The Belt

There is story about me that my mom (BB) loves to tell. When I was around Wild Man's age I came home from preschool one day and told her I needed a new pair of jeans. However, these jeans I needed had to have "LEE" on the back of them. Apparently Lee jeans were pretty popular then (I guess we didn't have Gap, Old Navy, or Gymboree yet) and all the kids in my class (according me) had a pair of these Lee jeans. So, of course I needed a pair. I think it is the first time I asked for something because I saw others had it. It was definitely not the last either.

We have definitely hit that stage at our house with Wild Man. However, for him name brands don't matter. He has not recognized that his clothes come from his cousin, not the store. I am so greatful for this! In fact, Wild Man, is usually pretty content with whatever we put on him. So, going to church in khakis and a polo shirt have not bothered him one bit. Because, we do not "dress up" for church we have never invested in a belt for him to wear and it really has not bothered him. However, a few weeks ago that changed.

Wild Man came home from church one Sunday and asked if he could have a belt when he turned 5, because a friend in his class just turned 5 and he wears belts to church. I laughed inside, because this was such a simple request on his part. So, I told him he didn't have to wait until he was 5, we could go ahead and get him a belt. The next week, while we are shopping for Easter clothes, I let him help me pick out a belt for him to wear. It is amazing how such a little request could please Wild Man so much. We bought the belt and now he thinks he is big boy because he has a belt. He tells everyone he talks to, like it is the best thing that has ever happened to him. He is very proud of his new belt.

Here is a picture of Wild Man sporting the new belt....

So, he will now be wearing this belt every Sunday to church. I can not believe how grown up it makes him look.

It's Here!!

Initials Inc's Spring Summer 2008 Catalog is here!!

Check it out!!

The Job

As many of you know by now, Prof was offered, what we saw as a wonderful opportunity, at the Seminary. Before Christmas the job was presented to him and he was asked to pray about it. So, we prayed for well over a month. We knew that taking this job would mean our life in Fort Worth would be more permanent, meaning Fort Worth could possible be home forever. After much prayer, Prof and I just did not have a strong feeling one way or another. So, we sat down and figured out how much money it would take for us to stay. Basically we took his salary now (which is pretty much nothing) added a house (basic house- nothing fancy), another car (we are all agreement we need another car) and moeny for Wild Man to attend the school we had decided he would go to if we stayed. All of this equaled an amount that we figured was fair. Compared to what Lee could be making at secular job right now, it was very little. So, we decided to pray that if this job was what God has for us next that the money would not be issue. We knew what we needed to settle here and we just decided if it was Gods plan He would make sure we got what we needed.

Here is where it gets tricky. They officially offered him the position this past Tuesday and showed him what the pay would be. It was significantly lower and not much more than what he making now. Our first reaction was to counter offer. Let's tell them what they need to pay you to stay. However, we decided that would be us making something happen, afterall, we had asked God to show us His direction based on how much the job paid. So, Prof declined the postion.

Here is the issue....we are getting mixed responses from our friends and family. On one hand we hear "oh you definitely did the right thing!" and the other hand we hear, "if it is God's plan money should not be factor and plus at Prof's age the amount that was offered should be enough. Being in ministry means you give up things."

I have thought and thought about this and here is what I think. Being in ministry, being a christian period, does not always mean you give up things. I believe God wants to give us the desires of our heart, but more importantly I believe God GIVES US the desires we have on our heart. I believe that if that postition were where we were supposed to go next God would have made it all okay for us, but He didn't. I don't think that makes us selfish people. I think that simply means we just want to be where God wants us to be and God chose to tell us He did not want us to take the position, by allowing the pay to not be what we needed it to be.

So, far now we are still playing the waiting game and just praying that God will continue to guide our path to whereever the next phase of our life will be.

Lately

You are probably wondering where I am. If you find me, please let me know where I can find myself. :-) Seriously, life has been so crazy lately. I just feel like we go from one thing to another and when we are at home it is just one battle after another with the kids. So, when I stop, I crash. I have managed, some how, to loose 5 pounds and keep it off. 45 to go! I have also managed to work out atleast 3 days a week, if not more and I have started tanning again, after a 5 year break.

