Sunday, April 29, 2012

Maya's Birthday Party

Our baby girl doesn't turn three until Tuesday, but we had her party today! It was small, but lots of fun (and mildly chaotic, with seven kids and nine adults). Maya got lots of nice gifts, all of which were very girly and "princess-y" and just what she is into at the moment! She is a very happy little camper. I hope she sleeps well tonight! Without further ado, brace yourself for a ton of pictures!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Family Day!

This is going to be a drive-by post, but I just wanted to talk really quickly about our day! My parents got in at almost 8:00 last night, and the kids stayed up to greet them (yay!). They were really wound up, but we still managed to get them to bed. And then, Gus' mom arrived this morning, shortly after everyone got up. Total excitement overload! We then headed out to watch Nikos' second baseball game, where we all froze our booties off (it was SO. COLD.). After coming home to thaw out for a bit in front of our glorious pellet stove, we went to lunch at the local farm. Today was the HUGE town-wide yard sale, which meant that the traffic around town was insane!! I had no idea! But we really didn't have time (or motivation) to check out all the houses. Next year!

Later on, after doing some birthday party prep, we all drove over to the local elementary school so that Nikos could demonstrate his new bike-riding abilities. To be honest, we hadn't taken him out since the time I posted the video on here a few weeks ago. And he was AMAZING today! His pedaling and steering had improved drastically, and he even had a few times where he completed a successful loop all the way back to the person who "launched" him. Incredible! He never ceases to amaze me!

For dinner, we went to our favorite restaurant in the area, which was just lovely. I have never seen anyone more excited about an ice cream sundae than Maya was tonight. It was SO cute! She was so, so, SO enthusiastic about every aspect of the sundae... and then proceeded to inhale it! Funny kid! She also impressed me with her writing abilities. She showed me that she knew how to write quite a few letters, and she also drew the number "10." All recognizable. She couldn't do this a week ago, I swear!!

Anyway, I had the waitress take a picture of us all. It's horrendous, but it marks an occasion. So here you go! And good night! :)

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Cleaning

There is nothing like the combined prospects of hosting a birthday party and having houseguests to motivate you to clean, haha! That's what I've been doing pretty much all week. I keep the house reasonably clean on a daily basis, because that's just how I am, but I wanted to do a really DEEP cleaning this time around. Plus, I wanted to do some more "finishing touches" before everyone gets here. The house is far from done, but there were a few things I wanted to do. Like get some pictures up on the dining room wall. This wall is about 20 feet long, and it was just this empty expanse of nothingness! I got these frames (and the vinyl decal) at the dollar store, and ordered prints to fill them. I am pleased with how it all turned out! And this is a composite picture. There's no way I could have gotten them all in one shot like this!
The photos are big, by the way... the three in the middle are 11x14, with all the others being 8x10. I love it!

And then there was the front room. We had the awesome red couch, but nothing else. I finally got this coffee table. And then I found this rug the other day. Both were very affordable, but I just love what this little area is becoming! I still want to get a comfy chair or two for in there, but it's already one of my favorite places in the house. It's so warm and cozy, especially on rainy afternoons (like today)! I just want to sit there and read or have some coffee. The rug still needs to "relax" after being tightly rolled up, and you can ignore the books and folding chairs on the floor, but look! I love the front room!
Most of the day, though, I just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I am pleased to report that all my toilets, sinks, and tubs are sparkling clean, as are all the bath linens. I am ready for visitors now!

Meanwhile, the kids played together and colored and just generally got along well. I thank my lucky stars that I have two kids who get along so well with each other 99% of the time. It definitely makes my life easier! At one point, Maya showed me this jellyfish that she drew. Oh, and another time, she drew the letter H (and told me that was what it was)! She is growing by leaps and bounds every day. I think it's time to start working on letters... I predict she will be able to write her name in a few months. My smart girl!


P.S. I spotted a few Eastern Bluebirds in our front yard this afternoon! I'd never seen a bluebird before! And they are, in fact, quite blue. So cool!!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Almost 3!

