Pictures

After her 1st haircut

Before her 1st haircut

Owen & Lydia at 'oyster stew' night.
Mikey, Jillian, Lydia & Owen - all 2nd cousins, or 3rd, can't remember. But they're cute!

Me, Lydia & Jillian. The kids wanted to bring her home. Owen cried when Troy said NO!

The Hill annual Christmas Letter

Christmas 2009 with The Hill Family

Greeting’s all. It’s the end of 2009 & I am not on cloud nine. I’ve realized Parenting doesn’t get any easier. I think I’d like mine to be babies again, not toddlers just 2 years apart. Whew….I’m struggling this year getting everything accomplished before 12/25. I sure hope it happens. J The children are as busy as ever. With lots of changes this past year, please read along for our 2009 excitement.

January is always the dull month, so we’ve spiced it up by celebrating Lydia’s birthday some days late. Which she won’t realize til she’s older. I hope she’s okay with that.

February, Troy and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We had planned to go away for the night, but unfortunately with timing, others schedules and a budget it didn’t get to happen. Troy also turned 32, and with this he seems to think that he is too old to add anymore children to our family. I think he’s got the right idea some days. My patience is about paper thin. But there’s still that yearn in my heart that wants more. So we’re pretty sure Lydia was our caboose to the Hill Family Train.

March we have quite a few birthdays in our family and close friends that are celebrated. 1 special one this year was a western themed party. Cowboy Birthday Boy, Kyle Higbee. He turned 5 and started Kindergarten in the fall. Counting down the days till my son goes, ha ha ha. March also dropped a new job right in my lap! I am very blessed for this, because it has provided more for our family, socializing with adults for me and just overall a good experience. I am currently employed at Edgewood Surgical Hospital in Transfer, PA in the Business Office. With that we started building a new relationship with our sitter, LeeAnn. She’s a great Christian woman with a loving family. My children love to go there.

April as always brings the Iroquois Economics Seminar. I get to work with a past co-worker. We get to catch up, sip wine, and rub elbows with the elite. Always a fun day. I especially enjoy the prime rib.

This past summer our Alabran extended family found a new convenient place for family to gather in the nice weather. CP Park, It’s great! The kids love it, the adults love it, and Molly got to go once, too. Your wondering who Molly is….be “Patient” read on.

June was a short month for us, as I covered summer vacations at work. So the days flew by. Unfortunately the end of the month brought us to a big upset…. Brownie our then 5 yr old chocolate lab developed a huge mass on the side of his head. He had to be put to sleep. I held him until his final breath, it was the hardest thing I’ve yet had to do. My Brownie was my protector, my friend for life and my 1st baby. We got Brownie with my ‘last’ ‘single’ tax return, but also our first purchase as Mr. & Mrs. Troy Hill. It was bittersweet. But I knew it was for the best. Our family just didn’t feel complete, so I started on a mission to find another dog to love. I found MOLLY! I wasn’t real sure Troy was going to go for this, but he gave his usual “wellllll Okay” head nod. Molly’s a red/brown Dachshund. She’s about 14lbs now, big change from Brownie’s 115 lbs. But we love her to death and she’s decided she doesn’t like to be ‘dressed up’. I’ve gotten some super sweet deals on dog sweaters/outfits though….wonder when she’s going to realize this…..she’s a female, she’s got to understand!!!! Some day I keep telling myself. She gives me an ashamed look when she’s dressed up.

In August our house was about to change in many more ways, yet again. If Id a known Id a buckled my seat belt! Troy’s parents got rid of their Green Blazer for the Clunker program as did Troy’s sisters family.

Harold & Marlyn got a 2010 Chevy Equinox and the Leise Family got a Pontiac G6. Troy and I must have felt out of the loop, because we got my first “brand new” vehicle, 2009 Pontiac Torrent. I LOVE IT. It’s roomy, nice riding, cute looking, and functional. There are so many sensors to tell me if something’s wrong. It has a built in cell phone and OnStar, I feel VERY safe!!! And it’s my favorite color…blue! Troy’s now using the Tracker as a daily vehicle to try to give the ol’ truck a break. Which it does make sense, sort of weird seeing him drive around in it. He decided to get a garage door system for ‘his’ side of the garage, it’s in the process….like the swing set…like the old front doors in the front yard….need I say more…. I need a ‘Handy Manny’ Owen tells me he can do it!!!

