4th Annual Diggin' Desserts

Our spring trip to Michigan wouldn't be complete without the annual 

Diggin' Desserts competition.

 With nine entries, you would think that the American Dental Association would be knocking our doors down.  It was a tough competition this year with Clown and Fisherman Cupcakes, Rolo Bars, Pecan Bars, Sticky Toffee Cake, Cinnamon Twisty Fries, Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice cream (with an assortment of toppings), Fresh Strawberry-Rhubarb sauce, Pistachio ("Ninja") Pie, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

 Tabulating the votes...

(Every adult votes for TWO desserts, and the kids each vote for one.)

  Anxiously awaiting the results.

Keith with Baby Frankie (5-months old)

 Some of the cousins playing games.

 Uncle Adam on the floor with the little ones (he's SO GOOD about that!).

 Brian and Elissa caught snoozing...SUGAR CRASHING!

 The KID Table

 And...the 2012 WINNERS!

 Bill/Grandpa/Buddy won the Kid's Choice Award with his adorable cupcakes.

 Phil won (after a tie with my mom's Sticky Toffee Cake forced a vote-off) 

with his Cinnamon Twisty Fries.

All of the Hillary Cousins:

Clare, Maria holding Frankie, Jeb

Isaac, Will, Grant, and Gabe

 And this is what it takes to get a good picture...

 Our Little Happy Family

Do you have a famous dessert recipe that you would submit in a dessert cook-off?  

Please share!

Closer to 2 Than 1

Our handsome little man was 18-months-old on the 9th of May...

thus making him now closer to a 2-year-old than a 1-year-old.

Isaac is in a precarious stage right now.  He knows what he wants, but he doesn't have all of the words to communicate effectively.  Therefore, we still (as previously mentioned in his 17-month post) have a LOT of screaming.

Perhaps his screaming is the loudest part of his personality, but it isn't the most dominant.  He is a sweet, affectionate, and tender little guy.  He gives HUGS (more specifically head nuzzles) to anything smaller than he is,
and he especially loves babies and animals.

His only grumpy time of the day is when he wakes up from a nap.  He takes a few minutes to perk up, and he usually seems ravenous.  Isaac is typically ALWAYS happy in Papa's arms, but post-nap time is just rough.

Isaac is currently OBSESSED with noodles.  He loves any type of noodle (as long as it has butter and salt on it), and he will eat an insanely large portion of them EVERY DAY!

When he finally hits his point of saturation, he just starts balancing them on his head.  This goes with anything: chicken, grapes, cheese, avocado, and even his empty bowls.  Strange, indeed...but at least he's consistent.  :)

Our little GOOF BALL!

The budding artist loves coloring and scribbling.

Isaac's vocabulary is growing steadily, but he doesn't usually say much unless we specifically ask him to repeat/say/sign things (a.k.a. perform on command).

He's apparently terrified of pirates.  There's this one scene, in just one of our DVD's, that has a pirate.  He starts crying EVERY SINGLE TIME.  You would think that we would refrain from showing that particular DVD (I can just anticipate the comments that I will get from my sister), but we never remember until he erupts into tears.

One of his new little quirks is crossing the fingers on his right hand.  We don't have a picture of this, but he does it several times throughout the day.  It is pretty strange, and seemingly unexplainable, but cute nonetheless.

He does his very best to keep up with his big sister.  He runs around after her, laughs when she laughs, hides when she hides, squeals when she squeals, and just wants to be near her.  With all of that close proximity, there comes a good deal of sibling squabbles.  At this stage it's kind of funny, but we anticipate that things will ramp up over the years.

Isaac is DEFINITELY an outdoorsy guy.
He finds his shoes and walks around with them until we get his less-than-subtle hint.
He would spend the entire day outside if given the opportunity.
At 18-months, Isaac is:
28.8 pounds = 80th percentile
35 inches = 90th percentile
19.5 in. head circumference = 90th percentile

Ramping Up and Running the Riverbank

Phil and I have been preparing to run the 5/3 Riverbank Run for months, and this past weekend was the big event!  Most of our training was in the Florida heat, but we were able to go for one run in Michigan before the race.  I can't think of the last time that we ran in long sleeve shirts.

