Tag Archives: millcreek

April 2021

Happy Easter! We got all spiffed up and went to church on Easter Sunday for the first time in a very long time amid the Covid pandemic. We enjoyed church, and then afterward while leaving our parking spot had a slight fender bender where two of us leaving at the same time backed in to each other. Ugh. Made for a memorable return to church. We were barely moving and no one was injured, just some cosmetic damage to Kevin’s bumper.

The highlight reel, and reality – ha! In all fairness it was quite bright.

We had a lovely easter egg hunt in the Duncan’s yard with our neighborhood crew. The kids ran all over and scooped up candy and other treasures like rings and bouncy balls.

A bit later in the afternoon we hosted a driveway gathering with the Bethune’s, Mom, and Dad. We had some desserts and another fun easter egg hunt with the cousins. Lots more treasures were scooped up!

I’m on the neighborhood Landscape Committee and we’re looking to make some improvements to the common areas within the neighborhood. So Kathy, Jane, Beth, Carlene, and I headed out on a tour of the neighborhood to make notes and put together some ideas on things we can do. We’ll be planting some spring bulbs, pruning and cleaning up some overgrown shrubs, and planting some new plants in the coming months.

Since I’m going back and writing this post in November (for April) it kind of feels like forever ago. Here are a few pics of Griffin playing spring soccer with his I9 team and receiving a medal for the week.

The weather has been all over the place this spring. As evidenced by soccer outside in shorts and s’mores outdoors with no coats to several inches of snow! The snow made for pretty pictures at least!

Griffin’s Boy Scout Pack 248 is going to hold the Pinewood Derby this year, outdoors, so Griffin and Kevin got to work making his car. He went with an Ohio State theme again this year and learned how to use the drill to help with sanding and such.  Griffin came in 3rd place overall this year, which he was super pleased with. It wasn’t until afterwards when we retrieved his car that we noticed a malfunction – the sticker was unpeeling from the bottom which was undoubtedly caused from friction and slowed down his car. Lesson learned for the next time!  The kids vote on other awards for different themes and Griffin also received the award for best themed sports car.

We started our annual batch of garden seedlings in the kitchen again this year. Probably most notable in these pictures is Reid’s “haircut” that he gave himself recently.  Pretty good view from the top, lol.

This section of photos I’ll entitle “The many shenanigans of Reid.” Throughout the months of March and April we really have not had childcare and Kevin has watched the boys while also working from home. It is no easy feat and I have no idea how he can do it. During the short stints I’m at home I am far more prone to lose my marbles. Reid is often on his own with periodic check ins from Kevin. So he’s enjoyed some nice exploration shall we say. Kevin often finds him in the afternoon sleeping in random places. He’s at the stage where he really could use a nap, but refuses one if you suggest it, yet he’s asleep in random places. In addition to practicing his scissor skills, he’s also given coloring his face a go.  Super cute! So these are some memorable photos of Kevin finding him getting into various things when coming off work calls.

Nothing like building a snowman in April!

It might be time for a hair cut for Griffin 🙂

Dad came down to Millcreek to pick up a load of soil, so I surprised him by shoveling it all into cans while he was at lunch with George. Dad will likely use some Millcreek greenhouse space moving forward as Mom and Dad look to move to Dublin.

And here are a few from my Google photos “memories”.  A great picture of Kevin, from one year ago already! And some others of Griffin at the age of 4 and 5, where Reid is now. Seems like the blink of an eye!

 

And here are some videos for the books:

February 2021

Brutus looks just about how I feel at the moment, lol! This is his favorite spot in the house, the front dining room where he sits and watches everything going on outside and lays there basking in the sunshine. He can either be found here or on the landing of the white stairs.

In going through photos this one that I saved popped up about Cameron. Seems hard to believe that five years has already passed since we said our goodbyes to her :(. I miss that sweet and sassy girl. She had the best ears and was so timid but also so loving. At the time I thought her tail was strong and painful but compared to Brutus she was a breeze!

Lexi has been doing some fun themes with Reid lately while Griffin is doing school from home during the days. This week it was bear paws and they also made food to go along with it! Charcuterie platters have become a staple around here.  A mixed offering of fruits, nuts, sweet, salty, crackers, cheeses, meats, etc. A little something for everyone and you get to choose what you like. It’s a win-win it seems.

 

The boys have been making fun treats from time to time also, including this heart brownie cake they decorated for valentines day.

 

Snuck this one in here to remember that Griffin seems to have the hardest time with his teeth! He’s now chipped two teeth – ugh!  Here’s to hoping this trend does not continue.

