The McGrew Family

Where did the time go?

2012-01-18T16:43:00.001-05:00

Seems like things have been so busy we haven't even posted in here since school started, well a late Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to what this year will bring. We wish there was more to talk about but things have just been busy busy busy with all the day to day stuff.

Sooo much to tell...

2011-09-25T18:05:00.001-04:00

We have had so much going on the last month where do we even start, in short some big changes, josh got a promotion at work and has joined the management team, Bryson turned 5 and had a great birthday, followed up by Josh's. We finally got moved somewhere in between and are still getting settled but it's starting to look like home. Needless to say its been busy so updates will be a bit slow until life gets normal again.

Video: Bryson in his ride

2011-08-21T22:07:00.002-04:00

Happy 5th Birthday Bryson!

2011-08-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

Bryson in his new ride, a birthday gift from Pap and Grandma Debbie.

Today our little man turns 5! Seems like it was not that long ago that we were just bringing him home from the hospital and worrying about how we were going to do this whole parent thing. We have watched him grow and do so many things that we will never forget, his first words, crawling, walking, and so much more but the most rewarding I think has been the last year or so watching him head off to school and develop skills and knowledge. Five years ago today we were blessed with the best gift that we could ever get and there is not a day passes that he don't make us smile and proud of the little man that he has became. So today we celebrate his birthday and everyday that we get to enjoy with him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYSON! WE LOVE YOU!

School, Birthdays, what a busy month!

2011-08-16T20:00:00.000-04:00

So we are two weeks into school now and bryson is doing great and having fun, with the first frosty friday in the books, bryson is riding the bus now and learning lots of new things, he seems to really like the fact that he has a PE, art, and music class now also. We are already starting to see some improvements on little things like how he writes some letters and at the same time some frustration with the fact that he already knows a lot of the stuff they are learning right now, although thats a credit to his teachers from last year in pre-k. We had to explain to him that not all the kids learned that stuff like him last year.
It has been a busy couple of weeks to say the least. Add the fact that he has a birthday coming up next week, josh does also and that means the tag is due, and it all makes for a busy month. Other wise business as usual. We hope to have more exciting news for us anyhow coming soon (NOT A BABY) but everyone will just have to wait for that since we don't want to jump the gun and it not happen. So make sure you check back after bryson's birthday for pictures and a post.

Happy Birthday Maureena!

2011-08-13T13:17:00.000-04:00

She says no one loves her, and no one care's so we knew we had to post this the first chance we had or we would never hear the end of it, today is Taseena's baby sister Maureena's birthday. We hope that she has a great day and enjoys her birthday and no Birthday would be complete with out a picture to embarrass said person a little so with that we give you the birthday girl partying it up at chuck e cheese during one of Bryson's birthday parties.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAUREENA!

Happy Birthday Melissa!

2011-08-10T16:32:00.000-04:00

So little busy this week and behind, apologies for the tardiness. Today is Taseena's big sister melissa's birthday, so we wanted to make sure that we wish her the best today and hope that she enjoys the day even though Taseena is giving her a hard time about getting old.... remember melissa she is right behind you and your only as old as you feel, "it's the new 20!" or so they say.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Back 2 School: First Day

2011-08-03T16:04:00.003-04:00

Bryson in class his on his 1st day of school.

Well today was the big day the first day of school, Bryson officially began his public school education today. After the open house on monday we expected a bump in the road this morning, he told us over and over that he was nervous but we knew he would be fine once he got past the nerves.

So bright and early this morning our big boy got up and ate his breakfast (chocolate chip waffles and Sausage... just incase you wondered) Brushed his teeth and got dressed. At this point in our day he was doing great and I almost thought maybe this will go ok. We all loaded up in the car and heading to school, he even got to have both mom and dad there to walk him into school on his first day, somewhere along the way those dang nerves kicked in, once we arrived at school he jumped out and walked in hand and hand with dad, he did so good remembering the way to his class and recognizing different things that will help him remember where to go. Once we walked in the class it went a little down hill, he was met by his teacher Mrs. B (Thats what were going with bc daddy can't pronounce her name right) and his teacher aid Mrs. Smith who met bryson last year when his pre-k class came to visit, she even remembered him so as she helped him put up his book bag and lunch box he began to get upset and clinched onto mommy. For a brief second we managed to get him to sit down, write his name on the morning coloring sheet and smile for a picture. (Above) He managed to say hello to one of his friends from pre-k and to our shock in walked a girl that josh went to school with years ago with her daughter, funny how things happen, along with that a visit from a family friend joann who was dropping off her children and lets not forget the random pop in from Ethan...... He was also in bryson's pre-k class and was notorious for being found in the other class rooms and wondering, it was so funny and a familiar sight. He quickly went back to mom and would not release so the point finally came when Mrs. B had to step in and help so we could get out the door and he could start the day. This was the point that mommy began to cry and get upset as he called for her.

