Yay Griffin! He was nominated by his teacher as one of two classroom recipients of the 1st Quarter Teamwork Award! We were in Tennessee during the school wide assembly, but Mrs. Hale offered to present it to him in front of the class once we were back. It worked out perfectly where I was volunteering the Monday we returned so I was able to see him receive his award – he was surprised!
The video is here:
I stayed after to work with the kids on word lists. Griffin is doing really well learning more and more words all the time. He crushed his November goal – he learned 60 new words and the goal was 15!
We headed to Mansfield for Thanksgiving festivities on Tuesday evening after swim lessons. Mom had plenty of fun for the kids to enjoy while we were there including a placemat making activity and folders of worksheets and activity sheets – one for each kid! The various activities kept them occupied and having fun for quite some time while Amy and Andy were packaging seed orders. The weather was SUPER windy but at one point I looked out and it seemed calm so we decided to give covering the greenhouse a go while there seemed to be a lull in the wind. We got super lucky and were able to get it done (I didn’t think there was going to be anyway with nearly 30 mph winds!). Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of our work though I did get one of Kevin being silly in the woods.
On Thanksgiving morning we got up, I took Brutus on an early walk, and then we all packed up and headed to the Turkey Trot / Kids fun run which all the cousins participated in. It was a chilly morning and Reid refused to run, but Graham, Greta, Rowan, and Griffin got in a quick race. We headed back home and got ready to head to Enon for the Armstrong Thanksgiving while Mom and Dad watched the Bethune kids while Amy and Andy ran the 5k.
We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving meal at lunchtime at Dave and Gayle’s home. We were able to spend time with everyone, Griffin played some football with his cousins, and we ventured out to feed the horses some carrots. Reid was so funny, he kept saying “he bit me, HAHAHAHA”. He did really well feeding them out of his own hand. He would giggle every time. And Griffin liked feeding and petting them too. They are nice and pretty horses.
We drove back to Mansfield where we had round 2 and a tasty Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dads. After a little relaxation we headed to bed and then it was up and at ’em for breakfast at Bob Evans to begin our annual Black Friday Shopping tradition. After gobbling up our breakfast we headed to Polaris, then to Easton where we got some items purchased off our list. We ended up at Bon Vie for our traditional dinner in the private circle room – it’s such a nice space! The kids put together their lego toys while we waited on dinner. After dinner we continued shopping some and got several more things accomplished – it was a successful outing!
On Saturday morning everyone woke up early so we decided to gun it and head to get our tree. It was originally forecasted to be a yucky rainy day but since it wasn’t raining and we had a noon OSU-Michigan game time we kicked it in to high gear. We arrived at Cackler Farms and made our way to the fields looking for a tall Canaan or Fraser Fir. There weren’t nearly as many options this year, but we found one and began cutting it down within 20 minutes of arriving! Kevin cut it down with no troubles and he hauled it to the barn. Whew, it’s a 12 1/2 foot Canaan fir! While Kevin was checking out, I headed to the playspace where the kids played in the cornbox and rode the slide. We always enjoy our visit there, though we’re thinking we may need to find a new place next year that has more options for larger trees!
Once we were home we were in full-on Buckeyes mode (notice the O-H,,,,,,, I-O below, which was Griffin’s idea).
Griffin continues to love all of his lovies. He regularly sorts them or organizes them by animal species, or puts them all down for a rest as he did here.
Reid is our mr. sassy pants. He is sweet yet sassy. He’s our firecracker. Goofy and short tempered. And we love him so!
One night I washed Brutus’ dog bed cover and didn’t get it back on before bedtime. When I awoke in the middle of the night I looked over and Lily had somehow made her way on the portion that was leaning against the wall! These dogs, they are spoiled and love their soft beds that’s for sure.
On December 1st, Kevin and I had a nice date night and went to the Amy Grant & Michael W Smith concert at Nationwide. It’s always a fun way to get in the spirit of Christmas and I love hearing the songs by both of them that bring back so many memories of Christmas for me growing up. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without them!
