Early Christmas Gift

Don't mess with the Willner Twins, 'cause they'll take you d-o-w-n!

Earned their yellow belts and very proud of it!

After only 3 months of lessons, the kids have earned their yellow belts.  Their Sensei is always telling me what great kids they are and how impressed he is with how hard they work.  Private lessons are definitely the way to go for us.  They get an hour long hard core workout because they are constantly moving and not just waiting around for their turn and are able to master the skills faster because of the repetition and the undivided attention.  The most important thing is that they love doing it and are very proud of themselves!

Half Days Are the Best Days

I have to say that the kids and I are really enjoying this whole half day Kindergarten thing.  It's just the right combination of school time, preferred activity time, and free time. 

Most mornings we are up and out of the house after breakfast for some sort of a group activity.  Last week they helped Oak Knoll plant their daffodil bulbs for the season and this week they took a class on spiders and went on a spider hunt.  Just this morning they had their Karate lesson and I heard them hard at work on their kicks, punches & chops.  Their teacher commented on what hard workers they are and what a great attitude they have.  Next week we have BINGO at the school and the ZOO BOO at Capron Park.  Weekly soccer games and ice skating lessons are just a given. 

I'm grateful that they can take this year to try out so many activities and hopefully be able to narrow it down to what things they most want to pursue long term.  I am also grateful that I am able to spend so much time with them and take part in their adventures (I was an honorary spider hunter).  I am, of course, especially grateful that they are enjoying school as much as they are and having such a positive experience there.  Lastly I am grateful that they are able to be so busy but still have time to play in the yard, watch their favorite tv shows, build with their legos and just be their silly selves.  I also should mention that I am grateful to Kurt for all of his hard work that provides us with the ability and resources to take advantage of all of these opportunities.

In fact, I am actually a bit sad at the thought of them having to go to school full days next year.  Just the other day on the drive home from nature class, they said they hoped they could do this forever and I realized I was kind of hoping for that too...

K-a-r-a-t-e CHOP!

Pre spider hunt.  (come spring we'll take a photo with what Aidan likes to call the "Willner daffodils")

She's much more aggressive this year and has scored at least one goal during each game!

I've never seen anyone love anything as much as this boy loves ice skating.  He smiles the ENTIRE time :-)

I certainly don't mean to make it sound like everything is perfect and we've not a care in the world.  This isn't Facebook after all.  Aidan still gets anxious now and then and Maddie is still a bit moody and can be really hard on herself.  But overall, they are fabulous children and we do our best to move through the bad days and try to reflect more often on the good ones. 

Just the other day I received a lovely out of the blue email from a neighbor who ran into Kurt & the kids at the grocery store.  She said "I had to tell you that running into your kids made my day.  They are two of the warmest children I have ever met and I really enjoyed all of their stories and hugs.  You and Kurt are doing all good things over there." 

And I'll just leave it at that :-)

Active Autumn

Autumn is my favorite time of year and it always tends to be a busy time of year for us as a family.  We've got school and our weekly extracurricular activities like soccer, ice skating, nature class & karate (photos to come).  But the weather is so gorgeous that we tend to do a lot on the weekends as well.  Just this past weekend Kurt and I were patting ourselves on the back for all of the interesting experiences we provide for the kids (and ourselves really). 


There was a half day the other week, which meant no school at all for PM Kindergarten.  Kurt took the day off and we finally took that train ride we've been promising the kids.  We even threw in a subway ride to make it really exciting (slight sarcasm from a jaded former MBTA regular).  It all culminated in an enjoyable trip to the New England Aquarium and a lovely, though pricey, outdoor lunch at Faneuil Hall.

M&A were THRILLED to find out we were going to the very same Aquarium and very same Sea Lions showcased on Fetch with Ruff Ruffman!

The touch tank was definitely a highlight.

Climbing all over the statue at Back Bay Station while we waited for our train.

The Aquarium has added a shark and ray touch tank since the last time I was there and Aidan was so into it (pun intended), he ended up soaked from shoulder to fingertips.  Maddie was a little less inclined to stick her arm into a tank full of sharks (and I don't entirely blame her).  Fun was had by all! 


