A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels

These boys are the best of friends. So cute that at 3 and 2 years old they can be so fond of each other. We were watching a football game and it was bedtime for the boys.. Since it was Saturday Izzy came up with the brilliant idea to toss them in the big bed and put on a movie! Success!! They stayed in bed the entire time and when the movie was over they said--Time to go night night!

I love this one "Aunt T... you in my way!" HA!

Of course we had to have a bazillion blankets.. Winnie.. Multiple Mickey Mouses... a ton of pillows... and 2 good friends :) Oh this picture warms my heart a little bit.

Master of time out...

no not me.. Chaz.. yep, he has learned to put his toys in time out.. Today's victim.. Manny
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I was in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher and Chaz comes running in "momma, momma.. Manny in ti-out" "Why is Manny in time out? What did he do?" "He hit wall" So I travelled down the hall to check in out.. and this is what i saw
I asked him when many gets to get out of time out.. "in 2 meeits" We use one minute for every year of birth (Thanks Super Nanny) so he often hears.. you are in time out for 2 minutes because you are 2 years old.. Anyways, it was soon time to get Manny out of time out.. Chaz bends down to Manny and says "Manny, we no hit walls. Say you saw-wee. I love you Manny" Then he picked him up and gave him a hug..
I end this post by saying 1) chaz does not spend much time in time out 2) i think it is pretty cool that he really gets each step of the process 3) it is a little creepy that he is putting his toys in time out 4) i asked him later how Manny hit the wall--he picked Manny up and hit the wall with him.. and said "see Manny hit wall.. Manny, we no hit walls. You in ti-out" and the process starts again.. :)

and this is what happens when you ignore a recall....

So..I get a call from Ryan one night that he has run out of gas. Obviously I am very annoyed by this fact but I decide to go get him.. I mean he did have the kid with him :) So I head that way.... I get there (annoyed) and give him the gas can for his car (I won't even go into the struggle it was to get the gas can from behind the fence!?!?! in freezing cold weather) He puts Chaz in my car...SCREAMING.. Why? Well before his brilliant daddy ran out of gas he told him they would go to the bank to get a sucker (they frequently drive through the bank drive thru just to get a sucker.. cute) Anyways back to my story.. SCREAMING 2 year old in the back seat, Daddy putting gas his car and mommy losing all sanity over the current events! So I scramble into the bottom of my purse and thankfully recover a half pack of PEZ. Thank you lord!!!!! 2 year old is contained for the moment and Ryan has gas in his car. I asked him if he wanted me to follow him but he insisted everything was fine.. before pulling away I gave him a heads up that my phone was about to die.. So i pull away--happy to be heading home and happy that chaz is quite in the backseat......not 5 minutes later does my phone ring "my car is dead" UGH! Back to be the knightess in shining armor! I pull up and we jump start his car.. Again I ask if I need to follow him..."nope, all is good!" not so much... He gets home and says.. I wouldn't go in the garage if I were you.... so I did, duh?!?!

to see this.....Exxon Valdez oil spill 2010 in our garage!!!

Yep.. as he was heading down 265 he lost all electrical functions in his car.. the fact that he made it home was a miracle... there was an oil trail down 265, up our hill, through the neighborhood, across the driveway and into the garage..

So the next day I asked Ryan.. how does something like this happen? Did your car just literally explode? I began to feel really bad for being so annoyed of the events of the night before.. that was before I received this answer "well there was a recall a few months back for the oil hose exploding" He said it so nonchalant that I couldn't even respond.. Seriously???!? You get a notice that your oil hose explodes and you don't take the car in? C'mon now!

Thank goodness for AAA. "Free" towing in the morning. AND because the hose was recalled it actually didn't cost us a thing AND they had it fixed that day!!! Who knew such a crappy chain of events could really be no big deal.. We still have some oil to high pressure spray off the driveway/garage floor but other than that.. no big deal!

Chaz wanted to go outside and see the REALLY big truck.. he thought it was so cool!!

