The Hynds Quarters

Nathan's First Three Months

2011-08-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, Nathan turned three months old last week. It was an exciting summer for the newest member of our family. We took Noah's picture next to a Pooh doll every month during his first year, and we've done the same for Nathan. Nathan's change from month to month is amazing.

Here's a look at Nathan over the past few months:

Here is the first month. "Look at all that hair!" That is the most common reaction when people see him, and we love it.

Then, the second month:

He grew up a little bit here and could keep his eyes open long enough to let me take a picture. Finally, the third month:

He's actually starting to sit up a little bit now, and has really filled out. He was a pound smaller than Noah at birth, but has caught up significantly, and we think he'll be a big kid.

Some of Nathan's highlights this summer were a trip to Myrtle Beach with family, as well as the State Fair. We also spent a lot of time visiting friends and family, and took many trips to the park (at least when the heat index was not above 100).

Nathan is doing a lot of smiling, and even has started laughing. He has a funny laugh. Overall, he's a very smiley kid. One thing that I think is pretty funny is that he usually has a big smile when you change him.. I find it funny that he enjoys such a thing. I don't see him maintaining that enthusiasm for diaper changes when he gets older.

We're also starting to hear more noises from Nathan. They are mostly excited and happy noises, although he occasionally lets out a big cry of frustration. He is certainly getting more animated.

Noah has enjoyed being a big brother. One of Noah's favorite things to do is hold Nathan on the couch. Noah also likes to give hugs and kisses, and is a pretty good big brother overall. I joke that Noah is a passive hugger; he hugs Nathan by just lowering his head on Nathan's chest.

This was a fun summer with our two boys, and we can't wait to see what is next!

Adventures in Diaper Changing

2011-06-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

Chances are that I am not the only man who spent a small part of his 30th birthday changing his one-month-old's diaper.

However, I assume fewer men did this on the floor of their church's nursery.

I imagine even fewer men then had to use their right hand to stop the fountain from spraying from the one-month-old.

I guess even fewer men then heard the sound of something coming out of the other direction.

Well, that was exactly what happened on Sunday. Thanks to all who helped out with the cleanup!

By the way, most of you know that I attend a church that meets in a movie theater. I promise you that all of this took place on a blanket, and you do not need to worry about this the next time you go there to see a movie.

Noah's Silly Hat

2011-06-05T17:02:00.000-05:00

A while back, I posted about the hats that we tried on at Stan's Idle Hour in Goodland, FL. You can relive the memories here. I was absent-minded and forgot to include a picture of the hat that Noah tried on, so here it is. Enjoy!

Noah's New Diet?

2011-06-02T15:57:00.001-05:00

The following is an actual conversation at dinnertime the other night:

Noah: Whatchu eating, Daddy?
Me: I'm eating chicken tetrazzini. What are you eating?
Noah: Pine cones.

He went on to mention eating pine cones two more times that evening. For the record, Noah also had chicken tetrazzini. You can rest assured that we will never make our children eat pine cones for dinner, no matter how much they beg.

Welcome Nathan Thomas Hynds

2011-05-29T15:10:00.000-05:00

We are pleased to announce that our second son, Nathan Thomas Hynds, was born at 11:09 a.m. on May 21, 2011, weighing 8 lbs., 4 oz. and 21 inches long. It was a very fast delivery (he was born less than two hours after we arrived at the hospital), and both he and Angie are doing well.

Here are a few pictures of his first week. There are many more on my Facebook page as well. Our larger family is doing very well!

Yard Waste Quiz Time!

2011-04-15T16:55:00.005-05:00

Here's today's multiple-choice question.

Over the past three weeks, how many bags of yard waste have I taken to the curb?

A) 2
B) 7
C) 17
D) 34

The first person with the correct answer wins fame and fortune!

I'll Take "Words That Noah Mispronounces" for $400, Alex

2011-04-12T08:00:00.003-05:00

Okay, here's your clue:

When Noah says misagotti, he is really saying this word.

The first person to chime in with the correct answer wins a gold star!

Stan's Idle Hour

2011-03-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

During our recent trip to Florida with Bill and Linda, we took a visit to Stan’s Idle Hour in Goodland on New Year’s Eve. It is a quirky waterside restaurant, complete with a gift shop, and has become quite the tourist attraction. Every year, Stan’s hosts the annual Goodland Mullet Festival.

I can’t remember what I ate, but I thnk it was fried catfish. Anyway, I thought it was good, but the best part of the trip had to be the gift shop. They sell a lot of wigs there. I took the opportunity to do my best Guy Fieri impersonation in this shot. Notice the sunglasses on the back of my head.

Bill and Linda also tried on several wigs, but I decided to leave those pictures out of the blog for several reasons. Let’s just say that the 2012 Austin Family calendar will have some great pictures.

If you are in Southwest Florida, a meal at Stan’s is worth the trip. You will remember the experience even more than the food.

Adventures in Self-Defense

2011-02-22T21:56:00.000-06:00

Today was Professional Development Day at Richland. The theme for the day was about student and employee safety. For one of the breakout sessions, we had one of six choices. I chose the one about self-defense, mainly because there was going to be a martial arts instructor there, and I wanted to learn what to do if a student were to go after me in a classroom. However, he wasn't able to make it, so the entire presentation was from the Police Department, and I discovered that it was mainly about what to do if you are attacked in public.

Well, I was expecting the presentation to be about what to do if you are randomly attacked in a classroom, but instead it was about things such as how to use pepper spray to fend off an attacker, and taking preventive steps such as storing your purse in a car. I then turned around and found that I was the only man in the room, with about 12 other women present.

On the plus side, I learned that it's best to leave my purse at home and take only my ID and a debit card when shopping, and to leave it in a money clip in my pocket so that thieves don't try to steal my purse.

In the end, it was not one of my prouder moments in my time at Richland.

Thank you!

2011-02-16T21:58:00.000-06:00

I'd like to offer a BIG thank-you to Angie's aunt Jenny for coming down and helping paint all day, to Hannah Osborne for watching Noah today, and to my parents for picking Noah up and staying with him for a few hours while we finished. I'd also like to thank Angie and Jenny for painting all day while I just put up painter's tape. They don't care for taping, and I don't mind getting out of painting, so it's all good. We would be up to our necks in housework if it weren't for all of our friends and family!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T15:48:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. One of the happiest days of my life was the day that I met Angie. She is the most wonderful wife, and such a great mother. I am so happy and blessed to have her in my life. We will be celebrating five years of marriage later this year, which is so exciting. I love you, Angie.

Fun Times at the Manatee Park

2011-02-03T15:41:00.000-06:00

Here is the first of what I hope will be many blog entries about our recent trip to visit Angie's parents Bill and Linda at their winter home in sunny Florida. On our first day there, we went over to the Manatee Park, located near Fort Myers. This park is located near a power plant, and the warm water near the plant provides the manatees a place to go when temperatures cool down. There had been a cool spell right before we arrived in late December, so the place was full of manatees.

Here are a few fun pictures we took at the park:

Here, Noah is gently reminding us not to feed the alligators. Contrast this to a picture taken at the same spot the previous March:

I also like this self-portrait we took back in the nature trail. Angie is quite adept at self-portraits.

Finally, here are a couple of pictures that we took near the big manatee statue.

As you can see, we enjoy taking pictures near large, inanimate objects (see here, here, here, and here).

This is a great place to spend a short while if you are in the area, especially if there is cool weather. Along with watching manatees, they have a butterfly garden, picnic areas, and a playground for the little ones. It is also very affordable - all you have to pay for is parking at $1/hour.

This was just the beginning of a great trip, and I thank Bill and Linda for bringing us down.

Some Interesting Observations From Noah

2011-01-16T15:57:00.000-06:00

There are a ton of things that I want to write on this blog when I have the time, but here are a few quick ones about Noah from the past week:

1) When we got home from vacation earlier this month, Noah looked at our two cats and said, "Hi Daphne, Hi Big Striker." Suddenly, he was calling Striker "Big Striker." We don't know when Noah learned the concept of "big." In fairness, Striker is about twice as big as Daphne. Noah also calls me "Big Dada" from time to time.

2) We were at Wal-Mart last week when we bought some Christmas candy canes from the clearance rack. Noah really wanted to open the package. I said, "we have to buy it first." Noah must have thought I said "we have to bite it," because he began biting the package, and he wouldn't stop. He was determined to eat those candy canes in the store.

3) Finally, Noah likes anise seed cookies. I think everyone on my mom's side of the family needs to be made aware of that.

Every day is a fun adventure with Noah, that's for sure.

