Kevin Minnis

Man, talk about a busy time. Where to start. I’ve been busy painting the house the past three weeks or so. Kim and I are both glad that it’s almost done. It’s been a challenge for Kim to take care of the kids while I’m out trying to get the painting done. We’re almost done as we only have the back deck area to paint.

A lot has been going on with Josie too. Josie got baptized on May 27th with her Grandpa and Grandma’s and Aunt Chris and Kacie watching along. She had surgery on a blocked tear duct on June 6th. It went very well and by the next day we could tell a difference already. It was nerve racking none-the-less, but everything turned out okay. Josie now has 3 teeth and is working on her fourth. They haven’t been too difficult which is nice.

Yesterday Josie turned one. I took the day off of work so that I could be with her and Jayden and Kim. We went to the Jordan Creek area to get Josie’s 1 year photos and then went and hung out at the Jordan Creek Mall for a bit. The kids played in the play area and Josie got to make a teddy bear. After coming home we went to Big Creek State Park to play in the water and beach.

We’ve had fun building a sandbox for the kids. I think Josie was more interested in it at first, but now, they both seem to like it. It helps when Jayden’s friends come over and play in it too.

 Oh, and we reverted back to a minivan. We were so cramped in our Pontiac Vibe so we traded for a Chrysler Town & Country.

So, all in all we’ve had a very busy month. Hopefully the summer will get a little quieter, which I’m sure it will once the house is done being painted.

Let’s see…where to start. We’ve been pretty busy despite the coldness outside. Kim’s with Josie at the Doctor’s office as I write this. Jayden fell asleep on the couch while watching Sesame Street. It all started last Wednesday. Jayden came down with a fever and then it turned into coughing. We called the doctor’s office and they said to bring him in on Friday if his fever didn’t go down. It did go away on Friday, but then it came back yesterday. His coughing has been getting somewhat better, but he still looks like he’s going to cough a lung up when he coughs. So, I think Josie got the same thing as Jayden. I’ll find out when Kim gets back. She coughs like a dog and has a high fever (103.3). Nothing like having Josie rip your heart out when she can hardly breath. Luckily she could get an appointment this morning. Jayden goes in for his appointment at 1:00 today as he’s still running a fever. That’s one of the annoying things of having sick kids on the weekend. You can’t visit the doctor’s office.

Aside from the kids being sick, we painted our living room a couple of weeks ago. We were sick of the poorly painted yellow that the old owners had. Funny it took us about 4 years to get it painted.

Update: Well, it appears that Josie has croup and Jayden has ear infection. At least Jayden already had it once so now we know what to do with Josie. Josie seems to be doing better after they gave her a steroid shot. Jayden’s at least eating some cereal now.

So here it is….2007. We had a great Christmas and New Years. Glad it’s over so that we can get Jayden and Josie back on to their schedules. Kevin took the week off after Christmas and we got to spend time together. It was a much needed break. Jayden and Josie received lots of fun things for Christmas. They haven’t worn anything out yet. We are working on organizing the play room. With two kids they sure accumulate a lot of stuff. The next step is to paint!

Speaking of painting and remodeling….after tonight, we can officially say we are DONE WITH THE WINDOWS!! We have been working on them since September, yes, September. What a pain! But after all the hard work that Kevin and others put into it, I can say they look rather nice. Next project please!

Jayden is getting bigger and turning into a little man. He’s so fun and talks all the time. (Don’t know where he gets that from) He’s our “little parrot”. He’s been a regular two year old out and about at stores lately. He tells us “I’m just looking.” Annoying, but cute. So then we have to drag him on and he still tells us, “I’m just looking.” Last night, while Kevin was working on Josie’s window, Jayden informed us that he needed his “own toolbox.” He’s Daddy’s little shadow and has to help with everything! We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Josie, Josie, Josie. Let’s just say, we love her to death. She’s growing like a weed. She still HATES her car seat. She LOVES to watch her brother and try and get her hands on him. She is sitting up. She loves to smile, especially at her Daddy. She loves bath time. She’s almost off her pacifier (thank God). And she’s still a lot of maintenance.

Jayden and Josie both had new years resolutions. Jayden’s is to get off the sippy cup, which he doesn’t have very often anyway. And also to hopefully potty train by summer. What a chore! Josie’s resolution is to get rid of the pacifier (it’s a love/hate relationship). And to crawl/walk before she’s one. At this rate, we hope she’s crawling.

Kevin and I have lots of resolutions, but we’ll see how many of them get taken care of. We’d both like to start working out again. We sure miss the exercise. And some days I feel like I’m paying for it. Have to work off these two kids!! We’d like to get more done on the house. Take a couple weekend getaways. And just be a healthy and fun family.

We also have been giving the church we had been going to another chance. It’s hard to go back and face what you don’t want to face, but we somewhat like it there and don’t want to have to change. We have put the past behind us, but we have to get over the hump and feel comfortable again. This seems like it’s taking awhile. Thankfully we have some friends that have been there with us. It’s amazing how some things can affect a person, but in the end, we think things will be okay. We won’t get back what we lost, but hopefully we can start anew.

