Dear Mommy

Well, the Skinkles had a great trip to Disney World. We have so many memories that we will cherish forever. I will do my best to post some pictures on here soon, but in the mean time, if you are my friend on Facebook, then you can view pictures there.

Now on to what I really want to tell you about....

When Wild Man turned 7 something clicked in his mind that told him he was a grown up. I wish I had time to tell you all the funny things that have come out of his mouth. Here is one of my favorites though....

(this took place 1 week before going to to Disney)

Princess T: Mommy can I swim in the grown up pool at the resort?
Manders: Sure you can, as long as there is a grown up with you.
Wild Man: I will go with you Princess T.

I was laughing out loud when he said this! But, you get the idea of this little mind.....

Now yesterday Wild Man had a very hard time obeying. I am sure it is because he doesn't feel the need to obey since he is a grown up now (this is something we are working on right now). Professor had an errand to run so I let Princess T go with him. Of course Wild Man got mad and so I explained that I could not reward his behavior that day with a treat. He went to his room and pouted for a little while and then came out and handed me this note:

Dear Mommy I feel sad beacuease (because) you are makeing me feel zero and making my sister feel ten.

Where does he come up with this stuff??!! I mean really?? After laughing to myself for a while I was finally able to get him to understand why I did what I did. I am very thankful that I have a child who knows he can talk to me about how he feels. I love that boy! He definitely has my heart.

Genesis 1

Today is day 1 of week 2 of homeschooling. I don't feel good. I woke up not being able to breathe out of my nose and as the day has gone on I have just felt crummy. Not sick enough to be in bed all day but just yucky enough to make me tired and a little grouchy.

Once I finally got to a point this morning where I knew I could start school we all came to the table and I pulled out our new Bible books. I have one book just full of activities and games to help learn the division and books of the Bible and then another book that highlights the key points of each book, along with some other cool reference items. Today was just the introductory lesson where we talked about the Old and New testament and some of the key things that happened in each section. We also talked about finding verses (how you write the book, chapter, and then verse). While we are talking about this Wild Man found Genesis 1 and just started reading. He read the whole chapter before he was done.

The "teacher" and "organizer" in me wanted to stop him at first because that was not what we were supposed to be working on, but the mom in me kicked in and just set there and listened. I listened to my little precious Wild Man read ALL of Genesis 1! As he was reading I just was overwhelmed at how much God has blessed me. I thought about when Wild Man was a baby and how much he has grown since then. I love him more than words can describe and my love for him just reminds me how much more God loves me.

When he was done he looked up at me and said, "I just read the whole thing! I read from there to there! Can you believe it?! I have never done that before mommy!" He was so proud of himself. As we talked about what he read he began to get more excited because he realized he read a story from his Bible that others had been teaching him about for years.

It's moments like this that I will treasure forever. If he had been in a regular classroom setting that would not have happened and I would not have had that memory. This is a memory I will keep with me and pull out on those days I am discouraged and ready to quit.

Lunch Time Conversations

One of the things I am loving most about homeschooling is that I get have my kids with me all the time (sometimes I love it more than others) and I get to hear fun things they say all day long. I really love that they are able to build their relationship with each other too. I love hearing them playing together and just having fun together. It is a constant reminder of how blessed I am!

Today during lunch time I over heard the sweetest conversation....

Wild Man: Tori, if you ask Jesus in your heart then the whole family will go to heaven
Princess T: I am!
Wild Man: When?
Princess T: I don't know. It's not my time yet.
Wild Man: When will it be time?
Princess T: I don't know.
Wild Man: Okay.

I love that they talk about things like this. I love that Wild Man loves his sister so much that he wants her to follow Jesus and live forever with the family in heaven. And, I love that even though she is not ready she knows one day she will be. My heart is full!