Operation Christmas Child

2010-11-13T09:00:00.001-06:00

I thought I would finally end my eight-month blog hiatus to promote a good cause. This month, Operation Christmas Child will be collecting shoeboxes of gifts to send to needy children in every corner of the world. This is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, a great organization that seeks to help those in need throughout the world, bringing people out of hopeless situations and into a relationship with Christ. You can see the work they do by clicking here. One of the biggest undertakings lately has been the relief efforts in Haiti, where they will stay for as long as it takes to get everyone back on their feet again.

Operation Christmas Child is of the biggest events held each year. It requires little effort on our part. All you have to do is take a shoebox and fill it with small gifts. It does not have to be wrapped. Angie and I have done this for the past few years, and it has not been a financial burden at all. I recommend finding a dollar store or toy store and you should find more than enough.

The national collection week is November 15-22, 2010. You can look here for a place in your area that is picking up shoeboxes. You also can give online if you're having a busy week.

Let’s face it – even during times of high unemployment, this is still the most prosperous nation in the world. We can help share this wealth with others by doing such a simple act. It is also a great way to get in the holiday spirit, and to start the holiday season with goodwill.

Today's Parenting Tip

2010-03-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here's today's parenting tip:

If you are holding your one-year old son in your arms, and he's not wearing any clothes because he's about to take his bath, then the worst possible thing you can do is make him laugh hysterically.

Today's parenting tip was brought to you by Pampers. Contain those leaks with Pampers!

Julie & Julia

2010-03-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

A little while back, Angie and I watched Julie & Julia on DVD. I really enjoyed it, mainly because the main character is blogging about how she is trying all of Julia Child's recipes, and she is using it as an escape from her job. I love writing, and I like the idea of somebody looking at a bad situation, and then doing something about it. I wish more of us could do that. It also had a lot of funny parts, and the historical backdrop of Julia Child's story is fascinating to watch. Overall, it is a movie that I would recommend, both for the ladies and the fellas.

This movie also reminds me of an interesting conversation that I had back in December. We bought this movie for each of my grandparents for Christmas. Before buying it online, I wanted to check if Wal-Mart had the same price, so I made a phone call. Here is a transcript of the conversation:

Wal-Mart associate: Welcome to Wal-Mart. How can I direct your call?
Me: I'm calling about the price of a DVD.
Wal-Mart associate: WHAT?!?
Me: Electronics, please.
Wal-Mart: Okay, please hold.
Electronics associate: Electronics.
Me: I would like to know the price of Julie & Julia on DVD.
Electronics associate: Julian & Juliet?
Me: No, it's Julie & Julia.
Electronics associate: Julian & Julia?
Me: Yes, that's the one.
Electronics associate: Yeah, we have that. It's $10.99.

Anyway, I do recommend the movie, and now when you watch it, you get to be inspired and you get to remember my funny and random conversation.

Noah's First Haircut

2010-03-07T20:36:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of Noah's first haircut. Noah had his hair cut at Angie's House of Haircuts, located in the upstairs bathroom of our house. In fact, I just had my hair cut there, and it's a place that I highly recommend. Noah mostly sat still, and was a good boy during the haircut. He certainly looks less like a baby and more like a young boy.

Noah's First Year

2010-03-04T14:51:00.001-06:00

Noah is now one year old. We celebrated his birthday last week with a big party with friends and family. The party had a jungle theme, since his room is decorated that way, and he always holds his stuffed lion when he goes to bed. You should see the excitement on his face when he is in his crib and you give him his lion. Angie made a cupcake cake of a lion. The cake looked amazing and was delicious. We had more food than we knew what to do with, and it was a great time.

It is amazing to think that my son is now a year old. Every day is a new discovery. He certainly has a lot of personality. He really is becoming less of a baby and more of a boy.

Noah had his one-year checkup this week, and he remains off the charts in height and pretty close to the top in weight. As we expected, he’s going to be a big guy.

In child development news, Noah has been crawling for about three months now. It began as an “army crawl,” but has progressed to a full crawl. He enjoys crawling, and he can’t stay in one place for a long period of time. He is always on the move. At first, he liked to go into his bedroom and pull every book off of the bookshelf. He later got over that, and now he is all about taking every toy out of the closet. He will stand on his own from time to time, and likes to climb up people when they are seated.

Noah loves cabinets, as well as anything with a knob or button. We have had to latch the cabinets shut, except for a couple of cabinets with pots and pans. When he gets tired, he really wants to get in the cabinets, and gets upset if you take him away from there. We have to keep the bathroom closed, because Noah will immediately crawl there and take everything out of the drawers.

Noah learned a couple of signs recently. A while back, he learned the sign for “more,” and he took off with it. Around the same time, we taught him to clap, so now he claps for “more” when he’s eating. Well, he didn’t stop there. Now, he claps when he wants a drink, and he claps when he wants you to read a book to him. The sign for “more” turned into a general request for anything.

Another new sign recently learned is “eat.” Normally, you put your fingers to a point and point to your mouth. His version is to tilt his head and then put the palm of his hand on his mouth. When it’s time to eat, we say “Do you want to eat?” and he does that sign. Then, I can pick him up without him getting upset, because we all know that he is always excited to eat.

We read to Noah as often as we can, and it must catch on. Now, he has a few favorite books. When he finds a favorite book, he will show it to one of us and yell some one-syllable sound. This means we need to read to him. Often, when we are in the middle of a book, he will find another book and immediately want the next one to be read. (Once again, he can’t sit still.)

Babbling is still constant. He often yells out “da-da-da-da” or “dee-dee-dee-dee,” as well as “nah-nah-nah.” He learned something this week that is pretty funny; whenever either of us is on the phone, he will wait until we hang up and then yell three or four syllables very loudly. One of my favorite things that he does now is yell “Ayyyyyy” whenever I come home from work. It reminds me of the Fonz.

It gets harder to list every single thing that Noah does, because he is always changing. The first year was a blast, and I look forward to more great times ahead.

A Few Months of Noah Pictures

2010-02-18T21:16:00.000-06:00

So, I forgot to post Noah's monthly picture with Noah back in January. And in December. And in November. Whoops! Here are Noah's last three monthly pictures.

Here is Noah's nine-month picture. He's wearing his Disney outfit that his grandparents got him when they visited Disney World.

Next, we have Noah's ten-month picture. Notice the Christmas pillows in the background.

Finally, we have his 11-month picture. I didn't expect him to be as big as Pooh by this point, but that's where we are.

Noah's big 1st birthday is coming up this coming Monday, February 22, and we can't wait. Stay tuned for the one-year picture, along with a whole lot of updates. He seems to be doing something new every day.

More Pictures from Florida

2010-01-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

Here are some final pictures from Florida. On our last day, we visited the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. This is a pretty cool place. I wasn't aware of this, but Thomas Edison and Henry Ford lived next to each other in Fort Myers in the winters. Their houses and work areas (including Edison's lab) remain intact and are now open for tours. You get to see many of Edison's inventions, along with some amazing rubber trees that were brought over from India and were used to produce a source of rubber.

Angie and I spent about three hours there, and we easily could have stayed longer. It was a fascinating look at the genius and inegenuity of those two men. Of course, we couldn't resist the urge to get pictures with the two men for which it's named:

In these pictures, Angie is telling Thomas how much she values her inventions and how she can't believe that it's in the 50s and cloudy in Florida, and I'm telling Henry that I can't believe I'm still driving his Escort. (Yeah, they told us that the statues are drawn above scale.) Notice the size of the tree in the background of Angie's picture. It appears to be a group of trees, but it's actually a single tree.

One other place we visited on our trip was the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium. We went on a walk through the nature area, and saw some unique animals. The cool weather caused many of the animals to be put inside, but it was still a nice tour.

Once again, we'd like to thank Bill and Linda for hosting us. We had a fun time, and will definitely be back someday.

The Shell Factory

2010-01-18T09:00:00.004-06:00

On the second day of our Florida vacation (New Year's Day), we paid a visit to The Shell Factory. It's a kooky little place in North Fort Myers. They sell shells, of course, but there is also a fun park and nature park. We just walked around the shell displays and the fun little exhibits (a good portion of this is free to walk around in), and took some fun pictures.

One of the most important rules in the Hynds family is this: If you are near the skeleton of a large shark's mouth, you must take a silly picture with it. Angie obliged.

Then, we all joined in on the fun. Honestly, how many chances do you get in life to pose for a picture inside a shark's mouth?

Then, we roped Bill and Linda in. Okay, enough with the shark. Let's move on to more important things...

...like a triceratops. Once again, you can't pass up an opportunity like this. If you see a triceratops, take a picture with it. No exceptions.

We will soon post all of the other pictures on our Facebook pages. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. On a side note, it rained profusely when we got there, and we all got soaked! Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the cool spell that hit Florida and stayed for more than a week.