No Autumn is complete without some pumpkin picking.  Maddie (with help from Coach Daddy) has drawn a very scary face on hers with marker.  Luckily we used washable markers because Aidan was not pleased with his and decided he'd like a "redo".  They plan to put them out as super scary decorations for the neighborhood Halloween party. 

Grandma & Grandpa joined us for this adventure!

Of course there is no better time of year to enjoy nature than the fall and we've been taking advantage of that at some local nature preserve sites.  All four of us attended a "Geology Rocks" class last weekend and the kids can't wait to go back for more.  We learned about the types of rocks, took a nature walk and even made our own treasure stones to take home and crack open. 

Apparently the classification of this "puddingstone rock" is hotly debated in the Geology community. 

Kinda cool tree we found.

The nature center coordinator was kind enough to tell us about the Free Star Parties they have once a month.  Local astronomers bring their telescopes to Moose Hill to share with local families.  It'll require us to be up past bedtime, but the kids cannot wait.  Aidan keeps looking at the calendar to make sure we don't miss October 11th.  Cross your fingers for clear skies because they cancel if it is too cloudy and we'll have two VERY sad Jr. naturalists on our hands...

Not necessarily Autumn related, but our cutie pie lost another tooth!

We've been blessed this year with a very warm and sunny Autumn.  I can say I wouldn't mind if we had another winter the like one a couple of years ago where it was very mild and not a lot of snow.  From what I hear, the predictions are just the opposite though. Until then we'll enjoy our apples, pumpkins, rocks, stars and everything else that make the kids so happy :-)

Birthday Triple Play

I'm pretty sure last year I said we were NOT going to have multiple birthday celebrations - but somehow that just works well for us!

We kicked off birthday season with a trip to the Cape Codder in Hyannis.  The kids LOVED it there and are hoping Uncle Jon will run the Hyannis Marathon so they have an excuse to go back and spend some more time at the wave pool!

Mom & Dad managed to enjoy the wave pool too!

Modeling their Wild Kratt creature power suits we gave them as a gift!

The photos didn't turn out well, but we also enjoyed the bonfire the hotel provided that evening.  I liked relaxing under the stars and the kids enjoyed the massive bag of marshmallows they gave us for roasting :-)


Next day we were up in plenty of time to enjoy the wave pool before checkout.  Then on to downtown Hyannis for a duckmobile tour through the streets and the harbor.  And we finished it off with a quick visit to the beach before the drive home.  Believe me, we made the absolute MOST out of our 28 hour vacation!!!

Being a Cheetah on the beach...



"Awwww Moooom, more pictures???"

Phase II involved their actual birthday.  It kicked off with a trip to the toy store to spend the birthday money from Aunt Janet & Pierre.  Next they received crowns, cards and well wishes from their classmates.  Finally, Mimi & Buppy got them off the bus and we eventually settled down to a lovely pizza and cupcake birthday dinner.

It's possible I accidentally ignored the directions on the cake mix and ended up with MASSIVE cupcakes.  Nobody complained about the gluten splurge!

Phase III was an apple picking trip with the Maas/Lance side of the family.  Granted we now have a humongous bag of apples to use up and apparently the kids prefer their organic Fuji apples from Whole Foods.  *sigh*  But it was a fun experience with their cousins.  AND they received their beloved fish "love" and "bubbles" as birthday gifts. 

Applehead cousins!

Another successful celebration of their birth.  It's a cliché, but it truly is going by too quickly.  It's very hard to believe that it has been six years since we brought home those itty, bitty babies and sat on the couch too scared to do much of anything with them since they were so darn small!  They are no longer small, but we certainly continue to enjoy our family time :-)

The Kindergarten Adventure Begins

The first day of Kindergarten has finally arrived!  I remember this time last year thinking to myself how glad I was that they still had another year of preschool before I had to send them off into the big bad world.  That certainly flew by!!!

