a list of random stuff

1. Tonight was the first night of women's Bible study at our church and I am bouncing off the walls excited. We're doing a study by Angela Thomas. Each week we watch a message on DVD and then there are five days worth of homework you're supposed to complete by the next Monday. In the past, I haven't been incredibly diligent with my homework. I'm hoping to improve my homework record this time around. We'll see.

2. As I pulled out of my driveway tonight my next door neighbor was standing in the street aiming a crossbow towards his garage. Should I be concerned?

3. While I was burping Reese tonight she spit up all over. Order of the clean up: the couch, my pants, Reese's face. Clearly my priorities are in order.

4. Speaking of the Chica, recently she has fancied herself with grabbing hair and shoving it in her mouth. Painful, yes. But even more perplexing is that a mouth full of hair has got to be one of the worst sensations in the world, yet she continues to do it.

5. I bought some curtains for our bedroom and they aren't tan. That is a feat, in and of itself.

6. After all this happened, I wrote the world's most boring post. I apologize.

7. You guys have a great night. We love you.

as promised

Here is Reese's first day of school picture.



Of course in her scrapbook, that title will forever have an asterisk next to it. It's the Barry Bonds of baby pictures.

a chili's disgrace

The Reester and I did a little shopping tonight. While we were out I called Chili's to order some food. Nothing works up an appetite like sorting through the clearance section at Pier 1. When I got the take out girl on the phone I ordered the lettuce wraps as usual. Then she broke the worst news I've heard all day.

Chili's no longer serves lettuce wraps and they haven't since June.

What?! What am I going to do? I'm the girl who has her "thing" at each restaurant. When I sit down to order, I might flip through the menu. But I always end up ordering the exact same thing I did the last time I was there. And at Chili's, my "thing" is lettuce wraps. Now when I go there, I'm going to have to actually read the menu and *gulp* choose a rookie meal that could go either way!

So sad I tell you. So sad.

a faux first

This week Reese started school. No, not real school. While we are convinced she's undoubtedly gifted (don't all parents?), she's not quite ready for kindergarten. Well, a more accurate statement would be kindergarten isn't quite ready for her. :)

Anyways, she missed her first week because she was busy meeting Slugger on our family vacation. And while I was a tad worried about her being the new kid with the good swings taken and all, I figured her tales of meeting giant lions would definitely win over her fellow classmates.

The first day Danny went with us for moral support. Can you guess which of his girls actually needed it? Miss Thang has two teachers and they were both very nice. It turns out there were five other babies in her class and they were ALL BOYS. Thank goodness she wore her I Love My Daddy bib. It made it apparent to those boys she was only interested in platonic friendship.

I am proud to say, I postponed the crying until I was back in the car. When the ignition started, so did the tears. I can't pinpoint a specific reason I started crying.

She was in perfectly capable hands.

She smiled when we handed her over.

For some reason I just felt pained. Not physical pain. But a twinge in my heart. Maybe the tears were flowing because I knew that this is just the first of many heart pains that are sure to come.

The terrible mom I am, I completely forgot to take a picture on her first day. So I took one on her second day. And that will forever be her fake first day of school picture. I will post it asap, but I can't right now. Dan has the blogging machine (aka laptop). Plus it serves as an incentive to come back soon!

he's never been prouder

It was the highlight of our trip. We have more pictures from this one event than we do of the rest of the week. Peaked your interest? I knew it would. :)

Behold, Reese's first trip to Kauffman.


Watch out. She's official and she's got the certificate to prove it.


It was the proudest moment of his life. Those were the exact words out of his mouth.


I wasn't about to miss out on the fun!


According to Dan, this is a picture of Baby enjoying the Friday Night fireworks. If you ask me, it's a great shot of her FABULOUS bow.

story of my life

So, I don't really have what you would call a green thumb.

We moved into our new house a year and a half ago. The flower beds were "builder standard". Loosely translated that means they stick five plants in the ground right up against the side of your house, give you the keys and call it a day. We bought the house in April, a few months before Mississippi summer reared her ugly head. Little did we know that a few months later those poor, unfortunate builder plants would be scorched halfway through. I am not exaggerating. Any branch that touched our house was a goner.

Enter Mom.

And my sweet sister.

And her baby girl.

They came to visit mid-July. Now for those of you auspicious folks who have yet set foot in Mississippi in July, DON'T. Unless your idea of a good time is searing an appendage when you open your car door and being unable to mutter an expletive because the air is too dang thick to breath. If that's your idea of entertainment...by all means, come on down!

Where was I? Oh yes. Mom, Manda and Esther braved the weather because, well I was just too selfish to warn them. Heat advisory, schmeat advisory, they were coming to visit!

Upon arrival, my mom took one look at our plant cemetery of a flower bed and immediately had mercy on the shriveled up remnants.

I'll spare you the details, but the remainder of their visit included 26 bags of mulch, 200 pounds of top soil, a rented tiller, miles of garden edging and enough water hose accessories to douse the Sahara desert.

When they left, our yard was a sight to behold. Have mercy! Our flower beds were tripled in size and number. You'd have thought HGTV had been there. It was the Lazarus of all before and afters!

Fast forward a year or so. The beds are still there. Everything survived the winter.

Then came baby.

And well, I've slacked off a little.

Unfortunately, as the temperature went up, the plants did not follow suite. Weeds started creeping in. And now, we're somewhat lacking in curb appeal. And that's putting it mildly.

So imagine my surprise when we came home one day to find this:



Yes, you saw that correctly.

Epiphany. The reason all my plants keep dying on me must be because I've got them in the wrong place! While troubling myself with resuscitating plants in the bed, I've overlooked the fact that the best soil is in the cracks of the driveway. Man, if only I had known that to begin with, I'm sure my driveway would look like Martha Stewart's garden by now!

I realize there are many spiritual implications regarding this story. But I am just too befuddled to go there.

And if you have made it to the end of this post, bless your heart. You truly are a loyal reader, Mom. :)

long time no post

Hello blog world citizens. You can breath a deep sigh of relief...the Hinton home is still intact.

Why has our little blog fallen victim to recent neglect? Well, because we are currently on our family vacation.

And where have we ventured? Sunny Mexico? Disneyland perhaps? Europe? Nope.

We loaded up the Buick and hit the road for our happiest place on earth. Reese was adamant about spending her vacation with her grandparents. And who are we to stand in the way of her dream? We traded in the five star hotel, fancy dinners and Mickey Mouse encounter for the guest bedroom, Mom's potato casserole and a passel of family members itching to get Miss Thang in their hands.

For us, it was an upgrade.

This is Reese's first trip to the land of her forefathers so, needless to say there are about 2,117 pictures documenting the trip. :)

Here are just a few of my favorites (so far!):

Here's Baby with her Great-Great-Aunt Edith, whose middle name is Eileen. She's one of the women in our family with whom Reese shares her middle name.


Who needs the Flying Dutchmen when you have your very own exer-saucer plus a fabulous big cousin to play with?


Loving her Uncle Bubby. Sorry ladies, the rumors are true...he's off the market. :)


With a few of her adoring fans. AKA Auntie Sandra, Grandma Kristy and Auntie Michelle. She LOVES these women!


At the office of her namesake (Nana). I've said it before and I'm saying it again, she looks too young to be a nana!


Stay tuned for more vacation updates. I know you are on the edge of your seats. :)