Bryson and mom mid breakdown

Once mom and dad were home, we hoped that he would have a good day but still were a little worried about him. So after a couple hours we received word from walker's mom via dad on Facebook who happens to work there that she had checked in on the boys and that bryson was doing great now. That made us both feel better about the rest of the day. So mom and dad spent the day getting a couple things done and then the whole day had passed and it was time to head out to pick up the big boy and see what he thought of the big day.

The line was long but we finally got to him and he didn't even hesitate when we asked if he had fun.... "yup" Then we started to ask him just what it was he did today and unlike last year he began to tell us all about his day, how he sang the Pledge, saw two more of his friends from last year, showed us the art that he did today, told us how lunch went, how he liked his teachers, and was in a all around good mood. We are so excited to see how well he does this year and proud of him for turning what started out a little rough into a great day and fun experience. Great news to hear when your a parent. Tomorrow is another day and full of things for him to learn and share with us, the hardest day is out of the way and behind him now. We hope that all you other parents out there dealing with 1st days at least ended the day with the same proud and happy feeling along with your little ones, no matter how the day began.

Family and Friends feel free to leave a comment below for bryson and we will be sure to read everyone to him for additional support!

Back 2 School: Orientation

2011-08-01T19:37:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year and all the kids are heading back or about to head back to school, this year for bryson that means change .... something he don't like too much, none the less our little guy did great in Pre-K last year thanks to a great staff and family support and it is now time to move on
to the next step so this week he will start Kindergarten and today was his orientation. So we packed him up headed over to the school and some little boy was full of nerves, he walked in holding mom and dads hand and was very quite. To his surprise he saw a few familiar faces along the way and when we looked at his class list he was very happy to hear that one of them would be in his class with him. When it was time to meet his new teacher for the year he remained pretty shy but she was quick to make a deal with him that if he promised to be good she would let him and his friend sit next to each other, a deal that he quickly said yes to.

The nerves of him going to public school this year may end up being worse for mom and dad come the first day but we were reassured that he would get plenty of help and do just fine. After we left it was time to get some more school shopping done supply wise anyhow, and when we asked if he wanted a lunch box and us to make him lunch he refused and wanted to buy it at school, but by the looks of his menu for the month won't be too shabby at all. So now comes the moment of truth how will he do that morning on the first day? That will be Part 2 here, if all goes well and he takes right too it then we will start getting him ready to transition to riding the bus to and from school, But one step at a time after all he is only a little boy.

Happy Birthday Momma!

2011-07-28T18:57:00.000-04:00

Today Taseena's Mom celebrates her birthday and we wanted to take the time to post a special Happy Birthday to here we think she's turning 34 or 43 or 31 or .... hell we don't know she's been lying about it for years now, none the less we hope that she has a great birthday! From all your kids and family we love ya and miss ya! On that same note Brain Taseena's brother inlay also celebrates his birthday to day and Birthday wishes go out to him also today. Hang on folks this is a slow month just wait until next month we can name off 4 birthdays with out even thinking about it.

Happy Birthday Pops!

2011-07-13T17:17:00.000-04:00

Well here we are another year has passed and he is another year older and the white hair is coming out more and more, so today we celebrate my dad's birthday. he is out of town for the rest of the week for work and will have to wait until the weekend to celebrate with everyone and enjoy some cake but we still wanted to take the time to post a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the old man and we hope that he has a greta day even if he is without our company. So Pop's while your still a pain in the butt some times, were thinking about you and glad your around to be a pain some times. See ya this weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU OLD FART!

- Your favorite son, Daughter inlaw and the Best Grandson in the word!

Josh is gearing up for the Pens 11-12 Season

2011-07-10T13:15:00.001-04:00

So with the Thrashers gone we have returned to supporting just one NHL team, with the return of Josh's dad and crew from a trip to Pittsburgh it was only a matter of time before all the penguins goodies got put in place.