Our sweet girl will be three years old one week from today. I can't believe it! I just thought I'd share these photos from today. I spent most of the day cleaning and getting things ready for her party and our houseguests. She and her brother kept themselves occupied nicely, playing together and, at one point, coloring. Nikos shrieked for me to come see when Maya drew this. He was so excited about what a "great job" she did on it! Can you tell what it is?
It's a pig! And I love it. I think it's fantastic that she is starting to draw things that are recognizable. Go Maya!!

Then later, she conked out on the red couch. Poor baby was exhausted after all our smoke alarms went off at 4:45 this morning. Ugh! The darn things are all hard-wired, so it only takes one to trigger the others. And there was no smoke-- I can only guess that dust on one of the sensors triggered the alarm. All the backup batteries have been replaced, and I also went through and vacuumed all of the alarms today (there are a LOT of them!). I put them all back up, and now I am crossing my fingers that we don't get a repeat performance tonight. They are so LOUD. I mean, I guess that's the point, but I was still "hearing" them for hours after it happened. And the adrenaline rush made it really hard to go back to sleep. I was a little jealous when I saw this:
And that's it, for now! I'm tired!

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P.S. I just wanted to share this picture, since I am obsessed with local birds, haha! This would be the omnipresent American Robin. These guys looooooove our yard, and are always out there. They aren't the brightest, but they are entertaining! :)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day, here's a picture of our little slice of heaven. I seriously love our back yard, especially now that the greenery is filling in! I know it will be my absolute favorite place once we build a deck (on the first floor... we already have a small deck on the second story, which is where I took the photos for this composite picture from). It is so beautiful! And the green seems to pop even more when the skies are gray and rainy like they are today. Love it!
Also in honor of Earth Day (sort of... ha), Gus and I spent a few hours removing boards from our attic. We have a company coming soon to air-seal the entire house, and install some additional insulation up there, and removing the boards was something we had to do before they could complete the work. This is all related to the energy assessment I had done for us back at the end of January. Yes, it's taken that long! The program (and the associated discounts that come with it) is very popular, and they handle a high volume of requests. Still, I am excited to lower our heating costs even further next winter, and reduce our dependency on oil. So if that isn't a good Earth Day activity, I don't know what is!

Anyhow, it was brutal. We actually have two (more like three) attics, with total floorspace of around 2,000 square feet. Yes. VERY large. The original (circa 1830) attic is the one we use to store things, and it has more than enough room. It has a walk-up staircase, floor boards, windows, and a light. It's a very nice attic, actually! I got everything out of there and put it into our weird little "extra" room on the second floor, so we are all set. The company is going to blow additional high-density insulation down between the floorboards in that attic.

From that main attic, there is actually a hatch that opens up on the side, leading to the next attic. This attic is at least twice the size, but it's not finished. And it's more like two attics, since there is a crawl-though opening into another arm at the far end (so it's shaped like an L). We were suprised to see that there were actually three lightbulbs with pull-chains in there, though! So no need for work lamps or flashlights. And there were a bunch of pieces of plywood that had been laid across the beams to make it easier to walk around in. These are what we needed to remove, because the company will be putting in a ton more insulation in here. About half of the boards were just resting there, but the other half were nailed down. And all of them were too big to fit through the hatch into the main attic. So Gus ripped them up, used his reciprocating saw to cut them into smaller pieces, and then it was my job to get on my hands and knees and wiggle them through the hatch and into the main attic. Once we got them all in the main attic, Gus backed his truck up to the front door and we relayed them all down the two flights of stairs. My arms and legs feel like jelly now! But the attic is totally ready for the workers now, and that's one less thing to worry about. Which is good, since Maya's birthday party is next weekend! And we will have houseguests starting on Friday night. So it feels really good to check that off the list!

Gus also managed to get almost two tons of wood pellets down to our basement yesterday. And I think I have figured out a good system for really spreading the heat from our pellet stove around our house more effectively. Again reducing the need for heating oil! Love it!

