I picked Finn up from school on Thursday and he was so excited to show me the necklace he made! He is a real gift giver – always telling someone that he made something for them, it’s usually whatever craft is nearby that he made. In this case, it was for Daddy :).
While Finn was at school I took Brutus and Lily to the vet. Brutus was due for his last set of vaccines and I wanted to get Lily looked at for the limp that she’s been having for awhile. I figured it was just from over exerting herself when chasing deer. Seems like it is her right front shoulder but it’s pretty hard to tell. And it is really intermittent so it’s hard to put my finger on it. We’re hoping that they will be able to determine what is going on. Initially I wondered why it was a good idea to take them both at the same time. Lily, in particular, was being super energetic and pulling me all over! But after a bit in the room they settled down and looked like this. It’s funny, Brutus has found his voice i the last week or so and is barking more and more. He kept barking at the voices and noises he heard in the back of the vet clinic!
Later on Thursday evening Finn and I took Graham to his hockey lessons at the Chiller in Dublin. Finn thought it was pretty fun to be at the rink and watch Graham out on the ice. Of course, enjoying pop corn and a pretzel wasn’t bad either ;).
Finn has had another fun-filled week with art projects at home and school, learning about the states, making cookies, and such. And a first for him this week was bowling! We had to get the carpets cleaned on Friday so I suggested to Debbie that they go on an adventure for the afternoon so the pups would rest and she wouldn’t have to put them in/out and deal with wet carpet. So it was a late lunch at Culver’s followed by Bowling at Star Lanes. As you can see he has a lot of fun. He regularly asks if it will be a “Debbie day” or if Debbie is coming the next day. We are all blessed!
Saturday morning we headed to Costco. Is it bad that Griffin sees the Costco logo on a magazine at our house and knows that it’s a Costco book? Seems we go there frequently. But in this case we were on a mission for church to buy supplies for the after church meeting and luncheon that was taking place on Sunday. Kevin and I have been asked to serve on the Generosity initiative team. There is a small group of us on this team with the mission of informing the church body of the desire of the church leadership to pay off the mortgage on the building so that funds can be freed up to fund mission work both at home and abroad. Kevin and I will be coordinating the food and facility logistics portion of the events that we will be holding. So, off to Costco we went to get some of the foodstuffs! The event turned out really nice and honestly, it was probably the most simple event that Kevin and I have put on together! Whew. 
And it wouldn’t be a post without some puppy photos. This is the norm around here. Snuggling followed by crazy tug of war and wrestling, followed by more sleeping!
On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Bounce Club for Cole, our neighbor’s, 4th birthday party. We’ve now gone to a few parties here and its so fun for the kids (and easy for the adults, let’s be honest!) that we’ve decided to have Finn’s party here this year too. They bounce for an hour, then eat pizza and cake, and then head out. Fun, fast, simple, and easy!
We started this week by celebrating Kevin’s birthday on Monday evening. Griffin and I had gone shopping together so that he could pick something out for Kevin. His choice? A pair of batman pj’s so they could match! He was so excited to give him his prezzie and that night when Kevin put them on he had the biggest smile on his face :). 
Kevin and I went out for his birthday dinner with friends Chris, Christie, Chad, and Nicole. It was a low-key dinner at the Bogey finished off by some chocolate and vanilla cake. Griffin was happy to stay at the Howards and play with the girls. 
The annual tradition of hanging our ornaments on the Howard’s Christmas Tree. 
We got our first real snowfall this week. It happened to be on Tuesday, which was great as I had the day off work and was home with Finn. As soon as I picked him up from school he wanted to go outside and play. So once we got home he headed out to the back patio for a bit and played. Then he ventured to the front yard where he had some fun making snow angels. 
Tis the season for baking, right? Debbie had a cookie making day with Griffin and Sam and they just loved it. And I must say the results were delish!
On Saturday we had our annual candy making party at our house. This year we were joined by Mom & Dad, Amy, Andy, Graham, Rowan, and Greta, and our friends the Ryan’s, Conrad’s, Manning’s, Vertucci’s, and Kessler’s along with their kiddos. It was a big crowd for sure and we had a lot to accomplish! This year we made buckeyes, decorated already made from scratch (by Amy and kids) sugar cookies, and four batches of hard tack candy (lemon, peppermint, cinnamon, and root beer). The kiddos also enjoyed crafting down in the basement thanks to my Mom, who came up with the craft ideas and led the (at times) crazy crew in crafts 🙂
After the candy making ended we were all pretty beat! But Mom and Dad, Amy, Andy and kids stayed for a pizza dinner to celebrate Kevin’s birthday. Griffin and Greta were enjoying being silly together with their tiger “babies”. 
On Sunday Griffin and I headed out on a mission to finish some Christmas shopping. He asked me to hold something which I didn’t want him to have, so I gave him my L.L.Bean gift card to hold since it was attached it a cardboard backing. We were talking about Christmas and gifts and I asked him what he would like for Christmas. Out of nowhere he said he wanted a puppy! Since I was in a parking lot, I turned around with the video on and asked him again. Watch the next two videos for his response. It was super cute! I had nothing to do with the idea, really, I didn’t. I sent them to Kevin, who responded, “where did he get that idea? puppy?”. And my reply, “the front of the gift card because he is on the present box”. This kid, he cracks me up. But in the second video you’ll hear him talk about how he wants three dogs because Hailey and Cameron went to Heaven and he wants Lily to have a playmate so we can have 3 dogs again. 🙂
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.