Alone

I'm grumpy, I'm tired, I'm having a day. You know one of those days where you just want to crawl in bed in a dark room and shut out the whole world? That is me today. I have been fighting a cold for the past few days that little miss Fin has decided to share with the whole family. I have a horrible fever blister and my skin is breaking out...what is going on? Ugh
I also have a bad case of the "I don't wannas." I don't want to clean the kitchen, do the laundry, make dinner, or even get dressed in normal clothes. I have a feeling this is going to be me all week. It's almost bedtime, the kids are in bed and I still feel like I don't want to do anything, I want to climb in my bed with a hot cup of tea and then go to bed and not wake up until tomorrow evening. I just want to be alone. For two seconds, no one demanding juice, yogurt or a banana, and then not eating it. No one telling me that Frankie boy (ezra) took away their toy. And I could do without said Frankie boy freaking out when I say no and then running around the room stomping his feet crying for just one day.
I need to be alone

In a dark room

In a quiet dark room

Did I say alone?

Just for a couple of hours
or a day, whichever?

Bath Time

I Adore this boy!

Little Belties Review

Finley is super tall for her age, but also very thin. I always have a hard time finding pants that fit her. She needs the length of a 4t but the width of a 2t. I hate jean shopping for her, and usually only have one store option. Which can get pretty spendy, since Baby Gap is the only place that carries jeans that somewhat fit. But spending around $30.00 a pair for jeans that she will grow out of in a short amount of time just isn't really worth it. Then I found Little Belties. Belts for toddlers and kids. As soon as I saw the pink dinosaur belt I about died. Fin adores anything dino related right now. This was the perfect belt for her. Melanie of Little Belties sent us the pink dino belt in size 2-4yrs. All her belts come in sizes from 0 months to 8 years. They are very durable, washable, easy to use & of course so darling! I'm very impressed and cannot wait to purchase a couple more for stockings this year. I love the camo print for Ezra and I also love the Owl or Sheep print for either kiddo. I really like how they are neautral so when Fin is done with them Ezra would be able to use them.


These belts really are going to be the perfect addition to the kids' stockings this year. I love stuffing stockings, and I'm always looking for something fun and different every year. Head on over to Little Belties Etsy shop or Little Belties website and have fun picking out these adorable little belts for your little one's stocking!

The Cookie Cutter Guy WINNER

And the Winner chosen by Randomorg.com is giggedygeekmum Who said...
I wrote about this on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/giggedygeekmum

Congrats! Please e-mail me to claim your prize. You are going to love these cookie cutters. You have 48hrs to contact me @ jhil2626@yahoo.com or I will have to choose a new winner!
Thanks to everyone who played. Don't forget to enter The Sweet Sugar Beet giveaway!

I'm so very Thankful

I'm thankful for my beautiful children, my husband, my parents and sister and all the many blessings God has given us....and SNOW! It has been snowing all day and has been so VERY beautiful!!! Everything was covered and the snow came down all day. Ezra staring out the window oohhing and aawwing was absolutely adorable. This is his first snow, he was so thrilled about this new white cold stuff and couldn't wait to get out in it. We did go out, but not for long. Ezra would have stayed out a lot longer then we did, but sissy was cold and has a cold too so she didn't last long.
This eveing I got Finley all bundled up to go out and build a snowman with Aaron and she didnt even barely step out the door before she said it was way too cold and she was back in bed watching tv with me. Aaron stayed out and build a gynormo snowman- pictures to come.
All in all, today was a great Thanksgiving, now bring on CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tea Coolection Giveaway on MSM

Just wanted to share that over on My silly Monkeys there is a $100.00 GC giveaway to Tea Collection!!!

