Tag Archives: howard

December 28, 2014

IMG_0963What a fun week we’ve had with all of our family, celebrating Christmas!

We were fortunate to have my parents and Kevin’s parents watch Finn for the first part of the week while Kevin and I worked and Debbie enjoyed some time with her family. I think everyone had fun with our little guy and I know that he certainly did based on all the smiles and chatter I heard. Mom snapped this cute photo above too.

We spent a couple of nights in Mansfield, including Christmas Eve and part of Christmas day. Time went really fast as it always seems to for me these days. Dad, Amy, and I went out for our annual tradition of Christmas Eve shopping and had lots of fun (all of the kids are saying bye to us through the window below). Later that evening we went to the Christmas Eve church service along with my parents, Amy, Andy, and the kids. Kevin snapped the super cute pic of Finn holding the candle at the end of the service 😉 Then we all gathered in front of the tree (and camera) for our annual family photos. That was quite a trip trying to get all of the kiddos to look up or at least sort of in the direction of the camera.  But as always, Amy was able to snap some goodies! We all then headed to a short dessert party at the Dewald’s and then back home to get some shut-eye. We awoke Christmas morning and the kiddos had a bit of play time while the adults grabbed our coffee (or other beverages!). We enjoyed a nice slow pace of going through our Christmas stockings and then had a tasty brunch of sausage, bacon, mush, and eggs before opening our gifts. Griffin seemed to really enjoy everything and loved handing out gifts to everyone. He was an excellent helper.IMG_0958

DSC_0005253314_10202696739689650_227102194906277018_n-2IMG_0028-EditIMG_0047-EditIMG_0062-EditIMG_0034-Edit
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Greta and Finn are enjoying some tea together, and exchanging some serious looks!
DSC_0143DSC_0144DSC_0145DSC_0146Kevin spent many hours setting up Dad’s new computer, transferring files, pictures, getting his email setup and so on. This image captures it all pretty well 🙂

IMG_20141225_130347370And then he grabbed a cat-nap (er…dog nap?) before we headed back to Columbus to celebrate Christie’s birthday with a fabulous dinner prepared and hosted by the Ackermans. All of the kiddos opened their gifts too. Finn loved his glider soccer ball (I couldn’t get a non-fuzzy pic of him playing with it he was moving so fast) and his new tractor with farm animals!DSC_0149IMG_20141225_165632631IMG_20141225_183510717IMG_20141225_184615543IMG_20141225_185837025IMG_20141225_185620384IMG_20141225_185642284IMG_20141225_190416190IMG_20141225_192415302IMG_20141226_241454039IMG_20141226_241339946The next couple of days we laid low, relaxed at home, opened some gifts, and played with our new toys. And enjoyed lots of sweet treats (buckeyes in bed while watching sesame street!) – it is the holidays, right?!  I basically lost my voice (or at least sounded ridiculous!) for a few days and Finn has had a runny nose off and on for a few days. We think he may be teething some as he has been more irritable then typical and he’s grabbing at his jaw and biting his fingers and playing with them in his mouth alot. But nothing poking through just yet. In any case, he certainly loves to play with his new “tools” and try to fix things. IMG_20141226_170227720IMG_20141226_170543050IMG_20141226_173107748DSC_015420141226_181401DSC_0178DSC_0182DSC_0185DSC_0195DSC_0206DSC_0208DSC_0211DSC_0212DSC_0214DSC_0218DSC_0222DSC_0233DSC_0241On Sunday we headed to celebrate the holidays with Kevin’s family. We enjoyed a nice lunch with the extended Armstrong family at Cookie and Steve’s. Griffin, however, preferred to play and didn’t eat 🙂 Here he is on the floor with Ora – they enjoyed kicking balls and running with balls for quite some time. And also a bit of fun while Finn played the part of bulldozer and kept plowing into Ora on the ground, albeit pretty gently. IMG_20141228_165040625IMG_20141228_165424263Then we headed to Brett and Missy’s to celebrate Christmas with them as well as Pat and Jim. I enjoyed far too many cookies while we all opened gifts together. And Griffin absolutely loved meeting and playing with Babou, Brett and Missy’s new dog. She’s a super cute 4 month old boxer/lab mix. Griffin giggled and ran around and received tons of wet kisses. On the way home he kept saying “Babou, nice doggie, bite” as Babou playfully nibbled at his fingers a couple times. It was cute to see him play with such an energetic pup. Sadly, we didn’t have our camera with us and I didn’t snap photos with my phone either – other than this one here, Grandma learning how to use Finn’s nerf gun that he received from Uncle Brett and Aunt Missy. IMG_20141228_201237987

We’ve had a wonderful Christmas season and have many blessings for which we are ever so thankful!

 

 

 

 

October 12, 2014

DSC_0163I love Fall! The weather is so beautiful with comfortable temperatures and such pretty fall color. The days are perfect for spending time outside. And I love it because oftentimes we just jump in the car at the drop of a hat and go to any one of numerous fun places to enjoy Fall.

