Memorial Day

Ahh... There are few pleasures in life that rival the three-day weekend! And Memorial Day weekend is usually one of the best, since the weather is not too hot yet and the end of the school year is finally in sight. And, as you can probably tell by now, we have made the most of it!

We started the morning off with homemade waffles and whipped cream, topped with the blueberries and strawberries we picked this weekend. In a word: YUM!! Nikos opted for syrup instead of whipped cream, but both kids devoured their meals. And so did I! It was heavenly, and such a nice way to begin the day!!

Later on, we eventually got dressed and played outside for a while. I introduced the kids to the art of tossing water balloons, which they both found infinitely entertaining! That didn't last for too long, though, since they were tossing them faster than I could fill them, and I got tired of crouching by the hose spigot. So we resorted to bubble-blowing, pretending to be pirates, and riding tricycles. You know, the usual.

After lunch (where Maya consumed another INSANE amount of food-- growth spurt, anyone?), Maya took a nap and Nikos... didn't. I am not sure about that kid. There are definitely still days where he NEEDS a nap, and goes down right away (like yesterday). Then there are days like today where he stalls and plays around and then eventually comes out and lays on the couch with his bear. It seems like those days are getting more and more numerous, so maybe we are approaching the end of naptime. Nooooo!!! I think all kids need to nap until kindergarten, at least. Don't they know what they're missing??

Anyhow, I digress. After Maya woke up, we went to a local park, per a specific request from Nikos. He knew that there were no play structures at this park, but insisted that he wanted to see the "bridges, trees, and train tracks." It's actually the park that I end up doing 90% of my photo shoots at, so he is always seeing the pictures on my computer. And he had been there before, but it had been a while. At any rate, it's a beautiful little park, full of Americana-style things-- wooden bridges, a little meandering stream, old train cars, a large gazebo, etc. Stuff like this:

I thought for sure we would be there for ten minutes, and then he would ask to go somewhere with swings. Instead, we were there for over an hour, and had to drag the kids away! They loved exploring all the nooks and crannies-- touching the train cars, walking on the (not-in-use) tracks, seeing the koi in the small pond (Nikos named them all), running across the bridges, looking for birds and lizards, climbing on the low trees, climbing on the benches at the train depot, and just generally being curious kids. It was such a great experience, and it was made better by the fact that most of the park is shady in the afternoon. And since I knew there would be tons of great photo ops, I made sure to bring my camera... and it was a good thing, because I got this photo, which is definitely one of my most favorite ones ever of the two of them together!! And yes, it's huge. Because I love it! ha!

Here are a few others from our visit, though I took more than 200 pictures. I kid you not. And I narrowed it down to about 40 that I LOVED. It was a miraculous day!

We capped off the afternoon by grilling up some burgers and hot dogs, and life was good. Back to work tomorrow, but at least my battery feels somewhat recharged. Eight more days of teaching!

Strawberries!

You know, before having kids, I would have never thought to go and pick my own fruit. Go to the Farmer's Market, maybe, but actually to a field to bend down and pick them? It wouldn't have even crossed my mind. And yet it's now one of my favorite activities to do with them, especially now that they are both old enough to participate. And I SWEAR that everything tastes better (fresher? sweeter?) when you pick it yourself.

Anyway, today we drove to Carlsbad to pick strawberries. It had rained earlier this morning, forcing me to postpone a photo shoot I had scheduled. And while it was overcast and chilly in Carlsbad, it was not raining-- meaning it was perfect picking weather! There were TONS of strawberries, all ripe and juicy and waiting to be picked! Much like yesterday, Nikos was a methodical berry-picking machine. He only ate a few, choosing instead to focus on filling our big bucket. He did an awesome job!! Maya picked a ton of berries, too, but these all pretty much went straight into her mouth. The girl could NOT get enough, and was happy as can be to eat strawberries the entire time we were there. Thank goodness they had a cooler of water there for rinsing hands, because she was COVERED in strawberry goo!


After we had filled our bucket and rinsed off, we got back in the car and had planned to eat lunch at the nearby outlets-- and maybe sneak in a little shopping. But alas, it was not to be. The parking lot was insane, and we couldn't find a spot. And somewhere in there, Maya conked out in her carseat. So we decided to abandon that plan and dine at home, instead.

The new plan is to go out to dinner after my photo shoot this afternoon... It works out well, actually, because my photo shoot is right next door to where we want to go eat. So I'll just give them a call when I'm wrapping things up, and they can come meet me. Hooray!

Busy Day!

Today was a great day with my two little buddies!

We started by cleaning the house and doing several loads of laundry (ooh! ahh!). That wasn't so fun, but it meant we could enjoy the rest of the weekend without worrying about that boring old stuff!

