Category Archives: Family

Disney Social Media Moms: Some Quick Pics Day 1

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We started our AMAZING Disney Social Media Moms celebration with some GREAT family fun at Magic Kingdom. Then, I was able to attend a press event for the 20th Anniversary of Disney Weddings. (I TOTALLY want to renew my vows at Disney now.) Finally, we were treated to a FABULOUS family dinner and fun on the Grand Floridian lawn.

I’ll go into more detail when I get home, but I know you want to see some pics.

After checking into our hotel, we headed to Magic Kingdom. It is CROWDED this time of year. One of the reasons we’ve never been in March. It’s still FUN though!

We ran into Ohamanda right inside MK.
We stopped for a quick pic and then she and her hubby were off to park hop.

The view outside our balcony. We’re at the Grand Floridian. Yes, I’m getting spoiled.

What greeted us at the Wedding Pavilion. We all filled up boxes for our “kids.”

All the ladies received fun “Bride Mickey Ears.” I’m wearing mine proudly.

I was so excited to meet Lou from WDW Radio. My Sweetie LOVES his podcasts and videos, and I got my picture taken with him JUST so I could text it to my hubby. SO fun.

Those are just a FEW of the pictures I took. More to come in the days (and perhaps weeks) to follow!

Disclosure: My family and I were given accommodations and park tickets at a reduced rate as part of the conference. In addition, Disney has treated us as wonderful guests complete with special surprises. All opinions are my very own.

Surprise: The Reaction

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WOW! We had some serious traffic on the blog yesterday! Everybody wanted to see how we were telling the Princess we were going to Disney World for the Social Media Moms Celebration.

If you missed it, we made a video telling the Princess SURPRISE and explaining what was going on. She was ABSOLUTELY surprised.

When I picked her up at school, she was complaining that she didn’t feel good. Her tummy hurt. She felt achy. I was seriously trying not to panic. We’ve had a rough winter, and it seems she’s only well for like three weeks at a time. We’re nearing the end of the three weeks.

I ushered her out to the car where she was surprised to see Daddy. We were supposedly heading to the dentist (at 1:30 in the afternoon) and Daddy doesn’t usually go with us. We sat her in the car and gave her my laptop on which to watch the video we had made. Daddy recorded her and I took still shots. This is the (unedited) reaction:

Now, those of you that don’t know my child might think that’s not much of a reaction. Those of you that do will know that the grinning from ear to ear and eyes shifting back and forth is pure joy and excitement while her brain tries to adjust her entire week’s schedule to the fact that we are going out of town. (She gets that from her mama.) She was THRILLED. She was EXCITED. She was SURPRISED.

After the being overwhelmed wore off, she started to get really excited and by the time we hit the FL state line was giddy. Interestingly, she’s been much more appreciative this trip than any other one. She’s been here at least nine times – always in the fall. It seems that changing it up has made her realize it truly is a gift and blessing to be able to come.

And it is SUCH a blessing to be at Disney for this conference. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us! I’ve got some posts lined up as I don’t know how much time I’ll have to actually blog while I’m here. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and share them with you when I can! If you twitter, be sure to follow me (kathill).

Surprise!!!

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Today is the day we head to Disney Social Media Moms. To say that My Sweetie and I are excited is an understatement. We have been bursting. Why bursting? Because we haven’t told the Princess yet that we’re going! As in I took her to school today, and she thinks its a normal Wednesday with soccer practice tonight. But it is in no way a normal Wednesday.

WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

How we have kept this a secret I have no idea. It has been SO hard! However, I think it’s going to be worth it. This is our one and only chance to surprise her with a trip to Disney. We go every fall so going in the spring is totally out of the realm of her imagination. We can’t wait to tell her and watch her reaction.

The biggest question was how to tell her. We decided to make a video to show her when she gets in the van. I’m picking her up from school a little early. She thinks she has a dentist appointment. (FYI – She HATES the dentist so was dragging to start the day.)  When she sees Daddy in the car and the car packed, she’ll know something’s up. We plan to show her the video below right away to explain the surprise. I can’t wait!!

