Author Archives: Megan Armstrong

March 1-16, 2020 ~ Birthdays!

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Given the dreary kind of day it is outside today I’d love to be doing what Reid is doing here – sleeping! This has been a pretty common scene in our home lately. Lots of bedtime snuggles, middle of the night arrivals into our room by both boys. I often wake up around the 4 am hour to the sound of Reid at the side of my bed. As soon as he sees my eyes open he climbs up into bed and under the covers and snuggles in to go to sleep. Griffin has been coming in also in the wee hours of the morning. Not sure why, but I’ll take the snuggles while I can!

I found a couple of football photos I forgot to post from last week. Reid and Arthur keep each other busy inside their “cage”.  Griffin’s head coach invited the team out for ice cream at DQ after their final game so we enjoyed a sweet treat before heading to dinner with friends. Later that evening we gave daddy his “happy new job” gift of a new travel suitcase. The boys were excited to help him unpackage it.

On our way home from gymnastics one evening there was an awesome rainbow with super wide color bands. This picture isn’t nearly as pretty as the real thing!

Reid’s teachers often post pictures in the app that they use. I enjoy being able to see Reid during the day playing games, reading, doing crafts, and having fun with friends. I had just signed Reid back up for swim lessons before the COVID-19 Stay at home orders began. He did really great and enjoyed class. I was a bit nervous as the last time he’d had lessons I was still getting in the water with him. But we hyped it up and Haya took him during the day and she got some great pictures that captured his happiness.

My morning helper, always wanting to get up in the morning and get his “milky” and help me make my coffee. He also enjoys dumping the dog food into the bowls for Lily and Brutes.

Sadly, we’re having to say goodbye to our 5-year old Frigidaire fridge. I have loved this fridge, silly as that may seem! It has the perfect layout inside and everything about it is just right – other than it has stopped cooling reliably. So we’re set to get our new one this week.

Brutus and I are still doing our daily walks. This particular morning I headed out the door and had no idea there were ginormous snowflakes falling. Huge white blobs were landing in my eyes! It was coming down pretty good for a majority of our walk and it has a heavy wet snow.

Awhile back we made plans to go to Kalahari in early March with several neighbors. It didn’t dawn on me until literally the day before that I never made arrangements for the dogs! Yikes. Mom and Dad to the rescue! Thankfully Mom and Dad watched the dogs for us on Saturday and Saturday night. It worked out well in that while we were there on Friday and Saturday morning we were able to move Dad’s office and all the computer and tv equipment down to their newly finished basement. It’s super nice down there! Griffin and Reid were both good helpers in carrying things and getting the roller mat cut to size :).

We arrived at Kalahari at noon and were able to get to our room right away, which was great! We got everything unpacked and got ready to head to the water  park. Once some other neighbors arrived they came to our room, as theirs weren’t ready yet. Then we all headed to the park together for some fun! After an initial loop around the (quite cool) lazy river Kevin and Griffin headed off with Cole and Brian. Some of the older kids headed off with other adults, and Reid and I made our way to the huge wave pool. Thankfully the water was much warmer and we were in the sunshine. We were there for a few hours and eventually ran in to other friends as they came and went from the wave pool. Later that night we all gathered for dinner at a restaurant at the park. Lisa brought a (surprise) birthday cake for my birthday and everyone sang to me. I actually blew out the candles (this was before the crazy pandemic was declared, I think!). It was a fun weekend!

My actual birthday was on a Monday this year. After work Kevin and the boys decorated the traditional bunny cake for me (and a fine job they did!) and then we headed to Dewey’s in Worthington for pizza. This is 44!

Griffin has been enjoying this session of Locker Soccer, which concluded this week. Even Reid gets out on the turf and in on the action pre and post class. Before the Order to close schools for an “extended spring break” was declared by Governor DeWine Griffin brought home another Pawsome note and some fine art work! Griffin and I enjoyed some tasty fresh snow one evening after we took Brutus for a walk in the dark. He was throwing snow balls in the air for Brutus to catch and our big Brutes was having quite a fun time racing through the white fluff.

Our last gathering of any kind was on Saturday, the 14th of March for our neighbor Jay’s birthday party at his house. Kevin and I were to have been in Chicago at a workshop, but due to the COVID-19 situation across the country the workshop was cancelled. So, we found ourselves at home which opened up the opportunity for us to celebrate with the Bolans. Then on Sunday, we gathered at the Bethune’s to celebrate birthdays for me, Griffin, and Amy. Mom and Dad brought a delicious taco dinner and homemade strawberry cake. We each opened gifts and practiced the earliest stages of social distancing by giving air hugs and air high fives. We were able to meet Nelly Rue for the first time and each of us took in some lovely puppy snuggles.

