Monthly Archives: September 2015

September 27, 2015

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DSC_0219It’s been another fun week for the Armstrong family. Finn had his first visit to the Dentist this week and he was a-w-e-s-o-m-e! We went to Haring Pediatric Dental (turns out Dr Haring is from Mansfield!) in Dublin. They recently moved in to their new office space and it is really cool. Their logo is a turtle and the entire office is themed with turtles and nautical things. They have the neatest “waiting room” for the kids. For the exam, Lynette, the Hygienist, gave Finn a pair of cool spider man sunglasses to wear. She explained each of the instruments before she used it and he got to choose his flavor of fluoride (watermelon, of course). She told him anytime he wanted a “drink” to let her know and she would give him one out of the water gun. Sure thing, he asked twice for water, ha! She assured me that we did not have what she considered a “normal” visit for a 2-year old as she kept praising how great of a patient he was. She asked if we had been practicing, which we hadn’t, other than a couple quick photos in the car right before hand. He checked out great, though he has two spots (one on each lower eye-tooth) where there was an interruption in the formation of the enamel and it appears as round spots on the front of his teeth near the gums. She said most likely it won’t be a problem, but can make cavities more likely there. At the end of his appointment he was watching her work on the computer and she asked if he wanted to help, so she put him right on her lap and told him what she was writing up.  I told her his favorite part of the keyboard is to press the “zero”, but he didn’t ask her to do it!. IMG_20150922_084345459 IMG_20150922_084517232 IMG_20150922_085039173_HDR IMG_20150922_085214280 IMG_20150922_085309044_HDR IMG_20150922_085826717_HDR IMG_20150922_090643054 IMG_20150922_090747213 IMG_20150922_090858873 IMG_20150922_091003569_HDR IMG_20150922_091421610 IMG_20150922_091634728 IMG_20150922_092208080Friday evening was the Preschool’s Fall Fest at NPCA. There were hot dogs, ice cream, and many games for the kids to play. After completing each game they won a prize for their bag. Finn’s favorite was the whistle that he chose after tossed a ring around a pumpkin – which was the Guppy class (his pre-school class, hence the fish theme) activity for the night. IMG_20150925_193105075 IMG_20150925_193140875 IMG_20150925_191331421_HDR IMG_20150925_194549663 IMG_20150925_195139873 IMG_20150927_202642780Saturday we had an afternoon adventure to Mansfield to pick apples with Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein. We went to Apple Hill Orchard and got to see roosters, a goat and sheep, we took a long wagon ride around the farm, and we picked lots of yummy apples.  And while we finished picking apples, Kevin went across the street to their store and picked up a dozen WARM apple donuts and apple cider (the aroma of them fresh baking the donuts percolated through the entire apple field where we were picking, so of course we had to buy some before we left!). We picked Honeycrisp, Jonathan, a golden variety and an unknown (to us) red apple. They are delish. And Finn loves to be hoisted into the air to pick the highest apples possible. Kevin, Dad, and I all took turns – but daddy wins the prize for the highest!DSC_0172 DSC_0175 DSC_0176 DSC_0179 DSC_0180 IMG_20150927_221623 DSC_0184 DSC_0187 DSC_0189 DSC_0197 DSC_0198 DSC_0201 DSC_0204 DSC_0207 DSC_0209 DSC_0210 DSC_0215 DSC_0219 DSC_0223 DSC_0232 DSC_0237 DSC_0242 DSC_0244 DSC_0248 DSC_0249 DSC_0254 DSC_0260 DSC_0266 DSC_0280 DSC_0284 IMG_20150926_183823852In other things, I hadn’t checked in on the garden for any harvest lately and once I did – check this out! Our one ginormous zucchini. It is as tall as Finn’s waist!IMG_20150927_150511912 IMG_20150927_150633515And here is a favorite of mine from Saturday morning, Finn woke up after 9 am and was a super happy boy! He likes to be worn as a hat!IMG_20150927_091730704

September 20, 2015

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This boy. He just warms my heart. He is growing so quickly and his personality is so vibrant. He is loving and affectionate often saying “bless you mom” after a sneeze or giving the best hugs and kisses.  He’s a great caretaker. He loves Lily and Cameron and always notices when they need some water and is the first to want to fill it up “by myself”. Cammie has been having some bowel issues lately and he talks to her so sweetly and gives her hugs and tells her he hopes the medicine makes her feel better. Then there is his spunky side, full of show and entertainment. He can hit the switch and make people giggle like none other. His  personality shines through in some of the photos from this week when we visited the New Albany Classic on a beautiful fall afternoon. It was perfect weather to be outside and enjoy the many kids activities. The horses are amazingly beautiful and strong animals. I often wonder what it would be like to have a horse and wish we had some land to have one. Other days I think I’m crazy for thinking that, but most days, it’s wishing we had a lot of land, a barn, and lots of different animals. Finn has such a heart for animals. He loves looking at them and petting them too.