The Countdown

I signed into my blog this afternoon knowing I needed to blog, mainly to stay in the habit of blogging every few days, but my mind is so tired I could not even begin to think of what to blog about. So, I read my past few blogs and looked at everything on the page and then it hit me (mainly because I saw the countdown on the side) WE LEAVE FOR DISNEY IN 31 DAYS!!! I know that to most that seems like a long time and it probably will go by slow for me just because I am so ready to be there, but you have to understand it is a lot closer than we were yesterday! ;)

Seriously though, I am SO excited about going this year. I am glued to ebay trying to find the best deal on trading pins and I am constantly checking to make sure they have not updated or changed the park schedules any. I am also beginning to work on our packing list so that when it comes time we will be ready to get it all together and head out! I am ready!! :)

Today for Wild Man's creative writing (he will be doing this everyday - I give him a topic and he writes for 15 minutes - whatever he wants to write about that topic) I asked him to write about Disney World and what he will do and see at Disney World. Here is what he wrote (please keep in mind I do not help him spell, because this is really more about getting him to think about writing - he will learn how to spell at some point):

At Disney World...

I will ride the rides and see showes. It will be fun. I will ride rockin roller ckowsster and tower of tira.

Is that not the cutest thing ever??!! Well, I must be going...lot of pins ending soon on ebay....

Exciting News!

Well, we have some news. We were going to sit on it a while, but the kids know now, so there is not really a reason to keep it to ourselves. In fact Princess T has already taken it upon herself to tell a few people. So, we are going public with our news.

Professor and I have been praying for a while now about adding on to our family. Yes, that means another child. God has made it clear to us that He is calling us to adopt a baby. Timing? Well, it won't happen any time soon, we don't think. In fact, we will mostly likely not even start the process for another a year, maybe more.

We are very excited about this new journey and how God is going to use it to grow us closer to Him. Please begin praying for us now as we make steps toward this new phase of our life. Pray that once we have our house on the market God will sell it quickly and find another one that is perfect for our family. Pray that He will continue to provide financially for us as we save up to begin this process. Also pray that He will make it clear to us when it is time to begin the process. Also, pray for our children that He will begin to prepare their hearts for this change. They are both real excited right now. Pray that excitement continues. And, begin praying now that when the timing is right that everything will go smoothly and the He will get the glory through out it all.

We love each of you very much and looking forward to bringing you updates as we have them.

Better Late Than Never!

It has been 6 months since I have blogged. That doesn't mean I haven't thought about it and begun blogs in my head thinking, "When I have time I will type that up and post it". What it means is, well....The Skinkles have had a busy 6 months. :) But, at least I am blogging now, right?! Better late that never!

So what have we been up to? Here is a snapshot of some of the big things.....

Princess T turned 4!


Wild Man was baptized by Professor


Professor finished school and is now officially Dr. Professor Skinkle!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!



I, Manders, joined The Pampered Chef as an Independent Consultant - Click on the logo to check out my website!


Planning our trip to Disney World - September 2010 :)



Gearing up for our first year of homeschooling!

(sorry I not have a photo for this)



Well, this is the end of my first blog in 6 months. I promise to do my best at keeping this updated from here on out. :)

A Day To Mark Down In Skinkle Family History

Today is a special day for our family. It is a day that we will not too soon forget. It is a day that we have been waiting for and working towards for a while now. What is so special about today? Well, as of 10 am this morning, Professor's dissertation was copied and in the mail to the seminary! That's right! IT IS DONE!!!!! Officially, the dissertation work is OVER!!! There are only 2 more steps in this process. Professor will go to the seminary one more time, either in Feb or March, to present his dissertation and then we will all go in May to watch Professor graduate and put this school thing to rest.

I will say that as I stood there next Professor put his dissertation in the mail a bunch of emotions came over me. But, the one that stood out the most was the sense of pride that I had for him and the fact that he is my husband. He has worked so hard to see the day come and I am so excited for and proud of him. He has accomplished something huge by finishing this PhD. When he graduates in May, he will have completed the whole PhD process in only 4.5 years. Just so you know they allow 7 years.

Okay, I am done bragging. :)

John 3:16 Princess T Style

Happy New Year

As I sit here on my couch thinking about 2009 and what this year has meant for our family, I become overwhelmed with joy. God has been so good to us this year. Not only did HE meet every need we had, He gave us more!

Highlights from 2009:

• Our family went to Disney World in September
• Wild Man started Kindergarten and is having a great school year so far
• Wild Man asked Jesus into his heart over Christmas break - PTL!!!
  
