Update from the Coenens!

Aaron quotes

2012-02-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I really wish that I could put a microphone on Aaron so I could catch all of the hilarious things that he says right now. His teachers, Ms Chanel and Miss Megan, are really awesome about writing some of the funny things down for me. Here are some recent Aaron quotes from school:

While playing play dough, "I'm building a construction site! It will fly to New York and Uncle Tom will wear it on his head!"

"I'm making pizza, but it's yucky because it's spicy like hot lava!"

Aaron pretended to be a "deceptacon" on the playground at school. He said that a deceptacon was a dinosaur that turned into a fighting ship. He chased his friends and teachers and when he caught Miss Megan he told her the deceptacon turned her into a meatball!

Aaron took a bunch of foam snowflakes and put them on a drumstick, as if it were a skewer. He went around the room selling "cookies" to all of his friends for $3 each!

Here is a good ones that I heard last night at our house:

The kids were playing legos at the table and Maggie was getting into Aaron's legos. Maggie was telling Aaron that she loves him and Aaron replied, "I love you too, Maggie, but I would love you even more if you would get out of my legos!" (It was really hard not to laugh at that one!)

Maggie stuff

2012-02-09T11:00:00.002-06:00

Maggie is something else right now. At times she is so sweet, gentle, and loving and at other times she is wild, rough, and bull-headed! She is a Mama's girl and can be heard saying my name over and over when I'm around. (She also whines more when I'm around, which is not cool.) A few things to remember about our 22 month old Maggie:

She loves to go pee and poop on the potty! When she's at school and she goes on the potty, she will tell her teachers, "Mommy happy!"
Maggie always "cheers us on" during and after we use the toilet as well, which is hilarious! She will stand beside us and say, "Yay Mommy/Daddy/Aaron. Pee/Poop on the potty! Yay!"
She loves to play hide and seek. Last night I was in the bathroom and Maggie came in and told me "hide and seek Aaron". She didn't tell him that they were playing hide and seek, but when he showed up at the bathroom door, she squealed with laughter- "Aaron find me!" (Why can't we ever use the bathroom in peace?!)
Last night when we played hide and seek, she had me hide first and then when it was her turn to hide, she would hide in exactly the same place that I hid! I was hiding behind the curtain in our bedroom and she walked past me probably 5 times before going to get Aaron to help her find me. I finally had to laugh so they could discover where I was hiding!
Maggie loves music and is kind of obsessed with Rio. When we get into the car, she immediately asks for Rio and when the each song is over, she will immediately say "more", even though she knows the next song is coming!
Friday night is movie night at our house and Maggie loves to watch movies. She will often ask on regular week nights if we can have movie night!
She loves the show Little Einsteins, which she says "little heinsteins" and has started asking for it at night before bed by saying "downstairs Maggie little heinsteins". Her speech is really telegraphic right now and it's hilarious! She doesn't get to watch tv shows very often, but we think that she is starting to realize that Aaron gets to watch one after she goes to bed. (He gets to stay up about 45 minutes later than Maggie, if he takes a nap at school. If he doesn't, then he doesn't get to stay up later and he doesn't get to watch a tv show before bed.)
Maggie can be heard saying "I love you too, ____" all the time right now. She is very loving and doesn't hesitate to tell us, her teachers, her friends, her stuffed animals- anyone who will listen really! Even if she says it first, it's always "I love you too!"
When I tuck Maggie into bed at night, sometimes I ask her what she will dream about (something that Tim always asks Aaron). One night she said "Sarah (one of her teachers at school) and apple pie". I laughed so hard that now she tells me almost every night that she will dream about apple pie!
Last night when I tucked Maggie in, she pulled me close and was giving me a hug and a kiss. She put her hand up to my cheek and did the sign for apple and giggled saying "apple". I told her yes, that was the sign for apple, and then she proceeded to show me the sign for food, cookie, and drink. It was so cute! They learn a lot of signs at school, but because Maggie was so verbal early on, we didn't do a whole lot of signs with her at home, aside from more. I think she didn't really realize that I knew these signs too!

Wow, did we ever get lucky with these kids!! They bring so much excitement and joy to our lives!

Maggie and Daddy relaxing on the couch after work/school with their computers!

Play things

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Our children are hilarious! They will ask me to play with the most random things and then be entertained by them for ages. One of their favorite things to play with from the kitchen is a set of popsicle molds that we use in the summer. Makes me wonder why we EVER buy toys?! Here are some pictures of our two cuties playing after school this week.

This picture cracks me up! Didn't realize till after the fact that it sort of looks like Aaron has 2 swords up by Maggie's neck! Maggie wanted to sit on Aaron's lap for this picture, so he put his arms around her and this is what we got!

Aaron's facial expressions are a riot! Maggie actually kept her eyes open through this smile!

Cheese!

Goddard

2012-02-01T13:32:00.001-06:00

We love having the kids at the Goddard School! Every day we get activity reports of what the kids worked on that day (broken into the target areas of Language Arts, Cognitive Skills/Math, Creative Arts, Music/Movement, Motor Skills, Science/Nature Study, Social Science, and Computer Lab for Aaron and Self-Help/Life Skills for Maggie) which also includes information on what they had for lunch, time that they napped (or didn't nap), diapering/toileting information for Maggie, and a memorable moment from the day. The memorable moment can something creative or funny that they said or did or explanation of an activity that they enjoyed or excelled at. It's so great to be able to go through the sheets at the end of their school day (usually in the car on our way home) and talk about all of the things that they did. They take pictures a lot in the classrooms to use for bulletin boards and to display their activities on the wall, so often the teachers will e-mail or print the pictures out for us.Sharing some of the recent ones that Maggie's teacher, Miss Amanda, e-mailed to me.

Maggie playing in the gym at school

Maggie was counting chocolate chips during "Favorite foods" week at school

Maggie & Aaron hugging through the fence at school

The teachers will often tell us how cute and sweet Aaron & Maggie are to each other. They have a big playground that has a fence separating it into 2 areas, one for the bigger kids (with bigger equipment/slides to play on) and a side for the smaller kids with things to climb through and little house kind of things to play in. (Maggie LOVES to go on the big kid side and Aaron loves to go over to the little kid side, since they are generally on the other side!) When they see each other on the playground, the teachers say that they will meet at the fence and hold hands and give each other a hug! We definitely feel like they are enjoying each other even more now that Maggie is getting bigger. We hope that they always can be good friends!!

New umbrellas

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Since there isn't any rain outside to try out the new umbrellas, we decided to test them out in the house!

Sleepover at Nan & Papa's house

2012-01-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

Aaron loved having a sleepover at Nanny & Papa's house with his cousins, Brett & Claire!

Reading books with Nanny & Claire

Brett, Claire, & Aaron zonked out on the floor!

Aaron somehow ditched his sleeping bag and snuggled up next to Claire!

We moved him back to his own sleeping bag to stay warm and cozy!

Opening more presents on Christmas day!

2012-01-26T13:46:00.000-06:00

Aaron opening one of his gifts

Maggie opening one of her gifts

Maggie is checking out the set of rubber stamps that Uncle Tom gave her

Aaron is checking out his set of lacing cards

He loved the new Spider Man t-shirt!

Robes to keep warm after getting out of the bath!

Adorable in her Hello Kitty robe!

Aaron loves his Spider Man robe!

Uncle Tom opening one of his gifts

Uncle Tom looks handsome (and warm) in his new coat

Maggie loves this set of little Sesame Street books.

Aaron got a really awesome Imaginext rocket ship from Uncle Tom

Christmas morning

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Aaron & Maggie were so excited to get up and see what Santa brought them. They made sure that their Elf, E., told Santa that they would be at Nanny & Papa's house in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The message must have been delivered because Santa found them!

Aaron & Maggie can't wait to dig into their presents from Santa!

Aaron got a bunch of new Cars 2 vehicles, so he had to line them up so they could get a good look at all of them!

Maggie loved her Rio cd

Aaron got an umbrella with a rocket on it!

Maggie's is a ladybug

The tic tacs were a hit!

Dear Santa

2012-01-23T15:00:00.000-06:00

Aaron & Maggie decided to leave some chocolate/pretzel treats and a cookie for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. After finishing half of his apple, Aaron also decided that it might also be a nice treat for the reindeer!

I asked the kids what they would like to write in their letters to Santa and this is exactly what they said!

Guess Maggie wanted to be sure that Santa understood the real reason for the season. And she threw in a ho, ho, ho for good measure!

Maggie in her puppy dog sleeping bag

Aaron in his Spiderman sleeping bag

Christmas Eve celebration

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a really fun Christmas Eve celebrating with the family and attending the Christmas program at church. The kids had a blast playing with all of their cousins and we got to enjoy some quality time hanging out!