And that is all. It's rainy. Gus and I are exhausted, and Maya is conked out on the couch. Nikos never got dressed today, and is still wearing his pajamas. It's been that sort of day!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

First Game of the Season!

The video really says it all, haha! Today was awesome! I brought my good camera with me to get some cool action shots of our boy, but suddenly remembered that it also had video capabilities. I don't normally use it for video because a) the video files are HUGE and fill up my card, and b) it drains the battery really quickly. But I thought t-ball would be much funnier in video format, ha! Nikos actually did really great, but got a little confused in his second at-bat. Make sure you keep watching the video. It gets hilarious when it's time for him to run to second base!
I also took some (okay, a LOT of) still photos... but I will spare you all and only share three!
So yes, it was fun. I talked with a few other moms on the team, which was also nice. One of them lives right down the road from us! After the game, we went to a hot dog truck in Worcester for lunch. Nikos had been begging to go there, and we thought it would be a good way to celebrate his first game. As it was, it wasn't very impressive, and the kids hardly ate anything. Oh well. Now we know, right? I capped off the afternoon by getting a pedicure with my friend Caryn, and then playing outside some more with the kids. It's supposed to rain for the next few days, so we enjoyed ourselves outdoors while we could!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Dandelions

Self explanatory... another beautiful Spring day! Stay tuned tomorrow for Nikos' first t-ball game. I can't WAIT!!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Spring Fever

Today was another beautiful day! I am loving it! The kids played outside for hours, and I basked in the sun and had fun taking some macro pictures of the flowers around our yard. I may be losing my battle against the dandelions, but at least they are photogenic! We ate lunch with Gus, but otherwise stayed home and enjoyed the weather. All in all, a great day!







And look at all the green out there in "no man's land"! It is shocking how quickly these plants have sprung back to life. I am not used to living in a place with such distinct seasons!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Bugs

So, Massachusetts has a lot of bugs! I mean, bugs are pretty much everywhere, but these bugs have come to life with a vengeance. We had such a mild winter, too, that a lot of bugs that should have been killed simply weren't. So we are bug-tastic right now! I really need to buy some bug repellant. I've already got a few itchy bites on my hands and arms, and they are driving me bonkers!

Anyway, we also had a carpenter ant situation. They are really common around here, and this is the time of year they become really active. Well, they were finding their way into our kitchen, and that was NOT COOL. It's not cool to have ANY bugs in one's kitchen, but carpenter ants are especially awful. They are over half an inch long! *shudder*

At any rate, we bought some indoor spray that pretty effectively made them stop coming inside, but we knew we needed to treat the outside as well. Left untreated, carpenter ants will nest inside walls and wooden structures and do some pretty serious damage (the expensive kind!). So... I called a few pest control places, and settled on a local operation. They came out today for the initial treatment, and will continue to come out periodically over the next year. Their prices were so reasonable compared to the national chains I called (one of whom wanted over $1000 just to treat the carpenter ant situation-- nothing else). As of now, we have guaranteed ongoing protection from roaches, ants, centipedes, millipedes, bees, hornets, wasps, silverfish, earwigs, pillbugs, crickets, and spiders, and they also do periodic monitoring for subterranean termites. I feel SO much better... especially since I found an empty paper wasp's nest hanging from our eaves this morning! And all the people at this company were very friendly and pleasant to talk to (while the guy at the national place seriously seemed bent on getting as much money out of me as possible, and was rattling off a scripted speech). Gus and I both feel really good about giving our money to a local business. Plus, I think we will continue to get great service. Very cool!

After the guy was done, we played outside some more (away from the house, since he sprayed). It was in the high sixties today, which meant it was very comfortable outside but not what I'd consider "warm"-- still, I had on a t-shirt and jeans and was just fine. I love this kind of weather!