Once that was done, we got dressed and played outside. I gave each kid a brand-new thing of bubbles, and they were captivated for over an hour. Nikos did a GREAT job doing everything by himself, which is a far cry from last summer! And Maya, surprisingly, did well, too! She had to be reminded a few times to keep the bubble wand out of her mouth, and she put in a huge amount of blowing effort with very little reward, but she was very proud of herself. Until she accidentally dumped the entire thing and declared it was "all done." Oops! haha!


We came inside for lunch, during which Nikos freaked me out by talking about "that man outside our front door." What?? I soon figured out he was referring to the mailman, though I still don't know why he didn't just say that. Anyway... We went out to get the mail, and this car driving by suddenly did a U-turn and stopped in front of our house. It was actually one of my old coworkers, who is apparently about to move in up the street! Weird!!! So he's going to be our neighbor this week. Such a small world!

After nap, I loaded the kids up and drove back up to Temecula to pick berries with my friends and their kids. It was fun, but there were a few challenges! For one, Nikos announced that he needed to go potty just moments after we arrived-- and before my friends were there to help me out. There was only one bathroom option (port-a-potty), and it was, well, not desirable. YUCK! Besides being disgusting, I had to keep the door open and stand half-in, half-out and simultaneously tell Nikos not to touch ANYTHING and keep Maya from running off into the parking lot. Thankfully, there was both soap and water to wash up afterward. Still... ew!!!

Anyway... Nikos and Brady both filled their buckets very methodically, refusing to eat any berries along the way, while both their little sisters did the exact opposite. Maya picked a ton of blueberries, but still wound up with an empty bucket... Go figure! At any rate, we were there for almost two hours, and then Maya began to fall apart so we headed home. And now we have more delicious blueberries to eat, hooray!



On the docket for tomorrow is strawberry-picking, grocery shopping, and I don't know what else. I should probably work on report cards. siiiiigh...

Countdown

Three words: two more weeks! And then I get to be a full-time mommy to the two best kids in the world!!

While their mommy happens to be very exhausted lately, these two still manage to find plenty of ways to stay entertained in the afternoon. Today, it was all about masks and pretending to be animal rescuers. Over the course of a few hours, MANY imaginary exotic animals were rescued from perils unknown. Thank goodness for vivid imaginations!

Just Checking In!

I feel like I've only been posting on weekends lately, which is a testament to just how busy this time of year is. Honestly, I LOVE blogging. Love it! But it's hard when all my focus is on work and not my family (sadly). And while I still spend plenty of time with them, I find it hard to remember all the cute things they said or did. So when it comes time to blog... I've got nothin'!

Really, though, I am in the home stretch. The last day of school is exactly two weeks from tomorrow. Somewhere in there, we've got the 5th grade health and hygiene video, two major field trips, report cards, and a promotion ceremony (similar to a graduation ceremony). Not to mention the fact that I am doing a major deep-cleaning of my classroom, since I will most likely not return. Oh, and we literally leave for Alaska as soon as I wrap things up at work, so that means I have to pack, too. Throw in a photo session this weekend and various other obligations, and I am pretty stressed. ACK!!

Anyway... I am still here, the kids are great (and as cute as ever!), and I am counting the days! Here's a quick, semi-in-focus snapshot from this past Saturday morning, before we left to go blueberry picking. I haven't picked up my camera all week (and that's saying something!). Maya was being so cute, though, wanting to wear her Olivia legwarmers and harassing her brother. Love these kids!!

Blueberries!

So tired, as usual! And I am afraid I might be getting sick AGAIN-- for the five millionth time this year! Still, I wanted to post these photos. We went blueberry picking yesterday, and both kids did a fantastic job! Nikos was very careful about only picking the dark blue ones, and so was Maya after a few reminders that the green ones were yucky. The kids ate blueberries to their hearts' content (so did we!), and we left with four overstuffed pints of sweet, juicy, hand-picked blueberries. Man, are they delicious! My mom made a pie out of some of them that was just heavenly. And we had a fruit salad with dinner that featured them as well. YUM!!

Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures!




Back at my parents' house, the kids ate lunch and then one of them took a nap (since the other declared he was "not tired!"). Once Maya was awake, we walked down the road to the neighborhood park. Actually, Nikos refused to walk and insisted that Grandpa carry him because, of course, he was "too tired!!" ha! Still, despite his fatigue, Nikos went bananas at the park and made friends with another little boy around his age. He cracked me up, though... I told him he should introduce himself and ask his friend what his name was. His reply? "I'm not gonna ask him his name, I'm too busy MAKING FRIENDS now, Mommy!" Names or no names, he worked up quite a sweat chasing and being chased by his new little buddy. Which then meant, of course, that he was "too tired" to walk back home. Good thing Grandpa is a pushover!