Two gorgeous girls- like mother, like daughter!

All of the kids with their stockings

After many attempts at all 3 of us smiling- this is the best we could get!

Maggie sharing some hugs with her Aunt Angie!

Where are you, Tony?! The fam, minus my big brother!

Olivia, Maggie, & Jacob having fun!

My handsome nephew, Jacob Totten

Lovely little Claire

Maggie discovering all of the goodies in her stocking

The boys enjoyed some card games

Showing off her wild side!

Angie & Jacob looking adorable!

Livvy snugglin' with her Mama

Cheese!

Brett proudly displays his new remote control helicopters.

Claire and one of her Barbies

Papa and Maggie watch the gift opening

Maggie and Aaron got awesome new sleeping bags from Nanny & Papa with their names on them!

Doesn't get much cuter than Olivia!

The lovely Emma Marie

Aaron shows off his new socks

Trying out Maggie's new sleeping bag

Olivia was shocked with her very own vanity!

Jake loved his new bike!

The beauty of Christmas

2012-01-20T09:12:00.002-06:00

The true beauty of our Christmas- our adorable children and spending time with our awesome family!

Christmas celebrations- December 23rd

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

We had an awesome Christmas trip to Iowa. Tom flew into Chicago from New York on the night of the 22nd, so we picked him up from O'Hare and all drove to Fort Dodge. We arrived late that night and had one of our Christmas celebrations the next day. One of the highlights of the day was a special visit from Santa!

Nanny got these Rudolph noses and the kids thought they were hilarious.

The little girls getting ready to open gifts.

The kids with Santa. He brought them all Happy Nappers and candy canes!

Maggie & Nan

Maggie & Aaron

Maggie in her new rocking chair and her new baby, which she has named Isla. (Gifts from Angie & Tony.)

Olivia and her photo ornament from Aunt Linda

Jake in his new Steelers shirt.

Angie's favorite gift- a nice, big box of Cheerios!

Maggie & Daddy

Aaron & his Uncle Tony

Our Disney Vacation- Day 7- Animal Kingdom

2012-01-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

On Friday, day 7 and the final day of our Disney vacation, we visited the Animal Kingdom. We took Aaron to Animal Kingdom for one day when he was around 18 months, about the same age as Maggie this trip.

Here are the things that we did:

Visted and took pictures with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eyore. Maggie was a little leary at first, but as long as I was holding her, she was interested in seeing the characters. (This is the same reaction that Aaron had when he was her age!)

The "BoneYard"- this was a huge play area with tunnels, slides, and an area for kids to uncover dinosaur bones. The kids had a blast here and could have played all day!

TriceraTop Spin- Flying and spinning dinosaurs that allowed the kids to control the up and down motion.

Kilimanjari Safari ride- this ride is amazing and is like taking a real safari! You get to Witness the exotic animals of Africa up close in the "savanna" as you ride in an open-sided safari vehicle. Some of the animals that we saw were giraffes, lions, antelope, rhinos, warthogs, zebras, and more! The ride is a bit rugged in parts and somehow Maggie managed to take a nap during the ride!

Pangani Forest Expedition walk- a self-guided walk through the trails where you see gorillas, hippos, okapi, meerkats and lots of exotic birds. Aaron and Maggie loved the bird watching guide and looking for the different birds that were pictured.

Festival of the Lion King show- a Broadway style musical-stage show based on The Lion King movie, with awesome costumes and acrobatics. They had a big trampoline and even did some trapeze tricks. The songs from the Lion King are always entertaining!

Wildlife Express Train- the train takes you over to Rafiki's Island, where we went to a petting zoo. You get to see the housing and care areas for the animals on the way over. (The park closes at 5 pm and it was interesting to hear that the reason is that it takes quite a bit of time to get all of the animals into their housing and fed for the night! They use bells and other auditory signals, different ones for each animal, to call them into their homes.) The island itself wasn't really that great and when we go again, we'll probably skip it.

Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade- this parade was awesome and features a bunch of Disney characters, safari vehicles, and cast members in elaborate animal puppets, stilt-walkers, and drummers. The kids loved it and waved and waved at all of the characters and cast members!

We left the park and headed back to the hotel to get packed up for our flight the next morning. Asher stayed with us for the evening while Amy and Chris went out for a date night. We made dinner for the kids and then Tim went out after they went to bed to pick up Chick Fil-A for us.

Saturday we headed home. We got to the airport in plenty of time but had to wait in really long lines to get through security. We were all on the same flight that ended up being delayed. The flight landed in Fort Meyers, where we dropped off and picked up passengers before taking off for the flight to Des Moines. The kids did well, but we definitely learned that a non-stop flight is a MUST for the way home. We were all tired and ready to be home, so adding a couple of extra hours to the trip was not fun. Thankfully, once we landed all of our luggage came fast, we hopped in a cab, and we arrived at home quickly. The kids were really excited to be home and played with their toys for the next several days like they had never seen them before!

Disney was awesome- we had such a great trip!

Our Disney Vacation- Day 6- Magic Kingdom

2012-01-10T20:00:00.003-06:00

On Thursday, day 6 of our Disney vacation, we went back to the Magic Kingdom. The day started out a little chilly, but it was a great day! It was the coldest day of our entire trip, hence the jeans and sweatshirts, but we were able to lose our sweatshirts by the end of the day. We rode the Monorail over in the morning and did the following things:

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor show- this comedy show is hosted on a digital stage by Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. It's an interactive, stand up comedy show where you can even text message your own jokes as suggestions that could be chosen for the show!

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride- you jump into your own space cruiser and shoot targets to rack up points while you battle the evil Emporer Zurg. Loved by all!

Tomorrowland Speedway- Aaron got to drive (with Tim as his passenger) his own Indy 500- style race car on the guided track. He loved every minute of it!

People Mover- this one lets you sit down and take a leisurely tour of Tomorrowland.

Mad Tea Party- the kids were pleased to go around and around in the tea cups again!

Astro Orbiter ride- this was a dream come true for Aaron- spinning around up high in a rocket with his dad! Tim looked a little green after the experience, but Aaron was over the moon!

We stood in line for about 10 minutes to meet Buzz Lightyear. Maggie was just waking up from her nap, so she watched from afar, but even she thought it was cool to see Buzz. The boys were so excited!

Dumbo the Flying Elephant- Aaron, Maggie, & I rode way up high in our Dumbo!

Mickey's Philharmagic movie- in this 3D movie, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck sweep you into the scenes from classic Disney films as Donald chases the Sorcerer's hat that started all the trouble! This was a really fun movie- we all enjoyed it very much!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- this takes you on a ride in one of Pooh's hunny pots through classic Pooh scenes.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad- I accompanied Aaron on his first roller coaster ride and he had a blast! Ride this rollicking runaway train that rushes through the gold-mining, Old West town of Tumbleweed in Frontierland. Beware when the rails go clackety-clack because your car's about to run over treacherous terrain!

Tom Sawyer Island- Amy, Chris, & Asher didn't join us to the island on the first trip to the Magic Kingdom, so we joined them and showed them around.

Country Bear Jamboree- this was the absolute worst thing that we saw while at one of the Disney parks and the only thing that I can honestly say was horrible! It's a bunch of animatronic bears singing terrible, twangy songs. So bad.

Flying Carpets of Alladin- this was just as fun the second time!

Pirates of the Caribbean- yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me. This was also enjoyable the second time!

We had dinner at the park this evening so that we could go to the Electric Light Show in the evening. It was a definite wild card for us to stay past the kids bedtimes, but we decided to risk it and we were so glad that we did- we LOVED the parade! We positioned ourselves near the exit so that we could leave just before the end of the parade and beat the crowds out. The plan worked like a charm and we jumped on the ferry right before the parade was over. The kids were asleep within minutes of being buckled into the car!

Our Disney Vacation- Day 5- Gatorland

2012-01-09T20:15:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday, day 5 of our vacation, we took a day off from the Disney parks to explore some other Orlando sites. We started the days a the Worlds Largest McDonalds, which ended up being pretty disappointing! We were envisioning a really big kids play area, but instead got kind a bunch of carnival/arcade games. The McDonalds did have a ticket agent working at a kiosk where you could buy tickets to other area admissions. We talked to this woman who recommended that we try Gatorland, so we bought our tickets and headed there for the day.

Gatorland was a lot of fun! We saw tons of gators, watched a funny show where they brought out a bunch of different critters (tarantula, snakes, etc), road a train around the grounds, watched the kids play in the water/playground area, went to a petting zoo, and watched the Jumparoo show, where they tempt the gators out of the water with huge pieces of chicken! Gatorland was a riot and was a nice break from being around the big crowds of Disney.