Finally, we’re done painting the front of the house. I, with the help of Tony and Martin, got both windows replaced. What a relief to have the job done. The windows work really well in sealing the cold out and keeping the sun from baking the bedrooms. I still have to do the trim work on the inside, but at least I don’t have to worry about getting another warm day to get the job done. The staging is all put a way so I don’t have to look at it any more. Sad to think that the staging was up in some form in front of our house since July.

Jayden has been busy being a big brother. He does pretty good with Josie, but at his age, just doesn’t grasp being gentle. He’s also showing his being 2 a bit more. He knows what he wants and can have the occasional meltdown if he doesn’t get his way. He LOVES the new Car’s movie that just came out on DVD. He sat through the whole thing watching it when we got it and now wants to watch it all the time. I think Thomas the Tank Engine is getting jealous as he’s starting to fade in the background. But, he still loves trains so Thomas shouldn’t feel too bad.

Josie’s been having fun in her bouncy seat. She just loves it. She’s also started to roll over on her own from her stomach to her back. It’s amazing to see how much different she is from Jayden. She’s way ahead of Jayden. She likes to try different foods and usually drinks her whole 6 oz. of milk within 15 minutes. She also has found her voice and likes to “talk”. I hope it’s not a sign of the future when she gets a cell phone.

Kim has been keeping herself busy (most of the time…but she gets bored staying at home) being Mom. She does a great job keeping everything ship-shape in spite of Jayden’s use of the living room as the play area. At least Jayden likes to organize his cars. He usually has them all lined up all straight and tidy. Kim’s also getting everything ready (shopping) for Christmas which helps keep her mind occupied. She continues to read lots of books. I think she reads one a week. Too bad I didn’t have more time to read. Oh well, maybe when I retire.

About three weeks ago I was driving our Focus in a parking lot and heard a weird noise coming from the front. Hmm. Brakes? Sure enough, the brakes were getting bad. I only heard the noise about 2 times and didn’t think they were that bad, but as you can see from the picture, they were almost metal against metal. So, Zach found me a good place to order them online and because he’d just replaced his brakes in his Focus, helped change my brakes this week. What a difference that can make. They are a lot better and shouldn’t make my wheels dirty as I ordered the ceramic pads. w00t!

I have learned alot this week about our judicial system. Some good and some not so good. I was summoned for jury duty this week. The first thought was “what am I going to do with Jayden and Josie?” The other thought was “I hate going downtown.” Thank God Kevin’s work is flexible. I had some options for the kids, but didn’t want to bother anyone. So Kevin stayed home and played Mr. Mom. (I think he likes his job outside the home better). (I liked the taking care of the kids part, it’s the fridge that pissed me off. –Kevin)

Anyway, I made my way down to the courthouse bright and early Monday morning. I found a place to park and made nice to a lady aimlessly finding her way too so we could look lost together. We found where we were supposed to go, along with the other 100 people or so. I got settled in the “Jury Room”. And settled is the word. I always wondered why it took so long for a trial to get started. Man, it’s because picking the jury and getting that ready, takes HOURS. The judicial time clock is very slow. They may say, “We’ll be back in a couple minutes to get you.” That actually means, “Another 20-30 mins. and we’ll come and get you.” It was almost like sitting in church, but knowing you’ll be able to go home for an hour and not have to sit on the hard pew anymore. Well, that’s not the case. I managed to ride the pine for about 7 hours on Monday, three hours yesterday and another 2 and a half today.

It wouldn’t have been so bad, but there’s alot of sitting around and doing NOTHING! Alot of time wasted and alot of government money wasted. It was very frustrating and very overwhelming all at the same time. By the time I left on Monday my head was POUNDING. So, Tuesday roles around. I was to return for the jury selection on a trial, which I ended up not being on. THANK GOD. It was a sex abuse case. The victim: 11 year old girl. I don’t think i would have been very objective considering kids are my profession. I got told I wasn’t going to be on the jury and was relieved. Only to find out 5 minutes later, I’d have to come back on Wednesday. GGGRRRRR!!!!! So I went in today (Wednesday) and wasted another 2 and a half hours of doing nothing. I was actually told, along with 50 other people, that had better things to do, that we could go home. Man, it’s such a waste. Can’t they come up with a better system for jury duty?

So I’m relieved today to know, that my civic duty is done for 2 years. But there needs to be some change. Stop wasting people’s time. Get things going in a timely matter. Very annoying and very frustrating. I wouldn’t have minded doing “my civic duty,” but I also have two children to take care of and why would I pay for day care? Like the state is going to reimburse childcare costs. I even called Kevin’s mom down here today thinking I could be in the court room until Friday. So not only did this whole thing affect me, it affected Kevin, Jayden, Josie and Kevin’s mom. If I had a “real job” and didn’t have to worry about the kids it would have been a good experience. It was nice to see how some of the court stuff is done that you don’t see on TV. But change the system and make it easier for everyone. I don’t wish this upon anyone. But if you do get called, take a book, magazine, I-pod, and whatever else along, to keep you busy. You’ll need it. Oh, and a cushion for the pine!

Jury duty was only a small portion of Kevin and my great week. We ordered the wrong windows to replace Josie and Jayden’s room. We have to take those back and get the right ones this weekend. We got a storm door, only to get it home and find it was the wrong size that they had given us. And our fridge gave out on Saturday so we had to buy a new fridge. We lived out of a ghetto cooler until today! This week can be over any day! I’m ready for a new one.