One more note about New Year's in Florida - it was the first time in my life that I was in the Eastern Time Zone when the ball dropped at Times Square. I got to ring in the New Year at that moment, instead of having to wait another hour. It's the little things, really, that get me excited.

Sanibel Island

2010-01-16T10:51:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our day at Sanibel Island. We spent the New Year's holiday in Florida with Bill and Linda. We stayed at the guest cottage at the Riverbend RV Resort in La Belle, near Fort Myers. We went to Sanibel on our first day there, since it was the only day of our trip where the temperature was above 70. The weather was perfect that day, and it was a nice way to start our trip. Here are a few pictures.

Here is Noah, enjoying the beach with his grandma.

Here we have the three of us posing for our beach picture. Notice that at this point Noah is no longer wearing his shorts, as they got soaked.

Noah posing with his grandparents at the beach. If you can't tell by the pictures, Noah had a great time. I'm also inclined to think that Bill and Linda had a great time as well.

Noah had a lot of fun with the sand. The sand didn't bother him at all. Thankfully, he didn't eat too much. We did have to watch him with the seashells, though. I had to pull a small seashell out of his mouth!

We had a fun time at the island. Sanibel Island is mentioned in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List, and I can see why.

If you are ever in southwest Florida, this is a trip I would recommend. One disadvantage to the island is that a lot of it is privately developed, so public parking is limited. What we did was we went to lunch first (it was a nice little cafe, but I forgot the name). Then, we found some spots in the afternoon, when a few people had left. Also, you should know that it costs $6 to get to the island, and all beach parking has an hourly rate. There's no getting around it, so you might as well just bring some cash and not worry about it. Trust me, when you see the beach, you will be amazed.

This is certainly a trip worth taking. We had a great time.

How Our Cats Spent Their Tuesday Afternoon

2009-12-27T20:54:00.001-06:00

Last Tuesday, Angie was substitute teaching, I was home, and Noah took a nap in the afternoon. During his nap, I went downstairs to get some work done. When I came back up, I found Striker on the La-Z-Boy...

...and Daphne on the couch (her head is near the bottom, in case you couldn't find it in her giant ball of hair).

I guess they were exhausted after a long day of sitting around and eating. It's nice to know that I work full-time so that the cats can just lie down on the furniture all day long.

Why My Wife is Awesome

2009-12-17T10:18:00.006-06:00

Let me tell you why. On Tuesday, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Something that you may not know about me is that I can handle minor surgeries well, but anesthesia, and particularly painkillers, mess me up pretty badly.

We got home about around 12:30 on Tuesday, and I was still a little woozy. Angie got me my pills, a drink of water, and a vanilla milkshake from McDonald's, and brought out a blanket so that I could sit on the recliner. She also brought up some of my favorite DVDs for me to watch. I tried to watch "The Simpsons Movie," but I only remember seeing about 30 minutes of the entire movie, as I was dozing off for most of the afternoon.

I started to feel okay, but still had some mouth pain, so I took a painkiller. Big mistake! I fell back asleep, started to have stomach problems, and before you know it, I'm pale and really sick. This cycle continued throughout the night, where I eventually decided that I'd rather have a sore mouth than be sick.

Why does this make my wife awesome? Well, she did all of the grocery shopping, called home to check up on me, took care of some holiday shopping, took care of Noah, took care of me, cooked dinner, and did all of the housework, without doing a bit of complaining. Below is a picture taken from that evening, illustrating just how useless I was that night.

I joked with Angie that now she knows what it's like to have two kids. I promised her that the next time a simple, minor surgical procedure leaves her unable to do a single thing, I'll help her out too.

I'm happy to report that even though there is still some soreness, I have my appetite back and I'm able to pull my share of the work, hence why I will soon be ending this post and getting back to housework, as Angie is working a substitute teaching job right now and I need to return the favor.

Even if all of this didn't happen, Angie is still an awesome wife, and I thank God for her every day. In the midst of a busy life, sometimes it takes things like this to sit back and realize how good I have it.

Operation Christmas Child

2009-11-14T09:35:00.004-06:00

You can make a difference for a child in need this Christmas. Operation Christmas Child brings gifts and hope to children in need throughout the world every Christmas season. All you have to do is fill a shoebox with gifts, and make a small donation of $7, and you can bring joy and hope to a child who needs it this Christmas.

Angie and I have participated in this for the last couple of years. It is not a big financial burden (a trip to Dollar Tree or Big Lots should take care of it), and it makes you feel good to help out. As Noah gets older, we want to include him in the process, so he can see the value of giving. If you have children, this is a good thing to do with them, as they can learn to have compassion for others.

Our country has been in a recession for a while, and yet we are still doing much better than most other nations. Even in our struggles, we can help out.

The gifts will be collected this coming week (November 16-23) all over the country. To find out more, you can visit their website by clicking here. There, you will find information of what you can buy, where to drop it off, and how you can give online and see where your package ends up this Christmas. Merry Christmas, and God Bless.

Noah's First Halloween and More

2009-11-04T14:25:00.015-06:00

Noah just had his first Halloween, where he was dressed as a frog. We began the evening with Angie's family, followed by some trick-or-treating in the lovely Village of Warrensburg. Sherry made some amazing chili, and Noah got to spend time with his cousins, one of whom was dressed as a blind referee for Halloween.

We then made it over to my parents' house, where there was more Halloween fun. He got some nice goodies from both families. One of the underrated perks of having an eight-month-old is that he can't have candy yet, so his Halloween candy becomes your Halloween candy. We only get one year to do that, so I'm taking full advantage!

Thanks to both families for making this a fun holiday for all of us.

In other Noah news, he is now eight months old. Along with the Halloween fun, we made a trip to Arthur to check out the Central Illinois Bragging Rights BBQ Competition. That was followed by a stop at Beachy's Bulk Foods, where we purchased copious amounts of good foods (cookies, dip mix, cheese, syrup, cinnamon rolls, and other good foods that I may have forgotten). It was a bit chilly outside, but we all enjoyed a nice fall country day in Amish country.

Later on in the month, Angie and Noah went to Okaw Valley Orchard in Sullivan, along with a few other women and kids from the church. It was a beautiful fall day, and Noah especially enjoyed playing in the leaves and hay.

Near the end of the month, we had a family reunion, where Noah got to see several people for the first time, including Bea, David, Barry, Jim, and Chris.

On the child development front, Noah is developing much more of a personality. He is moving around more. He is not crawling yet, but we're not sure if he will crawl; he is much more interested in standing and walking. In fact, there are times when he is sitting down when he reaches out his arms and wants to pick himself off the ground and start going. When he is on his back, he wants to roll in every direction, as often as possible. When you pick up Noah, he starts to kick his feet in the air.

There are many more foods that he is trying. Most of Noah's meals now consist of "real" foods, and he enjoyed eating generous amounts of food. Honestly, there are times when he just can't stop. He also is becoming more independent at meals, even to the point of sometimes getting upset when he is being spoon-fed.

Noah's noises are funny. His favorites right now are "da-da-da-da-da-da..." and "muh-muh-muh-muh..." and often his noises go up an octave after a few sounds.

Yes, there is much going on, and we look forward to his nine-month birthday and his first Thanksgiving.

Noah's Seventh Month

2009-10-03T14:17:00.005-05:00

Lucky Number 7 just passed us by a week ago. Noah's seventh month was full of growth and adventure. He is now sitting up much more than before. He wants to crawl, but doesn't quite know how to do it. He will scoot backwards and pull his knees up. We know that our days of having an immobile child will soon end, and we are about to get the house ready for it.

Noah's eating has really picked up. There are too many new foods this month to even list. We are now doing more jarred foods, and this was the month when he started eating meats. There are some interesting combinations of foods out there. He also is doing finger foods, including puffs, biter biscuits, and pieces of bananas.

Noah's selection of noises has picked up. He likes to say things like "Aye-nigh-nigh-nigh-nigh," and sometimes he will go into an awesome falsetto while he's talking. It's very Brian Jodice-like. When you put him on the changing table, he'll begin to talk and kick his feet. While in the tub, he now can sit up, and likes to splash. Bathtime has become more fun for him. Basically, he is a lot more active than before, always exploring and looking for things to grab and play with.

Most of our activities this month included parks. We went to Whitmore Park, South Shores Park (to see his cousins' soccer games), and we went to Arts in Central Park, a nice art exhibition downtown.

Noah and I have had fun watching Bears games together. The first game of the year was a night game, so Noah was asleep. I'm very thankful that the Bears' Week 1 stinkfest against Green Bay was not the first game Noah saw. Since then, we've watched a few afternoon games, and I'm sure to celebrate with him every time they score. I have to start him early!

