Tag Archives: moving

September 2021

Reid is going to pre-school! He is entering the pre-K Monkey class and he is excited about it that is for sure. He is also apprehensive. He’s not been to school since he was 2 in March of 2020. He’s been home the entire time, mostly around adults and not too many kids other than neighbors. He did wonderful at drop-off on day 1. Masks are just optional at NPCA, but we have chosen to have Reid wear one and he does so wonderfully from what I can tell. The first few weeks had several rough drop-offs thereafter, where Reid literally clung to the lamp post and Miss Laura took him in screaming and crying. It was awful. As soon as I would turn into the parking lot he would say “wait a minute, I don’t want to go to school, let’s talk about this”. It was a hard couple of weeks, but he eventually turned the corner and came home saying he loved “everything”. So much transition and newness for this one. It has had me second-guessing whether or not we should have kept him home last year. He is already a younger one emotionally and has just played at home for a year+, so this structure and learning and having to obey a teacher and schedule is all quite new. When I picked him up about three weeks into school his teacher pulled me aside and told me it had been a super rough day with listening and it almost landed him in Miss Kim, the Directors office.  Those words aren’t easy to hear. But he continued to make progress and seems to be in a better place.

He begins after Labor Day, but he had a meet-the-teacher and play in your classroom kind of day. He was so excited to be there and to play with so many toys. It has been since March 2020 since he has been in the church building and this is a new classroom and teacher for him so he loved exploring and especially playing pretend.

September 1, 2021 was moving day for Mom and Dad! Beginning with the packing and loading at 1179 followed by the unloading at 7005, it was a pretty smooth day. Griffin also had his very first soccer game that evening for Olentangy United. It was a fun and busy day.

Throughout September we had lots of soccer activity. You can see some videos at the end of the post. One fun day was when Griffin had a tournament at Darree fields just a minute drive to Mom and Dads. We had an early morning 8 am game and in between we hit up Tim Hortons, went to Mom and Dad’s and chilled for a bit before heading to game #2.

One day after a game, team mate Brady had everyone over to his house for a cookout and pool party. Just Griffin and I went as Reid had a case of the runny nose/sniffles (thanks to being back around all the school germs). Finn had a great time and I enjoyed talking to the other parents. We are loving this team of kids and families. We’re also loving having our families attend games! From Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein who now live close and can come often, to Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong who have made the trip up, and Aunt Amy, Uncle Andy, and the cousins who have made it in between their own crazy busy schedules. Being a soccer mom is fun ;).



 

We’ve even made it to Rowan and Greta’s games 🙂 Here is Rowan with a sweet throw in.

After moving day was complete, I headed to Mansfield to help Mom and Dad clean 1179 and get it ready for the sale. So many wonderful memories of this place I found myself pretty emotional then and again now when looking through the pictures to write the post! But that’s why I take the pictures, right? To capture the things that will jog a memory down the road and that it certainly does.

Griffin is having a great time being back in a real school building and being in-person with friends! He LOVES it and is so thankful to be back. Again, it makes me realize the impact that being home for a year doing distance learning pretty much on his own. While it was a great experience, his teacher was amazing, and he did really well in school I also am aware that people are built for connection and kids need it just as much as adults. His teacher this year, Miss Robinson, is the varsity softball coach at Olentangy Orange High School and she has started a fun pen-pal program between her players and her students at Tyler Run. I think Miss Robinson is going to be a great fit for Griffin given her sports mindedness!

Sadly, Griffin’s cub scout den at Tyler Run only consisted of about 3 kids, so we were given the option to transfer from Pack 248 to Pack 428, which meets the Liberty Presbyterian (The Barn church). Kevin seems to really like it, the den is big (15ish kids) and everything is organized well and seems to be fun. They had a fun fishing event at Liberty Park.

Here are Reid’s first day of school pics at NPCA! As is tradition, the day started with custom pancakes: a R E I D pancake, Reid himself, a baseball, and a school.

I was so fortunate to take the day off and take Reid to school and also pick him up. He had a super-cute “Kissing Hand” piece of art and was in the greatest mood. We went to the park afterward on our way home, also getting custard at Culver’s to celebrate. Then on to Rooster’s for dinner – Reid’s favorite place.

And here are some pics from throughout the month of Reid. We ventured to the zoo, played t-ball, and had lots of fun.



The many expressions of Reid.

I arrived at Griffin’s parent-teacher curriculum night to find a cute note on Griffin’s desk, to which I replied. It was fun to peak around at his room and sit in his place.