Premier Designs, How many of you have heard of it? Well now’s the time. I am a Premier Designs Jeweler. I started this in August at my 1st home show/training show. I’ve had 13 great shows and would love to show you my jewelry some time. It’s fun, exciting and rewarding. Premier Designs is a religious based company out of Texas. The founder’s (Andy & Joan) I will get to meet at my first Regional Conference at the end of January. I am very excited. It’s also my first big Premier Designs event. The jewelry is multi functional, cute and classy. We get to see the new jewelry line for spring at Regional’s.

The fall just seems to creep right up on us with the Great Stoneboro Fair. It’s always a zoo around here that week. But the kids enjoyed it. Owen and Lydia rode their first fair rides. The day after the fair was over was Owen’s very 1st day of Preschool. I DID NOT CRY!!!! I looked over after dropping Owen off at another mom and she was sobbing….I was grinning…. I was happy, I was excited…. Owen was off to keep others busy instead of his mom. Ha ha ha. We’ve noticed a big difference in him since he started. He is having fun and we’re making lots of new friends. Even mommy is too. He truly keeps me busy and on my toes. I love the new things he comes up with lately. 12/21 he said to Troy….Dad we need to build a fire. Santa needs a place to come in. And we can hang our socks on it. He was thinking if you didn’t have a fireplace Santa couldn’t come and leave presents, and socks he must be thinking stockings…they’re hung in the kitchen on the knobs to the China Cupboard.

October is my favorite month. But this October I’m not real sure. The guys were super busy in the fields. That means more alone time with the kids. Some day I will get used to doing a lot on my own. I do realize that Troy is a very hard worker and if the field work doesn’t get done it does have a chain affect on the farm. And the children love the farm more than anything. Owen seems to be the ‘field work’ type and Lydia seems to be the animal lover. Owen has started getting closer to the cows, but only at fairs and shows. Lydia talks to the cows. It’s cute!

Because of working I was able to start my Christmas shopping a little early. So after many much deserved years Tara and I were able to get the chance to head to Pittsburgh for a girl’s day out. We had a blast. I experienced ‘The Cheesecake Factory’. I was in heaven! Well it seemed with all those desserts. Owen turned 4 and we had a Halloween themed birthday party. It was a blast, I was even a Queen!

In November Troy & I attended our first Parent/Teacher Conference. It was better than I thought. I was certain the facility was going to have ‘Owen Hill’s parents’ phone number on speed dial. But he’s doing well. Time sure does go so fast once Thanksgiving is over. Then it’s time for Christmas cards, letters, etc. I’ve decided that I need to start blogging, here’s our site:

http://4hillfamily.blogspot.com/

Have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2010!

Sincerely,
Troy, Michelle, Owen, Lydia & Molly

Crazy Weather

MY 2 FAVORITES I MADE TODAY 12/9/09

SORRY I CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO ROTATE, THIS IS A BDAY CARD I MADE TRYING A FEW NEW COLORS, OLD OLIVE AND ? I FORGET THE PURPLE OCOLOR NAME

MOLLY SNOOZING ON THE SIDE OF THE COUCH.

OUR STOCKING ARENT EXACTLY HUNG BY THE CHIMNEY W/CARE.

THEY'RE HUNG AT THE CHINA CUPBOARD...BUT W/CARE. DOEST HAT COUNT?

KIDS WATCHING TV TOGETHER

This weather is absolutely NUTS!

It was freezing this weekend, the Monday it was cold and snowed, Tuesday it was cold and windy, today it was so windy and rainy. So windy that we lost power from shortly after 2pm to almost 530pm. The kids weren't real sure about it. Owen kept going to turn on lights, and screaming because we had more light bulbs to fix. He's little 'fix it' these days. So they played and I worked by daylight on about 12 new Christmas cards. I have hardly been able to pick up my Stampin Up stuff and make some cards. I did do 2 birthday cards this week.