The Sweet Sugar Beet Review and {Giveaway}

I'm really excited to share The Sweet Sugar Beet with you. Haley of The Sweet Sugar Beet is a 29 year old mom of 3 babes. A 3 year old daughter and 19 month old twin boys. As a busy mom she still finds time to create these fun cosmetic bags. Haley says her true passion is creating, although she would love to "relax" after the kids go to bed at night she finds sitting in front of her sewing machine is the best way for her to wind down. Haley started the business when her daughter was 9 months old. She says "Ever since I was little I can't remember a time when I wasn't creating something or thinking about what I was going to create next."
Haley is also a self taught crafter. Her husband bought her, her first sewing machine for Easter. She litterally did not even know how to thread a needle. Her first project was a pair of pajama pants. Then came the cosmetic bags. She wanted a new cosmetic bag and so she found some fun fabric, read the back of the zipper package and so became The sweet Sugar Beet after everyone in her family fell is love with her crafting and prompted her to sell these wonderful bags. Haley grew up on a farm and worked in the sugar beet fields with her dad and brothers every summer, thats where the name of her shop comes from. Which I love and think is so neat that she incorprated a peice of her childhood into what she loves to do!

Haley sent me one of her beautiful large cosmetic bags. I love it, it is very well made and so pretty. It fits all my make-up, but is still small enough to fit into any overnight bag.

Black Pretty Petals



You can even design your own cosmetic bag.

Haley is offering one of my readers a $25.00 credit to her shop. She wants you to get creative with what you buy. So Head on over to The Sweet Sugar Beet, look around a bit then come back here and leave a comment saying what you would buy if you won.
For extra Entries (leave a seperate comment on this post for each you complete)
1. Share this giveaway by Blogging, posting on your Facebook status or Twittering about this giveaway. Leave a comment for each of these you complete with a link to where I can find where you shared.
2. Follow H is for Hillman
3. See my Button over there on the right hand sidebar? Grab it and tell me where to find it.
4. Follow Haley's blog
5. "Like" The Sweet Sugar Beet on Facebook

Don't want to wait to see if you win? Haley is also offering all my readers 20% off from now until Dec 5th. Etsy now allows you to use coupon codes so you can enter the code Hillman20 right at checkout to receive the 20% discount. How great is that?
Giveaway Ends Sunday Dec 5th, Winner announced Monday Dec 6th. Good luck everyone!!!

Sprout Candle Shop

I love candles, especially the kind of candles that fill your home with wonderful aromas. I found Sprout Candle Shop on Etsy, (of course on etsy where else? I fear I may have an unhealthy obsession) and was immediatly attracted to the soft colors of these beauties and the scents that Jill offers in her candle shop. Jill sent me four beautiful candles that are currently lit by my bedside and filling my room with the sweet smell of vanilla and fresh cut christmas tree.
All of Jill's candles are made by hand when your order is placed. The candles are made with all natural ingredients which includes premium wax, fragrance oils, and cotton wicks. Soy candles burn completely clean, so the jar is reusable when the candle is done. Also if you spill soy wax, it comes up easily with hot water. Easy clean up! I know we all have probably spilled candle wax and had a super hard time getting it up. I have ruined table clothes due to store bought candles. So these are perfect for me.




Jill also sent me a Clean Cotton scented candle and let me tell you, it smells so fresh and vibrant, but not overwhelming. That is what I love about these new amazing candles of mine. Although they smell wonderful and fill my house with their delicious aroma they are not over powering or make you feel sick after a while. I have had many different brands of candles but have yet to find the perfect balanced candle until now. Jill has so many scents, I personally think the coconut scent and the peppermint eucalyptus sound heavenly. I highly reccomend you head on over to Sprout Candle Shop and do some holiday shopping for the candle lovers in your life. I hope you enjoy Jill's candles as much as I do.

Little Twig, Petunia Pickle Bottom and Tea Collection Cyber Monday Deals!

Just got this e-mail from the Marketing Director of these awesome companies, enjoy!!!!

little twiglittle twig is offering 40% off Gift Sets & Free Shipping on Black Friday and 40% off Individual Products (not gift sets) & Free Shipping on Cyber Monday for purchases made on http://littletwig.com No promo codes needed.

Petunia Pickle BottomFree Shipping Nov. 26th - 29th for purchases on http://shop.petunia.com/. Use promo code HOLIDAY. $50 Min purchase.