• Princess T started Pre-K and loves it!
• Princess T continues to learn how to express herself - she is very dramatic now :)
  
• Manders has lost 40 lbs since April and Professor has lost 35 lbs.
  
• Professor got finally approval on his dissertation and WILL graduate in May 2010
• We DID NOT move!!!!
  
• God continues to bless my Initials, inc home business
• Professor continues to LOVE his job!!
• We welcomed our first niece on Professors side of the family in the to world in November
• We have been blessed to spend more time with Professor's family this year since distance is not as much of an issue
• We bought a Mini Van!!!! This moved us back to being a 2 car family!!

What we look forward to in 2010...

• Watching Wild Man grow in his new walk with the Lord and maybe loose some teeth :)
  
• Professor and myself each have about 15-20 lbs we want to loose
• Princess T turns 4 - this is so hard for me to believe
  
• Professor and I will celebrate 8 years of marriage
• Professor WILL be graduating in May

I am ready to see God move in our family this year! Happy New Year!!!

Under Construction

I have spent entirely way too much time working to update my blog tonight. I am farely pleased with it, but am no where near satisfied. However, I just don't have anymore brain power or time to finish tonight. So please excuse the unmatching colors and other imperfections on my blog. I will fix them before the weekend is over.

Also, we had a fantastic trip to Disney. I will post some stories and pictures from the trip as soon as my blog is finished with it's make over.

Lessons Learned This Week

This week has been a lesson learning week for me. I have learned a lot about myself, and I wanted to share the top 5 with you...enjoy!

1. I hate that my kids are growing up! I mean HATE! I am so glad that they are able to do more on their own now, but seriously they can stop growing. It is hurting my heart to watch them grow up so fast. Okay, I need to quit writing about this or will start crying.

2. I chew "Old People" Gum. You can thank BB for this, because apparently since I do she does too :) This issue has been corrected and I am no longer an "old peoples" gum chewer. Thanks Katrice for bringing this to my attention so it could be corrected. :)

3. I am way too OCD for garage sales. We are having a garage sale on Saturday (please stop by and say hey) and I am making it way too hard on myself. I know this fact, yet I can not keep myself from organizing everything!

4. I will do anything for Professor! You are thinking, "Shouldn't she know this already...I mean they have been married for 7.5 years". There are things I have refused to do in the past...those days are over. I spent 1.5 hours fixing an ice cream cake for him, because that is all he wanted for his 30th birthday. If I ever make this ice cream cake for you...then you are extremely special :)

5. School supply shopping is stressful! I LOVE school supply shopping, so you know I was very excited about taking Wild Man on this adventure for the first time. However, unclear (or I should say "unclear to me") lists made this event a little stressful. It was also stressful to realize that we are way too close to the day that I allow my baby to go to go somewhere all day long without me. At least, he will have the right school supplies, we hope.

Just Being Honest

So, it is 2 am and I am wide awake. I am pretty sure it has everything to do with the 2 diet cokes I drank today (one being around supper time). I have not had much diet coke since I started my salt-free diet, so I am certain that 2 in one day totally messed up my sleep tonight.

But, at the same time I do have a lot on my mind, so that may be why I am awake. So, I have decided to share what it weighing on my mind, hoping that maybe once it is out in the open I can sleep.

As most of you know in October 2006 I felt a strong calling to be a full time mom. I was working full time at the time, Wild Man was 3 and Princess T was a baby. I loved my job (even though at times it was very stressful) and had been promised a promotion if I stayed on for a few more months. I also felt a huge obligation to be there, since the lady who hired me was now at this time extremely sick and given only months to live. For some reason she felt at peace about being at home when I was there, I guess because she knew I would take care of things the way she wanted me too. Anyway, I was given an assignment (by my boss' boss) to do some research and present it to the team at our next meeting. Wouldn't you know Princess T got sick the day of our meeting. I spent the morning at the Dr's office, praying that she was well enough to go to daycare when we were done, so I could be at the meeting. Sure enough she had an ear infection and no fever, so the Dr wrote a note saying she could go to daycare and off I went. Dropped her off, ran to my office, gathered all my notes, and headed to my meeting, where not only was I completely ignored, but when I tried reminding them I had the stuff they wanted, was told we could talk about it the next week. The rest of the meeting was blur. I remember looking around the table at all my co workers and coming to a very harsh realization. I was the only mom in the room. Not only that, but I was a mom who sent her daughter to daycare sick, so I could impress the people in the room. WOW!! As soon as the meeting was over I marched myself to Professors office and told him I was quitting. I had a reached a point where my job was more important than my family and I was done. So we decided as a family that I needed to be home. I went in the next day with my 2 weeks notice in hand and never looked back. I will tell you that is a decision I will never regret. And, it is one I never had to tell my boss, who counted on me so dearly. She passed away the next week.