Yesterday I had my great uncle's funeral. Before that i met my best friend for lunch at my favorite restaurant. It was such a nice treat to sit and talk, uninterrupted, eating my favorite meal there. Then off to the funeral. Im going to make a dress requirement for my funeral. I just think it's so disrespectful, I know some who had jeans, sneakers and so forth on have better. ohh well. I dont think my Great Uncle cared too much.

We went as a family to deliver a load of hay, then off to this little place to get a Christmas tree.... I think it's a blue spruce, we only paid $25 for it, it's nearly 7' tall until Troy gets to hackin at it. lol. Which hopefully will be tomorrow and when I get home from work I can decorate it.

Last night Troy said to me when we got home that he'd like to take Owen with him to take cows to the sale and off to lunch at Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet. That was nice. What a shock though. Lydia wasn't impressed at all that she didn't get to go. So her and I had lunch, picked up, dragged out the Christmas decorations and so forth. I finally found my good black dress pants that had been missing since middle of Oct...they were in my summer clothes that Id packed away. Ohh well. I'll keep a closer eye on them. I got the house decorated. Need to get a day the kids and I can put together a few foam sets we bought last year to assemble. Maybe next week.

Tomorrow is school and work for Owen and I. I dread every morning, he doesn't want to get up, I want to get up, get dressed, look my best and he fights me and I then get all stressed. I set my alarm for a little earlier tomorrow. We'll see if that works. I cant' wait til he can go 3 days a week for 1/2 hr longer. Will be so nice. Then when he starts kindergarten in 2011 fall Lydia will start preschool 2 days a week. YEA!!! Its hard to believe that Lydia will be 2 at the end of the month and to think I remember so clearly being pregnant with her at Owen's 2ND birthday and I thought he was such a big boy and expected too much out of him. Funny how that happens to the oldest child. So I'm trying to slow down, enjoy it more, be more patient, some days are truly harder than others.

I'm kinda of excited, but not really about going shopping Friday all day with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law. Don't get me wrong I have a good time usually. I just dont have a good pair of sneakers, not very much more to buy(Lydia bday, Joanne bday, Joanne cmas, tom cmas, pete and Harold cmas, AND savanna cmas and I am done) I wait until we both get paid on the 18Th to get the gift cards I need. I took stock of everything the other day.

Well Lydia's since stripped since I started typing this. Owen's sound asleep, Molly is trying to sleep but Lydia just wont leave her alone.

Until next time......

It's been a very very very very long time.

I truly need to do this at least weekly. With as much as the kids grow and change. It's really a great idea to do it. It's just to get myself loged in and do it. Maybe I just need to set my calendar to an appt schedule. lol.

Today we went to a craft show at the church where Owen goes to preschool. IT was truly nice. I am about finished shopping for my in laws....need to get solar lights for their front yard and some gift cards. I am done with my mom except her annual calendar that I create at walmart.com with photos from the previous year. She really liked hers last year. I still have no idea what to get Troy, all the ideas I told him I gave to my in my in laws. But thats ok. I do get him a Farmer's Almanac every year. Lydia's getting a doll house, clothes, shoes, and a few other toys, Owen's getting clothes, movies, books, small toys and we have yet to decide what his big gift is. My sister-in-law is being very generous and getting him his bed that he desperately needs.

I cannot believe that Christmas is in a few weeks. I dont even have my cards made!!! I can't belive it. Im so slacking this year. Nothings decorated either. Not a shock because Troy really does slack at getting us our tree. Maybe this weekend or this coming week. He always likes a real one. Im contimplating next year just doing an artificial. We'll see. I think a live tree is such a waste of money.

They're about done combining corn. Thank heavens. This year seems to have been weird. Troy did cut his thumb pretty bad last night, but unsure how bad, just saying what he told me. I didn' tlook. He had it all wrapped up.

Molly will be 8 months on Dec.18 It is truly amazing how well she fits into our family and how much joy she brings us. She still doesnt like her sweaters and would rather freeze outside. If she
only knew what she was missing.

Lydia is up to a size 24 mos/2T and Owen 5's. It's amazing how fast they grow. They're both 95% or higher for their heights, Owen's up there for weight and Lydia's under. They're so tall and she's so skinny!!! Both 'toe heads' to speak. She's got fine hair that won't allow for very many barettes. He's got thick wavy hair. I think it's about time for her 1st trim and him a trim as well. I am trying to grow my hair out to it's natural lt brown color. But Ive noticed a few of these really weird colored hairs ............. GRAYYYYYYYYYYYY~~~~ I am a bit shocked. ohh well.

