Mom's Birthday

Grandma Barb's birthday video!!

Trips!! What a great time in Chicago...Off to New Orleans!!

We had a terrific time in Chicago last week! Thank you to my Aunt Lynn and Uncle Eric for putting us up, and putting up with us for a few days. It was so nice to visit with my family there. Everyone seems to be doing very well, and nothing makes me happier than that! We did miss my cousins Elyse and Scot, but hopefully we will be able to visit again soon. The train ride was great, and perfect for Drew, with his intolerance to sitting still for more than 30 minutes:) I am sure that Chicago is going to be a nice weekend get-away spot for our family. After our return to Michigan we spent another night visiting with the Hoyt's, who we very gracious with their fine amenities...hahaha Staying with them never gets boring! Drew had a blast with Autumn and Brooke of course!

Last friday we headed to Lansing to stay with my sister LeAnne and her husband Marc and brand new baby girl Adrianna for the night and spent the day with nearly my entire immediate family! Sara was up from Hillsdale, my Dad came from Tennessee and my Uncle Mark and Aunt Louie came from Okemeos....or however you spell it...lol.

We haven't been back a week even and I got news that I have won a trip to New Orleans with my company, so on May 5,6,7 Michelle and I will be getting our own little anniversary rendezvous!! We are very excited about going , but a little cloud of sadness looms, since Drew is not going with us.....but it is definitely time for an adult only trip....just didn't expect it so soon!

Here are some video's from our Chicago trip on sprig break.....enjoy!

Spring Break........How I want THEE!!

The Charland family will be going to Chicago with the Hoyt and Clark/Hubbard family this year for spring break. I could not be more excited! Michelle and Drew and I are leaving on sunday via the train from Kalamazoo. We have received our itinerary for the trip, which will include Shedd Aquarium and the Children's Museum. I will be taking our new video camera, which should give plenty of Blog material in the coming weeks. Here is a little clip that Drew and I put together from this weekend.....he does so many things and goes so fast, that I feel tired from trying to keep up...I think that's normal right?

I am putting all the new videos on YouTube..it's just easier with the higher quality/larger file size of the new videos.

St. Patricks Day Parade

Drew had a blast at the parade today. He wanted to march with the band, so he started marching beside them going down the road. Eventually one of the band parents saw him and thought he needed to be in the front of the band...so she lead him to the front on the band where he marched and played the air-drums until the parade ended. It was classic Drew....

Facebook is Killing my BLOG!!!!

So much has been going on in our lives, and I haven't blogged much of any of it, because ALL my internet time that isn't absorbed by work...is going to Facebook. I am going to make it a goal for the month of March, I will blog once a week!! So please don't give up on me, and for the sake of my family memories, if I have to scale back my Facebook usage.....so be it.

Michelle went to see her beloved Tim Mcgraw this weekend, and being the loving and caring husband, I volunteered to go to Kalamazoo and give the Hoyt girls some parental guidance while Peter was at work. Drew and the girls had a wonderful time as far as I could tell. We made dinner and played Apples to Apples, and a game called "Who am I" where everyone has a cardboard cut out of some type of character( an animal or person), and you have to ask everyone questions to try and figure out what you are...could be a lot of fun for any age group:)

This morning we made breakfast and went outside to throw snowballs at each other.....although I think it was the girls throwing them at me mostly... Autumn ran up on me and shoved a snowball down the back of my shirt, and while I was reeling from that ice cold surprise, I was then hit directly in the grill by a very giddy Brooke, who happened to be right above me on the playground equipment. Needless to say, I had it coming....

So I have included a short video of our ride home from Autumn's Soccer game on Saturday...Drew had 1 nap for about 15 minutes, and woke up with the biggest smile on his face.

How about that Band?

Astonishing is an understatement.

So Drew and I attended his swimming class again on monday last week (which he doesn't really care for), and after the class ends, we usually hit up the hot tub and then play in the kids area where Drew slides down the slides a little. We had been to many classes, this is actually our second year of swimming lessons.

There was something different about this time though. First off, Drew wanted to walk from the car to the building, and he held my hand across the parking lot. When we got inside, he lead me to the elevator, and said "downstairs". One thing after another, Drew was turning into a big boy, right before my eyes. I normally would not be so shocked by this, because he does typically add something new to his big boy arsenal on a weekly basis. Today was just different, and completely amazing to me as a dad. Shortly after we were done playing, I took him in for a shower, where he made sure that I washed my hair too.

Being such a proud daddy that night, I offered to get us some ice cream. Unfortunately, I had left my wallet in the car, so I had to explain this to Drew, and was expecting a complete breakdown ( at 7:00 at night, he is a tired little man). Was I ever wrong. He followed me out to the car, and helped me get my wallet. We came back to the building, and when we got inside, he played games with me all the way to the elevator and downstairs to the ice cream shop. I picked him up, and we looked at all the different flavors, but we both knew what we wanted.....chocolate. I paid the cashier, and she handed the cup to Drew, and he looked at me and said " Thank you".

I love being a father, and as much as I struggle with events and decisions, one thing will always be a constant. Nothing will ever make me happier, than all the little things that my family provides for me everyday.