 

Here is some artwork that Griffin drew of Kevin, as he is wearing his Base 22 shirt 🙂 And some work from Reid too.

Another installment of “where we find Reid sleeping”.  During the month of March Lexi was not able to work much and over time it became less and less, with less notice due to personal issues so that meant Kevin was on his own working from home while Griffin did CDL and Reid was home too. It was so-much-to-handle. But somehow day in and day out Kevin managed everything while I was away at work entering my busy spring season.  So finding Reid like this was the norm.

While CDL is great it also has it’s challenges. Griffin doesn’t love having to be in “class” while Reid gets to watch shows or just play.  And he’s been pushing the boundaries (as he’s had very little supervision since Kevin is working and I’m at Millcreek) and we’ve found him doing thinks like cutting his hair, cutting his shorts, spinning his chair around so much it broke the cord to his headphones, etc. A little destructive behavior here and there for sure, largely attention seeking behavior, but frustrating nonetheless.  Despite any of that he is doing well in school and Miss Peacock is a wonderful teacher. The daily routine has been great in comparison to what would be a hybrid schedule that he would be on if he had been in the building.  Griffin was the “Scientist of the Week” for his class and got to demonstrate “floating hearts” which he chose as the timing was around Valentine’s Day. It was a fun experiment which he did in advance in order to present it to his class and then he was able to do it live via a Teams meeting. This kid is so bright when it comes to navigating his computer and Microsoft Teams, Google Slides, and so on. He’s grown leaps and bounds this year technologically speaking. Miss Peacock also put together a little slideshow of “When we are 100 years old” in celebration of their 100th day of school which was pretty fun!

 

This e-note from Griffin’s classmates for Valentine’s day was fun to peruse. Seems as though Griffin is one funny kid with his classmates! We were also able to have conferences via Teams with Miss Peacock and part of what she reviewed were Griffin’s AIMSWeb test scores and his progress from Fall to Winter. Griffin tested really well and is showing great improvement from Fall to Winter. We’re really proud of him – especially during this year of unprecedented learning remotely via computer!

A little fun project Kevin began working on with Griffin and Reid are the Pinewood Derby cars for Griffin’s Boy Scout troop. The style has been decided (same design as last year) but Griffin hasn’t yet decided what theme he’s going to put on his car.

Griffin and Jay were outside playing in the really cold winter snow one day and they were having so much fun! Giggles upon giggles. Their imaginations are something.

Lexi and the boys made this birdfeeder and shortly after we spotted this woodpecker! They also enjoyed an afternoon of sledding one day, with snacks of course!

The boys were excited to open their Valentine’s Day bags early in the morning. And Mom and Dad sent a photo of them having a nice Valentine’s Day in Siesta Key with the Dewald’s and a sneak peak of Dad’s new hairdo!

And closing with some miscellaneous photos from the rest of the month!



This was a fun puzzle we received “anonymously” and each family in our neighborhood crossed out their name inside once they completed it. Then they delivered it anonymously to the next family. So cute – this photo was from our first annual fall campout in September 2020.

 

And here are a few videos!

 

 

Lastly, the latest at Millcreek. The walls are painted, floors going in/are in, and the carpet and office furniture is in process of being installed. Just in time for spring we’re about to wrap this project up! Since George will be leaving soon for his annual winter vacation, we had an official ribbon cutting ceremony complete with fake bubbly and treats for everyone. It was a team effort to pull this one off just in time!

In preparation for the arrival of our H2A workers, we had a form for them to complete with what food they would like. Fred sent those off to me and Griffin and I went to town at Aldi! We had one cart for each apartment along with a list of things to buy for each apartment (3 workers and 4 workers for now). It was a lot to manage in the store and bagging, but we got it done and got it delivered and the guys were so grateful! Here we go!

January 2021

2021 has arrived! Both boys made it past midnight in to the New Year. Though the party quickly ended and we all headed to bed. On New Years Day we had the traditional pork and sauerkraut while the boys enjoyed primarily mac and cheese and strawberries.

 

I’ve been finding hidden treasures, partially eaten or just the wrappers around lately, typically in the pantry.  I just gives me a good laugh, really. I can just imagine the faces I would see had they been busted in action.  The boys and I made Buckeyes to start off the New Year. They both had fun rolling and dipping them in chocolate, and sampling of course.

Are you noticing a trend in the photos I’ve been sharing? This is the latest installment in the series entitled “where we find Reid sleeping”.  This kiddo really needs an afternoon nap (it’s pretty obvious?) but refuses to take one in a formal way. Instead, we find him asleep in random places around the house!

I really love to see the kids playing together outdoors. If Covid has been good for anything, I love that the kids have had to enjoy each other’s company outside which means no shows, screens, or electronics. Just good old fashioned play. They play long and hard and almost always some sport or game is involved.