We always supported the pens no matter what but supporting the Thrashers was something that we really enjoyed also and it gave us a chance to see the penguins when they came to town too. Josh watched none of the playoffs once it was announced the team would move except for game 7 for the cup just from the frustration of losing the team but has since kicked into high gear for next season and now our Thrashers autographed gear and other items are "Vintage" now. The october game when the pens play the jets should be interesting for us, thats if we can get TV coverage down here for it. So josh went into high gear and the new car is all decked out in Pens along with his macbook you can see all the pictures below:

Pictures: July 4th

2011-07-09T11:54:00.000-04:00

The Fourth has came and gone, while we hope that everyone had a good one and didn't get stuck with rain like we did, the sad truth is that is all it did here, so as you can imagine the picture selection is pretty limited we managed to get a few though that can be viewed HERE. None the less we think that everyone had fun over the weekend and it was great for Taseena to spend some time with her sisters that she does get to see that often. So family time, fireworks, and the pool that about sums up the weekend..... oh and that Taseena's sister thinks that I'm a better cook than taseena :)

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-06-30T21:55:00.001-04:00

We hope that everyone has a a great and safe july 4th weekend this year. It looks like our crew will be heading up to Cartersville this year for fireworks and the other events that they will be hosting. This will be the first year that we have gone up for their events but we figured hey why not lets try something new.
The feeling this year seems to be that the family is gonna be spread out for the holiday weekend so we won't have our normal crew but we will have some fun none the less. So we hope that everyone will take the time to think of all the troops and all they do for us so that we can enjoy such a day with the freedoms that we do, while you enjoy time with the family and friends that you spend that time with. Who knows what kind of pictures and video this weekend will create from us but we have no doubt they will find there way back to this site for us to share with all of you. So leave a comment below and share with us your plans, if you don't have any then come join us!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

Josh wins a iPod Touch!!

2011-06-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

Josh entered a contest a few weeks back at work for a chance to win a iPad or iPod and while he didn't win the grand prize of a iPad he was one of the winners that received a iPod. We all thought it would be just a shuffle or something with branding from the contest all over but today while he was at work the prize arrived and to his shock and his co workers shock it was a brand new iPod touch. So what was the contest and how did he win, it was for a brand of dog food that they sell, employees had to submit lyrics set to any song that promoted the food, josh went with the tune of super freak and below are the lyrics he wrote. Maybe he should have went into marketing or something to do with brand development.

Song set to : Super Freak

By Rick James and Alonzo Miller

It's a very healthy food

The kind your cat and dog loves to eat

It will never let your pets down

Once you get them it off the shelf

It makes your pets more healthy

Your pet will surly love you

When you make the switch to Healthy

Your pets digestion will be at ease now

That food is pretty great now,

That food is super great

The kind of food that's healthy

Fresh Veggies and fruit now

That food is pretty great

That food is super great!

Your pets will love to eat it

Even all the treats!

It's all right, its all right

It's all right by pets, yeah

Its super great, super great

Its Innova, yow

Super great, super great

It's a very healthy food

The kind you want to feed them

From your cats to your dogs

Our treats to the canned food

No By products or artificials

Everything they need

Nothing that they don't

It's high in fiber and protein

Your pets will be waiting

It's fresh and healthy

Full of real fish and meat

That food is very healthy

That food is super great

The kind you pet really wants

Holistic and Natural

That food is very healthy

That food is super great

They really love to have it

Every time they eat!

it's all right, its all right

It's all right by pets, yeah

It's Super great, super great

It's Innova, Yow!

Ohhhh

Super great, super great

It's super healthy

Ohhhh

It's a very healthy food

The kind your cat and dog loves to eat

It will never let your pets down

Once you make the switch,

It's Innova!!

UPDATE: Family site transfer complete

2011-06-27T11:49:00.001-04:00

So as of today the transfer is complete you will no longer see the family site as you would have yesterday, the new format will fall more inline with a blog and offer some changes from the previous site. We will still be posting news and pictures (we are working on how pictures will be posted still) but we think this will also offer a few things that the previous site did not and make managing the site for us much easier. slow are some of the changes:

Direct links on the top right of every page to our twitter, Facebook, and youtube page.
Videos & pictures can now be embedded directly into posts.
New Mobile version of the site for faster results on mobile devices confirmed to be working on BB and iPhone at this point.
Posts will now contain tags making search must more efficient.
We can feature posts on the front page for our most important news and posts.
Comments can be added on all posts.
Sharing options for all posts via email, twitter, Facebook, and more.