We decorated our tree on a weeknight which was great, except it took forever and Griffin went to bed at almost midnight. Kevin had been exhausted from work and not sleeping well, Reid was having a great time but was nearing his bedtime and so Kevin put Reid to bed and went to bed himself. So Griffin and I enjoyed Christmas music and put up so-many-ornaments! He loves it so much and he quietly sings Christmas songs as he puts up the ornaments. He’ll occasionally say “mom, I remember this one from last year!!” with so much excitement in his voice. He had been begging to decorate the tree for several nights before we were able to make it happen. As we got everything finished and cleaned up he proclaimed “mom, we forgot to have hot cocoa!!!”. At the hour of 11:30 we weren’t going there, so we rather enjoyed a sweet ice cream treat and then hit the hay very quickly. Bad mom award for such a late bedtime that night, but memories we made were fun so it doesn’t really bother me :).
The next evening there was a family Pottery night and book fair at Tyler Run. I helped setup the fair (as I’m helping with the large school book fair put on by the PTO in February). We ended up being super busy and the pottery painting was really successful also. It was the first time our school had done it. Griffin painted me a “surprise” mug and they each painted ornaments.
Here’s our Lily girl taking in some sunshine at the front door followed by a selfie I found on my phone of Finn 🙂
It’s that time of year again! We had a lovely week filled with two Thanksgiving feasts, black Friday shopping, and Christmas tree hunting. This week of the year always seems to be here so quickly once the Fall season arrives. And it’s filled with so much activity it passes so fast! We really enjoyed spending time with family this year.
I always enjoy the artwork at Thanksgiving. This year Finn brought home a colorful handprint. Hannah has taken the boys to the new Hilliard Library a few times, including this week. From what I hear they have a nice donut and coffee shop, amongst other things in the nice new facility. 
Tuesday after work I headed to Mansfield with the boys and the dogs. Kevin stayed home as he was working part of Wednesday. In the end, we always seem to need two cars anyhow with the dogs, kids, and all our stuff! Griffin was SO excited that there was snow on Wednesday morning. He kept wanting to go outside to see it and touch it. Grandma watched Reid and Finn, while Andy, Dad, and I covered the greenhouse with plastic. It ended up being perfect weather with little to no wind and a nice temperature. We got it covered really easily this year 🙂
The kiddos happened to all be wearing matching black jammies when they came down on Thanksgiving morning! I had them line up for this photo all in their Heat 32 Costco jams, lol. 
On Thanksgiving Day we headed to Enon mid-morning for the Armstrong family lunch held at Dave and Gayle’s. We all gathered for a posed family photo this year, which turned out great! Reid enjoyed being a big boy sitting at the table in a big kid chair and entertaining Jason and Lisa. We hung out with everyone for a few hours before piling in the car and heading to Mansfield for Thanksgiving Dinner. Nothing like two big meals in one day! I actually enjoy it as each meal has different items so we end up getting an awesome assortment of foods!
While I didn’t snap any family photos in Mansfield, I did manage to get on of Brutus, ha! We woke up Friday morning and headed to Bob Evans for our traditional fuel-up before heading down to Columbus for shopping at Polaris and Easton. We had a very successful shopping day this year – making tons of headway on our shopping lists! The traffic was rather crazy, but the lines really weren’t too bad anywhere. So many stores offer good deals online that I think just as many people are home shopping as are in the stores! Reid did really well being in his stroller so much of the day. I love the pic of him snuggling Finn. We enjoyed a tasty dinner at Bon Vie where we once again had the private room. It is awesome as it can be closed off with a curtain so it’s nice and cozy and quiet! Mom and Dad brought a mini-lego kit for each of the kids to work on while we waited for our dinner. They had them put together really quickly. 
On Saturday morning we met up with the Bethune’s to have our family picture taken and also get some of the cousins together. It was cold and wet and yucky, but in the end Amy got some really great shots. Even a really good out-take of Reid having a meltdown!