We relaxed at the hotel in the early evening, let the kids play at the playground, and fed them dinner. Amy, Chris, & Asher stayed with Aaron and Maggie for the night while Tim and I had a date night! We went to downtown Disney for dinner at an Irish Pub called Raglan Road. The food was amazing and we got to listen to an Irish band and watch Irish dancers while we were there. After dinner we walked around Downtown Disney and visited a few shops before heading back to the hotel.

Our Disney Vacation- Day 4- Disney's Hollywood Studios

2012-01-08T20:01:00.004-06:00

On Tuesday, day 4 of our trip we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios. We didn't know a lot about this park, but had a great time.

Here are the things that we did:

The Great Movie ride- this ride took you through realistic recreations of memorable film moments, from old gangster movies to contemporary sci-fi classics.

Honey I shrunk the kids play area- the kids loved this play area where they were viewing things from the eyes of a bug, just like they were shrunk in the movie! Climbing, crawling, exploring- what's not to love?!

Muppets 3D movie- this was a hilarious, short 3D movie featuring the Muppets. There were surprise bursts of air and real bubbles- Maggie jumped in surprise a few times in this one!

Lunch with the Disney Jr characters! The kids LOVED seeing all of their favorite characters from the Disney Jr shows- Special Agent Oso, June from the Little Einsteins, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Manny from Handy Manny. The characters came around while we were eating so we could take pictures and then they had little mini shows where the kids could come up and dance and sing with the characters. This was a hit and we were really glad that we planned this! (At first, Maggie wasn't sure about the characters. She didn't want to touch them and didn't really want them near her either, but she liked seeing them from afar. By the time it was over, Maggie was chasing June around wanting to stand beside her and touch her!)

Toy Story Mania- this is an interactive 4D ride where you get to use your shooter to play along in midway-style games with the characters from the Toy Story films. Needless to say- the boys loved this!

Disney Junior- Live on Stage-the kids loved this show featuring all of the Disney Junior characters and their songs.

Everyone was a bit tired out this afternoon, so we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit. We hit the pool for a little swim and then let the kids play at the playground on site.

For dinner that night we went to a cool restaurant in Downtown Disney called T Rex. Yep- you eat dinner surrounded by animatronic dinosaurs! They also had a dino dig area, where you could use little brushes to "uncover the fossils" that were covered with little tiny pebbles.

After dinner we visited a huge Disney store where Aaron and Maggie used their "Disney bucks" to buy some toys. Aaron got a Cars 2 Spy Plane with a couple of little cars to hide inside and Maggie got a great stuffed Mickey Mouse.

Our Disney Vacation- Day 3- Epcot

2011-12-27T20:11:00.003-06:00

On Monday, day 3 of our Disney Vacation, we went to Epcot. We loved it there and had a really great day and even stayed on through the evening. Here are the things that we did while we were there:

Spaceship Earth- is a ride through an eighteen-story-tall sphere. The ride tells the history of communication, the development of cultures and the future of technologies.

The Seas with Nemo and friends- a ride chronicling Nemo's journey, featuring projection technology that makes it appear as though Nemo, Dory, and Marlin are swimming with the live fishes in the aquarium behind.

Turtle Talk with Crush- an interactive show starring Crush, the Sea Turtle, from Finding Nemo. The kids sit right up front and were supposed to ask questions to Crush. So many of the kids just shared random information instead, which was hilarious!

Journey into Imagination with Figment- a ride that encourages using your imagination!

Fountains- the kids had the best time messing around with/in the "jumping water" fountains!

Soarin'- Aaron and I went on this ride which was a hang glider simulator that "flies" over areas of California. The simulator has you strap in like you're on an airplane and takes you up in the air for the simulated movie. It was really cool!

Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable- a movie with the characters of the Lion King that talked about protecting the evironment.

Living with the Land- a boat tour through a working greenhouse.

World Showcase- we went through all of the countries Mexico (we went on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros- a boat ride with Donald Duck), Norway (we went on Maelstrom- a boat ride showing Norway's past and present), China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, France (we had some pastries during this visit), United Kingdom (we met Tigger and Pooh), and Canada. The kids got passport books so that we could search out the site in each of the countries where they could get their books stamped. They had a lot of fun doing this!

We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant in the Mexico World Showcase and ended up leaving Epcot around bedtime.

Our Disney Vacation- Day 2- Magic Kingdom

2011-12-22T19:00:00.006-06:00

On Sunday we got up and got ready for our first day at Disney! We went to the Magic Kingdom and saw the following things:

Swiss Family Tree house- Inspired by the film, this "house" takes you way up high—6 stories—as you see the living quarters of the Swiss Family Robinson. There's even a bucket pulley system that brings water up to the top!

Jungle Cruise ride- a safari style boat ride where we got to see lots of animals (not real ones). The tour guide was hilarious and have some really "punny" jokes!

Mad Tea Party ride- the kids loved riding in the giant tea cups and watching for the mouse to pop up from the pot in the middle and you could even control how quickly your cup would spin. Amy & Chris took the kids on this one, as Tim and I really don't like to spin in circles!

The Enchanted Tiki Room show- this was a unique show where the flowers, tikis, and animatronic birds sang songs. The kids were mesmerized.

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride- the kids were able to make the magic carpets go up and down and tip forward and back, which they loved!

Tom Sawyer's Island- Inspired by the Mark Twain novels, this was an island with all kinds of things to explore. Aaron loved leading us through the cave that was dark and had uneven floors with his flashlight and thought the barrel bridge was fun.

Haunted Mansion ride (Tim & Aaron)- this ride goes through a haunted house. Tim had talked with Aaron before we went about this ride and said he definitely wanted to go on it. He thought it was a little scary, but enjoyed it!

Pirates of the Caribbean ride- a ride that was created before the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which Captain Jack hides from those trying to capture him.

Pirate show- a show that took kids from the audience and had them sword fight with Captain Jack.

It's a small world ride- shows brightly costumed dolls that showcase music and culture from the various continents of the world.

Prince Charming Regal Carousel- an antique carrousel ride.

About 3 pm we'd had a great time but were all tiring out, so we decided to call it a day. On the way out, we caught the "Celebrate a Dream parade", so we went to the Confectionary and let the kids pick out a treat to enjoy during the parade.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. We tried to do a little swimming, but it was a little chilly by the end of the day, so we didn't last very long! We hit the hot tub for a few minutes and then called it quits. We made some dinner at the hotel and relaxed the rest of the night.

Eating some breakfast at our hotel before heading to Magic Kingdom for the day.

Magic Kingdom!

Riding on the magic carpets

Mary Poppins in the parade

Mickey Mouse in the parade (Maggie would point to Mickey Mouse everywhere during this trip and scream "Mickey Mouse!")

Getting ready to get on the ferry to leave the Magic Kingdom

Our Disney Vacation- day 1- travel day

2011-12-21T19:30:00.002-06:00

We left for our Disney vacation on Saturday, December 3rd. Our flight left Midway around noon, so it was nice to not have to rush around in the morning to get ready to go. Tim & I had almost everything packed the night before, so all we had to do in the morning was pack our last minute things. The kids woke up really excited that the trip was finally here! We had been tearing links from our countdown paper chain, as well as keeping track of the "Disney bucks" that Aaron was earning to spend on the trip. He earned Disney bucks for taking naps, clean plate club, not having any potty accidents, helping to set the table, not whining, etc. (Maggie got to earn some loot too, but isn't old enough to keep track of it on the chart that Aaron was using.)

We were a little nervous about the amount of luggage that we were taking, but it takes a lot of stuff to travel with 2 kids! We had 2 big suitcases for clothes (one for Tim and I and one for the kids) and one smaller suitcase for toiletries, shoes, diapers, etc. We decided to take our good (but big and pretty heavy) stroller, so we had a huge bag that held that, as well as a high back booster seat for Aaron. (We rented a car seat with the car for Maggie.) Then we had the pack and play for Maggie to sleep in and a couple of backpacks holding the laptop for watching movies, snacks, blankets, stuffed animals, and softies for the kids- all of the stuff that we'd need to keep them occupied!

We took a taxi to Midway, curb checked our luggage, and off we went. Super easy! The only issue on this leg of the trip was that we forgot to put diapers and wipes into one of the backpacks (had them packed in a checked bag). We figured this out as we were eating lunch and wanted to wipe the kids hands with a wipe. Glad that we figured it out before we really needed them! We ended up having to buy a small package of diapers (like 10 diapers for $15) and a little purse size thing of Handi wipes (none of the stores sold baby wipes- the Handi wipes were $5) at the airport. Thank heavens we did because Maggie had a dirty diaper on the flight! The kids did well on the plane. It was Maggie's first time flying and we took her as a lap baby. Thankfully we had our own row of 3 seats, so it worked out fine. Maggie is a little big to be a "lap baby", but it was nice to have all of us together and not have to try to sit beside anyone else. We felt badly for the people in front of us though, as it was really hard to keep Maggie's feet off the seat! The kids watched a movie, had snacks, and stayed pretty well occupied. It was during nap time and neither of them fell asleep, so that was a little disappointing, but not shocking!