Tea CollectionShop Local. Purchase 3 Tea styles at a participating Tea retailer and recieve a 4th style free. Offer from 11/22 - 11/28. Click here for list of participating retailers: http://bit.ly/teathanks

Tea online: Cyber Monday (beginning Sunday 11/28)
- 6 Daily Tea dresses will be offered at $15 with a variety of collection dresses at $29. Great markdowns for boy styles as well! Sale ends 11/30. www.teacollection.com

Winks and Daisies WINNER

First off I want to say I woke up this morning to some entries for this giveaway that were submitted early this morning and the contest ended the 19th, winner announced today so I could not accept those entries, I'm so sorry but I have to follow my own rules.
Now for the Winner chosen by randomorg.com is #8 Alyssa.
alyssa said...
jenn- i am loving the peace love and happiness. so fresh, clean and simple. black and white photos are my fav esp w a pop of color, red and green for xmas or silver and tiffany blue!

Alyssa please e-mail me at Jhil2626@yahoo.com to claim your prize. You bhave 48hrs to respond or I will have to choose a new winner. Thanks you everyone who played. The Cookie Cutter Guy Giveaway is still running so go enter!

Coco Rose Couture WINNER

and the winner chosen by randomorg.com is #6 twifanheather
who said...
I like the TIFFANY BLUE AND BLACK COCKTAIL HEADBAND WITH FEATHERS AND FRENCH NETTING!
Congrats Twifanheather. Please email me @ Jhil2626@yahoo.com to claim your prize.
You have 48hrs to respond or I will have to choose a new winner.

Christmas Advent Paper Cones

I was browsing my list of blogs that I follow and I came across this fun idea on eighteen25. I love this blog, there is always something fun and crafty featured almost daily. A few days ago they posted the Advent cone craft. I fell in love and knew I wanted to make these apart of my Christmas decor. I also knew Finley would enjoy helping and would enjoy finding the cone for each day and discovering a little treat underneath. I'm thinking Reeses or a sticker would be a fun treat for under them. Here is the how to.
Finley, My mom and I all sat down one night in bed and got our scrapbooking paper and supplies out and went to work. We had a lot of fun. We added a lot more detail and embelishments to ours.


I love the way they turned out. Super fun and super easy! Happy Holidays, have fun crafting. I will be making these beauties this weekend. I can't wait.

Oopma Toys Review

Oopma toys was founded in 2004 by Milanie Cleere. Milanie had a goal to find good quality toys for her daughter after she realized her room was full of disposable plastic toys. She thought it to be unnatural to surround her daughter with toys that did and said everything for her by a push of a button. She wanted her to use her own imagination. And so became Oompa toys after finding natural beautiful toys on a trip to Europe. Milanie says "My interactive agency background as a graphic designer, programmer and project manager for several Fortune 500 companies proved useful. A developer at heart, I feverishly created the first version of the Oompa Toys web site while pregnant with my second child. Inventory was warehoused in my garage. My brother and sisters generously donated evenings and weekends to help get the business up and running. Finally, with the help of my husband (co-founder of Mochila) I created the Oompa Toys brand as one of the leading online specialty toy retailers."
Oompa Toys carries a wonderful selection of wooden toys, baby toys, soft dolls, play food, ball tracks, play mats and other beautiful, high quality wooden toys. After contacting Oompa toys to feature a review they glady sent me a wooden book for Ezra. As soo as I handed him the book he was eager to explore the wooden pages, bright colors and the frog attached to the book placing it in the holes where it belonged on each page.

Frog Wooden Book DC from Chelona


This wooden book also served as a great toy in the car. Ezra can get pretty antsy in the car at times, he hates to be strapped in and sitting still in one place for a long time. He seemed to really enjoy the book and it kept him busy for quite a while.

I love Oompa toys and trust that they will always provide my children with great quality toys that are safe and will last for years to come.

The Mullet

No I will not cut it. As silly as it is, it is Ezra. And I love his fuzzy little mullet.

