If I Had Only One Friend Left...

Or two or three friends who actually read this blog, I'd tell them that I haven't forgotten about my blog project. I am neck-deep in packing for three children to go to Emerald Isle, North Carolina on Saturday all the while trying to get invitations out for a trunk show and back up an entire computer onto an external hard drive using an antiquated USB connection. Whew!

Needless to say there will probably not be any new photos or news of note until we get back. Try to hang on till then. I know it's hard.

Mom, do you know what this flower/plant is? Doug and Ellie found it in the "back-a-back." For those of you who don't speak Huddish, that's the very back part of our yard, in the forest.

I'm off to the beach!

Another "Dress Rehearsal"

Tonight Doug thought it would be a great idea to have a practice campout in the backyard to see how Hudson (2-1/2) would do on the father and son campout tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we have severe thunderstorm watches all night in our area. Do you think this stopped Doug? Of course not! During a break in the storm, he cooked hot dogs and smores on the grill. After an exhausting game of "catch me" (where Doug chases the kids around the yard, all the while beaning them with miscellaneous balls while they laugh uncontrollably) the tent was set up in the soon to be office.

Two kids and one husband almost asleep in a tent downstairs, sleeping baby upstairs. Hooray! Two minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time.... HA HA! I hear the door open from the dining room. In rolls Hudson, wide awake. After some negotiations, he agreed to stay on the couch and watch Cars for a little while. Scratch that, he just came in. What's one more day with that month old to-do list not getting done, anyway?

At least we know that Doug will sleep soundly at the campout tomorrow night...he just better get a lock for the tent door;)

Bella Dancerella

Here are the photos from Ellie's first dance recital. She was so cute (if I do say so myself!) Very excited the entire time and VERY preoccupied with the idea of getting flowers after her performance. Camille, it made me think of you while I was watching the older girls dance...remembering all those recitals at USU and BYU you made me..I mean that I was SO fortunate to attend! (You know I am kidding...I loved every minute of them...mostly.)

Tiffany, you are her dance goddess. She can't stop talking about coming to Utah and showing off her new skills to Aunt Tiffany.

Glad the recital is over. Very stressful for the mothers, I tell you. Trying to put eyeliner on a five year old is almost as much fun as running out in traffic in a downpour. Not to mention keeping an entirely white costume white!

Be patient for the video...it stays dark for about 45 seconds before starting...also, the camera kept tring to focus in so the quality isn't great. Steven Spielberg has nothing to worry about.
Anyway, she is third from the right once the camera zooms in.

The shape of things to come...

Today was a big-time kid shuffle day. Ellie went to the farmer's market early this morning with Doug only to be picked up by me at 11:30 for dance recital dress rehearsal. Meanwhile our two unsuspecting boys got dropped off at the farmer's market to be help captive at Doug's company tent for two hours. Luckily Hudson entertained himself with the box truck (or the oyster.com truck, as he likes to call it) and Nielson got some quality Aunt Stephie time. Yeah Aunt Stephie!
As I sat waiting for Ellie to finish her "Goin to the Chapel" number I began thinking, "This is only the begining!. First dance..then what??? Soccer? Piano? T-Ball? Olympic Volleyball Clinics? (hey-I can dream) And that's just Ellie. Who knows what the McMinn boys will end up doing in their spare time? That is, what will they do when they grow out of their sucking on (Nielson) and throwing (Hudson) every toy in sight and when they have been liberated by the oppressive Pampers which have held them back all these many months?"
I'm scared. How will I get our kids everywhere they need to be? How will I do so without losing my mind? Or a child? The truth is that I will get along just fine. I'll do my best and have some faith that everything will work out. Doug will pitch in where he can, and we will be there to support our children in whatever they choose to find joy in doing. Except wrestling...and maybe water polo. Never been a big fan of either of those. But anything else (just about.)
Don't be surprised if in a few years I:
1. am still writing this blog
2. issue an open casting call to any friends or family members wanting to spend some good quality time with some adorable (I think) pretty good (most of the time) almost perfect children. The pay ain't great, but you get all the chicken nuggets and kid hugs/slugs you could ever hope for.
Here's some more temple pics and I'll post little miss sunshine's dance photos Monday.

The Money Shot

We went up to the Washington DC Temple as a family on Saturday and had a wonderful day. Great weather, no meltdowns...what more could I ask for? Doug wanted to get a picture of our family, which is always entertaining. The ones that we took with the timer (and me in the shot) mysteriously disappeared. Funny how that happens. Here's the natural progression of the photo shoot:

Hudson, the camera is this way!

Hudson?

Hudson? Ellie?

Mutiny!!

Hooray! Everybody looking at the camera!

I still need to fix the color a bit in the picture, but was so excited I just had to post it right away. Gotta run. Nielson's sleeping through the night streak has just officially ended :(

Heaven...

Yes, I'm in Heaven! My darling almost 8 month old boy, Nielson, has slept through the last three nights. As if that wasn't enough, he started putting himself to sleep in his crib. It's as if he's finally made peace with his bed. Hooray! I'm thinking it might just be a growth spurt, but I'll ride this trick pony as long as I'm able!

Resurrection

Yes, I am attempting to revive my poor dead blog from the graveyard of the lost and forgotten. I get to give a lesson in Enrichment at church in June about keeping a journal and- guess what? I haven't done anything associated with the word journal since-you guessed it- the last post from February of last year! Better start walking the walk before I have to talk the talk!

I can't think of a better way to start over again than by posting this clip of Hudson. The kid never sleeps at night. He just isn't tired. Except for last Friday. He was so pooped he couldn't keep his eyes open at the dinner table. That's velveeta shells and cheese around his mouth, by the way. Don't buy it, even if it's on sale. It's disgusting! Doug's comment was, " The only time I touch velveeta is when I'm baiting a fish hook with it." That pretty much says it all.

(Yes, I did wipe off Hudson's mouth before I put him to bed! No, Ellie usually doesn't yell at the dogs like that...they just weren't obeying her every wish and command a the moment.)