Welcoming the new year with.....SNOW!!

What better way to welcome in the new year then with a couple inches of snow. .. Although we were wimps and never got out and played in it! We were stuck on the hill for a day at the end of the week as there was literally no way out. We love our new house but there are good and bad things that come with living on the hill... Good thing: beautiful view Bad thing: getting stuck in bad weather and then there was this..so embarrassing but I will share anyways..Here goes-- by the time the weekend came we were stir crazy to get out of the house.. so we were driving around one afternoon. I told Ryan to turn back because there were some duck stuck in the icy pond.. Now in my defense it was literally 5 degrees outside.. and I am an animal lover.. So we pull back to see this...

All I could think was "oh those poor ducks stuck in the pond.. are they dead?" again 5 degrees... Anyways I told ryan to get out of the car and go check it out.. Why would I get out in 5 degree weather.. c'mon! He did, because he loves me, and then he laughed and pointed at me.. Yes, fake ducks.. what the heck??? I am sure it is a hunting thing but it really freaked me out that there could have been these poor ducks literally frozen in the pond.. Ryan assured me that real ones would get out.. well I am glad we covered that one..

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

So when Ryan and I were talking about what to do for New Years we ran through the options.....1) Big new years party? --nope, too tired after the holidays (and I had been sick all week) 2) Chaz to Gaga/Papa, us to Dickson? -- nope, Dickson is no fun on NewYears, many friends out of town and we are simply old 3) stay home with the kiddo and send out an invite for a small get together?-- SOLD!!! So that is what we did.. It was us, a few friends with kids (who went home early to put the kids to bed) and a few preggo friends and their husbands.. We had a great time!

Chaz actually had fun but you sure can't tell from the looks of this picture

Sweet Emily found the cat toys in a bucket and decided they were teethers for her.. don't worry they were brand new and the cats had never played with them.. I love this one because it is NewYears and she looks like she had been drinking.. hee hee

Old man Cameron..

The boys

Addison and Katy

Marcy and Cam

Me and Ryan

Ryan trying to open champagne.. FAIL!!

He finally got it open but made a BIG mess..

did i say BIG mess????

and i made him clean it up...

Addison brought a bottle of Whiskey.. the only reason i took a picture is because it was bottled on their anniversary.. very cool!

So with our little "party" i say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. I hope the new year brings new things, new opportunities, new friends, new family and so on and so on... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Every month there is a random....

and this is the one for December......

This was random crazy hair day.. Ryan thought it would be fun to spike chaz's hair.. and as you can tell Chaz was not having it! Ryan tried everything to get him to smile..

I probably took 15 pictures before a smile broke out!

and then we are back to NOT happy!

We had our Annual Hill Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.. this was my ultimate failure.. I literally took 2 pictures and the only reason they got taken is because Chaz wanted Sidney to open her present.. Seriously?? HOW? HOW did i not take any more pictures? For goodness sakes~ Geri looked like a tree, Ryan was in tights, drew in a sweater vest, Mike..i just can't even explain how good that one was! shame shame on me.. I appologize to all my festive friends!!!

Chaz getting Sidney's present.. it was probably the first present I bought and wrapped.. he pointed it out every day "dat si-ney present" So when she was actually at the house we could not deny him giving it to her right??

and the sweat pea said "thank you" what a good girl!
and back to more randomness.. chaz loves to cook with daddy (as you probably know by now) So he gets his stool and pushes it up to the counter.. "i cookin momma!"

He even got mickey a stool and cooking utencils--they were 2 measuring cups, a baby spoon and a straw.. interesting

My wonderful momma!!!

Hanging out with the folks.. I love these two kiddos!!!

aren't they precious??

Chaz thought it would be fun to pile up with Gaga, Kyle and Molly..

Dogpile!!!

He loves to check out the Santa train.. And after christmas we set up the train table. He thinks it is very cool but before we were smart enough to glue the tracks together we we constantly putting together the tracks.. so chaz felt it necessary to beat on it with a hammer every chance he got.. thank goodness that is over!!

