Tag Archives: mansfield

May 10, 2015

DSC_0107Finn met Elmo & Grover! The week was a blur, but on Saturday morning we headed to see Sesame Street Live complete with a meet and greet of a few characters.  Finn was mesmerized. He was the first kid to sit on Elmo’s lap and given that he is very much an observer he kind of sat there and took it all in. Not too many smiles but a few smirks! We hung out for awhile and colored, knocked on the door, and pushed the button – it was a fun meet and greet experience.  The show itself was great too. We were in the second row, and Finn loved it all. He sat on Kevin’s lap along the aisle and came pretty close to meeting a few other characters too. We got lots of streamers that fell from the ceiling toward the end of the show 🙂DSC_0099 DSC_0100 DSC_0105 DSC_0102 DSC_0110 DSC_0112 DSC_0121 DSC_0123 DSC_0129 DSC_0131 IMG_20150509_103523166 DSC_0143 DSC_0145 IMG_20150509_104403155 IMG_20150509_104442262 DSC_0152 DSC_0158 DSC_0161 DSC_0164 DSC_0168 DSC_0171 DSC_0178 DSC_0184 DSC_0185 DSC_0187 DSC_0191 DSC_0194 DSC_0201 DSC_0203 DSC_0205 DSC_0207 DSC_0212 DSC_0217 DSC_0220 DSC_0223Afterwards we decided to walk through down town and head to Columbus Commons. It was a warm afternoon but it was nice to be together and explore. Kevin and Finn ran through the grass and we grabbed some lunch after Finn and I rode the carousel 🙂DSC_0228 DSC_0229 DSC_0235We always love spending some time on the patio and watering the planters. Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong were here for a Mother’s day visit this afternoon too. This particular afternoon Finn accidentally watered himself (which he wasn’t happy about – at all!) so he ended up “nu-nu” (or naked baby)!DSC_0243 DSC_0244 DSC_0246 DSC_0247 DSC_0250 DSC_0253 DSC_0254 DSC_0258 DSC_0261 DSC_0263 On Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, Kevin and Finn brought me a bag and Finn said “happy Mother’s day!” as he gave me the bag. Inside the bag was a cute outfit and also a canvas that Finn painted with Debbie of a flower made of Finn’s hand prints.  – I absolutely love it to pieces.  He has the sweetest heart. It is a blessing and a privilege to be his momma. I treasure the miracle that he is to us every day. He brings joy to my heart and a smile to my face. He is the most easy going, yet spunky, fun, energetic, smart, and chatty little boy. His words, sentences, and concepts that he puts into words continue to baffle me.  If you ask him, he’d probably say it’s “no big deal, mom”. If you ask me, he is far above and beyond his 2 years in every way and growing up way too fast. DSC_0003 DSC_0005After church we headed to Mansfield to celebrate Mother’s Day with my family. We all had a nice walk about though mom and dad’s gardens, a ride on the mule, hanging from the shade structure perlins (with no help!), climbing trees, and of course watering some plants!DSC_0018 DSC_0013 DSC_0016 DSC_0021 DSC_0029 DSC_0030 DSC_0031 DSC_0036 DSC_0041 DSC_0046 DSC_0055 DSC_0058 DSC_0061 DSC_0063 DSC_0067 DSC_0068 DSC_0071 DSC_0072 DSC_0078 DSC_0082 DSC_0092Other adventures this week included a trip to a local park and the zoo. Unfortunately, Finn experienced his first sting at the zoo, likely a bee or yellow jacket, on his head. He had some benadryl, and Debbie had the boys nap on the couch so she could make sure he didn’t have any adverse affects from the sting. He’s a tough cookie and was fine, and it turned out to make a pretty cute photo!photo(6) photo(4) photo(3) photo photo(1)

 

April 5, 2015

DSC_0191Happy Easter! We have had a fun weekend with a trip on Saturday to Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein’s house where we had an afternoon full of many activities. We began by making chocolate nests with jelly beans and chicks. Next up was an Easter Egg Hunt with plastic eggs and confetti eggs. The kiddos really thought it was pretty funny to smash the confetti eggs on each other 🙂  And after a yummy dinner we colored some easter eggs. Finn was super tired but didn’t want to take a nap while we were visiting. Sure enough, we hadn’t even been in the car 5 minutes on our way back to Columbus before he was out like a light, and he never falls asleep in the car!IMG_20150404_144627899_HDR-2 DSC_0006 DSC_0012 DSC_0013 DSC_0016 DSC_0027 DSC_0030 DSC_0032 DSC_0045 DSC_0048 DSC_0049 DSC_0050 DSC_0054 DSC_0063 DSC_0066 DSC_0067 DSC_0070 DSC_0074 DSC_0082 DSC_0085 DSC_0089 DSC_0092 DSC_0095 DSC_0098 DSC_0103 DSC_0105 DSC_0110 DSC_0122 DSC_0128 DSC_0130 DSC_0131 DSC_0135 IMG958327 DSC_0138 DSC_0156 DSC_0160 DSC_0162 DSC_0171 DSC_0175 DSC_0179 DSC_0185 DSC_0188Easter morning we woke up early and headed to the 9 am service at our church. We had a nice continental breakfast between services and then served in the nursery for the second service.  Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong visited for the afternoon at our house where we had another fun-filled afternoon. Finn enjoyed playing (and building) his new soccer goal from Grandma and Grandpa before we headed outdoors for an Easter Egg hunt on a sunny afternoon. Lily and Cameron even ventured out and about to participate! Finn wasn’t interested in napping so we had a fairly early dinner and then it was an early night night time for him tonight. We’ve had a fun-filled family weekend celebrating the Resurrection of Christ! He is Risen!DSC_0221 DSC_0227 DSC_0232

