Picture Link to Joseph's Baptism...

View Album at Shutterfly


Please click here to view the pictures from Joseph's baptism on Sunday...the story is below.

A Wish Fulfilled....

Joseph was baptized this past Sunday at Eastridge Community Church. We have some really great pictures from that day. It was a day that we will never, ever forget. Joseph had been waiting for this day since November.

Our family and dear friends were there to witness this precious site. It just made it all the more surreal to be surrounded by our nearest and dearest. Joseph was awe struck at the people that came to support him on this day. He kept saying, "Mommy, is everyone here just to see me?" I said, "YES! This is a huge deal and they love you so much that they wanted to see you and celebrate this glorious day with you. "

I was pleasantly surprised that Joseph was not one iota nervous. I kept asking him if he was okay, if he had any questions about being dunked in the water, any questions about what the preacher would say, if he was nervous about the water being cold, if he understood he had to hold his nose?I asked all of those over-protective, motherly questions, and he just kept reassuring me that he was A-OK.

Before everyone lefe, were able to get a big group picture of all that were able to attend. I am so glad that he will have a snapshot of that day and all who could share it with him.

We are beaming with pride, love, and joy because of our son and his decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Joseph, we encourage you to follow His path for you and you will never be led astray. "Be joyful always pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. " 1Thessalonians 5:16-18

Our pictures are posted on our Shutterfly website. You can click on the link above in the top post to take you there. I am not sure if this one below will take you straight to the album without signing in first. I am still working out all the kinks with this new website. If you are not a member of my Shutterfly site and want to become one, you can once you go to the site. They will send me an email confirming you as a member.

www.thehillfamily1998.shutterfly.com

It has become too tedious for me to post pictures on my blog and on our Shutterfly account. So, I have included a link to our Shutterfly website. It just makes it easier for ordering, enhancing, cropping, etc., to have them all in one place.

Blogging has become something of an afterthought lately. I have been so overwhelmed with daily life...housework, school work, carpooling, soccer games (for 2 kids)...it is just getting harder and harder to find the time. It helps to have this new Shutterfly website, because I can just "write" on here, and then send you to the link to our pictures pertaining to a certain post.

I am very tired, my eyes feel like they are crossing, on that note, good night...


hitting the sack,

Jill

A Debbie Downer....

Okay, this will be short and sweet. Now that my blog is private I can share even more, right? Lem will be thrilled about this. He just can't seem to stop me from being so personal and just so, so...........female! (I love you, Lem)

I am tired today. I love being a stay-at-home and wouldn't trade it for the world. But, my brain hurts. I feel depleted today. Presley is so full of energy and life and I love that about her! In fact, while typing, she came in here and tripped over my shoes. She is now crying with superior drama and sitting in my lap. I love her. I am just exhausted. Negotiation after negotiation with a 4 year old certainly wears you down.

Today was the last day of a bible study on Daniel that has been going on for 24 weeks...YES,24 weeks! It has been such an eye opener for me in so many ways. After the study, I thought to myself...wow...Daniel was incredible and inspirational. I shudder to think of how I shrink in comparison to such a person. I feel like I struggle to find even 5 minutes alone with God these days.

I know that this is just the season that I am in right now. Please don't think that I am complaining about that. I love more than anything my kids at this age. I have said more than once that if I could freeze time I would do it right now! They are the perfect ages, so inquisitive and intelligent, and always learning. It is a joy to witness.

Certainly Daniel felt this way at times, right?? Certainly he questioned if he was doing a good job, or if he was doing enough to serve the Lord? God knows my heart. He knows my yearnings and my desires. He created me.

God is good, even when I am not so good, he loves me anyway. His patience with me is limitless. Thank you, Lord!

Okay, vent session is over...I feel better already.


I love all of you, my faithful friends and family. You make all of this worth documenting with your encouraging emails and cheering-me-on comments. Thank you!

down..but not out,

Jill

To clip or not to clip....

This weekend I came to a startling realization. I am not a coupon clipper. I am not proud of this by any means. My friends have inspired me to clip, compare, clip some more, power shop, power save, and all of those other stimulative actions. For the last two weeks, I have worn out my search engine looking for coupons and deals to help me in my arduous task of saving money on groceries.