Eventually, a giant truck showed up carrying four tons of pellets for our pellet stove. Yup, you read that correctly. Four TONS. Eight thousand pounds. Two hundred forty-pound bags (each about the size of a bag of dirt/mulch from the garden store). Thankfully, the driver was fantastic, and he was able to maneuver his forklift to get all four pallets into our garage. Now we can take our time unloading! As it is, I have carried exactly ten bags down to the basement, and I am tired! I have no idea how long it will take us to get all four tons down there! Crazy!

Even crazier, a big car accident took place right there while we were standing in the driveway! We live on a corner, and I am pretty sure one of the two cars was trying to make a left turn, and didn't see the other one coming. I'm not sure exactly what happened, because I was standing on the wrong side of the big delivery truck when I heard the collision. Fortunately, there was a police car already there, and he flipped on his lights and called the others. Everyone got out of both cars on their own and appeared to be okay, but all the emergency vehicles arrived anyway (fire truck, ambulance, about six police cars, and eventually two tow trucks). It was literally RIGHT there. I watched the whole aftermath, since I was out there directing the delivery of the pellets. And the kids were super excited to watch all the emergency vehicles from the front window. Traffic was really messed up, though, seeing as how we live on the main road in and out of town. I really hope everyone is okay, because their cars most definitely were not. It was so surreal!

And that was our day, in a nutshell. Now our garage is full of bags of wood pellets. Guess I will be getting an upper body workout!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Sweet Green Grass

I was trying to think of a title for this post, and "sweet green grass" kept popping into my head. Nikos says this all the time when we're outside, referring to the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, of which he is a big fan lately. But it seems fitting for today's post, so there you go!

Today was another beautiful day. Perhaps even more beautiful because it was a little cooler (high seventies) and there was a nice breeze. The kids even let me sleep in until seven o'clock, which was sort of a miracle! We had a lovely lazy morning in our pajamas, since we didn't have any urgent plans or anything. It was a nice change of pace from our usual Tuesday schedule. I love Spring Break!

Eventually, we got dressed and blew bubbles outside. Then we had a picnic. I took a few pictures, but mostly just enjoyed basking in the sun. It was far too cozy!


After lunch, I finally got my act together and we went to the market. And the dollar store, which is right next door to the market. And then the farm, because Nikos insisted that we get FARM milk, and I don't blame him (it really does taste better!). We had a lovely visit with the chickens, goats, and the lone llama, and Nikos was very excited to see a tractor drive by (and the guy waved at him, making it that much more cool!).

Once we got home, I got the kids busy playing with water blasters so that I could spread chemicals on our lawn. Weed and Feed, to be precise. We have a MAJOR dandelion situation, and I was told by the lady at the hardware store this was our best bet. And you know what? Three-quarters of an acre doesn't seem THAT big until you have to walk back and forth and back and forth and back and forth... you get the idea. It was brutal! I was sweating like a pig! I think I walked a few miles, just spreading this stuff! But it's done now. So we shall see if it helps.

Later in the evening, while Gus was getting the kids ready for bed, I was looking out our bedroom window and noticing how things had changed over the past few days. The dusky light really made all the greens pop out at me... and it was amazing to see just how much more green there was! The slightest hint of warm weather, and everything here goes bananas (including the bugs, but that's another post for another time). Just a few weeks ago, all the trees in the low area behind the swing set were barren. Now, that whole area has a greenish tinge to it. It amazes me! And I know it will only get better, since this yard was surrounded by a wall of lush greenery when we first saw it last summer. I can't wait!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Hot Hot Hot

It was a HOT one today! And I loved every second, haha! I think I appreciate it so much more now than I did before. Cold weather will do that to you!

Anyway, the high today was right around 90 degrees. Throw in a little humidity, and it felt hotter than that. It was so weird to wake up and already have an outdoor temperature in the 70s. It was warmer outside than inside the house at 7am! I promptly threw open the windows to fully enjoy it! And the kids were more than cooperative when it came to getting dressed, because they were eager to get outside and play. It was already around 80 when we went out back at 9am to check on our berry bushes... Nope, no berries yet! But the leaves are starting to fill in, so that's something!

