Tag Archives: santa

December 9, 2018

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.

December 10, 2017 ~ 29 weeks

This big guy had his 6 month checkup on December 5th. We’re a bit behind as his first checkups were delayed at the start since we were on vacation. In any case, an excellent report from the doctor. He weighed in at 17 pounds 2.6 ounces (35th percentile), 27″ long (53rd percentile), and head circumference of 45 cm (86th percentile). We’re going to start experimenting with some more foods and they also encouraged giving him a sippy cup with water so he can begin learning how to drink from a cup. I was kind of surprised as I don’t remember that so early with Griffin but we will give it a go! I hadn’t even though of it yet! The boys had a fun-filled week at home with several fun activities including making gingerbread cookies, making themselves as elves, writing letters to Santa and dropping them off at the box, and various Christmas painting projects. This year Griffin wrote out his entire letter to Santa himself! Reid was also quite happy with himself one day when he was able to open the beverage fridge. He is quite a strong little man.  Despite Brutus being the size of small pony, when he naps he loves to curl up into the tiniest of balls. I especially love that his tucks his nose under his leg.  This guy has caught a little cold and isn’t feeling the greatest. This picture captures what I think he feels like. Poor man. He’s been wanting extra snuggles and from all of his congestion and such hasn’t been sleeping the greatest. Kevin has been going in during the nighttime when Reid wakes. We’ve found if I go in then he sometimes will settle but other times isn’t happy unless he gets fed! So I snapped this pic of Kevin and Reid taking in some night time snuggles.  Griffin loves to be my baker helper. We made some brownies for the church musical and he’s a high energy mixer. The Bethune’s went on a 10-year anniversary trip so Mom and Dad came down and stayed at their house and watched the kiddos for the weekend. Griffin, Reid, and I met up with them for hockey and skating lessons on Saturday morning. It’s chilly in the rink so we were bundled up. I think Reid enjoyed his first observation experience.  After hockey and lunch at McDonald’s with the crew the kids and I headed to Enon for Jim’s 75th birthday! Kevin had left earlier in the day. The weather turned wintery  and driving, though not terrible road conditions, was horrific! It took us nearly 3 hours to get to Enon. And I even got off 270 and went a back way, which was slow also. Thankfully I’d fed Reid before we left and they both took great naps! Once we arrived in Enon we had a great time. Lots of play time on the carpet and decorating the Christmas tree, which Finn loved. In the below football pic he’s using a cucumber as his mouth guard. He’s requested a mouth guard and shin guards from Santa – but in the meantime, he’s pretty creative in making his own.  On Sunday morning the boys and I left Enon early and headed back to Dublin to meet my parents and the kids for church. Kevin wasn’t feeling well as we’ve all been fighting the yuckies. After church Grandma and Grandpa treated all of us to lunch at First Watch. Yum! At school Griffin works a lot of letters and writing and they frequently fill out sheets like this and then at the top they draw what was written. So here is Griffin’s ornament, his favorite part of our Christmas tree!

December 4, 2016

Tree decorating time! Griffin was really excited to decorate our tree this year.  He kept taking all of his ornaments and stepping up onto the brick fireplace step where he placed most of his ornaments on the tree. It was fun to watch the excitement on his face. Kevin got the top of the tree from the ladder – and he was all the way to the top! Griffin had several fun adventures and activities this week including crafting and baking Gingerbread men and then trying to find the one that escaped! I had to do some homework outside of work hours one evening so Debbie stayed late and they ventured to the Fantasy of Lights in Galena where you drive through a display of lights and then get to sit and talk with Santa at the end. They had quite a fun night! Our family adventure took us to Hocking Hills and Ohio University to watch Cameron Howard participate in the OU Honors Band. It was fun to hang with friends and be back on the campus of my Alma Mater. We enjoyed dinner at Jackie O’s Brewery in the heart of uptown Athens and then headed back to their cabin in Hocking Hills where Finn enjoyed helping to decorate their Christmas tree.  On Sunday we attended the Love Changes Everything Christmas Program at church. This year part of the program included a performance by Holywell, a band that includes several church members. Turns out the kiddos enjoyed dancing around in the “mosh pit” up front.  It was cute to watch.