Tag Archives: birthday

Reid is 3! ~ May 20, 2020

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R-E-I-D  I-S  3 !!!

Reid woke up all smiles on his birthday! These pictures were snapped by 6:30 am! He was so excited to awake and find that his door was decorated and the kitchen was too. The best part? The rocket balloon! He was super excited about the balloons. And also the break-through banner that Griffin wrote out for him “Happy Birthday Reid   From Griffin”.

Reid is full of love and spunk. He’s fun, sassy, silly, and stubborn! He loves all things yogurt, cheese, crackers, chocolate, and sweets. He will not let a vegetable be on his plate, let alone eat one! Not one for much protein other than chicken nuggest and the daily PBJ. He is determined. He’s a little jokester and may be an entertainer one day. He knows how to ham it up for the camera and is a champ at the “no smiling” game with Daddy and Griffin. He loves to snuggle and do anything his big brother does – always! We love him to pieces and are so happy to celebrate him.

I kept asking Reid what kind of cake he would like for his birthday. He went back and forth between Pokemon (what Griffin had) to Bunny. But the last several times I asked he kept saying bunny – so that is what he got! I’m not as talented as my Mom in decorating just yet, lol. I didn’t have a lot of creative juice or energy at 10 pm on a weeknight in spring! But Reid loved and and his smile makes me happy.

Reid is getting pretty good at taking pictures with my phone (even when it is locked!) so here are a few he took this morning.

Signature Reid smile! Big wide smile, happy eyes, and a bit of a nose scrunch. We made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and both boys came with me in the morning for my walk with Brutes. Griffin got up early to celebrate his bro!

(we concluded our walk by checking out Daddy’s handiwork in diverting a clogged downspout amid torrential downpours we’ve recently had).

Reid was excited to show Haya his balloons! We tried our best to re-enact the “2” photo from last year, lol. Haya gave Reid all kinds of play-doh which he absolutely loved. They played for hours at the kitchen table.

I left work at 4 (and went in late) so I was home during daylight – woohoo! We had Rooster’s carryout for dinner (mac and cheese bites, tater tots, mandarin oranges is the current favorite of Reid!) and did presents and cake.

Reid has been loving “pushing” Griffin on Reid’s trike lately. There are lots of giggles and silliness during our excursions.

We had a socially distanced cookout at our house with family to celebrate Reid turning 3 and Graham turning 10! The Beilstein’s and Bethune’s joined us out in the back yard for a tasty spread followed by cupcake-cones and presents. Kevin got the award for finding a super funny card for Graham 🙂

 

 

 

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.

August 2019

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We spent the last couple weeks of summer packing in all sorts of activities and wrapping up our Bucket List. We did super-great this year, accomplishing most everything on our list with the exception of a couple things! It definitely was a busy summer and seemed to fly by faster than any other yet.

Summer baseball wrapped up on a perfect sunny morning. Griffin did really well this season both fielding and getting some great hits. He is pretty focused out there.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Irish Festival. We essentially spent several hours in the kids play area and then had some dinner under one of the tents. Reid is at an age where it makes it challenging to really do much other than kids stuff. And like most his age, waiting doesn’t come easy for this toddler. So while we’re happy to have gone, Kevin and I decided next year we’ll get a sitter and go for an adult afternoon/evening where we can take in more of the actual festival!

One of the items on our summer bucket list was riding our bikes to downtown Powell for dinner and ice cream, which we were able to (mostly) accomplish! Kevin rode his bike to Library Park by our house where he met me and the boys. We took my bike and Griffin’s bike in the van and parked there so we wouldn’t need to bike on Jewett Road as there aren’t any sidewalks. We rode all the way to City Barbecue and Graeter’s on another nice evening. Once dinner was over we hopped on our bikes and about 10 feet away from City BBQ the pedal of Kevin’s bike fell off.  It had been loose on our way there and we were hoping to make it home, but it wouldn’t stay on. We switched Reid’s chair to my bike and the boys and I headed thru town and back to Library park. We tossed our bikes in the car and drove home to drop them off and then headed to pick Kevin and his bike up at Village Green Park. A memorable trip!

This was my version of showers for the boys on this particular night, lol. The both thought it was great and I must say it was actually quite fun and full of laughter.

