syntax queen

So how are you holding up bloggers? Is the suspense eating you alive? Has the disclosure of Chica's latest milestone left you perched on the edge of your seat? :)

I guess I should go ahead and tell you already what Reesie's been up to, besides hanging out bucket style while the lady interns and I filled 600 water balloons. (Another story for another day.)

Drum roll please...

Reesie's speaking in complete sentences.

I know it's hard to believe. Her doctor said by the age of two babies should be stringing two words together. Mission accomplished. A few weeks ago, Chica walked up to me, pointed at some cheese on the counter, looked me dead in the eye and said, "I want that."


Initially I thought it was an accident. I must have heard her wrong. But sure enough, a few days later she passed me a bag of crackers asserting, "I want this."

Sometimes the sentence is slurred, but other times it's clear as day.

Before you write me off as crazy, there have been witnesses (including non-relatives) to the sentence speak. Just before her graduation, Auntie Michelle came over to watch Reese while I got ready. According to Michelle, Reesie repeated the sentence over and over. It seems there's a direct correlation between the number of times she utters, "I want that" and her listener's inclination to give way to her request. If her audience is applauding, you can bet she'll be back for an encore.

I nearly passed out the other day when I slid open the van door and was greeted with, "I want out."

Danny was the hardest to convince. He was gone the week she started up her little syntax trick. Now, even he's convinced. (See above push-over equation.)

She's far from subject verb agreement and predicate nominatives. She can't diagram a sentence. But just as sure as I'm typing, she can say one.

check up time!

Do you see that face? That's the face of a child who's up to no good. I may be a first time mother, but I wised up to that little fact quickly.

It's the face Chica makes just before she throws a ticker-tape parade with her unwanted bread crumbs.

That Tweety bandaged arm can only mean one thing; my baby got shot.


"Say what?"


15 month check up time. Here were her stats:

Height--- 50th percentile.
Weight---55th percentile.
Head---75th percentile.

What can I say? She has big brains. And she needs those brains for what she's been up to recently. You're not going to believe it when I tell you. Most people don't until they witness it for themselves.

Really bloggers, have I ever led you astray? We only speak the truth at the Hinton home. Like the time I wrote this post or when Daniel swore throughout my entire pregnancy my face had stayed the same size.

While those aren't the best examples of our honesty, Chica's latest milestone is the real deal. So come on back tomorrow and brace yourself to be blown away. Or to doubt us. Either way, we'll still love you.

a picture promo

Hey bloggers! If you're a picture taking fool like I am, then this tidbit of information is for you! From now until tomorrow (Saturday the 25) you can get 50 4x6 prints from Walgreens for $5.00. Not bad huh? Just enter SUMMER50 when you checkout online. I'm terrible at printing my pictures, so this kind of offer is what I need to get my picture rear in gear!

Maybe I'll finally get some pictures in Reesie's "Who Loves Baby?" book. As of the moment, it's completely empty. The more she carries it around and around the house, the more I'm concerned it might cause poor self-esteem issues. :) Happy Friday!

thrilled or terrified?

While on our recent family reunion, we made a stop at the water slide. When it comes to Roaring River State Park, it's a must see. A man bearing striking resemblance to Ernest (as seen in Ernest Goes to Jail) built a concrete water slide in his yard and opened it up to the public. Rumors are he makes enough money during the summer months to spend the rest of the year on a beach in Florida. If you saw this slide, you'd believe it too. Last year Chica was just a few months old, so we spared her from scraping up every joint in her body. This year we strapped a lifejacket on her and sent her on her way.

So what do you think? Thrilled?


Or terrified?

down by the river

This past weekend the tribe of Hinton convened at a Missouri state park for our annual reunion. It was a multi-generational shindig of the fishing sort. Before I break down this year's whopper of a trip, (did you like my pun?) I must re-visit my archives and make sure I'm not THAT girl who recounts the same story year after year, blah blah, caught the biggest lunker, blah blah blah.

Aw, bloggers! My very first post on our little blog was about Roaring River! This trip recap was back before I knew how to put pictures on the Internet. Thank goodness I finally figured that out. Why else would you guys have kept coming back? And somebody PLEASE look at what a cue ball head Chica used to be!

*Sigh* nothing like a little stroll down Archive Avenue to remind me what not to retell.

