Spring Break Staycation....

This face certainly does highlight, in every way, the overall feeling of our recent Spring STAYcation.  Who needs to go anywhere when there is tons to do right in your backyard and alongside great friends? 

An unexpected gift received via UPS from Auntie Beth, Uncle Erick and our Upstate NY cousins MaryAnn, Lilly, Adia and JennyKate. Check out our newest backyard toy--a super bounce! Tons of neighbors joined us over vacation to bounce along with us. THANK YOU Auntie and Uncle!!! :)



Alec makes a move on a local hottie, Emma, who also does karate with him. I think he thinks that since he has a car and all, she'll date him.... :)

We enjoyed our friends, had sleepovers, went to several parks.....

 



Queen Wendy  made everyone's favorite: Mickey Mouse pancakes!












Our months of karate are also paying off in that all three of the royal kidlets have earned their colored belts! Ceremony was followed by a trip to Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt--a favorite!





Alec earns his colored belt....

Abby jumps high to clear an obstacle during training. She's amazing!! :)







Alec awaits his turn for yellow belt ceremony





The royal kidlets in action at krate. Sensei has set up an obstacle course...and they are getting ready to pounce!



Aramis fist bumps Sensei Louie after earning his yellow belt. Sweet. :)

At the end of the week, the kids were absolutely bone tired from too much activity. The weather cooperated, we were the recipients of an absolutely super-special gift, and enjoyed the company of some really lovely friends. Whew! A nice preview of the summer fun to come!

Fourth Child Earns National Ranking...!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled family-focused blog to bring you very impressive news. Our soon-to-be fourth child (so to speak) was just ranked among the nation's Top 200 Mom-Owned Businesses. We couldn't be more proud of this accomplishment and had to share. :)  Our regularly scheduled programming filled with Agudelo children and the like, will continue after we've celebrated for a few hours. :)

Thank you so much to everyone who has given us support, encouragement and love along the way.  We couldn't have done it without you!

Press mentions coming in! :)

http://northandover.patch.com/articles/local-business-honored-in-mom-contest

PERIOD PACKS™ EARNS PRESTIGIOUS POSITION AS

A LEADING MOM-OWNED BUSINESS

North Andover Gift Box Company Ranks Amid Top 200 of StartupNation.com’s Entrepreneur Competition

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (5.3.2012) – Period Packs, Inc., a Massachusetts-based theme gift box company which aims to bring a sense of celebration and understanding about the onset of menses to young ladies around the world and pamper postnatal mothers, has been ranked among a prestigious list of the nation’s top mom-owned businesses. Announced this week,  Period Packs was selected from thousands of contestants entered in StartupNation.com’s 2012 Leading Moms in Business competition -- sponsored by Web.com and Sam's Club.

More than 350,000 votes were cast in support of the 2012 contestants, reflecting immense interest in moms building businesses at the same time they tend to their families. “There has been a sea of change among moms who come to realize that adding entrepreneurship to their lives brings exhilaration and immense gratification, not to mention supplemental—sometimes primary—income to their families in these dicey economic times,” said Rich Sloan, chief startupologist and co-founder of StartupNation.

The 2012 Leading Moms in Business ranking highlights some of the dominant trends, motivations and attributes among moms in business including:

·         A great eye for providing attractive discounts, coupons, savings and value, all especially important to consumer moms of the recession era.

·         A likelihood to come up with innovative products and solutions to address the challenging maze of motherhood. It’s an environment that demands resourcefulness.

·         Conscience-driven business, where “doing well” is just fine, but the real rush comes from doing good.

·         The attraction of being your own boss looms large for moms wanting to take control they just can’t find in a day job.

·         Sustainable solutions and responsible business practices are increasingly paramount.

·         Making the most of social media for business benefit is seemingly a birthright for the socially adept moms.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be ranked among so many superior mom-owned businesses across the nation, but even more proud to learn that we have such a supportive demographic of clients and fans who recognize the value in what we do,” said Wendy Bulawa Agudelo, chief maxi of Period Packs, Inc.  “Our hearts are filled with appreciation--which will fuel us to further build upon what we’ve already accomplished to date.”

The full results of the 2012 Leading Moms in Business ranking are available on StartupNation’s website at http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business, and Period Pack’s winning profile (#175) can be found at: http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business/contestant/11721/index.php.

