Category Archives: holiday

December 6, 2015

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December has arrived and we are in full holiday mode, as you can see. We’ve been busy with all kinds of activities from decorating our tree, to Finn’s first movie in a theater, baking, and having our yearly tradition “candy making party” at our house with family and friends. The days are ever-so-busy and seem to pass faster than I would like!

First things first, this year we have an Advent Calendar! We got a fun one with animals, wisemen, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus so that Finn can help put them on each day. We found a printable “advent calendar” that had a verse for each day telling the story of Jesus’ birth.  The Angel was the first one on the calendar this year and Finn put it in the perfect spot.  IMG_2953IMG_2954IMG_2956
We took Finn to his first movie in a theater this week, to see A Christmas Story. He really seemed to enjoy it and didn’t make a peep the entire time. We went to a theater that serves food (and a ginormous bucket of popcorn!) during the show so we enjoyed some dinner during the movie. We are blessed with this little guy. IMG_2961We decorated our tree one evening in preparation for our candy party. Finn loved helping us and looking at all of the ornaments. We all love having such a tall tree! Sadly, we had one tragedy as the ornament that Kevin gave me in December 2011 when we first began dating fell to the floor as Finn and I were putting it up. It was a glass snow globe and unfortunately it shattered :(. Kevin snapped a photo though for memories sake. IMG_2975 DSC_0299 DSC_0305 DSC_0311 DSC_0323 DSC_0302 DSC_0309 IMG_2977 DSC_0316 IMG_2983 DSC_0321 DSC_0331 DSC_0336IMG_2987 DSC_0339 IMG_2985 DSC_0346 DSC_0349DSC_0439 DSC_0328Kind of at the last minute on Friday I asked Finn if he wanted to make some cookies. We made chocolate chip first, and then I figured it would be fun to make the cookie press cookies so he could help with the dough gun and then decorate them. It was fun (and messy)!DSC_0350 DSC_0355 DSC_0359 DSC_0363 DSC_0366 DSC_0374 DSC_0377 IMG_2996We awoke on Saturday morning and got right to party prep – making the peanut butter mixture that we would use later in the afternoon to make buckeyes! Finn is excellent at dumping. We have a pretty good system in place where I measure and he dumps. He’s also really good at turning on the mixer (!). IMG_2999Our friends and family began arriving around noon for our yearly tradition of making Hard Tack Candy and Buckeyes. Our flavors this year were cherry, black licorice, peppermint, sassafras, lemon, and cinnamon. And new this year, we made chocolate truffles too (chocolate/orange and chocolate/vanilla). We enjoyed the company of Mom and Dad, Amy, Andy, and the kids, the Mannings, Conrads, and part of the Kessler, Ryan, and Lewis families. We had a good sized crowd of 12 adults and 14 kiddos. Once again, Mom and Amy did a few crafts with the kids in the basement too, making Christmas ornaments – but somehow I didn’t get a photo of any! Lots of deliciousness by the end of the afternoon!IMG_3001 IMG_3002 IMG_3005 IMG_3006 IMG_3007 IMG_3009 DSC_0384 DSC_0385 DSC_0387 DSC_0389 DSC_0391 IMG_3020 IMG_3023IMG_3024 IMG_3025 IMG_3031 IMG_3035 IMG_3036 IMG_3026 IMG_3027 IMG_3028 IMG_3029 IMG_3037 IMG_3038 IMG_3040 IMG_3047 IMG_3051 IMG_3003 IMG_3004 DSC_0381 IMG_3012 IMG_3016 IMG_3017 IMG_3008IMG_3010IMG_3056IMG_3055 IMG_3059 IMG_3011 IMG_3030 IMG_3033 DSC_0399 IMG_3068 IMG_3067 IMG_3069 IMG_3070 IMG_3077 IMG_3060 IMG_3071 DSC_0410 IMG_3073 IMG_3063 IMG_3064 IMG_3066 DSC_0413 DSC_0415 DSC_0420 DSC_0423 DSC_0417 DSC_0436 DSC_0425 DSC_0430 DSC_0433Whew.  That was lots of work!!

So on Sunday morning we took it easy when we woke up, starting with yummy snowman pancakes that Daddy made for Finn!IMG_3090 IMG_3089

November 29, 2015

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We’ve had another week full of family fun and traditions!  Our first mission was to cover the greenhouse at mom and dad’s during our Thanksgiving weekend visit. The weather was unseasonably warm and nice this year!  Dad, Kevin, and I covered the house in good time and little wind – we even snapped some photos this year. IMG_2807 IMG_2808 IMG_2811 IMG_2812Next up was taking a little spin (and drive!) in dad’s new MG TD! First, dad drove me on a quick errand down the street to the drugstore. Then, Kevin, Finn, and I took a little spin around the neighborhood.  I drove first, then Kevin took a turn. It drove really nice and was quite fun!IMG_2814 IMG_2817 IMG_2820