Now we're home, the house is clean, groceries have been purchased, and I am bracing myself for another week at work. It's a fun time of year, but SO incredibly busy. I'm also loading up on vitamins in hopes of staving off this latest illness, because I simply cannot afford to be absent at ALL in the next three weeks. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Movie Night!

The idea of having a family movie night popped into my head earlier this week, when Nikos said he wanted to see "Toy Story 3." I guess someone must have talked about it at daycare, because it came out of nowhere! We own the first movie in the trilogy, and he has seen it, but it is a distant second to his favorite-movie-by-FAR, which is "Cars" (or, as it's known as in our house, "Cars movie!").

Anyway, I had seen the movie before, and thought it would be a fun Friday night activity to stay up later, watch the movie on the sofa bed in the living room, and munch on some snacks. I knew Nikos would probably be fine staying up longer, though I wasn't sure about Maya (my super sleeper!). As it turned out, she was a bundle of energy for the first half of the movie, doing gymnastics all over the bed while singing/laughing/talking/etc. Once she calmed down, she snuggled up next to me, watched the movie, and was as sweet as can be. All in all, it went pretty well! We might need to make this a family tradition!

And... in keeping with my resolution to take more self-portraits, I set up the camera right before the movie started and snapped a few shots in the first few minutes. I put the camera away right afterward so we could just enjoy the movie, but at least I got photos to document the occasion. See exhibit A:

On the docket for tomorrow is a trip to the blueberry farm to fill a large bucket with the tastiest blueberries I have ever eaten, followed by an overnight visit to my parents' house. Three more weeks of school (and three weeks until Alaska!). I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

A Resolution

I am a frequent contributor to an online photography-focused group, and someone recently posted a link all about the art of taking self-portraits (or "selfies," as the author called them). I clicked on it out of curiosity, but found myself really moved by her description of why self-portraits are so important. So often, one parent (in our case, ME) is ALWAYS behind the camera. If I look back on Nikos' entire lifetime (which includes Maya's entire lifetime, obviously), there are very few pictures of me with the kids. It's almost like I wasn't there, when the exact opposite is true. I mean, I was obviously there, because I TOOK all those pictures!

At any rate, it hit me... Self portraits may be tricky and technically "not perfect," but they are pretty nice to have around. I am setting a new goal to try and take at least one self portrait of me and the kids every week. I want them to see me, too! So to start it off, here's one that I set up tonight while we were reading stories... Maya actually took this one, as evidenced by the remote in her hand. I love my babies!!

Random Photos

Why? Because I like taking them, that's why!

Here's my camera-shy boy. He does NOT like getting his picture taken, which is unfortunate since he has me as his mother. And yes, he still sucks his thumb, but only when he's really tired.

And here's my crazy girl! She is so full of energy! You can tell how much fun she's had by how wild her hair is, hehe!

And here they are together, playing in Nikos' room (they were "resting" after jumping on the bed)...

And Nikos' face/positioning crack me up in this one... Can you tell he's enjoying himself? :)

There are lots more, but that's it for now! I'm tired.

Odds and Ends

Well, it's been a busy week! I typed out a nice, long update the other night, only Blogger wasn't working. And, though I saved the writing in a text file on my computer, I accidentally deleted it later on. Doh!

Anyway... Like I said, it's been a busy week! I started off feeling like Death. I was so, so sick. Between the chills, fever, stuffiness, and fatigue, I was feeling rather unwell. I left work early on Monday, and made the earliest available doctor's appointment (Thursday) to see what was wrong with me. Honestly, I have been sick so frequently this year that it was starting to get worrisome. I figured it was probably all the stress from everything (selling a house, buying a house, working full time, raising two active children, running a small business, and figuring out how to move my entire life across the country... you know, the usual) that was killing my immune system, but figured it couldn't hurt to get checked out.

