Celebrating My Flower

Four years ago today, I had the privilege of becoming the mother of an amazing daughter. She's only turning four years old today but she is an old soul and wise beyond her young years.

Hello world ~ 23 April 2005

Lily Victoria has more empathy and feelings for others (people, animals, fish even bugs) than most adults. It was something she was born with, a natural gift of sensing the heart of those things which surround her.

Lily turns one! 23 April 2006

When I look at her I see a small version of myself, reminding me how very important it is to handle her with care.

Lily at her 2ND birthday swim party ~ April 2007

Every day I aim to set a straight and narrow path in front of her full of love, faith and optimism so that she never loses her way even in a world that surely offer challenges along the way.

And now we are 3 ~Lily on 23 April 2008

As her mother, I can only hope to teach her as much and love her as much as she has already done for our entire family in her short four years of life on earth thus far.

A 4Th birthday kiss from big brother at breakfast~23 April 2009

Lily Victoria, Lily Flower, Piccadilly Lily (aka Picalily), Lilz.....no matter what nickname we call you there is one word that really fits you the best:

ANGEL.
Happy birthday to our little girl who we think is truly out of this world. We love you!

Help Request...

Hi Friends-

I have been thinking of changing my blog title for some time now. In the world scope of things, it doesn't matter if this blog even has a title at all, but I'm kind of liking the title of that note from Facebook yesterday which was "Hilaryology".

So, I am thinking or renaming my blog "Hilology" or "Hilyology". I like those options better than "Hilaryology" because Hilary is too formal for my liking as all my close friends and family call me Hil or Hily. "Ology" of course means the study of something. And since this blog is a study of my life and life in general, I thought it would be a great fit.

I like the focus on the word hill because my life forever has really been hilly. Life for me has simply never been a smooth field or a plain. It hasn't been a monstrous mountain always requiring climbing either. Just lots of ups and downs for as long as I can remember. I guess one could think of a roller coaster instead but a hill has a more pastoral aura.

I envision that things will be hilly for the rest of my life too because that's what this life is- it's hilly, up and down, peaks and valleys. It's designed this way on purpose, with trials, challenges and obstacles in order to make us better people if we let it. I am grateful for such a wise designer!

Ok so voting is open- Hilology or Hilyology? Or are they pretty much the same? Or does anyone read this blog enough to care? Maybe not (which I'd completely understand)! I'd really love the feedback though even if you are a one time visitor because as my note said yesterday, I am very indecisive! Cheers everyone!

Quick Note....

....from Facebook. I love Facebook because it only takes a few minutes to connect with all of my friends and family from around the globe. Given my life lately, that really is a blessing to behold!

Things have been a bit stretched on the home-front in many ways (to say the least, more on that to come). And then a stomach bug decided to wreak havoc on the kids and I this past few days as well.

When I checked Facebook today, a hand full of my friends filled out a fun note titled "Thier name + ology". They asked me to do the same, so my note is titled "Hilaryology". It looks weird with two "Y's" in there but that's OK! It was a nice break to fill it out and take a few minutes to reflect.

It is a way to quickly share things that maybe we wouldn't be able to otherwise. I thought I would share it here too, just for those of you who maybe are wondering what the heck may be floating around in my mind this morning.

Here goes:

Let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name followed by "ology."

***********FOODOLOGY***************
1)What is your salad dressing of choice?
Blue Cheese
2)What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Anita's Cocina in Wickenburg (it's my hangout with Grandma)
3)What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Tortilla Chips and Salsa
4)What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pineapple, mushrooms, ham, black olives, pepperoni (not all together but in different combos)
5)What do you put on your toast??
Butter and sometimes honey

***********TECHNOLOGY***************
1)How many televisions are in your house?
3- too many!
2)What color cell phone do you have?
Red
3)Do you have an Ipod?
A first generation Nano

***************BIOLOGY******************
1)Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right
2)Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
5 babies (3 full term and 2 that didn't make it), tonsils and tissue samples
3)What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Lily- she's almost 4 and getting tall!
4)Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No but have fainted before when expecting Lily

************BULLOLOGY**************
1)If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No thanks, I'd be too sad.
2)If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Esme. I have loved that name forever (yes even before Twilight). If I were ever to have another daughter I'd seriously think of using it.
3)Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
If it were very mild!

************DUMBOLOGY******************
1)How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
One pair that I wear non-stop
2)Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Dana Point, California- 4 of July 2007. It was fine in the end but I was not thrilled with their behavior toward my small children
3)Last person you talked to?
My kids as we said goodbye and blew each other kisses as they went off to school
4)Last person you hugged?Ramey

**************FAVORITEOLOGY****************
1)Season?
Autumn
2)Holiday?
Christmas
3)Day of the week?
Still Monday, despite having a few bad ones lately

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************
1)Missing someone?
Always
2)Mood?
A little forlorn but grateful as ever
3)What are you listening to?
Lots of birds chirping outside in the palm trees
4)Watching:Nothing
5)Worrying about?
Not living up to my potential

