Welcome to Kindergarten

Well miss Lily started Kindergarten yesterday.  She attends Oscar Howe Elementary here in Sioux Falls and her teacher is Mrs. Hajek.  We got to go into her classroom with her for the first 15 minutes and were read a story.  After that we had to say our goodbyes.  Jake and I did better than I thought we would (and Lily did awesome too).  Except for after school she had about a 20 minute meltdown because she cannot ride the bus.  I am sure she is upset about this minor inconvenience but I think more of it had to do with her being tired. Trying to get the earlier bedtime routine started is a hard adjustment for both her and us :)  She did much better today, thanks to daddy for getting her to bed earlier last night.  Hopefully it will be an onward trend.  All of us are hoping for a wonderful school year!
We took on our annual Riverboat Days trip to Yankton this last weekend and had a blast.  Jake turned 31 while we were there.  We spent his birthday arts and craft shopping, fishing, taking in the fair and watching fireworks.  The next day he had to be at a wedding by 11am so the girls and I spent the day with grandma, grandpa, uncle Ryan and aunt Amber.  The weather was gorgeous and the girls had so much fun we are ready for next year.
Miss Isabella starts daycare at Darla's tomorrow.  I am not ready for this.  She is such a mommy's girl and it will be really hard for me to leave her.  I know it will be good for her and Lily had been going to Darla's for nearly 4 years so we trust her like no other but I will miss my squishy little pumpkin :(  It will be nice for her to interact with other kids her age and also good for me in getting certain things accomplished around the house I cannot otherwise do with her here.  Tomorrow is also our bi-weekly date night with Mr. and Mrs. Fatone.  Something Jake and I look forward to because we do not get out much to do things together without the girls.
It is going to be a pretty quiet week other than a week of first's for both girls.  I have no doubt that both of them will do great :)

Buy, Sell, Repeat....

So Once Upon a Child you have earned back my business.  Let me just say that after we had Lillian we were DONE having children.  Needless to say we got rid of everything.  Most of it I would take to Once Upon a Child here in Sioux Falls and get my much needed check to move on and buy Lily some new things.  Never once did I think about whether or not I was getting a good deal (I know a little ridiculous) but live and learn.  So when miss Lily was about 3 or so, baby fever hit.  Not sure what made me want another little bundle of baby but I am blaming it on all my friends having their first or second or third... :)

Anyway it took us awhile but we welcomed miss Isabella last year.  And what a blessing I must say!  Okay on to where this was going to begin with...

So after selling many, many things to this lovely store where you can bring in your gently used kids stuff and get money on the spot I decided to watch more intently on what I was getting for the things I was bringing in.  On one of my trips I noticed that I was barely making anything and vowed to NEVER bring anything there again.  Sure I would probably shop there but I would never sell there again...I would have a rummage before stepping foot back into that store to sell an item.  I actually felt a little betrayed and was angry that these people could buy things from you for pennies on the dollar of what you originally paid for them (and also upset that I had not noticed sooner).  Now that Izzy is nearing 1, I know CRAZY, and after about 2 years of not selling anything at the store, I decided to give it one more chance.  So yesterday I packed up some of Izzy's things, mostly clothes and a few other odds and ends and took them over.  Much to my surprise I was not disappointed.  Very elated actually when I walked out of the store with a check nearing $100 for the items I brought in.  I think what I was most pleased about is the fact that I took in 1 tub of clothes, 1 tub of odds and ends, a bouncy chair and a "pet lion" that Lily could literally sit on.  They of course do not take everything and I still walked out with a tub and a half left of stuff and still neared the $100 mark.  I also walked out with a few new/gently used items for both the girls.  IMPRESSED to say the least.  Thank you Once Upon a Child, you saved me from the dreaded rummage...

SO....this week for the Hills is going to be a busy one.  Today miss Lily has a play date with her friend Lexy across the street and then tonight is Kindergarten orientation.  We get to meet her teacher, get information about dropping and picking her up (since she is open enrolled out of her district she is not bussed to school), learn about the lunch program etc.  WE ARE EXCITED....and so is she :)  School starts next Monday and both Jake and I will be crying as both girls will look at us like we are losing our minds.  Tuesday night I get the pleasure of working downtown.  The Turner County fair starts this week so we will probably be taking that in on Wednesday night and Thursday we leave for Yankton for the annual Riverboat Days festivities.  Jake has a wedding on Saturday in Freeman, which is about 30 miles or so from Yankton so we will be enjoying the festivities without him that day :(  All in all it should be a fun and exciting week.

Summer coming to a close....

We have been preparing for Lily's entrance into Kindergarten for years now but never thought it would be coming this soon.  Summer is coming to a close for her...as she starts school in two weeks.  We have gotten everything she needs down to her new "school clothes" :)  To say the least she is excited.  Mom and dad are excited too, for her anyway.  We will be crying our eyes out for sure that very first day...Jake even took that day off of work :)  I think another big adjustment for us will be the start of Izzy going to Darla's.  This is a big thing for us too.  She has been a mommy's girl up to this point spending pretty much every waking hour with me.  We KNOW it will be a GOOD thing for her, Darla is so awesome.  Lily has been going to her since she was about 2.  And Izzy really needs some "socialization" BUT it will be a hard day especially for me.

Lily will also be starting dance again this fall.  Since her awesome dance instructor, Shelby, will not be with Dance Expressions any longer, Lily will be switching studios and will now be going to Balleraena Dance Studio.  She will be taking Ballet and Hip Hop.  She is super stoked for this is as well.  Her lessons start the Wednesday after Labor Day.

The next two weeks for us will be busy but laid back as well.  Swimming lessons for both girls have come to a close along with zoo camps for Lily.  The girls and I will be taking it easy this week and maybe hitting up the park and zoo a couple times.  Jake gets a break this week from weddings and will be DJing at Woody's Friday night and the 18th Amendment Saturday night.  We will be thankful to have him home every night this week/weekend :)

Next week is our annual trip to Yankton, SD for Riverboat Days.  We will be leaving on Thursday and camping for 3 nights.  Grandma and Grandpa Schumacher will be there along with Aunt Amber and Uncle Ryan I am sure so it will hopefully be a cool and wonderful time.

We also need to hit up Wild Water West (Jake's not so favorite place but Lily LOVES) sometime before summer ends as well, maybe this weekend :)

Welcome to the world of blogging....I think....

Hello everyone....happy Tuesday.  I have decided to start a blog (kind of following a lot of my friends' leads on this one) to keep friends and family updated with what is happening at the Hill house.  I hope this works out for me as I think it will be an enjoyable experience :)  So to start, it is going to be a busy week here.  Izzy and I started parent/child swim lessons on Monday and they go all week.  They are 30 minutes long and seem to be pretty pointless but with the temperatures the way they are we are both enjoying the water.  Lily has zoo camp for 3 days this week.  They are 3 hour sessions for 3 days.  She absolutely loves it (and it keeps her occupied and out of the house).  My hours have diminished at the jail this month, a good and bad thing.  Jake has a wedding on Saturday and is also DJing at the 18th Amendment on Wednesday night and Woody's on Friday night.  Jake also started his new schedule this week.  The credit union is doing mandatory 9 hour days (sucky) but he will be working 6:30-3:30 a much better alternative to his original schedule.  He will be home longer at night now, YAY!!  Hope everyone has a great week.  Enjoy summer as it will soon be over, BOO!