After we arrived in Orlando, we got our rental car, and the kids fell asleep in the car on the way to our resort. We stayed at the Parc Soleil, which is a Hilton Grand Vacation Club resort. We got to the room and got all settled in and looked around. Chris, Amy, & Asher arrived a couple of hours later, so we made dinner for the kids and then ordered pizza for ourselves later in the evening. After finally getting the kids to bed (it was quite a chore to get Maggie down), Amy and I went to the grocery store to pick up food for breakfast and lunches for the week.

Gingerbread Village

2011-12-16T20:42:00.006-06:00

We had a great time building our gingerbread village tonight!

Getting started.....

We put together all of the buildings and let them set while we ate some dinner.

On to decorating... lots of goodies to choose from!

Candy cane? Don't mind if she does!

Yummy!

Aaron tastes some of the candies too

Cheese!

The finished product!

We had a great time and were very happy with the result.

We love Christmas!!!

Videos of the Christmas train

2011-12-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

The kids LOVE the Christmas train that Papa Coenen gave to us a few years ago. We always begin the Christmas season with it circling the bottom of our Christmas tree. Usually within a week or two, we have to put it away and just get it out every few days to play with, as the track gets all torn apart and it's really difficult to keep setting it up underneath the tree.

Sharing a couple of videos of the kids with the train, a couple of days after we got it set up.

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

While we're off to Disney World this week, I figure that I would share some pictures of our recent adventure in Christmas decorating!

The most hilarious part of all is that Maggie insisting on wearing her pumpkin shirt this day, so it looks pretty hilarious with the Christmas backdrop!

We got Aaron this santa hat with his name on it for his first Christmas and got Maggie one for her first Christmas. Didn't get very good pictures of them, but I think their hats are so cute!

We're getting in the holiday spirit! Can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner!

Chatty Maggie

2011-12-02T09:00:00.002-06:00

I've really not done a good job of keeping track of Maggie's speech and language development the way I did with Aaron, so I'm going to focus here on our little lady!

Here's a little snapshot of what Maggie is up to and talking about at 20 months old:

*Maggie loves to sing and can be talked out of almost any bad mood with a song! (My mom was singing London Bridge with Maggie over Thanksgiving and we took her to Target with us and she kept singing the "take the keys and look her up" portion of the song! Mom & I were worried that she might be giving people the wrong idea!)

*She counts all the time, in English and Spanish. She skips a number or two every now and then, but can often count from 1-10!

*Her vocabulary is amazing! I have no idea how many words she has, but if I had to guestimate, I would say it's probably at least 250-350 words. She has a word for almost everything that she wants to say and is now using more action words, rather than just labeling things.

*Maggie is putting together 2-4 word phrases a lot these days. Some of my favorites recently have been: "Mommy, you get up!" (When she comes into our bedroom in the morning and wants me to get out of bed!) "Mommy, you come with me." "I love you, Daddy!" "What's this?" "Maggie's turn" "Bows in my hair." "Me rip chain. (We did a paper chain to countdown our trip to Disney.)

*Maggie is a lover and she loves to snuggle and give hugs. She is also a go-getter, can almost always keep up with Aaron, and doesn't let anyone push her around. She just manages to do it in a sweet way! :)

*She is a tough cookie, which I think she has had to be living with a big brother! She will fall down, get knocked over, hit her head, etc and as long as she's not tired, she'll just get right back up and keep going. Rarely do you see tears when she gets hurt and it's something that people comment on a lot.

*Maggie is starting to develop her sense of humor and when she thinks something is funny, she will point and laugh really loudly!

*When she gets excited, she will jump up and down and dance in circles.

*Maggie is in LOVE with our Elf on the Shelf (named E.) and will look around and laugh and laugh when she finds him! She also loves the Christmas tree ornaments and has currently broken 3 of them. (She has 2 or 3 that she can take off the tree as she likes and the rest are supposed to be touched with "one finger"!)

I'm not as thorough about keeping close track of all of Maggie's development, but I think that's because it's so much easier to relax and just enjoy it with the second child. We love you, Maggie, and are so proud of you!

We are so thankful....

2011-11-30T20:00:00.001-06:00

.... that the fire we set in the oven didn't take the whole dinner, or the whole house for that matter!

Yep, that's right- the sweet potato pie went up in flames in the oven! Mom & I must have filled the pan just a little too full, which we figured out when we saw some smoke coming from the oven. Being the savvy cooks that we are, we put a pan under the pies (which we should have done in the first place and saved ourselves a lot of trouble) and opened a few windows. Well, the smoke got thicker and thicker and the smoke detector went off, which brought the kids in from their play and the men in from their football watching positions on the couch. Next thing we knew, there were flames in the oven!! Mom scooped the kids up and took off out the front door while Tim, Dad, and I tended to the fire. I tore the fire extinguisher off the wall in the kitchen closet- literally TORE it off the wall, screws and all! Dad opened the oven door, Tim aimed the fire extinguisher underneath the flaming pie, and Dad quickly shut the door after the attack. Thankfully, one shot was all it took!

The clean up was a drag, but we only lost the corn casserole, the fruit salad, and obviously, the sweet potato pies! The turkey was in a roaster on the kitchen table, mashed potatoes were in a covered pot on the stove, stuffing in a covered dish, cranberries chilling in the fridge.

It could have been a lot worse.

After the fact, all we could do was laugh. So much for my first time tackling the holiday meal!

Thanksgiving day

2011-11-29T14:45:00.003-06:00

We were so excited to have Nan & Papa in Chicago to celebrate Thanksgiving with us! The day started out very peacefully- we ate home made pumpkin & zucchini bread for breakfast, watched some of the parade on tv, and Papa had a nice long coloring session with the kiddos before throwing the "old bird" in the roaster and heading off to the showers.

The Coenen fam all dressed up in our Packer gear and we took a bunch of pictures by the Christmas tree of the whole gang.

Mom and I headed to the kitchen to get started with our cooking. We'd made our cherry pie the night before (and enjoyed eating half of it for dinner that night as well), so we had the rest of the menu to tackle. We'd already started the turkey, so we got busy on our mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn casserole, cranberries, fruit salad, and sweet potato pies. It was all going so well.... everything seemed to be turning out great and timed just right.

It's amazing how quickly things can go wrong.

(To be continued)

Thanksgiving Feast at Goddard

2011-11-27T20:56:00.008-06:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving, which started with the Thanksgiving Feast at Goddard on Wednesday. My parents came in on Tuesday night so they could come visit the kids at school and they were so excited! The Director, Gina, and her mom prepared a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for over 300 Goddard students and their parents and families! They did a terrific job and we had so much fun joining the kids at school.

First we visited Maggie's classroom, the Panda room, where Maggie was just getting started with her lunch. She enjoyed the food and loved having Nanny & Papa in her classroom!

Next we moved on to Aaron's classroom, where Maggie had a book read to her by Nanny.

Aaron and his class were making pumpkin pudding. Aaron was taking his turn mixing, with some help holding the bowl from Ms. Chanel.

Miss Megan read a story and we loved listening to Aaron answer a bunch of the questions! When asked, "What is a feast?" Aaron replied, "it's a really big meal!"

Aaron with Daddy and Papa

Maggie playing with Nan in Aaron's class.
More to come on our Thanksgiving day and the rest of the weekend...... it was eventful!

Videos of Aaron at hockey

2011-11-23T07:30:00.000-06:00

Aaron can't really open the fingers on the hockey gloves (because they are so big), so it's really hard for him to pick up the stick when he drops it!

Here's a short clip of Aaron "skating". The coach tells him to march like a soldier! This week he told him "short strokes for now and as you get to be a better skater the strokes get bigger and so do the hockey contracts!" LOL

Hockey classes

2011-11-22T07:45:00.001-06:00

Aaron has been taking hockey classes the past 3 Saturdays with Connor out in Skokie. Kate saw an advertisement for it somewhere and wondered if we'd want to join them. It was pretty cheap (like $15-20 and then $3 to rent skates) and the boys sounded excited about it, so we decided to try it out. The classes were 30 minutes, so it was just enough time for them to get out there and try to get the hang of skating, without getting really discouraged or cold!

Aaron loved it! It was hilarious, especially the first week, because it was the first time he had ever been in ice skates. He looked like a baby giraffe who was trying to stand up for the first time! Absolutely precious.