DSC_0235 DSC_0214 DSC_0238 DSC_0245 DSC_0248 DSC_0253 DSC_0258 DSC_0263 DSC_0269 DSC_0276 DSC_0216 DSC_0288 DSC_0295 DSC_0297 DSC_0307 DSC_0309 DSC_0312And our seeds are doing AWESOME! Here they are at 1-week. Everything has germinated really well and we’ve taken off the covers already! Finn likes sitting on the counter and checking them out each day. DSC_0204 DSC_0206 DSC_0210 DSC_0211 DSC_0212 DSC_0213And here is an energetic Super Finn!

December 14, 2014

DSC_0469Wow, I’m finding myself constantly behind these days. But our days have been loaded with activities and we’ve been having a lot of fun!

I was able to take Friday, Kevin’s birthday, off work and I figured it would be fun to have a cookie decorating party in the morning with Finn and Sam. I made the cookies and frosting the night before in hopes of having everything ready to go.  Wow, what a fun and messy time we had as evidenced by the photos 🙂 Finn had lots of taste testing of all the cookie decorations. DSC_0427 DSC_0428 DSC_0430 DSC_0432 DSC_0435 DSC_0437 DSC_0438 DSC_0439 DSC_0451 DSC_0452 DSC_0458 DSC_0460 DSC_0465 DSC_0471 DSC_0473 DSC_0478 DSC_0485 DSC_0486 DSC_0480Later that evening we gathered with family and friends and had a pizza party to celebrate Kevin’s birthday. Unfortunately, I realized after that I didn’t snap a photo of the more than 12 different pizza’s we had from 6 different shops. It was a tasty night, for sure. You’ll just have to believe me. I did get a couple cell phone pics of Kevin blowing out the candles on his devil’s food cake made by yours truly. I’ve been having a lot of fun spending time in our new kitchen testing out lots of new recipes.  The cake wasn’t super impressive, but the frosting was delish!IMG_20141212_202930770_HDR IMG_20141212_202942581 IMG_20141212_202948500 IMG_20141212_201537460_HDR IMG_20141212_201415427 IMG_20141212_200549672IMG_9755 IMG_20141212_200515656 IMG_20141212_200508673 IMG_20141212_200411815_HDR IMG_20141212_203731047_HDR IMG_20141212_203757534 IMG_20141212_203948293And here Finn shows his new skills of racing along the floor on his back. It was actually really cute, he laid down next to Uncle Andy and then realized how he could scoot using his heels – and he was super fast. It was pretty hysterical. IMG_20141212_205112418 IMG_20141212_205122593Our sweet girl Cameron also celebrated her birthday on Friday too. Yep, she and Kevin have the same birthday. Here is our 13 year old girl in her party gear. DSC_0497Saturday we made a surprise visit to see Grandma and Grandpa in Mansfield to visit their churches inaugural Nativity Open House. I believe they had over 160 nativity scenes to view, many from their own collection. Finn quickly found the kids Veggie Tales set! We enjoyed dinner out and some play time at Grandma and Grandpa’s too before heading home to gear up for Sunday’s festivities. IMG_20141213_153958547 IMG_20141213_154653454IMG_20141213_154517046IMG_20141213_201249054 IMG_0951We ended the week with a bang on Sunday with our inaugural Candy Making festivities. I remember from my childhood when my parents hosted other families for a candy making day to make hard-tack candy and buckeyes. All of the kids would come too and help a bit with candy-making and also made some crafts.  Earlier this fall my dad suggested that our newly renovated kitchen would be the perfect place to revive the tradition – and I thought it was a fabulous idea! And here you go – images from the day (sorry for those out of focus!) Unfortunately Amy was sick and wasn’t able to come. It was a long afternoon, turned into night, but we had a great time and all of the kids really enjoyed helping.  I made some notes of things to tweak for next year, and we will be scheduling the date far earlier so we can have it on a Saturday!  We ended up making 6 flavors (6 double-batches) including cherry, lemon, black licorice, buttered rum, sassafras, and cinnamon. Mom and dad had made peppermint a couple days before as the trial run. We also made fudge (which was an interesting experiment and needs some perfecting for next year!) and buckeyes.  And mom prepared several crafts for the kiddos, including reindeer ornaments, jingle bell bracelets, and foam ornaments. Everyone had a lot of fun!IMG_20141214_145247542_HDR IMG_20141214_145305810_HDR DSC_0506 DSC_0511 DSC_0509 DSC_0514 DSC_0524 DSC_0519 DSC_0521 DSC_0525IMG_9827 DSC_0540 DSC_0541 DSC_0546 DSC_0549 DSC_0554 DSC_0556 DSC_0557 DSC_0560 DSC_0562 DSC_0543 DSC_0563 DSC_0564 DSC_0565 DSC_0569 DSC_0571 DSC_0574 DSC_0575 DSC_0577 DSC_0580 DSC_0582 DSC_0583DSC_0499 DSC_0585 DSC_0588 DSC_0590 DSC_0592 DSC_0594 DSC_0604 DSC_0600 DSC_0606 DSC_0608 DSC_0614 DSC_0526 DSC_0527 DSC_0529 DSC_0531 DSC_0533 DSC_053420141220_10553320141220_10544420141220_105618