Tag Archives: npca

January 16-31, 2020

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Going back in time to put together some posts that I’m behind on. Our worries were far less back in January! Reid and I are up and at em early this morning I figured I’d go back and put together some blogs. As I look through these pictures from school it seems like such a long time ago! Now, granted I’m putting together a January post in late March, but still, even though the boys have been out of school for two weeks it seems like all that has happened with the Coronavirus and various orders within Ohio started such a long time ago!

Griffin and Reid play together quite often. Reid basically imitates anything Griffin does from words and conversations to running, jumping, or any other physical activity. Things go from fun and laughter to screaming and fits in an instant around here!

I  was able to volunteer at Tyler Run during the COSI on Wheels visit. I stepped up to the pH table and talked to the kiddos about the difference between acids and bases and did some hands on experiments with different liquids to determine if they were an acid or a base. It was a fun and fast afternoon! Griffin was excited to come to my table :).

Here Reid is playing in our refrigerator cubby in the kitchen. Our fridge has stopped keeping a consistent cool temperature. It fluctuates all over the place and unfortunately, the fix is to replace the entire cooling system which costs half as much as a new fridge. So the hunt is on for a new one, though it’s not as easy as you would think. It turns out our space is 33″ wide and most fridges are 35.75″ wide, ugh!

One afternoon I arrived home and Haya was cleaning up paper off the floor. I wasn’t sure what kind of activity they had done, but as it turns out she brought a balloon filled with confetti the color of which revealed whether she was having a boy or girl! She recorded a cute video asking each of the neighborhood kiddos what their thought was and then Griffin popped it with Reid sitting nearby. It was cute!

 

We celebrated Andy and Mom’s birthdays with dinner at Polaris Grill followed by dessert and presents at our house. We celebrated a bit early as Mom and Dad headed to Florida for the month of February! We also celebrated our neighbor Abbie’s birthday with a fun party at the Bolan’s house. Tons of kiddos played for quite a long time and little miss Abbie tore into her cake!

For Christmas I’d given Kevin an Order of the Moth membership at Nocterra, though honestly I forgot to give it to him, lol! Then I got a reminder of the Launch Party from Nocterra and gave him the belated gift. Thankfully I had it together enough to get a sitter back when I purchased it so we headed out for the launch party on a date night. We love hanging out at our community tap room!

Brutie is getting some love from all the Manning girls. I rode with Sarah to pickup Abbie from a retreat and the rest of the girls watched Griffin and Reid. It was a win-win for everyone.

This was a beautiful sunrise I captured upon leaving the driveway one morning en route to work. The picture isn’t nearly as pretty as it was in person, but you get the idea! This is Wyndbend.

The new office and restroom building inside our Shipping Facility is coming along quite nicely. Drywall is up and mudded!

October 16-31, 2019

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October has been filled with a lot of fun and adventure. We picked up Brutus on the 16th and brought him home where Lily was excited to see him (after she sniffed and licked my pants for a bit?!). She hadn’t been eating very well the last 2 weeks of his absence but since he’s been home she is back to her spunky self, even laying on Brutus’ “place!”. Jeff, Brutus’ trainer, gave us a training maintenance plan which includes a 15-30 minute walk each day, two 15 minute training sessions a day, maintaining door manners, and so on.  I’ve made it my mission to take him on a walk daily before work (almost always, but I’ve had to go after work once or twice). I actually really enjoy getting out and working with him. He’s doing so well and is fun to give him commands and work with him to demonstrate those commands. He’s still a work in progress and is easily distracted by other dogs, people, and even blowing leaves on walks but it is so  great to be able to go out and take him on a walk and hardly need the leash! We did find an engorged tick on Brutus the morning after we brought him home. Kevin got it off successfully (and intact) and after a call to our vet I sent it away to get tested and thankfully all test results indicated it was free from many tick-borne diseases including Lyme. Whew. I was worried!

We celebrated Lily’s 11th birthday on the 28th. It was nearing dusk before I was able to get her outside and get some photos! Thanks to Haya’s thoughtfulness we had a birthday party for her the next afternoon, complete with treats that Haya picked up for both Lily and Brutus. I arrived home to her and Reid having Lily in the party hat and treats ready to go!

