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. :)

4 months old!

Right after I took the picture, she kicked off one of her little white shoes. It went flying across the chair and hit the lamb. So, I figure:

1. She hates sharing the spotlight.

or

2. She doesn't like shoes.

Either way, we have a huge problem on our hands.

praying for the sistas

Every Tuesday night we have girls Bible study in our home. The doorbell starts ringing around 6:50 and the last chica rolls out at a quarter till nine. It's a highlight of my week. I push the furniture out of the way, light some candles and we go to town. This week, Debs brought the thunder. After all, she is a professional! :)



The week before that we talked about the importance of prayer. As individual women and as a youth group, why the heck does it matter? We addressed that question. Then came the cool part. Randomly, I partnered each chica with a fellow chica. (As serious, women of the Word, that's how we refer to each other.) The pairs spread out around the house and shared personal issues that follow in the wake of a new school year. Next, they made a little string bracelet. They wore them on their wrists, tied them to their cell phones, chose any prominent place where they would see it daily and be reminded to pray for their specific sister.

Finally, I had them hold the hands of their partner and repeat this commission. No, we are not a cult. I promise we save group chanting only for the very rare occasion. :)

You (insert name), are my sister in Christ.
I hereby commit to praying for you.
That as you walk the halls of your school,
The Holy Spirit will give you power
To look different,
To act different.
No temptation will overcome you,
No mean girl will defeat you,
And nothing will separate you from His love.
You are more than a conqueror.
In Him, you are enough.
With His promises before us,
And His word within us,
I take my place at your side.
May your gentleness be evident to all,
And your time at school glorify Him.
In Jesus' name, you GO girl!

Awkward? A little bit. Cheesy? Maybe. But when the girls left that night, they did so with their shoulders a little straighter and their heads a little higher.

Knowing that someone is praying for you, that your school year might look a little different. Well, that's worth all the string in the world.

we have a visitor

Look who came to see us this week!



We were so excited because last time she was here the Reester looked like this:



Three months later, after a loooong summer at camp, Debs returned for another visit. This time we looked like this:



For someone to come so far multiple times to see us, you'd think we were a hoot. But you'd be wrong. Let's see, during Debbie's first trip, Miss Thang screamed through the night. This time around, Reese thought Debs was her personal spit-up target. And boy, was she bound and determined to get in her practice time. The girl doesn't mess around. She will nail you. Most likely just after you've showered and dressed for the day.

When we weren't dodging the onslaught of flying baby puke, we feasted on puppy chow and Dr. Pepper. Regardless of what the scale says, I am pleased to announce that our appetite for chocolaty, peanut butter, powdered goodness was not deterred by a little Reese barf.

So why would Debs continue to make the eight hour drive across four states to come see us? Obviously, she could save herself some trouble, stay home and spit up on herself. The only thing I can deduce is that she must love us a whole lot. More than we deserve. And if spitting up is Reese's love language, then undoubtedly, the feeling is mutual.

a new toy

Little Miss Thang has a new toy! My mom got this saucer at a garage sale for a steal of a deal. It is practically brand new and Reese loves it. We've been hesitant to put her in it. But now that her neck is buff enough to hold up her head, we're good to go!

I just love the face she's making. You'll have to excuse her nakedness. Let's just say if you go through more than two outfits in one day and it's almost bed time, you're a jay bird for the remainder of the night.



That little orange toy is a phone! Think that's an omen of what's to come? :)



Ok, is it just me or do you see a little bit of curl in her hair? If my baby ends up with curly hair, I will have died and gone to heaven!!