The Minton Family.com

Evidently, Dale is visiting Grandma Nita and has commandeered her new iPhone to send video messages to Jada. Jada is using her new iPod Touch to return the favor. I was lucky enough to get ahold of the first videos each way. Check them out for a smile.

Alas, it is time to retire the original Minton Family Website Gallery. No pictures have been uploaded to the gallery for several years now. No photos have been lost, all have made their way to new hosts. For nostalgic reasons, I’ll post pictures of the old website and gallery below.

Old Minton Family Website

Old Minton Family Website Gallery

Like that headline? It’s December 26, 2011, so the Christmas festivities (chaotic activities) are on a downward slope. One of the stocking stuffers the kids received was a bottle of Ski. It’s a citrus style drink similar to Sprite or Mellow Yellow that I’ve never understood the big deal about, but Jackie’s family goes nuts over it. In any case, our kids got them from Santa and given the bottle is shaped about like a beer bottle, I guess that was enough to convince Levi. Jackie was in the kitchen when Levi walked in carrying his bottle of Ski and asked “Mom, will you open my beer?”. We both cracked up. I don’t drink (never have) and Jackie drinks very rarely, so we’re not even entirely sure how he made the connection. The request was funny nonetheless.

As is typical, amongst the splattering of smaller gifts, the kids each got big gifts from Santa this year as well. The boys got Nintendo DSi’s and the girls scored iPod Touches. They had been asking for cell phones for months, but given their ages; 8 & 9, a monthly bill for calling and texting the one or two people they’d talk to didn’t seem like a good idea (to Santa as well it would seem).

The boys also got a race track that Jonah punished within a couple of hours, a few DSi games, a couple of XBox games, and several trucks, both remote control and not. They’ve bounced around from toy to toy, not spending a lot of time with any given one, but Levi has played the DSi quite a bit.

The girls however, seem to love their touches. Even though they’ve had access to Jackie’s old iPhone 3G which worked like a touch for over a year now. I set them up with their own Apple accounts so they could learn to manage money a little bit and so far…we all love it. They each got $15 iTunes gift cards, and quickly learned that even .99 apps have tax applied, which makes them cost a tad over a dollar. I pointed Jada toward a better photo app than the one that comes with the Touch and her first question was “Is it free?”. I said “No.”, and she said “Then I don’t want it!”. It’s funny to hear her change her tune when she has a finite amount of money to spend and knows the supply is no longer unlimited (Daddy’s money).

Madelyn (next door) also got a Touch for Christmas, so they’ve been texting and calling each other quite a bit. The girls spent the night at Madelyn’s house last night and Jill (Madelyn’s Mom) took them out to buy cases for the Touches this morning. They seem to really enjoy the Touch and everything they can do with it. I think given their own accounts to buy things with, they feel a little freedom..and they needed that.

Jackie got several vegan cookbooks and I got some photography stuff (Photoshop CS5, a photography book, lens cleaning pen, etc.) which seems to be my new love since needing the latest and greatest gaming gear is no longer a requirement given the slow-down in gaming (Unreal Tournament) time. Levi has been playing UT2004 on the computer though, which he seems to really like (and I of course love watching him play a game I enjoyed so much).

I got some really good pictures, both at Mom’s and at our house. So far…still lovin’ the new camera hobby. I’m not as good as I want to be yet, but I’m definitely getting better.

It’s that time again, well, ok, it’s a little after that time. School pictures have been available for awhile now, but basketball pictures haven’t been! Jonah and Levi just got their basketball pictures this morning, so those aren’t late at all! In any case, here are their ugly mugs, and if you want to see some half way decent pictures, don’t hesitate to look here.

Jada Fourth Grade 2011

Lana Third Grade 2011

Levi Kindergarten 2011

Jonah Preschool 2011

Jada Basketball 2011

Levi and Jonah Basketball 2011

Levi and Jonah Basketball Team 2011

Levi and Jonah Basketball Team Silly 2011

Jada Basketball Team 2011

Jada Basketball Team Silly 2011

Levi T-Ball 2011

Levi T-Ball Team 2011

Within the last week or so, Levi (who is currently 5) started playing Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004). This has me fairly excited, as it was one of my all-time favorite games. I used to play it competitively in a clan called F8 just before he was born. I would love it if one or more of the kids latched on to the game, and so far, it seems like he has.

Jackie sent me a text message this morning saying he got ready for school really quickly so he’d have time to play. Unfortunately, while he was playing the PC locked up and he wasn’t overly happy about it. I’m guessing I’ll be taking a look at that later this evening.

He does seem to enjoy the game though, and he moves pretty well for someone his age who has only been playing a few days. I took a little video of him playing and have posted it below.

Jada started playing ball last year at the Y in a mixed league with both boys and girls. Being totally new to ball, and playing with boys; who tend to be more aggressive, she did pretty good, but just lacked the mindset that it’s ok to get a little aggressive while playing. This year however, she is playing at The Gym in an all girls league and faring much better.

Most of the teams have been playing together for a few years already. Jada’s team is made up of girls that mostly just started playing and it shows. They had to learn everything from passing to shooting. Some not knowing what offense and defense were puts it into perspective. Jada had a leg up on them in these regards. She and one other girl have shown to be the most skilled players on the team. With that many weak links though, wins are tough to come by.

On Friday night though, they got their taste of victory. The final score was 16 to 8 with Jada having made one of the baskets. She’s the shortest girl on the team, but she’s also the fastest. Once she understands her role as a point guard, I think she’ll do very well. She’s very intelligent and listens extremely well. She just has to learn the game, how to see the floor, and how to command her team. If she sticks with the game, she’ll have a lot of fun to look forward to.