3/6/11: Evan Shoots, He Scores!

Evan did Kindergarten Basketball this year - K-Ball. He had so much fun and got to play with lots of his friends from school. His team was the Tarheels. What a great season, and what a great way to end with a Basket in the last game of the season. See the video below. There is also an article on Billerica.org on K-Ball. Evan is in the left hand corner of the picture at the beginning of the article.

Here is his team.

And with his Water Bottle he got on the last day.

And here is the video - He shoots and scores!!!! We were so excited.

3/4/11: Evan's 1st Art Show

Evan was in his first Art Show at School today. He was one of the winners in his Grade for his category. He was beyond excited. Here he is with his art piece "Dreaming of the Beach". The full list of winners is now posted on Billericarecreation.org.

Dreaming of the Beach up close. John and I are very scientific minded and not very artsy at all, so we could not be of much help.

I did all the coordination and setup with volunteers to help me. Having Evan in Kindergarten meant this was the first time I ever went through this, so I wasn't sure what to expect. There was about 50 pieces of art total to setup in two categories - 3 Dimensional and Picture. I think it all went smoothly. Color coding cards for each grade I think helped a lot. I also saw an opportunity to document a process around it, being the Project Manager that I am. My process document includes samples, pictures of our setup along with helpful hints. Here is the Kindergarten table.
And Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade.
3rd, 4th and 5th Grade.
Here was Evan after finishing his Art Work.
Here is a little video after he won the ribbon.

2/25/11: School Vacation Week = Fun and Sleepovers

School vacation week, a time for fun for kids and tired parents. We have been keeping busy during the vacation with our trip to the Shriner's for the petting Zoo, Disney on Ice, two trips to Chuck E Cheese, a trip to the Discovery Children's Museum in Acton and a failed attempt at a trip in to the Museum of Science in Boston. We tried to venture there today, but there was a ton of rain, the garage was full, and the place looked packed. A bad combination. Most of our activities were still on also so we had those this week too.

The kids had their first sleepover. Lauren slept in Evan's room. It was so adorable to hear them talking. I almost wished I had put a video camera in there to record it.

Here we were at the Discovery Museum in Acton. We have been there many times, note the difference in these photos from a visit in 2008. In this one Lauren is behind a bubble.
And playing in the water area.

We then went to Friendly's for some food. Ok, can I ask but is it not true that every Friendly's has terrible service??? I have never been to one and gotten out of there in less than an hour.

2/20/11: Shriner's Petting Zoo and Indoor Rides

We went to the Shriner's Auditorium again for the Petting Zoo and Rides. We had done this last year too. As I complained last year the value was not great but the kids did like it. Luckily I had coupons for the kids to get in free and when we walked in someone was leaving and gave me 12 tickets they weren't going to use. The lines were long for animal rides such as pony rides, camel rides and elephant rides and it was $8 to get a picture sitting on a pony which Lauren wanted to do, but luckily I reminder her she has taken a lot of pony rides and this was just sitting on one not even taking a ride.

Then there were rides. Here is Lauren having fun.
And the kids on the cars. Of course they picked the Fire Truck and Evan rang the bell the whole time.

Evan feeding the animals.

And the one horned Cow.

And Llamas.

2/19/11: PTC Sponsors FIRST FTC Competition

My company PTC is sponsoring the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge so I was able to participate in the last event at North Andover High School. This is a competition for High School students to build a robot and compete with it in the ring and in many other categories which I as a judge interviewed and judged them on. These included Innovation of Design, Design aspects, Motivation, Connection with the community, Think - for their Engineering Notebook, and Inspire as a combination award of who placed highly and did well in matches. Here is one robot with a PTC logo on it. Vision for FIRST: "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." - Dean Kamen, Founder It was so nice to see so many young people interested in science and engineering. It is great we have something like this for young people. Many of the groups we spoke to were very inspiring and were very impressive individuals. I know it must have been intimidating to have a panel of 3 judges asking them questions, but the enthusiasm for their robots showed through. And for me it was nice seeing some young ladies involved also. Being one of 3 women in my Aerospace Engineering classes I knew what it was like being in the minority in an Engineering field. Another PTC Logo.
HAX a very cool robot.
My husband and kids came to watch. Who knows maybe Evan will get involved in the Junion FIRST LEGO League. What fun, hopefully I will get to participate again.