Slowing Down

I have had a very busy past few weeks with all these amazing reviews and giveaways. I have enjoyed working with every Etsy seller, and I'm so blessed to have had this oppurtunity to have them apart of my blog. Each and every item I have recieved has been beautiful and so much fun.
I do have a few more reviews and giveaways coming up and a couple running at the moment. But after those are all finished up, I'm going to take a little break. I want my blog to be about more than just giveaways. Even though I really enjoy doing them, it is so fun to run them and fun to work with others and give other mommies a chance to win some of my favorite products. But I also want you as my readers to enjoy them as well and enter them and find new fun items you will love as well. So I'm going to try to keep my reviews and giveaways to every now and then, and keep doing what I love, writing, sharing, baking and photography. I want to thank everyone for entering the giveaways, congrats to the winners and winners to come. I encourage you all to enter the giveaways as many of these make great gifts and have fun. Also if you have any reccomendations for reviews and giveaways you would like to see, let me know and I will see what I can do!

Girls Weekend- Holiday Tradition

Every year my mom, sister and I go down to Bellevue Square for christmas shopping. We stay in an hotel, eat yummy food and shop all day. I'm getting very excited for this year because we are bringing Finley. She is at that age where she is so much fun to bring places and she behaves most of the time. There are the occasional throwing stuff off the shelves and running wild through aisles. But she knows this trip is all about having fun, so I think she will do really well. She also knows it's just the girls and thinks that it is really cool and a big girl thing! She can't wait to see Santa(we will see how that goes once we actually get to him though) stay in a hotel and go to the christmas parade where it snows. It really is a fun time and we are adding some activities this year just for Finley. Bowling, santa, and swimming. I love this trip and I hope Finley will as much as I do. It really puts me in the Holiday season and I have to admit Nordstrom helps as well! Do any of you have any holiday traditions that you are looking forward to this year? Please share!

The Cookie Cutter Guy review and Giveaway

I love to bake. It has been something I have always loved to do, even as a small child. I grew up living nextdoor to my grandparents. My grandma let me cook anything I wanted almost every afternoon, after she would walk me home from school. We would go straight to her kitchen, where she would have a snack waiting for me and then she would hand me the cookbook and say "Pick whatever you want to make today."
So naturally I was very excited when I found The Cookie Cutter Guy on Etsy. Sandy sent me an Owl cookie cutter to review. Finley and I made sugar cookies for Aaron yesterday and we had to try out our new cookie cutter. I have to say, I was very impressed with this cookie cutter. I'm pretty picky about my cookie cutters because I have had so many that either don't hold their shape and the cookie turns out looking like a blob and nothing that even remotely resembles the shape I was going for. The owl cutter is very nice, sturdy not flimsy at all, and it cut beautifully.



I was worried at first about the small parts of the cutter getting dough stuck in them and the shapes not turning out. No problem with that at all. The dough came out smoothly and we had perfect little owls.

Once baked, the cookies were still perfect. I'm very impressed and will continue to order from Sandy from now on. I'm throwing out my old cutters that leave me with blobs. Finley had so much fun baking with me. We were both covered in flour and frosting when we were done. But we had a blast. Also I had every intention on using my piping bags to decorate these cookies, but Fin insisted on "Purpey" (purple) owls with sprinkles.



I ended up doing some Orange ones too. But still never got time to sit down and decorate them super cute. Maybe when both kiddos are napping at the same time.

Sandy is offering one of my readers the chance to win their own set of 4 cookie cutters of their choice. Just in time for christmas baking!
To enter Go visit The cookie Cutter Guy and then come back here and tell me what cookie cutters you would pick.
For extra Entries (leave a seperate comment on this post for each you complete)
1. Share this giveaway by Blogging, posting on your Facebook status or Twittering about this giveaway. Leave a comment for each of these you complete with a link to where I can find where you shared.
2. Follow H is for Hillman
3. See my Button over there on the right hand sidebar? Grab it and tell me where to find it.
4. Tell me your favorite kind of cookie.
5. Tell me who you will be making special sugar cookies for this Holiday season
6. Visit and Follow Sandy's blog
Giveaway Ends Nov 26th, Winner will be announced on Nov. 27th Good luck!

WINNERS WINNERS!

I have Winners, Picked by randomorg.com

The winner of the Cindymars7 Pouches is Comment # 13: McClure Family said...
button is up!
http://www.mcclurefamilyspace.blogspot.com/

The winner of The $10 GC To Gaddy Nipper crayons is # 20 homebody said...
I follow

And the Winner of the Winter Peach Pattern is # 7 The Sandeen Family said...
I like the sweet bear you have on your blog!