Despite having attended Kick Off to Kindergarten camp and Orientation, Aidan was still pretty nervous.  He asked me numerous questions including:

"Why did you sign me up for this?"
"Maybe Maddie should go to Kindergarten alone?"
"Can you call the Kindergarten and tell them I'm busy"

And Maddie had her typical reaction to new experiences - she was excited and not the slightest bit fazed!

However, after hemming and hawing for a bit - Aidan stopped, looked at me and said "Mom, I have to do this, so I am just going to do it".  And he did :-)

You can see the remnants of nervousness on Aidan's face as we wait for the bus.

The big, bad scary school bus that actually turned out to be "pretty awesome".

I had hoped to get a shot of them climbing the bus stairs or perhaps peeking out the window at me, instead I got this.  The kids are so tiny you can't even tell they are on the bus at all!  Guess I should have been more specific about my plans...

Nervous Mommy that I am, I got to the afternoon bus stop 20 plus minutes early to make sure that was no way on earth I missed it.  The kids jumped right off with smiles on their faces and said the bus was awesome (I'm sure they'll tire of that eventually) and their days went well. Maddie stayed on green all day and earned a marble towards a prize.  She is very committed to remaining on green everyday and we don't doubt she can do it!  And in typical Aidan fashion, his favorite new friend so far is Victoria. 

A good start to the year so far indeed!

Chatham Vaca 2013

We are just back from a blissful week down the cape - gorgeous weather and lots of fun activities and family time!

Posing in front of our beach house.

Not one tiny bit afraid of those Chatham Great Whites!

Watching the boats unload at the Fish Pier.

We all got a huge kick out of the seal tour.

And enjoyed a beautiful sunset at Rock Harbor - thanks Aidan for the suggestion!

Visit from Grandpa & Grandma (the crab hunter).

Enjoying Wild Kratt's during our visit from Mimi & Buppy.

Such a fabulous week and no complaints to be had.  One lesson learned however.  It's been a LONG time since Maddie & Aidan shared a room on a consistent basis and it turns out they do better in separate rooms.  There wasn't a single morning one of them didn't wake up and say I had trouble sleeping because of so and so.  I guess next year we'll just need to rent a mansion (per Aidan).

We're sad summer is almost over, but are gearing up for our first day of Kindergarten and the ever so exciting school bus!

July Catchup

I finally have my computer back after a slight mishap (NEVER EVER shut down your computer when you are in the middle of updates no matter how concerned you are about running late for your impending vacation). 

July was a busy and very fun month for us!

We started off with a long weekend visit to Aunt Janet in New Jersey (said impending vacation).  Much fun was had and Aunt Janet and Pierre slept for a week after the tornado that is us left :-)

Lots of love for Pierre!

 

 

So much fun to walk a dog (until it's your own is my guess)!

 

 

 



Mining for Gems...

 
 
 

Identifying our booty was the best part!

 

 

Embarrassing family photos!

MOOOOO

Beautiful views at the farm

Pool time was a-ok

Maddie loves dressing up in the shawl Aunt Janet made for her!

 

We had so much fun and are hoping to make it an annual tradition.  Not so sure how Pierre will feel about that!!!!


Upon return, it was time for 'Kick off to Kindergarten' camp at the kids new school.

Last day was a special performance for the parents - and as Aidan will tell you "I took my solo" (aka
he held the final note of the song for about 30 seconds longer than everyone else)

So proud of their hard work

Much as I am sad that I no longer have preschoolers; I was extremely pleased that this camp was such a positive experience for them both!  Hopefully that will ease any first day of school jitters (for them, not so much me).


A slightly sadder note for July was saying goodbye to a very good friend.  Luckily her family will be back every summer at their cape cod summer home. 

*sniff*, we'll miss you Laurel...

We finished up the month with a visit to Mimi & Buppy in Chatham.  What's better than a chance to hang out in the sun at the beach with beloved family!  We kept very busy:

Crab hunting

Being cute

Boogie boarding

Identifying our future home!

We are back in Chatham as I type enjoying another sunny, blissful week - but I'll save that for a future post!

As Batman(or girl) would say, "Same bat time, same bat channel."