We went to church on Sunday and afterward headed to Cackler Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a wonderfully warm (for November) and sunny day, perfect for tree hunting. I was afraid it might we muddy and yucky but it turned out to be just right. The boys trekked through the field and each rode in the sled. We found a tall canaan fir, about 12 1/2′ tall, really pretty quickly! We took turns hauling it this year up to the barn (as we were also corralling Reid!). While Kevin got the tree bundled up and checked out the boys and I hung out inside the play area, which is a greenhouse structure. With the sun and clear plastic it was warm in there! Another ear of tree hunting in the books!
Happy guy! It’s been a whirlwind week yet again with the a trip to Mansfield and Enon for Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, and our annual Christmas tree hunt at Cackler Farms. As always, each day is filled with fun yet passes too quickly. We really feel fortunate that we get to see all of our family for each of the holidays, though I wish we could spend a week at each place rather than a day or less!
Reid had his first finger food – celery! He was so wanting to participate and put food in his mouth so we gave him a celery stalk and he made some serious headway gumming and chewing on it. He was a happy guy.
Lily and Brutus make themselves right at home and they like to be near the fire in the family room. Lily gets extra spoiled by being up on the comfy couch!
Griffin really loves to sleep next to Brutus. Some day I hope we can have him sleep in Finn’s room at our house. But for now, there are far too many things to destroy in his room – not to mention that Brutus gets up super early in the morning (5:30-6:30ish) to start the day with his breakfast and we don’t want Griffin getting up that early!
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is our traditional seed planting day. We weren’t as efficient as years past with the new dynamic of Reid and just spending time together hanging out (and eating, of course). We were able to get about 8 trays done though. And Griffin and Rowan enjoyed learning about what we do and helping Grandpa set out the flats and get the shelves ready for planted trays of seeds. 
On Thanksgiving morning we woke up (early!) and by 8 am Griffin and I had our pecan pie in the oven! He loves being the mixer and dumper. And it was yummy if I do say so myself :). 
Watching a bit of the Macys parade before we headed outside (in the 28 degree weather) to take family photos! We caught the Power Rangers balloons. 
Amy brought her camera and took our family photos, cousins photos, and photos of all of us together. I even included the outtake, lol. This is only a portion of them that I had on my phone – I’ll add more when I get them off my other computer!
We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Dave and Gayle’s house along with most of the Armstrong family. Even though we eat two meals, there is hardly any overlap in the food other than turkey and mashed potatoes. And my favorites are always the side dishes anyway! The kids get to feed the horses special treats of apples and peppermint crunch treats. I enjoy petting them and feeding them too – I always thought I’d have a horse someday but I doubt that will ever happen and I wouldn’t even know how to care for one! But I picked Dave’s brain about his horses and that was fun. I guess maybe like grandkids – they’re fun to visit and then you can leave!
I realized I didn’t snap any photos of dinnertime in Mansfield but I did get a few random pics. 
The kids put on a concert for us where they each played a piece of their own creation on the piano. They were quite fun to listen to and quite different from one another. They were cute and proud. 
We hit up Polaris and Easton this year on Black Friday. The crowds, traffic, and parking were crazy but we had great success and enjoyed a nice breakfast at Bob Evans and dinner at Bon Vie. Reid did great for the whole day. We put him in the stroller seat for the first time (as opposed to the car seat attached to the stroller) and I think he enjoyed being able to be reclined and have a more spacious seat. 
On Saturday we headed to Cackler to get our Christmas tree. It was a nice afternoon and we found a tall and pretty one really pretty quickly. Kevin brought his battery powered drill so we were in and out pretty quickly. We went during the first part of the Michigan game so we were eager to get home and see what was happening. We ended up getting a 12′ Cannan Fir that we love!
Matching winter pajamas!
Kevin and I brought the tree in and set it up on Sunday. Then while Griffin and I ran some errands Kevin got it straightened up and the lights put on by the time we were home. It fits perfectly in the corner of our family room and we didn’t have to trim any off the top this year :). 
And here Brutus is getting comfy on our new rug. We got it back in February but have had it rolled up in the loft until we had new furniture to go with it. Our new couch arrived on Sunday – so now our room is transformed and we are looking forward to enjoying our new digs.