I’ve been taking Monday’s off for the last several weeks and it has been really nice being able to take Finn to pre-school and pick him up. He’s doing really well at drop off, going right into his room. He’s been wearing big boy underwear too and using the potty that is connected to his classroom. Every day he comes home with art work and he beams with pride, usually, about what he made. A few times afterwards we’ve gone into the worship room and he’s run around playing ball. IMG_20150916_130830583 IMG_20150916_130903431

We had some mid-week fun downtown at the Slice of Columbus, the yearly fundraiser for Nationwide Children’s that is held downtown at the Columbus Commons. Finn was a great age this year to play in the bounce houses, go down the big slide, and make his own “pizza” to take home. It was another beautiful night of weather and lots of yummy pizza.

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Oh, and a pouty face for a bit too – as he didn’t want to sit down and eat anything, he just wanted to play all the games.
IMG_20150916_191543162 IMG_20150916_202109961 IMG_20150917_195751710Look at the beautiful skies on the afternoon of the New Albany Classic! 
DSC_0050One of Finn’s favorite parts are petting the animals they have in the petting area. However, this year the horse had a big sneeze of sorts and Finn didn’t want near him after that – as he didn’t want to get any boogies on himself from the horse, lol!DSC_0019DSC_0025DSC_0026DSC_0030DSC_0031DSC_0039DSC_0043These next photos are all the same play structure – it’s like a big maze with a lot of challenges.  Finn was excited to do it, and during certain parts where he was apprehensive the worker guy went through it with him.  Check out his face once he comes down the slide – beaming and doing the happy dance!DSC_0052DSC_0054DSC_0057DSC_0058DSC_0064DSC_0066DSC_0071DSC_0073This year there were flag-bearing sky-divers that were a part of the opening ceremonies for the horse-jumping event. It was really cool, and the American Flag was huge!DSC_0080DSC_0083DSC_0087DSC_0089DSC_0092DSC_0094DSC_0096My pictures don’t do the horses justice. They are strong and beautiful animals!DSC_0103DSC_0105DSC_0109DSC_0114DSC_0115DSC_0119DSC_0121DSC_0123DSC_0124DSC_0125DSC_0126DSC_0134DSC_0113DSC_0111And here the cousins are having some fun, check out Greta’s giggle face and Finn’s bear hug!DSC_0140DSC_0143DSC_0153And these days we see lots and lots of this. Finn is always on the move, running and usually carrying a ball. He has the cutest football run when he crouches down and throws his legs in a funny way. DSC_0156DSC_0158DSC_0160DSC_0161Later that afternoon we headed to Enon to celebrate Grandma Armstrong’s birthday at Brett and Missy’s house. We enjoyed a delicious mexican dinner that Missy prepared and some more time outside playing soccer with Grandpa. And of course, cuddles with Grandma and play time with Babou!DSC_0163DSC_0164DSC_0168DSC_0169DSC_0171

September 13, 2015 & Preschool!

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DSC_0550What a week we’ve had! It’s going to be a bit of picture overload this week.

On Monday we enjoyed a lazy start to our holiday by reading books and lounging around for a bit in the morning. Finn loves to come in our room in the mornings and watch a “show” (aka Sesame Street or Dino Train).  Later that day Our friends at New City Church were having a Labor Day picnic entitled NEW CITY SMOKE. Kevin ventured over late in the morning to check in with James as he was smoking all kinds of meats in a smoker that the church built. There was So. Much. Meat. Kevin ended up staying all afternoon and evening assisting James with the smoking shenanigans. There was chicken, sausage, brisket, and pork shoulder and people brought a million sides and desserts! They have a really fun setup for events and later that evening they showed the Ohio State versus Virginia Tech football game on the projector in their back yard. Finn and I joined Kevin early in the evening for a fun time of play and dinner. There was face painting, bouncy houses, and various balls that Finn had fun picking up and running with! IMG_20150907_085408166 IMG_20150907_182935316_HDR IMG_20150907_192757488 IMG_20150907_183647780_HDR IMG_20150907_182918124 IMG_20150907_183407173 IMG_20150907_183552737 IMG_20150907_183420482_HDR IMG_20150907_201019164 IMG_20150907_210055453 IMG_20150907_210239932_HDR IMG_20150907_211356104

 

On Wednesday Finn began his new adventures at preschool! He had a great first day. Kevin and I walked in to the building and showed him where to put his lunch bag in the bin outside of his classroom. Then we waited outside his room while they wrote his name on a sticker. Next thing we knew his teacher opened the door, he walked right in, and didn’t even look back! We honestly didn’t even give him a hug or say an official goodbye! His teacher, Amie, waved and winked at us and said “bye bye!”  – and that was it! He did great. Pardon my brag moment, but I must say, it warmed my heart when I picked him up and as I told another teacher at the door who I was there to pick up she replied with “oh, he is so smart! I read a book with him today and he is a smart boy!”. She then asked me if he is 3 and I said no, he’s almost 2 1/2 she seemed kind of surprised. We’re certainly blessed with this little man.

