Photo Booth Fun

Professor has a MacBook Pro that he uses at work. Every once in a while the toy comes to visit our house. This past weekend it came for a visit we had the best time playing with Photo Booth. All four of us sat on the couch for an hour laughing so hard that we were crying! I am a firm believer that laughter is the best medicine. So, this post is for those of you who need some laughter today. Enjoy!

Coupons, Etc.

Well, this is officially my first post of the year. I know I am slacking! We have been super busy and adjusting to some new life changes.

Professor has begun traveling with work more. It has been trying on all of us. None of us are 100% used to it yet. Professor is beginning to learn the art of air travel and working from a laptop or from his blackberry. The kids are adjusting to daddy being gone more. Wild Man acts all grown up and manly saying that there is no need to cry daddy will be back soon. However, he is the first one to announce how many days til daddy comes home every morning. The Princess is not doing well with it at all. It break Professors heart to say bye to her because he knows that she will cry the whole way home from the airport and most of the night following his departure. I am learning how to conserve my energy while he is gone. I am beginning to really choose my battles carefully and try to make times when daddy is gone fun and exciting. If you ask me I get the better end of it because he is the one making them sad and I am the one renting the movies and popping popcorn for movie nights. However, once they are asleep, I am still learning to sleep alone. Our king sized bed sure does feel big when he is gone. We know that this is just like any other life change we have had. We will all learn to handle it and we will all adjust. I am very happy for Professor. He loves his job so much and so that makes it all worth it! And, being the great husband and father he is when he is home is always great about really being home and spending time with us!

Now, on to the not so sappy stuff (didn't mean to get so serious there!). Since early last fall I have been couponing (or I should say learning to coupon). I still don't feel like I have a complete understand or knowledge but I have made a lot of progress. In my effort to keep this blog going I am going to do a "Savvy Savers" post week where I highlight some of my fun finds and my savings for that week.

Since I am just now starting this I will just do a monthly highlight for January today.

Total Percent Saved This Month: 58.29%
Highest Percentage Saved: 89.15% at CVS on January 14th
Favorite Find: FREE Toothpaste, Toothbrushes, and Flossers!
My Coupons Saved Me $177 this month and My Reward Cards Saved Me $261

For more information on couponing check out the site I use: www.southernsavers.com.

Well that is it for today. A little fun and a little serious! Please watch because I am working on a better blogging schedule!

Thought this was fun!

A friend of mine shared a video on Facebook this morning. I thought it was the cutest thing ever, so I made one for my kids. You fill in the information and then Santa sends them a message. Check out the ones for the kids....

Video to Wild Man

Video to Princess T

Funny Kids!

The past couple days my kids have just been so funny! So, I thought I would share.

"Princess T, I am pretty sure you are going to be on the naughty list." - Wild Man

"Momma, Rhode Island better watch out! They are going to get a lot of rain today! I think they are going to flood!" - Wild Man after watching the weather channel

"I am not going to be your daughter anymore!" - Princess T after being sent to her room for being mean to Wild Man

"Coupons make Jesus happy." - Princess T of my attempt at explaining why I was going to a coupon class at church

Just Obey Me!

One thing that I find myself a lot this days is saying, "Just obey me! Trust me you will be glad you did!" For some reason my kids just don't get it yet. One of them is beginning to get it, but the other one just doesn't care (and I am saying which is which because if you know us you know which one is which).

However, lately God has been showing me that in His own loving way He has the same problem with me. Sometimes He tells me what to do and I say "Why?" or I decide I am not going to do it His way and He says, "Just obey Me! Trust me you will be glad you did!"

The latest case of this was just this week. On Sunday my mom told me about a family that we knew who did have food. My first reaction was to be judgmental. I had a million reason why I personally should not help them. But, God said, "Just do it! I have blessed you and I have blessed you so you can bless others! Give them food out of your cabinets and other items you have "stocked up" on." Trust me, I asked why! And HE said, "Just do it! Just obey me!" So I did. I took out some grocery bags and filled them up with the extra He had blessed us with! I put things in there that we really enjoyed. Once I done and looked at everything I was able to give my heart was full of joy! I felt so peaceful inside and so thankful that I was able to help when God asked me to!

Now, I am not telling you this to toot my own horn or say look at me I am wonderful because I am doing this. I am telling you this, but I know many of you are like me. I just want to share what God reminded me of this week. When we obey HE blesses us! Now, my blessing came when I heard how wonderful our church was to this family and knowing that I was able to be a part of that.