That first week, he was tenacious and just tried to keep standing up, even though as soon as he got up he would try to move and pretty much fall down right away. After a few minutes, the coach had the 3 and 4 year olds hold onto the net and be pulled/push it around the ice. This was really helpful and Aaron started to get the hang on balancing on his skates. They also had some chairs on the ice, so they could use them to assist in standing up.

The second week, Aaron didn't take a nap before going and was obviously very tired. He still worked hard and was starting to get better at balancing on his skates, but he was exhausted by the end! The coaches had them on the net again and Aaron was able to skate along much better than the first week and even skate a little on his own. (Getting up after he falls down is the most difficult, as well as picking up the stick after he drops it.) They got the sticks and pucks out, which was thrilling for Aaron. If there is a stick and/or puck involved, he doesn't care if he's on his feet or not. He'll try to hit the puck with is stick while he's sitting on the ice, if he has to! The stick actually helped him skate a little better, as it made him keep his knees bent and his weight forward

This past week was the final week and Aaron really made a lot of improvement from the first week to the last. He can balance on his skates pretty well and "marches" around on the ice. He's enamored with the stick and puck and gets a little distracted from skating if there is a puck around!

Aaron & Connor all geared up and ready to give hockey a shot!

Standing with the chair during the first week

Being pulled on the net by the coach during the first week

This is Aaron on the second week of hockey

The rest of the pictures are from the final week of hockey

Definitely distracted by the pucks- just sitting amongst them trying to hit them with his stick!

Connor wasn't so sure about hockey. The first week he went on the ice for a few minutes, had to miss the second week because he was sick, and got all suited up the final week and never made it onto the ice. He really liked cheering for Aaron though. What a good buddy!

Maggie is hanging out with Kate, cheering for her brother. She liked going along and watching, but really wanted to get on the ice too! Maybe in a year or two!

After class we would go over to the second rink where the bigger kids were playing and watch them. Aaron is excited for when he can skate and play hockey like those big kids!

Aaron's family pictures- age 3 1/2

2011-11-21T10:42:00.003-06:00

Little artists

2011-11-18T13:00:00.005-06:00

Aaron & Maggie love to color, paint, and do all kinds of arts and crafts. Aaron is starting to draw real pictures, especially family pictures where each of us has a circle face with eyes and a smile and then long arms and legs. He also is coloring inside the lines now! I will be sharing some of his work soon!

Maggie loves to color and will make circles and scribbles. She gets into our craft closet almost every night when she gets home from school and asks for "colors".

Here are some pictures of our little artists!

Look at how well he stayed inside the lines! We didn't really ever talk about this, he just announced to me one day that you should try to stay inside the lines. The funny thing is that I don't think that he really learned it at school either, as they rarely do "coloring" but more creating, by using different processes to create art or just taking blank paper and drawing. Funny how they just seem to learn things without really being taught!

Here they are sporting their paint smocks!

Painting birdhouses

So proud of the finished products!

Morning play time

2011-11-12T08:00:00.001-06:00

On the weekends, Tim and I take turns getting a little extra rest in the mornings. On Saturday, Tim sleeps in and I get up with the kids and vice versa on Sunday.

In lazy Saturday fashion, we leave our pajamas on and head downstairs for some breakfast. Maggie starts asking for food almost immediately after getting out of bed. She usually wakes up telling us that she has pooped (says, "poop" and points to her diaper). About three quarters of the time she has actually pooped, the rest of the time, she just knows that it will get us out of bed! As soon as that is taken care of (or maybe even while that is being taken care of), she is generally telling us "hungy" or "num num", to let us know that she'd like to eat! On our way down stairs she starts saying "seal" for cereal or "ba" for bar (because a many mornings on the way to school they get some sort of fruit bar or Cliff bar or something).

After we finish breakfast, it's right downstairs to play with the toys that they kids hardly get to play with during the busy week! Every time it's a new adventure, but on this particular day we pretended we were animals by putting on the masks and then we decorated cupcakes. I don't love that I have to leave my children every day, but is sure does make me appreciate these early Saturday mornings! :)

Fall leaves at the zoo

2011-11-11T21:35:00.001-06:00

The kids loved running through all of the leaves at the zoo. Maggie laughs at the funny face that Aaron is making!

Pumpkins

2011-11-10T08:00:00.008-06:00

The kids had a fun time decorating the pumpkins that they picked out at the pumpkin patch in Fort Dodge. They used the push parts and made faces on both sides of the pumpkin!

Happy 1/2 birthday to Aaron!

2011-11-08T11:57:00.004-06:00

Aaron has a lot of friends who have turned 4 in the past several months. Because of this, he was been really into birthdays. In a recent conversation between Aaron and I, I mentioned that Aaron would be having a half birthday in November and that maybe we could celebrate with half of a birthday cake.

Yesterday was the big half birthday and we celebrated with half of a red velvet cake, prepared by the Mama. Tanya even came over to help us celebrate and brought Aaron half of a birthday card with half stickers!

Aaron is now even MORE excited to celebrate his whole birthday in May!

We forgot to take a picture before we cut the cake, but here is Aaron with what was left of his half birthday cake!

Maggie enjoyed it too! (And doesn't seem to keep her eyes open for any pictures lately!)

Maggie's hair

2011-11-03T10:24:00.003-05:00

Maggie's hair is getting much longer and is still very curly. In the mornings, it is a MESS! It looks like she rubs her head around on her bed all night long. This is what it looked like one recent morning!

Her hair is so long now that you can pull all of it back into one ponytail! It is a short little bunch of curls and looks really funny from the front, like she doesn't have any hair!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:59:00.009-05:00

Aaron & Maggie had a very fun Halloween. I attended their classroom parties at Goddard and then we headed to Skokie to go trick or treating with our friends, the Niedfeldts (Matt, Kate,Connor, & Sawyer), the Rasmussen/Strong's (Chris, Amy, & Asher), and the Steels (Jamie, Kristen, & Addy).

Here are some pictures of the party in Maggie's classroom.

The Pandas

Maggie and her table of friends

Maggie is enjoying one of the snacks- orange jello with whipped cream!

Digging in...

Yummy!

Maggie was making her "Mummy muffin", which was an english muffin with pizza sauce, pieces of string cheese and sliced black olives for eyes. So cute!

Maggie & I went upstairs to Aaron's classroom to party with him. All of the kids brought in some kind of treat, which they put into little treat bags that they decorated. Aaron brought packets of Scooby Doo 'dog bones' (graham crackers).

Ms. Chanel, Aaron, & Miss Kiri

Aaron, Miss Coraline, and Maggie

After leaving Goddard, we headed to Skokie to have dinner and go trick or treating with our friends.

Sawyer, Aaron, Asher, Connor, & Maggie

Amy, Asher, & Chris

Kristen, Jamie, & Addy

Maggie & Mama

Sawyer

Aaron is ready to trick or treat!

A ride is waiting for the little trick or treaters

They are gathering some candy!

Aaron & Connor

Aaron is adding treats!

Heading to the house for some dinner!

Kristen & Addy, in her little pumpkin/tutu outfit!

Aaron's first sleep over

2011-10-25T10:41:00.006-05:00

Aaron and his buddies, Connor & Asher, had their first sleep over this past weekend! They were very excited for this and it went very well!

First, a little Fireman Sam....

On to a few pictures, capturing the magic of the first sleep over!

Then, a few favorite books.....

Time for bed!

Finally..... a little over an hour later, they are all sleeping!

They got in bed at about 8 and were all sleep by a little after 9. (First Asher, then Connor, and lastly, Aaron! After the other 2 boys fell asleep, Aaron claimed that he was too hot in his footy pajamas, so we changed his pj's and then he went to sleep.)

The boys slept downstairs, all 3 of them fit horizontally across the queen sized bed. Asher came upstairs at about 5 in the morning whimpering and asking for his mom. I very excitedly reminded him that we were having a sleep over and he had almost made it to the morning, when we would be getting up to play, make breakfast, and even watch cartoons! He was easily reassured. I then asked if he wanted to go back down to sleep with Aaron and Connor or come up to sleep with Tim & I. He quickly said that he'd like to sleep upstairs. When we got upstairs, I asked if he would like to lay on the floor with a blanket or lay in the bed with Tim & I. Again, he very quickly decided that he'd like to sleep in our bed! He was adorable and snuggled up beside me and went back to sleep in a matter of minutes!

At that point (about 5:15), Maggie woke up.... so I was off to her room for a little rock in the chair.

About 5 minutes later, I heard Aaron & Connor talking downstairs! I went down to tell them that it wasn't time to get up yet and that they needed to lay down and go back to sleep. (I definitely wasn't convinced that would be happening.)

I came upstairs and laid down on the couch, so I would be closer to Aaron and Connor if they got too loud. Maggie woke up again at about 5:45, so I went up to her room to see if I could get her back to sleep. I sat in the rocking chair with her while she slept until about 6:30.

