The boys have had a fun summer with Jenn and though it seems hard to believe – this is her last week with us before she heads back to college in South Carolina! It was a blessing to find her so quickly in May and feel comfortable with her from the beginning, especially given her background in nursing! She cared for the boys really well and certainly has a gift of organizing. She regularly went through the boys clothes and sorted/organized them by size and made stacks of the ones they no longer fit in to – and she labeled everything! She re-organized the pantry, fridge, chest freezer, and so many other things – she was super helpful! Each day this week she had a fun activity for the boys including a Lollipops concert in Powell, a trip to the zoo, baking chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and believe or not – she was able to capture Reid walking on his own for the first time! She sent me the sweetest videos on Wednesday, 8/8, of him walking through the kitchen and up in the loft. We didn’t see it ourselves for a day or two as by the evening he was tuckered out and didn’t want to perform. So we’re thankful to have the videos from Jenn!
This week was our first school function at Tyler Run with Meet the Teacher night on the playground. We met Mrs. Menary, picked up a kindergarten info packet, and met a few friends on the playground. It was a warm one that night too – but Griffin had so much fun checking out the playground!
We tried our best to get Reid to walk before Jenn left on Friday, but he wasn’t having it!
Here are a couple video’s from Jenn and the last one we captured later on Friday evening – it was the sweetest moment of Reid walking to Finn and giving him a great hug.
Is there anything better than playing in the rain? Not for Griffin! First some bike riding, then puddle jumping, then fielding balls off the backboard (pretty smart idea, eh?).
I’ve been bitten by the shrub-trimming bug recently. We had a few shrubs that were so overgrown it was making mowing the lawn challenging for Kevin. So I started by trimming the dogwood by the driveway and it just went from there! Major shrub trimming such that we had someone come haul away all of the brush – which filled the back of the 1-800-got-junk dump truck about 3/4 full! We really thinned out the front (below) giving much more light to the evergreens there as well as our new Maple. We also trimmed the forsythia and lonicera on the east side of the house and the lilac and spicebush on the west side near the screened in porch. So.much.brush. One of my favorite things to do outside!
After the weather cleared we headed to the zoo for a brief evening trip where, amongst other things, we rode the dinosaur boat ride and the carousel. 
After church on Sunday we had lunch with the Mannings. Totally unplanned and last minute and it was the best time! We talked about many things, but the main thing was small group and how ours will no longer be. The Mannings and Conrads both are stepping back from leading C-group as they are investing their time in other ways at church right now (Kara heading Stillwater in the interim until we find a new youth pastor and Sarah helping with Middle School stillwater). While I find it sad that we no longer have our group, we’re also in a stage of life that seems so busy it may be nice to have less on our plate. Time will tell. While we were at the Mannings Reid took a nap on Kevin, which is super rare, and Kevin really loved the snuggles.
And here are some succulent babies that we picked up at Mom and Dad’s (after the Corso’s trip we stopped there to visit their gardens and pick up vacation stuffs) and took back to Millcreek to propagate. They are growing like gangbusters. 
And I got a new computer this week – a laptop and two new large monitors. Quite a nice setup!
On Tuesday when I came home it began pouring rain. So I sat in my car for a few minutes hoping to wait it out as I had flowers things to take in from work. Finn was so excited to be outside playing in the rain. He rode his bike, jumped in puddles, and made rain angles!
On Friday Finn had his dental check up – this time we learned he has two cavities :(. So, we’re going to get those fixed once we’re back from vacation. But, in the mean time we headed to Zoombeezi day for an afternoon of fun since I had the afternoon off work. It was lots of fun and the lazy river was our favorite. 
And here is Reid, doing a balancing act in his bed. He does this from time to time and just babbles in his room. And there he is emptying out the cabinets…..
Trying to get this one to wear a hat is no easy feat! For Finn’s baseball game I ended up putting sunscreen on his head and it easily made his hair keep a mohawk. This week Aunt Amy, Uncle Andy, and the cousins came to watch Finn play baseball! And Finn won a medal this week too, it was lots of fun. 