 Friday, May 11th, was the race expo...and it was a family affair.

Clare enjoyed being with her cousins...

 ...but her true highlight was probably the cotton candy (and sucker)

 Phil's brothers also ran on Saturday:

Keith (far left) ran the 10K and Brian (far right) ran the 25K.

 Clare was one of our cheerleaders on race day.

 Team Hillham or Durllary bright and early on race day.

 My mom, who has been chasing races for years, is the best cheerleader a runner could ever ask for...and her little prodige made it even better.  :)

 Pre-Race = Lots of Smiles

 The first minute of this video shows Phil, then Brian, then my Dad, and then me.

 Dad, feeling a little less perky than at the one mile mark, got a boost of energy upon seeing his #1 fan.  His look perfectly reflects how we all felt at the 14-mile mark.  Whew...

 In the end, however, we were all smiles again.  Running 15.5 miles is an accomplishment in and of itself, but we all felt good about our race.

 Phil's first Riverbank was a success, and he made his goal of getting into the elite 2-hour Club.  I was so proud of him!!!  This was my fifth Riverbank, and I beat my fastet time by eight minutes, thus making one of my goals.  My Dad, having completed his tenth Riverbank, was happy to finish feeling strong and healthy.  After years of being in the 2-hour Club, he is now just running for the health of it. 

For record keeping sake:

Phil - 1:55:37 (7:28 per mile)

Corrie - 2:03:33 (7:58 per mile)

Dad - 2:16:40 (8:46 per mile)

For my Dad's sake, I want to note that his personal best in the Riverbank was a 1:46.  That's incredibly FAST (approximately 7-minute miles), 
and he is still my running inspiration!

Tiresome Travels

We've been in Michigan over a week now, and we're finally catching up on sleep.  Our flight out of Florida left at 6:30 AM, so we had to be at the airport at 5:00 AM, so we had to leave our house at 4:00 AM, so we had to wake up at 3:15 AM. 
Needless to say, we were tired.

Traveling alone with two small children (one of whom is still a "lap child" on the plane) is rather challenging.  We went to the very back row of the plane, and I pulled out one trick (or treat) after another.  We were all happy to touch ground in Grand Rapids.  :)

 Isaac, who didn't sleep for even one second on the airplane,
was out COLD within seconds of getting in the car. 

It wasn't long before Clare joined him in la-la-land.

 And it was only a matter of time before Mema joined the ranks of the dreamers.

This, now, is DAY 2 of sleeping in the car...on the way to Kalamazoo.

 Here is DAY 3 of sleeping in the car...on the way home from Kalamazoo.

 Finally, DAY 4 of sleeping in the car...on the way to Grand Rapids.

 Peacefully ZONKED with pink blanket in hand.

After four days of napping in the car (as we traveled from one event to the next), our little ones were ready for some down time.  They caught up on sleep (with three hour naps for Clare and Isaac sleeping until 9:45 AM), thus allowing for a car ride without crashing in the car seat.  :)

Mama, however, could still use a nap.

May the 4th Be With You

Clare, who hadn't even heard of Star Wars a week ago,
was THRILLED to be Princess Leia at her cousin's birthday party.

Our nephew, Will, who was born on May 4th ("National Star Wars Day")

celebrated his fourth birthday with a Star Wars Party.

Clare and Maria (the only girls in the Hillary Gang) were both Princess Leia.

Isaac had no costume and no desire to play along.

For the most part, he was running around on his own...

away from the masses of sabres and swords.

He wasn't without fun or flight.

I was very excited to meet our newest nephew (and godson), Frankie,

and to snuggle his little buns. 

Phil enjoyed cuddling with him as well.

Phil had the magic touch because Frankie fell right asleep in Phil's cozy cuddle. 

Can't blame him.

Just a glimpse of the fun and festivities.

Isaac was NOT a fan of the pinata.  He wanted nothing to do with it, and he screamed everytime someone hit it.  Hence...a lot of screaming. 

Candy Collecting = Controlled Chaos

For weeks, Clare has been excited to see her aunts and uncles.

Here, with Uncle Adam, you can see why!

We have one more week in Michigan,

and every day is sure to be packed with fun.