New Addition

Molly has joined our family.......

Sleepy Spoiled Puppy

Poor Molly never gets a rest!

Until the kids go to sleep...then she snuggles in bed w/mommy

Sunday June 28 our family went to look at 3 Dachshund puppies. The kids had a blast w/all of these pups running around. We told the lady we'd decide which one and let her know within the hour. So we went to Arby's and sat down to have dinner and discuss it. WE picked Molly the chubby lovable one. It was hard to decide. But we did it. So of course w/a small new puppy we needed to get some new supplies (puppy food, puppy collar, leash, etc).

Tuesday July 1- I picked Molly up after work. The girls I work w/wanted to see her. So we did a parking lot introduction to Leslie, Stephanie and Georgia. She shook like a leaf the whole way home. Never cried though. We did come up with Molly in the first hour that she was home. Troy decided the finalization. Our other names were Hannah, Miley, Katie, I think that's all I remember. She never cried when I put her in her cage for the night....however when Troy camehome she cried and cried and cried. Troy slept in the recliner w/her on his chest all nite.

She did wimper to go outside the first few days, then it went down hill. She kept peeing on the towel on the floor in front of tub when I was bathing. She's doing well though.

Tuesday July 7 - Molly goes to her first vet appointment. She weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz. She passed all the tests. No fleas, worms or parasites. Dr.Clark said she looked GREAT! They trimmed her nails, we got a free puppy kit w/1 mnths supply of heartgard and flea protection.

I did talk in text to molly's old owner's...all her sisters are placed in new homes already. YEAA

Troy and Matthew made it to Texas for the National Guernsey Breeders Convention. They'll return Monday.

Lydia said CHEESE, YES, UHOH, THIS all within a week. AMAZING!!!

I can't wait to be done working for 2 weeks!! Im off for 2 whole weeks. Im sure it'll all get booked up. But at least I dont HAVE to be anywhere on a timeclock. I love where I work and waht I do, but 3 weeks in a row is tough w/2 lil kids 3 and under, a puppy, a busy husband and a house.

I really need to get w/it!!!

Im sorry I am not doing very well getting this updated often...I'll try from now on because in just 3 wks our family changes so much as do the kids.....

I've been forgetting lots, haven't been able to clean for my sil, depressing. Guess that is what happens when you work.

We'll start w/last monday I started working for 3 wks, then I get a 2 wks break, work a week and am off all of August... gonna be sad when the paycheck doesn't come in....but my house needs major cleaning (Ive already started my list, even for Troy too lol).

So Well I guess back up a few days...

Sat. 6/20 we went to Porter's 3rd Birthday Party at the Hartstown Firehall. owen was terrified of the firetrucks and Shannon put Lydia in a firetruck and she refused to leave it!!! We had a great time, good food and great socializing. Lydia made a mess eating, but had a good time. Porter's cake had a sock monkey on it (GROSS!!!). Kidding....Im wondering if Cheryl really reads this...she'll be rolling on the floor laughing. The kids played w/toys, balloons, got to see the trucks, eat and get press on firetruck tattoos. It was great.

That night we headed to Meadville's Thurston Classic to possibly see the balloons. Well we were 20 mins past the time they were to decide whether they were going to fly or not....ANDNOT A BALLOON in sight!!!! So as promised ot the kids balloons, headed to the 'dollar tree' for $1 mylar balloons (Owen's a blue star and Lydia's a Disney Princess themed one). Staples had some GREAT deals and we too advantage of that. Then did a 3 wk grocery trip...well things are getting low and we've only completed 2 wks. But at least it's just bread, milk, juice kinda stuff so easy!

Sunday 6/21 FATHERS DAY: The kids got Troy a new fancy tape measure, Owen's broke 2 or 3 of them. (lol). Troy milked, then we met Dad, Helen and Savanna w/our crew at Applebee's. We had the BEST food ever. I decided I don't like margarita's and if I ever want to order one I'll order w/o salt or w/sugar on edge of glass. EWWWW salt and a nice beverage doesn't mix. Afterwards we gassed up, got the Sunday paper and headed to dad's w/my laptop and Mail's pc in hands. Hers , we think, is fixed. Who knows w/her. Then home to bed and...now we start Monday.

