BLOG SALE!!!!

I am STILL in the process of getting rid of lots of stuff, but I hate to just throw it away, so I thought I would try a blog sale first. Some of this stuff may seem random:) Everything is in excellent condition, some of it has never even been used. If you are interested in anything, or have any questions you can email me at katie.hillstead@gmail.com. There will be more to come after this first "phase". I still have Pottery Barn bedding and other things to add...so stay tuned!!

Williams and Sonoma Linen Table Runner $10

Williams and Sonoma Yellow Quilted Table Runner $15 SOLD

Williams and Sonoma Rooster Place Mats Set of 5 $15

Table Runner $10

Rustic looking book stand $5 SOLD

Blender $10

Silver Salad Bowl $5 SOLD

Decorative Birds the set for $8 SOLD

Decorative Clock $5 SOLD

Lumbar Pillow insert (fits the PB cover down below) it is a down pillow, $15 SOLD

Two Green and White Zebra print pillow covers and inserts. Just bought these on etsy, but they aren't working how I thought they would with the new living room. $20 each

Crate and Barrel Green pillow covers (I have two of these) $5 each

Pottery Barn Cream Pillow Covers (I have two of these) Made for 20" pillow inserts--$10 each or 2 for $15

Pottery Barn Damask Pillow Covers ( I have 4 of these) Made for 20" pillow inserts-- $10 each or 4 for $35 SOLD

Pottery Barn Paisley Lumbar Pillow cover with Velvet Back $10 SOLD

Two mustard yellow Pottery Barn lamp shades. $20 each or 2 for $30 SOLD

Random, but some people like to collect this kind of stuff....set of three milk glass glasses. They are so cute! I just don't have much use for them right now. $5

Crate and Barrel mixing bowl set $15 SOLD

Colorful acrylic tumblers, they are a smaller size glass, set of 8 for $10

Small little reindeer platter 5$

Getting a Little Stir Crazy:)

I have to admit that I actually really love winter. I don't mind the cold or the snow....but I DO mind that Andrew is stuck inside all day and bored out of his mind. So I am trying to find other things for him to do, because he always wants to watch tv and it drives me insane. SO...we went to the craft store and bought some things for him to do. This is what you will find him doing these days.....

Oh, and Andrew never wears clothes at home. He prefers just underwear....ALWAYS.

Stories About Andrew

Today I had a neat little experience with Andrew that I thought I should record. Everyday I try to go to the gym and Andrew and Abby play in the daycare while I am there. Andrew used to HATE going there, and it would make me feel so bad, but then he started bringing a train with him and now he loves it! Anyways, today he brought Thomas the Train. When I came back in the daycare to pick them up we couldn't find Thomas anywhere. Andrew was starting to get really sad because we thought he was lost forever. I seriously was looking EVERYWHERE. All of a sudden I had a thought that this would be a great teaching opportunity for Andrew. He started to cry a little bit and I said "Andrew I have a great idea! Let's say a prayer to Heavenly Father and ask him to help us find Thomas. I know he will help us." At first he was like "no I don't want to" and then I said "ok here I will just whisper the prayer in your ear." So I knelt down next to him and said a quick prayer in his ear. He sat there quietly while I said it. When I was done I said, "Ok! Let's go find Thomas!" I looked up and saw Thomas immediately. I said "Look Andrew there he is! Heavenly Father helped us!" I think he almost could not believe it:) He smiled super big, but was really quiet like he was amazed. I was grateful for that little moment with him today.

On a funnier note....Andrew was playing with his trains as usual a few minutes ago. He suddenly came up to me and said "mom, toby pushed Thomas, I think he needs a time out." I said, "yeah, you better put him in time out." So Andrew picked up Toby the Train and told him he was going to time out. He marched him over to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet (which was CRACKING me up because this is exactly the routine with do with him) and then he said as stern as he could "Toby-you think about it!" I seriously was laughing so hard, because that is more or less exactly what I say to him when he is in time out.

Abby is currently jumping her brains out above me in her crib. The ceiling is pounding. I love these little crazies.