Why is this weighing on my mind now...I am getting to that. I am now at a very difficult point in my life. When we moved to Jackson a year ago we knew money would be tight and we knew the decision would mean that I would have to contribute financial to the family again. However, we also knew this is where God wanted us and so we came trusting He would provide (and He has). My Initials Inc business at the time was doing GREAT. I mean I was making well over what we knew I was going to need to contribute and so we didn't think there would be a problem. We knew the first few months would be tight as I tried to rebuild my business here, but since it did so well and I knew I had family and friends here who would help me, I didn't see a problem. Boy, was I wrong. It is amazing how quickly people change the subject when I talk about Initials Inc. It is like I have a disease or something. Even, family. Don't get me wrong, I have still had steady business being here, but not enough to cover what I need to be contributing.

So, here is the deal...here is why I have so much on my mind. Unless, I can prove that Initials Inc is going to do as well as it did in Fort Worth again, I have to find another job. I do not want to find another job, because there is not another job that can offer me the benefit Initials Inc offers me and that is to be with my kids. So, I have to get serious about Initials Inc. Initials Inc can no longer be a hobby for me. It has to become my job so that I do not have to find another one. So, I am not going to apologize for talking about it. I am not going to apologize for posting things on Facebook about it. I am not going to apologize anymore. I love my job and I am going to fight to keep it. Here is where I am going to start....

I need your help. And, no I am not going to apologize for asking. Here is how you can help me....Host a party...plan and simple. I need ladies to open up their homes to their friends (it doesn't have to be a lot of friends - somewhere around 10) and feed them. I do the rest!! I need to holding and closing 8 parties a month. Right now I am only around 1-2. So I have my work cut out for me.

Should you choose to help me here is what I promise you....you and your friends will have fun. NO ONE will feel like they HAVE to buy anything. Everyone will leave saying "we should do this more often" and you will have a peace about it because you know while you are having fun you are also helping me stay where I want to stay...HOME!! If you don't want to host, but still want to help....then come find me I will give you a stack of my business cards and you can pass them out to everyone you know.

Thank you for reading this and thank you in advance for praying that I maintain job security once again and hopefully being a part of how God answers that prayer.

Princess T + Scissors = New Haircut

On Friday I was in bed all day sick. Professor was the amazing husband and dad he always is and kept Princess T up front so that I could sleep (Wild Man was at BB's house). Later in the day he brought her back to my room and told me that she was banned from the scissors for a while. I could not even imagine why. He proceeded to show me her dress that now had some fun fringes on the bottom. I just though "Oh well - it's a walmart dress - who cares?".

Later that day I got up and went into the living room to change scenery. When I sat down on the couch I noticed a pile of hair on the end table. When I asked Professor about he had no clue where it came from. However, my mind went right back to the dress and figured very fast that Princess T had also cut her hair. And, boy did she cut it. She cut in several places and cut it short. When I asked her about it she said, "It was in my face."

So, today, the first day I felt like dealing with it, I took her to get a haircut and help blend some of the places she cut in with the rest of her hair. She was GREAT and sat so still the whole time (if know Princess T you know why I am so amazed by this). Hopefully next time she will just tell me she wants a haircut instead of doing it herself. Here are some pictures of her new hair cut. Enjoy!!

What will you celebrate?

So, I know that it has been a LONG time since I blogged and a lot has happened in our family since then. However, I don't have enough time or space to share everything, and my guess is truthfully you don't want to read it all. So, I am not going to share it at all. No, I am moving forward with my blog.

