The Minton Family.com

My poor daughters have no pajamas!  Sad, but true…they sleep in old shorts and a tank top, or sweats!  Last week Lana had a pajama party at school and we had to call Madelyn (the little girl next door) and borrow a pair of winter pjs.  Today, Jada’s class is doing a project with the Polar Express and had to wear their pjs, so we called Madelyn again!  I sure hope Santa brings these neglected girls some jammies!

Bill’s work Christmas party was on Saturday.  We had a nice time visiting with people. Bill looked really nice in his burgundy shirt…not a white shirt this time!!!!!

The boys have been enjoying the myriad of Christmas shows on TV.  I just had to turn it off and send them to their room to play!  I did enjoy rockying with them while we watched Special Agent Oso, though!  Jonah pulled my head down and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said “I love you, Mom”…..awww…how sweet!!!!  I hope he will still do that in 15 years!

As always, it is non-stop action around here!  We just got back from Thanksgiving in Marion.  As always, it was great spending time with family.

Lana spent the entire weekend with ear pain. She was on an anti-biotic for a sinus infection, but she actually had an abscess in her ear canal.  So, she is now on a different kind of medication.  On another note, she is doing okay in school, but having some difficulty with her math and punctuation.  We try and work on the math every night, along with her reading.

Jada is going well in school.  Her teacher has started to give her more challenging work to keep her from getting bored.  She received recognition at school for a writing assignment.  The top items on her Christmas list are 1. a cell phone and 2. a real dog…poor girl is going to be disappointed!

The boys had preschool today.  When we walked into Levi’s class, he informed the teacher that he looked really cute with his hat and gloves on today!  She got the biggest kick out of his expression when he told her!

Jonah is pretty well potty trained.  He has some issues with going #2 on the toilet.  He starts to go in his pants and then finishes on the toilet.  Even though he isn’t totally there yet, he’s got a great start!  I am SO excited…no more diapers!!!

The boys have their Christmas program on December 20th.  I’m sure it will be cute!  Jonah keeps singing “Mary rode a donkey”  over and over…I hope he sings it when he is supposed to!

The Christmas tree is up with the decorations centrally located thanks to my little helpers!  The other holiday nick-nacks are out too, but the boys keep relocating them.  Most of the shopping is done (I hope), but only a couple of things have been wrapped!  Bill’s work Christmas party is on Saturday.  I am looking forward to a night out.  I know a lot of the people he works with and/or their spouses, so it will be a good time.  We are using a new babysitter, so hopefully the kids won’t scare her off and we can use her again!!!

To top it all off, Levi has now figured out how to pop his tongue like his father. Billy is just tickled pink about that, that his “big boy” was the first to learn to do it, but the rest of us? Not so much!

I’ve put in my application for 2 teaching positions.  Hopefully, I will get one of them.  Although, if I do, the kids will be in for a shock.  They have gotten used to sleeping until 7:30 in the morning, and so have I

Our big boy is three today. We celebrated his birthday with presents and cake yesterday, where he got his first bike. He wasn’t overly interested in it, but he sure loved the truck Grammy got him.

About 465 pictures have been uploaded for your viewing pleasure, many dating back to our visit at David’s (Jackie’s brother) house. Be sure to check them out.

For Lana’s 7th birthday, she wanted to visit the American Girl Store.  So, over Labor Day weekend, we went to visit Grandpa and Gram in Schaumburg.  We got in around 9 on Friday night and the kids played will all of the fun toys that Grandpa and Gram have until very late!  The next day, we all took a train ride into the Windy City.  Then, we got to ride in a “taxi car”, as Jonah likes to call it!  The American Girl Store lived up to the girls’ expectations.  With their money that had been saved from birthdays and allowance, Lana bought a new doll, which she named Dakota, and Jada bought an outfit and glasses for her dolls.  Gram also bought them each and outfit for their dolls and got the dolls’ hair fixed.  Josefina REALLY needed a new do!  On Sunday, we did a little shopping and went to the park…it was a perfect day!  We headed home on Monday and stopped by to see Jennifer & Patrick’s new baby, Derek.  All of the kids were begging to hold him (he’s only 8 days old) and didn’t want to give him up when their turn was over!

Levi & Jonah started school at St. John’s Lutheran Preschool today.  They were very excited to get into the van and go!  We hung up backpacks and went to Jonah’s room first.  He gave me a kiss and was on his way.  Then it was Levi’s turn.  He was more timid when it was time for me to go.  After I signed him in, I realized that I hadn’t signed Jonah in and had to go back to his room.  When I got there, he was standing alone looking at the firetruck that someone else was playing with…when he saw me, he said he wanted to go home and got very clingy.  Finally, the teacher took him and redirected him to the toys.  After school, they both said that they had a good time, and Levi had a good note home.  He did admit that he cried because he missed me

The girls are back in school..WOOHOO!  They both got their preferred teachers and are so far doing great!  I took popsicles to Lana’s class yesterday to celebrate her birthday since she has a summer birthday and can’t bring in treats then.

Having the boys at home during the day has been…well, interesting. We have spent some time outside when the weather has been nice, including a trip to the park.  Right now, Levi is taking his turn on the iPad while Jonah colors and I’m making lunch.

I took the boys to meet their teachers this morning.  They were both surprisingly clingy for the first little bit, but then neither wanted to leave!  They will officially start next Wednesday!

