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May 2021

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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 🙂

 

 

 

April 2021

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Happy Easter! We got all spiffed up and went to church on Easter Sunday for the first time in a very long time amid the Covid pandemic. We enjoyed church, and then afterward while leaving our parking spot had a slight fender bender where two of us leaving at the same time backed in to each other. Ugh. Made for a memorable return to church. We were barely moving and no one was injured, just some cosmetic damage to Kevin’s bumper.

The highlight reel, and reality – ha! In all fairness it was quite bright.

We had a lovely easter egg hunt in the Duncan’s yard with our neighborhood crew. The kids ran all over and scooped up candy and other treasures like rings and bouncy balls.

A bit later in the afternoon we hosted a driveway gathering with the Bethune’s, Mom, and Dad. We had some desserts and another fun easter egg hunt with the cousins. Lots more treasures were scooped up!

I’m on the neighborhood Landscape Committee and we’re looking to make some improvements to the common areas within the neighborhood. So Kathy, Jane, Beth, Carlene, and I headed out on a tour of the neighborhood to make notes and put together some ideas on things we can do. We’ll be planting some spring bulbs, pruning and cleaning up some overgrown shrubs, and planting some new plants in the coming months.

Since I’m going back and writing this post in November (for April) it kind of feels like forever ago. Here are a few pics of Griffin playing spring soccer with his I9 team and receiving a medal for the week.

The weather has been all over the place this spring. As evidenced by soccer outside in shorts and s’mores outdoors with no coats to several inches of snow! The snow made for pretty pictures at least!

Griffin’s Boy Scout Pack 248 is going to hold the Pinewood Derby this year, outdoors, so Griffin and Kevin got to work making his car. He went with an Ohio State theme again this year and learned how to use the drill to help with sanding and such.  Griffin came in 3rd place overall this year, which he was super pleased with. It wasn’t until afterwards when we retrieved his car that we noticed a malfunction – the sticker was unpeeling from the bottom which was undoubtedly caused from friction and slowed down his car. Lesson learned for the next time!  The kids vote on other awards for different themes and Griffin also received the award for best themed sports car.

We started our annual batch of garden seedlings in the kitchen again this year. Probably most notable in these pictures is Reid’s “haircut” that he gave himself recently.  Pretty good view from the top, lol.

This section of photos I’ll entitle “The many shenanigans of Reid.” Throughout the months of March and April we really have not had childcare and Kevin has watched the boys while also working from home. It is no easy feat and I have no idea how he can do it. During the short stints I’m at home I am far more prone to lose my marbles. Reid is often on his own with periodic check ins from Kevin. So he’s enjoyed some nice exploration shall we say. Kevin often finds him in the afternoon sleeping in random places. He’s at the stage where he really could use a nap, but refuses one if you suggest it, yet he’s asleep in random places. In addition to practicing his scissor skills, he’s also given coloring his face a go.  Super cute! So these are some memorable photos of Kevin finding him getting into various things when coming off work calls.

Nothing like building a snowman in April!

It might be time for a hair cut for Griffin 🙂

Dad came down to Millcreek to pick up a load of soil, so I surprised him by shoveling it all into cans while he was at lunch with George. Dad will likely use some Millcreek greenhouse space moving forward as Mom and Dad look to move to Dublin.

And here are a few from my Google photos “memories”.  A great picture of Kevin, from one year ago already! And some others of Griffin at the age of 4 and 5, where Reid is now. Seems like the blink of an eye!

 

And here are some videos for the books:

March 2021

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It’s birthday month around here! Mom and Dad made a delicious birthday dinner for me that I chose from options they offered!) that they delivered still warm! Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, bread, and a blueberry custard pie!

After Grandma and Grandpa departed we were inside when suddenly, Griffin lost a tooth! We recently purchased a bike trailer for Reid to ride in when we go on our longer adventure bike rides. He was getting a big large for the upright seat that goes on the back of the bike. We call this his bullet and he absolutely loves riding in it. All the exploration and no work, even a nap from time to time to no surprise.

I took the kids to their semi-annual appointment, which was Reid’s first “real” check up. He did really well and like getting to wear the spiderman glasses. And Griffin had a good checkup as well.

On my birthday, Kevin decorated the kitchen with ginormous 4-5 balloons and flowers. As per their tradition, the boys helped Kevin make my bunny cake. After they had it wrapped up we headed up to Nocterra for dinner and drinks while the weather was pretty nice. Then it was back home for presents and cake.