As many of you already know, because of Facebook, our family is taking another trip to Disney this year. We are so excited!! It is going to be so hard to wait 90 days to go, but we will make it some how I am sure. On the main Disney World page they have a link (some where - not sure where - but it is there) that says, "What will you celebrate?". I think it is their motto this year.

The Professor and I have been talking a lot about this and here is the answer.....

Professor's 30th Birthday, the completion of Professor's dissertation (if all goes well he will be done before we go to Disney), Professor's weight loss (he has lost 15 lbs so far) and new healthy lifestyle, My weight loss (I have lost 30 lbs so far) and new healthy lifestyle, Wild Man learning to swim and starting school, and last but certainly not least Princess T being potty trained.

We have a lot to celebrate and we can't wait to do it at Disney!! Let the count down begin!!!

"The Talk"

Okay, so we had "the talk" last night at our house. Not the birds and the bees talk but the other one. You know the one that all moms at some point have with their children after they have slaved over a yummy meal or forked over tons of money at a restaurant and the child looks at his/her plate and says, "I don't like....(whatever you cooked or bought)." Yeah, that talk. The starving kids talk. The one that as kids we promise we will never have with our kids. We had that talk and here is how it went down....

Wild Man was extremely grouchy yesterday. Apparently, I made huge mistake and made him come home right after school to eat a McDonalds Happy Meal with his mom and sister, instead of making him stay late for lunch bunch and eat a PB&J. In retrospect...I should have just made the lunch and let him stay, but that is beside the point. Anyway, this totally ruined his whole day. As we got closer to supper I saw some hope. He began to smile again and cleaned up a good bit so he could ride his bike. He even helped get the table ready for supper. However, when his plate (that had some yummy grilled chicken and yummy pasta on it) was put in front of him the "grouchies" returned. He looked at me (the person who slaved over making the yummy supper) and said, "I told you I don't like chicken!" As you can imagine, this did not sit well with me. I was tired of hearing him complain about the nice things I had done for him. So, I looked at him and said, "Wild Man there are children all over the world who don't have money to have a meal like the one you have sitting in front of you or they do not have mommy that will cook a meal like you have in front of you. So, I suggest that close you eyes and thank God that you not only have a yummy supper to eat, but you need to also thank him that you have a mommy that will cook you yummy suppers like the one in front of you. " You should have seen his face. He immediately closed his eyes and thanked God for his food and his mommy who cooked his food. Then, he ate every piece of food on his plate. The talk might not always work, but it did at our house last night!

Needless to say...I sent him with a lunch to school today.

A little bit of nothing...

So, I am home today AGAIN with a sick Wild Man. I say AGAIN because since the first of the year one of us has been sick with with something. I have Lysoled until I am blue in the face. I am just so sick of sickness. I am so ready for all four of us to be well at one time. It would certainly make life easier.

Being sick has helped in some areas. I have lost almost 15 lbs since the first of the year and I have been able to keep up with the shows I am interested in this season. I also have a little more time to blog.

I am getting sucked into The Bachelor more than I thought I would. I really think Jason is a great guy who is doing this show for all the right reasons. I can not stand Megan and I hope she is gone soon. I LOVE Stephanie and would be so excited that is who he ends up with. But, it is still too early to tell.

Professor and I have started making remodeling plans for our house. Not sure when we start the work, but the plan is to redo our kitchen and master bedroom/bathroom area this year. So, hopefully we will start soon. Until we decide exactly when and how we are going to do everything, we will probably be spending a lot of time at Home Depot or Lowe's. If you have redone a bathroom and/or kitchen, I would love any advice I can get.

Okay, well I have run out of things to say, so I am signing off for today.