The plan is to record her reaction. We’ll share it with you as soon as you we can.

It’s been ONE Month

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One month ago my best friend went to dance with Jesus. In some ways it’s gone fast and in others slow. I’ve counted the days, each and every one. Each morning they are marked in my brain. Two days ago, she was gone. A week ago we said good-bye to her earthly body. Three weeks ago I gave the eulogy at my best friend’s celebration service.

Giving the eulogy at your best friend’s celebration service is NOT something you should do before you’re forty. (Yes, I have a few more months before I’m forty people!) What’s worse, she was only thirty-five. For thirty-five years she lived on this earth. For thirty-five years she shone God’s light to all who encountered her. Many were blessed to know her. I was honored to call her my BFF.

Do I miss her? OH YES I miss her. But, I don’t miss the her that died a month ago. I miss the her that cancer took away from us months before that. I miss my BFF. I miss the lady who made me laugh and then cried with me when I was sad. I miss the woman whose babies I fed and who cackled when her son peed all over me. I miss my friend who made the best banana puddin’ around. I SO MISS her.

While I miss her, I rejoice that she is no longer here…suffering and in pain. She is finally healed. For that, I dance and I sing…. even while I cry…

For those that have requested, you can read my eulogy on her Caring Bridge Page on the March 4th Journal entry.

If you have a moment, pray for those of us who are grieving for Katie today, especially her husband and two children.

Things I Love Thursday: Girl Cousins

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I’ve talked about the girl cousins before… last year as a matter of fact, but I just can’t help sharing a few more pictures.

This relationship continues to amaze me. I don’t have a girl cousin. (Well, not one that I’m close with at all.) I don’t have a sister. I have a step-sister and a half-sister, but we never lived together or even in the same city. So this relationship between the Princess and E fascinates me. It fills my heart so much it wants to burst at times. I LOVE to watch it unfold. I KNOW it is a relationship that will last a lifetime. It is a relationship that will get them through many trials together. It is something I truly LOVE!

Linked to Things I Love Thursday.

We’re bored inside! What to do?

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After watching my Facebook and Twitter feed for the last twenty-four hours of all the parents lamenting the fact that they are “stuck” at home for another day with their children, I thought maybe we all needed to take a different perspective.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m ready to get back to the normal routine, especially since we just had Christmas break. I have a full-time job that I can do from anywhere. So, I’m working from home and having to balance the time with the family and the time with the computer.

However, what a gift this time is…truly. It’s as if God took a look at our crazy, insane, go go go lives, and said, “You all just need to pause and spend time together.” Then, He trapped us in our houses to make it happen.

Here are some ideas of things that you can do with your kids (young and old) today.
The pink ones are links.

1. Cuddle in bed and read a book.
2. Experiment with your leftover candy canes.
3. Make shakers with empty water bottles and beans/rice and have fun making different rhythms as you dance around the house.
4. Bake a batch of cookies for home or to deliver to a neighbor.
5. Clean out the toy box. Make it a game.
6. Make edible snowmen.
7. Play charades.
8. Have a drawing contest. Put a still life in the middle of the table and have everyone draw it from a different angle.
9. Act out your favorite fairy tale.
10. Have a dance party with your favorite tunes.
11. Make homemade playdough.

  • 1 pkg koolaid
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 3 tbsp cooking oil

12. Make homemade goo.
13. Make cereal necklaces with Fruit Loops or Cheerios.
14. Make puppets with lunch sacks and markers.
15. Make Tie Die Coffee Filters.

Those are just some ideas that spilled out this morning. I’m not sure what we’re going to do today. I know we are going to do some cleaning. And, then, we might make some goo. My Princess loves playing with goo…

What are you going to do today?

Works for Me Wednesday: Sledding without a Sled

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In case you haven’t heard, there has been just a bit (like half a foot!) of snow here in the ATL. And people, it ain’t going nowhere! As in, we are all snowed in, which isn’t a bad thing really. The first snow day we had a TON of fun sliding down the hill on the golf course, so we headed out there for a second day.

