Two Hundred

Just noticed when I logged in that this is officially our 200th post to this blog.  Granted I've slowed down quite a bit lately due to our somewhat crazy schedule, but even still there will be quite a lot of interesting tidbits for the kids to look back upon as they get older and want to know more about their childhoods.

So what have we been up to?  Well art class is finished and the kids brought home a large portfolio of work to share with us.  We can't continue on with the next session because it conflicts with soccer, but we are doing a 2 day family clay workshop starting this weekend.  We'll make a masterpiece as a family and this should be very interesting.  Kurt and the kids are artistic, but that is definitely not a word I'd use to describe me.

The kids are still keeping up with their typical activities.  They both earned their orange belt at karate and are now learning how to work with a bow staff (YIKES)!  And they are both now up to Basic 3 at ice skating lessons.  This seems to be a bigger jump in skills as they are now learning how to spin and other more complicated moves.  Maddie is a SPEED DEMON on the ice and prides herself on being able to weave in and out of people.  Of course we do still need to convince her to bend her knees a bit more.  Aidan focuses more on the choreography piece and really uses the free skate part of their lesson to put on his "performances".  He's very cute and works really hard at it :-)

Nature class is still a big hit!  We learned all about frogs today, made a craft and took a walk out on the trails.  Every week we monitor the daffodils we planted there in the fall and we finally see them peeking up out of the ground. 

School is going great and the kids both seem to be doing very well.  One of Maddie's strengths is Math while Aidan is reading at a 2nd grade level.  They love their classrooms, teachers and friends; but I do sense some hesitation on Aidan's part about having to go to school ALL day long next year. 

Other than the above, we've had a few adventures and are mostly looking forward to the sun, some warmth and lots of time outside!

Dressed up for Wacky Wednesday during Dr. Seuss week!

Backwards counts as wacky, right?



Somehow I have a feeling they'll be 21 and still want to go puddle stomping!

STORYTIME!  We are glad they love to read as much as we do...

Before the Father/Daughter dance that Maddie declared TOO LOUD AND DARK.

My handsome, kind and loving boy!

Happy Spring to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's in New York I Tell 'Ya

This was just so adorable to me that I had to share it!  Kurt took Aidan to a Lab today to get his blood drawn.  We've been suspicious that he may have sensitivities to certain foods and we decided to finally bite the bullet, do the official testing and know once and for all what he can and can't eat.

Naturally Aidan was nervous about going and not looking forward to it.  We talked through what would happen, that it would hurt - but only briefly, and that the quickest way for it to be over was to just remain calm and let the Lab technicians do their job. 

So what does our handsome little cutie do?  He comes up with an elaborate (for a 6 year old) plan to fool the technician's into drawing blood from someone other than him! 

Hard to read, but it says - "This is not Aidan.  He's in New York."

His plan was to slip the note to the Lab tech.  Savvy little buddy!  Of course he probably should have hidden the note from us and not shared all the details.  Needless to say, he DID have to go through with the blood draw and he did great!  And the Lab techs thought his little note was very sweet :-)

As a side note - probably no one but me would get all of the turtle references here but we've got green paper and New York which is home of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He and Maddie are under the impression that New York is pretty much the best place ever now - especially their sewer system!

We may not be a football lovin' family - but we still participate in Spirit Day at school!

Maddie is a little grumpy in the above photo because Kurt had just spent a few minutes trying to dig a piece of gravel out of her hand from a big spill she took on the way to the bus stop the other afternoon.  Gotta love the fabulous (NOT) new street they put in.  Sure Mansfield, save a few bucks on your cheapy, non-pavement, throw-down-weird-gravel-that-impales-children "plan".  Wish they'd just left it the way it was and so does MADDIE!

Leaving things on a happier note, it's F-R-I-D-A-Y and the kids start their new art class at the local art museum tomorrow morning.  Can't wait to see the masterpieces they create...

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!