funky music

One of Reesie's favorite past times is listening to the musical greeting cards at Target.  Her mama's too cheap to buy her one, so when we have time I let her listen to a couple before moving on to our other errands.  I always forget just how loud the music seems to echo through the store once the card is opened.

Today as Reese rocked out to the greeting card and I avoided eye contact with other shoppers, I looked over at Hope to see her dancing away in the shopping cart.  Apparently she shares her sister's love for musical cards.

 

the daddy in our house

To the Daddy of a house full of women,

Happy Father's Day!  Thanks for letting us hang all over you as often as we want.

Love,

Your Girls

P.S- For your gift we will do our absolute best to leave for church on time regardless of the status of our hair accessories.

water skiing then and now

The chill stole my breath as I slid off the back of the boat and into the water.  I bobbed up and down hoping the movement would help the wetsuit to hurry up and work already.  Dad had had the foresight to grab it before we pulled away from the dock.  I'm so grateful one of us knew what he was doing.  Missouri lake water in May isn't all that bad when you're ten.  Unfortunately my circulation isn't quite what it used to be.

I tried to relax but it was difficult wrestling the ski into position while waiting for the boat to bring the rope around.  Doubt slithered through my mind like the rope through my hand.  It's been a seven year hiatus from water skiing.  The sun's setting fast.  If I pull a hamstring how in the world will I haul Hope around?  Or survive the long drive home?  There is no worker's comp in my field of work.  The chilly water wasn't the only thing that caused my hands to shake as I gripped the handlebar.

But Dad believed in me.  And if anyone could get this mama of two up on a water ski, it was him.  He can drive a boat better than most with one hand tied behind his back.  Heaven knows I contributed to his many hours logged at the helm.

I remember the summer I was determined to learn how to slalom ski.  We were out there for hours.  Everyone else had gone inside, tired of watching me fall over and over again.  It was just Dad and me.  Each time I crashed he would pull the boat back around, ready to try again.  Sometimes he gave me a pointer.  Not once did he criticize or try to talk me into quitting for the day.  We stayed at it until I emerged from the water on one ski.  Mission accomplished and a victory for us both.

This time it took two tries.  The boat powered forward, the water sprayed my face and for a minute I was transported back to the summer weekends we spent at the lake.  They are the crown jewels of my childhood.

As Dad zipped the grown up me around the lake it hit me.  Attempting to ski wasn't so much about seeing if I could still do it, it was wanting to relive one of my best memories from growing up in my family.  The strain on my legs, the wind whipping my hair, the roar of the boat.  It didn't disappoint.

Thanks for believing in me Dad.  And thanks for taking me skiing- then and now.

Happy Father's Day!

it's only fair

I'm turning the tables today.  After all the sharing I've done about my girls I decided it's only fair to tell on myself.  I read somewhere one good prompt of getting out of a blogging slump is to write a simple list of ten things others might not know about me.  Here goes nothing!

1.  I cannot sleep while wearing socks.  It makes me feel like I'm suffocating.

2.  Going to the grocery store is my least favorite chore.  I'd rather scrub toilets.  I also feel serious guilt about this fact because there are people all over the world who would love to have an entire store's worth of food they could bring home and give their families.  Dan is always willing to go if I send him with a list but it's hard to surrender the control.
 2A. I might have an issue with control.

3.  My favorite subject in school was reading.  I loved Nancy Drew books the best.  Every time I take the girls to the library I contemplate checking out a Nancy Drew book.

4.  I love action movies.  The more intense and explosive the better.  There are very few romantic comedies I like.

5.  I'm bad at fixing my hair.  Some girls have the hair gift.  I'm not one of those girls.

6.  I have no clue what my love language is.  If they added taking a nap to the official list then that would definitely be it.

7.  I had my two front baby teeth pulled out in China Town (in New York) by a dentist who barely spoke English.  I went on to have braces twice before high school.  I had some messed up teeth.  Heaven help our girls.

8.  I love mountains.  For our July honeymoon we went out west to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  I'm dying to go to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.  Something about being so small in the midst of such grandeur is incredibly comforting to me.

9.  My favorite toy growing up was Barbie.  I'd go up to my room for hours and play and play.  My family called it "Barbie Heaven."

10.  Seeing Celine Dion in concert is on my bucket list.  

Love,
Me

PS- Aren't the smaller Hinton girls so much more interesting? :)

10 months old

Hope is ten months old!  

I can't believe she has hit double digits!  Our baby is going to be one before we know it.  At ten months old she can drink from a straw and bark at dogs.  She started saying "Dada" and "Bye."  She loves doors.  In the morning while the rest of us get ready she goes from door to door swinging them back and forth.  I figured out if I hang a couple of hangers on the knobs, she can't smash her fingers.

She loves to chew on shoes, her Daddy's wallet, plastic bags, papers, crayons and Uno cards.  (All things she's not allowed to have.)  We have to sweep her mouth constantly for random things she finds on the floor.  She gives kisses at will, thoroughly sliming the lucky recipient.  

She's a bit um, tenacious.  She hates getting her diaper changed and fights me at almost every change.  She's also started to bite me when she eats.  (Not fun!)  She loves baby food and Cheerios and wants to eat like a big girl at every meal.  She's not crazy about avocados but I keep offering them hoping she'll change her mind. 

She laughs easily and naps well.  She loves when people talk to her when we're out and about.  She has one heck of a pout.

She is loud!  When she's happy she'll suddenly squeal at the top of her lungs.  Last night we went out to eat and I had to take her out of the restaurant because she was yelling.  She was perfectly content, just wanted to test out her vocal chords I guess.  :) 

True to second born form she's pretty tough yet easy going.  She goes to the nursery at church just fine. The day I took her ten month pictures she leaned over the little brown chair and pulled to a standing position.  

She's our sweet baby girl who makes her daddy swoon, her sister giggle and her mother thank God for the incredible gift she is.  

We could never deserve her.