We will come across more features as time goes on but that's just a few. As always we hope that you visit often and share thoughts and comments with us. Any feed back on things that we could try to change to make it a better site are always welcome also.

A New Ride...

2011-06-26T22:58:00.005-04:00

Well after a new issue every week with our car it finally bit the dust and the engine is dead, so we had to go car shopping recently and get something that at least runs. With that the new McGrew Mobile was brought home so you will no longer see it tooling the roads in our ford instead we will be in our blue Dodge. Here is hoping for better results in the long term. It’s not brand new but and nothing super fancy but will do the trick for us, and lots of seating with the third row …… maybe that’s a sign that we need to be deciding soon about a second child.

themcgrewfamily.com.... Change is coming!

2011-06-13T00:02:00.016-04:00

In the coming months apple will release a new service called iCloud, this service will replace the current MobileMe service that we use to host our family site they will also discontinue the software that I use to edit the site, we are not very happy with this but that is just the way it will be so with that said here is my plan moving forward…
Most people who check our site and go to view pictures either follow us on Facebook/twitter or at least the family sites Facebook page, all of with will remain active and in place. Themcgrewfamily.com will remain up and working but at some juncture soon will redirect you to this blog rather than the site we all know of right now. until I can find a better solution or service to have all of the content in one place at one time news, updates and blogs will be posted here with only links to or items posted directly into blog posts in other words no Photos or videos section. One thing that will change is the comments sections will be much more easy for people to use. Another nice addition will be if you come to view the site on your mobile there is a version for that now as well as a iPad version I think that while I have not got to play with it completely seems pretty nice also.

Bryson School Update: No More Pre-K

2011-05-25T11:51:00.011-04:00

Bryson has finished Pre-k and will be off to public school next year so as a final day of fun with all his friends and a small treat for parents and family the class performed this for everyone. We are so proud of him and everything he has done this year.

Bryson School Update

2011-01-16T22:56:00.002-05:00

For those who didn’t know bryson started Pre-K this year, he has been doing so well and we couldn’t be more proud of him. Just before the holiday break we got a progress update from his teachers and wanted to share what they had to say about our little man. Bryson is advanced in skills like writing his name, and other skills. He shows interest in the areas of the class they study, is well behaved everyday for them does as he is told. These are just a few of the items they covered before going on to say that they wish they had 19 more of him in class. We have noticed his speech, and knowledge grow in just the short time he has been in school and he continues to surprise us every day with the new things he learns. We wanted most of all to tell everyone of this because we feel that not only is this a credit to him and the teachers that he has but everyone that is in his life and continues to help us develop him and teach him the skills he needs to be strong next year when he starts elementary school and in life. The corner stone of this site and us keeping it up is our family and friends, that help us with these kind of things and creating memories that can not be replaced, so we hope that you all take the same pride in this that we did

Welcome to 2011 Everyone!

2011-01-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Well the new year is upon us and we have all had tie to adjust to writing 2011 for a bit. We were a little inactive here on the site over the christmas break but, we have been pretty busy. No end of the year would be complete in our home with out a few bad things, a random thing or two and then a great christmas story. So while the holidays here had a few bumps in the road it ended well I would say, this year instead of our normal running around town like crazies trying to get to all of the family we decided to stay home and just let bryson enjoy him self for a change, with josh heading back to work and the random bumps in the road it just seemed like the year to do so and it was soooo worth it, while we missed those that we didn’t get to see we needed the rest. Some family even came over and spent the night like josh’s mom and brother and sister, josh was like a kid as well, every year passes and every year he asks for the same thing of his granny….. for a white christmas, yes we live in sunny georgia and thats what he asks for??? Well we woke christmas morning and there it was, it stuck, it was great for snowmen and snow ball fights, oh and it lasted almost a week with two solid days of snow straight. Some things make you wonder huh. Throw in a few more bumps on the way to 2011 along with a surprise that josh’s other sister lindsey was in contact and wanted to speak to everyone, something that josh has been waiting for years to happen and here we are a new year with new starts. We hope that all of our family and friends had a great holiday season and the new year brings nothing but good things to everyone. Here’s to good family, old family, new family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T22:42:00.001-05:00

From our family to you and yours we hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and spends it with those they love, while having a safe one as well. We will be spending our day away from most of our family, with taseena working and the fact that we have no desire this year to do all the running that we have done for so many years between all the parents, bryson and I will be at home and wait for Taseena to join us after work. Then after that we all move on to the next holiday… so all you crazy black friday shoppers out there, Taseena included be safe and don’t get ran over also.