Angie started some occasional substitute teaching in September, so Noah has had some days with me (on Wednesdays) and also with his grandmothers. He has handled it well, and we're glad that we don't both have to work every day.

Stay tuned later this month for the eight-month report. Even since turning seven months old, Noah has discovered some new things, and it's going to be a good month.

Halfway to the First Birthday

2009-09-05T09:41:00.002-05:00

Noah turned six months old on August 22, and the sixth month was non-stop and full of firsts. First, we have to get through the bad news: Noah had thrush at the beginning of the month. It lasted long enough that he needed blood work. Thankfully, the thrush is gone and the blood work results were good. Holding him down for the blood work was no fun at all. It was pretty funny, however, to see him having a purple tongue when he got treated for the thrush.

We all went to Scovill Zoo in early August. Noah enjoyed listening to all of the animals, although he mostly enjoyed looking at the plant life in the zoo. It was a fun new experience for him. Angie used to work at Scovill, and it’s a nice place to visit. Later in the month, Noah took his first trip to the Decatur Public Library. Angie has been taking him there, and checking out CDs of kids’ songs every couple of weeks. Noah enjoys listening to the music.

August also included Noah’s first swim. We went out to his Grandpa and Grandma Austin’s pool. He was pretty unsure of himself when he first went in, but eventually got used to it. He liked to chew on the front of his flotation device. He looked pretty funny in his big swim trunks.

At Noah’s six-month checkup, he came in at 19 pounds and 28 3/4 inches. He’s a tall boy. That is already over the length limit for his 9-month pajamas, which we just started using. Most of his 9-month clothing still fits, but we’ve discovered that some of his 12-month clothing is now fitting him as well.

One more thing about his checkup – the doctor told us that most six-month-olds don’t push back when he’s examining them, but Noah sure did, so we could already be in for a fun adventure with this one.

I can’t begin to list all of the new sounds that he has discovered. Our favorite one right now is the sound that he makes when he rolls his tongue. He just learned to roll his tongue, and it makes a suction sound when he does it. He also is doing a lot more squealing, and he’s finding his voice.

New foods discovered since last month include peas, peaches, and carrots. He still likes all of his foods, even the green ones.

Noah also can sit up now. He can’t sit himself up yet, but if we sit him down, he’ll stay that way for a while. Eventually, he ends up rolling over. He is rolling over a lot more than he used to.
Another of Noah’s new hobbies is drumming. He especially likes to bang his hand on the Culligan dispenser. He’s not afraid to reach for anything. He likes playing with toys, and each toy has the same purpose – to be put in his mouth. No matter how big a toy is, he always ends up picking it up and putting it in his mouth.

As you can see, the sixth month was jam-packed. We expect more of the same in the next month.

Thank You, Sakrete!

2009-08-15T14:59:00.004-05:00

You may remember my blog post last month about how I resurfaced my driveway. In the final paragraph, I thanked Sakrete for making the products that were used. As it turns out, somebody from the Sakrete company read the blog and sent me some items as a token of their appreciation. A Sakrete t-shirt, hat, can holder, and keychain/bottle opener ended up at my house today. I appreciate the gesture. I do have a little bit of concrete patching left to do at my house, and guess whose products I'll be using.

Noah's Belated Five-Month Blog

2009-08-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm nearly two weeks late, but here is a picture of Noah at five months. Noah's fifth month was pretty eventful. To start off, we dove into the world of solid foods. It began with rice cereal, and now has branched out to several foods, including sweet potatoes, green beans, apples, squash, bananas, avocado, and oatmeal. Angie has been making Noah's food, buying fresh produce and pureeing it. We recommend the Wholesome Baby Food website, which contains tips on when to feed each food and how to prepare them.

Over the 4th of July weekend, we went to Danny and Marianne's wedding in Chicago. Noah did a good job handling us being stuck in Chicago traffic, and he slept well. He slept through the ceremony, which made Angie happy. He also made it through a decent part of the reception. It was nice visiting all of our family, and it was a beautiful ceremony.

On Tuesdays, Angie and Noah have been attending Baby Talk. Baby Talk is an organization that provides resources to parents of babies. They do weekly meetings throughout the area, all free to the public. It's a great organization that got its start right here in Decatur, Illinois.

One of Noah's favorite things to do right now is sucking his big toe. Those of you reading this on Facebook have probably seen the video by now.

Noah is making a lot of noises. One of his noises sounds like he's saying "Hi." Right before he falls asleep at night, he will roll around in the crib and talk to himself.

Noah is doing some discovering. He likes to grab faces now. He also likes to scratch things, to see what they feel like. When we go on walks (which we've done quite a bit, thanks to the nice weather we've had this summer), he looks around at the trees. One thing that he's not a fan of, though, is the grass. We laid him down in the grass, and he voiced his displeasure.

The fifth month was fun, as you know. It was a real blessing to have reduced work hours this summer, so that I could spend more time with the family. I'm not looking forward to having bigger responsibilities again next week.

Well, the next update shouldn't be too far away, given that I was so late with this one. Stay tuned later this month for the big six-month update.

Our New Driveway (sort of)

2009-07-22T20:43:00.004-05:00

Last week was a big week for the Hynds House. I spent last Thursday, Friday, and Monday resealing the driveway. It was long overdue. I didn't have the foresight to take a "Before" picture, but this is a big improvement.

It took five gallons of crack filler (tee hee!) to patch up the major cracks, and then just over two 5-gallon drums of sealant to patch it up. The whole thing was preceded by a long night of powerwashing. There were a lot of weeds that refused to give up, and had to be either pulled out or cut out.

Strangely enough, I had to wait a couple of days before finishing the project, as the materials are not supposed to be used when the temperature gets below 50 degrees. That didn't quite happen last weekend, but it came pretty close. I didn't expect that kind of barrier when I decided to do this in the middle of July.

Not to brag, but I'm pretty proud of myself. You see, I'm not what they call "handy," so this went way beyond what I thought I could pull off. Sure, nobody will look at it and say, "Hey, did you hire Dunn Company to do your driveway?", but it looks good enough, in my opinion. Plus, the whole project cost just above $100, and those are savings that you can take to the bank. The money bank!

I'd like to thank Angie for her support. She took care of Noah, since I couldn't come inside. She also prepared a couple of meals for me to eat outside, and provided a great deal of moral support. I also want to thank Don Reining and Bill Austin for letting me borrow some materials. Finally, I want to thank Sakrete for making the products that were used. (I'm hoping Sakrete will reimburse me for giving them the plug.)

Good night, and happy paving.

Noah is 1/3 of a Year Old (That's Four Months, People!)

2009-06-28T20:33:00.006-05:00

Noah turned four months old on June 22. (Call me biased, but I think that is the best of his monthly Pooh pictures to date.)

The fourth month was quite an adventure. We had our first overnight trip, with the three of us going to Naperville for his Uncle Danny's wedding shower. We stayed at the Hampton, and I am happy to report that Noah slept very well. In fact, he slept so well that we were tempted to use the Pack 'n Play at home as well.

In mobility news, Noah can now roll over completely. He moves around much more these days; we have to watch him when he is in his bouncer seat, as he now can move himself out of it. He has a little more strength, although sitting up is still a short while away. Whenever we grab his hands, he will stand up if we gently bring him up, and he will stay standing when we hold him.

Noah makes a lot more sounds now. Some of them even sound like words. I'm pretty sure he said "Hi" the other day when I got him from his crib. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, we'll wake up to hear him talking to himself in the other room.

Speaking of sleep, it is getting better. He still wants to fight sleep, but he has slept all through the night on several occasions now.

I had my first Father's Day last week. Noah (with mom's help) made a nice poem with his footprints, and a mouse pad that's a photo collage. It looks great on my desk at work.

Noah starts having small solid foods (starting with rice cereal) this week, so stay tuned for an entertaining fifth-month report in July!

Noah at Three Months

2009-05-28T14:18:00.004-05:00

Noah turned three months old on May 22. The third month has been a fun one.

Noah now is laughing, and he has some ticklish spots. He also is babbling a lot these days; most of you saw the video on Facebook. One of my favorite things to say to him is "Ah Gee!" He seems to respond to it, and it sounds like something that he says.

Angie got to have her first Mother's Day this year, and Noah made her a nice gift.

Noah got to spend his weekdays with his Grandma Tina, since Angie and I both were working. Those were fun times. As of yesterday, Angie is no longer employed with the school district, and is now a full-time mom! We're very excited, and thank God for providing for us.

Last weekend, Noah went to his first baseball game, as he saw his cousin Zach play. He also had his first trip to the Central Park water fountain. He was mesmerized by the fountain.

We also are happy to report that Noah slept from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. earlier this week. Of course, we are all very happy by that.

