Tag Archives: snow

February 2022

February started off with a huge check mark of Griffin finishing his 3 week course of antibiotics. Yay!!!! He was so glad to be done (as we all were) and he really mastered taking the 22 mls three times a day for three weeks by the end.

We did have a follow up appointment for bloodwork/labs and an xray which came with rather short notice via a phone call. There was a big storm coming and we needed complete the bloodwork either the same or next day (storm was coming the next day of course) so Griffin and I headed to the Children’s location on US 23. After all he’d been through he was really scared and nervous to be poked with any needles which is completely understandable. It took a lot of convincing and kind explanation from Abdi, the phlebotomist, about how quick it would be. In the end Griffin sat on my lap and it was less than 10 seconds and Griffin did great. Abdi was so patient and he found a toy to give Griffin to tell him how great of a job he did. We celebrated after with Cane’s on our way home :).

It’s been a pretty stressful start to the year and I’m not the best at disguising any of it at home. Griffin and his kind heart made this “book” for me as a lovely encouragement.

Griffin is pretty much back to normal activities and everyday fun. He’s moving better all the time but still favors his right knee some with a little “limp” here an there. He accompanied Brutus and me on a walk in the snow “storm” that in fact did arrive. The snow was coming down so fast. We walked in the tire tracks in the road it was so deep!

The neighborhood crew enjoyed playing in the snow plow mounds of snow in the culdesac at the Bolans.

This was a pretty big snowstorm and while I love a good driveway shovel workout I’m thankful our neighbor came by and saved the day! Tom used his snowblower and in no time our driveway was clear.

Griffin has told me that some day he wants to possibly open a sundae shop. It’s his favorite dessert to create and serve to everyone. He likes to take orders, ask what “toppings” you’d like, and serve you your sundae in a cute dish. We sure do love Graeter’s peppermint stick ice cream in the winter.

Arts and crafts haven’t ever been a thing for me. It’s just not something I enjoy really. Thankfully, Lilly is creative and enjoys creating things so she took pictures of the boys and helped them create custom Valentine’s boxes of themselves! It was such a fun idea and I love how they turned out, each representing their personalities to a T.

Reid is so full of personality. He’s zero or 100 most of the time. He’s either happy or silly or sassy or stubborn or any combination of the above. He sure can be a goof. He loves anything small and tiny and has to bring things everywhere. He is regularly carrying a sack or bag or small container of the smallest toys. His current favorite is Robot Town and the tiny robots inside.

Some kind of sports practice, game, or watching a sport is a pretty regular thing in our house. Kevin and Griffin went to a Crew game together and the give away that day was an awesome yellow Crew hat!  We celebrated Paul’s 50th birthday with friends at their house while watching the Superbowl. And Griffin and Kevin, along with Miles and Jay, went to the CBJ hockey game. Griffin received tickets for Christmas to take two friends to a game.

Reid is really getting good at writing his name! As a Valentine’s activity at school he answered some questions that his teachers wrote down for him about what he loves. Cute!

While Mom and Dad were away in Florida we checked in on the hosta seedlings and the basement finishing progress. Reid helped me mix the pink fertilizer water and feed the plants and enjoyed his snack while we were there. Griffin also popped over there with me once or twice as well.

Kevin purchased a fun new toy in order to clean out our dryer vent. He and Griffin gave it a whirl on a warm and sunny February afternoon.

February means book fair week and this year’s theme was Reading land – a take from Candyland. Once again the decorating team took it to the next level and everything looked amazing.

Since having Covid Kevin has really not been feeling well. While dropping off something to me at the bookfair he mentioned he was feeling a bit off and his hand was feeling funny. He decided it was a good idea to get checked out so he went to the nearby Emergency Department where they ran an EKG and hooked him up to all kinds of monitors and ran various tests. Thankfully, everything came back ok and they suggested follow up with his primary care doctor for further tests. Whew.

And here are a few randoms from the rest of the month including gearing up for our second team of H2A workers who arrive in early March. We’ll have 3 additional apartments and while Shaina is out early on maternity leave I’m executing the plans for furnishing the apartments.