Wild Man is going through a super whiney stage right now. It is about to drive me insane. The other day I was asking him why he was having a hard time obeying me and he say, "I just don't feel like being good today." I felt like that was an honest answer. There are some days I don't feel like being good either.

After this post Little One will be referred to as Princess T. She has mastered the art of fit throwing and giving daddy the "I am so innocent" face (she knows it doesn't work with me). She walks around the house with her blanket around her neck all the time now. This is her way of being a princess. If you say, " Are you a princess?" She will, without hesitation, nod her head yes and smile really big. She has also decided she likes to sit on the potty. She has not gone yet, but I am pretty sure I spent half the day yesterday in the bathroom with her. Maybe she will catch on quickly. That would be nice! She has also really begun to say alot of words. However, "No" is still her favorite and she is getting very good at saying it.

Prof has a very busy semester this Spring. He is doing LOTS of research and refining his proposal for his dissertation. He is teaching again and loving his class so much! He has also begun to put his resume out, just to see what happens. There is very strong possiblity that God may be calling us to stay in Fort Worth. So, please pray for wisdom in this area.

Well, that is what has been happening in the Skinkle house lately.

Initials Inc Fall/Winter Sale/Retiring List - UPDATED 2/20

These items will only be available until Feb 29th! So, if there is something you see, please let me know ASAP, so I can order it for you.

The new catalog will be posted online March 1st!

You can view the catalog by clicking here.


Retiring On Sale

Vermont Baguette - $39.99 - Low quantity
Vermont Swag - $39.99 - SOLD OUT
Vermont Jubilee - $37.99
Vermont Tote - $42.99
Rambunctious Rex Quilted Back Sak - $24.99
Social Butterfly Back Sak - $24.99 - SOLD OUT
Luxury Baby Blanket - $27.99
Travel Cube – Hot Pink and Red - $32.99
Slappy Saks – Navy, Orange, Sky and Light Pink - $19.99
Ladies Cap – Island Blue, Black, Hot Pink and Lime - $19.99
Posh Paisley Messenger – Pink and Blue - $49.99 - SOLD OUT
Kitchen Set – Preppy - $19.99
Laundry Bags – Navy and Bone - $19.99
Stockings - $19.99
Umbrella - $24.99
Slippers – Hot Pink Only – $29.99
Skinni Mini Notes - $18.99
Oh My Ornaments Christmas Stationary - $12.99

Retiring Not On Sale

Buddy
Clementine
Trendy Traveler – Chambray and Gingham
Hooded Towel and Bath Mitt, Pink and Blue
Bib and Burp Cloth Set, Pink and Blue
Cooler – Blue and Black Low Quantity
Quilted Throw – (Cornsilk and Brick Only)– Very low quantity
Apron – Black, Red and Denim
Fleece Blanket – Grey
Warm Cinnamon Spice (only for Spring/Summer - will be back!)
Ribbon Tote – Pale Pink, Khaki and Charcoal
Brag Bag – Chocolate and Black w/ gingham
Towel Sets – Oatmeal and White
Cuff Links
Tapered Rectangle Ring
Cube Ring
Small Oval Ring (Size 10 SOLD OUT )
Small Circle Pendant
Square Pendant
Tortoiseshell Set
Teardrop Set
Gold Shell Set
Bound Circle Necklace

Where did it go?

So here we are at the last day of January and I have absolutely now clue how we got here. It seems like yesterday we were ringing in the new year. Now here were are ending the first month of the year. It went by way to fast and to be honest I have no clue what happened this month. I know I got a lot done and began a lot of projects that I will need to finish next month, but truthfully I have no clue where this month went. It is sort of a weird feeling. Do any of you feel this way? Or, am I the only one?

And we wonder why....

I will be the first to admit that I am horrible at keeping up with news items and when I do, most of the time I don't think twice about what I hear. I think I am like this because I just have too many other things I have to keep in my mind and just seems like I am wasting brain power to think about things that most often don't affect me.

However, oddly enough I have caught myself getting involved in this whole Heath Ledger stuff. I think mainly because I love just about every movie he has been in and I mean come on....he is a little easy on the eyes. :-)

Anyway, last night I was at supper with a friend and we got to talking about how Christians who have the mind set of "it's my way or the highway" give what truly being a Christian is about a horrible name. As we were talking she told me about this group of Christians who have decided that since he played a gay person in one of his movies they are going to picket at his funeral. I had not heard that and so it completely shocked me.

