Spring? Could it be?

At the risk of jinxing things... Today finally felt like spring!! It was 53 degrees, the warmest it has been in a long time, and sunny!!! We still have snow in the shady parts of the back yard, but I walked outside this morning and was amazed at how comfortable it felt. I quickly got a shovel and cleared off our second-floor deck, and we ate lunch outside! It was GLORIOUS!

And, shortly after we sat down, a CARDINAL flew out of the woods and landed on my new bird feeder! I was beside myself-- the cardinals are the main reason I bought my feeder last year, and then another one this year. I have been trying to lure them out of the trees for a while now. And there was one, right in plain sight! And I didn't have my camera!! I ran back inside to grab it, but it flew away the minute I came back out. I did see where it went, though, and got this really terrible picture. Yup. A red blob in a tangle of branches. But it's the only cardinal photo I've gotten so far! I think I am going to sit out there and watch the feeder tomorrow, haha! I got lots of chickadee pictures, though. They were very happy with the feeder! While I was trying to take photos of birds, the kids were enjoying being outside without the need for hats or mittens! Maya wore a hat, but she ALWAYS wears that hat these days. She even sleeps in it. So it wasn't because she was cold or anything! They had to wear their rain boots because of the snow around the swing set, but most of the yard was grassy. I brought out our picnic blanket and basked in the warm sun. It felt SO good!
(and yes, Maya's boots are on the wrong feet. I told her, but she wouldn't hear it. And Gus had the day off work for Good Friday)
Oh! And I nearly forgot! I registered for another 5K this morning, and signed Nikos up for the corresponding kids' race! It's a 1 mile race, right here in town, and he is SO excited! But I wanted to get him some decent athletic shoes, so we went shopping this morning. He was instantly drawn to this pair, mainly because they had the letter N on them! Of course, it's the logo for New Balance. But in our boy's mind, it stood for Nikos! He is very proud of his new shoes, and wore them all day (except when I made him wear his rain boots). He also insists that they make him run extra fast. I can't wait to see him run in this race!!

Just a little update...

All is well here! I've been busy with photo sessions, and editing has consumed most of my evenings, which is why I haven't been posting. But things really are going well. Busy, as always, but good!

This past weekend was pretty laid back, for a change. We had the town Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning, which was hilarious. We got about 6 inches of snow last week from winter storm Ukko and, while it has melted quite a bit, there was still a lot on the ground by the community center! It made hunting for eggs less-than-challenging. Can you see why? It was also VERY cold that morning, and the hunt itself really only lasted a few minutes. We had a few flurries of snow, even! But the kids were very happy with the candy they got, and are excited for another hunt this weekend (and another in May, when Orthodox Easter rolls around! They are really far apart this year). I snapped this really quickly before we ran inside to get warm. Not exactly your typical egg hunt, haha!
The rest of the weekend was spent mostly lounging around. We ran a few errands, and Nikos had ice skating yesterday, but he and Gus spent a lot of time playing Lego: Star Wars together (a gift from yiayia and papou this past week). I think that's one of my favorite games for the Wii, now. It's so fun!!

Anyway... This morning, I finished editing and uploading my most recent client gallery, so I was all caught up. I made it my mission to get the kids outside. This crazy-long winter has kept us cooped up more often than we like, and it was definitely time to get out and run around! Half of the yard was covered with snow, and half wasn't, so I made them wear their snow gear-- knowing full well that, if they didn't, they would wind up falling in the snow and getting soaked/freezing. Of course! I think it ended up being a good idea, particularly since it clouded over and got chilly while we were out there. I blew bubbles for them to pop until my fingers went numb, but then they were left to their own devices so I could put gloves on:
Meanwhile, I did some birdwatching. In the year that we've lived here, I have become mildly obsessed with all the amazing wildlife and plants that thrive here. The birds are my favorites! This little chickadee started visiting my window feeder this weekend, and I had gotten a good picture of him this morning:
While I was outside with the kids, I heard chirping, and followed the sound... only to find a good ten or more chickadees, talking to each other in the woods next to our house! I snapped this picture of one on a branch, but they were all over the area. SO CUTE!!
I had also planned to get some pictures of the robins that have overtaken our yard. A real sign of spring, even if we still have snow on the ground! They are the silliest birds! They're like pigeons! They just like to poke around in the grass for bugs, or worms, or seeds, or whatever it is that they eat. But of course, they flew off as soon as we went outside, and came back the minute we went in. I snapped this photo from the dining room-- which is also where I realized that the robins weren't the only birds poking around out there!
I sent this picture to my bird-nerd friend, who informed me that the little birds I saw were Juncos, or "Snowbirds." They aren't generally seen a lot in the spring/summer, so it is funny that they were down there foraging with the robins. Goes to show how mixed up our seasons are this year, haha!