 

Reid is enjoying going to preschool at NPCA. Like most schools these days the teachers now use an app and post class news and photos in the app throughout the day. In typical Reid fashion, he has quite an array of facial expressions. He’s been crafting cute fall pumpkins and artwork, exploring the fire truck, and playing outside on the playground. His school photos are cute too! Gymnastics is a mixture of Reid following along and doing the activities his coach demonstrates and also running away like a wild man to another area he’s not supposed to be in! This kid. He’s still taking two naps a day and if he doesn’t get his second one he’s delirious by 5:15 gymnastics class, hence the running around giggling and going nonstop. I’m trying to determine how to best adjust his sleeping as he does so much better with two naps but it’s not always feasible!



For COTA day (no school for Griffin and it was a Friday so no school for Reid) we went to our neighbors, the Bolan’s, for a halloween party. So many kids in costumes! Lots of new friends I hadn’t met before and quite a spread of food and fun.

I’ve had some fun time together with Griffin lately. He was off school on a Monday, so we took Reid to preschool and then we both had eye doctor appointments. He checked out wonderfully and I didn’t have any changes either. After our visit we headed to the zoo for a quick adventure before we had to return to pickup Reid at school. We fed the giraffe’s and talked about how their tongues are like sandpaper!

We joined the Bethune’s for the Dublin Spooktakular on a nice Fall night. Reid is a cowboy and Griffin is LLoyd from Ninjago, but on this night they went in their jammies as skeletons. Worked for us! We even found some skeletons walking around during our visit. They loaded up on more candy than they will ever eat and got to play different games and pet some animals at a petting zoo. Griffin was even so brave he wanted a tarantula to crawl up his arm!

Crazy face games at Roosters on a fun Friday night.

Kevin and I went to the Ochmonek’s annual Halloween Party again this year. We made rice crispy pumpkins and a yummy spider web bean dip (no pic of that tho). Kevin pulled off yet another awesome compilation for our costumes as Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweep. He pieced together so many parts and so many people gave us the most fun complements at the party. I love that he does this each year – I just tell him the date and he takes care of the rest! He even put the ashes on his face using my mascara ! 🙂

Quickly on the night of trick or treat Kevin brought in the pumpkins and we had an amazingly quickly pumpkin carving session. Like, record setting in about 15 minutes! We were gathering next door at our neighbors for pizza dinner before heading out with the neighborhood crew for trick or treat. We’re really enjoying that there are so many kids in the neighborhood that regularly want to play with each other. Each day after school Griffin either heads to a friends house or they show up here! Trick or Treat was COLD and WINDY  this year and there were snowflakes by the end of our adventure. We were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong come visit and help hand out the candy to the kiddos.

We received news that Jim Trame, the father of John (Kevin’s best friend growing up) had passed away in early October. Fortunately, Kevin was able to attend the Visitation on Friday and Saturday we both went to the funeral which was in Dayton. Jim and Pat were a tremendous help as they watched the boys for us so we were able to go together. We planned to go to Dayton for the funeral and then head back, however, everyone was invited to Tom and Ana’s vineyard for a celebration after the service. It was indeed a celebration complete with music, fire, catered food and drinks. We ended up staying until 10 pm. It was an emotional day for sure. Kevin was a big part of their family growing up and has many lifelong memories with John, Tom, Karen, Steve, and Joe including 18 years of riding together in the DALMAC bike ride in Michigan. John was the best man in our wedding, Tom and Kevin ran a business together in the past, and over time they hadn’t kept in touch much. So it was a really nice day to see so many people that Kevin has told me about but I hadn’t met, and to see so many people young and old come up to Kevin and share stories going back 40 years. I think he knew a majority of the people who where there and there were tons.

We’re storing the MG TD in our garage and Kevin decided he would work on the patina. Can you tell the difference in the pic below? It’s looking really nice, now to find a buyer!

Fall Fest at NPC was a big success this year – one of the best attended ones that I can remember, really. Kevin and I had a small part this year, heading up the decorations and chili judging portion of the day. We had a new layout this year, chilis separated by category and separate areas for desserts, salads/sides, and hot dogs. Reid was a trooper. We got to church at 10:30 and left at 7:30 pm. He didn’t get a nap, but did lay down and “rest” in the portable crib. He thought it was the bees knees and wanted in it the rest of the evening. Griffin was a great helper and then once the festivities began he had fun with his cousins and friends. It was a fun night!