I was beginning to think that maybe I was really "cut out", pardon the pun, for coupon clipping. "This isn't so hard", I kept thinking to myself. "I can do this...Yay for me!" My husband will be so proud. He will reward me with a big fresh bouquet of flowers, on sale of course, because of all of the money that I am going to save on our grocery bill.

Wrong. As I printed out my coupons today from Smartsource.com, I was eager to get my grocery cart and do some serious shopping. My shopping day is today, Sunday, so here I am, coupons freshly printed. The ink aroma from the coupons is nearly intoxicating as I see the amounts imprinted on them with the money that I will be saving.

As I put on a fresh coat of lip gloss and head out the door, I am all the while thinking...."I am such a smart cookie. This is going to be a breeze and I am going to be able to get that new pair of shoes, because I will be saving so much money!"

I get in the car and glance in the mirror. Yikes! I had forgotten to brush my hair. Yes, my lip gloss was fresh, but my hair was a frightful sight. I had been playing with the kids and completely missed the fact that I had a huge tuft of hair falling out of my little hair barrette that had been placed there early that morning.

I reach for my purse and find my old faithful wide tooth comb. A little of this and a little of that, and my hair is put back together ready for public viewing. Then, something told me that maybe I should check my coupons. I am sure it was my pride, just wanting to get a glimpse of those new pair of shoes, OOPS, I mean, just wanting to make sure the coupons were safe and sound in my purse.

Slowly and delicately, I pull my treasured coupons out of my purse for one more prideful glance. By the way that I was holding them, you would have thought they were a rare piece of expensive jewelry. Gentle and not wanting to bend or tear them, I hold them up once more.

As I admire them for the last time, I notice something that I had not noticed before. In the upper right hand corner there is an expiration date. My first thought was, "Good thing that I am using them up today. I am so savvy!"

My next thought is, " Whew, I barely missed the expiration date. March 21st, that's a close call."

Suddenly my face goes pale, and I am certain that I must have looked as if I had seen a ghost.

"OHHH NOOOOO!!!"

The coupons had expired......yesterday.

Needless to say, my bubble had busted. The wind was gone from my sails. I was just another shopper, just another Mom.....who doesn't have coupons.

As I moped through the aisles of Ingles, I felt like a failure. I was too disappointed to even think about what was going into my buggy. I had my grocery list, but the spring in my step had left my tired feet.

I checked out my groceries, and uttered a barely audible, "No, Maam," when asked if I had any coupons to use.

Despite the impasse, I left Ingles that day with a fresh new perspective.

I decided that there are a zillion other ways I can cut back without having to be a slave to coupon clipping. If I had a coupon, GREAT, but if I didn't, that was okay too. I was exhausted trying to find who had the cheapest grapes, or who is having a bogo offer. Ugghhh! It was exasperating to me.

But, if I am being completely honest, I must confess that I greatly admire and envy all of you coupon clippers and deal getters. It is something that I aspire to attain. Perhaps I am not only lacking the skills, but also the patience it requires.

So, alas, I will only be a mere understudy until I learn the ropes and finally get the starring role of....... "Coupon Mom".


putting my clippers away,

Jill

The Water is Warm....

On August 5th, 2001, a special little boy was brought down from heaven and straight into my arms. His name is Joseph Lemuel Hill. I knew from the first time that I saw him that he was no ordinary boy. He had a light inside of him from the very first breath that he drew. I have told you his birth story before in previous posts, (back in August, I think), so I will spare you those details again.

Joseph asked to be baptized back in November. On November 24th, 2008, he asked Jesus Christ to live in His heart and to be his Savior. (Again, that whole story is on my blog as well). I will never forget that day and he won't either. Well, since then, he has asked many times to be baptized. We have been fervently looking for a church home for this to take place. We had been visiting a church in this area for over a year, but decided that it was not quite the right fit for our family and we wanted to pray for God's guidance on where he wanted us to belong.

We stumbled upon Eastridge Community. Needless to say, we haven't tried another church since. It seems to be where God wants us, and we are thrilled!