Here she is in all her beauty. Roaring River. Its name is a tad deceiving. It conjures up images of raging waters surging over ten foot rapids, when in reality, what you see in this picture is just about as wild as it gets. What it lacks in oomp, it makes up for in beauty.

The water is so clear, you can see every fish in the river. Which I've come to find out, is a double edged sword. You can see each fish approach your line, suspense mounting as you lure your unsuspecting, breakfast seeking prey to its certain death by metal hook. Seems like witnessing this scenario would be a huge advantage for a fisherwoman, right? Wrong! Because just as you're warming up your voice for your battle cry of victory, that same unsuspecting, breakfast seeking prey takes one sniff of your neon worm and flits away to bigger and better things. Namely, everyone else's fishing lines. I'm not sure if you've picked up on my dejected, bitter tone, but I got schooled. The fish weren't falling for it. I fought the river and the river whooped me.

To ease my pain, and nurse my pride I stepped away from the fishing pole and picked up my camera. Might as well document everyone else's success, right?

My handsome husband. I won't tell you how many fish he caught, but I'll give you a hint. {We'd never make it on a deserted island. Even if the deserted island came equipped with fishing poles and tackle boxes.}

Daniel's Uncle Jim. Now, if he were on the deserted island with us, we'd totally survive.


A little cousin. Chances are he caught more fish than our family combined. Where was Chica when we needed her? Hiding in shame? It's about time she starts earning her keep! That's why you have kids!


Auntie Sandra! She always catches the river's limit: 1,100 fish. Just kidding. I'm not sure what the limit is. Considering I can't even catch one, the sky's the limit for me!


If catching no fish with him is wrong, I don't want to be right.


If we hadn't had stopped fishing to take this picture, I'm sure we would have caught something. Yes, I'm certain that was our problem. We missed our window of opportunity!


Later that afternoon Dan and I went on a hike. Isn't Southern Missouri purty?


We took Reesie to the hatchery, where they keep all the fish until they're ready to be stocked in the river. In order to feed the fish you have to buy the park's fish food, which they keep in this thing that looks like a bubble gum machine. Try to picture Dan standing there in sweltering heat, inserting quarter after quarter to crank out this nasty fish food so our 14 month old daughter can throw stinky pellets at fish she can hardly see. There I was, lugging around 50 pounds worth of stroller, diaper bag, sunscreen and camera equipment. We cracked up at how ridiculous we had become.

But then we capture moments like these and it makes it all worth it. Right after I took this picture, Reese tried to eat the fish food. That kind of put a damper on the moment.

This picture is just outside our cabin. Our air-conditioned cabin, hallelujah. That's my kind of camping. See Lisa's hand? She got some new bling recently and is still getting used to it. :)


Chica was a little attention deprived by the time we left.


Actually, she's wondering where her meal time audience went.


Hanging with her grandparents.


We'll be back Roaring River. And if Chica's face is any indication, we will have our vengeance.

The End.

she said yes!

A few weeks ago, he popped the question and she said "yes". Next came an even bigger question. (In the life of Reesie anyway.)


I'm pleased to announced that next summer Baby Girl will be making her first appearance as a flower girl in her Uncle Alan's wedding!

It gives her just enough time to grow a head full of fixable hair and for her parents to devise the best source of bait with which to lure her down the aisle. If I had to decide today I'd hunker near the altar with a piece of string cheese tied around my neck and a mini tape recorder playing the theme from Handy Manny in my hands. That should do the trick.

I wonder what the happy couple will think about incorporating dairy products into the theme of their wedding?

need some encouragement?

I watched this five times in a row. Hope it blesses you too!



P.S.- I promise it's worth the time it takes to buffer! :)

she even makes house calls

Last week Danny's sister Michelle (a.k.a "Auntie Michelle") graduated from nursing school. Chica and I were able to attend her graduation because it was just before the annual Hinton reunion fishing trip. (More to come on that later.)

(I'm trying to build the anticipation.)

(And use as many unneccessary parenthesis as possible)

Here we are waiting for her name to be called.


Chica was a lot more excited than she appeared to be. The ceremony was a little past her bedtime, but she did very well for how late it was. Both of us were grateful when a couple of cousins sat with us. They provided some much needed entertainment.


