it's the little things

This weekend was really great and we had two milestones. Well maybe they aren't really milestones but we (David and myself) thought they were pretty cool. On Saturday night after dinner we needed to give Blake a haircut but we really don't like to give him one because he has the biggest meltdown each time. So after dinner we told him that it was time for a haircut and he does the normal which is he starts crying and I carry him down the stairs. I tell him it's ok and then hand him to David who normally has to hold him down while I give him the world's quickest haircut. We Saturday he decided that it wasn't that bad to have his haircut and was laughing and telling us how he could see his hair on the floor and how cool it was. So we were giving him praise big time on how big of a boy he was and that he did a great job. Then when I was finished he said, "I don't need a haircut tomorrow right?"

Then yesterday (Sunday) we have what's called The Mountain at church for the kids and it's a really fun program and they have backpacks and shirts and it's just a fun place to learn about Jesus. So each week since January we drop Caley off at her class and then walk down the hall to Blake's class where he proceeds to cry and throw a mini-tantrum about not wanting to go to his class and saying the teachers are tape (see previous post). But after he's there for about 2 minutes he has the best time, it's just getting him through the doorway that's the problem. Anyway yesterday before we got to church Blake told me that he liked his class and that Mr. James was his buddy. So we got to church walked Caley to her class and then walked down the hall to Blake's room and he let go of my hand and went running to the door and ran in the class and grabbed Mr. James' hand that was it.

We were so excited we almost didn't know how to react.

that's tape

Our son has come up with a slang term that it likes to say. It's "tape" or he says , "that's tape." At first we had the hardest time trying to figure out what he was saying or meaning but we conquered the language barrier of the 3 year old once again. Here's the definition according to http://www.dictionary.com/

tape 

Pronunciation ,noun, verb,
taped, taping.
–noun
1. a long, narrow strip of linen, cotton, or the like, used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets, etc.
2. a long, narrow strip of paper, metal, etc.
3. a strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape.

Here's the definition of my three year old.

tape

1. not good.
2. bad.
3. not liking the situation.

Here it is used in a conversation that we actually had yesterday.
Gramma- Blake are you excited about going to the mountain?
Blake- No I don't want to go.
Me- Blake you like the mountain, it's so fun.
Blake- Is it bible study?
Me- No that's on Tuesday.
Blake- Is is the boy teachers or the girl teachers?
Me- It's the boy teachers today.
Blake- Boy teachers are tape.

The other day David was getting him ready for bed and trying to put on some pj's and they weren't the one's that Blake wanted to wear and he said, "I don't want these they are tape."

So now if your child starts saying this you know what it means.

January 2009

I haven't posted anything in a long while so I thought I'd just post some pictures to show you what we've been up tp these days.

I celebreated by 34th birthday on the 12th. It was a fun day and a great Italian Creme Cake for dessert.

It was cowboy/cowgirl day for the Kindergarten kids at Caley's school and being the city folk that we are she didn't have anything to wear. So I made her a little skirt out of 4 bandanas. It's was fun to make and she loved it. Blake was on an OU kick and the outfit of choice was a warm-up suit, that was a size 12 months so they are a bit short of him. He didn't care and obviously we didn't care that he wore them around the house "only!"

I'm sure that there are other things I could share about our January but that is now in the past and I'll try to do better about posting the funny things as they happen.

money savers

In hopes to spend our grocery money wisely I've changed how I buy lunch meat and sliced cheese. I read this in a book called America's Cheapest Family. They say never to buy prepackaged lunch meat because it's so expensive for the amount that you get so I keep reading to find out what I should do. They go on to say to buy a boneless ham or turkey breast and take it to the deli counter and have them slice it, it ends up being a lot cheaper than regular lunch meat. And I have to agree, it cost me $6.98 for 5 lbs. of lunch meat that I had the deli slice for me versus $2.98 for about 8 oz. of prepackaged lunch meat. So I'm at Wal-Mart yesterday and I need some cheese so I did the same thing, I picked up a 32 oz. block of Colby Cheese for $7.00 and took it to the deli and had them slice it and now have lots of cheese versus 32 slices for $6.50 for the package I normally buy. I wish I would have thought of this about 11 years ago.

ants?

Last night after small group we were in Caley's room and it was later than normal so we were just going to pray and then the kids would go to bed. So David was praying and was praying for our familes and specifically our Aunts/Auntie's and then he continued on then said "Amen."

Blake looked up and said, "Daddy, why did you pray for the ants?"

January Favorite Things

In an effort to keep my house in better order for 2009 these are 4 of my favorite cleaning helps.

I got a new dustbuster because mine bit the dust. It works great! I had had my other one for 4 years and it just wasn't doing it's job so great anymore. With two kids I use it quite frequently.

Next on the list is my new Eureka "The Boss" floor cleaner. It's like vacuum but for hard surfaces.

Third on the list is Scrubbing Bubbles wipes. I like them because if you need to clean or touch up the bathroom but don't have time for a full cleaning you can use these and then toss them in the toilet and there's no dirty rags to worry about.

Last on my list is something I haven't gotten yet but my sisters and mom love it. It's the Bissell Steam Mop for cleaning hard surfaces without the need of a mop. I'm going to get one with my birthday money. I've very excited about this purchase coming up this month.

oh my aching back . . .

Well not really my back by the muscles in my stomach/side. Somehow I've really pulled or ripped or did something to the muscles on the right side. The pain was so bad the Saturday before Christmas I thought that I might need my appendix taken out. Anyway it turned out not to be my appendix but some muscles in my stomach that I've hurt. I even have a bruise about 4 inches long to prove it although I'm not showing anyone. So I survived Christmas and fun times with my side of the family and we are back home and back to the normal routine for the Hinkle Hut.

So a couple night ago we started a new bible story book and we read the first story about God creating the earth and then we wrote down what we are thankful for in our Thankfulness notebook. We each say it out loud before we write it down and I said, "that I was thankful to be home and that my side was feeling better." And Caley looks up at me and says, "Oh Boo Hoo, Mom." So I don't really know what to say back to her so I look at David and he's laying on the floor laughing at what had just been said. Caley just has a smile on her face and I'm sitting there speechless.