It's mind boggling to think I have not contributed to my blog posts in four years. To say four years in a normal sense to anyone over the age of 25, doesn't seem like that much time. And yet, four years is a life time to some - namely my daughter who is 2 and my son who is 5. In the past four years, we have moved 3 times (I think I might have a problem), added to our family by way of our beautiful girl, lost our Tahoe (cat of nine years), and most recently added two new kittens to our brood (no, I don't know what I was thinking).
My goal is to contribute as much as possible to let you know of our comings and goings. I do like to create a little trail of memorabilia through the years. And had it not been for such a kind friend some 10 years ago, I never would've thought to start The Minter Minutes. I've enjoyed looking back at old posts from the forgotten times before our lives got so hectic. My memory is definitely hanging out in "Mommy Brain" world; I need these posts to remind me of our precious moments.
Sep 3, 2018
Jun 18, 2014
The Water Challenge
After reading a Facebook article about the benefits of drinking water, and seeing a lady's before and after pictures of a four week dedication to drinking 2-3 liters of water a day, I decided to do it myself and see what happens (one in the morning, afternoon, evening). I want to see if the same benefits that happened to her will happen to me. I will document my weekly results along with a picture.
Day 1 6/18/14:
I feel continuously tired and sluggish. It's difficult for me to stay motivated to get out of bed, do housework, or play with my children. No matter how many times I brush my teeth and gargle, my breath will always be stale or down right gross. Patience is difficult to come by lately. Without makeup, people generally comment how tired I look. I have plateaued in losing weight (although I'm not really trying that hard) and have noticed that my clothes don't fit or fall on me the way I would like. I have no energy for exercise. Occasionally, I have aches in my joints and bones that are annoying more than anything else. Sometimes I drink water, but usually it's sweet tea or juice. On the whole, I don't feel like I over eat.
Day 1 6/18/14:
I feel continuously tired and sluggish. It's difficult for me to stay motivated to get out of bed, do housework, or play with my children. No matter how many times I brush my teeth and gargle, my breath will always be stale or down right gross. Patience is difficult to come by lately. Without makeup, people generally comment how tired I look. I have plateaued in losing weight (although I'm not really trying that hard) and have noticed that my clothes don't fit or fall on me the way I would like. I have no energy for exercise. Occasionally, I have aches in my joints and bones that are annoying more than anything else. Sometimes I drink water, but usually it's sweet tea or juice. On the whole, I don't feel like I over eat.
Jun 17, 2014
From The Worst Teacher You've Ever Had
I wanted to get back into blogging after my long hiatus. However, a vengeful student, for some reason, found the need to seek out this blog and post a negative comment. It set me back. I didn't know from where it came, just that a past student chose to use my family's blog as a soundboard due to my seemingly ill teaching methods. Everyone teaches differently; everyone learns differently. I try to suit the majority of the students the best way I know how.
I have no idea if this anonymous student will ever return to this blog and see if his or her comment posted. However, out of soul cleansing for myself, I will respond.
Dear Student,
I'm sorry I'm the worst teacher you've ever had. It was never my intention to make you feel like you had wasted nine months of your life by sitting in my classroom for 45 minutes a day. No one is perfect. Yet, I feel you will have worse teachers than me. You'll have teachers who didn't care as much as I did; teachers who did not spend hours grading papers; teachers who checked out after the first quarter of school and never checked in again; teachers who take more time off than time on; teachers who waited until five minutes before class to plan their lessons; and teachers complaining more than trying. I'm not saying I've never done these things. I do have bad days. But on the whole, I love my job and feel it was what God created me to do, aside from being a wife and mother.
Please keep in mind that teachers have a monumental job to do. They must persuade students who don't want to learn to pick up their books and delve into grammar. They must be a counselor to the student who just got bullied by the another student sitting two seats away. They must differentiate lesson plans for the 5 IEP students in their class of 30. They must constantly prove to parents that they have the child's best interest in mind when they assign a research paper. They must constantly prove to the 14-year-old student that they are qualified to teach them geometric equations.
This constant proof comes after 13 years of general education, 4 years of undergraduate work, 2-4 years of graduate work, and countless hours of professional development classes attended after an 8 hour work day with minimal breaks. It's justifying a C grade earned by a student who did D work. It's holding tutoring and office hours for students who need extra help. It's barely getting a bathroom or lunch break. It's breaking up fights among best friends. It's juggling the new rules, laws, and guidelines that administrators and county and state lawmakers implement to make schools fairer, safer, stricter, and smarter.
And then, when it's time to go home and hopefully leave the work day behind (marking no parent or principal email), teachers deal with their own children, spouses, parents, siblings, and pets - all with drama of their own.
