Happy guy! It’s been a whirlwind week yet again with the a trip to Mansfield and Enon for Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, and our annual Christmas tree hunt at Cackler Farms. As always, each day is filled with fun yet passes too quickly. We really feel fortunate that we get to see all of our family for each of the holidays, though I wish we could spend a week at each place rather than a day or less!
Mom and Dad had fun kids activities for all of the cousins – turkey brownies! It was fun to watch each kid make the creation their own. And sneak some candies during their creation (oh wait, was that just Finn?!).
Reid had his first finger food – celery! He was so wanting to participate and put food in his mouth so we gave him a celery stalk and he made some serious headway gumming and chewing on it. He was a happy guy.
Lily and Brutus make themselves right at home and they like to be near the fire in the family room. Lily gets extra spoiled by being up on the comfy couch!
Griffin really loves to sleep next to Brutus. Some day I hope we can have him sleep in Finn’s room at our house. But for now, there are far too many things to destroy in his room – not to mention that Brutus gets up super early in the morning (5:30-6:30ish) to start the day with his breakfast and we don’t want Griffin getting up that early!
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is our traditional seed planting day. We weren’t as efficient as years past with the new dynamic of Reid and just spending time together hanging out (and eating, of course). We were able to get about 8 trays done though. And Griffin and Rowan enjoyed learning about what we do and helping Grandpa set out the flats and get the shelves ready for planted trays of seeds. 
On Thanksgiving morning we woke up (early!) and by 8 am Griffin and I had our pecan pie in the oven! He loves being the mixer and dumper. And it was yummy if I do say so myself :). 
Watching a bit of the Macys parade before we headed outside (in the 28 degree weather) to take family photos! We caught the Power Rangers balloons. 
Amy brought her camera and took our family photos, cousins photos, and photos of all of us together. I even included the outtake, lol. This is only a portion of them that I had on my phone – I’ll add more when I get them off my other computer!
We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Dave and Gayle’s house along with most of the Armstrong family. Even though we eat two meals, there is hardly any overlap in the food other than turkey and mashed potatoes. And my favorites are always the side dishes anyway! The kids get to feed the horses special treats of apples and peppermint crunch treats. I enjoy petting them and feeding them too – I always thought I’d have a horse someday but I doubt that will ever happen and I wouldn’t even know how to care for one! But I picked Dave’s brain about his horses and that was fun. I guess maybe like grandkids – they’re fun to visit and then you can leave!
I realized I didn’t snap any photos of dinnertime in Mansfield but I did get a few random pics. 
The kids put on a concert for us where they each played a piece of their own creation on the piano. They were quite fun to listen to and quite different from one another. They were cute and proud. 
We hit up Polaris and Easton this year on Black Friday. The crowds, traffic, and parking were crazy but we had great success and enjoyed a nice breakfast at Bob Evans and dinner at Bon Vie. Reid did great for the whole day. We put him in the stroller seat for the first time (as opposed to the car seat attached to the stroller) and I think he enjoyed being able to be reclined and have a more spacious seat. 
On Saturday we headed to Cackler to get our Christmas tree. It was a nice afternoon and we found a tall and pretty one really pretty quickly. Kevin brought his battery powered drill so we were in and out pretty quickly. We went during the first part of the Michigan game so we were eager to get home and see what was happening. We ended up getting a 12′ Cannan Fir that we love!
Matching winter pajamas!
Kevin and I brought the tree in and set it up on Sunday. Then while Griffin and I ran some errands Kevin got it straightened up and the lights put on by the time we were home. It fits perfectly in the corner of our family room and we didn’t have to trim any off the top this year :). 
And here Brutus is getting comfy on our new rug. We got it back in February but have had it rolled up in the loft until we had new furniture to go with it. Our new couch arrived on Sunday – so now our room is transformed and we are looking forward to enjoying our new digs.
We enjoyed the slow pace of a couple of cabin days too. I spent a fair bit of time in front of the computer playing catch up from previous blogs that I hadn’t gotten around to posting. I enjoyed my pjs and the couch with some coffee :). We had a nice hot tub too. For our 5th Anniversary Kevin made a lovely dinner – grilled cheese and a deluxe salad along with a taquito appetizer. Life is a little different with a 6 month and 4 year old, no fancy or crazy nights out. But that is just fine by me – we’re thankful for our blessings, our marriage, and our time away.
Another first for us this year was putt-putting in downtown Gatlinburg. Griffin got a hold in one! This course is up in the hillside and overlooks the main road in Gatlinburg. I walked with Reid in the sleeper for the first course and when they wanted to play another I sat in a nice rocking chair in the sunshine while Reid slept on me. I enjoyed that! 
We enjoyed more time at the Island. Griffin loved going on the adventure course this year and went on it a couple times during each of our visits. 
