Reid is going to pre-school! He is entering the pre-K Monkey class and he is excited about it that is for sure. He is also apprehensive. He’s not been to school since he was 2 in March of 2020. He’s been home the entire time, mostly around adults and not too many kids other than neighbors. He did wonderful at drop-off on day 1. Masks are just optional at NPCA, but we have chosen to have Reid wear one and he does so wonderfully from what I can tell. The first few weeks had several rough drop-offs thereafter, where Reid literally clung to the lamp post and Miss Laura took him in screaming and crying. It was awful. As soon as I would turn into the parking lot he would say “wait a minute, I don’t want to go to school, let’s talk about this”. It was a hard couple of weeks, but he eventually turned the corner and came home saying he loved “everything”. So much transition and newness for this one. It has had me second-guessing whether or not we should have kept him home last year. He is already a younger one emotionally and has just played at home for a year+, so this structure and learning and having to obey a teacher and schedule is all quite new. When I picked him up about three weeks into school his teacher pulled me aside and told me it had been a super rough day with listening and it almost landed him in Miss Kim, the Directors office.  Those words aren’t easy to hear. But he continued to make progress and seems to be in a better place.

He begins after Labor Day, but he had a meet-the-teacher and play in your classroom kind of day. He was so excited to be there and to play with so many toys. It has been since March 2020 since he has been in the church building and this is a new classroom and teacher for him so he loved exploring and especially playing pretend.

September 1, 2021 was moving day for Mom and Dad! Beginning with the packing and loading at 1179 followed by the unloading at 7005, it was a pretty smooth day. Griffin also had his very first soccer game that evening for Olentangy United. It was a fun and busy day.

Throughout September we had lots of soccer activity. You can see some videos at the end of the post. One fun day was when Griffin had a tournament at Darree fields just a minute drive to Mom and Dads. We had an early morning 8 am game and in between we hit up Tim Hortons, went to Mom and Dad’s and chilled for a bit before heading to game #2.

One day after a game, team mate Brady had everyone over to his house for a cookout and pool party. Just Griffin and I went as Reid had a case of the runny nose/sniffles (thanks to being back around all the school germs). Finn had a great time and I enjoyed talking to the other parents. We are loving this team of kids and families. We’re also loving having our families attend games! From Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein who now live close and can come often, to Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong who have made the trip up, and Aunt Amy, Uncle Andy, and the cousins who have made it in between their own crazy busy schedules. Being a soccer mom is fun ;).

 

We’ve even made it to Rowan and Greta’s games 🙂 Here is Rowan with a sweet throw in.

After moving day was complete, I headed to Mansfield to help Mom and Dad clean 1179 and get it ready for the sale. So many wonderful memories of this place I found myself pretty emotional then and again now when looking through the pictures to write the post! But that’s why I take the pictures, right? To capture the things that will jog a memory down the road and that it certainly does.

Griffin is having a great time being back in a real school building and being in-person with friends! He LOVES it and is so thankful to be back. Again, it makes me realize the impact that being home for a year doing distance learning pretty much on his own. While it was a great experience, his teacher was amazing, and he did really well in school I also am aware that people are built for connection and kids need it just as much as adults. His teacher this year, Miss Robinson, is the varsity softball coach at Olentangy Orange High School and she has started a fun pen-pal program between her players and her students at Tyler Run. I think Miss Robinson is going to be a great fit for Griffin given her sports mindedness!

Sadly, Griffin’s cub scout den at Tyler Run only consisted of about 3 kids, so we were given the option to transfer from Pack 248 to Pack 428, which meets the Liberty Presbyterian (The Barn church). Kevin seems to really like it, the den is big (15ish kids) and everything is organized well and seems to be fun. They had a fun fishing event at Liberty Park.

Here are Reid’s first day of school pics at NPCA! As is tradition, the day started with custom pancakes: a R E I D pancake, Reid himself, a baseball, and a school.

I was so fortunate to take the day off and take Reid to school and also pick him up. He had a super-cute “Kissing Hand” piece of art and was in the greatest mood. We went to the park afterward on our way home, also getting custard at Culver’s to celebrate. Then on to Rooster’s for dinner – Reid’s favorite place.

And here are some pics from throughout the month of Reid. We ventured to the zoo, played t-ball, and had lots of fun.

The many expressions of Reid.

I arrived at Griffin’s parent-teacher curriculum night to find a cute note on Griffin’s desk, to which I replied. It was fun to peak around at his room and sit in his place.

Part of Griffin’s enrollment in Olentangy United includes weekly sessions of Futsal at the Fieldhouse at Polaris mall. The kids learn quick ball handling and the last half hour includes working with OSU sports therapists to learn good injury-prevention and stretching skills. Since it is connected to the mall, Reid and I went to the zoo play space (yes, full of germs). This boy had such a great time.

I am amazed to report that both boys had great checkups at the dentist this month – no cavities. I honestly was surprised, as brushing here is a struggle and eating sweets comes easily, of course. Reid did super-great with his first round of xrays.

While at Reid’s the park playing after Reid’s tball games, we spotted a bomber flying through the air. It was “pretty cool”, says Reid.

We’ve started a fun neighborhood tradition of camping each September. This year the Dennie’s hosted in their back yard. Chrissie was able to organize “Bartholomew Lakes Kids Crew” tshirts that we purchased for the kids and then Karla bought tie die stuff so they each were able to customize their shirts. We made s’more’s, had pizza, and played together for hours on end.

Being conveniently next door, I was able to stop in and check on Brutus and give him some lovins from time to time (and potty breaks!).

While Kevin was out of town for a few days on a golf trip with friends in Michigan, the boys and I hung out with the Bolans and went to Bridge Park one evening. We played duck pin bowling, had a fun “kids drink”, and then were able to watch the OSU practice band march through Bridge Park and play some tunes to get everyone pumped for the home game the following day.

 

 

We also celebrated Brutus’ 5th birthday! This boy loves to be around his people, his daily walks and routine. He knows the 4 o’clock hour like none other – and will gently begin to remind you the time is coming starting around 3:15 pm with little pokes and nudges and following you everywhere.

Here are a few of the Millcreek Open House, which we resumed this year. We hosted everyone in our “new” (built in 2019) shipping facility having a couple of educational seminars, a catered BBQ lunch, and tours of our facility. It was well attended and I heard numerous times how everyone was so thankful to be in-person again.

Lilly and Reidy came to visit me! And Reid helped Luis load flats into the flat filler potting machine during our drive-around.