Here is the other fun part to all this that God reminded me this week. When you give...HE blesses!! Sometimes it is just that inner joy of knowing that you have helped someone or been a part of something big and honestly if that is all He gives you....its enough! Trust me! But, sometimes, because He loves us so much, He gives us more. Sometimes its in the form of money or other things that happen. Well this week He chose to bless me more than I deserved! On Thursday (the day after I took the food for the family mentioned above), I had the best Kroger trip to date! I saved 72% on my groceries! Now, many of you that know me and know that I am learning to coupon might say that was just luck or coincidence. Maybe I just had better coupons or something. I am here to tell you that HE laid extra coupons all over the store for me! I can not explain it. I just kept finding coupons just laying around either that someone had left or that were in the dispensers next to items. He also allowed things to be on sale that I needed but thought I was going to have to buy full price. HE blessed me! HE blessed that trip!!

So, if you are struggling with obeying God, Just do it! Trust HIM! You will be glad you did!

Adoption Update

This past Sunday at church our pastor did an excellent sermon on adoption in honor of Orphan Sunday. As I set in my chair listening (as much as I can listen now that Princess T goes to church with us) I could not hold back the excitement in my heart that I have for our family and our future addition. I remember at one point Professor and I looking at each other and I could tell he was feeling the same excitement.

I guess I need to go back some and catch you up on where we are in this process and why all of sudden our hearts are filled with such excitement and anticipation. When God first began working with us on beginning this journey, we both had things that we felt needed to happen before we stepped forward. With this in mind neither of us felt comfortable committing to a time table for beginning this process. We just new it would be some point in the next year or so. We also had very strong feelings about going through an adoption agency (this is one thing that has held us back since it is quite pricey to go this route). Another thing that was holding us back was, to be perfectly honest, our own fears. How would we do this? 2 is hard enough, what would we do with 3? What about the birth families and what would happen should they decide at the last minute to go through with it or heaven forbid they come back in the picture later?

However, God, like He always does, has continued to work on us and remind us that HE is in control and He will be the one determining the time, not us! That being said, Professor and I are stepping out on faith. We have decided to officially put the word out that we are 100% ready to adopt! Now, at this point, the funds are not available to go through an agency, so we are opening the door for adopting privately. We know that this form of adoption does bear more risk than going through and agency, but we also know HE is in control! So, long story short....we were excited Sunday, because we have finally submitted to HIS plan and know that in His time we will have a baby to love, even if that means tomorrow.

Now, here is where you can help! Get the word out! If you know someone, or even if you know someone who knows someone, who has or is having a baby and would like to put their baby up for adoption, please keep us in mind. We have already told a couple people who have connections with hospitals, just in case there is mom who does not want to keep her baby. Please Please Please just be our ears and eyes so to speak and let us know if you hear of someone looking for a good home for their baby!

Also, please continue to pray for us! God is in control and we want to be so sensitive to His plans and timing.

Funny Conversations

Conversation #1:
We saw some geese in an unusual location yesterday...this is the conversation that followed...

Princess T: Those are the geese from the park.
Manders: Really? Do you think so?
Princess T: Yes, they are! They came here because it was cold at the park. The sun is shining here and they love the sun. (She went on for a minute about how much the geese love the sun)
Wild Man: Tori, I am not so sure about the geese and sun thing. I will have to look it up when we get home.

Conversation #2:
Wild Man has been learning things on his own with the World Book set that is in his room...

Wild Man: Mommy, I know why daddy is 31! (I think what he is trying to say here is that he knows why Professor is older than me)
Manders: Why?
Wild Man: Because Georgia was made in 1788 and Mississippi was made in 1817.

Conversation #3:
For Creative Writing today I asked Wild Man to write about an invention that he would create if he could...he wrote that he was going to create a robot girl machine that would cook breakfast lunch and supper.

Manders: Why did you make the machine a girl?
Wild Man: Because, it is going to cook.
Manders: Do you think only girls can cook?
Wild Man: Yes. And my robot is going to also have an alarm clock that she can know exactly what time time to cook everything.

(Those who know me well know why this is funny - I mean how in the world did he come to that conclusion??!!)

Conversation #4:
While I am doing school with Wild Man, Princess T enjoys playing outside. The other day she took her baby outside with her. She pushed her baby on the swing and helped her baby go down the slide. This is the conversation that happened when she came inside:

Manders: Did you have fun outside?
Princess T: Yes and my baby likes the swing. She doesn't like the slide though because she fell off and hurt her back. See? (as she shows me the baby's back).
Manders: (trying to play along...) I am sorry. I hope she feels better soon.
Princess T: She is fine because she is not even bleeding.

I love my kid's minds. Truthfully, these cute things they say that make me laugh all the time are what keep me going during the bad days.

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!!