3/28/10: Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

Today we went out and had fun at breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Shawsheen HS as we do each year. The kids had fun eating, making crafts, having their face painted, doing an Easter Egg Hunt, and most of all seeing the Easter Bunny. We even got to see 3 of our teammates from the Green Goblins soccer team.

Showing off their eggs.

The family shot.

Yippee!
So much fun!

3/22/10: Live Like We're Dying

The song "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen seems to constantly be playing on the radio and it got me thinking. Recently I have received a lot of bad news from friends. Of course I won't publish any details, but you know who you are and you are in my thoughts. It has made me think a lot about all the things I want to do and things I say I will do but never get the time to do.

It is so true that there really aren't enough hours in the day to work, spend time with the kids, spend time with your significant other, clean, do laundry, cook, eat, sleep, etc. As a Mom I am very well aware of this. The laundry is never done, the floors are never clear of toys and the dust comes back so quickly. But when we are gone these are not the things we will be remembered for, it will be how much we loved and the time we spent with the ones we cared about.

Some questions to ask:

Do we really take the time to tell people we love them or even that we are thinking about them? Have we become so technology driven that we rather e-mail or text a friend instead of picking up the phone or meeting them for coffee. Do we prioritize our life in the right way all the time? Do we get so caught up in the day to day that we forget sometimes about the big picture and how blessed we truly are?

A quote from the song that I love:

"We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to

Turn it all around or to throw it all away

We gotta tell them that we love them

While we got the chance to say

Gotta live like we're dying"

Let's take this to heart a bit. Call a relative, meet up with a dear friend, or just spend more time talking instead of texting, e-mailing, etc. We are all a victim to it. I know I am.

Sometimes even take the time to see things through your children's innocent eyes. My wonderful son the other day decided we should take plastic eggs to my Aunt's grave so she could celebrate Easter. What a wonderful thing, of course we took the time and went and did this.

Another quote:

"So if your life flashed before you,

What would you wish you would've done?"

Comment and let me know.

3/20/10: Spring has Sprung!

Well after a long winter and recently a lot of rain we finally got a nice day. It was 70 degrees! Of course we went out and enjoyed it at the park. Here are the kids having fun. It was 20 degrees colder today, but hopefully soon we will be getting more nice days than yucky days. Bring on Spring!

3/18/10: Hoppity Hop

Happy Easter early everyone. The kids loved going to see the Easter Bunny. Lauren thought the Bunny was very cute.

Hanging out by the Purple Topiary (Evan learned a new word today).

Here is our yearly card.

Here is a little video of the kids talking to the Easter Bunny. I was a little slow starting the video camera, they had already been talking to him for a while.

Here is another one when they first went up to him.

3/17/10: Perpetual Motion Fun

We love to try out playspaces. When I got the newsletter from Family Resource Network which included a sign up for going to Perpetual Motion Playspace in Lowell for 2 hours for free I jumped at the chance. Tonight we went. When we pulled in I was a little nervous as it did not look like the best place to go. As we went up the stairs even Evan made the comment that the stairs were old. I was a little leery, but again it was free. Typically it is $9.50 per kid and $12.50 for 6 and up that can go in both play areas.

With all the yucky rainy weather we have been having the kids were very excited to be able to go on the swings.

Of course Evan loves anything that involves Trains.

Lauren having fun.
Evan in the ball pit. Lauren enjoyed this area. She kept climbing up and going down the slide in to the balls.

A view of the Train.

The rest of the train. There was also a sandbox but even my kids didn't want to go in with just their socks and get too dirty.

On the other side is the 6 and up area with many things to climb and navigate. And this was the eating area. They had a concession stand. We got a free slice of pizza and juice. The pizza in my opinion was not very good and the kids didn't really like it either. Prices seemed reasonable.

Overall we had a good time. Here is a short virtual tour I took with my Flip:

3/9/10: Activity Mom

As I was at Gymnastics last night I got talking to another Mom there (she has two the same age gap as mine just a year younger), she asked me about Swim. I went on to describe the levels at the Y of Pike, Eel, Ray, and then went on to ask me about T-ball. We had also done that so I explained what the league was like. Then we got talking about Ice Skating, Soccer, Dance, etc. and she turned to me and said so you are an "Activity Mom". Hmmm, I had never been labeled like this but as I thought I about it maybe she is right. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so as long as they enjoy it that is all that counts. I have the type of kids that ask every night is tonight Gymnastics? All excited to go.

