WBW: Congrats, Grad!

It's Graduation time for many students across the country. So for today's Way Back Whens-day, I thought I'd post some photos of Chris at two very important graduations:

Kindergarten and...

College!

Check out that curly red hair in the first photo... yikes!

Want to share some embarrassing photos from your past? It's easy!


Step One: grab a button and to put on your WBW post (that will send readers here):

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thehillscountry.blogspot.com" title="The Hill's Country"><img src="http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac296/katiebhill/WBWR32.jpg" alt="The Hill's Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Step Two: fill out this easy form and a link will pop up here to send readers to YOUR WBW story!

Blueberry Picking with my Blueberry

Yesterday Chris and I took a break from the madness and had a little date at the Blueberry farm.

As you can see, I brought Baby Hill along.

Chris was a champion blueberry picker. He has abnormally long arms and was able to get all of the tops of the trees that everyone else passed up!

Ok, that photo is not the best at representing his monkey arms, but trust me-- he picked most of the blueberries!

After about an hour in the morning sun, Baby Hill and I had enough. So we left Chris to finish the bucket and headed back to the front of the property where they had... SNO CONES! There's nothing better than an early morning sno cone.

Chris kept picking for almost a full hour after I quit on him!

He's a trooper!

When it was time to go, we had picked a total of eight pounds of blueberries! I sent a lot of that over to my mom to make some pies (which I've had for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ever since!) and the rest are sitting in my fridge. I hear that blueberries are good antioxidants, and that's great-- because Chris and I have been eating them by the handful!

This was a very popular activity as there was a crowd even when we arrived at 7:45am! There were a lot of families with small children which at first I thought was super smart-- child labor! But then I quickly realized it was counter-productive...

Overheard at the Blueberry Picking Farm:
"Pick the blue ones. No, that's red. Only pick the blue ones."
"Do NOT throw blueberies at your sister!"
"Pick the blue ones!"
"No, rocks do not go in your bucket, just the blueberries."
"Only pick the ones that are blue!"
"Quit eating the blueberries from your bucket!"
"That's not blue... only pick the blue ones."
"Stay away from that bug!"

Maybe someday we'll take BH there when he's old enough to pick some blueberries. But I'm going to give him a pretty intensive lesson on picking blueberries before we do!

Dreaming of the Future

Lucy and Maria celebrated their first Mother's Day with my sisters-in-law, Jojo and Laura.

Jojo's house came with a swing set/play fort and Maria is just waiting for the day that she is old enough to enjoy it. Here she is showing Lucy her backyard and dreaming of the memories to be made...

"Someday, Lucy, we'll RULE that fort!"

May Dinner at the Hills

Chris and I hosted a little "bring your own dish" dinner the other night. Everyone brought a different piece of the meal and I'm happy to say it all came together well and tasted amazing!

I made a "looks so much more difficult than it actually is" dish: Artichoke Pie.

Really, it took me about 20 minutes to put together and people couldn't stop raving about how good it looked!

My pal Ashley made a salad (shown here with a slice of my "pie":

And Michelle (who's known among our friends for her amazing kitchen skills and hosting abilities) made Lamb Stew:

Delicious!!

Carrie made these craveable cookies:

I might have had more than one. Or more than two. Or more than three. Ok, I had five. Don't judge!

And since I was feeling lazy, here is a shot of the meal from my point of view:

Ashley, Carrie and K-dog on the left,

Robert and Michelle on the right,

And my "I'd rather not be in a photo, ever" husband straight ahead.

You can also tell in the last photo that Robert also enjoyed more than one cookie (that's his hand reaching in from the bottom right). Whether or not he had more than four... I won't tell. But I will tell that there were only seven people at dinner and that plate full of cookies was empty within 20 minutes.

They were that good.

WBW: Lynn's Magic Potion

When I was younger, I had a Cabbage Patch doll that I creatively named Kathryn.

That's me on the right... and I do not know who is with my on the left?

Well little Kathryn (or Cabbage, as my mom prefers her to be named) has gotten quite dirty through the years. So my mom, decided to give her a little bath:

She's soaking in warm water and a little something we like to call "Lynn's Magic Potion":

I forget what all is in it (though I need to find out!), but it's a miracle worker for getting out stains. The only problem is that you need to soak the item for a few days. So little Kathryn Cabbage enjoyed a nice, loooong bath. When she was all new again, my mom decided to dry her:

But that didn't look too safe.

So she tried to hang dry her:

Weee!!