As you'd expect, we're having a lot of fun with Noah, and we can't wait for the summer.

(If you are reading this on The Hynds Quarters, I thank you very much. I also would encourage you to check out my Facebook page. I have more pictures and videos on that page.)

Noah is Two Months Old

2009-04-25T19:19:00.008-05:00

Believe it or not, Noah turned two months old on April 22. Here's a picture montage of his first two months:

This is a picture of Noah taken about two hours after he was born, on February 22.

We took this picture on March 22, his one-month birthday. We plan on taking a picture of him next to this Winnie the Pooh doll at every month, to show how much he grows.

And here's his picture at two months. He has grown quite a bit.

Noah has done a lot of growing and developing. He can move to either side, he can lift up his head, and he occasionally can hold his head in the air. He also is very close to completely rolling over. In fact, he wakes up every morning in the corner or the edge of his crib, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

Noah is smiling a lot these days, and he does have some small laughs. He actually laughs the loudest when he's asleep.

He likes to lay down on the floor or the bed, but he really likes to sit in his bouncer seat and talk to the animals on the seat. One of his least favorite places to be is his carseat. And for the past couple of weeks, he hasn't been a big fan of baths.

Sometimes, when he's fussy, I like to call him either Fussypants McGee or Noah Von Fussypants.

He sure has been a lot of fun. There will be many more pictures, videos, and stories over the years.

Noah Lee Hynds is here!

2009-02-28T16:30:00.003-06:00

We'd like to welcome Noah Lee Hynds to the world. Noah was born on Sunday, February 22 at 3:24 p.m., at 9 lbs. 5 oz. and 22 inches long. He has brought tremendous blessing and joy to Angie and I. Here's the first of many pictures of our little guy. Noah and his mom are both doing well.

There will be a lot more pictures and videos both on this blog and on Facebook. We can't wait to share his stories to all of you! A big thank you goes to all of our family and friends for their caring and generosity.

Baby Comic

2009-02-12T14:36:00.002-06:00

My grandma sent this to me a few weeks ago. It's a comic from Parade Magazine, and she threw in her own captions:

Pretty funny, and sadly, I know it will be true very soon.

Our Baby Shower

2009-02-07T15:00:00.001-06:00

Angie had her baby shower back on January 17. It turned out very well, and we'd like to thank everybody for all of the books, all of the gifts, and the great food. Special thanks to Sherry and Nicky for organizing the event, Dad for preparing the soup, and our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and friends for helping out. The pictures can be seen on Sherry's Facebook page.

If you see Angie, ask her what she thought of the fruit salad.

Thank you all for a great baby shower, and our little guy will be here before you know it!

Adventures in Plumbing

2009-02-05T13:12:00.001-06:00

Angie and I had an unusual day yesterday. Let me set the scene for you: Yesterday, we both got off work at 2:00, both being done for the day. That almost never happens, so we were looking forward to an evening of relaxation. We both got home. Angie had to use the restroom right before we were to take off for Target.

A few minutes later, everything changed. Angie went to wash her hands, and the faucet bursted into the air. Water came flying into the air and out of the faucet. It did not stop. I ran downstairs to shut it off. In a moment of panic, I thought the shut-off valve was in the laundry room. It wasn't. Instead, I found out that the water had gone through the duct work and into the laundry room, where it was cascading down. I called Bill, my father-in-law. He told me that the shut-off is on the street side of the house, and of course, he's right, so I made it to the other side of the basement to shut it off.

The water is shut off, but there is still work to do. Bill called a plumbing service for us. Meanwhile, there is water in the basement, on the ceramic tile. So, while running to go upstairs and start cleaning up, I slipped and fell on the floor. I went upstairs, and water was all over the bathroom. We had to use every towel in the house to soak it all up on both floors.

About an hour later, the plumber arrived. It turns out that an O-ring corroded on the pipe, and a washer on the faucet fell apart. Those two little things caused all of this.

By now it's about 4:30. The plumber told me what to get, so I went to Lowe's to buy a new faucet, a P-trap, and two hoses. I got home and unhooked the water line from the old faucet, got everything unscrewed, and got the old faucet removed. At this point, Bill felt sorry for me and went over to help.

I should clarify that we have a small bathroom, and a small cabinet area. I should also mention that I'm about 6'3", and Bill isn't much smaller. I twisted myself more than ever before on this project. The pipes didn't quite fit, so Bill had to get a hacksaw to make the pipes fit. Bill spent most of the time working on it, and then I would occasionally tighten things up. Finally, a little after 7:00, the job was done, and the cleanup began.

Thankfully, everything is okay. The only two rooms that had water have ceramic tile, so it did not get on our laminate floors, or the carpeting. I also owe a lot to Bill for helping me out. Plus, I need to thank my father for bringing some fans over, so we could air out the floors and cabinets faster.

So if you ever needed help on installing a faucet, I can now say that I have some experience. Being a homeowner can make life interesting!

A Weird Dream, or an Ominous Prediction?

2009-01-29T13:00:00.003-06:00

The other night, I dreamed that the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series. That would be very unlikely, since the Pirates' last winning season was in the early '90s. However, if that actually happens this year, you heard it here first.

Another Carbondale Trip

2009-01-28T12:03:00.001-06:00

Guess what? We went back to Carbondale this past weekend. It wasn't as long of a trip as last time, and this was more for business than for pleasure (I went down to help wrap up our old church's files), but we still had a wonderful time with the Staleys. Angie and I ate at Booby's (you read that correctly) for lunch, and then went out with Noble and Lynnette for pizza at Quatro's for dinner. Later on, Angie and I did some shopping in Marion to buy some baby things that our stores in Decatur don't carry anymore.

On Sunday, we attended the worship service at Vine Community Church (a place I would recommend visiting), and it was awesome as always. The "random moment" of the weekend soon followed, when we had to detour on the way back to their house becuase a big moving truck got stuck in the ditch pulling out onto Pleasant Hill Road.

We have to thank the Staleys yet again for providing us a place to stay and for the good times that we had. With our little guy coming in less than a month, this was our last trip for a while.

The Inauguration

2009-01-20T16:39:00.000-06:00

I consider myself pretty lucky that I was able to watch the Inauguration at work today. No matter how we all feel about politics, it was quite a sight to see, and an event that will go down in history. I never plan on giving away my political affilation on this blog, but no matter what, I hope that I always remember to pray for my president and the decisions that he makes.

I hope that the next four years go well for us, and that we remember that if we expect the president to fix all of our troubles by himself, we will be greatly disappointed.

One more thing: President Obama is a White Sox fan, and that's pretty sweet. Take that, North Siders!

My Goals for 2009

2009-01-11T20:40:00.007-06:00

I know we're already in the 11th day of 2009, but I thought I'd share some of my personal goals for the year. I got the idea for doing this last fall, when I read the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, by Dan Miller. It's a great book that deals with how we approach our careers, and how our career should be more than just a paycheck. It's a book that I recommend, no matter what you think of your current job.

One of the chapters in this book mentioned that often we want our lives to improve, but we don't lay out a plan for making it happen. I have been guilty of that; sometimes, I want to change, but I'm too afraid to take a chance, or I'm simply too lazy to do anything about it. So, for 2009, I decided to set some personal goals. I made 11 goals total, although I'm going to keep some of them private. Here they are, by category:

Spiritual
1) Read the entire books of Psalms and Proverbs, as well as all four gospels.
-I want to deepen my relationship with God, and I can't expect to do so if I am not more diligent about reading his word. I often lack the motivation to read the Bible, and I hope that challenging myself to do so will help. I will need about two months for each book. I'm cheating a little here; I was already halfway through Psalms when the year began. But Psalms is a pretty big book anyway. Hopefully, I'll have a better understanding of these books at the end of the year.

2) Pray every day, and pray for Angie and our (future) son every day.
-If you never talk to your spouse, the relationship never goes anywhere. Thus, if you never talk to God, that relationship also goes nowhere. I learned this during a good sermon that I listened to a few weeks ago. As a result, I'm going to try very hard to pray every day, even if it's just a small prayer, and I always want to be praying for Angie and our boy.

Finances
1) Work 300 hours at the M.E. Barber Company and teach two summer courses at RCC.
-The summer courses are already in the schedule, and I made a month-by-month account of how I will get to 300 hours for the year, based on what I worked in 2008 and how my schedule will be this year.

2) Bring our emergency fund to have three months of expenses saved up.
-We were at that point near the end of the year, but car repairs set us back. However, it was nice to have the money to pay for those repairs. This is where the extra hours at the Shop and teaching summer courses comes into play.

Physical and Relational Health
1) Spend 30 minutes on the treadmill (or walking outside) at least once a week.