About StartupNation
StartupNation provides over 175,000 pages of business advice and networking for entrepreneurs and serves millions of entrepreneurs annually. StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs with the intention of providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, including blogs from a host of experts, podcasts, webcasts, eBooks such as 23 Hot Businesses to Start Right Now award-winning step-by-step advice, and more. StartupNation co-founders, Rich Sloan and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country’s leading small business experts. The Sloan brothers speak frequently at entrepreneurial forums and recently hosted a Public Television special helping people transform their passions into business opportunities. They are authors of StartupNation: Open for Business, published by Doubleday. The Sloan brothers are regularly quoted and featured in media such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and many others.

About Period Packs, Inc.

Period Packs™ specializes in theme gifts for young ladies entering menses and postnatal mothers. Based in Massachusetts, the company was founded by a mom with a pure mission to ‘welcome young ladies to womanhood.’ Through a series of uniquely designed gift boxes and similarly themed items, Period Packs aims to bring a sense of celebration and understanding about the onset of menses to young ladies around the world, and pamper postnatal mothers. The company strives to educate woman about global female-focused news through its blog, Pack Talk, and also offers gifts for girls in need via its Pink Packs program. For more information about Period Packs, or to order Period Packs merchandise, please visit www.periodpacks.com.

Weekend warriors....

Every day is an opportunity for us, as parents, to educate our children in some way. Now, there are days when neither Tony or Wendy have the energy or creativity to do ANY instruction at all, yet on others, we're bursting with ideas.  Recently, we started off our weekend warrior homeschool adventures with education about the 5 senses.  What a fun thing to share with children.  We used all of our senses within a variety of ways--including several blindfolded challenges to teach smell, taste and touch. Below was a tray of 'ingredients' we used for one of the segments. Needless to say, chocolate is the favored ingredient, and 'red hots' are the least....

After working with ingredients we knew/understood, we had the kids work with our Yonanas frozen 'ice cream' maker. For those of you who love ice cream, but haven't yet found this superior product, check it out. We (the adults) love using it to create some super-tasty delights, and more importantly, we can stop making so much banana bread from older bananas! This frozen treat has significantly fewer calories, fat and sugar than ice cream, and the kids can make it themselves!

STEP 1: Peel super ripe bananas and place them in either a tupperware container or plastic bag.

STEP 2: Freeze them for several hours.  When ready to use, pull from freezer and thaw for approximately 15-20 minutes so they are still frozen, but workable.

STEP 3: Place into Yonanas' unique 'ice cream' maker and turn it on. You get fresh banana ice cream and can add in anything from other tasty frozen fruit, caramel, chocolate, chocolate chips, sprinkles, coconut, etc. to flavor it--and it is a super delicious treat to eat from a bowl or on a cone! Here's Aramis giving it a whirl--although we admit up front that the extreme loudness of the machine does bother our little ones' ears somewhat.

Vday and the Wonkinator....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was a fun experience for all this year. King Tony pulled out all the stops and special ordered two boxes of the most delicious chocolate ever created by chocolatiers, Jacques Torres (Mr. Chocolate) and Fritz Knipschildt of Chocopologie in South Norwalk and introduced, the Chocolate Challenge.  We pit these two master craftsmen against one another--chocolate for chocolate and found interestingly, that Fritz took home the winning box! Even the kids got in on the fun this year so we could help elevate their palletes beyond Hersheys. :)

Chef Aramis also decided to make some chocolate of his own--brownies for Papa! :)

Alec stands at the ready to begin the chocolate challenge--donning his newest Chic Boutique Creations design from Auntie Wendy, and you can catch a glimpse of Aramis' and Abby's too! :)

The weather was so warm in late February that we were able to take out our new bikes and test run our new Raskulls helmets--which the kids love!! :)

Love that we're on our way to biking the trails around the region! :)

For an unusual weekend activity, we took in a community theater rendition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory--our kids' first play. They were absolutely mesmerized by the showmanship, colorful costumes, music and adventure. A good choice all around. I guess it helped that we attended with good friends, the Schmiedels. :) Abby's bestest gal pal Colleen is cousin to the young lady who played Violet Beauregarde -- the blueberry. And, she really did blow up like a blueberry! :)

The kids with Emily (aka Violet) and Colleen post-show. :)

Alec takes a turn at a trumpet, courtesy of musician, Bill Pickles. Thanks Bill! :)

And the hijinx continue as we begin to head out to local parks. The missing snow has sent our region into a moderate draught, sadly, but the kids couldn't be happier. They've enjoyed 80 degree weather already this Spring, and multiple visits to several parks.  King Tony and Queen Wendy took them to one this past weekend--even though the temps never got above 45 degrees. We found interesting ways to keep the kids laughing though as we scaled the play structures ourselves. 