My drink that wasn't so great! Minus the salt woulda been GREAT!!!

Dad and Savanna 2 1/2, Lydia 1 1/2 and Owen 3 1/2.

6/22. . . . i trained for registration thru Thursday and was alone Friday and then through July 10 am registering patient's alone. I think it's gone pretty well. After I returned home Monday I was letting Brownie (our 5 1/2 yr old male choc lab, we've had him since March 2004). And I noticed his side of his face was swollen like a baseball size. He had gunk coming out of his eye and his ear was swollen at least 1/2" thick. That previous weekend he'd been crying every time he moved his head and was just looking old!!! So Tuesday we made such a hard decision to have him put to sleep. Pnut and Aunt Mary met me at the vet's office, and the kids were dropped off at Mom's. It was so hard on me. I checked in, made my check out ($105) got him weighed (93 lb, was 115 the previous august). We had a few moments together, the vet came in, gave him a shot in his IV , she said now this is going to be fast. He laid his head down, and that was that.... Off to sleepy land, peacefully, no pain, without a whimper or sigh. :-( The office sent us a card a few days later.

I cried the whole way to work that morning, and the next. It took a few days before I could go downstairs to throw his pillows away, clean up the shedded fur, empty his food dish and close up the bag. We are now shipping 2 full 50lb bags to the farm and 1/2 of one. ohh well.

Thursday after work mom met me at Walmart, and we picked out a new sweeper! I LOVE IT!!! Used it last night for the 1st time, I moved some furniture around. I like the new TV in it's new spot and the book shelf as well. I ran into an old friend, Lisa, we got to chat a little. We met Aunt Mary and Pnut for dinner. And it started to pour, so there went our plans for Kids Carnical at Riverside park.

Thursday I also began to think about another dog already. I asked Owen did he want a dog or a puppy. I seriously was considering a dog, but with kids guess we'd better not chance it and just get a puppy so it's used to kids. I wanted something small. Medium to small sized, non shedding (funny huh , it's a damn dog...gonna shed!).

Friday I also worked, alone w/no one watching me. . . . . don't really remember what we did.

Saturday- June 20 : Tara and I had planned to go to Deer Park. After serious consideration with factors taken into it like Jamestown yard sales, weekend, and nice weekend for campers that they'd probably be busy. So her in laws were out of town. We swam from 1130-330. It was fun. Owen wore his back pack thingy and had a great time diving off the board, jumping into 11'. Made me nervous at 1st, but then realized he does great w/his back pack on. I sunscreened the kids and I 2x. Im burnt! The kids are tan!!! WTH??????? So...it was about 3 or so...Owen jumped into 11' and didn't have his back pack on. Tara jumped in and saved him! Talk about hear stopping. The lil bugger realized he didn't have his pack on when they got to the stairs. ohh well. I'll be peeling like the snake skin I found in my flower bed last evening in a few days. ewwww.

We headed home and not even 3 mins in the car both kids were zonked out! too cute! Shoulda taken a picture. Stopped at a yard sale, got buns at Camp Perry. Troy called me on way home and said he got a tank for our grill we've used less than 20x we got for him last Father's Day. I was so excited. So we had yummy burgers on the grill for dinner. AND I had found on sharonherald.com's classifieds:

3 dacshund female pups the price and telephone #...I called the lady on her cell, she text me 3 pics and Troy and I decided to go sunday to look at them. The 3 are sisters, 10 wks were born 4/18, dad on premise and mom is at owner's . The lady was a little weird. But we decided an hour later we'd get the chubby female that was loveable. The black/tan one is hyper and the skinny one is shy. So we headed to walmart to get puppy supplies. The collar is so cute!!!! And to get Mil's pc and home we came!!!

SORE BURNT me laid around all evening and couldn't sleep very well.

I'll post pictures maybe this weekend of the new puppy. I get her tomorrow after work. I cannot decide on a name. Here's what we're thinking:

EVA, ALLIE, MOLLY, MILEY, MAGGIE, ABBY ? ?? ? ? ?