She and I headed downstairs after that to see what Aaron & Connor were up to. They had piled all of the pillows and blankets up on the bed to make a fort and were dragging tools and other toys into the bed to play with! Silly boys. We played, watched some cartoons, and I made french toast bites for breakfast. Asher slept until almost 8!

So, the day started at 5 am for this Mommy, but the boys sure did have fun! Aaron is already talking about when we can have a sleep over again!

Silly Saturday

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is what a silly Saturday morning looks like at our house!

More crazy

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late on sharing this one, but better late than never! One night when I went in to put Aaron to bed, I looked over to check on Maggie and she wasn't in her bed. After looking around the room (and freaking out a little on the inside), I realized that the closet door was open. And when I went into the closet- this is what I found....

Yep, she climbed up on to her changing table and went to sleep there! Looks pretty comfy, huh?!

Almost as comfy as sleeping, while standing off the side of your bed!

Maggie was often falling out of her bed, so we tucked our extra crib mattress underneath her bed (crib with the side off, so essentially a day bed) and would pull it out like a trundle bed.

But them we found her like this a few times.....

Maggie definitely keeps things interesting! She is now in a toddler bed with railings on the sides (thanks to Amy & Chris loaning us Asher's old bed) and stays in bed every night! For now!

And here's a bonus picture of Aaron, because when I bring the camera up to take a pictures of Maggie in these crazy poses- he wants to have his picture taken too!

Playing in the pantry

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Maggie loves to use the recycle bin as a step stool in our pantry to see what she can get into!

Caught red handed!

Annual visit to Apple Holler!

2011-10-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

One of the best things about fall - apple picking! We love to visit Apple Holler and even though fall wasn't in the air this particular day (it was in the 90's in September!)- we had a great time and came home with some delicious apples!

The apple picking crew- Connor, Addy, Sawyer, Asher, Maggie, & Aaron

Buddies- Aaron & Connor

The apple picking crew on the tractor ride out into the orchard

This is so fun!

Sawyer, Kate, & Connor

Maggie & Mommy

Asher & Amy

Connor, Amy, & Asher checkin' out the tractor on our ride through the orchard

Mags & Sawyer getting ready to head into the orchard

Yummy apple!

Sawyer is chowing down!

These are some good little apple pickers

Aaron, the explorer!

Aaron has his map, his stick, and he's pickin' some good apples!

Kristen & Adeline

Apple anyone???

Maggie & Sawyer ride with the apples

Maggie is graduating to a new classroom!

2011-10-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

We love Aaron & Maggie's school- The Goddard School in Lincoln Park. The kids have so much fun everyday and are learning so much. The teachers are amazing and the kids have done really well adjusting to their new schedule! (I have definitely had some trials going to full time in my job, so I have been extra thankful that the kids part of this transition has turned out so well!)

Maggie is in a class called First Steps, which is for kids ages 15-20 months. As an 18 month old who tries to keep up with an older brother, Maggie's skills have surpassed the things that they are working on in her classroom, so she will be transitioning into the Toddler class. Below if the letter and report of Maggie's progress, as well as a few pictures that Maggie's teachers, Miss Emily and Miss Grazyna, shared with us.

September 29, 2011

Dear Ann and Tim,

We are very proud to announce that Maggie will begin transitioning to the Panda Classroom beginning on October 17th, 2011. Her new teachers will be Ms. Amanda, Ms. Rebecca, and Ms. Sara

Maggie is a fun and smart girl. She has a great memory and will even sing songs to which she remembers the lyrics on her own. Maggie can count by herself almost up to ten and knows all over her friends’ and teachers’ names. She is very independent and likes to try to get her own toys during play times. When her friends are sad, Maggie shows empathy and comforts her friends as best as she can. She holds her interest in activities and is always a great participant! She can speak words clearly, use two word phrases, attempt new words, and name items while pointing. In art, she likes new tactile experiences and can mark with a crayon or paint brush. Her motor skills allow Maggie to climb, kneel, kick or roll a ball, and stoop to pick up objects. Socially, Maggie imitates adult actions, and likes to help her teachers. Maggie can also recognize animals, their sounds, and likes to explore nature. With these skills we feel that Maggie will be successful in the Panda classroom.

Maggie will continue her journey into the Panda classroom. When Maggie transitions into the Panda classroom, she will be introduced to many new concepts. She will begin to enjoy simple experiments and also be able to recognize plants and animals. She will develop imaginary play and attempt to ask why and where questions. Maggie will enjoy new tactile experiences and be able to mark in a circular motion with a crayon. These are just some of the great new experiences you will see Maggie introduced to in the Panda classroom.

Her new teachers are very excited to welcome Maggie into their classroom and to be a part of her growth and development here at The Goddard School. Talking to Maggie about her new classroom will make the transition go more smoothly. We are looking forward to watching Maggie develop in her new class. We know that she will be happy there! Maggie will begin transitioning on October 17th, 2011. She will visit for a short period of time each day and her visits will slowly get longer until we feel Maggie is ready to move up full-time. We will keep you informed on Maggie’s transition and let you know how well she is doing. We feel she will do just great in the Panda class.

Please feel free to stop by the office for any questions or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,
Gina Carlton
Educational Director

Fall fun with friends

2011-10-10T10:59:00.000-05:00

The UNI twins re-unite with families in tow!!! We had a fabulous girls weekend....Liz and Laura and their kids came to Fort Dodge for a visit while we were there. Tabitha and kids joined us for awhile (despite being absent from the photos- just didn't have the camera out during that time!)

We are so lucky to have such great friends!

Heading out to the pumpkin patch on a hay rack ride.

All of the kids on Sunday morning in their jammies- Aaron, Claire, Drake, Reed with Isabelle on his lap, and Brett with Maggie on his lap!

Mowing the lawn

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

Not sure you can really call a bowling alley of grass a lawn, but here's what it looks like when the yard crew goes to work!

Maggie Lynn

2011-10-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Maggie was rockin' her birthday suit with a couple of leis! If it looks this cute.... why not?!

Lettin' it all hang out! :)

This little piggy

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Weekend fun at the zoo

2011-10-06T08:56:00.004-05:00

Another fun day at the zoo for the Coenen family!

Daddy posing with his happy kiddos

This was totally hilarious- Maggie was riding on Tim's shoulders and totally contouring herself and lounging on him! Make yourself comfortable, Maggie! :)

Cheese!

Picnic lunch at the zoo

Mmmm... we love PB&J sandwiches

Aaron has packed his cheeks with grapes!

Water park fun

2011-10-03T12:30:00.007-05:00

We had a great time visiting a water park near Kate's house a few times this summer. The kids loved it and we will definitely be looking forward to going again next summer! (As a strange side story, Connor somehow lost one of his front teeth while we were at the water park this day. The kids were going down the slide one after another and not leaving enough time for the other to get out of the way and 3 of them collided at the bottom of the slide. Connor cried and said that he hit his mouth. Kate and I both looked at it, he wasn't bleeding, so we quickly told him that everything was fine and sent him on his way. Connor played some more and then sat down and ate a snack before we left the water park. An hour or two later at Kate's house, Matt came home from work and asked if anyone knew why Connor was missing a front tooth! One of his front teeth was missing and there were 3 mothers there and none of us noticed! So, Connor now has one chipped front tooth (which he did a long time ago) and the other one missing! Good thing they are baby teeth!!!)

Said tooth, still present for this photo!

The tooth in question may have been missing at this point. Connor really didn't want to have his picture taken, so he wouldn't smile for us!

Twin Lakes

2011-09-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

While we were in Iowa in August, we took a trip to Twin Lakes for the day. My Mom and Dad's friends, Cheryl & Marty, have an amazing house on the lake and have been generous enough to let us use it to have a family day the last 2 summers. We have such a fun time! I took a ton of pictures, but they are just too cute not to share. Here's a look at some of our adventures at the lake! (My mom, Angie, Tony, Amy, & Dan were all present as well, just didn't seem to make their way into any of the photos, for some reason!)

Playing in the pool on the patio.

Do you think that Aaron likes the water guns?!

Maggie filling up her bucket

Daddy & Maggie have a little water fight! She thought this was hilarious!

Maggie loved these little chairs

Papa & Aaron having a little water fight!

I love this picture! Aaron is trying to soak Papa!

Who do you think was the winner of this battle?!

Aaron, Liv, & Claire explore the paddle boat

Papa takes the kids out for a ride

Off they go!

Jacob was awesome at the paddle boat!

They had a really great water mat that they kids loved playing on!

Claire & Aaron pose for a picture

Cheese!

Maggie & Emma

All smiles! Aaron loved wearing the life jacket and having independence in the water. You could tell that he was feeling like a big guy!

