Easter

For Easter this year Pete's parents, Mark, Kelly, and Drew all came to Marquette for the weekend. It was a dual occasion . . . celebrate Easter and have a bunch of people to do house projects! Mark, Kelly and Drew came on Friday morning, so we had the whole day for the boys to play outside together. Pete's parents came later in the afternoon, so when Pete got home from work we played more outside and then ordered some pizza for dinner. We ended up celebrating Easter on Saturday morning because Mark, Kelly, and Drew were leaving Saturday night. Charlie LOVED everything about the Easter Bunny coming! We left him some carrots, and Charlie told me that he would want a Coke to drink, so I think we started a new Easter tradition! When he woke up in the morning, he noticed the trail off eggs leading from his door right away. He grabbed his basket, ate the first egg, then proceeded to collect the rest of the trail in his basket. He was very excited to find his big Easter basket, and I think we've created a monster when it comes to peanut butter filled chocolate eggs! While the boys were napping, we hid a bunch of eggs around the house (we woke up with 3 inches of snow on the ground, so there was no egg hunt outside). Charlie loved gathering all the eggs too! I was so happy to see he enjoyed it so much. Holidays are just going to get more and more fun with him!

The rest of the day consisted of house projects, playing indoors, and having a yummy Easter dinner. The boys were very productive with everything they did: porch railings, installed baby gate, put up gutters, put together IKEA furniture, cleaned/organized the garage, finished painting the kitchen and dining room, and some other little things. It was a great Easter weekend with the family, and a big thanks to everyone for all of their help around the house! It's starting to finally feel like we are getting settled!!

Charlie on his Easter egg hunt.

Charlie and Drew after they gathered their Easter eggs.

Our traditional Egg Fight!

Charlie's first ever Egg Fight with Aunt Kelly! She was the big winner of the day!

Great picture of my favorite mother-in-law and one of the two best sister-in-laws a girl could ask for!

Charlie using his batting tee from Dennis and Melissa for the first time!

The boys definitely needed a bath at the end of the day!

Charlie enjoys bathing Pat too!

Ice Cream!!!!

Easter weekend had some real nice days to go along with it, so we decided to take advantage of the ice cream stores being open! We tried taking the boys to see the "Big Cow" at Jilberts in town, but they were closed when we got there. We ended up at a little place called Drizzles that is pretty close to our house. The boys each got their own little cup from Grandpa. Needless to say, we have an ice cream lover on our hands!

At Jilberts with Uncle Mark and Aunt Kelly!

Drew enjoying his ice cream.

Football with Grandpa

I just love this series of pics I happened to catch of Charlie and Grandpa. We brought Charlie's football with to play with his cousins at the party, and at one point everyone was trying to teach Charlie how to snap the ball and receive it. Grandpa used to be the one to snap the ball, so he was showing Charlie how to do it. Here's the pictures to show the lesson!

Getting in the stance.

Grandpa is getting ready to snap . . .

Snap to Charlie . . .

... and run through the legs for a touchdown!

Hrodey Family Reunion

As I mentioned in the last post, we went to Chicago for Pete's grandpa's 90th birthday party. The whole immediate family was there, plus many of Pete's dad's cousins and other family members. It was so nice to hang out with the cousins and their kiddos for a couple days. As always, it's never enough time, but it had been awhile since we all were together, so we'll take any time we can get! Saturday we went to Trader Joe's, IKEA, and then all got lunch from Whole Foods while we set up for the party. Saturday afternoon was the party, then the kiddos went swimming, and the adults just relaxed and caught up with each other. We woke up Sunday morning for breakfast, and AC had Easter baskets for all of the kids. They loved pulling out all of the special things she gave them. We had a long ride home Sunday, so we took off pretty early. Charlie did great in the car, minus a few false alarm potty-pullovers. It was so nice catching up with everyone, and we are hoping to see everyone again in Ludington this summer!

Charlie and AJ playing with the hockey guys.

A great pic of Charlie, Pete and Aunt Kelly.

Grandma brought the bubble machine for the kiddos. It was a BIG hit!

4 generations of Hrodey!

An Easter basket from AC... oh, boy!!!

AC with all of the kiddos and their Easter goodies. Charlie, Ally, AJ, and Drew.

Drew and Charlie being their usual goofy selves!

A Visit to Grandpa George!

Last weekend we took a trip to Chicago to celebrate Pete's grandpa's 90th birthday with the entire family. When we got there, we made a special trip to see Grandpa so we could spend some alone time before the big birthday party. Charlie was a little shy with him at first, but it didn't take him too long to warm up! Dad and I left to get food for everyone, and by the time we got back, Charlie and Drew were running around the house and giving Grandpa "knucks". The best part was probably when Grandpa brought out the cookies...both boys were definitely all about him then! We have a nice little visit with him and AC, and I think he was ready for a break from the kiddos after a couple hours. I will post pics from the birthday party soon.