The problem was, the nice neighbors who had lent us their awesome sleds weren’t out, so we had to use our own stuff. I have an great sled with runners from back in the day, but this snow wasn’t good for that type of sled. We needed something slick that distributed the Princess’s weight evenly so it would go fast.

So, we tried….

A swim ring.

A boogie board from our last beach trip.

A pool boat for toddlers.

The verdict – the pool boat worked the best, especially when weight was distributed across the sides and no booty was in the boat. Then, another neighbor came out with his two girls, a can of silicone spray and two trash can lids. We shared our pool floats, and he shared his silicone spray, and they got some good speed going down the hill.

Sledding without a sled… it works for me… and it works for her too…

Linked to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

Top Ten Tuesday: Snow Images O1.10.11

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It snowed Sunday night in the ATL. I mean it SNOWED. We usually get a dusting here in the South. I’ve done other posts about snow in the South. We’ve played in it before. We even made indoor snowmen while waiting for it.

However, this snow we had Sunday night. It was some SERIOUS SNOW. There is over half a foot on the porch. People, we don’t get that much snow down here. Well, not since 1993 anyway. Needless to say, Monday was a snow day. Tuesday will be too. I have a feeling we’ll have another one on Wednesday. I’m just hoping the sun comes out and does some thawing because the temperature at my house…it’s not supposed to be above freezing before Saturday. Ya, that’s some winter weather ya’ll.

I thought I’d show you ten images from yesterday, Monday, a GREAT SNOW DAY!

My girl after a GREAT morning in the snow.

Daddy sending her down the hill in front of the house.

Daddy pulling her back up the hill.
Such a NICE Daddy!

Daddy pulling the girl and her friend towards the golf course.

Getting ready to go down the hill on the golf course.

This is the ultimate sled.
We are so getting one for next time.

Going down the hill on the Snowboogie. Wahoo!

Snow Angel

Look how DEEP the snow is!

Bringing in the snow for SNOW CREAM!

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday at Ohamanda.com.

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Letter 2010

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Merry Christmas from the House of Hills!

I thought I’d do our Christmas letter Top Ten Tuesday style again this year.

Here’s a quick look at the year 2010 at the House of Hills

 

1. We SOLD our house in Woodstock! Yes, the House of Hills is no longer in Woodstock, GA. It is now in Cumming, GA. We’re actually in a temporary situation right now and are building a house that should be done some time in February. We are loving the short commutes. David is down to 20 minutes and I am down to 8 minutes. Whoop!

2. Maggie is in the 3rd grade. Yes, she’s in the third grade. I’m not sure how that happened. However, we’ve got a very grown up girl on our hands who continues to enjoy school and reading. She has joined the Science Olympiad team and always comes home from their meetings super excited about learning. She’s adjusting well to her new school and loves her teachers.

3. We finished our current Small Group. Just last night we had our last meeting with our small group. We had many AMAZING years with those couples and our Monday nights will never be the same without them. We are excited to meet some new couples and start a new group on our new side of town in January. So Cumming friends… we’re looking for some couples to hang out with us!

4. We had an AWESOME Operation Christmas Child party in November. We celebrated my birthday by packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was SO MUCH FUN that we are already planning next year’s party.

5. I got seriously bloggy in the year 2010. If you’ve been hanging around the blog, you’ve noticed that I really stepped it up this year. In fact, I’m in the process of buying my own domain and doing this blog thing FOR REAL. I’m attending my first blogging conference in January. I’ll be heading Nashville for Blissdom with several of my local bloggy friends. It’s going to be AMAZING fun! I plan to learn LOTS!

6. Mags and I went to our first G Day Game. We had tons of fun with the Burson family and got to cheer for the Dawgs no matter who had the ball. It was a great time. We then were able to catch an actual game in the fall. GO DAWGS!