Historical Day

I told myself I was not going to blog about this. In fact, after just watching The Bachelor, I really have a lot of thoughts I want to share on that topic, but the truth is today is a big day for America. I know there people all over watching something take place today that they never thought would ever happen. That is right, whether we voted for it or not, today in will go down as the day the first black man took an oath to serve our country as President. I have to admit I am not watching the whole thing on TV, mainly because the kids are home and they are easier to deal with when the disney channel is on. I also have to admit that while I appreciate how important this day is, I have no desire to watch it. I did not vote for him and to be honest I am not real thrilled he is our new President. I think that the days we have ahead of us will be difficult and I believe that he will make decisions, that will impact the future of our country greatly. I believe, as a Christian, it will most likely become increasingly harder to live our comfortable christian lives. However, I also believe that God has a plan through all this. I believe that He will use this time for His Glory! I think that no matter who we voted for or what we believe about the new president, we do need to sit back today and think about how far our country has come and then we, as Christians, need to make a strong commitment to pray for our new president and our country more than ever. We need to pray that God will use Obama to lead this country exactly where He wants our country to be, and the scary thing is, that might be right into some of the hardest days we have seen, but we need to be ready for that. God uses EVERYTHING for HIS GLORY! So, today in front of the whole blog world, I am making a commitment to appreciate the meaning of today and use it as a reason to become serious about praying for our country and our new president (whether I like him or not!).

First Blog of the Year

Well it is official...I have not blogged since last year!! :-) Okay really, it has only been two months, but I could not resist with it being a new year and all. I could give all the excuses in the world about why I haven't blogged, but it all comes down to the fact that at the end of a day, when given the choice between bed and blogging, I cave. I choose bed. However, the Holidays are over and we are finally somewhat getting into a routine in our new house, so there is a great possibility that I will resume the frequent blogging.

Last year around this time I blogged about my hopes and dreams for 2008. I had no clue that my year would be as wonderful as it has been. I set some high goals for myself, and to be honest, didn't achieve any of them, but that is what 2009 is for, right?

2008 highlights:

• Professor finished the course work for his PhD
• We moved 3 times
• We bought our first house
• Wild Man started Pre-K and turned 5 (this was a hard birthday for me - not sure why)
• Princess T's vocabulary went from nothing to everything almost over night
• I promoted in my business from Partner to Leader (this is a great thing!)
• Professor's sister got married - Professor performed the wedding, Wild Man was a ring bearer, and Princess T was a Flower Girl (who I ended up having to carry down the aisle because she fell asleep)
• We were able to host Christmas Dinner at our new home and we had everyone - Professor's family and my family - it is possibly the best Christmas I have ever had.

What does 2009 hold for the Skinkle Family?

• NO MOVING!!! For the first time in a long time I can honestly tell you we will not move this year. We will break our trend of moving once a year and stay here for a long time.
• Wild Man will start Kindergarten and go to public school - this scares me out of my mind, but I know it will be great and he will love it!!
• Princess T will be potty trained - "Diaper Free before Three!!"
• I would love to promote to Senior Leader with my company (I am very close)
• I would love to end 2009 wearing the same size clothes I wore when I met Lee
• Professor is set to graduate December 2009

Okay, so here is to another year and hopefully more blogging. :-)

I am thankful....

I am thankful that God gave me a husband that can do things like this....

Isn't he amazing??!!

So much to say....so little time to say it!

Okay, so I am still alive and I have had so many things happen that I have wanted to blog about, but truthfully just no time to blog. The only reason I have time today is because I am home sick, but am honestly tired of sleeping, so I decided to catch the blog world up on the Skinkle family.

So here is what we have been up to since the last blog...

1. We moved from Texas back to Mississippi
2. Prof started a new job
3. I also started a new job (part time)
4. Prof and I bought our very first house
5. Wild Man turned 5 and got his first pet - a hermit crab named Crabby
6. Princess T started talking all the time in sentences I might add
7. We moved into our new house
8. We went to Disney World where Wild Man got to meet Buzz Light Year and Princess T got to spend time with her fellow Princesses
9. Princess T is potty training herself - sort of
10. Prof's sister got married - He performed the wedding, Wild Man was a Ring Bearer and Princess T was a flower girl (who feel asleep 5 minutes before the wedding and had to be carried down the aisle)
11. In the middle of all this we have all been sick at some point
12. Oh and my camera is offically dead - I know SAD!!

So there it is....that is where I have been. Hopefully I will be able to post more now that life is settling down a little.