Part of Griffin’s enrollment in Olentangy United includes weekly sessions of Futsal at the Fieldhouse at Polaris mall. The kids learn quick ball handling and the last half hour includes working with OSU sports therapists to learn good injury-prevention and stretching skills. Since it is connected to the mall, Reid and I went to the zoo play space (yes, full of germs). This boy had such a great time.

I am amazed to report that both boys had great checkups at the dentist this month – no cavities. I honestly was surprised, as brushing here is a struggle and eating sweets comes easily, of course. Reid did super-great with his first round of xrays.

While at Reid’s the park playing after Reid’s tball games, we spotted a bomber flying through the air. It was “pretty cool”, says Reid.

We’ve started a fun neighborhood tradition of camping each September. This year the Dennie’s hosted in their back yard. Chrissie was able to organize “Bartholomew Lakes Kids Crew” tshirts that we purchased for the kids and then Karla bought tie die stuff so they each were able to customize their shirts. We made s’more’s, had pizza, and played together for hours on end.

Being conveniently next door, I was able to stop in and check on Brutus and give him some lovins from time to time (and potty breaks!).

While Kevin was out of town for a few days on a golf trip with friends in Michigan, the boys and I hung out with the Bolans and went to Bridge Park one evening. We played duck pin bowling, had a fun “kids drink”, and then were able to watch the OSU practice band march through Bridge Park and play some tunes to get everyone pumped for the home game the following day.

 

 

We also celebrated Brutus’ 5th birthday! This boy loves to be around his people, his daily walks and routine. He knows the 4 o’clock hour like none other – and will gently begin to remind you the time is coming starting around 3:15 pm with little pokes and nudges and following you everywhere.

Here are a few of the Millcreek Open House, which we resumed this year. We hosted everyone in our “new” (built in 2019) shipping facility having a couple of educational seminars, a catered BBQ lunch, and tours of our facility. It was well attended and I heard numerous times how everyone was so thankful to be in-person again.

Lilly and Reidy came to visit me! And Reid helped Luis load flats into the flat filler potting machine during our drive-around.

May 2021

As it turns out, May 2021 was a really jam-packed month. Things like Mother’s Day, Reid’s 4th birthday, Graham’s birthday, lots of outdoor fun, and Mom and Dad closing on a home in Dublin!  Get ready for photo overload.

Our seeds have sprouted and we’re looking forward to having things like peppers, zucchini, sweet peas, tomatoes, beans, and perhaps jack-o-lanterns though I typically have problems keeping those alive!

This spring our front garden is really looking nice. We planted some new Emerald Towers Sambucus (Elderberry) bushes at the far end near our norway maple to fill in the big open space.  And a late May frost as you can see on the blades of grass.

Our outdoor fun continues and each and every soccer game we went to Reid wanted to wear Griffin’s old uniform :).  Often when I garden out front I take Brutus out with me and he just lays around sun bathing in the grass. He’s not fond of looking at the camera though when I take pictures!

More s’mores fun at the Bolans!

This photo will either garner giggles or rolled eyes I’m sure, but this was life in May. Distance learning for Griffin – he was not enjoying the basement much and so began to like to do school in the kitchen or the patio. Reid, not a fan of always going in the potty but if you offer him the opportunity to go outside will never pass it up (though typically a bush is best, lol).

I enjoy taking Brutus on walks each and every day. We typically walk a mile, either through our neighborhood or one of the surrounding ones. Brutus does so great off-leash, I haven’t used it in forever. Sometimes the boys like to come with me and while Reid is well beyond stroller years, I like to walk at a brisk pace and not stop – so the stroller is more for my selfishness than his need!

We’ve enjoyed taking bike rides as a family this spring and on this particular night we rode our bikes up to the downtown Powell and enjoyed dinner on the patio at Koble.

Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong made it up to one of Griffin’s soccer games this spring. Reid loved having some attention during the game, ha! This marked the end of the spring soccer season for Griffin!

At this point, the secada’s seem like a distant memory, but these images remind me of the invasion we had this summer! They were SO LOUD in our neighborhood it was crazy! At first, we didn’t seem to have many but man did that change! The kids thought they were pretty cool, I’m not a big fan!

A fine display of Reid’s self-given hair cut and his new baby “Ariel”.

This boy plays hard and then sleeps hard. Check out the drool marks and finger impressions on his face!

Each year for Mother’s Day what I look forward to the most are the treasured tiny handprints (which are getting pretty big) from the boys on a painting that they create. I have a little gallery on the wall in our bedroom and love to see what they come up with each year. Lilly also helped the boys make the cute planted flower pot cards this year too.