Finally it was Auntie Michelle's turn.


And...pinned!


Woohoo! You go Auntie Michelle. Go forth and draw blood! Check those vitals! Rock that bonnet!


Awww. Actually, more like ow! Chica's hair clamp was out in full force.


Congratulations Auntie Michelle. We're so proud of you. We never could have done what you've accomplished. (Seriously would have passed out cold on the floor on the first day.) Love you!

pucker up

The other day, Chica took a quick snack break.


As she crunched on her cracker, she did some thinking. My little multi-tasker.


She thought...


and she thought.


Then she decided that you, beloved bloggers...


deserved a cyber, crumb sprinkled smooch.

That pucker is for you bloggers. We love you. Thanks for sticking through our little hiatus. We'll be back soon!

beach recap

A week ago I was at the beach. This beach actually. Not too shabby is it?


Hardly a vacation, it was our annual youth trip.


At least I think we had students with us.


Ah, here they are!


While we did a lot more than play games (see "not a vacation") I have to tell you about this one.


Each contestant had a balloon taped to his shirt with a piece of tubing that stretched around to the other contestant. The goal was to blow up a balloon until it popped in the other contestant's face. Because they were back to back, neither contestant could see their own balloon. But they had a great view of how their opponent was doing. Make sense? It was great!


This bloggers, is my beloved small group. This fall they'll be freshmen in high school. How can that be? If you're having trouble spotting me, bless your heart. Each youth trip I calculate how many times I'm asked, "what grade are you in?" Sadly the count has plummeted since I became a mother. It must be all that wisdom one acquires the moment one requests an epidural during labor. If you still can't find me just look for the doofus who turned the wrong way. :)


Our High School Musical pose. I only commit to a shot like this if they promise not to make me be the dorky drama teacher.


Wednesday night Dan and I snuck out of camp to grab a quick anniversary dinner. We split the Surf & Turf. Bloggers, I could eat my weight in crab legs. Unfortunately I didn't for two reasons. One, Daniel would have had to roll my gluttonous self home. Two, we had to hurry back to camp, thus leaving very little time for rolling. Honestly, our small group leaders and interns are so great we could have stayed in that restaurant the whole week and no one would have missed us. I'm dreading the day when everyone realizes our volunteers can run the show and they no longer have a need for youth pastors. :)

Sorry about the blurry picture. The romance and tenderness of the moment combined with the overall glow of a still blushing bride and groom cast a dreamlike, magical haze of love, happiness and everlasting commitment wherever we went. Nah, really the waitress just didn't hold the camera still.

Anyone else going to the beach this summer? Send me some crab legs? I promise you won't have to roll me home. That's what husbands are for! :)

one fierce mohawk

Chica's gone punk on us.


Think she should rock this look at church on Sunday? She could start the trend among all the nursery attendees.

aw, shucks

Well bloggers, we've arrived. The hinton home has been discovered. No, no, Simon hasn't called. Yet. As it turns out, our little blog has been featured on Beautiful Blog Designs! And believe it or not, I didn't even have to bribe them to say all those nice things about our little blog. Trust me, they can't be bought.

Now before you start thinking I'm just tooting my own horn, know this. Each week Amanda features "an amateur blog with a particularly attractive blog design." While I have everything to do with the amateur aspect of our blog (holla!), Kelly was the brains behind our beautiful design operation. Kudos to her!

You know a designer's a pro when she hears, "Yeah, I like pink and brown and green and simple-looking, and I would like a viney thing going through it," and she turns it into what you see on your screen. Kelly was great to work with from beginning to end. My favorite part about her is she wants beautiful blogs to be attainable by everyone, so she keeps her prices very reasonable. If you sign up to follow her blog, then each month you're automatically entered to win a free custom blog design of your very own. So hop on over there and sign up bloggers!

Thanks Amanda for stopping by our little neck of the web and for loving it enough to showcase!

someone's getting hitched!

Congratulations Uncle Alan and (soon to be!) Aunt Lisa!


He popped the question, she said yes. Now all Chica wants is an updated picture with the happy couple. Not because of how much rounder she was when this last one was taken but because now she has so many more teeth to show for herself.

We love you guys and we can't wait for your big day!

i just love the fourth of july