Getting a cookie from Grandpa George.

"Knucks" for Grandpa and AC!

Powdered Sugar Donuts

I don't think I even need to write anything about these pictures! =)

Making Mommy a Cake

Pete's parents were here for my birthday, so they helped Charlie make me a cake. As I have said before, Charlie is a very independent little guy. He likes to do everything himself and very rarely wants you to help him. He really enjoyed making the cake. I think his favorite part was smoothing it around in the 9x13! Oh... wait... his favorite part was definitely eating it! Pete and I were able to go out for a nice dinner on my birthday while Charlie spent some quality with Grandpa and Grandma. They went out to dinner for a cheeseburger, then headed over to Jilberts to visit the big cow and get some yummy ice cream. It was so nice to have Pete's parents here for the week. They helped me to get so much accomplished around the house! A BIG thank you for all their help! I don't know what our house would look like if you weren't here to help!!

Opening the bag of cake mix.

Pouring it in the bowl.

Helping Grandpa mix it all together.

Helping Grandma spread it in the 9x13.

So much fun!!!

Grandpa's Little Helper

We are starting to notice a little trend in Charlie. He wants to do everything you do! Last week we got a new dish washer, and we installed it ourselves. I was helping Pete's dad do the final touches, and Charlie kept coming over with his Handy Manny tools to help (you can see Pete's dad using "Squeeze" to hold a wire). I had to take a picture of him. He just wanted to hold the flashlight to help Grandpa out. He also wanted to climb the ladder every time Grandpa went up. He kept saying, "My ladder". You can imagine the difficulty Pete's dad had trying to paint the kitchen with Charlie constantly wanting to climb the ladder! He's such a good little helper.

A Glimpse of the Summer

This past weekend in Marquette was beautiful! We reached into the 60's, and we took advantage of every moment we could get outside. The top picture was Charlie before he headed outside. I was changing him into play pants, and he wanted to go get his boots on. He came back with one boot and the thrower for Payton. I don't know who is more excited to be outside, Charlie or Payton. Needless to say, they both love running around in the backyard, and they both sleep real good afterwards so it's nice for Pete and I to have two tired boys!! We are looking forward to the warmer weather! It's going to be a good summer!!

Charlie is starting to be able to throw the ball for Payton a bit. It doesn't go far, but he's getting the hang of it!

Charlie's First Bike!

We got Charlie his first bike! The other day Kid's Woot had an awesome deal on a balance bike for kids, so we couldn't pass it up. You should have seen how excited Charlie was to see the bike sitting on the back porch! We had Pete put the bike together that night, and Charlie was ready to roll. He absolutely LOVED it! He did not want to get off. At first we had the seat too high, but once we moved it down, it was the perfect height for him. It's so fun to see how excited Charlie is to have his very own bike. I think we will have some fun on it this summer!

Sorry the video is sideways... I forgot that I can't turn the camera vertical or it will turn out like this.

The Donut Monsters

Well, Pete, Mark, Kelly & I have created some monsters. Donut monsters to be exact!! We've started a little tradition that when we spend the night at Mark, Kelly, and Drew's, we get donuts in the morning for the boys. Now, to let you understand the magnitude of this tradition, I have captured some pictures. These boys go nuts even when they hear the word donut. We woke up Sunday morning, and I went to the store to get the donuts. When I returned, both boys were pressed up against the door yelling, "DONUTS!!!" They are just too funny! When Charlie and I left Gwen's birthday, we drove to Traverse City and stayed with M,K and D to break up our drive a bit. It also gave us an excuse to spend some special time with them. We had a nice, short visit, but we are looking forward to Easter weekend when they travel to the UP to see our new house! Now, back to the donut monsters!

They could barely smile for the picture. They were way too excited for donuts!

Charlie's happy donut face.

Drew's sweet donut face.

"Yea, donuts!!"

"Ahhhhhhh!!! I ate 2 donuts!!!"

Gwendolyn's 1st Birthday

Charlie and I were able to stay through the weekend to help celebrate Gwen's 1st birthday! It was so nice to have Charlie play with all of his cousins again. Gwen had a great party and was all the smiles the whole day! Charlie partied hard until about 1:00, then we hopped in the car the head home to Marquette. He made it to the end of Dan & Mary's road, and then was out cold. It was a great way to end our trip downstate. Happy Birthday to my amazingly, beautiful niece! We look forward to many more birthdays!!

Isn't she the cutest! Her mommy made her shirt.

Grant and Charlie had fun playing with the tools.

Such a happy girl for her birthday!

"Mmmmm.... cake!"

Someone else enjoyed his birthday treat!