REID – IS – 4 !!!

We celebrated Reid’s 4th birthday on May 20, a Thursday morning this year. As is our tradition, we had our kitchen all decorated and ready for Reidy when he came downstairs. He loves to get up and get dressed right away, 4.5 days out of 5 in OSU gear.

The Bethune’s came to one of Griffin’s soccer games and brought Reid’s birthday gifts with them. Reidy loved opening the gifts right away and later once we were home was obsessed with playing with the fighting robots.

Given that we’re still in a pandemic and aren’t really spending time in other’s houses, we didn’t think hosting a party for Reid would be ideal. Instead, we decided to rent a movie theater and invite some friends to a small showing of Tom and Jerry The Movie. It turned out to be perfect for Reid. Snacks and a show. He just wanted to sit with me and Kevin, not any of his friends! But I’ll take it as long as I can get it.

Griffin was my cake helper this year and spread frosting on our Dino cake like a champ! We decorated with Dots and sprinkles and a toy dinosaur!

And this was too cute not to include – 1 year birthday and 4 year birthday pic!

Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein and the Bethune’s joined us for a birthday dinner for Reid and Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong visited a couple days later too. This boy was flooded with birthday celebrations!

Reid had an excellent 4-year checkup with Dr. Houts at Powell Pediatric Care. He weighs 38.9 pounds (75th percentile), is 41″ tall (67th percentile) and his BMI is 16.27 (70th percentile). He got a couple of shots and as we like to do, we spent some time together afterward with breakfast at The Locust Table in Powell where we were able to sit outside and watch the train go by! Then we stopped at the park on the way home for some outdoor fun.

While we did not anticipate an entire year of Distance Learning for Griffin, that’s what we ended up doing. Griffin was a real trooper. He definitely went through phases of loving it, then not liking it. A bit of boredom, and a bit of defiance (or cutting his hair, holes in his shorts while being bored on the computer, etc). But all in all he did so well. His computer navigation skills are impressive! His teacher, Miss Peacock, was wonderful and did a great job of working with the kids. She was always available for individual calls (via Teams) and was so upbeat. We really loved her. On the last day of school she dropped off some things at each and every kids house! And even included something for the “honorary” second grade siblings.  She gave each kid a coupon for the Little Ladies Soft Serve food truck, good for a treat on the last day of school – so we were able to go see her in “real life” and say thank you later that evening!

To celebrate the end of the school year we had a water-slide pizza and ice cream party at the Bolan’s house. These kids are ready for the summer!

May brought several trips to Mansfield to help Mom and Dad begin to prepare for their move to Dublin. We went up Memorial Day weekend to help clean out all kinds of things that one accumulates after 40 years of living in a home! The Bethune’s joined as well and we established a good system of Amy and Andy feeding out things from the basement workspace window to Kevin and I who were in the backyard loading the Mule. Then we drove the loads to the front and filled up the dumpster. We got to be pretty good at tetris-like packing that thing! The kids thought it was really cool to be up in the crawl space and help empty out things as well. Lots of giggles and chatter in there.

While in Mansfield, at the end of our workday we headed for a short stint at the Infield to celebrate Graham turning 11. Woah – that’s getting old!! This was also Reid’s first time that he is big enough to drive the bumper cars on his own – he was pretty excited. We also played some putt-putt and Griffin hit up the batting cages.

Later that evening Grandma and Grandpa had a little coin sorting activity for the grandkids. This “helped” clean out Grandpa’s coin drawer :). they were all pretty excited to sort and then count up their “earnings”. Woah!

It was a nice weekend spending time with everyone together at 1179 Pearce Drive for one last time. It was also sad! So many good memories in this home. It is hard to imagine Mom and Dad living elsewhere and not returning to Mansfield to visit or for the holidays. On the other hand, being only 20 minutes away is going to be really great!  I walked around and tried to capture the outdoor gardens and hostas that Mom and Dad have tended to and hybridized for so many years. I keep teasing them that they can now come garden at our house :).

The boys always love riding on the Mule when visiting Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Grandpa likes to go on fun adventures through the woods behind their house. Griffin got to drive and there were a lot of giggles from Reid and Griffin. You can check out the video for some giggles.



 

And here is where Mom and Dad will be headed – Wind Rose Way in Dublin, just a short 20 minute drive for us and and 5 minute drive for the Bethune’s!

There was a very nice article written in the Hosta Journal on the Beilstein Family Hostas! I’ve included it here. It even has some nice photos of plants in the family plot 🙂