2) Have a "date night" with Angie at least once a month.
-This will especially be important after our boy is born, so that our marriage can stay strong.

Personal Development
1) Read six books (one for every two months).
-I can already see some of my relatives laughing at this one. Reading, at least reading books outside of work, has never been a passion of mine, but I know that I need to read if I want to get ahead in life. I read two books for pleasure in 2008, so I hope to increase it this year.

2) Cook a meal once a week.
-I'm lousy at cooking, and that needs to change. Angie shouldn't have to cook every meal, so I want to help out.

And those are some of my goals for 2009. Why have I posted these on my blog? It's easy; it's a good way to stay accountable. All of you who read this are allowed to e-mail me anytime this year and ask how I'm doing, and you can demand that I be honest. I hope that this has inspired you to think about what you want for this year, and how you can make it happen.

Here's to a fantastic 2009!

My Griswold Moment

2009-01-04T13:00:00.004-06:00

I mentioned in a previous post that my dad bought me a shirt similar to the one that Clark Griswold is wearing when he is putting up the outdoor Christmas lights. Well, as I went to take down the lights last Thursday, I wore that shirt and had Angie take a picture of it.

I don't have the cheesy '80s Bears hat that Clark wore, but a current Bears hat will do. I also got out the staple gun, even though those lights are not stapled to the house. I can also happily report that there were no mishaps or injuries. Next Thanksgiving, I'll be sure to wear that same shirt when I put the lights back out.

The First Nursery Photos

2009-01-03T21:10:00.008-06:00

Angie and I have worked hard over our holiday break to get the nursery put together. Here are a few photos. More will come as the nursery progresses.

Here's the crib and the dresser. The crib was pretty easy to put together; the dresser, not so much. They both look nice, though.

On the other side of the room are the changing table and the rocker. These were some lucky finds; the changing table came courtesy of my sister-in-law, Jill, and we bought the rocker when One Way had its church sale.

We also bought new curtains for each of the windows.

Here's the closet. The boy already has more toys than he needs. This is what happens when Angie's siblings couldn't wait to unload some unneeded toys. We are very thankful, however, to have so much. We don't plan on washing the clothes for a while, hence why the clothes are in a big pile.

Here's his bookcase. He also isn't hurting for books. The train on the top is a piggy bank train, where we can write in his name, height, weight, birthday, favorite food, etc. Next to it is a teddy bear from the Chicago Symphony. Both were wonderful gifts from my brother Danny and his fiance, Marianne. On the right is Woofers, a bear we made at Build-a-Bear when we were in St. Louis this past fall.

Finally, here's a closeup of the dresser. The ultrasound picture is on the left. That frame was a gift from Betty, a co-worker at my side job at the M.E. Barber Company. The picture book and piggy bank came from my parents, and my parents and grandparents combined to save over $120 in quarters to put in it. I gave Angie the elephant photo frame for Christmas, with a note saying "Insert baby picture here" in it.

It was hard work, but a lot of fun, to put it together. Now comes the waiting. We're pretty excited to see him come!

Want to Take Control of Your Finances?

2009-01-02T10:00:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of 2008, we took a class called Financial Peace University. It's a 13-week class that was offered at our church. I can't recommend this course enough. One year later, we are still reaping the benefits of learning about our finances. Right now, we make less money that we did at this time last year, and yet we no longer have credit card debt, we increased our savings account significantly, and we were even able to put some money away in a Roth IRA. Plus, we still sit down before every month and make a budget. I never wanted to do a budget (I know, a math guy who didn't like to budget; who knew?), but now I see no other way.

The class was created by Dave Ramsey, a well-known author and radio show host. His videos are very entertaining. Picture a crazy, animated, middle-aged man from Tennessee, and there you have it. I read his book, The Total Money Makeover, earlier this year, and learned much from it.

This class especially helped us out, given the current market. The way I see it, when there's a recession, we have two options: we can panic, watch CNN and Fox News all day, and assume it's hopeless, or we can choose to take charge of our finances. We chose the latter, and couldn't be happier.

If you are in the Decatur area, this class is being offered again at First Christian Church. It's on Wednesday nights starting January 7. It only costs $99, and you can sign up here. They even serve dinner beforehand, for $5 per adult and $3 per child, but no more than $16 per family. This class is being led by Shane Woodrum, who led our class last year. Stand-up guy, and a great teacher. If you're not in the Decatur area, there are classes offered nationwide, or online. Check out the website for more information.

It's a new year; why not make it the year of financial improvement?

(Note: After typing this post, I saw the commercials for the "Rich Dad" seminar that is coming to Decatur on the same night. I wasn't referring to that event, although I'm not endorsing or condemning it.)

My 2008

2008-12-31T09:21:00.006-06:00

2008 was something else for Angie and I. Here's the year in review.

Angie and I both changed jobs this year (which I can't say was planned in either case). Angie took a break from her full-time position working with the blind and visually impaired. Now, she teaches part-time in the resource room and English at Meridian High School. I left my teaching job at ISU (and the commute that comes with it) to teach at Richland Community College.

We dialed it down a bit this year when it comes to traveling. Our longest vacation of the year was a five-day trip to Carbondale in June for a church conference. Even though it was brutally hot outside, we enjoyed being in Southern Illinois for a few days. In July, we spent a weekend with Angie's mom and dad, along with her sister Sherry's family, in Wisconsin Dells. In late September, we went to St. Louis to see one of Angie's high school friends get married. Finally, we went back to Carbondale in early November to visit the Staleys (read my earlier blogs for pictures of that trip).

Over the summer, I used the time between full-time jobs to work for my father at the M.E. Barber Company. Angie worked at Scovill Zoo, acting as a liaison between the teachers and the animals for the Zoo Crew kids' program. For an animal lover like Angie, it was a pretty fun experience.

And of course, there's the biggest news of all: In June, we found out that we'd be expecting our first child! We're expecting a baby boy in late February. Honestly, I can't wait for him to come. Seeing him move in Angie's belly is so exciting. He is such a blessing already. Pictures of the nursery will be posted very shortly, so stay tuned.

As 2008 has come to an end, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have spent the last couple of days thinking about this year, and all that happened. Sure, there were a few things that Angie and I wish hadn't happened. However, I feel like there were enough good things to be thankful for this year. And most of all, I thank God for providing for us all year and being there for us all the time, as always. I feel like I grew personally this year through both the good and the bad in 2008, and I praise God for the opportunities He has given me to grow.

I don't know what will happen in 2009, other than the fact that our lives are going to change forever when our little guy comes along. I do plan to write down some goals for the year, and I hope that I can be writing again in this blog on December 31, 2009, detailing the successes of the year.

I plan to keep up with the blog throughout the year. Also, Angie and I now are each on Facebook, so check it out. We wish you all the best in 2009.

Our Christmas

2008-12-26T21:15:00.003-06:00

We had such a nice Christmas. We enjoyed time with our families, and got way more than what we expected. We can't thank our families enough for their generosity.

The winners of the "clever gifts for Andy" award are my father, who bought me a flannel shirt just like what Clark Griswold wears when he puts up the outdoor lights, and Aaron, who bought me an Albuquerque Isotopes t-shirt. If you didn't know, the Isotopes were named after a reference to an episode of "The Simpsons."

Once again, our families went overboard on the gift-giving, and we are thankful.

It's Christmas Eve, everybody!

2008-12-24T08:00:00.002-06:00

Here's our Christmas tree. We went with a lot of red bows this year. Angie did a great job envisioning what it should look like this year. This is a relatively new tree; we got it around the first week of January in a post-Christmas sale.

We wish you all safe travels tonight, and don't forget to leave out the cookies!

Christmas in Chicago

2008-12-23T20:42:00.005-06:00

Right before Christmas, 2005, we took an overnight trip to Chicago. This was our first trip as a couple. We did a whole lot in just a couple of days, including seeing the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza, taking a carriage ride, going to the top of the John Hancock Building, seeing Navy Pier, and just checking out the sights and sounds of Christmas in the Windy City. I'll always remember this trip. Here we are in front of the Christmas tree by the John Hancock Building.

We were watching the Bears game Monday night when they had an overhead view of the Chicago skyline, and it made us want to go there again some Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Christmas in the Caribbean

2008-12-20T14:06:00.007-06:00

We spent Christmas 2006 on a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon. I thought I'd put up these pictures, since most of you who are reading this are in the midst of an incredibly long stretch of lousy weather:

Here's the Christmas tree on our ship, the Explorer of the Seas. Our ship departed on Christmas Eve.

Before departure was the mandatory evacuation drill. Of course, we're not above being ridiculous during times like this.

Here we are just before our departure.

And finally, we took this picture on Christmas morning. It ended up being our Christmas card photo the following year.