Please be patient with teachers. I would argue: don't waste your time in that class with a "bad" teacher by shutting down. Learn all you can from your situation at hand, even if it's a life lesson. And, if you really think they are all that bad, offer constructive criticism on which they can improve instead of blanketing them with an egregious statement.
Sincerely,
The Worst Teacher You've Ever Had
I have no idea if this anonymous student will ever return to this blog and see if his or her comment posted. However, out of soul cleansing for myself, I will respond.
Dear Student,
I'm sorry I'm the worst teacher you've ever had. It was never my intention to make you feel like you had wasted nine months of your life by sitting in my classroom for 45 minutes a day. No one is perfect. Yet, I feel you will have worse teachers than me. You'll have teachers who didn't care as much as I did; teachers who did not spend hours grading papers; teachers who checked out after the first quarter of school and never checked in again; teachers who take more time off than time on; teachers who waited until five minutes before class to plan their lessons; and teachers complaining more than trying. I'm not saying I've never done these things. I do have bad days. But on the whole, I love my job and feel it was what God created me to do, aside from being a wife and mother.
Please keep in mind that teachers have a monumental job to do. They must persuade students who don't want to learn to pick up their books and delve into grammar. They must be a counselor to the student who just got bullied by the another student sitting two seats away. They must differentiate lesson plans for the 5 IEP students in their class of 30. They must constantly prove to parents that they have the child's best interest in mind when they assign a research paper. They must constantly prove to the 14-year-old student that they are qualified to teach them geometric equations.
This constant proof comes after 13 years of general education, 4 years of undergraduate work, 2-4 years of graduate work, and countless hours of professional development classes attended after an 8 hour work day with minimal breaks. It's justifying a C grade earned by a student who did D work. It's holding tutoring and office hours for students who need extra help. It's barely getting a bathroom or lunch break. It's breaking up fights among best friends. It's juggling the new rules, laws, and guidelines that administrators and county and state lawmakers implement to make schools fairer, safer, stricter, and smarter.
And then, when it's time to go home and hopefully leave the work day behind (marking no parent or principal email), teachers deal with their own children, spouses, parents, siblings, and pets - all with drama of their own.
Please be patient with teachers. I would argue: don't waste your time in that class with a "bad" teacher by shutting down. Learn all you can from your situation at hand, even if it's a life lesson. And, if you really think they are all that bad, offer constructive criticism on which they can improve instead of blanketing them with an egregious statement.
Sincerely,
The Worst Teacher You've Ever Had
Mar 18, 2014
Spring Break 2014
I absolutely had the most enjoyable time staying home with my two darlings for an entire week. We played, danced, cooked, baked, cleaned, built towers, and did other really cool stuff kids get to do.
Emilia is maturing a bit more each day. It's a blessing to see how the ferocious three year old is calming to an almost rational 4 1/2 year old. We do have bad days still, but at least the temper tantrums are fewer and farther apart. Her vivacious personality is contagious most times and exhausting at others. She definitely brings joy with her where ever she goes. Emilia has really taken a liking to building with Legos and blocks. Her villages, churches, castles with princess towers, robots, and houses become her new playground. More recently, she has enjoyed creating the Lego images she sees on the side of the Lego bag. I'm quite impressed with her ability to transform the blocks into the pictures she sees.
Henry is learning more and more as the minutes go by. Philip and I watched him on Sunday as he was playing the alphabet Leap Frog on the refrigerator. "B says buh. B says buh. Every letter makes a sound. B says buh." We got tickled when Henry started repeating the sounds - "buh" "buh" - whenever they said it, he said it. He's also starting to recognize letters outside of this toy. T, O, and E are some of his favorites. As a learning exercise, we'll look for letters on signs as we drive down the road. I remember doing this with Emilia. The teacher in me gets very excited to see them make connections outside of our normal learning environment.
Emilia is maturing a bit more each day. It's a blessing to see how the ferocious three year old is calming to an almost rational 4 1/2 year old. We do have bad days still, but at least the temper tantrums are fewer and farther apart. Her vivacious personality is contagious most times and exhausting at others. She definitely brings joy with her where ever she goes. Emilia has really taken a liking to building with Legos and blocks. Her villages, churches, castles with princess towers, robots, and houses become her new playground. More recently, she has enjoyed creating the Lego images she sees on the side of the Lego bag. I'm quite impressed with her ability to transform the blocks into the pictures she sees.
Henry is learning more and more as the minutes go by. Philip and I watched him on Sunday as he was playing the alphabet Leap Frog on the refrigerator. "B says buh. B says buh. Every letter makes a sound. B says buh." We got tickled when Henry started repeating the sounds - "buh" "buh" - whenever they said it, he said it. He's also starting to recognize letters outside of this toy. T, O, and E are some of his favorites. As a learning exercise, we'll look for letters on signs as we drive down the road. I remember doing this with Emilia. The teacher in me gets very excited to see them make connections outside of our normal learning environment.