He also thinks it is necessary to put every train he has in one long train... he had 13 trains! if you put them all together they don't make the turns.. Yep, try explaining that one to a 2 year old!

Here comes Santa (part 3--the finale)

So as tradition continues we head to the Hill's house Christmas afternoon (usually after naps :) This year we took a little more time at my mom and dad's to be lazy because in true Hill fashion things didn't go as planned (note: this is not a dig at the Hill's, simply a statement as we are always a little off kelter on that side.. heck there are almost more kids than adults so who can blame us!) Anyways the reason it didn't go as planned is because the Clawson Clan came down with a BIG bug. All kids, dad and grandparents were sick. We postponed for a day and then decided to push it back another day (to Sunday) just to try and keep everyone well. This worked somewhat but Dah still caught the funk.
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Some of us were able to gather Christmas night for what I affectionately called the Salvation army dinner. Poor Mah she had planned a real dinner (stroganoff) but with over half the family not coming she put that aside and made due with what was in the fridge/pantry (all the stores were closed) We had a surprisingly yummy smorgasbord of goodness.
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So the adults had some cold beverages and the kiddos ran around and played like there was no tomorrow. They didn't even talk about the massive amount of presents in the living room --good thing they are little! We even had a sighting of the Schmidties!

I have no idea what this kid is doing.. he loves to play in Mah's Tupperware (as you will see later) and was dancing in the kitchen like some crazyman!

This has now become a norm.. we put the kids in the highchair and put food on the plate.. then we retreat to the other room to enjoy the joy of eating as adults.. Don't judge.. it works! (and we don't do this at home :) The funny thing about this is all the parents forgot to bring DVDs so we decided to open one of Anna's presents early.. the kids are watching Tinkerbell.. it is ok though Dah rewrapped it and Anna was non the wiser.

Jackson was able to open one gift. more because it was unavoidable (it wasn't wrapped but instead had a big bow on it) He got a John Deere tractor...and because it snowed we sent them out to play!
HA! Chaz's hat is coming off and he looks like a conehead.. oh well he loved it!
Oh course it was below freezing so that fun didn't last long.. we tried to hide it in the garage.. but they found it. Cameron and I then devised a quick sneak attack on the tractor.. I grabbed the kids (kicking and screaming) and he hid it in a locking bedroom.. I know it wasn't the nicest thing to do but there wasn't the option to go outside and it didn't need to be driven in the house..
Soon they were fine.. I mean just give the kid a CapriSun and all is well right! Some rules can be broken on Christmas day right?!?!
Jackson giving Chaz a smooch!! Cameron said "only while you are little, otherwise it is just weird!" HA!
We did have a surprise visit from the Schmidts--they live right down the road from Mah/Dah but unfortunately this lousy picture is all I got of the kids.. oops! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then.. finally -- HILL FAMILY CHRISTMAS!!!! (on the 27th)
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It didn't take long before the kiddos (and by that I mean Dah) were asking "when can we open presents" Of course Chaz was saying "Anna, Santa bring you toys.. yeah?!?!" " Jack Jack, Santa bring you toys.. yeah?!?!" and so on and so on..

First presents are always the "unwrappable" so the boys got their Arkansas Razorback chairs. Chaz and Jackson also have them..

Of course Chaz could not understand why 1) his chair had duplicated itself and 2) brought itself and it's new clone to MahDah's.. so he wanted to sit in the chair.. We decided that was ok but decided that he should hold Brandon if he was sitting in his chair.. Chaz was nice for 2.2 seconds but then pushed his belly forward resulting in Ben being "removed" from the chair..

Kissing on Ben.. too sweet!

Our family got Anna a bathtime Ariel doll. Reason 1) her mom told us she wouldn't buy it for the price ..cheap mom (just kidding Meghan!) Reason 2) She is one of my favorite nieces (I have 2 and 2 on the way!) Reason 3) we found it (somewhat) on sale.. You can't really tell by this picture but i think he face hurt with such a HUGE smile! She was absolutely glowing! Score 1 for the Hills!

