What a mess!

Went to rally number two yesterday...unfortunately, it was scheduled on Valentines Day, on a long holiday weekend and during all star basketball weekend. Same turnout as before but I will continue to go until I know my job is safe!!! Save Arizona's Education System!!!

Today while on the phone with my friend Katie, the girls were playing in their room. They were being silly and running out to me in the living room, giggling and yelling. It was funny until I walked into their bedroom where they had a pile of clothes on the floor. The entire content of their dresser was all over the bedroom floor. I literally walked in, took a deep breath and grabbed my camera. Then I got to work putting everything away...Taylor kept going "oh nnoooo" and "big mess" over and over which was quite cute and funny. Lauren took the opportunity to choose a new outfit consisting of clothes we hadn't seen since the summer.

I hope everyone is having a great long weekend...and may love and happiness find you every day, not just on Valentines day!

Superbowl Sunday

It's game day and the folks here in Arizona are so excited that the Cardinals are in the superbowl. I cannot say that I am terribly jazzed...actually, I don't care all that much. I have never really been a huge sports fan...yes I was a "Minutemaniac" in college to get basketball tickets and not have to wait in line for them, and I went to a few Red Sox games when I lived outside of Boston and I do remember watching the Celtics with my dad on the small black and white TV we used to have when I was a kid. But that was pretty much it. I do hope the Cardinals win and will probably tune in just to watch the game and of course the commercials and half time show.

This weekend was a nice relaxing one for us here...Taylor had pink eye and the beginning of an ear infection on Friday so we stayed close to home yesterday but today ventured out. Met up with Katie for lunch and then headed over to Linda's house where I have to be the stair guard...the babies just wanted to walk up and down the stairs and that gives me heart failure every time. Wayne unfortunately was up on the roof this weekend fixing a part that always leaks when it rains a lot.

If anyone has been keeping up with Arizona news well it looks like we are cutting 133 million from education in Arizona to finish out this fiscal year and then having to cut somewhere around 300 million next year from education. Frankly, this sucks! It looks like Arizona is going to end up ranked 51st in education spending per child...yes, 51st, that means we would be behind every other state and Puerto Rico!!

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/01/20090201statebudget0201.html

This is the latest news from today...I never would have thought that with a M.Ed I would be possibly facing a layoff!

Like they say, hope for the best but expect the worst...

Rally Day

Arizona is in the unfortunate place of being in a budget crisis. For a booming state the past few years, it is embarrassing that this happened but it did. Anyway, they are looking to make cuts, big cuts in education. This is not good for me or the many other teachers out there. So today we went to our first rally. It was held in downtown Phoenix at the State Capital. Wayne, the girls, Cari and I headed down to show our support for not cutting education. I have to say I feel good about actually doing something and not sitting on the sidelines. Here are a few photos of the day.

Going Green

We have been diligently working in our greenhouse the past few months. We have planted many different things such as carrots, lettuce, tomatos, green beans, sunflowers, cilantro, basil and oregano. After much hard work, we were finally able to eat some of the fruits of our labor. The lettuce is ready for harvesting! We celebrated this past Monday night with a delicious dinner of lettuce wraps!Then the following night by having a nice yummy salad. The babies and Jessi have truly been enjoying this little side project, diligently watering and checking almost daily on the new happenings inside. Taylor gets a little overzealous after watching Wayne pick weeds and thought a few plants were weeds and pulled them! We have decided to keep an eagle eye on her while we are in there. It has been fun to watch their reactions to everything growing and helping them to understand where food actually comes from. Here are a few pictures of the greenhouse and what is inside.

In this picture you can see the tomato plants (back left), green beans (back right), lettuce and carrots (center).

Besides gardening we have been enjoying the Arizona winter by hiking and daytrips. We went down to the Gila River to do some exploring one day. We took this drive down a long wash and at the end we came to a nice beach area to play and picnic with thr babies. Enjoy some photos of our day.

Time Flies

Who would have thought that the second I start working my blog goes down the toilet...sorry to all for being completely uninvolved in blogging the past few months. I think my resolution this year is going to be "keep up with the blog".

Everyone is doing well here in the McMinn household. Kyle just finished his first semester of college and just turned 19, Jessi got her braces off just in time for her 14th birthday, Lauren just turned 3 (yikes) and Taylor is a chatty 1 1/2 year old. We have been to the dunes for our first trip there this season and Lauren had the shortest ride ever with Papa...she wasn't loving the quad at all. I practiced my riding skills a little bit at the dunes but am still far inferior to all the kids and cousins...With December being our busy month (three birthdays and Christmas), we have had about one cake per week. Here are some recent pictures of the crew...enjoy...

As you can see, the kids are all getting big. Wayne, Jessi and I have all decided to go green and we built a greenhouse that will hopefully yield many vegetables for us to enjoy.

Heres wishing you all a wonderful holiday and a happy new year! Cheers!!