I love for the kids to try out many things and constantly scour the internet for Library activities (tonight we are going to a Movie at one) and other things going on. I love the smile on their face as they accomplish something. I am the Mom pressed up against the glass watching everything the kids do. For example Lauren had a huge grin on her face the other day as she swam all by herself with the teacher and no Mommy. Evan is so proud when he skates across the ice and gives me a thumbs up. I started the kids in activities around 1. So far Evan has done Gymboree classes, Soccer, T-ball, Ice Skating, Swim, Gymnastics and I was considering Karate. Lauren has done Gymboree classes, Gym and Swim, Dance, Gymnastics and Swim. They also have gone to many Music Times at the local libraries. To me it is all worth it. I know some people disagree but different strokes for different folks, it is what makes the world go round.

Maybe this is learned as I also grew up in a house with an "Activity Mom". I tried everything as a child. What my Mom would soon find out is that I only stuck with things that came naturally to me. This ended up being Baton and Dance. In both I was one of the 5 featured twirlers/dancers competing in competitions and taking private lessons in both. Eventually I taught Dance at the age of 12 and would continue through college where I started a Dance club for Gym Credit. We spent many weekends at competitions and every Saturday in Rhode Island for my coach's lessons with me for 3 hours. I even had my dresses for modeling designed by my Mom and made by a dressmaker. I also did swimming, gymnastics, ice skating, karate, etc. I guess this is just what I am used to.

Here are some posts about the classes and Sports posts we have taken.

Comment and let me know if you are an Activity Mom?

3/4/10: Evan is registered for Kindergarten!

I can hardly believe it. My little baby boy is going to be 5 and he is starting Kindergarten in only 6 short months! Where has time gone? Here we are going to his new school to register. It feels like just yesterday he started pre-school. Sniff, sniff.

Come on it is this way.

3/3/10: Donate for a good cause

UPDATE that Evan raised $235.00. Thank you to everyone who donated.

Evan is doing a Trike-A-Thon fund raiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I am extremely excited about this event as his pre-school class will be learning about bike safety, raising money for kids who really need it and learning about giving in a selfless way. Also from talking to St. Jude Hospital I found out they are treating a child in Middlesex County in which we live.

Evan would love if you could donate. Your donation enables St. Jude to continue its mission of finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance and no child is denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay.

If you would like to donate please let me know by commenting here or e-mailing me what amount Evan can count on you for and I will put it down and collect tax-deductible checks made out to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by the event on March 17th.

More info about the Trike-A-Thon:
www.stjude.org/trike

Trike-A-Thon is a fun, week-long curriculum and fundraising program for daycare centers or pre-schools that teaches children riding-toy safety lessons through a series of interactive stories. Children receive these lessons from special St. Jude friends, Bikewell Bear® and Pedals the Bunny®, while raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. At the end of the Trike-A-Thon week, students bring their trikes or riding-toys to school and practice the safety lessons they have learned.

2/28/10: Promoted to Tot 2

Evan did so well in Ice Skating. We are so proud of him. He was so excited to receive his ribbon for Passing Tot 1 and will be moving to Tot 2 next session.

Here he is being evaluated in class. He is able to go across the ice, touch his toes, stand up on his own, march on the ice, jump, and some other random things that I don't know the real names for.

Great Job!

2/27/10: Aubrey's Birthday Party at Kidz Planet

The kids had a great time at Aubrey's Birthday Party at Kidz Planet Gymnastics. Here is Evan swinging after getting his face painted with a race car.

And Lauren swinging too.

And now Lauren getting flipped by Daddy.

And the Birthday girl with Evan right next to her. Here was Aubrey's Princess Party last year.
Here are Haley and Lauren before the party. They decided they should paint their nails. Don't they look pretty?

2/20/10: Jack Frost, Animals, and Rides

We started our weekend fun off at the Billerica Library to start for Jack Frost's Winter Blast Party. As I previously posted "Love Your Local Library", the Library comes through again with a great free event. The kids had so much fun. They made hats, scarfs, wands, and snow globes. Then ate snacks of donuts and popsicles and put paper on their feet to pretend they were skating. Both kids went in by themselves and the volunteers were great with them. This was a free event and I am glad I signed up early as spots filled up quickly.

Lauren showing off how cute she is with her rosy cheeks because we all know your nose and cheeks get red when they are cold.
Then we headed over to the Shriner's Auditorium for the Commerford Petting Zoo/Amusement Rides. I must admit the kids had a lot of fun, however the value was not so great. It was $10 per adult and $7.95 for children just to enter. Luckily I had a coupon for 2 free kids passes. Then once you got in you had to pay for everything. 2 tickets for a ride (about $2) and 4 tickets for animal rides. They had elephants, camels, and ponies. There were also carnival type games also with a fee of $2-$4. Here are the kids on the train.

And feeding the animals.

More feeding.

And on another ride. From the second we got there Lauren was asking to go on the horsey ride.

And the "famous" one horned cow.

2/17/10: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ok, so everyone at one point in their lives is asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" At this point my son would answer - A Fire Fighter, and my daughter - A Princess, specifically Cinderella.

