The Minton Family.com

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!

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

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.

About two or three years ago, we purchased an iRobot Roomba. It’s a robotic vacuum cleaner able to navigate a room, bouncing off of obstacles and intelligent enough not to fall down stairs. While it won’t replace your big upright powerful vacuum, it will do light vacuuming work so you don’t have to.

When we got Roomba, Levi was 2yrs old or so. It didn’t take long for Roomba to become his pet. He would cry if he didn’t get to “play” with Roomba. He’d follow Roomba around, run from him, put small toys on top of him, you name it. Roomba was Levi’s.

For whatever reason, Roomba was put in the basement and left there for a couple of years. While visiting Aunt Tracey over the Thanksgiving holiday, Levi saw her Roomba and began asking questions…not about where his was, but about what hers was. He didn’t remember Roomba. Aunt Tracey turned him loose for a few minutes, but as the noise grew annoying, she shut him off.

I saw ours in the basement a couple of nights ago and decided to charge it for Levi to see again. Tonight, when I arrived home from work, I went downstairs and pointed Roomba out to Levi. That was all it took. He was ready to have his friend back!

There was only a few minutes before they all left for swim class, but that was long enough for Levi to introduce Jonah to Roomba. I don’t think either boy was ready to leave Roomba behind when they left for the Y, but they did eventually get out the door. Somehow though, I suspect Roomba will get some attention over the following days.

Based on this conversation, I believe the boys were playing hide-and-seek….

Levi: Jonah,  count to 90.

Jonah: Okay…1, 2, 3….Levi, pick a different number.

Levi: 80

Me: Levi, Jonah can’t count that high.

Levi: How about 21?

Jonah: How about 1? 1, Ready or not here I come!

We have GOT to start posting stories more often! So much goes on, so many cute things get said..if you don’t post quickly, you forget things!

So, what has happened lately? Well, Levi beat Lana in arm wrestling awhile back. That wasn’t expected for a couple more years, especially by Lana!

We walked into K-Mart the other day and the first words out of Jonah’s mouth were “I smell toys Dad.”. That kid is good.

Levi told me last night when I got ready to shave his head that he wanted hair like Ethan’s. Evidently, Ethan’s hair angles up at the front by using mousse. So, we ended up not shaving his head and put a little mousse in it instead. Jackie ended up calling someone to give him a haircut, because it still needs trimmed!

We’re going to go to Mimi (Pam) and Uncle Mike’s house to get family pictures done during the Thanksgiving holiday. Mike is doing some photography work on the side and the results are good!

I just got back from a work trip to Boston. I don’t travel for work much, but it’s looking like I may be starting. Not sure yet if that’s good or bad!

The house still isn’t on the market. We had it inspected, and that came out good. Now we just need to bite the bullet and get it listed I suppose.

I got a new DSLR camera recently; a Canon EOS 60D. Below are some of my favorite images so far.

Jada, Lana & Levi started school yesterday!  I know I was more excited than they were.

I went in to wake them up and they…got up! The girls made their beds, got dressed and brushed their hair without me telling them to!!!  They were all perfect angels.

At 8 we walked over to the school for the Open House, donuts, and a little play time before school started.  I had the chance to talk to the teachers, which was really nice.

Levi didn’t get upset when I told him I was leaving and he had a smile on his face when I picked him up after school.  Jada was the only one with homework and she wasn’t really happy about it!

Levi is in Kindergarten and his teacher is Mrs. Hardy.  This is her last year of teaching as she will retire at the end of the year.

Lana is in 3rd grade and she has two teachers.  Mrs. Freer (Ms. Deidre) is her homeroom teacher, but she also spends half of her day with Mrs. Herring.

Jada is in 4th grade and her teacher is Mrs. Shuster.

After Jonah starts school in a few weeks, I will probably be volunteering at Jane Addams…unless I get a job!

A couple of days ago Levi had me take the training wheels off his bike. As of today, you’d think he’s been without them for months. He starts, stops, and rides like any other biker out there. It’s crazy how fast he picked up on it.

Yesterday, we were playing ball and I had he and Jonah getting rebounds. Jonah started crying because Levi was getting all of them. Out of the blue, Levi says “Oh man, I missed it, get it Jonah!”. It brought a pretty big smile to my face to see him big brothering Jonah like that. It was a nice change from the usual bickering that goes on between the four of them.