In the meantime, Gus and I made the decision that we wanted to go on a vacation this summer, after school got out (see mention of "stress," above!). We had contemplated going on another cruise to Mexico, since those are generally affordable and very convenient, but we had a revelation: Why not Alaska? So, we booked it. We're cruising to Alaska for a week after school ends, and I could not be any more excited!!! We even got a room with a balcony, since the scenery while at sea is supposed to be breathtaking. I. Can't. Wait. We've even booked excursions at the various ports, including canoeing alongside the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, taking a wildlife boat tour (looking for whales, sea otters, etc.) in Sitka, and seeing the huge totem poles and attending a lumberjack show in Ketchikan. Have I mentioned how excited I am???? This is a dream vacation. Less than a month to go!! :)

Anyway... Despite feeling MUCH better, I took Thursday afternoon off to keep my scheduled doctor appointment. And, surprise, surprise, she told me I was stressed. This was BEFORE she knew everything that was going on in my life, so I have to say that my doctor is pretty awesome! I apparently have a number of other physical signs that are indicative of stress. There is literally nothing else wrong with me. Stress has just wiped out my immune system, which means I catch pretty much any bug that happens to come my way. Ugh! At least school is over in a few weeks, which means that my opportunities for exposure will be decreased! My doctor also gave me some homeopathic advice about prevention, which I plan to use to stay healthy for the remainder of the school year... and our cruise!

But wait! There's more! When I got home from my doctor's appointment, determined to de-stress my life as much as possible, I had an unbelievable message on my answering machine. Maybe you remember me posting about my friend's little girl, Aubrey, who was super sick with leukemia? It's a miracle that she is well and is actually back home now. Still, when her struggles were at their worst, I joined the National Bone Marrow Registry. And, as it turns out, I am a match for a 63-year-old man with leukemia. I am still playing phone tag with the registry employee, but am excited/scared/nervous about potentially saving someone's life. It couldn't have come at a worse time. But there's no guarantee that I am a perfect match, anyway... so we will see what the next few weeks bring!

In the meantime, the kids are as great as ever. They are the happiest, most non-stressful part of my day, and I look forward to spending a lot more time with them after school ends and we get back from Alaska! Maya's big thing lately is her insistence on doing everything by herself. And by everything, I mean ev-er-y-thing. Her battle cry these days is, "I do it by myself!" And, well, she does. It takes a while, but she can usually do things on her own. She is such a feisty, independent little girl. She also thinks that every single word she sees is spelled "N-I-K-O-S." That's the only word she knows the letters for, so it must be everywhere, right? Truthfully, she thinks her big brother hung the moon, even if they don't always get along perfectly. And he is awfully sweet to her most of the time. Like today at lunch, when he made sure she had plenty of apple slices to enjoy. They really are good to each other, and it just makes me want to be around them more often. Less than one month!

Anyway, that's the news here right now. I've taken some new pictures, but they are on my camera and will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then... goodnight!

My Mother's Day

Today has been a great day, despite me being TOTALLY, miserably sick (I really need to go to the doctor) and the weather not cooperating with my plans (more on that later!). I slept in, and was woken up by both kids coming to deliver me cards (one from them, one from Gus). Gus followed them in with a tray containing a Denver omelet, a mimosa, and a tulip in a bud vase. I ate my breakfast with the kids in bed with me for part of it, but they quickly tired of it and left me to eat in peace. Once I got up, I saw the rest of the tulips out in the kitchen. Tulips are my favorite flower, and these were so pretty!!

The plan for the rest of the day was to have no plan. The ONE thing I requested was that we take family portraits at some point. Despite the nice weather lately, today was gray and windy and on the cooler side. However, we didn't let that deter us! This is my favorite one from our afternoon session at the park. For the record, Maya burped, which is why they were both cracking up. Until that happened, neither one of them would sit still or smile, and I was getting frustrated. But she burped! Hallelujah!

Right now, Gus is cooking lasagna for dinner, and Nikos is helping him. I really hope I can taste it! I am so sick of being sick, but I am lucky to have such a great family who treats me so nicely. Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

I just want to wish all the mommies I know a very happy Mother's Day, but especially to our two favorite moms in the whole wide world!

My mom:


And Gus' mom:


We love you both very much, and hope you have a wonderful day! :)

Today...

We played outside...

We did some more science...

We climbed on the couch...

And we sang at dinner time!

All in all... A good day!

Mad Scientists!

Despite me feeling pretty under-the-weather today (I seem to have the Cold That Never Ends), Maya handed me her Dora science kit today and very sweetly asked to play with her "Dora game." It was a birthday gift from Gus' sister and her fiance, and I figured, "Why not?"

I thought it might be over her head, but both kids LOVED it! The kit itself is designed very well-- it's sturdy, and the directions are simple and clear. Just a few "ingredients" are used for a whole slew of "experiments." Today, we first mixed oil and water, and stopped to look at how they didn't combine. Then, we added a blue dye tablet to the tube, which caused the water and oil bubbles to dance all around (very exciting!). Next, we added a little more water to the tube, capped it off (with a nice secure screw cap), and the kids took turns moving the test tube around and watching the blue wave travel from one side to the other. Finally, we added glitter to the mix, shook it up really good, and had a "magical glitter wand" that they both wanted to hold. It was a LOT of fun, and we barely scratched the surface of what was in the kit. And many experiments can be replicated with basic kitchen ingredients. Yay!