So for me in 6th grade my parents took me to Disney World for the first time. During this trip they took me to Kennedy Space Center. That trip took all the indecision out of my mind, I wanted to be an Astronaut!

My parents thought it was a passing phase, just like when I wanted to be a Vet, a travel agent, and an interior decorator. But this one stuck. My Mom who was a traditional home maker or could be called a domestic engineer tried to push me to be a teacher or actress but I would not change my mind.

I then was in awe of the Space Program and would put posters up in my room and I knew all of the missions and what was going on. So when it came to looking at colleges I would not even consider any college that did not have NASA in their books or did not have Aerospace Engineering. When I went to WPI for my interview and the Admissions Rep talked about Projects with NASA I knew immediately this was where I would go to school so I applied early decision and was accepted.

Once Jr. year hit and the NASA Project selection began I was the first to apply and would touch base with the Teaching Assistant coordinating the program daily. Low and behold I was picked! I was soooo excited. This was my dream come true. I was selected to work at NASA Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, OH. I couldn't contain myself, I was so happy.

The whole experience of 3 months at NASA was amazing. I worked in the Orbital Mechanics area (which was my favorite class at WPI) on the Discovery Diana mission. I worked on a program to calculate how much time the solar electric powered space craft would spend in shade and sunlight and presented to NASA Branch Chief's and Staff. I smiled every day going to work and would get caught many nights working late by NASA engineers who would go on to tell me to go out and have fun.

When I was there I even got to meet Sally Ride and get her Autograph. That was amazing. I had her picture up in my room for years.

The Branch Chief at NASA loved my work and wanted to hire me but couldn't at the time. Instead he did the next best thing and gave me personal contacts at several NASA contractors. I reached out to all of them and then Martin Marietta came to interview at WPI. I was selected and found out who was interviewing me. I let the guys at NASA know and they had worked very closely with this person in the past. So I did a little name dropping and got passed on to the on-site interview with Martin Marietta Defense Systems in Pittsfield, MA. They hired me in to the Engineering Leadership Development Program which was meant to build leaders in the company. At the same time I went for a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. To make a long story short, I worked several years with Martin Marietta who then became Lockheed Martin but was never really happy. It was not what I had pictured. I worked on black boxes, test equipment, decoys for aircrafts, and a liquid propellant gun. This was not the dream of the Space Shuttle or Orbital Mechanics I once had. I did apply for the Astronaut Program through NASA figuring I might as well. I knew my chances of getting picked were very slim but I did have the degree and some experience. Everytime I got a thick envelope from NASA I would get all excited, but it was just to renew my application. Worth a shot though. Who knows, crazier things have happened.

Unfortunately for me this interview question's answer tells the story...On an interview recently with BAE Systems they asked me what is your biggest career regret. Well for me it was going to school for Aerospace Engineering (so really a decision made in 6th grade is my biggest career regret). When I got out of college it was recommended I only list Mechanical Engineer on my resume and not even list Aerospace with the limited amount of Aerospace jobs with all the budget cuts. I know at this point NASA is getting cut even more.

Now I think overall other jobs would have been a better fit. I spent days upon days looking at part-time jobs and they are mostly in medical areas such as Therapy. I highly respect people who can make a change in direction of their career at any point. At this point I feel too invested and don't want to have to start at square one to do something different especially with two kids that are my focus. It is not that I hate what I do, I like Project Management and being a Business Analyst, it is just the dream I thought I had was only fulfilled for a fleeting 3 months. But that's ok.

So when people say to me "It's Not Rocket Science", my response is "No it isn't, but I wish it was."

So what did you want to be when you grow up and are you doing it? Comment and let me know.

2/14/10: Valentine's Day Love from Chuck e Cheese

We started Valentine's Day with pancakes with I Love You written on them in frosting. Then we went off to Ice Skating and since John was away at his annual Movie Marathon I took the kids to Chuck e Cheeses for some fun. Evan and Lauren got a big hug from Chuck e Cheese.

We played lots of games and got lots of tickets and some toys.

2/13/10: Let's Celebrate with Disney on Ice!

We had so much fon at Disney on Ice Let's Celebrate! The kids loved it. Lauren dressed up in her pretty Belle dress and Evan was all decked out in Mickey attire.

As I posted, there is still time to use the MOM discount code. This show is going all school vacation week. What a fun event for the kids. Refer to my post.

This show was very well done as are all of the Disney on Ice shows. They did some pretty cool things in this show including a fire baton twirler and lighting up the ice with fire in addition to having all the fun Disney Friends. Many Disney classics and new movies were highlighted including Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. Both of my kids enjoyed that. The Celebration begins.

Of course Mickey Mouse. This was Evan's favorite part of the show. Going way back to Sorcerer Mickey and the brooms.

And the finale. Always a crowd pleaser.

Here are more pictures from the show.