Mommy Guilt

Anyone who is a mom, or dad for that matter knows about "mommy guilt". I unfortunately, have been riddled with it the past few weeks. You see, I have just gone back to work full time after being home with the girls for 2 1/2 years. I am fine with the fact that I decided to go back to work. I really am enjoying my job and I also enjoy the adult interaction and the challenge of a new job...but that doesn't make dropping the girls off in the morning any easier. Getting back to work meant learning about a morning routine...this means waking the girls up more often and trying to get them dressed and fed and out of the house in a reasonable amount of time. Because we have just started school, the girls have also been sick more than they have been well. This has caused great frustration but luckily Wayne has lots of sick time to be able to be home with them and to take them to the doctors. We have had just about everything...sinuses, strep throat, vomiting...ick. No fun whatsoever.

Kyle is leaving for school on Thursday...I am so excited for him knowing how much fun college was for me. It also brings some sadness, he'll miss out on so much time with us, and especially the girls but luckily for this blog, email and phone calls they'll be able to chat with him still. He is so ready. We were talking today and realized that this time next week, he'll have been there a couple of days, settled into the dorm, met his suitemates and begun his journey. I know he is looking forward to experiencing Colorado and getting out of doors! He has also begun looking into concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheater which is nearby (lucky).

Big news from my sister today, she elpoed and married her boyfriend of 10 years, Joe. She had told me this summer that she wanted to do it that way but deep down I didn't truly believe she would do it...I was wrong...Yesterday on 8-8-08, her and Joe, the JP, a photographer and their two PUH (personal umbrella holders, Jody's friend Paula and Paula's mom) went to Keyes beach and had a wedding. I can't wait to see the pictures of their union. Jody said that the weather and lighting were perfect for the photog...once the sprinkling stopped of course. Congratulations to them.

Camera woes...my camera screen broke..I am not sure what happened but I am now going to be in the market for a new small digital camera...Only half the screen shows up...URGH. I can still take pics but I just can't see them...

All right everyone, sorry I have been so MIA lately...I will try to schedule more blogging time to keep everyone up to date on the adventures of The McMinns...Enjoy the end of summer.

Vacation

OK, so we just are getting back to normal here at home after a long month of vacationing. It was great to spend time in Mexico and back home on Cape Cod. Our Mexico vacation started Memorial Day weekend and lasted a week. We went to Rosarito where my in laws have a time share. The weather was beautiful, we spent a lot of time down by the ocean although the water was way too cold for me or the babies to swim in. The bigger kids put on their wetsuits and boogie boarded until they were numb. Even some brave souls, (Rob, Glenn, Kyle and Trenton), went into the water sans wetsuits. Luckily our rooms were right next to the pool so we got our swim fix there. It was even heated! The week proved to fly by and before we knew it...it was time to go home.

Then on June 4, the babies and I headed East....Cape Cod bound we were. I was nervous about flying with the two girls by myself but they did a great job. We had a stop which allowed us to get off the plane, stretch our legs, change some diapers and get some snacks...then I had bought the portable DVD and had some movies at the ready. We had a little delay en route to Boston but besides that and Taylor getting a little restless, it was uneventful. Yippee.

Our time on the cape was full of activities...I went to my very good friend Jared's wedding...he married a wonderful and smart women named Haley who I just adore. It was such a fun night to celebrate their marriage. Plus, some great dancing to a kickass band. We spend many afternoons on the beach playing in the sand and in the water. Stopped for ice cream cones on many nights...Lauren and Taylor's first trip to Par Tee Freeze by the way. Spent time with the family...mom, dad, jody...Ian and his family came up from North Carolina so we actually had the whole family in one place...this never happens! Saw bunches of friends and their kids...camped in Uncle Toms trailer at Scusset beach with the college roomies Nicole, Michelle and her son Braedan and Tara and her two girls, Allison and Caitlyn...played with the twins out back of my parents house, Sarah and Shay (20 mos) who kindly allowed us free reign on their toys (thank you)...went to Melissa and Josh's house and hung out with Alexa and Michael whom Lauren adored, saw Stacey, Gary and their "kids"...their dogs...even got a chance to share a fried ice cream with Stace...our favorite...Lauren and Taylor spent many days in grammy's garden...planting and picking lettuce for us for dinner on many nights. We watched lots of tv, including the Celts finals (yippee) which brought me back to my youth...watching the Celtics and dad talking to the TV with a few curse words thrown in. Also attended Aimee's baby shower on our final day home...She looked absolutely adorable...can't wait for little Walter to arrive this September!

It was a wonderful trip home...you know the signs of good friendships are when you live 3000 miles away and when you see those who are closest to you it feels like you live right down the road still. It's like you never missed a beat. Thanks mom and dad for letting your hosue turn into a daycare for a few weeks...(toys everywhere). Thanks to everyone, friends and family alike for treking to see the babies and I during our time home...we had such a great time and look forward to next year already...