 

September 1-21, 2019 ~ Reid starts Preschool!

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Well, these last few days of September have felt more like summer with the heat! But these bathing suit pics and water balloon fight were from earlier in September at Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein’s house with their cousins. Though I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, the kids or Grandpa? I love Reid’s joyful smiles. We enjoyed a tasty dinner followed by smore’s on the deck.

I’ve been taking the boys out once a week for dinner after swim lessons. Most weeks we end up at Culver’s or Cane’s so we’ve accumulated enough scoopie tickets that each Finn and Reid were able to redeem it for a fun toy. We went home with another plush Scoopie and football!

Griffin has gotten rather creative in his room lately. He’s taken to making cages out of his books for many of his lovies. He’s organized them by animal type (tiger, bear, etc). I must say he put a lot of thought in to it and it was pretty neat to see the cages all over the perimeter of his room. Then he told me he slept in his closet, lol.

I’m not sure how it can be, but our little baby’s first day of Preschool arrived on September 4th! We woke him up that morning so we could snap some pictures before Griffin got on the bus – and he was so sad he began crying that he wasn’t getting on the bus too! I told him he gets to take the Mama bus, ha! He was excited to go to school though he was over me taking pictures and at one point in the kitchen walked over to me (as I had my phone up) and said “No!”, “no more pictures” and then he came over and swatted at my phone 🙁 . This boy, he is sassy. When he’s mad or frustrated he’s a hitter and a biter! Thankfully, he knows he shouldn’t do it and shortly after he says he’s sorry. I felt bad doing it, but I actually wrote that on his pre-school papers for his teachers this year. I figure it’s better I tell them up front and hope it won’t happen at school.  He also threw a fit on the kitchen floor, I can’t even remember why anymore, but by the time we got to school he was happy and ready to head inside. He happily walked down the hall (after we convinced him we weren’t going in to the sanctuary) and he put his bag in his cubby, his water in the carrier, and his lunch in the basket. And off he walked right in to the room with a big old smile on his face!  I went back to pick him up at 1 pm and he was all smiles from ear to ear. I asked him how his day was and if he was ready to go home. The first thing he said was “go home and have pbj?”. I asked him if he wanted a sweet treat to celebrate his first day and at first he said no! But after a few minutes he said he wanted ice cream so we stopped at Graeter’s on our way home for a special treat.

{this picture was in the app his classroom teachers use of lunch during the first day 🙂 }

Griffin has been enjoying first grade. He arrived home one afternoon with a “Paws-a-tivity” note for spreading kindness! He particularly seems to enjoy math and has on a few occasions said he wishes he was at school so he could do math! I was like “we can do math here!”. We went to the Scouting Carnival held at his school to learn more about Scouts. I can’t say that I really learned anything as the Den leader for 1st grade wasn’t able to be there and I basically chased Reid around trying to keep him from interrupting kids while they were playing the various activities. At one point it was a screaming fest in the lobby. Kevin wasn’t able to join us as he wasn’t able to get out of work and we had to leave at a specific time to get to soccer – but I decided to sign him up and see how he likes it. As it turned out, the first “pack” event was the following Saturday which was a camp out at Camp Lazarus. Kevin and Griffin had quite a fun time and got to know some kids and parents. The kids in his Tiger den did a skit about Tigers (which Griffin was a tiger and he got to do his favorite tiger running on 4 hands and feet as he escaped his den). The enjoyed smore’s, a nice night in the tent, and bacon and stuffed french toast the following morning. That same Saturday the popcorn sale began too. Kevin and Griffin had gone and picked up a “show and sell” package of popcorn, etc., from the leaders and also made it to the Scouts store as you have to be in uniform to sell. Grandma Beilstein was the first customer as Kevin took the options to Mansfield when he picked up the MG TD to bring it back here for storage. On Sunday, Griffin and I headed out around part of our neighborhood and he was really successful selling to every house that answered their door! He was pretty excited about that. On Monday, there was no school and I was scheduled off though I had to go in for a meeting so Griffin got dressed into his uniform, we took his popcorn, and he setup a station in our shipping department and had another successful sales hour. We’ve been having swim lessons, soccer skill development class, and i9 soccer each week so we’re on the go a fair bit.