2/18/11: Toy Story 3 on Ice Fun

We had a great time at Disney on Ice as we always do. Toy Story 3 was a big hit with the kids so they were really looking forward to this show. Lauren was so excited to get dressed up like Jessie and Evan as Woody. They looked adorable and Lauren was dancing happily during the show. I especially liked the Barbie and Ken section of the show and when Buzz spoke Spanish. It was really funny, I heard many adults laughing hysterically.

There is still time to go to the show and enjoy the fun. You can still use my code of MOMTOY to get discounted tickets as I posted earlier.
What a fun show for everyone, especially with school vacation. I highly recommend taking the family.
Lauren hugging Jessie during the show. She didn't let go of her the whole show. It was adorable.

Evan intently watching. Evan had Buzz with him.

Here is a slideshow of the show.

2/9/11: Slacker Mom or Burnt Out?

Lauren had her Valentine's Day party at daycare today and it exposed something about me which gave both me and my daycare provider a laugh given the former Gilda. The day has come that I was the slacker Mom of the group. Lauren came home with her bag of loot from the party receiving books/candy/cards/goodies from all the kids, and what had I sent? A simple Princess Valentine with a glitter sticker. But am I the slacker? It could be viewed that way, but instead I think I have gotten a little burnt out. There are so many parties and things going on. Evan has a party at school, Lauren has a party at school and at daycare. I was just happy to get the kids to write out that many Valentine's. Between all the kids at school, daycare, and friends there were so many. I do remember in the past us making cute little heart pins for everyone at daycare. But, that was when I just had the kids at daycare to give to.

Note that I am the one that has volunteered for every party at preschool over the last 3 years, and goes crazy planning birthday parties. I always ensure there is a theme with matching music, cake, handmade candy, decorations and well thought out crafts/favors. I made personalized CDs the last two years for Lauren's birthday and last year made my most challenging cake.

And even made two cakes for Evan's birthday and cupcakes for the party and for the fire fighters.

And one year took hours to make this invitation with Evan's face.

I went as far as to have toilet paper with paw prints on it for Evan's 1st birthday with a Blue's Clues theme. I make sure to do crafts for every holiday, scrapbook for both kids, and blog about them.

I continue to stay involved now by being part of Evan's kindergarten parent teacher association. I volunteered at the Holiday Fair, designed the buttons, and now got signed up to be the coordinator for the Art Fair.

This is a lovely flashback picture of the kid's first Valentine's day together.

Luckily this morning as I lay in bed I remembered it was the Valentine's party today and made sure to switch out the all brown outfit with a red dress. Wow the embarrassment if I forgot to put an appropriate red outfit on her too. (Note again I am the one that makes sure the kids have outfits to match every thing we go to - Zoo they wear animal clothes, Disney obviously character clothes, etc). It gives me a laugh that I am maybe relaxing my expectations of myself and don't have to do it all. I have been known as an Activity Mom, but a slacker, I think not. I guess we are all entitled to have an off day.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. :-)

2/3/11: Lauren's 1st Baton Lesson

Lauren had her first Baton lesson today. Mommy twirled as a kid all the way up through High School and was really involved in it competing in State, Regional and World Championships. The kids saw the Batons in storage and thought it would fun to try out. It was hard to find some places that taught but we found one. And she is twirling with another ex-twirler's daughter that Mommy twirled with. Here she is ready to go.

Learning to roll it down her back.
Learning to twirl.
Up above the head.
She is starting to get the hang of it.
Going around in a circle.
This is fun!
Being silly.
Rolling it in to her arms.

Here is some videos:

Doing horizontals:

Their Routine:

1/27/11: Giveaway and Discount Codes for Toy Story 3 Disney on Ice - School Vacation Week

CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHELE FOR WINNING THE FAMILY 4 PACK OF TICKETS!

