The Minton Family.com

It’s hard to believe it can get any crazier with 4 little ones, but it’s about to. We decided to put our house on the market a week or so ago, and after two showings, we got an offer that was good enough we didn’t want to pass it up. We accepted, but hadn’t found anything we wanted to buy yet. They initially wanted us to be out in 4 weeks, but we got them to buy off on 6. We’re not sure yet what we’re going to do. Jackie likes Pleasant Plains the best, followed by Rochester or Sherman. I like Rochester the best, followed by Pleasant Plains. She’s school district drive, and I’m internet driven.

She’s pretty stressed right now. I think I will be as the deadline to be out draws nearer, but right now, I’m thinking 6 week is plenty of time to find something. Hopefully I’m right!

Bill was watching a science show the other night that talked about black holes.  Levi got pretty interested in it.  The next night he had the iPad in hand and pulled up the show “How the Universe Works” on Netflix.  He kept asking me questions and I kept sending him to Bill.  I told him, “your dad loves to talk about that stuff, go find him”.  And he did.

The next night..Levi and Jonah are on the couch with the iPad. Levi-”Jonah, I want to teach you about black holes.” Jonah-”Nooooooo”…Levi proceeds to get on Netflix and begin the show he was watching last night about black holes.  Then he starts explaining things to Jonah while they watched it!

It’s funny because he has all kinds of sound effects that go with his explanations!  I think Bill sees a future theoretical physicist in the making!

Lana has been completely fascinated with mermaids for the past couple of years.  She used to watch Aquamarine a lot and then became enthralled with a tv show called H2O.  On her Christmas list, she requested a mermaid tail that looks real!

The other night she found a video on YouTube that said if you put a sea shell in a glass of water, add a little sand, salt and a piece of your hair then you will turn into a mermaid! I thought I was going to be sick when she took a drink of her potion…LOL.

Needless to say, my baby girl is NOT a mermaid. She is however, a little disappointed.

Jada’s basketball season is officially over. Tonight was her last game and they went out with a bang. As you can tell from the pictures below, she was playing hard at both ends of the court. I had a great time cheering her on with the other parents. Hopefully she’ll get to play on another team and continue the successes and improvements!

Jada Shooting

Jada Boxing Out

Final Score

We had a few friends over last night to celebrate New Years Eve 2011. Jonah didn’t quite make it to midnight but the other three did. Maybe he’ll hang on next year.

The girls had a buddy over and the trio were wild enough they could have gone on for a few more hours. Levi however was just about toast. To top things off, I don’t think the ball drop was any more exciting for him than it historically has been for me based on the photo below.

Jada Lana Gillian

Levi

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.