Joseph will be baptized at Eastridge on March 29th. He will finally get the one and only thing that he asked for on his Christmas list to Santa.

Joseph, we are so proud of you. God is even more proud of you. He loves you so much.

**one more thing about Joseph...i have to write these things down, because my ADD brain will have forgotten them by tomorrow....

We took our dogs for a walk tonight. Which is, by the way, a rare occurrence these days. Our poor dogs don't get out much with our busy schedules. Back to the story...Joseph loves walking Holly, our Jack Russell. She is smaller and much easier to guide than our Siberian Husky, Aspen.

Joseph whistles for Holly to come, stop, go , whatever he wants her to do, and it is the cutest thing. The reason it is so endearing to me is because he makes the same noise that Lem does when he calls her....kind of like a clicking sound. It is identical to the way Lem does it, and it is precious to watch Joseph call her the same way.

After our little family walk, Lem and Joseph took the dogs down to the basement and back into their little doggie world. As they were telling the dogs goodbye, Joseph leaned down to kiss Holly (our dog) goodnight. Lem said that Joseph then bent down and prayed.."Now I lay me down to sleep" with Holly...the whole prayer.

Can't you just picture that little piece of heaven?? What I would have given to witness such a sight!! Lord knows that I would have been scrambling and rummaging for my video camera and would have missed the whole thing. I am sure of it.



beaming with joy,

your mommy

Safety First....

Since I started blogging, Lem has been on my case about posting such personal information and pictures about our family. He loves reading our little blog, but he does not like the fact that just anyone in the free world could stumble upon it.

With that said, I am making my blog private. It will be available for only invited readers. I am quite certain that anyone reading this blog is a friend, friend of a friend or family. However, just for safety's sake, it will be private none the less.

If you would like to be on the "invited list", please leave me a comment or email me at lemandjill@gmail.com so that I can add you to the list. The only difference will be that you have to log in and have a pass code. I think after you log in once or twice, you will not need to log in again in the future. When you enter my blog address.... www.keepingupwiththehills.blogspot.com it will take you to a log-in page. You will enter your email address and a password that you decide on. It will then take you straight to my blog site. Simple, right? :)

In no way, do I want to exclude anyone from this list that has been a faithful follower. So please make sure that you let me know and I will be more than happy to give you access to this little blog of ours.

Blogging has been an outlet like no other for me this past year. Actually this month marks my one year blogging anniversary. I know I tend to get very personal, very aggravated, very insecure, very sentimental, and all of those other insanely overused adjectives, but it is a place where I can just be me. It is also a place for me to share the everyday moments that we have as a family, the good the bad and the ugly.

For safety's sake,

Jill

Snap, Crackle, and Pop.....

Presley came running into the kitchen 2 days ago exclaiming, "LOOK!! I can snap, I can snap!"

"Wow, that's great, darling!!", I replied excitedly.

Joseph then walks into the room hearing all of the commotion and says...

J: What's she yelling about, Mommy?

P: Look Joseph, I can snap, I just learned how to snap my fingers!!

J: (looking intently at Presley's little snapping fingers) Hmmm.. well, that's not that big of a deal.

P: Let's see you do it, Joseph.

J: Who cares if you can snap or not, it's not that cool.

P: Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah....I can snap, and Joseph can't!!

Oh boy. Here we go. The sibling rivalry once again rears it's monstrous head.

I can't help but feel bad for Joseph. Presley is just a different personality, and a self-learner to the finest. She won't wait for anybody or anything if she wants to learn a new trick....such as...snapping her fingers.

Joseph, on the other hand, inherited my laid back, blase attitude, and only gets motivated when threatened...in this case, by his little sister.

The snapping saga ended today when Joseph comes home from school exclaiming...

J: Look, Look, Look, Mommy!!! I can snap, I can snap too!

Me: Joseph, that is so great! Mommy is so proud of you...what a big boy you are!

Presley: (rolling her eyes in her best 4 year old fashion) I learned that two days ago, Joseph...old news.

The life of a parent....never boring, never subdued, and always entertaining.

snapping along,

Me