Good times with cousin Brett

Aaron goes for a ride on the tube with Daddy! Surprisingly, he didn't love it, but tolerated a few minutes!

Time for a snack break for Maggie

Maggie & Mommy

Daddy & Aaron

The Coenen Crew!

The 3 little ladies- take 1

The 3 little ladies- take 2

The 3 little ladies- take 3! Finally, a good one of all of them!

Adorable Maggie

Maggie is 18 months old!

2011-09-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

Maggie turned 18 months old on September 17th! She is one hilarious and amazing little lady. Here's what she's up to....

Maggie is getting taller and slimmer, and is wearing 18-24 month pants, 24 month - 2T shirts, and size 6 1/2 - 7 shoes. She weighs 27 lbs and 1.5 ounces (50-75th percentile) and is 32 1/2 inches tall (50-75th percentile). She still eats really well. Her note from school always lists the food that they serve at lunch and how much they ate (none, some, all). Maggie's always says all x 2! She likes pretty much all foods and rarely turns her nose up at anything. (I made calico beans last week and she tried them and very adamantly said no!) She loves all fruits and is definitely a sweet tooth!

Maggie has been sleeping in a toddler bed since she was 16 months old and goes to bed really well most nights. She generally sleeps from about 7:15 pm - 6 or 6:15 am. She is an early morning riser and often wakes up really ornery, asking for food or trying to go wake her brother up! When she's not feeling ornery, she will come into bed with Mommy & Daddy, lay there and point to our eyes, nose, mouth, etc and sing! Maggie naps from 1-2 hours during the day.

Maggie is running and climbing and has really great gross motor skills! She has been at this moving thing for so long, that it seems like there isn't anything that she can't do! She can climb all over the playground at the park, hang from the monkey bars and almost pull her legs up to the bar, and loves to try keeping up with her big brother!

Maggie understands everything and is starting to talk a ton! She has been imitating us for a lot for quite awhile but is now talking a lot spontaneously. I tried to count her words and know that she has over 100 words by now. She is starting to imitate some 2 word phrases. Maggie LOVES to sing and can sing a ton of songs- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and Bah, Bah, Black Sheep.

Maggie is a spunky little thing and does not let anyone push her around. She's got a voice (and a scream) and she's not afraid to use it! She is starting to throw some fits and is getting pretty good at throwing herself on the floor and crying when she doesn't get what she wants!

Maggie is a cuddler (when she slows down) and is very generous with her affection. Even though she is fiercely independent at times, she loves to be held and cuddled!

God blessed us the day he added Maggie to our family! :)

Cousins

2011-09-22T11:52:00.002-05:00

Aaron and Maggie LOVE their cousins! When we were in Fort Dodge for the week in August, they were able to spend a lot of time with all of them and they had a blast!

The "big kids", Claire, Aaron, & Brett had a sleep over on the fold out couch. Maggie joined them to watch a movie on the projection tv before bed! (Though she was just walking all over the bed pestering everyone!)

I looked down the hallway to see all 4 of the kids sitting in Brett's room playing together! Yep, Claire is wearing a chicken costume!

Claire is such a sweetie!

Maggie & Claire driving the Gator!

Watch out world, Maggie is behind the wheel!

Brett gave Aaron a ride on the 4 wheeler. (Don't worry- they wore helmets!)

We went to check out the awesome new aquatic center in Fort Dodge. Aaron, Claire, and Olivia are posing for a picture.

Brett & Jacob join in

Aaron loved Brett's goggles!

We had fun checking out 2 of the parks in Fort Dodge that got new playground equipment. The kids had a blast!

Lovin' the tire swing

Brett, Jacob, & Emma

Olivia and Claire

Eatin' at Nanny & Papa's!

2011-09-14T10:08:00.002-05:00

We got to enjoy lots of Nanny's awesome cooking and Papa's amazing grilling while we were in Fort Dodge this summer! Everything tastes so good from their kitchen! :)

Aaron, Maggie, & Claire enjoy their food at the little table. Cheese!

Maggie is chowin' down her purple flower cookie from Larita's. (These really are the best cookies ever!)

Banana Nutella crepes!

Splash pad

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

During our week in Iowa this summer, we were able to get together with our old college friends, Nicole, and her kids, Isaiah and Ellie. It was really crazy to realize that Nicole and I hadn't even seen each other since I had Aaron & Maggie! We had a blast catching up and the kids had fun playing at the splash pad, playground, and having lunch at McDonalds together! The time went so quickly that I didn't take very many pictures and we didn't even get one of Nicole, Amy, and I... but we had a blast! Hoping that it won't have to wait so long to see each other again!

Water table

2011-09-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Aaron & Maggie loved the water table this summer. (This used to be a sand and water table, then just a sand table, and now just a water table. Who would ever think that having sand and water together in one table was a good idea?) One of our favorite things to do was eat breakfast outside on the deck and then play in the water table right away in the morning, while the deck was still shady and cool.

Sharing some pictures of Maggie playing! (Nanny and Papa were here visiting and Aaron was off doing something with the boys!)

"Hiding" in the cabinet

2011-09-08T09:15:00.005-05:00

Miss Maggie is hugging on her "Baby Love" which is the name that Aaron gave her because her little outfit says love on it.

Cheese!

Maggie thought that she (and then she & Aaron) might be able to sit down and close this door so they could "hide" in here!

I love these pictures- they crack me up! This is the goofy nature of our children that I usually don't capture in photos!

Random summer bits & pieces

2011-09-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

I'm SO very behind on my blogging and am going to be making some serious efforts to get my blog more up to date! Today I am sharing some bits and pieces that don't need full posts.

These first two pictures were taken way back in May on on of our very first nice weekends. We were doing some work in the 'yard', planting grass seed, cleaning up, weeding... and the kids were playing and helping!

Maggie looks like such a little rag muffin in this one! (And she looks so young!)

Aunt Amy bought Aaron these flame shoes and he LOVES them! He's convinced that they make him run even faster than usual! He asked me if I would take a picture of him in his flame shoes.

The kids were helping make english muffin pizzas for lunch a couple of weeks ago. Maggie was trying to eat it all before we even got it to the oven!

Aaron's friend, Asher, loaned him this Super Why costume. Aaron wore it constantly for a few days and says that this is what he wants to be for halloween! I love the glasses!

Mommy and Super Aaron!

TV trance

2011-08-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

Our children love the tv. Seriously, L-O-V-E. There are times that I have seriously considered getting rid of the darn thing, so that Aaron doesn't ask to watch it all of the time! Then I remember that I really like the tv too!

We have limits on tv time and ways that Aaron has to earn time. For example, if he doesn't take a nap, he doesn't get to watch any tv. We started this when Aaron was having a hard time taking his daily nap. Now that he's in school, this may change. Generally Aaron watches 1-2, 25 minutes shows per day. We will often watch a movie on the weekends (and have popcorn), which he loves. Aaron didn't start really being interested in the tv until he was almost 2, but not Maggie. In all fairness, Aaron was hardly exposed to the tv before he turned 2, so he probably didn't really have much of a chance to know if he liked it or not! Maggie loves the tv already and will sit and watch with her brother!

Craft time

2011-08-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

The kids love to do arts and crafts, so we try to make some time to get our creativity flowing!

This day we were making animal headbands with ears and noses. This was the first set that we made- bunnies with the big ears and we glued on the noses after this. We realized after trying them on that the ears that Aaron & Connor had were too big and wouldn't stand up, so we had to cut the down a little smaller!

Maggie's orange eared bunny!

The second one that the boys decided on were supposed to be leopards, I believe! I drew the ears with markers and then the boys cut them out (and I did hand over hand with Maggie to cut hers- she can't be left out of the cutting). Aaron decided to just cut squares around his and not cut on the lines this time!

These are the finished product of the bunnies with their cotton ball noses! So cute!

This was Maggie's first attempt at painting with water colors. We decided to paint on their Build A Bear boxes (which have since been re-purposed for wrapping birthday gifts.) After I took this picture, I turned around to help Aaron get his paints open, and Maggie was already drinking the dipping water for her paintbrush!!! I quickly got it away from her and was relieved to find out that the Crayola water colors are non-toxic! Phew.....

Needless to say, I helped her paint with water colors for another couple of minutes and then she moved on to markers!

Aaron is quite the little painter!

Family after flood

2011-08-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

July was a very rainy month in Chicago, which lead to some flooding in our basement. Tony, Angie, Emma, Jacob, and Olivia came to visit on their way back from Ohio. The same weekend we had to ask my Dad to drive in for some flood assistance and my mom flew into Chicago on her way home from a trip to Canada. Though the flooding was unfortunate, the time with family was great!

