We started November off with a photo session of the 1953 MG TD as we needed to get photos of the four corners of the car for the Bring a Trailer listing. It was a bit fun, shall we say, as the battery was dead and we could only locate our battery backs with one set of cables (not our true jumper cables) which weren’t effective. Finally we were able to borrow a pair of true jumpers from our neighbor and got her started and out into the street for some photos! The hour delay in all of that turned out to be a good thing as we captured some nice photos with the sun setting. Kevin took the boys for a ride down the street and back. Griffin also helped me get some photos of the hard top, acting as the “hidden” support to keep it propped up. Afterward I got some photos of he and Reid being goofy.  Monkey see, monkey do around here.  After we wrapped up our photo shoot we packed up the car, the dogs, and the kids and headed to Mansfield to get the HostaWorks Seed Shoppe ready for online sales for 2019. Kevin works all of that magic while the kids have fun playing. Dad and I got the labels printed for the seed trays and then I snapped some pics of Mom and Dad to use on the website this year. It was a fast weekend and the site launched well with only two sneaky pre-orders before the site was actually live.  As it turns out it has been a record breaking year for seed sales. The first 24 hours brought in crazy sales. The site went live at 5 pm, by 9:40 pm half the SKUs were out of stock and we had received 43 orders. By 8 pm the next night we were at 71 orders and 592 or 775 total packs sold, and only 39 of 148 SKUs still available. It was nuts!

I took Brutus on a walk with Mom and Griffin in the morning. It was one of my more frustrating walks with him to be honest. There were so many distractions and lots of newness so he wasn’t listening to best. But we got it in anyhow and he demonstrated some of his listening skills and commands as we got back home to Mom and Dad’s.

On Monday and Wednesday mornings I’m home to get Griffin on the bus and take Reid to preschool. Some of those mornings I haven’t had time to get Brutus walked before the kids are up, so we’ve headed out together. It has been pretty chilly a couple of times but the boys have been troopers and enjoy the brisk start to the day.  After texting back and forth with Brutus’ trainer about his pulling/barking/growling when encountering people or other dogs on walks he suggested a slip leash. We got one and I’m really happy with how it works and how you can more easily control the dog, taking the unwanted behaviors pretty much off the table.

Reid has brought home some fun art work from preschool. I met with one of his teachers this week for conferences and she had good things to say. He’s a good listener, he plays well on his own and with his peers, he’s able to do a lot of fine and gross motor skills well. She did note that he doesn’t smile much for them, but that they know he’s happy as he’s not seeming sad or upset. I noted that he’s very observant and also that he talks so much. She was surprised to hear me say that he’s a big talker, she said he doesn’t talk much at school. That honestly surprised me, though she explained that there are some strong personalities in the classroom. With that I’m not surprised at all, I can imagine Reid watching what’s going on. One thing she noted to work on was sharing, which basically all 2 year olds need to work on, lol.

One evening the boys put on their matching footed pj’s and decided to be goofy together. Griffin asked me to capture all of their silly poses. I love these silly boys!

On Sunday Griffin was invited to a friends birthday party at The Movement Lab, a fun ninja-warrior-like training facility. The all boy party was two hours of athletic ninja obstacle course, pizza, and cake!  I found him playing in his room early one morning making lego creations. He loves to play with people, but also loves his time alone to create.

On voting day, we like to take the boys to the polls with us to learn about voting and our civic duty. Afterward, we go to breakfast typically at Anne’s Kitchen in Powell.  We had voted, eaten breakfast, and were able to get home in time for Griffin to make the bus at 8:35 am!

For Veteran’s Day, Griffin’s school had a breakfast where the kids were able to invite a veteran and have breakfast with them. An assembly followed afterward. Griffin invited Grandpa Armstrong (US Navy 1960-63) as his guest. He wrote a cute little invitation for Grandpa. Grandpa drove Griffin and himself to school and I popped in quickly to snap a couple of pictures. They were treated to a pretty large spread of breakfast foods and cards and crafts handmade by the kids on the tables. Thank you for your service, Grandpa!

Early one morning I had to head to WestCamp, the printer for the Millcreek catalog, for the 2020 catalog press check. School was on a two hour delay due to the icy and sleet covered roads. It made for an interesting walk with Brutus in the morning. Lots of crunching with each step. While I was at the printer Kevin was home with the kids, who got all suited up and enjoyed playing in the snow for a bit. Good thing the snow pants still fit!

We hosted the main course of our neighborhood progressive dinner – chili, hot dogs, and ham/cheese sliders. It was a large crowd this time with 6 families (14 adults and 13 kids) and we barely had enough food! The kids always love this time together and it is fun to see them get so excited to move on to the next house. They like to be the first ones to each house before he next course begins.

We were SO EXCITED to receive this letter from Tyler Run on Thursday, November 14th. I opened it at 10 pm the night before we left for our Tennessee vacation. I was so excited followed quickly by so disappointed that we were not going to be in town for the assembly, in which Griffin would be recognized in front of the entire school for being a student in Mrs. Hale’s first grade classroom that has demonstrated TEAMWORK during the first grading period. There are two kids per class who are recognized each quarter. We are so proud of him! And we are thankful for his teacher, who nominated him for the award. We haven’t shared with him that he won this award yet, as it is a surprise. His teacher reached out to me and wrote the entire letter out in a message to ensure that I had received it. She said she nominated him before they knew when the assembly would be and she apologized that it was while we were on vacation! She has offered to present his certificate in front of the class on Monday, 11/25 (which also happens to be the morning I volunteer there this month) so Kevin and I will be there for that. So proud!

And here are a few videos of Reid doing his ABC’s and 123’s!