Reid is the biggest snuggler of all time. Anytime he sits with you he wants to take your arm and wrap it around him or take your hand and put it across him or next to him. It’s too cute, if you move your hand he will move it back where he wants it :).  And Griffin loves to snuggle and watch a show or sport at the drop of a hat

 

Being on screens so much between school and using them as a “babysitter” from time to time while Kevin is working, Santa gave them the blue-light blocker glasses for Christmas. They like to wear them and I think they both look cute. They don’t even know they are for blocking the blue light, they just think they’re fun to wear. Hopefully it lasts.

We moved Reid up to a full-sized Big Boy bed from his toddler bed this month! It makes me sad to think he’s growing up, but happy at the same time. He is young at heart for sure and loves to be a baby.  But he was ready for his big boy bed! I took him to Target and he picked out the sheets and comforter (with just a wee bit of help from me, lol). We rearranged his room some and got him all set up. He was all smiles.

Reid loves to play and unfortunately through Covid has missed out on being in preschool and laying with same-aged friends. He plays with Griffin or the older kids in the neighborhood but he’s really mostly doing independent play even when they are all together. He loves barbies, babies, and the color pink.

We went to visit Haya, Mo, and baby Summer at their place. Summer is getting so big and the boys loved holding her and sitting with her. Throughout Covid and the quarantine, Kevin began giving the boys and himself hair cuts. They sit through them really pretty well and Kevin has gotten pretty good at it, doing them every month or so.

As a fundraiser for the PTO at Griffin’s school, Beehive, the local Powell bakery had pizza-making kits (amongst other things) that you could buy. So we made our own pizza from scratch one evening and it turned out great.

I love the quiet of the mornings and my routine of getting up early before anyone else, feeding Brutus, and sitting down to have my coffee before our morning walk. Brutus knows after I finish my coffee and get up that it’s time to get his collar on and head out the door. We have a good system down. And then once we’re out we often get to see cool things, like the full moon or a fresh snowfall.

Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein sent a valentine’s package to the boys before they headed out of town for Florida. Once it arrived there wasn’t any keeping it taped up! They were both excited to have lovies with their names on them and in their favorite colors (buckeye for Finn and pink/red for Reid).

We remodeled our first floor and kitchen area in 2014 and painted everything on the entire first floor and loft at that time in a color called Collonade Gray. Kevin and I both dislike how dark our house is, so in an attempt to lighten it up we decided to paint our family room and kitchen walls white and also update the baseboards from the cabinet/cream color to white in the kitchen and from the oak color to white in the family room. We also took down the ceiling trim piece in the kitchen along the long wall since we didn’t think painting that white would look great abutting the kitchen cabinets above the fridge. At the same time, I began to paint the unfinished trim around the new windows that we’ve now had for two (!) years. Yikes. Never thought it would be that long to start painting any of them but here we are. It’s not a fast process and as it turns out after doing part of it and then spring picking up at Millcreek the finishing is on hold!

The boys of the house are the shovelers of the driveway after each snowfall. Griffin and Reid like to suit up and shovel for a bit and then move on to playing in the snow and building a snowman if the conditions are right for it.

Griffin’s teacher, Miss Peacock, entered her class into a contest and won a Tonie Box for each kid in her class! I don’t even recall if I posted about that, but in any case Griffin really loves it and loves the different characters that you can put on the top to listen to stories or music.  So after a while we decided to get one for Reid so that when we put him in bed at night he can listen to a story or song to help him get to sleep. We got him the Frozen character, which is his most favorite song at the moment and also Cars, Toy Story, and a Fox with Nursery Rhymes.

Mom and Dad sent us this selfie from the beginnings of their road trip to warmer weather in Florida for the month of February. I’m glad they decided to go and get out of Ohio for awhile and enjoy the sandy beaches of Siesta Key!

The Millcreek construction is moving along with the first floor framing, electrical, and networking cabling has been run and the HVAC is installed. The insulation is in and the drywall has been hung, the door trim installed and stained.  The second floor will house our IT room – we will finally have all computer and networking equipment in one place rather than three!

Our H2A workers are scheduled to arrive and begin work on February 6th. So Fred, Shaina, and I went to Ikea and loaded up on furnishings for the three apartments that they will be living in.  Dressers, night stands, lights, kitchen supplies, bath towels, you name it we filled up our carts.  It was hilarious. Fred was done after an hour, lol. But we got so much done and off our list of needs. It was a great trip. Afterwards I took home all of the towels and washed them all. Fun fun! We will be ready for these guys soon!