Anna got lip gloss from Mah/Dah and decided to try it out on her brother (this will not be the last time!) Poor Ben This is Ben looking at his Daddy.. if I had to guess what he is saying "Daddy seriously? You are letting Anna put lipgloss on me and Aunt T take pictures?? I have no dignity"

One of the biggest hits of the night were the shopping carts. The kids loved them!

Chaz had to get his tools to help daddy put them together.. what a good helper!

Ryan for some odd reason thought it was a good idea to put a 2 year old in the basket and let another 2 year old push him.. no injuries reported but it was still a bad idea Chaz ripping into some good stuff!!

And another set of goggles.. he loves them and I would hate to loose any so good thing every Black and Decker anything comes with a set of goggles.. Chainsaw!! Funny~ That is what Papa got Daddy-O....not that one but a real one :) Chaz thinking his rolling tool box could fit in his cart.. silly monkey

All the children/grandchildren got Mah/Dah a TV for their bedroom. We thought it would be a good idea to let the grandkids open it and surprise Mah/Dah (they thought the kids were helping Ben & Brandon open a gift from us.. they were so surprised when we said "A TV?? that isn't for B&B it is for Mah/Dah!!!"

When i say surprised I mean really surprised.. this is Mah crying. Note: is is our goal as kids to try and make Mah cry (happy tears only) at each and every family event.. It is like earning a gold star when you do it!

Chaz ripping into his new kitchen.. Yes my BOY cot a kitchen and he loves it! His daddy is the cook in our family and if you have noticed from old posts he loves to help his daddy cook

Dah and Brandon..

So Ryan and Cameron are morons.. Morons that we love! They decided it would be a good idea to shoot Sangria.. Really?? Yep! They shot one shot a minute for 10 minutes.. They really were not loopy.. more sick to their stomach from the sweetness..

Cute boy tuckered out from opening gifts all day.. i know it is a hard life..and yes that is a Linus shirt complete with blanket.
Chaz and Anna were watching TV. I wanted to take a picture but couldn't get them to turn their heads when they said CHEESE! So this is the result.

Jackson wanted to join in the fun.. again heads would not turn to say cheese

Finally we have the front of their faces!!!

I decided to toss the rest of the kiddos up there to get a good "cousins" shot

Look how sweet Chaz is huggin' Anna!

Chaos.. Chaz still trying to hug Anna.. Ben climbing on Anna. Brandon wondering why Jackson is freakin' out.. HA! That is what I get for trying to take a picture of 5 toddlers!

Jackson This is another favorite thing of the kids.. In the back room there is a pack-n-play.. the kids love to play in it climbing in and out.. Anna and chaz said they were going "nigh nigh"

Pretending to be "nigh nigh" complete with fake snoring If I didn't take this picture myself I would swear it was Brandon but it is actually Ben!

And another favorite of the kiddos.. TUPPERWARE!! They get it all out and either play with it on the floor or take it elsewhere to play.. today they loaded it all up in .. what else?? a shopping cart!!!

and took it to the backroom. They proceeded to unload it onto the bed and tol dme they were having a baking party.. where do they get this? I don't bake!

Baking party

chaz thinking a funnel is a horn and Jackson laughing so hard he can't even look at me!

more horn.. Sweet boy!

If a funnel can be a horn can't a bowl be a hat? why not?!?!
and to finish off the weird randomness Ryan put a clip on his lip and let Brandon continuously pull it off..note: this was not a gentle action but got tons of laughs out of everyone.
Look at Dah's face in the background! HA!
Nothing good can come from this.....

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Well after 3 rounds of Christmas I am sure you can tell we are surrounded with love from all angles. We have fablous parents, grandparents, kids, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends etc.. We woudl not be the people we are wihtout each and every one of you in our lives. We are truely blessed in all we have and everyone we know. Merry Christmas to everyone and we wish you only the best in 2010!
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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
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