 

My “big gift” this year, that I’ve been wanting forever was a dumpster! When we arrived home from Nocterra there was something orange in the driveway and I could not figure out what it was, but as we drove up the driveway I figured it out. Over the next week Kevin took to the basement storage area and various other places and filled this bad boy up! We had plenty of space and the timing worked out that the Bethune’s were able to add their swingset that they wanted to part ways with also. Yay for purging!

Unfortunately, one night when Kevin was pulling out of the garage (with Brutus in the back of the car), the basketball hoop was all the way down and with it being completely dark he hit the corner of the backboard with his rear windshield. It made a loud pop and then shattered. Poor Brutus was scared to death though we weren’t able to immediately get him out because of all the broken glass. We didn’t want him to walk all over it. We eventually got him out through the passenger door. Thankfully Kevin was able to have a local repair shop pick up his car, replace the window, and drop it back off. That all worked out great given that we didn’t really have childcare!

Here are some sillies and flashbacks thanks to Google. I’m always amazed how much the kids are changing and growing up when I get these reminders.

 

Up next was Griffin’s 8th birthday!! What? Not sure how we’ve already arrived at 8, but here we are and he was excited for his birthday. He was up at the crack of dawn with excitement. Kevin and I had decorated the kitchen the night before and when he came down he was excited to see his gifts and blue chair. We Facetimed Grandma and Grandpa during the opening of his gifts – that was new and different! Then we rode our bikes to dinner at Culver’s, Griffin’s choice. It was a nice ride but a bit chilly to sit outside with ice cream!

Once we got home we surprised Griffin with his cake – Pokemon! We sang happy birthday, he blew out his candles and had some cake, and then was onward to trying out his new rollies! He was really excited about these and for the next couple of days was up early before school and out in the driveway improving his skills. Within just a couple days he made crazy progress!

 



Everything checked our wonderfully at Griffin’s 8 year well-check. No shots, great weight gain and inches grown.

Haya stopped over for a birthday visit and gifts for the boys with baby Summer. She’s growing like a weed and is super cute! Griffin loves his huge remote control Corvette and Reidy loves his bowling set with a light up ball. It is always good to see Haya and Summer.

For Griffin’s “party” we had a small gathering of neighbors join us for mini-golf. It turned out to be a wonderful sunny afternoon perfect for putt putt. Afterward we headed home for pizza and driveway hockey for the kids and hang out time in our driveway for the adults. It was a perfect evening.

This is the third most common area you will ever find Brutus, actually he’s typically in the mulch just behind him against the edge of the grass. He loves to go outside and just lay in the sun. He will prance all around the kitchen and bark or scratch at the door just to go outside an lay down!  Griffin is holding some of our “overwintered” bonus carrots from the garden that we took out when prepping the bed for this year. And later are some pics of Griffin and Reid’s creative play. Always finding new things to do and making fun things up.

 

Lately we’ve seen some four-legged friends out in the morning while on our walks. This particular morning there were five deer just checking us out as we walked down the dead-end road. Brutus just zones in on them while prancing along and they just stare right back. Sometimes they dart away and other times just wait for us to pass and continue doing their thing.

I arrived at work one Sunday afternoon to find that Robert, our IT consultant, had spontaneously installed monitor mounts at my desk giving me a whole new setup! It was a nice surprise and one that I’ve enjoyed as it gives me more countertop to use. The little things!

We stopped over at the Bethune’s house to drop off Amy’s birthday gifts and the kiddos all played outside for a bit running around the yard and climbing the fence. We were only there for a brief bit before heading to the rink for another birthday party. Griffin has vastly improved in his skills and confidence since he’s been using his rollies in the driveway. Those skills just translate right over to the ice I guess!

Thankfully now that there is a vaccine available for Covid-19 I was able to schedule both doses for me. So now I’m just a couple days after Kevin for both shots. We are both receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

 

And here are a couple to just make you smile. Silly Reid and his many faces and styles. With not having regular childcare Reid has been largely on his own while Kevin is on phone calls. Every now and then he’ll pop in to Kevin’s office to check in and say hello. You never know what he’s going to show up wearing (or where you may find him sleeping later) :).

We were fortunate to have our Millcreek Spring Fling Kick-off event this year at the Food Truck Depot in Delaware. This building we took the picture in is actually open on two sides, so it provided good air flow. There were sand volleyball courts, several food trucks, and everyone seemed to enjoy being able to be together and out and about.

 

Check out these videos 🙂