We took a lot more pictures than this, of course. It was an incredible experience, and we can't wait to do it again.

Christmas in Nashville

2008-12-16T20:33:00.007-06:00

You know how last week, I said I'd have pictures throughout the week? Well, I got a little sidetracked with final exams. So, last week I showed a few pictures of our trip to Knoxville last December. Later on, we drove over to Nashville. We saw a lot of things and took a lot of pictures, but I'll focus this on the Christmas pictures.

We have the pictures of a nativity scene and the Christmas tree from the Opryland Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel, although very pricey. Plus, there was a bowl game that week, so just about every hotel room in the area was sold out. Hopefully, we can stay there someday. Just like Knoxville, we had an awesome time in Nashville, and it was a little hard to go home. Thanks for reading.

Christmas in Knoxville

2008-12-09T09:50:00.005-06:00

I plan on spending this week posting pictures of our past Christmases. Today, here are some photos from our trip to Knoxville, Tennessee last year. We went there the weekend after Christmas for a family wedding. Here were some pictures from our walk through downtown Knoxville.

Here is the nice downtown tree. The weather was really nice this weekend; sunny, highs in the 50s. It was a pleasant walk around town.

Here, Angie is standing next to the giant Christmas present. I love her so much that I gave her a gift that is almost as big as she is. No, I'm just kidding. We all know that I can't afford to give her such a gift.

And finally, here is Angie talking to Santa. Also, some idiot is taking pictures of her in the background. Santa was using his down time the weekend after the holiday to take tickets at the historic Tennessee Theatre. Angie is asking Santa some intriguing questions. Fun fact: Santa spends all year there, except for Christmas Eve.

We had a great time down there, and we later went on to Nashville. More pictures will follow. Bye for now.

P.S.: This isn't the first post involving Knoxville. Click here for an earlier post from Knoxville with an interesting picture.

The First Christmas Photo of 2008

2008-12-03T13:00:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas, everybody. Here's the first photo of the blog for this year. It was taken in front of the tree at our old church last Christmas.

Our Salukitown Trip, Part 3

2008-12-02T13:00:00.000-06:00

We ended our weekend trip to Carbondale on Sunday, November 2 by attending morning services at Vine Community Church, where Noble is now on staff. The service was great, and it's amazing what they are accomplishing through the Lord. Then, we got lunch at Moe's Southwest Grill, and headed over to Giant City State Park. The fall foliage was beautiful, and it's a nice park to visit no matter what the time of year.

Here are some final pictures from the weekend:

Here we are, with the Devil's Stand Table formation in the background.

Here are the girls standing on a rock.

And the Staley family. Angie took this picture, and boy, is it professional quality! She could have charged $100 for this picture.

It was a wonderful weekend, as you can tell by the last three posts. But there was more. In fact, the weekend ended with a bang!

On the way home, I was headed north on U.S. 51, just west of Ashley, when a deer ran out in front of the car. Going 60 MPH, I had no time to react, and ended up hitting it square in the front of the car. The collision caused nearly $6,000 in damage. We had to have the car towed to nearby Nashville, and we had to stay overnight at the Best Western in Nashville. We rented a car and returned on Monday. Quite a way to end the weekend.

In all seriousness, we thank God that we were not injured, and our little guy did just fine. It didn't take away from the fun we had over the weekend. We'd like to thank the Staley family for hosting us, and we look forward to coming back someday.

Our Salukitown Trip, Part 2

2008-12-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

After spending Halloween evening at the church with the Staleys, we had a great night in their house. Their house is really neat, especially during such a nice fall weekend. It's hard to put into words how nice the weather was this weekend. It was a level of beauty that simply breaks your heart.

Angie and I went on a nice walk around the neighborhood on Saturday morning, and then we all decided to head down to Paducah, Kentucky for the afternoon. Paducah has a nice riverfront, known as the lowertown, and it was a nice day to enjoy it.

Here, we are about to dig in to a tremendous sundae called the '37 Flood. This was at the Ice Cream Factory on Broadway. We were pretty lucky, as this was the last day they were open before closing for the winter.

Here we are next to the city's flood wall, decorated with images of the old days of Paducah as a port city.

A lot of people were out on the river that day, enjoying a nice fall Saturday.

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of the trees near the Staleys' house. They live in a nice little neighborhood off of Pleasant Hill Road. The first picture is the tree in front of their house, and the last one is the view from their balcony.

The final report from the weekend trip comes tomorrow. Plus, stay tuned for the surprise ending!

Our Salukitown Trip, Part 1

2008-11-30T13:10:00.000-06:00

Angie and I got to spend Halloween weekend in Carbondale, visiting with Noble and Lynnette. It was such a fun, jam-packed weekend, so I'm going to divide the pictures into more than one blog. On Friday night, Halloween, we arrived in time to see Noble and Lynnette's girls at the big Halloween party at Vine Community Church, where Noble is now on staff. You should have seen this party. You have this large church, and then the whole thing is decorated to look like a giant spaceship. Here are the pictures:

First, here are the pictures of the main sanctuary, which was converted to a space theme, and had six bounce houses. That's right, people, I said six bounce houses. Try to top that one, Sherry White.

The junior high room features a climbing wall, and you can see a zipline in the upper left corner.

The class also includes an old bus which was converted to a stage. Here, it was made into a spaceship.

Here's their youngest daughter, Anna, in a ball pit.

And finally, here are all three girls (L to R): Anna, Kate, and Emma. Emma and Kate were dressed as pink robots.

The evening was quite a production, and we really enjoyed it. Stay tuned this week for the remaining pictures of the weekend.

Thanksgiving Video

2008-11-29T21:21:00.003-06:00

My Aunt Renee shot some video of Thanksgiving dinner with my family. There were 18 of us total. It was quite a time. You can see just about everybody in this video, including the girls. However, the most you see of me is the back of my head. That's how I would have wanted it, though. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujxWnK7eVEk

TurBaconDucken

2008-11-27T11:02:00.004-06:00

My father-in-law sent me this link, where some people have taken Turducken and wrapped it in bacon. What an amazing concept.

http://bacontoday.com/turbaconducken-turducken-wrapped-in-bacon/

After reading this, I was even more amazed to find out that this is part of a website called Bacon Today. It's a website about all things bacon. Wow! I've surfed the internet for about ten years now, and never saw such a thing. I'm just amazed that it took so long for me to find a website about bacon. Check it out: http://www.bacontoday.com/

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

My Brother's on the YouTube!

2008-11-26T10:37:00.003-06:00

If you'd like 3 solid mintues of entertainment, check out my brother Aaron's video on YouTube. He's part of the New Acoustic Metal Experiment, a tuba quartet that plays heavy metal music (yes, you read that right). Here's their first video, where they play Thunderhorse by Dethklok from the animated series "Metalocalypse."

That said, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiz6n7Dlpk

Let me know what you think.

Another Big Birthday

2008-11-23T20:16:00.004-06:00

Angie's grandma celebrated her 90th birthday on November 13. We had a celebration over at Sherry's, and we all had a great time. It sure is fun to have her around. Here are some assorted pictures with her daughter, granddaughters, and great grandchildren.

Linda's 60th Birthday

2008-11-16T19:44:00.016-06:00

Back in October, we all celebrated the 60th birthday of my dear mother-in-law, Linda Austin. Here are some pictures from the festivities.

Here, Linda is having a moment with Brianna and Jonathan. Such a good grandma.

Speaking of grandmas, here's the mother of the birthday lady, Grandma B. She celebrated a big birthday herself recently. Look for more pictures in a future blog.

Angie was five months pregnant in this picture, but Bill was even more pregnant.

The ladies, plus Chase.

The Wii was a big hit. Here, Bill is playing Mario Kart with the grandchildren.

This made the adults jealous, so they played some Wii of their own. You can't tell, but Jeremy is using his home-field advantage to blatently whip us at Mario Kart.

More adults joined in. Jenny is clearly giving it her all. Most of the kids have left the room by this point, and we're starting to lose Zach. I don't think the kids are supposed to lose interest before the parents.

It seems funny that the guest of honor is only in one of the pictures, but that's Linda for you. A fun evening was had by all. And this is just the beginning; watch for many holiday gathering pictures in the coming months.

It's Been Awhile

2008-11-13T16:47:00.002-06:00

Sorry that I haven't put anything new on this site for the past two weeks. I guess life just gets in the way. I hope to have some new stuff up soon, though.

Cheers,
Andy

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T10:54:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween, everyone. Here are some pictures from our niece and nephews from last year. Have a fun and safe holiday. And thanks for your support for the first month of the blog.