Later that night before going to bed I decorated the kitchen and Griffin’s doorway so when he awoke he would feel celebrated. I knew he likely wouldn’t be awake before I had to leave i the morning but I wanted him to know it was his special day. Every other year I’ve taken his birthday off work, but this year is a different story as we have a consultant in town for our shipping process changeover this week. Kevin sent me some cute pictures of Griffin once he was up and Daddy made him special pancakes for breakfast. I was at work and at about 9:25 I heard the front door open and then some familiar voices and all of a sudden – Griffin was in my office! Just in time for his official birth at 9:33 am :).  Such a thoughtful Daddy to bring him to see me at the perfect time. I showed those two our finished shipping building and then they were off for home. Later that night Kevin made Griffin’s favorite for dinner: filets and mac and cheese! This boy is definitely going through a growth spurt. He at an entire filet and then some.  The evening kind of vanished and we were having the boys get ready for bed – when Griffin kindly asked when we were going to do his presents.  YIKES!! We had done dinner, cake and ice cream and completely forgot to do presents.  My goodness, I couldn’t believe we would have forgotten had Griffin not so kindly inquired!!  Soo……a quick gathering of presents into the kitchen and we headed downstairs to do gifts.  This is 7!

We hosted our annual Spring Seminar at Millcreek this week as well. We had a record turnout of 80+ people. It was a challenge to get everyone in and the place laid out well for traffic flow for breakfast, lunch, and seminars! But, we did it and it was a beautiful day weather wise and lots of compliments from our customers who attended. Another one in the books.

February 16-29, 2020

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It’s a wrap on Griffin’s first session of indoor flag football. He really enjoyed it and his team ended the season with all wins, except for 1 – which quite honestly was in our eyes still a win as there were several questionable calls and the other team was in many cases playing tackle football – not flag! Griffin played well this season. He had time at QB, receiving, and defense. He got more aggressive and confident with his flag pulling too.



We’ve been enjoying lots of family time and snuggles on the weekend. Reid is in a “I want to nuggle you” phase and loves to come in our room in the morning and then go downstairs with one of us to feed the dogs and make my coffee. Haya has been doing fun art/craft projects with Reid while Finn is at school. He’s so proud to show me when I get home each day!

It was Dads and Donuts recently and Kevin was able to take Reid on a Friday (not a school day for him) and have a donut and see some art that he had made at school. They had a fun afternoon together and Reid was so tired he fell asleep in the car on the way home!

Griffifn had his best bud Colel over for a last minute sleep over one night. They had literally been playing together all day, from our house to Cole’s and back. Cole joined us for dinner at Roosters and then they asked if they could have a sleep over. They read books for such a long time before they fell asleep. Then they were up and at ’em early Sunday morning!

February is Book Fair time at Tyler Run and I’m on a committee that puts the fair on. While I enjoy helping, I’m by far the least involved. I liken it to being on the bus, in the very back seat! It involves helping with decorating, setup, working during fair week (an entire week of school), and then tear down. The kids in the school love this week each year and the hallway decorations add to the excitement as they walk past the library each day. Griffin was able to come to the library after school and help me for a couple days. He enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at the bookfair and helping with delivery teacher books to their classrooms.

February has been rather dreary weather so I thought it would be nice to include this great photo of Mom and Dad enjoying sunshine in sunny Florida! They’ve been enjoying their time down south with daily walks on the beach, pool time, and fun with friends!

Big changes are ahead for our family, as Kevin has decided to make a career change after working over the last 10+ years as an Independent Contractor, with the State of Ohio as his client. Some people he works alongside organized a nice Farewell party at Pins Mechanical downtown at the end of his final day of work on February 27th. I was able to join in the celebration and it was great to finally meet so many people whose names I’ve heard for such a long time. So many people sang Kevin’s praises and spoke so highly of him. I was a proud wifey and enjoyed seeing him be celebrated by so many people. I was so busy talking to people I didn’t really snap many photos! We’re excited for this next phase for Kevin as he joins Base22 as a partner.

On leap day we had a neighborhood progressive dinner: “Breakfast for dinner” complete with everyone in PJ’s. It was a huge and awesome breakfast spread complete with mimosas! The kids loved playing together for hours. This time we stayed put at one house, the Duncans.

Millcreek’s inside building project is coming to a close and the finishing touches are going up in most ways. It will be put to use quickly!

 

February 1-15, 2020 ~ We have a Pinewood Derby champion!

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Griffin and Kevin worked on preparing Griffin’s first ever pinewood derby car over the last couple of weeks. Griffin decided he wanted a Buckeye car and he chose the thin shape for the car. They went to the hardware store and had it cut down and then got to work sanding and painting and assembling. They made a trip to Buckeye corner to purchase some OSU things and Kevin purchased weights and other items online. The night before the weigh in the troop sent out some info and in it suggested that nothing on the underside of the car not be flush with the underside! Arrgghh! The weights they built into the car were not flush on the bottom. So they went to work modifying the car and adding the weight to the top – the shiny silver oval which is where the “driver” now sits.

Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong had been in town helping care for the kids so early the morning of the Derby Kevin, Jim, and Griffin headed over. Not long after Kevin texted to say I better make my way there as Griffin’s heat was happening soon. I took Reid (not the best decision, but didn’t want him to miss out) and we arrived just a short bit before Griffin’s heat. Reid wondered around the gym and made friends with older kids and inserted himself with the big boys playing cars in the corner. This kid, he knows no stranger. Griffin’s car did super-great. He set a new track record, followed by another track record (as in he beat himself, lol). In the end, he competed against 3 other kids in the troop for the championship. It was a super-tight race – and he ended up winning the overall champion! The final calculations took some time as it was down to hundreds of a second I believe. We had one super happy (yet shy) champ!

 

Later that evening we celebrated at Finn’s chosen dinner spot: Roosters. Only a few short days later Griffin woke up with a mild fever. I gave him some Tylenol and it went away and never returned that day. On Friday, when I got home from work I felt his head and he felt warm and sure enough his fever was back. Since it was the start of the weekend, Kevin took him to the Children’s urgent care where the result of the swab was Influenza B.  Ugh.  We had plans to go to a Magic Show with several neighbor families. We ended up quarantining Griffin in his room starting Friday evening! He hung out in there, we delivered food and drink and medicine. He had the tablet on which we installed the Spectrum app so he could watch the Blue Jackets. Really, he had it made! Luckily his symptoms weren’t too bad though he did have issues on Saturday night where he threw up in his room and then had potty problems. I think went from not drinking enough to drinking too much hence the puking.  But after that he was fine the remainder of the weekend.  No fever, no meds.  Then on Sunday evening he felt a bit warm and darnit – his fever was back!  Ugh, no school on Monday for him either. But luckily, the fever never returned after one dose of medicine and he was back to his normal self.

This was Griffin’s excited face when he was finally allowed out of his room for a snack and a bit of outdoor fresh air with a short bike ride.

Kevin and Reid went on a date to the Magic Show with dinner first at the Spaghetti Warehouse!

Being home while Griffin was sick gave me some time to finally get Reid’s car seat flipped around in the van. Wahoo!

Next up, Reid wasn’t feeling well and had an on/off fever with no real other symptoms other than he wasn’t sleeping well. The last time he didn’t sleep well he had an ear infection, so I decided to take him in to get looked at. Sure enough, his ear infection from December was still around despite two different antibiotics. Next step: injection antibiotics for back to back days! Ugh, because of the dose they split it up into two shots (one in each leg). His first dose was Monday. On Tuesday’s recheck it was looking much better so we only had to have the second set of injections (thankfully not a third on Wednesday) and a follow up with an ENT at Children’s. He was a tough boy but he was NOT happy during and immediately after the shots. Poor boy!

This year I took the easy route and bought the kids Valentine boxes at Target for $5. Ones that they can easily assemble and customize. The Taco one is perfect for Griffin and the Monster is great for Reid. They decorated them with Haya during the day and each took them to school for their parties. We did make our own valentine cards though – Reid’s a school of fish (his preschool class is the Guppy class) and Griffin’s was an awesome word puzzle greeting where his classmates could find each of the words “Happy Valentine’s Day Your Friend Griffin Armstrong Heart Candy February Flowers Treat Hugs Card Chocolate”. Kevin put it together and it was awesome!

 

Thanks for the Valentine’s cookies Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein!

On actual Valentine’s Day Haya made the boys an everything “heart/pink” breakfast!

Reid had his first dental checkup – and somehow – he was cavity free! He and Griffin loved playing in the playspace before hand. Griffin was a champ and went first to show Reid the way. His teeth were in great shape too – no cavities. When it was finally Reid’s turn he was really reluctant. I ended up sitting with him in the chair and the hygienist was able to get through the entire teeth cleaning. Dr. Bob was able to check out all of Reid’s teeth and get lots of giggles out of Reid in the process. Overall it was a great trip!

Reid’s specialist ENT appointment at Dublin Children’s showed that he still had some fluid in his ears, which isn’t abnormal after an infection. At this point it is what happens to the fluid – if the infection comes back, which the doctor thought we just need to give it some more time. If the infection reappears, we may then consider tubes. For now it is wait and see.

When playing with his neighborhood buddy Miles recently they each designed their own CBJ jersey’s to wear while playing hockey! And here are a few of Griffin and Reid from awhile back to now – they’re both growing up quickly! And another from google of 10 years ago (yikes!) when Mom and Dad helped me move into my house. Crazy it has been 10 years.

Kevin also got a message from Rafael that Base22 had met and was able to officially extend an offer to Kevin! They had been in discussions for some time, but this was the official vote needed to extend Kevin an offer.  Yippeeee!