Congrats Winners! You have 48 hrs to contact me @ Jhil2626@yahoo.com to claim your Prizes! If I have not heard from you in 48hrs I will have to choose a new winner. Thanks, enjoy!!!

Winks & Daisies Custom Photo Cards Review and {GIVEAWAY}

I'm pretty sure you don't want to miss out on your chance for this Giveaway. Today I'm featuring Winks and Daisies. Dorie of Winks and Daisies owns this awesome Etsy shop and makes the cutest custom photo cards. When the Holidays roll around, one of the first things I think about is christmas cards. What style do I want this year, what photos do I want to put on the card and how much do I want to pay? All these questions run through my mind, and it can also be a bit stressful finding something I love and can still afford. I was thrilled when I found Winks and Daisies. Dorie designed a card around two photos of the kids and it turned out perfect. One of the best parts about Dorie's shop is you have the option to purchase just the file and have the photo cards printed out wherever you want. I suggest Costco or Walmart, I have found the best prices at both places and the quality is great too. I love this idea. You never know if you may recieve a christmas card in the mail from someone unexpected or someone you forgot about and ended up not ordering enough cards, this way if you need more cards you can just hop on your computer and send the file to your photo place and BAM! You have more cards! (Yes I just quoted Emerile) Dorie also offers her designs printed on photo paper or cardstock and will ship them to you, if you would rather go that route.
Winks and Daisies has a big selection of designs and not just Holiday cards. Dorie offers birth announcments, baby shower and birthday invites as well. And she will customize them just for you.

How Fun and Festive is this design? Love it!

I really enjoyed working with Dorie. The whole process was smooth, quick and easy. Now all I have to do is submit my order online at costco and go pick up my cards. How easy is that? When your a busy mom of two tots, easy is the answer. Here is our card, I'm very thrilled to be sending this out in the next couple weeks. It is perfect.


Winks and Daisies is offering one of my readers a Custom Holiday Photo Card design of their choice to order and have printed out at their printing place of choice. Head on over to Dorie's Shop look around and then come back here and tell me your favorite Holiday design.
For extra Entries (leave a seperate comment on this post for each you complete)
1. Share this giveaway by Blogging, posting on your Facebook status or Twittering about this giveaway. Leave a comment for each of these you complete with a link to where I can find where you shared.
2. Follow H is for Hillman
3. See my Button over there on the right hand sidebar? Grab it and tell me where to find it.
4. Go follow the Winks and Daisies Blog
Giveaway Ends November 19th and Winner will be announced November 20th. Good Luck!

LBC Paper Feature and Review

LBC Paper is a beautiful little Etsy shop I came across a few weeks back. As soon as I saw these amazing paper creations, I knew I had to contact the seller, Leah Copplestone about a Feature for the blog. I fell in love with her beautiful ornaments and gift tags, especially with Christmas coming up. If you didn't know, I LOVE all things christmas and her ornaments had me in awe. Leah set up a listing for me of all sorts of paper goodies from her shop. Leah is an architecture student who loves paper, scissors, glue and fine point Sharpies. Everything in her shop is made from her two hands, and not one item is identical. All one of a kind! And I completely agree, when I recieved my paper goodies I was more than thrilled and so excited to have these one of a kind creations.
Leah sent me two blue paper ornaments, that will be dangle beautifully from our christmas tree. I love how bright and fun they are. And will be purchasing a few more in different colors, I love them so much.


I was also sent these adorable gift tags for our christmas gifts. These are going to add the perfect touch to the wrapping. Plus I'm not the biggest fan of those sticker tags from the stores, they are so boring.

The Gift cards Leah sent are now apart of my decor in my living room. The colors matched perfect with my other decor and added a pop to the living room.


And last but not least I also recieved these recycled coasters. I love that they are recycled and they are perfect for mine and Finley's Tea parties.

I'm so happy to have LBC Papers as a feature on my blog. Leah is truely talented and I'm so thankful she Shared her beautiful work with me. Everything in her shop is one of a kind, beautiful and unqiue. I suggest you hop on over her way and check out how you can use her beautiful paper products in your holiday decor this year. I'm pretty sure you will adore everything in her shop as much as I do.