At 10am, we met up with Caryn and her kids at the town park, where we played in the hot sun until we couldn't stand it anymore.

Then we drove across the street to the local diner for some lunch. All four kids were warm and cranky, so it wasn't exactly the best dining experience, but we survived! And luckily, the people working there were super nice about our semi-chaotic collection of children. It could have been worse, I suppose!

The rest of the afternoon, Nikos insisted that I play t-ball with him outside. He is positively obsessed! But it's fun to see him figuring out all the pieces of the puzzle. And he is SO enthusiastic about it! Even though I was sweating like crazy, it was so awesome to see him get so into it. He's gotten really good at hopping right into "ready position," like so:

After practicing batting and running the bases for a bit, Nikos announced that we needed to look for my baseball mitt. So all three of us marched up to the (sweltering!) attic, where I knew it would be. Luckily, I located it pretty quickly. We marched back downstairs, and Nikos and I played catch for I-don't-know-how-long. Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore! I was hot, and so was Maya. So I sought refuge in the shady upstairs portion of the swingset, which had a nice breeze. Maya came, too, and I tried to take a picture of us both. Yeah. That didn't turn out so well. It makes me laugh, though, haha!

Finally, it was time for REAL t-ball practice. Nikos had a great time, though he wasn't quite himself. He was up a few times last night, so I think he was tired to begin with. And I think he fought off whatever disease was bothering him yesterday. Add in the fact that we were out in the heat a LOT today, and he was sort of spacey. Still, he had fun! And I was actually able to sit and talk with some of the other parents, who were all very friendly. I feel like I keep using that word to describe everyone I meet here! But seriously, everyone in town is so nice! I have felt very welcomed here. And Nikos' coach is hilarious (you probably have to be to coach t-ball, haha!). Here are a few "action shots" of our boy... they did a lot more today! Their first big game is on Saturday, ack!


But the highlight of the day, by FAR, was when Nikos got his uniform! He got the pants and shirt today, and the hat and socks are coming soon. He was so excited! Their shirts are blue, and the coach had them all brainstorm names for their team. Nikos shot his hand into the air and suggested they call themselves "The Blue Team." hehe! I love it! Another little boy suggested "The Red Team," (ha!) and then one blurted out "The Bluebirds!" The coach made an executive decision and announced that they would be The Blue Jays. And our boy is number 6. He was soooooooooo excited to come home and show Daddy his cool baseball uniform!

Anyway... the windows are all still open, and it's so nice to listen to all the frogs chirping outside. I look forward to when the weather is consistently warm like this! As it is, tomorrow should be in the seventies, with things cooling down toward the weekend. I will enjoy this while it lasts!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Easter, Part 2

So, the Greek Easter Bunny came today! He brought all sorts of goodies (courtesy of yiayia and papou), and the kids began their day by once again feasting on candy. It's a rough life! I had meant to do another egg hunt outside, but we ran out of time today. But we'll do it another day this week!

The reason we ran out of time was that we had a birthday party today. Little Paige is two years old! I had helped Caryn get things ready on Friday, and was then assigned to be the official photographer today. It was a lot of fun! Her friends and family are all very friendly and fun-loving people, and I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them (many of whom I'd already met at one point or another). I was actually surprised to realize that I knew so many of them, but it definitely made the party that much more enjoyable. The kids were right at home, of course, since this was their third time over there this week, haha! Here are just a few pictures from the party... I took about a million!



Right when Paige was blowing out her candles, Gus showed up! He was actually in Chile all this past week on business, and we knew he'd meet up with us at the party, but seeing the kids' reaction was heartwarming nonetheless. It almost makes me want to go away for a while (key word: almost!). They were SO happy to see their daddy again, and smothered him with kisses and hugs. So, so sweet!

Gus got to eat some lunch and meet pretty much everyone. And then he made Nikos very happy by pushing him on the swings for a long time. So long, in fact, that I decided to just go inside and help Caryn start packing up the food. A few minutes later, Gus walked in with a very sleepy? sad? Nikos in his arms. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but he did NOT look happy. At that point, we called it a day and headed back home.

