her idea and going to start updates on Secora. I can't believe Secora is already one month old!

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-75528163338781757092010-12-10T15:47:00.004-07:002010-12-10T22:50:15.580-07:00

Last weekend was tree decoratin' time in the Hill household! Secora can't help, so she cheered from the sidelines. This was her inaugural ride in the same swing we used with Sierra Here's Sierra in it, for comparison's sake Secora promptly fell asleep and the rest of the family set about decorating the tree In no time at all, it was all done. You may notice areas where 3 or 4 ornaments are

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-3755445729776734522010-12-10T07:26:00.000-07:002010-12-10T07:26:00.150-07:00

About 2 years ago, I discovered a fabulous Pumpkin Scone Recipe. I had never made scones at all before, but these sure did go fast at home and at book club meetings! Over time, I've changed the recipe a little based on ingredients I usually have on hand and to make more scones. Here's how I make them now: 1 3/4 C. all purpose flour 1/4 C. cornstarch (makes them less dense) 3 t. baking

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-16123306883684761862010-12-09T06:26:00.001-07:002010-12-09T06:26:00.258-07:00

Totally candid shot...moments like this make me wonder if I'm going to end up with 20 grandkids one dayIn my group of mommy friends, there are quite a few women who just had or will soon have their third baby, so I've had a few questions lately about how it's going juggling three kids. I had a feeling number 3 was going to be the easiest and, so far, that's held true for me. With the 1st baby,

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-200707424677460452010-12-08T13:12:00.002-07:002010-12-08T13:31:40.783-07:00

A few months ago, I found out about a website called Ebates. I don't know why no one had ever told me about this before! Ebates gives you a percentage back when you shop online. There are over 1000 stores you can shop at and get cash back. As an incurable skeptic, I wanted to spend some time getting all cozy with Ebates before I recommended it to anyone else. I signed up for my account (easy)

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-63700036004053077342010-12-08T07:07:00.000-07:002010-12-08T07:07:00.279-07:00

Today, I made my children stand in the kitchen and re-learn the words to Santa Claus is Coming to Town as a discipline tactic. Okay, it wasn't actually today because I wrote this post a few days ago and scheduled it to show up now (I so love that feature). But nonetheless, I totally went for exploiting the love/fear of a jolly fat man rather than supervising one more stinkin' time out.

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1536880211343926880.post-69546000306718574832010-12-07T07:16:00.000-07:002010-12-07T07:16:00.076-07:00

On the 4th day of our trip, we drove from Albuquerque, NM to Moab, UT. Originally, we had planned to stop somewhere around Durango and take the time to see a few more national parks, but we decided to shorten the trip by a day instead. Before we left Albuquerque though, we wanted to make sure we were set to drive over snowy mountain passes. We called a Discount Tire, but they didn't have

The Hillshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16367218862060995637noreply@blogger.com0