One weeknight our neighbors had invited us to join them in visiting the Tecumseh Land Trust field of sunflowers in Yellow Springs. I wasn’t sure about going as I knew Kevin wouldn’t be able to make it leaving as early as they had planned to go, but I decided what the heck – let’s do it! So I got home from work, loaded the kids in the car, and we hit the road at 4:30. We walked the field of sunflowers with Cole, Cooper, Brian, and Lisa and snapped some cute pictures. It was hot! And it had been hot the previous few days also and the sunflowers were just beginning to perhaps pass their prime. It made for a fun memory and then we headed to Young’s for dinner, ice cream, and a quick goat feeding session before heading home. It was a late to bed kind of night!

Reid has been doing some fun artwork at NPCA. They have a structured plan to what they go through each week (letters, numbers, bible verse, etc) and he’s brought home some of his creations. He was super excited one day when he got to ride in Griffin’s seat (one time, special treat!) in the Jeep so Haya could have the van to pick him up. It’s been another season of car seat installation and switching around here! The class pictures are from his teachers. He’s also had a fun couple weeks, including an excursion to the Powell Splash Pad during it’s last day of operation for the season. It was super warm!

My new “snack plate” idea that I tried at dinnertime so the kids could have make their own choices from a few different options of fruits and cheeses. It went pretty well. There’s a pic of the Harvest Moon from our patio and some giant turkey vultures on our roof recently!

Haya took Reid and visited Griffin for lunch this week. He loved having her there and introduced her to all of his friends at lunch. Reid was a handful and basically stole Griffin’s chocolate milk, so Griffin had to go get another one for himself! His art teacher is using Artsonia this year, an online site where the kids artwork will be uploaded and you can then order things with their artwork and part of the money goes towards the school. I surprised Griffin with a mug that I bought with his crocodile sharpie/watercolor painting. He did it all himself and I thought it was super great!

Daddy has been away for a couple days on a guys golfing trip in Michigan. This one appeared in my room Friday morning before my alarm went off! We spent a wet Friday night attempting to go to the Hilliard Davidson versus Olentangy Liberty High School football game but got rained out (or at least lightning delay and then we met our expiration!). Saturday morning was picture day for Soccer, which didn’t happen due to the rain. Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein came to Griffin’s soccer game and essentially sat in the rain for an hour! Most games had been delayed/cancelled during the thunder so games resumed starting with Griffin’s but many kids didn’t show up, so they ended up combining the two red teams and two blue teams to play against each other. We lost 0-2, but Griffin played really well. He’s one of the quickest kids out there and he had several really great kicks and stops. He also used some of his new tricks he’s been learning at weekly soccer skills class – like running toward the ball, stopping it with one foot while he runs over it, and then turns and kicks it the other direction. Good stuff! I’d liek to get pictures, but usually Reid is sitting watching YouTube on my phone. It’s the easiest thing I can do to keep him off the field or not have to chase him all over the back 40.

On Wednesday, I took Brutus to the trainer where he will be spending the next 4 weeks. Ugh, it is so weird around here without Brutus! Even though he can be a piece of work sometimes I find it so odd when he’s not where I he would normally be – like his face at the dinner table, laying at my feet, waking me up in the morning, etc. Jeff, the trainer, sent me a picture of him the first night and has given a couple of updates via text. He seems to be settling in well from the sounds of things.

The MG TD made it’s way to our house thanks to Kevin and Jim making the trip up to Mansfield to bring her down using the Jeep and a rental trailer. We were able to get it off the trailer, took her for a spin around our neighborhood and got a couple quick videos, and then parked her in the garage for storage until she meets her new owner.

The Millcreek Open House was another great success.  Our new Shipping and Growing Facility is {mostly} complete with the exception of the overhead doors and irrigation lines. It’s a pretty one! The weather was beautiful and we had record attendance for the day. Both seminars were really well attended and the food was delish. I was exhausted at the end of the day!