The kiddos played and acted silly together while the “adults” worked on packaging up the seed orders for this years Hostaworks Seed sale. It was a banner year! It was certainly a family effort, from the web design, order process, order tracking, label printing, seed sorting, order assembling, and packaging – we got it done in really good time! This is the first time, I think ever, that I didn’t plant seeds with dad.  The days just went too fast and there weren’t enough hours in the day 🙁IMG_2828 IMG_2833 IMG_2835 IMG_2836 IMG_2839 IMG_2840

Finn got a new cot to sleep on at Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein’s this trip! It was the first couple of nights he’s not been in a pack-n-play (sigh, tears) as our boy is getting pretty big!IMG_2843 IMG_2868On Thanksgiving morning the kids helped make breakfast – little egg nests! A bit later we headed to Enon for the Armstrong Thanksgiving at Gayle and Dave’s home. The weather was so warm and sunny – it was unusual and nice!IMG_2844 IMG_2845 IMG_2846 IMG_2848 IMG_2851 IMG_2852 IMG_2853IMG_2838 IMG_2855 IMG_2856 IMG_2857 IMG_2858 IMG_2859 IMG_2861 IMG_2862 IMG_2865And then a later dinner at the Beilstein’s before a quick nights sleep and then on to Black Friday Shopping! We started with our traditional breakfast at Bob Evans followed by a full day of shopping at Polaris and Easton. We capped the night with dinner at Bon Vie – yum!IMG_3229IMG_3230IMG_2870IMG_2871IMG_2872IMG_2873IMG_2884IMG_2885 Saturday we spent the afternoon at Chad’s house watching the OSU-Michigan game. He and the kids have a new puppy that Finn loved following around and petting. IMG_2893 IMG_2895Next up: Christmas Tree Expedition 2015.  We went to Cackler Farms again this year and found a lovely tree! Kevin and Finn worked hard cutting it down, only to find it had poison ivy vines growing up the trunk through the tree.  Yikes!  So we left that tree in the field (and told the staff there why) and kept searching…..and we found yet another 13′ beauty (of course ensuring it didn’t have poison ivy before we cut it down!).  Finn was a really great helper!
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October 18, 2015

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P U M P K I N!  If you know me at all, you know I love all things pumpkin!  One afternoon Kevin went shopping at our favorite place, Aldi, and came home with all kinds of yummy pumpkin goods. Thankfully, Finn shares my love of pumpkin – and of baking!  We’ve got plenty of things to make around here and Finn wanted to start by making a tower of all our goods.

This week Finn was able to test out his halloween costume at Dublin’s Spooktacular event.  It was a nice and warm fall evening and the crowds were crazy. So much so that when we arrived we headed right to get our “ticket” so we could “trick or treat” through the candy portion of the night and they were all out of tickets!  We got pretty lucky though, as we ran into one of our friends who had extra tickets so we were able to go through the candy line.  We also rode a hay ride, decorated a trick or treat bag, ran into several of our friends, met Minnie and Mickey Mouse, and played a couple of games of Pumpkin Bowling!DSC_0001 DSC_0006 DSC_0009 DSC_0010 DSC_0012 DSC_0015 DSC_0017 DSC_0021 DSC_0019 DSC_0023 DSC_0026 DSC_0028 DSC_0035 IMG_20151015_195619688_TOP-2 DSC_0036 IMG_20151015_200728183-2 IMG_20151015_200735520-2 IMG_20151015_200742201-2Friday was the annual Fall Play Date at Lehner’s Farm in Radnor. It’s a really fun and enjoyable place to visit. There are animals and many activities for the kids. This year we met a few new friends and Finn just loved all of the different things to do including the wagon ride out to the fields where Finn picked his own pumpkin. This time of year I really miss having the farm I grew up on. Even though I work at a plant nursery full of tractors, I long to have a big piece of land with a barn!DSC_0042 DSC_0044 DSC_0045 DSC_0051 IMG_20151016_115011825 DSC_0057 FullSizeRender_3 DSC_0053 DSC_0059 DSC_0062 DSC_0065 DSC_0067 DSC_0068 DSC_0070 DSC_0079 IMG_7785Finn and I woke up on Sweetest Day and baked Kevin his favorite, chocolate chip cookies. We had them in the oven and baked before we left for swim lessons! Of course, he loves to lick the beater. IMG_20151017_093118988Later that evening we headed to the New City Oktoberfest for a bit of food and fun. It’s really neat to see how Finn watches other kids and then begins to play with them. He’s so polite, yet soft spoken, he will regularly ask “please, may I play with you” or “please, may I play with that” in the quietest voice. At the Oktoberfest he had fun playing alongside other friends using a real hammer and nails to pound into a wooden stump. I cautioned him in the beginning that these were REAL tools – as he loves to go a bit nuts sometimes with his play workbench at home! He did great and was really good at hammering away. He also created some artwork at one of the kids tables. He’s growing up and we’re real proud. IMG_20151017_173635648While he doesn’t look super happy here – trust me, he is! Oftentimes when I walk in to get Finn in the mornings the first thing he will say is “can we go make toffee?”. He is the best helper. I sit him on the counter and he then adds sugar to my mug, puts the mug on the platform, empties the old k-cup and drops it into the trash, puts the new k-cup in, and pushes the start button. He loves to help and we have a good system 🙂 IMG_20151018_075951073_HDR