Bryson's 1st NHL Game

2010-11-14T12:15:00.003-05:00

As many know last nights game against the Penguins was my son Bryson’s very first NHL game. He picked the game that he wanted to see, not that I had any doubt what game he would pick as we are penguins fans also with me being from pittsburgh. Once that decision was made and game day rolled around we began to get everything ready and in place, we made him a sign, a very bright sign. After that was done I had the idea to reach out to a couple players to just say hey look for my little guy with his sign a puck would make his day from his first game. Now with that said keep in mind the character this will reflect later in our story. When it was time to head down to the game we got out the door just a bit slower than usual, as expected with a four year old and by the time we made it down to the arena to watch the guys warm up they were already on the ice and it was packed. I knew in my head that if any chance for my son was to come from all that we prepared I had to find him a spot down there and one that would count. I threw him up on my hip and began to wind my way down to the ice as quick as I could to find a great spot next to a few other little boys and a female in her seat.

I kindly asked the lady ” This is my sons first game do you mind if we watch from right here?” She kindly said “sure no problem at all” first and foremost thank you to her for the kindness. Bryson placed his sign on the glass asked questions, and waited patiently to see if one of the guys would toss one over for him. Andrew Ladd was the first to start and when he tossed one over that was in the palm of my hand, I thought we had Bryson’s first puck but then the Douche bag next to us that came in and pushed the other kids that were next to me out snatched it up.. normally it would be time to go, but with my son there and a mission in mind I proceeded to tell him what a douche he was to take a little boys first puck like that and diverted my attention back to my son. Eric Boulton began to toss over pucks there after as he always does but was further down the ice. Just when the guys were starting to leave the ice here came Evander Kane, my son knew who he was only from the term “erinn’s boyfriend” as we have a family friend that think evander is “hot”

but after the next few moments evander’s name would be carved into a little hockey fans brain and heart for the rest of his life. He skated near by for just a min before he turned around and began trying to get the puck over the glass to a very specific little boy, so I began to try and get bryson high enough to get it but with no luck and then while we both were trying bryson began to fall from where I had him as I reached for his puck I reached out with the other arm and snagged him up, and handed him his puck while turning to give evander a thumbs up and a smile for a Thank you from a little boy and father, who are now forever fans. While this was occurring I could hear the crowd behind us cheering as I caught my son according to my brother the whole thing was pretty “Epic” but none of that mattered at that very moment because there were only really three people there, and it was a proud father, a son that just experienced a moment he will never forget and a player that went out of his way to search for that little boy and his sign to show character that goes above and beyond to grow the sport.

We began to walk up to our seats where mom was and she was so excited and only said “that was so kind of him” because she also knew of the words and picture of the sign I had sent to him earlier in the day. Now I don’t know that it was the case that he was truly looking for Bryson and his sign or that he even saw my message but I would hope so. Either way from that point on Bryson knew exactly where Evander Kane was the rest of the game, who he was by name and cheered “LETS GO THRASHERS” as loud as he could with the rest of us from every spot he could including the bath room at one point. He waived his foam finger in the air, and enjoyed every minute. The game ended with a loss for our Thrashers but none of that mattered tonight to a little boy and to be honest while this dad would have loved to see the guys win after the effort they gave, It didn’t seem to matter as much to me either when I looked at my son. Evander should feel this way also, you want to win and to score goals, but last night you did something much bigger than win a game you placed a memory in a little boys heart that will never be forgotten, you created a moment that this city needs more of and it was a huge win for you in my mind.

So even as we pulled away from the arena Bryson still had his puck in hand, and a smile on his face, in fact he never let go of it until I got us home and placed him in his bed for the night.When we were woke up this morning I found him in our bed with his Thrashers foam finger and a very cold puck from a very special night in hand. My son and I will forget the loss but the experience will never go away. So thank you to everyone that made last night happen from start to finish you just added another sale as well because I am sure that some little boy won’t be letting mom and dad go to a Thrashers game with out him ever again.