Sunday after church we were heading to Tim Horton’s to get some lunch (and “doe doe’s”). We were ready to go inside and Kevin said, “or we could go to Young’s and get warm pumpkin donut holes”. What a fabulous idea! So we drove there for a short afternoon of playing on pumpkin wagons and walking through the animal barn. They have a festival with outdoor tents where you can have lunch so we grabbed a burger, hot dog, and their famous cheese curds. It was a chilly day so we enjoyed sitting in the tent for a short bit and topped our lunch off with warm pumpkin donut-holes and some ice cream (the best reason to go there in my opinion!!).IMG_20141005_145426075 IMG_20141005_145258348 IMG_20141005_140729983 IMG_20141005_14155723920141005_13480720141005_13455220141005_14350320141005_144201

Last year we opted not do get the flu vaccine and this year we were back and forth on whether or not we would have Finn get it. In the end we decided to do it, in fact, we all did it together at our pediatrician’s office. We were in the OSU room (which was cool) and it took less than 5 minutes for all three of us – Finn first (he didn’t even whimper or cry), then me, then Kevin. This photo was after the shot 🙂 He is so patient he just sits on our lap and watches the needle go in – and barely flinches. So to celebrate Finn’s toughness we stopped conveniently at Jeni’s for a sweet treat on our way home. IMG_20141007_155202937 IMG_20141007_161711746_HDRWe headed back to Young’s for a weeknight trip too, not realizing that the activities end at 6 pm, oops! We did arrive in time to go through the corn maize so the kiddos enjoyed running around and we then grabbed dinner with the Kessler’s. Finn loved carrying around a corn cob. He actually sat down several time so he could play with them rather than walking through the maize!DSC_0099 DSC_0107 DSC_0116 DSC_0089 DSC_0118 DSC_0112The Howard’s invited us down to their cabin in Hocking Hills, where we enjoyed some time in the woods and on the campus of my alma mater, Ohio University.  Turns out this weekend was Homecoming! We arrived in time to enjoy a lovely tailgate of yummy foods prepared by the Howard’s. They even brought their grill 🙂 Of all places, after talking to a few parking attendants at different lots we ended up in the parking lot behind Pickering Hall – my freshman dorm! I have many fond memories of my freshman year and the friendships I formed on the second floor. After Fall quarter my roommate moved out so I had my double to myself, and Jaime (who lived next door at the time) basically moved in. Oh, the fun we had, I love that place! We walked through campus to the Peden Stadium for the football game and also the highlight of watching the Marching 100 perform at halftime. The alumni band performed during the halftime show too, there were SO many people playing it was awesome. They sounded great, and loud, and Finn kept clapping and saying “more”. There are lots of new buildings on campus and we didn’t spend too much time walking around but I would love to go back with the OU girls sometime soon and spend time being nostalgic!IMG_20141011_125119308_HDR IMG_20141011_134328660_HDR IMG_20141011_134433564 IMG_20141011_142002353 IMG_20141011_142322385 IMG_20141011_143634185 IMG_20141011_150855540 IMG_20141011_152749969 IMG_20141011_154105787_HDR IMG_20141011_154929170 20141011_155903 20141011_161747 IMG_20141011_170058759 IMG_20141011_171035115On Sunday we hung around the cabin. Cameron, Cydney, and Casey were so great playing with Finn. He loves to play with the “durls” (girls) and definitely soaks up the attention. He is shy for about 5 minutes before he comes out of his shell and dances so fast he twirls and ends up on the floor. The adults played a monopoly spin-off game, in which Chris put us all to shame in the end. It’s been so long since I’ve played board games – let’s just leave it at I’ve got lots of room for improvement! In the afternoon we went on a family hike – all 8 of us, plus Clarence. We walked from their cabin all throughout the woods up and down hills, we saw ponds, watched Bubba (aka Clarence) bounce through the water and fields, played with sticks and rocks, petted the horses and barn kittens, and Finn even got to “drive drive drive” the “taktah” (the ATV, but Finn calls most fun large pieces of equipment or vehicles “tractors”).  It was a wonderful and fun, low-key day and it was so nice to be able to enjoy the woods with Finn. He was so exhausted that he was asleep before we left their neighborhood – which, if you don’t know already – he never falls asleep in his car seat until we are 5 minutes from our final destination! IMG_20141012_112647975 IMG_20141012_114902488 IMG_20141012_114925694 20141012_074917 DSC_0123 DSC_0124 DSC_0127 DSC_0128 DSC_0132 DSC_0134 DSC_0135 DSC_0143 DSC_0145 DSC_0149 DSC_0150 DSC_0152 DSC_0159 DSC_0162 DSC_0169 DSC_0172 DSC_0175 DSC_0177 DSC_0181 DSC_0186 DSC_0187 DSC_0190 DSC_0192 DSC_0195 DSC_0199 DSC_0200 DSC_0204 DSC_0205 DSC_0207 DSC_0213 DSC_0215 DSC_0219 DSC_0220 DSC_0221 DSC_0214 IMG_20141012_161106264

While most of the remodeling is complete I haven’t taken any “final” photos just yet. We’re hoping within the next 2-3 weeks we’ll have some artwork on the walls and everything will look complete.  For now, I’ve got a few pics of the trim work in the kitchen. It’s so pretty!IMG_20141009_075605174_HDR IMG_20141009_075620318_HDR