Finley The Brave

Finley is now doing great. We had a few rough days due to pain and itching, and had to keep her on the stronger pain meds at that time. Which helped a lot. We are no longer keeping a bandage on it either, so I think that makes her a bit more comfortable too. The burn is healing really well. I'm hoping the scar isn't too noticable once it fully heals. It doesn't look like she is going to have a lot of scarring and I think if she has some it won't be for very long.
Burns have always been one of my worst fears. Not only are they extremely painful, but the scarring can be painful too. Especially if it is big and in a place where others can see it. Because lets be honest, kids can be cruel and tease about the silliest things. I want Finley to always be confident and strong and not feel insecure because of a accident.
She has handled this all very well, stayed very brave and when she sees her owie she just says "Look mama, it's a pink dragee." And it really does look like a dragon. I'm very proud of her and so thankful that the burn wasn't worse.

Spaghetti Stuffed Rolls and Pasta {Recipe}

I didn't know what to make for dinner the other night, I had hambuger out and a package of pilsbury bisquits. (Which I never buy, and not sure why I even had them) So I decided to try something new. Stuff the Bisquits with Spaghetti sauce and serve with noodles,butter and parm. It was a hit, and super easy. But I do think next time I will make my homemade dough. When I cook I don't measure, I just cook to taste and add what I need here and there. So I will just list what you will need and how to put them together.

Ground hambuger
Chopped Onion
Mushrooms
Sliced Olives
Can of Tomatoe sauce
Can of diced Tomatoes
Itailian Seasoning
Beef Broth- I use an Au Jus pack and about 1/4 cup of water
Salt and pepper
Parm Cheese
Bisquits
Spaghetti Noodles

I throw the first four items in a pan with Olive oil and cook until meat is done. Then add the rest and let simmer for about 20 mins.


Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, then open your bisquits and stretch them out on your pan. Put about a Tbls of sauce and a pinch of cheese in the middle. Then bring all the dough together into the middle and Flip bun over.


Bake @ 425 for about 15-20 min or until they are golden brown on top. In the meantime Boil your water and throw in your noodles, drain, add butter and parm.







And there ya go, an easy yummy meal that the kiddos love and you will too!!

Modern Bird Studios Holiday Contest-EXTRA ENTRIES OPPURTUNITY

Hi everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the Etsy reviews and Giveways the past week. There are a few more to come. I have a big favor to ask from all my Loyal readers, Modern Bird studios is having a Facebook Holiday photo contest, and I entered a photo of Finley. The top 5 photos with the most "Likes" get voted on by a panel of other bloggers. Please take a few minutes to go Like Modern Bird studios and Finley's photo HERE This would be greatly appreciated and for doing this for me, you can go leave a comment on any of the current giveaways saying you voted for Fin for an extra entry! THANK YOU!!!!!

Coco Rose Couture Review and {Giveaway}

Yep another Giveaway! And another awesome Etsy shop. Bree of Coco Rose Couture, makes the most beautiful headbands and clippies for all ages. Bree is also a mommy and a blogger herself. Check out her blogs Here where she talks about all lifes events through her creative side and Here where she talks about enjoying moments of bliss with her family. She sent me a super cute headband to review. I love the bright colors and all the neat little details. Apparently Finley did too, because I can't get it away from her. She thinks she looks so "peeatty" and I agree.

I love all her adorable clippes and headbands, these would make great stocking stuffers for your little ones, tweens and teens.
Bree is offering one of my readers their choice of headband or clippie. To enter go check out Coco Rose Couture and come back here and tell me what you would choose if you won.
For extra Entries (leave a seperate comment on this post for each you complete)
1. Share this giveaway by Blogging, posting on your Facebook status or Twittering about this giveaway. Leave a comment for each of these you complete with a link to where I can find where you shared.
2. Follow H is for Hillman
3. I have a new Button over there on the right hand sidebar, Grab it and tell me where to find it.
4. Follow Bree's blogs ModBlog and Finding Bliss
Giveaway will end Nov 18th, winner announced Nov 19th. Good luck!