Saturday afternoon my OU friends got together for a family pool party at Jaime’s house in Dublin. Sadly, our friend Amy was sick and unable to come with her family. But we all enjoyed an afternoon of swimming and eating! The kids had a lot of fun together going back and forth from the hot tub to the swimming pool. Seems hard to believe it was 20 years ago this summer we graduated!
Sunday’s after church we usually head to Costco where we stock up for the week and Kevin rides the cart in the parking lot. Reid was pretty tired this day and he kept laying his head down on Finn’s shoulder. So sweet. 
After we dropped Finn off at school for his last “normal” day of the year I headed to Millcreek with Reid to check in on the troops. See that big boy taking charge at my desk?
It was bike day on Monday also, so we took Finn’s bike for the day and he enjoyed riding around during the day with his classmates. 
Reid had his 1-year well check on Tuesday this week and he is doing so great! He weighs 21 pounds 14.6 ounces (60th percentile and up 4.5 pounds from his February 9 month check), is 29.5″ (36th percentile and 1.5 inches longer than 9 months) and his head circumference is 48.4 cm (96th percentile, up from 79th percentile in February). He is cruising along couches, chairs, tables and anything he can pull himself up to. He’s a happy boy, who loves to sleep at night and nap during the day. He loves to play and his smile is so big and bright. He’s a stubborn little man that knows what he wants and he often screams to let you know he wants it, he wants down, or he’s not happy you took something away or removed him from something he enjoyed doing. He’s got the most cute (and most pathetic) sad scrunchy lips when he’s sad or tired and he regularly takes his index finger to his lips when he’s without his paci but really wants it. He certainly does love his pacifier, so much that he sleeps with one in his mouth and his backup in his second hand. It’s not uncommon if he wakes up sometimes and has lost his spare that he’ll cry for it until you get it for him. Then he quickly plops down in his bed, lays down, and goes back to sleep. He is so fun!
And here is our soon-to-be graduate on his last morning as a Monkey at NPCA! He was excited to take gifts to his teachers Miss Laura and Miss Lori. His graduation ceremony was at the end of the school day. The kids were so cute they sang several songs and recited their memory bible verses during the ceremony. Finn’s face was obscured in almost every photo I took of the group up on stage, but if you look hard you can find him! He was the first kid of all the graduates to receive their certificate and thanks to Aunt Amy we got a good pic! After the ceremony we had cake before heading to First Watch for a celebratory lunch with cousin Greta, Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein, Aunt Amy, Uncle Andy, cousins Graham, Rowan, Greta, and of course me, Daddy, and Reid. 
And google has been showing me several “then and now” photos so I wanted to include a few. Time is flying by!
And here are a few others from the week. Reid enjoying his yogurt, Finn so tired after taking a nap one afternoon that when I brought him down to the kitchen he fell back asleep on the chairs, and Brutus wanting in on everything as always. 
On Thursday we went to Get Air in Hilliard for cousin Graham’s 8th birthday party! It was an hour or letting out all kinds of energy!
And on Friday Daddy had a surprise fun day at the zoo with Griffin! They spent the afternoon exploring the zoo, riding camels, and having a fun time together. They also went to the local bike shop and bought Griffin a new bike helmut for him to use this weekend as we teach him to ride without training wheels!
You’ll have to check out the video of Griffin learning to ride his bike without his training wheels. Kevin let go of the seat and he was on his way – never looked back! He was so happy and we spent probably 45 minutes to an hour of just watching him ride his bike! Then we went in to the library and checked out some new books before heading to Bob Evans for a celebratory breakfast. 
And of course at some point in the week we went to Graeter’s where everyone always wants to sample my ice cream cone. Griffin’s selfie was one he took while out playing in the yard one day. He asked for my phone and then showed me this. 
Three or so years after we had the birch tree and alberta spruces removed from the front of our houses we finally got some boxwoods planted. Albeit on one of the hottest days of the week and finishing in the dark as we didn’t start until nearly 8 pm once the sun was going down and it was the slightest bit cooler! And we are not at all looking forward to the Jewett Road closure toward Liberty Road where they will be putting in a roundabout this summer. Ugh, it makes the commute to work and home and pretty much everything we do in Powell pretty ugly as we’ll have to take 315 and Powell Road for most things. But hopefully the roundabout will be nice once it’s done!