Another summer bucket list item was camping in the back yard and making s’mores! We had the perfect night weather-wise and Kevin and Griffin had setup our camp in the back yard complete with our neighbors fire pit. Lily and Brutus joined us outside for pizza and ginormous s’mores. Then we got ready for bed and the boys watched a show on the tablet before lights out in the tent – all 4 of us plus Lily and Brutes. After about 15 minutes in the dark of Reid still getting up and wondering around inside I decided to throw the towel in and take Reid inside. So that night Kevin and Griffin and the dogs slept in the tent. The following day was a busy one starting with a birthday party for our friend Sammy, then a baseball game for Finn, followed by a fun night at Crew Stadium, which we got tickets through Locker Soccer for a special night where the kids got on the field before the game to play, they sat on the benches during the team warm ups, and then a halftime got to go to the tunnel and smack hi-fives to the players as they returned to the field. It was a nice evening – another perfect fall temperature night – so Griffin and I took a turn in the tent when we got home.

The following day we headed to my friend Jaime’s house for a pool party with my college girl friend crew and (most of) their families. We enjoyed a nice cookout and all of the kids and adults were in and out of the pool and hot tub for several hours. Another great afternoon of sun and fun! It’s crazy how quickly these kids are growing up – Audrey turned 13 this month!

On Tuesday, 8/13, we headed to the Open House where Griffin met his first grade teacher, Mrs. Hale. He explored his room and put away his school supplies in his desk. It was a short but fun visit. Afterward we headed for haircuts which were in dire need before school started Thursday!

I’ve been working on being more prepared with meal ideas for the week and having easy and quick dinners to make on the weeknights. It’s been working out pretty well and the boys have been eating well too. I actually snapped a pic of Reid eating spaghetti, yay!

The first day of school was on Thursday, 8/15. Griffin was so excited he walked into the kitchen fully dressed with shoes and socks on at 6:50 am! He went out and talked to the middle schoolers at 7:30 am (our driveway is the bus stop for all – elementary/middle/high). Kevin prepared a fun pancake breakfast, including a tiger paws and 1st! Griffin has the most genuine, huge smile with his plate of cakes. We hung out in the driveway with Haya and our neighbors and all of the kiddos awaiting the bus. Haya brought Griffin a 1st day of school present  skeeball! Wowzer, this boy has it made! We love having our driveway be the hub of activity :). I’m really liking his teacher, Mrs. Hale. I enjoyed going to the Curriculum night and learning more about her and her teaching philosphy and the plan for the year. She uses an app called Bloomz and regularly posts class updates, including photos, throughout the week. Some of the pics below are from the app.

We headed to Nocterra for a spontaneous hang out with our neighbors on Friday afternoon at the end of the first school week. The kids had a lot of fun and were sweaty messes by the time we went home.

I found this selfie on my phone and while it’s dark I think it’s a cute one of Finn :). This boy is growing up too fast for my liking….he’s got a tooth starting to poke through on the bottom and hadn’t lost one yet, that is until on Sunday night, after the first couple days of school Griffin asked Daddy to pull it! Kevin made a lasso using floss and sure enough that baby was so ready to come out it flew across the bathroom and hit my leg! Griffin said it didn’t even hurt! He was excited to use his Tooth Fairy box for the first time. Earlier in the afternoon on Sunday we gathered with the Bethunes, Mom, and Dad at the Dublin South Pool to celebrate Rowan’s birthday. It was quite a warm day and many others had the same idea but we had a great time. Reid has really become a water bug and Graham walked all around the pool with him. Dad and Rowan tag teamed the water slide too :).  Later in the week on Wednesday, Griffin came home with a tooth missing! His tooth came out in class and he got to go to the nurse who gave him a tooth necklace in order to safely get his tooth home. I was amazed, it made it all the way home even on the bus! This kid has had a big week!

On Wednesday, Reid had his “meet the teacher” morning for a half hour, where he can play in his classroom, meet his teacher, and get comfortable with his surroundings. His Guppy class is in the same room he is in on Sunday’s during church so he’s already pretty comfortable there. He will be going to school on Monday and Wednesday’s from 9:30 am – 1 pm.

On Friday I took Reid with me to Millcreek for a couple hours to get some things done on my “day off”.  He enjoyed pretending to drive the golf carts and tractors. He did really well as we were there for just less than 3 hours. He watched some Peppa , his most requested show, on the tablet to keep occupied.