I know it’s crazy, but I took a photo of his lunch and let me tell you, every last bit of what was in his yumbox was eaten other than one slice of apple and he hadn’t eaten part of his melon and cucumber in his other container. He ate two pepperoni and cheese sandwiches, 4 crackers, bunny graham crackers, 2 dried, apricots, chocolate covered raisins, and 2 apple slices. However, as soon as we got in the car and saw that we opened his lunch box (to see what he’d eaten) he proceeded to ask for his melon/cucumber and ate the rest of it in the car! Once we started driving he asked where we were going and when I told him we were going home he replied that he didn’t want to go home. I asked where he would rather go and he said “the ice teem place”. Sure enough, we made a stop at Graeters on our way home and he ate that too!DSC_0633DSC_0543 DSC_0544 DSC_0578 DSC_0555 DSC_0563 DSC_0565 DSC_0566 DSC_0570 DSC_0583 DSC_0585 DSC_0591 DSC_0604 DSC_0606 DSC_0611 DSC_0614 DSC_0618 DSC_0598 DSC_0621 DSC_0624

And then Finn saw his shadow so he pointed to it in the parking lot 🙂DSC_0625 DSC_0626

Greta and Rowan started school on Wednesday too! Finn and Greta will be in the same class together 🙂

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When we picked Finn up we peeked through the window in the door and saw him sitting next to Greta listening to Miss Amie read a book! He was so excited when he saw us he ran up to the door to leave. IMG_20150909_125748537IMG_20150909_135735014Saturday was a fun play day for me and Finn and a busy workday for dad and Grandpa! Here is part 2 of picture overload.  Finn was having so much fun hitting the baseball and “running the bases” that I just kept snapping pics. He crouches down into a squatty position and runs as fast as he can all while making this silly face scrunching his nose. It was a fun afternoon of driving his car, blowing bubbles, and playing baseball. IMG_20150912_094937227 DSC_0635 DSC_0636 DSC_0665 DSC_0670 DSC_0671 DSC_0673 DSC_0674 DSC_0678 DSC_0682 DSC_0688 DSC_0690 DSC_0693 DSC_0694 DSC_0696 DSC_0697 DSC_0699 DSC_0707 DSC_0711 DSC_0713 DSC_0716 DSC_0717 DSC_0718 DSC_0728 DSC_0729 DSC_0730 DSC_0731 DSC_0732 DSC_0733 DSC_0735 DSC_0742 DSC_0745 DSC_0746 DSC_0750 DSC_0751 DSC_0752

No worries, this is Finn sliding into the base (not falling, he actually gently lands on the ground!). This kid cracks us up. We haven’t taught him to do that – I think it’s just from going to the Clippers games!DSC_0754 DSC_0759 DSC_0757 DSC_0760 DSC_0761 DSC_0762 DSC_0763 DSC_0764 DSC_0765

Can you find the ball?DSC_0771 DSC_0774

And a couple of the outdoors on this lovely day. DSC_0687DSC_0722

And here is a before and after of Kevin’s busy workday! He and his dad put up the new single garage door on Saturday, and Kevin put up the double door on Sunday with some help from Chris and our neighbor Brian. It looks super nice and we are glad to have nice new doors 🙂DSC_0641DSC_0775DSC_0003Sunday after church Jaime treated me to a lovely girls day that began with a tasty lunch at The Rusty Bucket followed by a manicure, pedicure, and a massage! It was a lovely day of pampering and catching up. She also gave me the lovely gift from her and my college friends Kim and Amy. It is a remembrance necklace that they had made for me from the flower arrangement my parents gave us for Nathan’s memorial service. It has a white bead that represents Nathan’s life in Heaven and one red bead on each side, which represent me and Kevin. It is a special gift and I’m so thankful for such good friends. IMG_20150913_174747IMG_20150913_175316IMG_20150913_192356 IMG_20150913_181540 DSC_0011

And this one is super cute. Finn has been picking out his outfits lately and Saturday afternoon we were in his room and he said he couldn’t reach his shirt. I asked him which one he wanted and he said the “doggy” one, which actually is an OU Bobcat shirt that has pawprints down the arm. Super cute!IMG_20150912_205016743