November 1-14, 2019

Leave a reply

We started November off with a photo session of the 1953 MG TD as we needed to get photos of the four corners of the car for the Bring a Trailer listing. It was a bit fun, shall we say, as the battery was dead and we could only locate our battery backs with one set of cables (not our true jumper cables) which weren’t effective. Finally we were able to borrow a pair of true jumpers from our neighbor and got her started and out into the street for some photos! The hour delay in all of that turned out to be a good thing as we captured some nice photos with the sun setting. Kevin took the boys for a ride down the street and back. Griffin also helped me get some photos of the hard top, acting as the “hidden” support to keep it propped up. Afterward I got some photos of he and Reid being goofy.  Monkey see, monkey do around here.  After we wrapped up our photo shoot we packed up the car, the dogs, and the kids and headed to Mansfield to get the HostaWorks Seed Shoppe ready for online sales for 2019. Kevin works all of that magic while the kids have fun playing. Dad and I got the labels printed for the seed trays and then I snapped some pics of Mom and Dad to use on the website this year. It was a fast weekend and the site launched well with only two sneaky pre-orders before the site was actually live.  As it turns out it has been a record breaking year for seed sales. The first 24 hours brought in crazy sales. The site went live at 5 pm, by 9:40 pm half the SKUs were out of stock and we had received 43 orders. By 8 pm the next night we were at 71 orders and 592 or 775 total packs sold, and only 39 of 148 SKUs still available. It was nuts!

I took Brutus on a walk with Mom and Griffin in the morning. It was one of my more frustrating walks with him to be honest. There were so many distractions and lots of newness so he wasn’t listening to best. But we got it in anyhow and he demonstrated some of his listening skills and commands as we got back home to Mom and Dad’s.

On Monday and Wednesday mornings I’m home to get Griffin on the bus and take Reid to preschool. Some of those mornings I haven’t had time to get Brutus walked before the kids are up, so we’ve headed out together. It has been pretty chilly a couple of times but the boys have been troopers and enjoy the brisk start to the day.  After texting back and forth with Brutus’ trainer about his pulling/barking/growling when encountering people or other dogs on walks he suggested a slip leash. We got one and I’m really happy with how it works and how you can more easily control the dog, taking the unwanted behaviors pretty much off the table.

Reid has brought home some fun art work from preschool. I met with one of his teachers this week for conferences and she had good things to say. He’s a good listener, he plays well on his own and with his peers, he’s able to do a lot of fine and gross motor skills well. She did note that he doesn’t smile much for them, but that they know he’s happy as he’s not seeming sad or upset. I noted that he’s very observant and also that he talks so much. She was surprised to hear me say that he’s a big talker, she said he doesn’t talk much at school. That honestly surprised me, though she explained that there are some strong personalities in the classroom. With that I’m not surprised at all, I can imagine Reid watching what’s going on. One thing she noted to work on was sharing, which basically all 2 year olds need to work on, lol.

One evening the boys put on their matching footed pj’s and decided to be goofy together. Griffin asked me to capture all of their silly poses. I love these silly boys!

On Sunday Griffin was invited to a friends birthday party at The Movement Lab, a fun ninja-warrior-like training facility. The all boy party was two hours of athletic ninja obstacle course, pizza, and cake!  I found him playing in his room early one morning making lego creations. He loves to play with people, but also loves his time alone to create.

On voting day, we like to take the boys to the polls with us to learn about voting and our civic duty. Afterward, we go to breakfast typically at Anne’s Kitchen in Powell.  We had voted, eaten breakfast, and were able to get home in time for Griffin to make the bus at 8:35 am!

For Veteran’s Day, Griffin’s school had a breakfast where the kids were able to invite a veteran and have breakfast with them. An assembly followed afterward. Griffin invited Grandpa Armstrong (US Navy 1960-63) as his guest. He wrote a cute little invitation for Grandpa. Grandpa drove Griffin and himself to school and I popped in quickly to snap a couple of pictures. They were treated to a pretty large spread of breakfast foods and cards and crafts handmade by the kids on the tables. Thank you for your service, Grandpa!

Early one morning I had to head to WestCamp, the printer for the Millcreek catalog, for the 2020 catalog press check. School was on a two hour delay due to the icy and sleet covered roads. It made for an interesting walk with Brutus in the morning. Lots of crunching with each step. While I was at the printer Kevin was home with the kids, who got all suited up and enjoyed playing in the snow for a bit. Good thing the snow pants still fit!

We hosted the main course of our neighborhood progressive dinner – chili, hot dogs, and ham/cheese sliders. It was a large crowd this time with 6 families (14 adults and 13 kids) and we barely had enough food! The kids always love this time together and it is fun to see them get so excited to move on to the next house. They like to be the first ones to each house before he next course begins.