????We had 9 mos to decide w/the kids we've got like 2 days with the new puppy.

~sorry for any typos, as most know we've got a broken laptop screen. We've found a few brand new on ebay, but Ive got to figure out what is wrong w/my paypal acct. That Ive got a 1-800 for and need a moment of quietness. ROFLMAO. . . with 2 kids under 4 that's a joke!!!

Busy Boring Blah

Well right now I just feel blah. Not real sure. Maybe it was from my boring day today compared to yesterday. I seem to do so well mood wise if I continue to keep busy......

Yesterday we were so busy with my cousin's open house. I took Hot Chicken dip and Andrew's photo collage over to his open house, set up the table where his stuff was and plugged my dip in and left. Apparently some family members didn't like that. But I only live less than 10 mi away and 10 minutes. I knew if we were there (the park) an hour and a half before the photographer was scheduled to come take a bunch of family pictures, the kids would NEVER stay clean. So Owen went with Troy to delivery a load of hay and Lydia rode with me. We ventured back home, got ready and headed back. I also knew the kids would be on family overload by the time it was picture time. The pictures turned out well as far as cooperation goes, we'll see when they get in....Im sure they're great. We were able to proof a few. YEA! Kara was very pleasant too. Aunt Billie & Uncle Chuck had TONS of leftovers....and we all moved the party to their house. Around 9ish I decided it was time to get the kids in their PJ's and head home (20 min drive)....they were SOUND ASLEEP when we got home. Unfortunately Owen realized daddy carried him in last night and woke up for a little while. We were in bed around 10 and sleeping. I tossed and turned all night. Must of been the 2 cans of caffinated pop I can around 7pm. Don't think I'll be doing that again.

Today Troy and I volunteered at Strawberry Days in the Mercer County Farm Bureau ice cream bootg. B-O-R-I-N-G!!! I took a few walks, saw a few people I knew..... I did get chocolate covered strawberry's from Shannon's Kandy Kitchen that I absolutely LOVE. But come on $6.50 for a 1/2 lb box. i usually only get them once maybe twice a year (Stoneboro Fair and possibly Penn Woods Craft show). Also found a booth selling towels, bags, blankets, bibs, etc cloth. I got a matching bib and blanket for a gift....it's farm print, for kids. And 2 handtowels w/matching pot holders, I picked up a friend a bday gift of pot holders that match her kitchen. I think though after I took a close look at them that maybe it's something I could try to make as gifts as August through December I really do not have alot of days to work. And it'd be something personalized, cheaper (I think) and useful that people woould use as a Christmas gift. We'll see. Mom got me a small sewing machine a few years ago and I havent even taken it out of the box.I don't know where to even start.

As I type this Owen is sounds asleep in unders in my bed, hope he doesn't pee. And Lydia's watching the Wonder Pets sitting in the kiddo chair I got for $5 at a yard sale.

So....Ive been thinking about a yard sale Aug 14 & 15...that's for sure I want to have one...but I can't make up my mind if I am done having children or not. 1 week it's YES we are done...then the next it's NO. So I think I had better only save what I truly like and would need that won't go back within 4-5 yrs. I say that because Lydia has to at least be in Preschool and Owen grade school, and my Mirena isn't due to come out until March 2014. It's such a hard decision. i do have a ton of stuff Id like to get rid of, and a savings for a Wii or Cricut I'd like to add to.

Troy's cousin Krista got home and had a horrible headache tonight, so we're specifically praying for her healing and well being tonight. I had mentioned to her about coming over tomorrrow. But I think I am going ot hold off for a few more days...I can remember all too well what she's feeling like bringing home a new baby, having a son at home already, a husband that works, a family that wants to visit and the pain of a CSection after already having a natural child birth....ICK. So I am going to see if this is okay with her...Im hoping it is unless sh'es truly set on me coming over. Mom's on vacation this week, so I am going to have her come sit w/the kids while I go visit and take dinner and a gift.

Well I think some little girl has a present, not a nice one lol, for me in her diaper. She needs a bath too. Guess Owen will have to wait til morning to get his.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!