Family Christmas Card photo 2018! Many thanks to Amy for taking our pictures again this year. It was cold and drizzly and windy, but she was able to get some great ones. We’ve made a mental note to put our family photo session on the calendar in October next year!
The City of Powell collects letters to Santa each year and this year Griffin filled out his own letter! We helped Reid with his and one afternoon Hannah took the boys to the municipal building to drop the letters in the box. We are eagerly awaiting our replies from Santa!
On Monday I took Griffin to the doctor to get checked out from his hives. In the end he thinks it was the tail end of a virus and Griffin’s reaction to it was the hives. He really didn’t exhibit any symptoms of being sick so we’re thankful for that and I’m super relieved that it’s not a food allergy!
On Monday and Tuesday’s when Cole and Cooper are home with Brian and Lisa, Griffin and Cole are inseparable. They go from our house to Brian’s and back again. Sometimes they end of up eating dinner together. They’re fun and cute. And slowly, Cole is warming up to Brutus. Reid loves to be a big boy and have all the same food and utensils that the big kids do. I’ve been trying to capture Reid’s personality in pictures as much as I can. He makes the most expressive faces and loves to just babble as he takes things in and out – his most favorite thing to do at this stage. Brutus, as per usual, loves to insert himself in all the activity and just be there to partake in the fun. Reid is extremely observant and loves to mimic behaviors that he sees. Lately, he really loves to help feed the dogs. In fact, if you don’t let him help carry the cup of food (or carry by himself) he turns in to a screaming mess. This boy, he definitely knows what he wants, lol.
Growing up Amy and I had signs on the doors to our room that are still there to this day! This week Griffin painted a canvas sign for himself and his brother that he wants to put on the door to his room. They both turned out so great!
After the church musical on Sunday we headed across the street for a last minute dinner at Dewey’s Pizza. The Manning’s called us and came over and joined us and we enjoyed a last minute dinner with friends. I snapped this quick pic on the way out the door of everyone watching the pizza dough being made. 
In other fun this week, Griffin burned off some serious energy at his classmate Kaho’s birthday party at Buckeye Bounce. I enjoyed meeting and talking to other moms from school. After a long time of Kevin and I talking about how we should get together more often with the Bethune’s we threw out the idea of having monthly family dinners – and this week was our first one! We were treated to a nice mexican spread of food and the kiddos enjoyed sitting at the kiddie table and playing before and after dinner. 
For Kevin’s birthday, I planned a date night out to see For King and Country’s Christmas Tour, Little Drummer Boy. We made a quick stop at Hot Chicken Takeover for dinner and snagged a pedi-cab to take us super fast to the Schott in the frigit temps as we parked really far away! We had great seats and loved the concert. While we were out, Griffin decorated his Gingerbread house with Mara. He was so excited to show us the next morning.
Since I’m writing this post several weeks late, I don’t even recall why I was at the vet with Brutus! I think he had an ear infection, but in any case, I snapped his pic as he awaited the vet. For the first time ever they put a muzzle on him while they worked on him. He had growled at the tech and kind of barked/jumped as she put her hand out to be friendly. He really isn’t a fan of that! Anyhow, I totally understood why they wanted to do it and I actually put it on for them. He wasn’t being aggressive or anything, but at 112 pounds and with him being nervous the tech felt more comfortable handling him for the exam. He was fine with it and ended up doing great. 
Groundwork has begun at Millcreek as we are preparing to build a new Shipping and Growing Facility. The first step is draining the pond as we will be filling in part of it in order to move the structure further to the east. The 5 new houses in the I-pad are also beginning to take shape.
I enjoyed a fun day at home this week with the boys. As everyone knows, I’m not gifted with art, but I do love how much fun the kids have with it. So I broke out a bunch of paints and some paper and the kids went to town. Griffin is really creative and likes making many different pieces of art. We also ended with a fun bath, which was quite necessary by the end!
We completed another puzzle this week – it was another one that gave us some challenges! Those tree branches are much harder than they appear at first glance!