Mar 7, 2014
Henry's Words
Henry is 17 months yesterday. The time has flown - mostly because I'm chasing two kids, holding down a full time job, and semi taking care of my home (something had to go, so why not the housework??). I've also taken on a few extracurriculars (because I'm crazy) that have left me with few minutes in the day to do much else.
Thus, poor Henry's recorded growth has been slightly neglected. I want to take a moment to rectify the situation so that I may look back with fondness on his toddler years.
Words he can say:
-Bye-bye
-Hi/Hey
-Daddy (his all time favorite)
-Mama (when he's mad or sad)
-Cracker
-Cookie
-Sissy
-Baby
-Bible
-Jesus
-Yeah (although he could say "yes" a few months ago, we have slipped to the annoying "yeah")
-Shoes
-Bath
-Down
-Up
-Eyes
-Teeth
-Tee-tah (Thomas the train)
-On
-Off
-Uh oh
-Please
Words he can sign:
-Please
-Thank you
-Light
-More
-Hungry/Food
-Drink
Henry-Philip has a sweet disposition. He loves to hug and cuddle when he's not busy doing something else. He can stay focused on one task for a pretty significant period of time - 5-10 minutes or more - and thoroughly enjoys climbing: climbing on couches, chairs, tables, beds, stairs, and into his high chair. Nearly everything he climbs makes me hold my breath a little because the poor guy could tumble at any minute. Luckily, he is nearly just as well versed in climbing down things - tables, couches, stairs, etc. It is so cute when he looks behind him to see if there is something on which he can step down before he gets to the floor. Thus, Henry is quite aware of his surroundings (for the most part) despite the bruises that decorate his face. He's never down for long after he falls... he hugs and then is off to do the next thing.
His favorite character show (by far) is Thomas the train. It will capture his attention at any moment. Any show with songs also stops him in his tracks. His next favorite is The Flockharts video. When either are playing, the kid barely moves a muscle. Whenever he is fussy in the car, Aunt Rachel's voice soothes him. We have two discs with her singing (7 songs total) that we have heard countless times to help him stay calm.
He loves his sister and wants to be by her side all.the.time (whether she wants it or not). Fortunately for him, she is just as enamored with Henry. Emilia wants to see him first thing in the morning and will ask about him constantly. She must always know where he is. We are very blessed to have two children who love each other so much.
His 18 month check-up is next month.
Thus, poor Henry's recorded growth has been slightly neglected. I want to take a moment to rectify the situation so that I may look back with fondness on his toddler years.
Words he can say:
-Bye-bye
-Hi/Hey
-Daddy (his all time favorite)
-Mama (when he's mad or sad)
-Cracker
-Cookie
-Sissy
-Baby
-Bible
-Jesus
-Yeah (although he could say "yes" a few months ago, we have slipped to the annoying "yeah")
-Shoes
-Bath
-Down
-Up
-Eyes
-Teeth
-Tee-tah (Thomas the train)
-On
-Off
-Uh oh
-Please
Words he can sign:
-Please
-Thank you
-Light
-More
-Hungry/Food
-Drink
Henry-Philip has a sweet disposition. He loves to hug and cuddle when he's not busy doing something else. He can stay focused on one task for a pretty significant period of time - 5-10 minutes or more - and thoroughly enjoys climbing: climbing on couches, chairs, tables, beds, stairs, and into his high chair. Nearly everything he climbs makes me hold my breath a little because the poor guy could tumble at any minute. Luckily, he is nearly just as well versed in climbing down things - tables, couches, stairs, etc. It is so cute when he looks behind him to see if there is something on which he can step down before he gets to the floor. Thus, Henry is quite aware of his surroundings (for the most part) despite the bruises that decorate his face. He's never down for long after he falls... he hugs and then is off to do the next thing.
His favorite character show (by far) is Thomas the train. It will capture his attention at any moment. Any show with songs also stops him in his tracks. His next favorite is The Flockharts video. When either are playing, the kid barely moves a muscle. Whenever he is fussy in the car, Aunt Rachel's voice soothes him. We have two discs with her singing (7 songs total) that we have heard countless times to help him stay calm.
He loves his sister and wants to be by her side all.the.time (whether she wants it or not). Fortunately for him, she is just as enamored with Henry. Emilia wants to see him first thing in the morning and will ask about him constantly. She must always know where he is. We are very blessed to have two children who love each other so much.
His 18 month check-up is next month.
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