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************
1)First place you went this morning?
Outside in the morning sun to stretch....getting over the flu and feeling like someone has beaten my ribcage so I needed a good stretch. Ouch.
2)What's the last movie you saw?
I can't remember the last movie I saw in the cinema but yesterday I watched the 1931 Dracula on DVD for the first time.....they just don't make many good movies like that anymore I've decided. Talk about good acting!
3)Do you smile often?
I try to
4)Sleeping Alone Tonight?
Not unless I sleep outside on the camping cot

***************OTHEROLOGY*****************
1)Do you always answer your phone?
Almost never. Really. I'm usually distracted with the kids and miss it.
2) 4 o clock in the morning and you get a text. Who is it?
Someone in England where it would be midday over there.
3) If you could change your eye color what would it be?Green!
4) What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
Cherry but I'm trying to wean myself off of sugary drinks.
5) Do you own a digital camera?
Indeed!
6) Have you ever had a pet fish?
I have always had a Siamese Fighting fish (still do) because they live forever in a tiny bowl with a little food and I find them pretty to look at.
7) Favorite Christmas song(s)?
O Holy Night
8) What's on your wish list for your birthday
Peacefulness
9) Can you do push ups?
Do wall push ups count?
10) Can you do a chin up?
Highly unlikely but I wish I could
11) Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Excited- things can always get better
12) Do you have any saved texts?
Yes
13) Ever been in a car wreck?
Two- one pretty bad one where I would have been smashed to death had I been about 3 feet further out into the road
14) Do you have an accent?
I've been told I have an oddly interesting "Cali Surfer Girl- Texan- English" combination accent
15) What is the last song to make you cry?
Nessun Dorma, it always does
16) Plans tonight?
Watching " Tales of Desperaux" with the kids
17) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Absolutely
18) Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
Nothing. At. All.
19) Have you ever been given roses?
Yes, I love them.
20) Current worry?
Many, many things... mostly worries about others that I wish I could help fix for them
21) Current hate right now?
This economy
22) Met someone who changed your life?
My little ones
23) How will you bring in the New Year?
Asleep or up with Ramey watching the ball drop in NYC on telly
24) What song represents you?
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing by Garbage (not all of the lyrics, but definitely the title seems fitting lately...I'm sure everyone can relate once in a while).
25) Name three people who might complete this?
Tiffany, Tina and Tricia if they have time and are so inclined
26) Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Yes indeed
27) Have you ever dated someone longer than a year solid?
Yep
28) Do you have any tattoos/piercings?
My ears are pierced twice
29) Will you be in a relationship 4 months from now?
I think so!
30) Does anyone love you?
Yes, but mostly the ones who are related to me and have to by default!
31) Would you be a pirate?
No, but I really like Jack Sparrow!
32) What songs do you sing in the shower?
I usually rush through my showers with kids knocking down the door so rarely have time to sing.
33) Ever had someone sing to you?
Yes
34) When did you last cry?
Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday too- hard week!
35) Do you like to cuddle?
Yes- last night Caed tried to curl up in my lap like a baby but his legs are too long! They grow up so dang fast!
37) Have you held hands with anyone today?
With Caed when I woke him up and walked him out of his room so he wouldn't fall over (I do this every morning because he's always half asleep for a while)!
38) Who was the last person you took a picture of?
the kids on Easter
39) What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?Madonna- I remember my mom getting me the cassette with the song "Lucky Star" for my birthday and my friends and I jumping around with excitement.... I think I was 7 or 8.
40) Do you believe in staying close with your ex's?
I have remained friends with all of them except a few- one whom hurt me so much he'd probably never speak to me anyway.
41) Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
A good mix of lifelong and new....love them all. I'd truly be lost without my friends.
42) Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Yes!
43) What is something your friends make fun of you for?
My indecisiveness, clumsiness, my hair, or my tendency to worry too much!

Top 3....

.....reasons why I haven't written (and yes, none of them are really good reasons. I have promised myself to make up for my lack of March journal entries soon, man I've been a slacker!).

1) Exhaustion (sleep deprivation, no visits to the Land of Nod, lack of ZZZ's.....giving me that Zombie mom glow we all know looks so good on me).

2) Puppy with Valley Fever getting worse, sigh (which has caused amounts of crying over Marley and Me that I thought was humanly impossible....losing a pet is harder than I remember).

3) Little sister ailing (her heart is not quite keeping up in her sleep we've learned).

There are more reasons but I'll spare you. Afterall, I titled this post Top 3, not top 100 reasons I haven't written.

Remember the friend I wrote about a while ago when her husband lost her job (again)? He accidentally shot himself through the hand while cleaning his gun Sunday. Again, she astounds me with her grit to get through the unexpected. As many trials as we all have going on, I honestly don't know what more one little family can have thrown at them. It's making me count my blessings a second time today.

For my happy note....here's my oldest ray of sunshine Mimi doing what she does best which is helping her dear ol' mum (a-hem, me) get through another long day with a smile and an I love you (in sign language, which she loves). This was taken last weekend after a long day of gardening in her sundress with us. I am sooooooo grateful beyond words for this little bundle of energy and beauty; she simply radiates light from within. Mimi, I love you more than you'll ever know. You're totally wicked cool.