7. We went kayaking as a family for the first time! While in Edisto with Grandpa and Grandma Dot, the House of Hills ventured out on the water in kayaks. It was a true adventure! We had lots of fun even though the Mags didn’t make it in the water long. She got a little sea sick and asked to go back in pretty quickly. David and I shared a kayak and our marriage survived. We thought this was a true accomplishment!

8. We continue to be blessed as a family by where we work. David and I continue to be honored and humbled to do the work we do at our perspective jobs. We both work for amazing organizations who do so much to impact the world for Christ. We have lots of fun at work too. If you don’t believe me, check out this video of the North Point iBand. Then, check out this video of “Santa Went Down to Georgia” featuring one of my coworkers. Ya, we laugh a lot at our jobs.

9. We went on the Disney Cruise this year! We had an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING TIME on the Disney Cruise in September. We went to celebrate David’s 40th birthday (and Maggie’s 8th). We sailed out on a Sunday evening and returned on Thursday morning with perfect weather the entire time. We’ve already decided to go on another cruise and plan to take a 7 -day one this time for sure!

10. We made it to Magic Kingdom in November this year. We had planned to go to the parks after the cruise in September, but Maggie was hit by the flu while on the boat so we rescheduled for November. This year we went before Thanksgiving instead of after and LOVED it. The parks were empty (well, as empty as they get), and the Christmas decorations were already up! I highly recommend that week for enjoying the magic of Disney without the insanity of the crowds.

We wish you and yours a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and pray that the new year brings peace, love, and joy.

 

30 Day Give: Day 17 – 25

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30-Day Giving Challenge

I haven’t done a great job of keeping up with letting you know about all the giving the House of Hills has been doing. We’ve just been too busy giving and vacationing!

Having done our biggest give of the month with our Operation Christmas Child party, the rest of our plans seem rather paltry. However, we’re continuing to give as we see needs.

*We sent coupons to a family stationed overseas through Coupons for Troops over at The Happy Housewife. I was so excited when she said she had more families in need a few months ago. This was the first of many packages we will be sending. I love that there is someone who can use my unused coupons!

*I sent a beautiful burp cloth from Studio MCA Designs and a restaurant gift card to a new mom. I’ve got another burp cloth to give away so be looking for that soon! Here’s a preview of the one you could win!

*I sent a t-shirt that I had bought at my friend Katie’s fundraiser to a friend of ours because she wanted one to honor the occasion.

*I gave bags from Thirty-One Gifts with Disney cups and the new North Point Christmas CD to all my siblings’ families. They were a huge hit. Each individual piece was met with cries of “ooooohhh.” It was fun to give a gift  just because.

*I bought a package of glow sticks at BJs a few months ago when they had them out for Halloween. I brought them along to give to the cousins one night during our trip. There were enough that I could give this gift twice – once on Tuesday night and once Thanksgiving night. Oh. My. Goodness. The fun that was had running around with glow sticks after the sun went down. INSANE FUN! A highlight of the trip this year I think. We will add this to the permanent Thanksgiving trip list for sure!

*I was courteous and helpful to people in the Disney Parks. This my friends is a GIVE. It was amazing to me the lack of manners and patience of people while they were supposed to be on vacation.

* I bought the Princess a silly light up glow thingy at the Disney Parks. I usually don’t purchase this particular item and make her use her own money. However, I decided to give to her this year.

*We got the Princess’ silhouette done at the Magic Kingdom. We have gotten this done every year (except one we forgot) and given Grandma a copy for Christmas. Hey Grandma, guess what you’re getting for Christmas!

I’m sure there are other little things we’ve done in the last week that are escaping me right now. I know that when I went to bed each night, I felt like a “give” had been done. And that’s the point isn’t it. To go to bed each night feeling that you’ve somehow done something to make the world a better place than it was that morning when you woke up. You could be doing something as simple as holding the door for a mom loaded down with toddler and shopping bags to something as dramatic as spending the day in service of someone in need. Each act affects someone. Each act shows God’s love. Each act is a GIVE.