Once we got back, Nikos fell asleep on the couch almost instantly. And when he woke up about an hour later, it wasn't too long before he burst into tears. We had such a hard time figuring out what the problem was! He said he hurt, pointing roughly to where his appendix is (yes, that freaked me out!). I tried putting him on the toilet-- no success. I asked him if he thought he was going to throw up, and he said yes. So I grabbed a trash can. He leaned over and gagged a few times, but nothing came out. After that, he calmed down and said he just needed to rest. So, we did exactly that. Later, he ate a small dinner and seemed pretty much okay, aside from being tired. He actually asked to go to bed early! And he feels a little warm to me, but is sleeping just fine. So, we shall see what tomorrow brings. I know there are some bugs going around right now. I really hope he is back to his normal, happy self when he wakes up in the morning!

And that was pretty much our day! Tomorrow, the high temperature is supposed to get close to ninety degrees! Hard to believe. If Nikos is feeling alright, we might go check out an indoor play place and then eat lunch at the hot dog cart by the lake (Nikos has been begging to go there every time we drive by). We shall see!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Take a Hike!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous spring day! I knew it was going to be nice when I came downstairs at 7am and the temperature was already hovering around sixty degrees. And I'd been wanting to explore some of the parks and trails nearby, so I quickly got my chores done so we could get out and have an adventure!

We decided to check out a segment of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail. And I am so glad we did, because I felt like I discovered something really cool! The rail trail is basically what it sounds like... An old, damaged rail line was removed to make a walking/biking trail for the public. The line is over seventy miles long, and various towns and organizations have been working for years on cleaning up their portions (our town has two chunks that just don't connect, but are otherwise completely done). Ultimately, the goal is to connect them all together. But for now, we just picked the longer chunk to explore.

It was so fun! The trail is wide and flat, and runs along all sorts of lakes, ponds, streams, and swampy areas. There were other people out there enjoying the trail as well, but it still felt very private and secluded. I actually had a little moment when we went off the trail for a minute to peek at this stream. I heard a noise right by us, and my first instinct was that it was a moose, and that we needed to RUN back to the trail! haha! I now think it was a bird (oops!). But I wouldn't have been too surprised to find moose or beavers along the trail.

The only thing that would have made the hike better would have been if Maya had wanted to actually walk. I carried her 90% of the time, which means I got an excellent workout, ha! I think I will bring the wagon or even a little stroller next time. Nikos had a blast running all over the place, but Maya insisted that she was too tired to walk. sigh! I was the tired one, after carrying her for a mile or two! We finally stopped to take a little snack break on a bench by the lake. They were not exactly cooperative when I said I wanted to take a picture of the three of us, but oh well!

After we made it back to our car, we ran to the store for a few things, then came home for lunch. The kids wolfed down their food, because they were so eager to go back outside and enjoy the sunny, seventy-degree day. Nikos and I dragged all his t-ball stuff outside so he could practice, and practice we did! I had bought a set of bases at the store when we were out, so I set them up and we worked on hitting the ball and then running in the right direction. We took turns hitting and fielding, and I really think he learned a lot! He still throws his glove off the moment I hit the ball ("because it gets in the way!"), and we had a few moments where he didn't exactly run to the right base, but it was starting to click. He is still SO excited about his next practice. And I am excited for his first game, a week from today! I bought us some decent folding chairs for the sidelines, since there are no bleachers at the t-ball field. We are all set!

And that was pretty much our day! We stayed outside for as long as we could handle, but then we were sweaty and tired. We came inside to rest for a bit, and the sky almost instantly clouded over and the wind picked up. It's supposed to rain tonight, but then get progressively warmer (to almost ninety degrees!) over the next few days. Still, I am glad we made the most of the best part of the day! And YAY for discovering the Rail Trail! I can't wait to explore it some more!