Later on Friday Griffin and I went to the St. Joan of Arc Festival just down the street. Reid stayed home and went to bed and Daddy got some quiet time.  We met up with our neighbors Abbie and her dad Bernie and the two kids went from ride to ride for a couple of hours. It was cool outside by the end of the night – I could have used a jacket!

We’ve signed Griffin up for i9 Soccer for the Fall season and the first game was Saturday. Griffin is all about sports. He is the most intent player out there, so focused and hard core! He did really well considering this is the first time he’s done soccer on a team that plays games! One of his teammates scored at the end of the game to tie it up for a 2-2 tie. Kevin is coaching along with Brian, our neighbor, and Cole and Griffin are on the team together. It will be a fun fall season.

After soccer we headed to Enon for the night. The boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Kevin and I headed to Dayton to have dinner with Sarah and Kara before heading to the Lauren Daigle concert at the Nutter Center. After dinner we had 1.2 miles to drive to the concert – and would you believe it took us more than an hour to get there! Traffic was insane, unlike any traffic I’ve sat in for Buckeye games or concerts anywhere I’ve ever gone! But we made it after the warm-up artist (don’t even know who it was!) and before Lauren began playing. It was a lovely show, she has one of the most flawless voices I’ve heard especially in a live concert. It was great.

On Sunday we enjoyed a lazy start to the day and then were off to Young’s for a bit of fun in the batting cages, the barrel rides, playing in the corn bin, and ice cream – of course! We fed the goats too before heading back for dinner at Grandma and Grandpas. Another great weekend of fun!

Now that school has been in session a couple of weeks we’ve got a good routine down. Weeknights are busy as Griffin has swim on Mondays and Soccer on Tuesdays, then soccer again on Saturday mornings. We grab dinner after swim (as it starts at 5) and this week stopped at Culver’s. There was a face painter there so both boys got Spiderman on their cheeks. They were delighted. Afterward we had to make a quick pit stop at Target, in their skeleton pjs nonetheless. My little skeletons were crazy characters running around Target. Then it was home and to bed.

And here are a few more from the end of the month. Haya sent me this picture of Reid which I thought was perfect! Griffin is becoming more and more brave as he’s learning to climb trees. It makes this mama nervous though I’m encouraging him to do as much as he feels comfortable doing! On Thursday night the boys and I went on a 35 minute bike ride going through several neighborhoods near us. It was a lot of fun as we explored new to us places on bikes and then finished with a sweet treat in the driveway.

We kicked off the Labor Day weekend on Friday with pizza at Dewey’s, Ice cream across the street at Graeter’s, and then putt putt nearby in Westerville. We hadn’t been to the Westerville Golf Course before but are glad we went as the mini-golf course was fun and beautifully landscaped. We will go back when we can spend more time and take in the batting cages!

Saturday morning it was up and at ’em for breakfast followed by a short trip to COSI to see the Jim Henson exhibit before it leaves! We were able to see many of the Sesame Street characters and various artifacts from Jim Henson’s puppeteer career. We also explored the dinosaurs and got wet in the kids water area. Then we headed home to watch the Buckeyes win the first game of the season. Go Bucks. The boys enjoyed playing flag football during the game, lol.

I’m excited that we have two canteloupe and one watermelon growing this year in our garden, however, they’ve come down with powdery mildew and I’m not sure the fruit will mature before the plants die off. Ugh. It’s a good thing cucumbers are easy – that’s about the only thing we seem to grow reliably in our garden each year.

 

 

And here are a few shots at Millcreek. We took several members of our team up to Corso’s in early August. Many of our staff hasn’t seen the new shipping process in action, they’ve just heard us explain it. To get everyone a bit more comfortable and to see things with their own eyes we took a field trip. Then a couple weeks later our consultant was in town and we did a “mock up” in our new facility. We took the team out with batch pull tickets to pull the mass items from the greenhouses, then took the racks in and ran them through the process in the new facility and got them staged in the supermarket. Then we shopped the supermarket for individual orders.  So many moving parts!! It is really cool to see it all come together, but there are so many details to still iron out. This spring will be quite different.

The electric and dock/driveway areas are nearly complete. This week we were able to have our main driver pull down into the dock and “mock” position the truck in each of the 4 dock lanes. It’s going to be good  – and tight – with the western most dock lane, but he got in and out and says it will do – Woohoo!