A Lesson From the Teacher in Me

OK, this isn't a cute or a fun post, but several people have said they don't know how to leave comments, so I thought I would do a quick lesson. We "bloggers" LOVE reading your comments, don't we Shana?! So, here is how you do it:
At the end of each post you will see "comments" with a number beside it. That number tells you how many comments have been made. You click on "comments." You will see "Leave your comment" and a box with a cursor underneath. Simply type in whatever you want to say. Under that you will see some crazy looking letters that do not spell anything. You do not need to unscramble the letters :) , simply type them beside "word verification" just as they appear. The last thing you need to do is choose an identity. If you have a blogger or a google account, you can sign in and choose this one, if not choose "anonymous." Then you click on "publish your comment" and you are done! It really is pretty easy. Try it, I would love to hear from you!!

Pastry Chefs in Training

Last weekend, Maddie had her friend, Malley, over to spend the night. That of course was a perfect excuse for baking cookies! Here are some pictures of the girls at their finest. The cookies turned out very yummy! I think they make fabulous pastry chefs.

Blessings in Savannah

Alright, I am going to make up for my lack of posts the last couple of weeks with one really long one! Like I said in my last post, we finally took our trip to Savannah this past week. I say that because we planned it a year ago and had to postpone it twice. It turned out that it was perfect timing. Eric's business has been kind of slow lately, so had this not been paid for a year ago, we wouldn't have gotten to go. God blessed us tremendously on this trip. We are learning to bring God into the details of our lives. He loves us and wants us to involve Him in every aspect. It is easy to leave on vacation and leave "prayer time" and "bible time" at home. Through a couple of circumstances that I won't go into, Eric and I spent much of this vacation in prayer, not just between the two of us but also with our children. I think God was pleased because He sent us several blessings along the way. I'll share a few as I go through the pics



The picture above is the townhouse that we stayed in. We stayed on the first floor. The people who own it, live on the 2nd floor half of the year. But, they weren't in town this week. When we got there, the house had not been cleaned from the previous guests. Eric called the owner, who very much apologized. He was ready to put us up in a hotel, but we had already unpacked, so Eric told him it wouldn't be a big deal for us to clean it ourselves. The owner was incredibly thankful and told us that he would send us a refund for one night. (we were to stay 4) As you can see, there was a mail slot in the front door. This fascinated the kids. They were constantly peeking through it.

This is just a pic of the living room. The townhouse is located on Washington Square and is just a block from River Street. It was a fabulous location!

Maddie and Ella are huge Paula Deen fans, so we took a "Paula Deen" tour. Let me back up a bit and say that one of the reasons we chose to go to Savannah was that the girls do love Paula and wanted to eat at The Lady and Sons. But, of all weeks in the year, they were closed Jan. 2-6; the exact days that we would be there! What do you do? Back to the tour, this is Polk's Produce. They helped her get her start by letting her have groceries on credit when she was just starting The Bag Lady

This is the chapel where Paula and Michael were married. I talk as if I know them don't I?

Sorry for the glare, I took this from the bus.

This is in Uncle Bubba's, which is her brother's restaurant. If you look to the left, you can see the prep station that she stands behind in Paula's party(which is filmed here)

Outside of Uncle Bubba's

When we started the tour, the guide told us that we would not be able to drive by Paula's house. She said that neighbors do not like it. So, when we got off at one of the stops along the way, Eric stayed on the bus to talk to the guide. And, in only a way that Eric can, he got her to give him directions to her house. I will say that her directions were terrible and if we had to go by them, we would never have made it. We even called my dad to get him to mapquest the name of the street she had given him. It did not come up. But, we rode around anyway. We turned on this little side street that looked like it headed nowhere. The houses were very small and very plain. We saw a little old woman checking her mail, so Eric rolled down his window to ask her if she knew where this road was. She had never heard of it, so then Eric said, "Do you know where the Paula Deen residence is?" She pointed to the end of the street and said, "Right there." Now this may not seem like much, but for us it was a sweet little blessing from above. Maddie was thrilled that she got to see Paula's house. And, I love how God just led us there!

This is taken from River Street. The kids loved watching the huge boats go by.

We ate some really good seafood while we were there. I am sure that I gained five pounds while we were there, but I am not checking the scale! This is Maddie eating a raw oyster. Now, she is like me in almost every way. But, she does not get this from me. That is all Eric! He was really excited to have someone to eat oysters with.

This was taken in Washington Square which was right out our front door. Maddie took this picture. She has discovered photography. If she asked me once, she asked me a thousand times if she could take a picture. I just may hand this job over to her soon. It looks like she might be pretty good at it!

We did a carriage ride one night. The kids LOVED riding on the carriage, and Eric and I really enjoyed hearing some of the history of the city.