The Bethune’s invited us to the Dublin Spooktakular this week where the kids enjoyed dressing up in their costumes and filling their bags full of crazy amounts of candy! Reid was Mr. Independent and wanted to walk (or really wander) everywhere. Kevin had to work late so he wasn’t able to join us this year. But we did enjoy some pizza dinner before we headed home. 
Griffin was treated to a spontaneous Daddy date on Friday when Kevin was home early from work. They had a late afternoon lunch at Corner Bakery, followed by fun at Dave and Buster’s.
Reid and Griffin play pretty well together most of the time. Reid definitely lets you know if he doesn’t want to be doing something – he will scream loud and clear. He is very observant and regularly mocks behaviors that he sees. 
We made our annual trip to Young’s Jersey Dairy this weekend to go pumpkin picking. We rode the trailer out to the fields where we walked all around to find our perfect pumpkins. It was a blue-sky day with pretty clouds, though it was a bit windy!
We are building 5 new greenhouses at Millcreek in the I-pad and have had a new well drilled in that area also (that’s the white stub). So we’ve been clearing some trees and getting the area ready to start construction. It’s been several years since we’ve put up new huts!
Another milestone this week – Reid’s first hair cut! We figured at 15 1/2 months it was time to get a big boy hair cut. He has wispy bangs and long hair in the back that could use a trim so we took him to Cookie Cutters. To be honest I was a bit nervous as he is a particular one – not wanting to have his teeth brushed or wanting to sit still in restaurants in his high chair/seat for longer than 10 minutes! He did surprisingly well as he watched a few minutes of a show (he’s also not nearly into tv shows like Griffin was/is – he loses interested and moves along to something else) and then I distracted him with toys in a basket. We were in and out in less than 25 minutes! He looks super cute 🙂 
For comparison, here is Griffin after his first haircut at 12 months old. 
This face cracks me up. He has been making this face a lot lately, especially if I ask him to show me his teeth. He crinkles his nose and does a little snort sometimes. Silly little man. 
Friday was the annual Open House at Millcreek. I was super bummed this year that Griffin had school, so he wasn’t able to be there. It was the first one he’s missed! Kevin was able to come and bring Reid though, so everyone watched his walk all around before we sat down and enjoyed a tasty BBQ lunch. We had 2 seminars and a “40 years of Memories at Millcreek” segment that George presented in the afternoon. It was one of the most well-attended open houses we’ve had, along with great weather – which was a treat as it had been horribly hot earlier in the week.
A few others from this week: Hannah and Griffin made a tasty Fall Chocolate cake this week. He was really proud of his decorating. One weeknight when it was raining Kevin was outside mowing and had to cut it short. It had been awhile since he stopped mowing but he hadn’t come in yet, so I went out to check on things and discovered him playing football in the rain with the kiddos. They had a great time – they didn’t come in until dark and were all soaking wet! I really enjoyed watching that. They were all having so much fun. 
Griffin has been working on sight words at school and he brings home a sight word ring in his reading bag each day. He also has a sight word booklet that we work on at home and when he’s ready to be assessed by his teacher we sign it and send it to school with him. This week Finn “passed” his first list in his green booklet. Way to go Finn! He was so proud and happy when I we went through his bag that night 🙂 
Hannah and Griffin have also been working on this puzzle and finished it this week. Yay, finally one with no missing pieces!!
On Saturday I had to go to Millcreek for several hours to get ready for some consultants visiting next week. Griffin begged to come with me so we packed up his “work” bag and headed to work. As an added treat we enjoyed the leftover bbq from the open house the previous day. He got to enjoy the tasty treats after all! 
These two. They lay on anything that is soft and cuddly. Griffin loves putting his pillows and blankets on the floor and making various designs. Each night at bed time when we all parade into his room these guys settle right on to everything – despite the entire rest of the room being available for them to lay down. 
Naked baby with hulk hands, lol! I’ve realized that I hardly ever take pictures of Reid without his clothes on and he has the biggest and cutest belly! He was loving running around the loft wearing Griffin’s huge hulk hands. 