You are never too old to prove to your kids that you'll be young at heart...forever.

Happy Spring, you little devil! :)

Van Halen...Jump!!

There they stand (L to R), David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen and Eddie's son, Wolfgang, on tour with Kool and the Gang. While Wendy prefers a Sammy Hagar led Van Halen to a DLR, Van Halen in any capacity just sets Tony on fire! So, for a very special date night, we joined a number of friends, cousin Juan Mario, and godparents Auntie Laurie and Uncle Regis for an adventure-filled evening out on the town.  Van Halen did not disappoint and even Eddie's son proved his street cred, pumping out the historic jams nearly as equal as Michael Anthony.  Some may consider that blasphemy, but in all seriousness, he got the job done!

"Jump!"

Father and son duo on stage....

Ever the showman, David Lee Roth in spandex....

Auntie Laurie catches (as a special birthday gift), Van Halen chocolate thrown to the crowd! Nice catch!!

Eddie solos for a while...

Karate Success....

Karate has been a family tradition for year. Uncle Erick and all the kids' cousins in New York have succeeded in earning their second-degree black belts in short order, and over the course of the last year, all three Agudelo kidlets have started their athletic journey as well. Recently, Princess Abs earned her first colored belt--marking a major step up in her abilities and conditioning. The boys, who started several months after her, have also done quite well--earning their tips ahead of schedule--under the watchful eye and strong guidance of their Sensei Louie.  We couldn't be more proud of all of them...of their dedication to physical exercise and their commitment to the art of karate. Tony and Wendy just look forward to the moment when 'self discipline' kicks in....  :)

Aramis earning another tip...

Not to be outdone, Alec earns his the same day. :)

And some fun videos of them during training exercises.... :)

Final Winter Fun....

It has been such an incredibly busy Spring for us, that we have literally been too busy to blog! :( So, you'll see a number of posts go up as we do our best to play catch up! Let's see...where to begin. Oh yes, winter. Well, the lack of winter here in New England, actually.  Winter 2011-2012 was nearly non-existent. We had a terrible storm the week before Halloween that devastated the area with downed trees, power lines and missing power for upwards of a full week.  Then, a green Christmas followed by a green New Year's. One small storm in January, followed by one more in mid-February, and that is all. The snow didn't stay around for more than 4 days, so we had to rally the royals to make the most of the snow that DID fall. Here's what we did:

Making snowmen--three of them to be exact.....

"I did it!"  (with a little help from my brothers...)

"Why are you sliding on your belly?? Let me show you how it is done, sister...!"

"Like this???"

And a video of the kids enjoying the snow and mud to the hilt!

Our snowmen morphed into a snow wall...since the rain came and melted our little guys....  :(

We thought the storm above was the last of our fun in the snow, but a quick weekend roadtrip to Upstate NY changed all of that. We arrived with no snow on the ground and woke up to a blizzard! (see photo below)

It was beautiful and crisp looking out over Delta Lake, and Princess Abigail joined her Auntie, Cousins and Grandma Mary for a dip in the hot tub (eating flavored sno cones) while it continued to snow. Now THAT was an experience to remember. Thanks Auntie Beth!!

While it remained chilly outside, the boys found their own activities. Aramis, being as cerebral as his Auntie Beth, took over her iPad while she worked on the data report for NASSA's winning project--"Does a syphon work in zero gravity." Members from the Neighborhood After School Science Association (which Beth and her daughters founded), traveled to the NASA Space Center in Ohio to complete a drop test of their invention. The results: a syphon does not work in zero gravity and does require gravity to work.  They put their theory to the test, and they were correct. Nicely done!!

Okay, we know you want more of our snow man making afternoon...so here it is.... :)