We were SO EXCITED to receive this letter from Tyler Run on Thursday, November 14th. I opened it at 10 pm the night before we left for our Tennessee vacation. I was so excited followed quickly by so disappointed that we were not going to be in town for the assembly, in which Griffin would be recognized in front of the entire school for being a student in Mrs. Hale’s first grade classroom that has demonstrated TEAMWORK during the first grading period. There are two kids per class who are recognized each quarter. We are so proud of him! And we are thankful for his teacher, who nominated him for the award. We haven’t shared with him that he won this award yet, as it is a surprise. His teacher reached out to me and wrote the entire letter out in a message to ensure that I had received it. She said she nominated him before they knew when the assembly would be and she apologized that it was while we were on vacation! She has offered to present his certificate in front of the class on Monday, 11/25 (which also happens to be the morning I volunteer there this month) so Kevin and I will be there for that. So proud!

 

And here are a few videos of Reid doing his ABC’s and 123’s!

 

March 17-31, 2019

Leave a reply

St. Patrick’s Day started with green pancakes to go with the green necklaces and fun plates. Later we had green avacado toast too :). 

It seems this spring is yet another weird weather one. On March 18th we awoke to a pretty winter scene of snow. I snapped some pictures before heading to work as it was a beautiful sight – just not one for March!

Griffin had his 6-year checkup on the 18th. Time sure if flying by, I’m not sure how it’s already been six years. But this boy is growing like a weed, gaining 6 pounds and 2.75 inches in a year. He’s up to 47.3 pounds (60 %ile) and 45 3/4″ (57%ile) {Head circumference 15.8 cm / 65%ile}. He didn’t have to get any shots (no more until 11!) but I talked to Dr. Houts about how now and again Griffin is really washed out and has no color in his face. I was telling him how I’ve been anemic and so he suggested they could run a quick finger-poke blood test, which they did. It came back really good, he is right in the middle of the range they want to see – so no worries about that! I took him out for our traditional ice cream treat at Graeter’s afterward. 

We received Griffin’s Kindergarten class photo this week. They put each of the kids names on the picture, which at first I thought strange but then found kind of neat. At least that way we can remember everyone’s names years from now!

I took Finn with me to Millcreek to pick out some new houseplants. I’ve finally decided to replace the ones that have been dead for months, ha! We took a quick tour around the place and I let him “drive” the jeep, so he was a happy camper. Second pic, selfie by Finn.  Later that day we planted seeds for our vegetable garden. We skipped doing it last year, figure we’ll give it a go this year, but perhaps in pots. Time will tell. 

It was a beautiful afternoon so we decided to head to the zoo to enjoy the nice weather. Griffin got to ride a pony (we tried Reid, but he was scared!) and we all rode the train.

On Sunday we headed to New City Presbyterian church as afterward we went to Homestead Park to celebrate James Kessler’s 40th birthday at the pavilion. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground equipment and we scarfed down pizza before we had to head home for nap time. It was quite the crowd as most of the church came too!

For my birthday Kevin and the boys gave me a bike. This week Kevin installed Reid’s seat so now we can head out with everyone! We took it on a quick test drive before leaving on a surprise spring break trip with the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. We weren’t planning to do anything, but as the week went on I just thought it would be fun to do something for break. We spent Friday afternoon and night, Saturday, and until mid-afternoon Sunday enjoying Great Wolf Lodge in Mason. There are numerous restaurants, an arcade, ice cream shop, etc., all within the hotel so once we were there we didn’t need to leave! We had a good time. 

Haya has planned some fun activities with the kids lately. They drew out the solar system and then also assembled it on sticks with styrofoam balls. Next, they are going to paint all of the planets. Griffin, who once loved arts and crafts, hasn’t really been into it much with Haya. When I asked him about it he told me he always got to do things with Sam and it’s not as fun to do them himself.  Ugh. Well, we’ll keep trying!  The picture of Finn in his pj’s was the Tuesday after his birthday. He chose for everyone to wear PJ’s to school to celebrate his birthday (since they don’t allow you to bring in desserts/treats). That was super fun for him, this boy would live in jammies or comfy clothes if he could. 

And here are a few Millcreek updates.  Pump House number 2, going in out in the I-pad is coming right along. We also sent our first-ever shipment to Nevada via common carrier, so I included pics of that just for fun. The plants arrived a week later all in fine condition. There’s a first time for everything. And this year we’ve changed our shipping TV’s from vertical to horizontal in order to accommodate all of the many sizes we’re growing. Things are always changing. 

A few videos from the week are below.