It’s still pretty much all things puppy around here. We are all having fun with Brutus. I took this photo to document Brutus’ growth as he is definitely getting taller and longer!
Lately Griffin has been showing interest in wanting to take photos. He even goes and gets our nice camera and takes photos by looking through the eye-piece. He has captured some great ones of the dogs snuggling together. Brutus really loves to cuddle. If I’m around it is usually with me, but he often lays with Lily too – any and everywhere, in the closet, on the carpet, by Finn’s bed, and so on as you can see. 
After Finn took some photos he then wanted to be in some. I wanted to get one of the dogs’ feet together and he wanted to put his paw in too. You can also see his black eye here is healing and turning a bit yellow. He’s unbothered!
Griffin took this one of me and sharkie and Brutus and the one of Brutus in the kitchen below. . Turned out great, eh?
This is the typical scene for nap or bedtime. Reading Finn stories and the dogs cuddling on the floor!
Brutus is a pretty photogenic pup and is also fairly good at listening when you ask him to sit. Especially if you have a treat to share!
Nap or bed time starts like this.
And ends like this!
Brutus is chewing all sorts of toys and bones – and unfortuately a few human things too – like the zippers to both dog beds!! Ugh, he chews them at the only end you can start the zipper essentially ruining the zipping ability. This mammoth bed that we’ve had forever is now in need of a repair person to put in a new zipper so we can put it back together. In the mean time they are laying on the floor instead!!
Griffin is really enjoying being creative lately. He likes to play in his room with his legos and build all kinds of creations. He also really enjoys when you tell him a story or when he creates one to tell you. He has a really fun and creative imagination and we love hearing his stories!
Debbie brought some fun markers this week that could be used on the windows. It was a nice and sunny day outside too so Finn colored some spring time images on the windows. 
Art or creativity hasn’t ever been a gift of mine so we are thankful that Debbie loves to do art projects almost every day. Here they made stuffable mittens that they filled with letters and animals 🙂
Finn enjoys are projects at preschool too! Seems hard to believe it is time for next year’s preschool registration, but the time has arrived. We signed Griffin up for his last year of preschool (!!) in the Monkey class for 2017-2018. He will be going 4 days a week next year!
On Saturday we celebrated Andy’s birthday with a nice dinner out followed by tasty carrot cake and ice cream at their house. Yummers! 
On Sunday at the end of church we were talking with friends and one of them, Chris, asked us if we wanted to go to the OSU basketball game at 1:30. Woah, that sounded like a fun time! So we booked it out of church and went home to feed the dogs. Then we put it in high gear to get to the game where we got to our seats just prior to tip off. And the seats were GREAT! We are thankful for the fun afternoon and the generosity of Chris!
Later that day Finn and I were in his room and Lily laid down behind the chair, a common place for her to be. Finn though Lily would enjoy being covered up by his stuffed animals so he “hid” her so she could sleep. Can you find her? And of course Brutus isn’t ever far away, so he crashed the party. Then Finn wanted to be in the photo too – pretending to sleep of course!
Happy 2017! We are finding a new normal around here with our young pup Brutus! This week is all things pup it seems as you will see with the photos. Hardly a human to be found other than Finn. We moved his crate up to our room after a few nights of being home and he is doing much better at night. He will go into his room on his own now (no more forcing him in there!) and he lays down right away. Sometimes he muffles a whimper or two but then he’s out. We’ve put him out a few nights around 2:30 am and then he’s ready to wake up about 6 or so. 
Everyone I show a picture of Brutus to comments on how big his paws are. Yep, he’s gonna be a big boy. Here are some pics of his paws at 14 weeks for reference 🙂
Griffin just loves dogs. He has always loved snuggling with Lily and Cameron. He now goes back and forth cuddling with Lily and Brutus. At night time he usually lays next to one of them during songs and the other during prayers. 
Brutus loves to lay on my side of the bed on the floor. We’ve found him in some crazy uncomfortable looking positions at times when he is sleeping!
Lily is warming up to Brutus and allowing him to snuggle up close to her pretty often. They also play tug of war and try to get toys away from one another. They are getting along great!
This week Debbie was sick for a few days so on Tuesday Griffin went with me to work for a few hours. We took his tablet and he setup his “office” and worked a bit while I was working too. He was a trooper as I ended up being there far longer than I had anticipated! Silly me, I forgot all about Brutus needing lunch and Finn and I had planned to have a lunch date on our way home. But instead, we ran through the Panera drive through and ate at home! He was so excited to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – like it is a delicacy! I guess we’ve never really made him one before (or at least in a REALLY long time) so he thought it was great and has since asked for it again!. 
On Wednesday Jim and Pat came up for the day to play with Griffin while Kevin and I worked. I didn’t snap any photos! But Finn had a great time. On Thursday Finn had school so I took him and then went to work a bit late. Amy was able to pick him up and take him to her house with the kiddos for the afternoon. We were expecting a lot of snow that day but it didn’t really happen. The kiddos were excited to play hockey (Amy too) outside on their patio. When I arrived to pick Finn up Amy pointed out that Finn had gotten a bit of a black eye at school. Yikes! Seems as though Maggie ran into Griffin smack in the corner of his left eye! 
These photos are from Amy!
And here you can see the beginnings of his black eye!
On Friday we celebrated Chad’s birthday with a nice dinner out at Harold’s in Worthington followed by drinks at Chubby’s. I must say, I have the best hubby ever, as I said “I just want some ice cream” when everyone was putting in their drink order at the bar. Next thing you know I was sitting at our table and he walked over with a double-scoop cup of ice cream from the UDF that was next door. Yummers! I am so spoiled. 
Tree decorating time! Griffin was really excited to decorate our tree this year. He kept taking all of his ornaments and stepping up onto the brick fireplace step where he placed most of his ornaments on the tree. It was fun to watch the excitement on his face. Kevin got the top of the tree from the ladder – and he was all the way to the top!
Griffin had several fun adventures and activities this week including crafting and baking Gingerbread men and then trying to find the one that escaped! I had to do some homework outside of work hours one evening so Debbie stayed late and they ventured to the Fantasy of Lights in Galena where you drive through a display of lights and then get to sit and talk with Santa at the end. They had quite a fun night!
Our family adventure took us to Hocking Hills and Ohio University to watch Cameron Howard participate in the OU Honors Band. It was fun to hang with friends and be back on the campus of my Alma Mater. We enjoyed dinner at Jackie O’s Brewery in the heart of uptown Athens and then headed back to their cabin in Hocking Hills where Finn enjoyed helping to decorate their Christmas tree. 
On Sunday we attended the Love Changes Everything Christmas Program at church. This year part of the program included a performance by Holywell, a band that includes several church members. Turns out the kiddos enjoyed dancing around in the “mosh pit” up front. It was cute to watch.