And here are a few pics I forgot to include in the post from last week of Griffin chasing the chickens at Dixie Stampede, plus our official photos from that night. Sorry for the poor quality!
This guy is all football all the time. He chooses to wear his OSU summer outfit over top jeans and a long sleeve shirt on the regular. And here he is cradling Reid’s toy as if it were a football. Sports are in his blood. We really do not build up sports or talk about them much. Griffin regularly brings them up, often football, or he plays it by himself play calling and reenacting moves he’s seen on tv. 
Each year Griffin gets to drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park when we visit Caed’s Cove. He loves it and it pretty good at steering :). 
We ventured out on a half mile hike through the woods to see an old home (terrible but I can’t remember the name!). Griffin loves to run wild through the paths. It felt good to enjoy the fresh air though carrying Reid makes me realize how out of shape I remain!
Each year we take a photo of Griffin at this fence with the beautiful mountains in the background. We have him reenact his same pose and this year we had him hold Reid too. Afterward Finn and Kevin went down the path toward a stream and did some exploring. I stayed back in and fed Reid in the van. It was fun to watch them run through the fields and then see the photos Kevin took of their adventure. It was a beautiful and sunny day this year. It seems as though every year during our trip we have the perfect weather day to explore nature. 
Reid is quite the trooper. Just like Griffin at that age, we take him everywhere we go and he just rolls with it. He definitely seems to be more of a mama’s boy and has already started some separation anxiety or sadness. He certainly doesn’t like it when I pick him up and then shortly thereafter put him back down. He loves those snuggles!
Thankfully we took our stationary play rocker for Reid to have some independent time in the cabin. He’s filling it out so well now it’s hard to believe just a short time ago we had to put a blanket behind and in front of him. 
This year our cabin had a dart board which Griffin absolutely loved. He isn’t one to sit around unless there is a “show” on so he frequently was up in the loft playing darts. And he was quite good! He got several “bulls eyes” not long after he started. And this wasn’t the easiest dart board as there were little holes the dart had to fit into. He was so excited when he made hit the eye. 
As I said earlier, Reid wasn’t a very happy sleeper in his pack and play. I don’t know if it is too hard, or too low to the floor and perhaps cooler there, or what the dealio was. A couple of times I laid him on the bed and then sat on the love seat in our room while he slept. He did take a couple of good naps that way!
Each year we love spending time at The Island where there are plenty of outdoor games and rides as well as tasty restaurants. We had lunch at Poynor’s with tasty sausages and crispy fries and we enjoyed dinner at Paula Deen’s Restaurant one evening. It is just SO GOOD! Just writing this post makes me want to go there again. 
If there is ever a pretzel nearby – Finn will find it. 
This year at the Dixie Stampede it was a special treat! We were in the first row of our section and not long after we sat down our server started talking to Griffin and asked how old he was. Then he asked him if he wanted to go down and chase chickens during the show! Wowzer, how cool! Griffin and Kevin went down and Griffin along with a few other kids got to chase chickens in the arena. They asked him his name with the microphone and everything 🙂 He and the kids on his team came in second place, but they each got medals and a book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. What a memorable night. 
For the first time this year we hit up the outlet malls. What a madhouse! The parking and traffic was insane. Kevin and Reid stayed in the car while Finn and I ran into a couple of stores. I was super excited as I quickly found outfits for Reid and Griffin and then headed to Gap where I found coordinating shirts for Kevin and me. I am NOT a fast shopper as I am terribly indecisive. So I felt pretty great about our coordinated duds that I pulled together in record time. 
Here are a few photos from our week before we left on vacation. Debbie always does fun holiday crafts and this year for the thankful turkey Griffin wrote each feather himself! He’s growing up fast and is very curious lately about words and spelling. He regularly will say, “Momma, what does s-t-o-p spell” or whatever sign we pass by or something that catches his eye. 
I love getting pictures like this from Debbie during the day in the app we use. They bring a smile to my face.
Griffin has been going to weekly soccer lessons at Locker Soccer in Powell. I’ve noticed he’s becoming more outgoing and a bit goofy from time to time. He really loves Coach Aaron and the Sharks and Minnows game. 
On voting day we took Finn and Reid to the polls and then headed to Tim Horton’s for a very brief breakfast. There was a boil order in effect for areas of Powell Rd so we had to trek down Sawmill Parkway to the Hard Road area. It was raining and traffic was yucky. Blech!
And in other news I finally made an appointment at a dental office in Powell. It’s the first time I’ve gone to anyone other than my Dad in all my life! I survived, though I did have two cavities. 
And here are a few from a facebook post that I shared about Debbie. We are grateful to have her in our family. An acquaintance recently told me how lucky we are to have her, how she loves my kids so much and hugs and kisses them and loves them well when I’m not around. It warmed my heart! 