Today, I have been reading a lot and what I have learned just makes me mad. Evidently this group is Baptist (don't we love how we make a name for ourselves) and they have been known to picket at the funerals of soldiers who have died in Iraq. I mean come on!

At the end of the day, he still has a family and a lot friends who want and need this time to grieve. Is it really showing God's love when we decide to stand outside his funeral and protest what we believe??? If I were not a Christian I would not look at this and go, "I want to be a Christian. Look at how loyal they are to their beliefs." In fact the world is saying different. One reporter I saw said something to the effect of, "It is just natural human decency that says it is wrong to picket at someones funeral."

I could go on forever about this, because it just makes me mad that people, who call themselves Christians, would show such disrespect for someone in public like this. And, then those same people will question why the people around them do know want to be a part of what they believe.

So, if you have ever wondered why this world does not care about "Christian" things...this is why! The world sees Christians has the group of people who protest about anything and everything, even if it shows disrespect for another person. No one wants to be a part of that.

Okay, I am done....Let me know what you think!

24

Okay, so The Prof and I finished season 6 of 24 last night. I have very strong opinions about this season. IT WAS HORRIBLE! I felt like the writers and everyone else involved did not think through the season ahead of time. I mean come on...there were 2 plots! One ended and it was like, "Okay, I guess we need think of another one." Then, the ending was ridiculous. I mean seriously. So, in our effort to make it better we decided to watch the alternate ending. EVEN WORSE!!! The alternate ending wasn't even that different. I am very disappointed to say the least.

I am going to give Season 7 a shot, when it comes out, if it ever comes out. But, if it is anything like season six, then I will no longer be a 24 fan.

Okay, so there are my feelings. I got it out. If you have seen season 6, I would love to know how you feel.

Lost Pictures

So, this morning I decided to finally upload the pictures I took while we were MS for Christmas. I started with the pictures I got off BB's camera and then I pulled my memory card out and began to upload. To my surprise I only had 35 pictures. I knew I took more. In fact I can tell you what pictures I took that I now can not find. I have searched everywhere on the computer and on my camera for them. They are no where to be found. I am not happy. I lost some CUTE pictures. UGH!!!!

A New Year

It is so hard to believe that it is already 2008. Christmas has come and gone at the Skinkle house. We have put away the decorations and are almost done finding places for all if our presents. Life is beginning to get back to normal.

2008 is going to be a big year at the Skinkle house. In May the Prof will finish his classes. This means there is a lot of light at the end of tunnel (which is getting closer everyday). Finishing classes will open the door for other options and so we have begun praying very diligently that God will make it clear to us what the next step is, even if it is to stay here.

As you know, I have been leading large group for the 5th and 6th graders at our church on Sunday morning. This month I will begin working at the church 2 days a week, while the kids are in mothers day out. This time will allow me to focus some attention to Sunday morning activities as well as other preteen activities at the church. I am super excited to be doing what I love again on a regular basis.

I have also made up my mind that 2008 will be year I loose all my baby weight. I have about 50 lbs to loose and I have decided I will not end 2008 saying I still need to loose it. I started Weight Watchers this week and have also started working out on a daily basis again. I look forward to posting pictures once I have reached my goal.

Wild Man will be starting kindergarten in August. This fact is already weighing very heavy on my mind, if you can not tell. Between now and then the prof and I have a lot to decide about Wild Man's schooling and we can not really do a whole lot until we know for sure where we will be in August. Wild Man is growing up way to fast!

I am sure that 2008 will also bring change for Little One, since she is in a growing mode right now. We are hoping that this change at least includes a bigger vocabulary, since right now she does not say a whole lot. We would also like to end 2008 diaper free. We will see how that goes.

I am going to work extra hard this year to keep my blog updated atleast weekly, if not daily. So, keep checking back as I share our 2008 with you.

What A Deal

So, I am so excited about this awesome deal I got yesterday, that I want to share it with all of you.