Maddie practicing her princess wave

There was a "bar" inside the townhouse, and Maddie and Ella loved sitting there to drink their "coffee".

They thought they were quite the pair.

Sunday morning, we got up and packed up the car. We were going to eat a late breakfast and head to Tybee Island to see Ft. Pulaski before we headed home. We just couldn't find anywhere in Savannah that peeked our interest for breakfast, so we decided to head on over to Tybee. We saw several places before we noticed this "hole in the wall" place called The Breakfast Club with a line out the door. We figured if there was a line, it must be worth a try. We sat down and ordered. Then I looked up at the window. I punched Eric's arm and asked him who that was, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, in walks Jamie Deen with his wife and son to have some breakfast too! They sat one table away from us. Eric discreetly took this picture. I was too afraid to. When we walked out Eric looked at him and said, "Now are y'all gonna be open tomorrow?" His response was, "Yes, thank goodness, it has been a long week!" Eric and I had already been discussing that it would be great to stay one more night so that we could eat at The Lady and Sons, so Eric called the owner of the town home and asked him if that would be ok. He said he would love for us to. Now, remember he was going to refund one night anyway, so now we were getting to stay an extra night for free! Another sweet blessing.

We did still go to Ft. Pulaski before we headed back to unload enough stuff to get us through the night. :)

Because we had done the Paula Deen tour, we had a pass to be able to call and get a reservation without standing in line. So, we were able to get in at 11:00 which is when they open. When they open, this lady comes out and rings the dinner bell and yells, "come and get it!" How cute is that? Had we not had reservations right when they opened we would have missed that!

Our waitress took our picture.

I had to take a picture of the food. It's making you hungry right?! It really was delicious and a perfect ending to a wonderful vacation. I think I will invite God to go along every time!

We are still here

Hey all - Just wanted to get in a quick post to let everyone know the Hildebrands are still here! We got back Monday from a vacation to Savannah. I'll do a post with lots of pictures when I have more than five minutes. I have a prayer request for anyone willing. After a discussion with our pediatrician and an appointment with a Dr. who deals more with behavior disorders, we are convinced that Ethan has an autism spectrum disorder. Autism presents itself in sooooo many different ways, that is just a "blanket" term. I brought home a very large stack of papers describing the different approaches we could take. We have decided to go slowly and try one thing at a time. Starting with his diet seemed to be the best place to start for us. I have spent the last 2 days cleaning out my pantry and fridge. I have a book of acceptable foods. So I have to check off absolutely everything, right down to his toothpaste! Please pray that we will all be disciplined enough to do this and that Ethan would understand that we are trying to help him. Thanks bunches!!!! More later

A Very Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! We certainly did. As always, we stayed home in our pjs all day long. What could be better than that! After we get up and read the Christmas story then open all our presents, we make a big brunch. I made monkey bread for the first time. It was really tasty, if I do day so myself. Then we lay around until we feel like getting up to start cooking again. We had a feast late in the afternoon. I just can't imagine the day being any better than being with my family all day!!So, I finally was able to give Eric his gift! I wouldn't have dared told you what it was before because Eric reads this very often. He has found out what he was getting in the past and I was bound and determined he wasn't going to this year! I ordered it from Dad's computer, used his credit card and had it shipped to his house, just to be safe. Many of you know that Eric just loves Bobby Flay. Most nights, we watch the Food Network. It has become our favorite. Eric's favorite show is Throwdown with Bobby Flay. In fact, at any moment on any day, he will look at me and say, "Are you ready for a throwdown?" So, I ordered him an autographed copy of one of his cookbooks. The inscription says, "Eric, are you ready for a throwdown? Bobby Flay." I asked Eric how this ranked of all the gifts I had given him. He said it was right at the top! I missed the picture of his face when he read it. It was priceless!

Santa brings 3 gifts to our kids. They each represent gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold was given to Jesus because it was very valuable - a perfect gift for a king. Our gold gift is something they really want. Frankincense was a sacred substance. In Exodus 30:34-37, God commanded the Israelites to place frankincense in front of the tent of meeting to scent the place where he had promised to meet with them. Jesus was sent as a symbolic "Tent of Meeting" for all people, which is why it was a gift to him. Our frankincense is something that will draw them closer to Christ. In ancient times, myrrh was used to scent embalming liquids. Because Jesus was sent to die on a cross for us, this was an appropriate gift for him. In our family, the myrrh gift is something that is needed. All that said, Ethan's gold gift this year was a drum set. Yes, I said a drum set. :)

Maddie's gold gift was a portable DVD player. This picture makes my heart hurt. She looks more like a teenager than a five year old.

Ella's gold gift was an easy bake oven. Here she is baking her very first cake. It was quite humorous. She refused to let anyone help her. She just may be the next Bobby Flay! :) I had to include a picture of her sharing her cake with her daddy.