"Little Guy" Update

2008-10-23T17:03:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest: Angie had a checkup on Tuesday and the "little guy" is developing just fine. Thanks for the prayers and the good words. We'll tell you more as we find it out over the next four months.

A Cat Fix

2008-10-22T14:11:00.008-05:00

Dear blogging community,

Here is your cat fix for the day. It's a picture of our youngest cat, Striker, in the closet.

Isn't that nice?

And now, I will answer some of the more intriguing questions regarding this post:

1) Yes, when I said "youngest," I implied that we have more than one cat. In fact, we have two. Our oldest cat is named Daphne. But we don't have enough cats to have the "crazy cat lady" title.

2) We prefer Scott toilet paper and Sparkle brand paper towels.

3) Those are Christmas towels above Striker. They have to go somewhere the other 11 months of the year, don't they?

4) The stack of towels that Striker is laying on is what we call the "dog towels." In other words, we don't use them for ourselves, but for wiping off the dogs' paws when they come in and it's wet outside. So we weren't worried about Striker being on those towels.

5) Yes, we also have dogs. And you may have noticed the apostrophe is after the letter "s" in "dogs," implying that we have more than one dog. Yes, we have two dogs, Dash and Maggie. But we don't have enough dogs to have the "crazy dog lady" title.

6) Speaking of "crazy cat lady," while in Seattle two summers ago, we were in a store that had a "crazy cat lady" action figure. Here's a picture:

7) No, we didn't just go to Seattle to take pictures of bizarre toys. We were killing time before going on the Underground Tour.

8) Yes, I will have pictures of the other pets in future posts.

9) Thanks, and you have a great day, too. Good bye.

The Beer Tasting

2008-10-19T16:04:00.006-05:00

Last fall, our family had its annual beer tasting. We've done this a few times now. My dad always runs the show, and the format changes each year. I recently came across my notes from last year's event, and I thought I'd share them with you.

Last year, there were 13 beers. With each beer, we were told the type of beer, and which percent of online voters liked the beer on a popular beer website. At the end, we had to guess how many were imports, which one was my dad's favorite, and the capital of Bolivia. (We do not question why this needed to be known.) In the end, we were told the exact names of the beers. Here's how it went, and the comments I made.

Beer #1:
-Type: Kolsch Ale, originated in Koln, Germany
-Approval Rating: 89%
-My Comments: Nice
-And the beer is...Goose Island

Beer #2:
-Type: American All-Malt Lager, deeper malt flavor, bitterness
-Approval Rating: 97%
-My Comments: Still good
-And the beer is...Bells Lager

Beer #3:
-Type: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (ESB) Ale, low carbonation
-Approval Rating: 96%
-My Comments: Me likey!
-And the beer is...Left-Hand Brewery

Beer #4:
-Type: Spiced Beer (Vanilla Porter) Ale, can be almost anything
-Approval Rating: 86%
-My Comments: Sweet, but not too bad
-And the beer is...Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Beer #5:
-Type: American Porter Ale, malty, citrusy hops
-Approval Rating: 99%
-My Comments: Count me in the 1% (who don't like it), if you know what I mean
-And the beer is...Sierra Nevada

Beer #6:
-Type: Witbier
-Approval Rating: 94%
-My Comments: Not too bad, not too good
-And the beer is...Avery White Rascal

Beer #7:
-Type: American Amber Ale, balanced with toasted malt taste
-Approval Rating: 90%
-My Comments: Okay
-And the beer is...Black Dog Ale

Beer #8:
-Type: English Brown Ale, malty, sweet, low hops presence
-Approval Rating: 93%
-My Comments: I don't know how to feel
-And the beer is...Wolliver's Brown Ale

Beer #9:
-Type: Altbier Ale, smooth, balanced between hops and malt
-Approval Rating: 93%
-My Comments: Weirdy weird weird
-And the beer is...Otter Creek

Beer #10:
-Type: Rye Beer, made with rye, some bitterness
-Approval Rating: 99%
-My Comments: Really bad, I mean honestly, people!
-And the beer is...Red's Rye

Beer #11:
-Type: Oatmeal Stout Ale, oats added to mash for smoothness
-Approval Rating: 95%
-My Comments: A new low
-And the beer is...Goose Island

Beer #12:
-Type: Irish Dry Stout Ale, lower carbonation
-Approval Rating: 95%
-My Comments: Passable
-And the beer is...Guinness Extra Stout

Beer #13:
-Type: Schwarzbier Lager, smooth, tastes light, looks dark
-Approval Rating: 98%
-My Comments: I think it's okay; Really, when you think about it, it could be worse. But overall, in the grand scheme of things, what is beer anyway?
-And the beer is...Sam Adams Black Large

Now, on to the final questions.

How many imports?
I guessed 8. It turns out there was only one import.

Which is Steve's favorite?
I guessed #7, the Black Dog Ale. I can't remember the correct answer.

What is the capital of Bolivia?
My guess was "Olivia." Wow, I'm just a regular Bob Hope. Of course, I was wrong. There were two correct answers: Sucre and La Paz. Bill Austin got this one correctly, mainly by sending a text message to his son to look it up. This is why Bill is a top-notch businessman.

There were many awards in the end, although none as memorable as those given during the first beer tasting. In the first go-round, somebody who shall remain nameless received an award for giving a high rating to Natural Light (these are blind taste tests, after all), and my grandmother won an award for giving a high rating to a strong Guinness.

We learned a lot, we enjoyed each other's company, and we found out just how strange America's taste in beer is. Honestly, look at how many beers had an almost unanimous approval rating that turned out to be terrible. And that's how it goes, folks.

Who Needs Leaders? Be a Follower!

2008-10-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Are you enjoying this blog?

I can't hear you! I said, are you enjoying this blog?

Good. Well, if you enjoy it, why not follow it. On your right is a link where you can sign up to be a follower of The Hynds Quarters. If you're proud to be a supporter of The Hynds Quarters, than you can choose to follow publicly. If you'd rather keep your allegiance private, than you can do so privately. Either way, it's an easy way to keep up, and you can know when something has been updated.

There's no better way to keep up with the Joneses (or in this case, the Hynds, but if you want to keep up with the Joneses, be my guest).

I'm Not a Criminal After All

2008-10-16T14:25:00.000-05:00

If you tried to access this blog last week, you received a message that this has been suspected to be a "spam blog." It turns out Blogger's automatic spam detection software thought that this blog was just being used for spam. Nothing's perfect, so they sent me an e-mail, and I e-mailed back. A few days later, after some programmers looked at it, it turned out not to be a spam blog after all. Maybe it was the name of the blog, "The Hynds Quarters," that gave it away.

In all seriousness, I'm glad that Blogger is doing this, since it frees up bandwidth for us legit users. And, really, it was quite fun to wonder what you all thought when you opened it up last week. What an impressive first week to the blog.

Rest assured that I will never use this blog to offer low mortgage rates, get-rich-quick schemes, or meeting up with your former classmates. And you can take that to the bank!

Spoon River

2008-10-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, Angie and I went with the family to the annual Spoon River festival. This festival takes place in Fulton County and includes a lot of crafts, food, and scenery. Here, in picture form, are some highlights of the weekend:

Here are Angie and I in front of the river in Bernadotte.

A few minutes later, our nephew Caleb wanted to be in the picture. About five minutes earlier, Caleb did not want to be in the picture with his own family. This proves once again that there is nothing more steady and predictable than a four-year-old boy.

And here's our other nephew Chase playing in the leaves.

We had a great time. We saw the nice fall colors, we purchased a nice outfit for "Future Hynds," we ate some of the best caramel apple slices around, and we had a nice cookout with the family that evening.

Stay tuned to The Hynds Quarters. There are more fall pictures to come.

Tie Me Up, Mr. Metal Cowboy

2008-10-04T17:32:00.001-05:00

Just for funsies, here I am pretending to be lassoed in by a statue of a guy on a horse in Knoxville, TN last December. Expect more pictures like this on this new blog - it's what we do.

Welcome

2008-10-01T11:23:00.001-05:00

Welcome to The Hynds Quarters - a new blog about the goings on in the Hynds family. I hope to use this to post pictures and videos, and provide updates of the non-stop action that is our daily lives.

It's worth noting that it was three years ago today, October 1, 2005, when Angie and I went on our first date. So it's a pretty cool day to start this.

Funny thing - some of you might remember my last blog on Xanga (September 2005-January 2007). When I started that blog, most of my postings were about the White Sox, because they were about to win the division and ultimately win the World Series. And today, I happen to be posting this the day after the Sox beat the Twins in a tiebreaker game to win the division. Could another World Series title follow? We'll find out.

To end the first post, here's a picture of our trip to Arthur last fall, where we posed with the scarecrows.

Happy blogging, everybody!