Snow getting you down? Wondering what to do during February vacation with the kids, well I have got a great show for you. I am sure your kids loved Toy Story 3 as my kids did (and by the way so did I and even shed a few tears), now take them to see the Toys on Ice.

We enjoy Disney on Ice every year and would love for you to enjoy it too. Here are links to us at Princess Wishes, World's of Fantasy, and Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey and 100 Years of Magic. What a fantastic show and as a Feld Family Activator I have discount codes for you to enjoy Toy Story 3 Disney on Ice at the TD Garden from February 18th - 21st. What better way to entertain the little ones on School Vacation Week!

Want to win tickets to Disney on Ice Toy Story 3? (Tickets to Friday, February 18th at 7 pm in Boston for a family of 4!)
1 entry for each item:
- Comment here on this post as to your favorite Disney Character (comment section at the bottom). (Make sure you preview and type in the word verification)
- Subscribe to Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog (and verify the subscription to be valid) and leave a separate comment that you did.
- Already a subscriber (thank you) then leave a comment stating you are
- Share this link on your Facebook page and leave a comment here stating you did
Contest closes Monday, February 7th, 2011.
Winner will be contacted and will pick up their 4 tickets to the show at the Will Call Window.

What if you don't win and just want to buy discounted tickets, well here is a great disount code!
FAMILY FUN PACK: 4 TICKETS FOR $60!
OFFER VALID ON $20 AND $25 TICKETS AT THE FOLLOWING VACATION WEEK PERFORMANCES:
Fri. FEB. 18 - 7:00 PM
Sat. FEB. 19 – 7:00PM
Sun. FEB. 20 – 12:00PM & 4:00PM
Mon. FEB. 21 – 11:00AM & 3:00PM
(Excludes Rinkside, VIP and Club seats. No double discounts. Cannot be used for prior purchases or group sales orders. Individual tickets $15 each with code. Service charges, handling and facility fees may apply. Please note that prices reflected on Ticketmaster.com INCLUDE service charges and facility fees. Select “Price Details” on the purchase page to confirm discount price.)

Share with all of your friends!
3 Easy Steps To Purchase!CLICK HERE
Step 1: Choose your performance
Step 2: Under Advance or Promotion Ticket Selection, choose either $25 or $20 price level
Step 3: Enter code MOMTOY

Order tickets by phone, call 1-800-745-3000 and use code MOMTOY.

About the Show:Have you heard the buzz? The toys are back in town!
Disney On Ice presents Disney•Pixar's Toy Story 3!
The blockbuster movie, Toy Story 3, and memorable moments from Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are hitting the ice in this sensational live production coming to your hometown! Catch all the heroic action when Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the Toy Story gang escape from the rambunctious tots of Sunnyside Daycare and race for home, in their most daring adventure ever! A few new faces join the fun, including Barbie’s groovy bachelor Ken and Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. It’s the biggest Toy Story experience on ice, jam-packed with fast-paced adventure such as Buzz’s galactic battle with Emperor Zurg and a hoe-down at Woody’s Roundup. Rediscover the humor, friendship and charm of Toy Story when Disney On Ice presents Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3 takes family fun to infinity and beyond!
Disclosure: I received a family 4 pack of tickets to the Opening Night performance to promote this show and review it.

1/25/11: WPI Alumni go to the Celtics Game

Wow, 2011 has been a quiet year for me posting. Mostly due to all the snow days and craziness. So far we have had 4 snow days from school and a 2 hour delay. Needless to say the kids may be going to school till July.

As a surprise for Christmas I bought John tickets to a Celtics game through the WPI Alumni group. We barely ever get out without the kids. Last night was the game. We got to sit in the Promenade which was cool and had dinner there. It was a lot of fun. Here is our view of the game.

Us at the game.

The welcome area for WPI Alumni.

The game which we won.

A friend of mine who lived on my floor freshman year at WPI and was in my sorority was there, so it was fun catching up.