First day of school and Mommy's 35th birthday

2011-08-22T21:45:00.009-05:00

August 17th was an exciting day for the Coenen family. Aaron & Maggie had their first day of school at Goddard and it was my 35th birthday! I was worried about how this might go, but we all had a really great day! Aaron & Maggie did a great job letting Tim & I drop them off at school, Tim took me out for lunch and to pick out some new sheets for my birthday present, and our friends Amy, Chris, & Asher came over for the night so Tim and I could go to the movie theater to see Bridesmaids! Awesome!

Aaron practices writing his name when he gets to school

Maggie in her classroom

Happy Birthday to me with cupcakes from Sweet Mandy B's!

Boots before breakfast!

2011-08-21T22:13:00.003-05:00

Aaron has been asking me a lot lately if he can wear his light up Cars boots! He and Maggie were wearing boots before breakfast this particular day.... we hadn't even traded the pajamas for clothes yet!

Thompson/Johnson road trip to Chicago

2011-08-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun with Amy, Tabitha, and all of the kids when they came to visit a few weeks ago! These few days end up to be more time than we get to spend together in the rest of the year combined.... and we enjoy every single crazy moment of it! These girls are such a blessing in my life and I'm so thankful for them!

Sharing some pictures of our meals and water adventures!

7 kids around our little kitchen table!

Claire, Lilly, Ella, and Eli

Eli and Ella

Maggie having fun with Aunt Amy

Claire climbing through the tunnel

Do you think that Brett is having fun?!

Ready, set....

JUMP!

Tim, Brett, & Aaron

The Coenen fam!

Maggie's new skill

2011-08-11T21:49:00.003-05:00

Would you believe that this sweet little 16 month old would learn to climb out of her crib and try that skill out over 70 times in one night?!

Yep- that's our spunky little Maggie! She figured out that she could climb out of her bed on Tuesday night and climbed out over 70 times before finally falling asleep! Tim was on duty on Wednesday night and it took Maggie over an hour that night to get to sleep. Night number 3 took about 45 minutes of climbing out and being put back in!

Crazy sleeper!

2011-08-08T22:05:00.002-05:00

We always check on the kids before going to bed at night. This is the position that we found Maggie in! I have NO idea how she was sleeping like this!

Piggy tailed cutie!

2011-08-01T22:07:00.001-05:00

This was my first attempt at putting piggy tails in Maggie's hair. She definitely has enough hair, but I was sweating by the end of this project! Maggie is certainly a little lady who is in motion. Isn't she darling?!

How bout those apples

2011-07-29T22:03:00.001-05:00

Aaron & Maggie enjoy some apples in the hotel while sharing a chair!

Family fun in Milwaukee

2011-07-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

We had an awesome family trip to Milwaukee a few weekends ago. Amy, Dan, Brett, and Claire (my sis and her family) and my Mom and Dad met us there. We spent a lot of time swimming in the hotel pool, went to a Brewer game, and did a tour of the Sprecher Brewery. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but have some shots from the pool to share. We have so much fun with our family and are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Maggie at the Brewer game being tickled by her cousin, Brett (Borrowed this one from my sister's blog)

Daddy & Maggie enjoying the water

Amy & Brett

Dan & Claire

Daddy and his kiddos!

Want me to throw you the ball, Mom?

Brett, Papa, Claire, & Nan

Aaron loves his floaty vest. This was my Mom's idea and it gives him just enough buoyancy in the water that he has some extra confidence. It's really nice to have it on him when I take both of the kids to the pool by myself.

Having fun in the water

All smiles- Nan & Claire

Amy & Maggie

Maggie "motor boating" with Amy! (She keeps her mouth open almost all of the time and drinks A LOT of pool water!)

Cheese!

Wheee!!!!

Maggie is the cutest thing I've ever seen in this little yellow and white striped swimsuit!

Aaron springs from the side of the pool

Brett gets some serious air!

Happy 34th Birthday to Tim!

2011-07-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

On June 22nd, we celebrated Tim's 34th birthday. Here we are sharing Daddy's birthday cake and presents!

Reunited

2011-06-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

We were thrilled to be reunited with our friends, Heidi, Griffin, and Vaughn Matzen. Heidi and I met at the park when Aaron & Griffin were less than a year old and became fast friends. Heidi's husband, Tom, took a new job in March, which took their family to Seattle. We used to play together at least once a week, so we have missed them very much!

We had a fun morning at Pump It Up and then returned to our house where the boys enjoyed some time painting!

Monster & Butterfly

2011-06-24T21:55:00.002-05:00

Aaron & Maggie love to get wrapped up in their bath towels and see what they look like! Here they are- Aaron the blue monster and Maggie the pink butterfly!

Aaron-isms

2011-06-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

This little guy is hilarious! I do not do a good job of writing down all of the funny things that he says on a daily basis, so I am going to try to remember a few of his Aaron-isms as of late!

"When you go to the bathroom, that's called germs."

(I am wearing a white and black striped shirt and we are getting into the car to go to the zoo.) "We're going to the zoo, Mommy, and you're dressed like the zebra!" (I got such a kick out of that one that every time we go to the zoo now he tries to compare me to an animal. This week I had on a pink shirt, so I was a flamingo!)

"You know, some people have all the luck!" (He learned this from an Arthur book.)

"One time, when I was a super hero, I lifted up 3 gigantic elephants!" Many ideas of Aaron's right now, begin like that- One day, when I was a super hero.....

Three years old

2011-06-10T21:06:00.003-05:00

I'm definitely late with this post, but better late than never! Time to put in writing what Aaron is up to at 3 years old.

Aaron continues to bring joy and laughter to our lives every day! At 3 years old, Aaron weighs 36 pounds (75-90th percentile) and is 37 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile). He is active, adventurous, mischievous, smart, curious, and loud! Aaron's language skills are amazing- he speaks in long, complex sentences with all kinds of age appropriate speech errors! (glides his l's and r's, substitutes f for th, reduces some blends) He is as smart as a whip, questioning everything (why, why, why), and challenging our authority constantly!

Aaron loves to:
-read books (favorites are Dr. Seuss, Froggy, Arthur, SkippyJon Jones)
-play outside (is currently in love with his stomp rocket and scooter)
-climb on anything and everything (he really enjoys trying to climb trees and climb on the top of the monkey bars at the park)
-help with cooking and washing dishes (he loves to use his little cooking gear and control the sprayer at the kitchen sink)
-play with sticks, tools, and all kinds of 'real' things
-sing songs (especially the theme from the tv show, Little Einsteins)
-play pretend (rocket ships, dinosaurs, zoo animals by putting a 'cage' around himself with an upside down laundry basket!)
-play with play dough
-paint, glue, and cut with scissors
-garden and water plants with Daddy
-watch tv shows (favorites are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, Bob the Builder)
-watch movies (favorites are Toy Story, Cars, Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Despicable Me)
-play games (Pop Up Pirate, Memory, Cootie, Trouble)

Aaron usually gets up around 6:30 (often thanks to his little sister) and naps from about 1-3 (usually takes a nap for about 3-4 days and then skips a day). If he takes a good nap, he gets to stay up until 8 and watch 1 or 2 tv shows before bed. If he doesn't nap during the day, he goes to bed at 7 pm with Maggie. Aaron sleeps with his monkey and softie at night. Aaron & Maggie share a room and generally get along pretty well. They pester each other, but each get bored when the other is not around!

Aaron is very excited to go to preschool next year and is definitely ready for a new challenge! He can spell his name, say the alphabet, recognize his letters most of the time and can identify their sounds. Aaron can rote count to about 15 and count to 6 or 7 with one to one correspondence. He's a sharp guy and we know that it will be good for him to learn from someone other than his mom and dad!

Aaron is an amazing little guy and we are so proud of him!

Aaron is pretending to ride a motorcycle (the arm of the chair is the cycle and the thing on his head is his helmet!)

Memorial Day weekend

2011-06-07T21:47:00.006-05:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Nanny & Papa came to visit and we always have so much fun!

On Saturday we went to Union Pier, Michigan to meet up with my Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, cousin Jarrod and his wife, Molly and their 3 children, Nora, Dylan, and Grant. Jarrod and Molly live in Detroit, so we don't get to see them very often. This was our first time meeting Dylan and Grant and Jarrod and Molly's first time meeting Maggie! It was great to catch up and have the kids play together! (I had to 'borrow' some photos from Molly's blog because my camera was in the car and it was pouring down rain!) We had a great time, despite the weather being junky!

On Sunday, the boys went up to a Brewer game in Milwaukee while the girls stayed in Chicago.

Monday was the only nice day of the whole weekend. Unfortunately, Nanny & Papa had to spend it in the car driving back to Fort Dodge. We spent some time outside and ended the holiday with ice cream cones!