For a few weeks now I have been researching strollers and trying to find the perfect one. The umbrella one we have right now just isn't cutting it. Prof and I both have to bend over to push it which means we have sore backs all the time. We had a really big nice one, but it was too big. When we went places it took up half the trunk. So, I was looking for a small stroller that was tall and would go up to 50lbs (this means the child could ride in it until they weighed 50 lbs for those that don't know). My thinking was that this will be the last stroller we ever have. So, I set out to find this stroller that fit what I wanted and I found it. Here it is....The Graco Ipo.

The only thing is it cost $79.99. That, in my mind, is a lot for a stroller that only has to go through one more child. So, I began to watch ebay, and resale shops for this stroller. The only problem I ran into is that this stroller is still new in stores, so there are not any used ones yet. So, yesterday I had one more store to check. This particluar store I sell stuff to, so I had some credit there. Anyway, I decided to run by just to check and what do you know! There is was right in front of the door. And, it was only $47.99. However, I had a $5 off coupon and I had $22.50 left in store credit, so once it was all said and done...I only paid $24.04. How's that for a deal? I was pretty excited!

New Member of the Skinkle Family

I know that everyone probably read that title and thought one of two things. Either "Are they having another baby?" or "Did they finally get a pet?". We the answer to both is "NO!". Yesterday we welcomed Ipod Skinkle into the family.

One his way home from work yesterday, Prof stopped to buy my Christmas present, which was the lovely Ipod. On the way home from the store he decided he wanted to go ahead and give it to me. He did this for 2 reasons. The first reason is because he is just a wonderful guy and wanted me to have time to enjoy it before we head out of town next week. The other reason was because he knew once I saw the checking account I would figure it out. He is smart!

So, needless to say, much like a baby, this thing has controlled my day. I had a lot I wanted to get done today, but it was just more fun to play with my new toy. So, here I am at 11:30 pm tonight telling you that all I did today, besides take care of the kids (of course I would do that), is play with the Ipod.

Maybe tomorrow I can get somethings done. Afterall, I now I have an Ipod with music on it that I can listen to while I am working.

I have the best husband in the world!

Reminder!

I just wanted to remind everyone that, Tuesday December 11th , at 4 pm central time, is the cut off for placing an Initials Inc order to receive it by Christmas. Please email or call me today to get your Christmas order in before it is too late!

To view the catalog click here. If you can not open the catalog or would like to see the catalog in person, please let me know.

The New Look

So, I couldn't sleep tonight and thought I would play around with my blog, since I have been neglecting it recently. My concern was that if I did not care for it properly and give it the attention it deserved, it would go away and leave me blogless. So, I gave my blog a makeover. I think she likes it. However, in the process I lost some stuff. So, I will be working on updating the side bar over the next few days. I would finish tonight, but it took too long to finish the makeover and now I am tired and ready to sleep.

As a side note, I have a new website. Check it out...

www.initials-inc.com/amanda

Goodnight! (Or, at this point do I say Good Morning?)

November Skinkle Style

Well, I thought that once I got through October all would be okay, but I was wrong. November was just as busy. And, the first thing to go was the blog. I even took a small break from Facebook as well. Crazy I know! Anyway, here are the highlights of the Skinkle November.

• Prof bought a motorcycle and within the week turned it back into the dealership because it had engine problems.
• Little One has started asking to sit on the potty. YAY! She is beginning to talk some. She says, Momu (mommy), Bo (brother), Mo (no), football, and Go Georgia. She has mastered her, "You can't get mad at me, because I am just too cute," look and I will say she does it very well.
• Wild Man is teaching himself how to write and doing an amazing job at it! He can not wait for Santa to come and thinks that if he writes it on his list he will get it. Bless his heart. I don't know how to tell him that his Santa is poor.
• I am staying very busy with Initials. I love it though. I have also taken over the Preteen Sunday Dept at our church. Right now this consists of leading Large Group and keeping everything on schedule Sunday morning. I have been meeting with the Children's Minister about the possibility of taking over some more responsibilities too.
• We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was one of the most relaxing Thanksgiving I have ever had. We did absolutely nothing. Prof cooked the turkey and did a great job. We got s little bit of snow. None of it stuck, but it was pretty to see it. Then that night we lit a fire in the fireplace and just watched TV.
• We got up early on Black Friday and did lots of shopping. Got some good deals and marked some names of our shopping list.