My dad had been out of town during the process, so you can imagine his surprise when he brought his dirty clothes to the laundry room:

Have a childhood toy/doll or any Way Back When-sday memory that YOU want to share? It's easy!


Step One: grab a button and to put on your WBW post (that will send readers here):

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thehillscountry.blogspot.com" title="The Hill's Country"><img src="http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac296/katiebhill/WBWR32.jpg" alt="The Hill's Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Step Two: fill out this easy form and a link will pop up here to send readers to YOUR WBW story!

Sewing Extravaganza

I finally have some new items in my etsy shop and I'm super excited about them!!

They are different themed gift set that includes two burp clothes, one reversible bib and one pacifier clip. They a perfect alternative to flowers for new mom at the hospital, a baby shower or "A Little Something Extra" for when you first visit a friend's new baby! Do I sound like an infomercial or what?!

So here is one, all bundled up and ready to give:

And once you unravel it, here are the separate pieces:

Appliqued Bib:

 Double sided pacifier clip (it's navy on the other side)(and you can see the other side of the bib on this photo):

 Plus two matching burp cloths:

 I have had more fun putting these together!

Here are some other themes:

(Apples)

(Sharks)

(Songbird Monogram)

(Dinosaur)

(Owls)

And I have about six more themes that are waiting to be made (sitting in piles in the craft room). So fun!

If you have a pal with a baby on the way (or a baby still in messy mode), consider these as fun gifts. Houston friends, contact me directly and we'll work out a drop-off so you don't have to pay shipping. And all friends, make sure to use coupon code: FOK2012 to get 20% off!

Ok, infomercial over... I promise!

Maria Friday

Welcome to Maria Monday Friday!

Maria is a ridiculously happy baby. I mean, this girl smiles all the time!!

That's great, but we all know I have a thing about photos of crying babies... I know I probably need therapy, but I think it's so cute!

Right or wrong, you can imagine my delight when Maria started fussing while we were hanging out on the boat last weekend.

It started with a plea to go swimming:

But Jeremy, being the mean daddy that he is, wouldn't allow his 6 month old to take a dip in the Galveston Bay.

Maria tried reasoning:

Then the fussy face:

Then all out crying!

Woohoo! Crying Baby!!

Of course this little "tantrum" was short lived and she was smiling again within seconds:

Maria, come talk to your Aunt Katie... I'll teach you a thing or two about throwing a really good tantrum and mastering your pouty face! I'm an expert... just ask my parents!

Pinterest Project: FAIL

So now that I have a fancy pants camera, I decided I need a fancy pants camera strap. Actually, I didn't decide this... pinterest made me feel inferior for not having one...

So I clicked onto my "sewing projects" board and found some sites I had pinned. In case you're interested... these are those sites. Here, here and here. Although I used all three for tips, I mostly followed the middle link.

In addition to the fancy pants camera, I also just got a fancy pants sewing/embroidery machine. This seemed to be a good inaugural project.

It wasn't.

In case it's not glaringly obvious to you, let's start with the fact that the strap was too short:

Also, I didn't sew it up very well:

And the embroidery? That's supposed to be a bright blue:

I'd call this project a fail.

But I refused to let the project get the better of me! So I practiced a little, researched a little and tried again:

Much, much better! But don't look too close. The "Hill" is off-centered and it's upside down on the other side (conveniently not photographed).

I'll redo it again at some point, but I've been busy working on many other projects too. I'll share them as they are getting finished/photographed!

WBW: On the Water

Since I've been chronicling our Day on the Bay this week, I thought I'd share some way back photos of Chris and I on boats!

Here's Jojo, Chris' Mom and Chris:

It sure looks like Jojo's having a lot more fun than Chris!

And here I am around the same time:

Legs-y McGee! I must have just gone through a growth spurt!

Want to share a fun photo from your past?


Step One: grab a button and to put on your WBW post (that will send readers here):

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thehillscountry.blogspot.com" title="The Hill's Country"><img src="http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac296/katiebhill/WBWR32.jpg" alt="The Hill's Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Step Two: fill out this easy form and a link will pop up here to send readers to YOUR WBW story!

Family Photos

During our Day on the Bay, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and background and posed for some family photos:

First up are Jojo, Jeremy and Maria:

Next up are Justin, Laura and Lucy:

This next one was actually a "test shot" as I was playing with the settings on my camera... happy accident!

Chris, Baby Hill and I:

And one with my dad:

And a rather inappropriate prom pose:

Here's a 26 week update of the baby bump:

And the Hill/Couvillion clan all together and mostly all smiling (Lucy didn't get the memo):

Ahoy!