I recently got new curtains for the dining room, so I told Eric not to get me anything. But he did something really thoughtful, that not many of you will get, but I have to brag on him anyway! To make a really long story short, several months ago, my cell phone was stolen. Eric spent a lot of time on Ebay to find me one just like what I had. Unfortunately, when it came, it wasn't in great condition. It was cracked and was a really bright color blue. I was glad to have it anyway, but it has been the center of many jokes since. Eric used to have the same one, but it went swimming in a drink and had long sense been replaced. He took my phone and his old one apart and took what was good from both. The outside of his was in great shape and was black instead of the fluorecent blue. He put them back together in the shell of his old one. Now, I have a "new" phone. It didn't cost him any money, but he spent a couple of hours putting it together. All together - AWWWWW wasn't that thoughtfull!

I almost forgot - Mom and Dad gave me a new DIGITAL camera. I am finally in the 21st century! I am still the photographer though so I am not making any promises that the pictures will be any better.

My sweet baby is now Christ's sweet baby

My sweet baby, Maddie, was baptized on December 9. Back on October 28, we had a fall festival at a couple's house from our church. We did a trunk or treat, so the kids came home with LOTS of candy. They had eaten all kinds of sweets that day, so I told them they could only have a couple of pieces. When we piled in the car, Ella told on Maddie and said she had eaten more candy than she was supposed to. So, when we got home, Maddie and I had a talk about temptation. I read her a scripture and said that when you give in to temptation, that becomes sin. You would have thought I had broken her heart. Her exact words were, "Mommy, do you think Jesus will forgive me?" I told her He absolutely would and led her in the sinner's prayer. She was so excited that she had Jesus in her heart and called everyone she could think of to tell them. In our church, we celebrate the act of baptism twice a year - once around Christmas and once at Easter. Maddie was a little nervous about being baptized, but right before she went up I told her Jesus was with her and up she went! What a glorious thing-to watch your little one become Christ's own! The transformation in her life has been incredible. She has become so much more sensitive to others and it grieves her when she has disobeyed Eric and me. She prays often that Ella and Ethan would ask Jesus into their hearts too. One day, we were in line to pick Ethan up from school, and Maddie asked, "Mommy, do all these people know Jesus?" I said, "no baby, they don't." Her response was, "Well we need to get out and go tell them!" I love that God can use a 5 year old to remind us "wise" adults to get off our duffs and go tell the world about Jesus!

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. (Psalm 8:2)

I have been tagged...

Jodi tagged me to share 12 random things about myself that are Christmas related. Here are the rules:
1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.

12 Random Christmas Things About Tammy:
1. I absolutely love buying gifts. If I had lots and lots of money, I am sure I would give it all away!
2. When I find the perfect gift for someone, I have the hardest time waiting to give it to them. I have had Eric's gift for over a month now. I am so excited about it, that it is killing me to wait til Christmas morning to give it to him.
3. I love decorating for Christmas. And from a previous post, you know I am a little particular about it! :)
4. As much as I love buying gifts, I always wait until sometime in December to start. This year pretty much started and finished this past Saturday.
5. I love Christmas music, BUT I only like to listen to it during the Christmas season. I just can't stand to hear it before or after. Which leads me to number 6:
6. It drives me crazy to see Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. This year Hobby Lobby started putting theirs up in September - I am not kidding.
7. I love Christmas parties - going to and hosting. I especially love our 30's and 40's party. You just never know what is going to happen! :) Thanks Brad and Shana for hosting!
8. I adore seeing Christmas through my children's eyes. Maddie has been counting the days til Christmas morning since Thanksgiving. Literally! I'm surprised she doesn't have it down to the hours yet.
9. I love to just sit and stare at my Christmas tree. Maybe the sparkling lights are relaxing, I don't know really. All I know is I have loved doing it since I was a very small child.
10. We don't go anywhere on Christmas day. In fact, we tend to stay in our pajamas all day. When we had children, we decided that we wanted them to be able to stay home and not travel all over the place.
11. Every year for as long as I remember, Before the first gift is opened my Dad would always read the Christmas story in Luke. He still does it. When the kids wake up on Christmas morning, we call Mom and Dad and Jenny and they come on over (whether the sun is up or not) This just may be my absolute favorite thing about the Christmas season.
12. I LOVE celebrating the advent season. This year thanks to our wonderful children's minister at church, we had a family advent festival. We made our own family advent wreath and Jennifer put together a devotional book for each day of the advent season, written by families in our church. We have so enjoyed lighting the candle each night and reading a devotion together. It has really helped to keep our focus on Jesus. After all He is the reason for this season!

I now tag Shana, Meleia, Angie and Chelle and Cindy-didn't want to leave anyone out ;)
By the way, what is the dreaded "m" word??