Best Buddies

It seems like in the past two weeks Andrew and Abby have really started to figure out how to play together and it is so cute. Andrew likes to chase her and she runs around giggling and squealing. I love it! They also LOVE bath time together. It gets a little crazy sometimes:) Just love these two little monkeys!

Happy New Year!!

Hooray for 2011!!! Seriously I am just so happy for a new year and a fresh start! We had so much fun on New Year's Eve. We started the night by going out to eat with our good friends the Lefrandts at Communal in Provo. It was my first time there and it was so yummy! Then we headed back to our house and some of our friends (the Gustins, Taylors and Lefrandts) in our neighborhood over for some games. It was so much fun! We are grateful for such great friends and to start 2011 with them:)

2010 Wrap Up

Well, as you read in my last post, I am starting fresh in 2011 with blogging....but I can't just SKIP some of the big events of the last couple months that I never posted about....so here goes an EXTREMELY long post of pics from birthdays, vacations and holidays from the past two months.

Christmas 2010

My whole side of the family was at our house for Christmas this year. Here we are making our feast Christmas Eve.

THE TREE (disclaimer...my bookshelf is empty because I am redoing this room and haven't gotten to that part yet:))

My parents rented a cabin at Sundance for five days right before Christmas. We played A LOT of the game Greed. My mom lost and this was her punishment. I might have peed my pants from laughing too hard.

Yes this is the deck on the back of the cabin...it really snowed that much.

The boys spending HOURS (no exaggeration) clearing the drive way, slamming the cars into each other trying to get them out. Yikes.

Best Buddies.

Andrew turned 3 in November....his party was at none other than JUMP ON IT! His favorite place in the whole world.

Miss Abby turned 1 in October....as you can see she wasn't feeling too hot at her birthday party. Poor girl. She is still cute though:)

For some reason it won't let me type by the pictures...but I threw some Halloween ones in there at the end, and some pictures from the cruise Zach and I went on to Honduras, and Cozumel with some friends from work. Now we are all caught up!!

I have lots of things on my mind as we are about to start a new year. I cannot wait for the year 2011! 2010 was a great year for us, but with some hard times. We learned a lot through the experiences we had, and I feel really grateful for even the hard times. Zach has a great job, we have a home that is perfect for us, wonderful family and friends, two ADORABLE kids, and we are healthy. I don't think we could be more grateful.

2011 will be a little different for us than 2010. Zach will be starting school at BYU again next week. He will be a full-time student and working full-time. I am so proud of him for taking on this challenge to finish up his bachelor's degree. He is so close. Only two more semesters:) I am secretly kind of jealous that he gets to go to school. Sadly, I have a lot of fun registering for his classes and making him a schedule. Pathetic, I know.

I have been thinking a lot about the goals I want to set for myself for 2011. They are a lot different than what I am usually thinking about. I always have the regulars of exercising more, eating better, reading my scriptures and praying more diligently, etc. Something that has been on my mind a lot is that I want to SLOW DOWN. This past year I have found myself trying to perfect in every way. It's sick. I try to pack in a million activities and do a million projects, and then I feel so unsatisfied when I have to rush through something or am constantly running from one thing to another. This year I want to not schedule as many things. Put more time into my kids or the small things I want to do around my house. I want to have days when I don't even leave the house and I just enjoy being home. That may seem normal to some of you, but honestly I never have days like that. I am excited about this "new pace of life" that I am going to try and achieve this year.

Along with my New Year's resolutions comes THE BLOG. As you can tell I have majorly been neglecting my blog. In fact I have been in an "I hate blogging" mood for about five months now. Honestly, it's because life has been so busy! I always feel like I am about ten posts behind so I don't want to play catch-up. But, as you can see, I have tried to give my blog a little face-life to motivate myself to reconnect with blogging. I want my friends and family to know what we are up to, and I know some of them might kill me if I quit blogging (for example....my parents who live on another continent for the time being). So, here I am declaring to the world, that I will blog in 2011....even if it kills me:)

Good night!