Those are just the highlights. Hopefully I can do better at posting this month.

Playing Catch Up

The past month at the Skinkle house has been a month full of days that were spent playing catch up. It seems like as soon as we finish one task or activity we realize we are behind on another task. As soon as we think we are caught up, we think of one or two things that are still not done. Take this blog for example. I have had several days where I got the end of day and had a million things I wanted to blog, but as soon as I get on the computer to blog, I realize I have emails that need replied too, so the blogging goes undone. So, in my effort to "catch up" I am posting a blog today. Here is just a small list of what has been going on in the Skinkle house...

• Prof took his motorcycle training class. He has found 2 motorcycles that he likes. Neither of which looks like the one I posted. He will be testing driving them this weekend and then hopefully in the next week or so we will be adding the motorcycle he picks to the family.
• Our good friends The Carrolls moved back to Texas. We have already had 2 playdates and are playing to have one playdate a week from now on.
• Wild Man has discovered the art of making up songs. Most all of his songs are made up in the car and he always about half way through he says, "Sing with me". Sometimes we will be talking and he will just all of a sudden say, "I have a song about that" and then just break out into song. I love it!
• Little One still is not saying much. She is figuring out how to communicate in other ways. She nods her head a lot (which is the cutest thing I have ever seen because she is so dramatic when she does it). She also knows how to let us know she is not happy. She has the art of fit throwing down almost perfectly. She has moments where we can tell she is trying to tell us something because she just begins to babble away. She sounds like one of those asian ladies at the nail place. It too funny.
• About a month ago, I began to praying diligently about whether or not to stop my Initials and join another company, where I could earn more than I am with Initials. Within a week I had 3 parties on my calendar, with people I did not know, and 1 new team member. I took this as my answer. October was the biggest month I have so far with Initials, and November is going to be bigger. God is good!
• I, for the first time ever, forgot what day my parent's anniversary was on. For some reason I put it on my calendar for Nov 11, then the more I looked at it, I realized that was not right. So, I had to ask mom. I know it was pretty embarassing. But, hey, I did remember to call her on the special day.
• We are almost to the end of one of the hardest semesters in school Prof has ever had. We can not wait until it is over! Then he only has 2 more classes and he is done with classes! YAY!
• For some reason I began Christmas shopping super early this year and so I only have a few more gifts to buy. Of course, when you are poor like us this is an easy task, but you can't buy much. :-)

Well, those are some highlights. I hope you enjoyed getting a little glimpse of our life.

Mini Concert

This is for all who love to hear Wild Man sing. He performed a mini concert for us the other night. It was much longer than this video, but this was all I recorded. He made sure that Little One's monkey was with him, and the spotlight was on him. You will notice the camera moving some. That is me laughing. You will also hear Little One give her opinion on everything too. Enjoy!

My Personality

I saw this on Junebug's blog, so I thought I would check it out. Here is my personality.

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart. You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do. You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

What's Your Personality Type?

Bare Necessities

As many of you know, we are big Disney movie people, so last week when the Jungle Book came out we bought it. It has very quickly reached the top of Wild Man's favorite movie list. We atleast watch part of it everyday.

His favorite song is The Bare Necessities and he has started to sing it alot. Today I got him to sing it for the camera, and thought I would share. Enjoy!

The Decision

Thank you to all who participated in the poll and gave me your comments about whether or not Prof should get a motorcycle. We have a made a decision so I thought I would share it with everyone.

After a lot of research we have decided to buy a motorcycle. We have even picked out which motorcycle we are getting. However, Prof has to get his motorcycle license first. It looks like it will be the first of November before he will have time to take the safety class required. So once he takes the class and then gets his license we will purchase the motorcycle. Oh, and this will be his Christmas present.

Here is a picture of the motorcycle we are pretty much set on getting at this point...

This is a Honda Rebel 2007. It is 3rd on the list of motorcycles least likely to be stolen and the 2nd on the list of motorcycles least likely to be in a wreck.

Prof is very excited and can not wait until he can have it. Merry Christmas Prof!!