Anyway, here are the two little scientists. Can you tell they were into it? So much fun!

For Posterity...

Seeing as how this major news announcement coincided with Maya's second birthday, I thought I should post it here! These were some of the newspaper headlines this morning, after President Obama's announcement last night that U.S. forces had killed Bin Laden nearly ten years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And while it feels very wrong to celebrate the death of any human being, I am hopeful that this will be the beginning of the end of the war on terror, and am happy that this man can't go on to hurt any more people. So... May 1st is an auspicious day, it would seem!

More Birthday Pics!

Because, well, I can never have enough photos of my babies! And I spent a good chunk of time this morning figuring out my new camera. I used it at the party yesterday, but was mostly winging it. Now that I have it figured out a little better, I LOVE it!!!! It has some amazing features that are SUCH huge upgrades from my old one. I also played around with using it to wirelessly trigger my external flash. That's how I got these two photos, when the lighting really wasn't good. LOVE them!


Anyway... Maya is at the tail-end of a mild cold, and wasn't quite her usual happy self all weekend (I'd say she was operating at about 80%). Still, we had a great time celebrating her actual birthday as a family. First, she ate breakfast with her brother, and got to open her last present-- a charm bracelet that we will add on to every year. Right now, it has two charms on it. One is rainbow-colored, to represent the theme of her first birthday party (and her nickname in utero). The other one is a silver starfish, to represent her beach/surfing theme this year.


Later on, we decided to go out to lunch as a family. I didn't bring the new camera with me, since it's bulky, but I grabbed my little one and snapped a few while we waited for our food. Maya was very wiggly and a little grouchy, but still seemed to enjoy her meal and the experience in general!


For dinner, we had spaghetti (her choice). And after that, we sang to her and let her blow out the candles again. She huffed and puffed, but finally got them out. So cute!

Anyway, I'd call today a success. I loved celebrating my sweet girl!

2 Year Letter

Dear Maya,

Sweet girl, you are two years old today! It baffles me to think that it has been two whole years since we met you, since none of us can remember what life was like before you were here!

There is really no way to say it, except that you have brought so much sunshine into our lives. We all love you and cherish you more than you will ever know. And I am not just saying that! Your brother regularly gives you hugs and kisses, and counts you among his best friends in the whole world. You are playmates, best friends, and siblings-- and though that is bound to change somewhat in the years to come, there is not much more we could hope for right now! He even helps tuck you in every night, and is always the last one to say "Goodnight, sweetie!" and give you a kiss on the forehead (which causes endless giggling on both sides, I might add!).

Your laugh is infectious and your smile lights up the whole room. You have a mischievous streak that keeps everyone on their toes, and a sense of adventure and daring that brings even the reticent Nikos out of his shell. You talk to everyone you meet-- I don't think you have ever met a "stranger," so to speak. Your outgoing, happy-go-lucky personality sparkles and shines, and endears you to everyone you encounter. You radiate life, baby girl, and we are just happy to stand nearby!

In terms of development, though... Man oh man, where to begin? You walk, run, climb, everything now. Slides? Stairs? No problem! You insist on going "high-high-HIGH!" in the swings at the park. Your vocabulary exploded a few months ago, and is now through the roof. You can sort of count to ten, though you sometimes rearrange the numbers. You know your colors, a whole slew of animals and their sounds, and how to tell a knock-knock joke and sing a wide variety of songs. You sense people's emotions easily, and are the first to offer a hug, a kiss, an "I love you" or an apology, when needed. You love to sneak up on us and tickle us. You grab your Elmo comb and tell me to sit on the ground so you can brush my hair and tell me I'm "cute" or "gorgeous". You've been known to grab a flashlight and hunt for bears in the living room, or tuck your sippy cup in for the night and tell us all to hush because the "baby's sleeping!"

Gosh, this is so hard to write. You are such an amazing kid, baby girl. We loved your brother with all our hearts from the moment he was born, and never thought we could love someone else as much. But we DO, and the someone else is you. You are the yin to your brother's yang, and the missing piece in our family. We love you SO MUCH, curly girl, and can't imagine life without you. Happy Birthday, little Maya! We love you to the moon and back!

All our love, Always,
Mommy, Daddy, and Nikos

Party Pics!

So, so tired... So I will let the pictures speak for themselves! When all was said and done, there were 23 people, I think?? I don't know! But it was fun, the weather was gorgeous and the birthday girl enjoyed herself thoroughly. I can't believe she will be TWO tomorrow!