We are heading to Grandpa and Gram’s in Schaumburg for Labor Day weekend.  The girls are looking forward to the much awaited trip to the American Girl Store in Chicago and getting to visit with Grandpa and Gram!

We had a great time in KY the first part of August.  Jada and Dale spent most of their time in the pool!  Levi got brave enough to let go of the side of the pool and doggie paddle around (his swimsuit has a floating part to it).  Jonah loved playing with all of Dale’s cars!

Jackie went out of town for the weekend to visit her cousins and after going to the park, walking through the woods, and some Baskin Robbins ice cream, I decided to take the kids to see a movie; Toy Story 3. This was the first time in the theater for both boys. They did really well, even Jonah (still 2). When we walked in, Levi’s first words were “That TV is huge!”. It was pretty funny. At the end of the show, the credits hadn’t yet started, but most adults knew the movie was over, and everyone in the theater was quiet when out of the blue Jonah hollers “It’s over!”.

They seemed to have a great time. Levi wanted to take the popcorn home and to “tell them thanks”. I told him the $60+ we spent was thanks enough.

Taking the boys to daycare often means keeping them talking so they aren’t fighting. This morning on the way to daycare, I mentioned that one of the stoplights was out because of last night’s storm. Jonah then yelled out the color of the next stoplight he saw. I pointed toward the area of trees next to the road and asked him “What color are those trees Jonah?” to which he replied “Green!”. “Good job!” I said. “What color is the grass?” I asked. “Green!” he replied emphatically.

About that time Levi piped up and said “Trees aren’t green.”. Wondering how detailed he’d thought about it, I asked “What do you mean Levi?”. “Trees are brown, the leaves are green.” he replied.

I thought that was pretty observant for a 3yr old.

So much has been happening lately…

1. We are having no luck getting people to even look at our house, and there have been no offers.

2.  The contingent offer on the Summerwood house expires the 7th which is probably good because

3. I don’t have a job for next year…yet

4.  The girls are out of school for the summer!  They are spending this week at Grammy’s.  From all of the pictures and emails we have gotten from them, I’m guessing that they aren’t going to want to come home tomorrow!  Grammy is bringing them home tomorrow and then heading back to Marion on Sunday. The boys have asked about the girls a lot.  On the way to Janet’s this morning Levi said “I’m sad”.  When I asked him why he was sad, he told me that he misses Jada and Lana.

5. The boys love mud.  I know, big surprise, right?!  We have had a lot of rain lately and there is a mud puddle/pit that just doesn’t want to dry up.  Every day the boys have their cars going through it.  I bought them sandals last weekend and they have been a godsend..it is so much easier to wash those every night than it was the gym shoes!

6.  We are trying to plan some things for the summer.  Lana wants to go to Chicago for her birthday.  We are also trying to coordinate a trip to Holiday World with my brother and his family.  And, we are planning a weekend at their house in August.

7.  Bill got an iPad as a late birthday gift….it has become another appendage…

8. Levi turns 4 in a few weeks….time sure does fly!

Levi – On the way to the babysitter this morning, Levi was singing, but not your typical nursery school song…he was singing “Cheer Up Sleepy Jean, Oh What Can It Mean” – Daydream Believer by The Monkees. Think the girls watch that a little too often?

Jonah – he’s been really fussy lately, terrible two’s I think, but he did let us know he likes to watching “Tigger and Poop”.

Lana – she’s lost a 2nd tooth, but it’s ok, she gained a boyfriend. A teacher emailed Jackie, evidently Lana isn’t too fond of the boy, but he’s got quite the crush on her.

Levi – We had a guy over working on our bathroom floor for a couple of days. Levi went in to check on him and let him know he’d come check on him later. What was funny was that he made him confirm receipt of that by saying “got it”. Something Daddy makes Levi say when he’s in trouble to make sure he knows what to/not to do.

Jada – Well, just don’t talk to her in the morning unless she talks first…otherwise, you get to deal w/the wrath of Jackie…I mean Jada. Heh

Levi – I have two monitors (beside one another) hooked to my PC. Before heading upstairs, I turned them off. Levi asked me why I closed the computer’s eyes.

We’ve been pretty busy lately, so no pictures or videos uploaded. We’re trying to get the house ready to put on the market. We’ve painted the living room, dining, room, part of the kitch, the foyer, the utility room, and part or all of 3 rooms in the basement. We put trim up in the basement, cleaned out a couple of the storage areas, and have boxed up a ton of stuff. We’ve also changed out all of the outlets for the 3 prong kind, replaced a switch, and had the bathroom floor redone (we didn’t do that part). We have some things to give away (old treadmill, two old workout benches, a stepper, etc.), but still have way too much if you ask me.

“Gas Day”, days where I get gas, have turned into “Gas and Doughnut Day”. I like the kids to have little things to look forward to, little surprises and such, and the last couple of times I’ve stopped to get gas on the way to work, I’ve gone in and gotten the boys doughnuts. They of course love that, and while I don’t get myself any, I do love hearing how excited they are all the way to daycare over something as simple as doughnuts.

Levi and Jonah have been saying more and more funny things lately. I can’t remember them all, but this morning, Levi was singing “Cars! Cars!” followed by what I assume to be the rest of the song, but I couldn’t understand it. After 4 times in, Jonah begins saying “Lebi, ‘ats noying”. I think that’s hilarious.

Last night, Jackie was correcting Levi and the way he says certain letters. As he came walking over to her, she told him to say something and shaking his hand left & right, he said “I can say it, don’t worry about it.”. We were cracking up.