Anyway... the forecast is looking nicer for the upcoming weeks, and I am looking forward to the real arrival of spring. It should be over 50 degrees on my birthday-- one week from today! I can't wait to feel warm again!! ------------------------- Oh! And while we're on the subject of birds... I don't think I shared this one from a few weeks ago! A mating pair of bluebirds, splashing in our rain gutters. SO CUTE!

Niko's First 5K

So, despite the fact that I am still sore from really pushing myself last weekend, I did another 5K this morning. The original plan was to drop the kiddos off at my friend Caryn's house during the race, since Gus is out of town, but they both rejected that idea completely. They were mad that they didn't get to go to the race last weekend, and REALLY wanted to go today. Nikos swore he was going to run, but I didn't know if he would actually do it. So I borrowed Caryn's double jogging stroller and hoped for the best! There were a few differences in this morning's 5K. For one, it was FREEZING. Well, technically, it was below freezing. It was 21 degrees when we started, and there were icy patches on the ground. Absolutely frigid! And the course for this race wasn't flat, like the one in the city was. Nope, this was pretty much the exact OPPOSITE of flat-- I don't think there was more than a few feet of flat road along the entire course! It started on a slope, and there were probably three or four good-sized hills before we had to turn around and do them all over again. It was BRUTAL! My legs simply did not want to go.

About half a mile in, though, Nikos threw off the blanket and hopped out of the stroller, ready to run! I quickly took a picture, since I didn't know how long it would last. But he ran the rest of the race!!!!! More than two miles! It was a jog, but I was so totally impressed and surprised. And you should see the look on his face when he talks about it now-- he will tell you that he WON, and that he passed TONS of people! The truth is that we were at the back of the pack, pushing strollers and dealing with various kids melting down (mostly my friends' kiddos). It took us 50 minutes to finish, but it was absolutely, positively EXHAUSTING. Nikos is really eager to run another race, so I am going to look into finding a 1K kids' race for him-- he will love that! As for me, well... As much as I love my kiddos, I don't plan to push them in the stroller in any more races, haha! Everything was twice as hard! I am just as tired, if not more so, than I was after the last race. I am ready for bed, and it's not even dinner time yet!

Once we crossed the finish line, a teenage volunteer handed Nikos a bottle of water, which he will tell you is the PRIZE he got, hehe! We went into the hall (it was at a church) to get some food, but poor Maya was just DONE. So no corned beef for me, sadly! And I will never know if I won any raffle prizes, because you had to be present to win. Oh well! I took my babies and got them treats at Dunkin Donuts, just for being so good. And Nikos practically inhaled them. The kid worked up an appetite! So proud of my little runner!!

My First 5K! And... Theia's First Visit!

Ok, so, since I last posted... Winter storm Rocky snowed on us a bit, but not much. And then winter storm Saturn was expected to bring 4-8 inches of snow. We ended up with almost two feet (and much deeper in some spots!) Of course, the worst part of the storm came through on Friday morning, just as Gus' sister's plane was landing in Boston for a weekend visit. What should have been a three-hour round trip quickly turned into an over-5-hour epic drive through blizzard conditions on slippery roads. I was so, so worried, as I waited for them to get home!! It didn't help as I watched cars fishtail down the road in front of our house! But they made it safely, though they had to park across the street because the driveway was blocked again (and Gus had already cleared it before he left). It was crazy!

Fortunately, the snow stopped pretty much right when the forecasters said it would, at 1pm. Shortly after that, we geared up and the kids got to show their Theia just how much work it is to walk in deep, freshly-fallen snow. haha! Really, it was exhausting. It's so much nicer to play outside when it's just a few inches, and packed down more. Poor Maya will tell you that she "had a lot of problems" out there-- her boot kept coming off, and she just had trouble moving in the deeper parts. Still, I think everyone had fun! And it was warm enough (above freezing) that we could play outside pretty comfortably for as long as we wanted.
By Saturday morning, the roads were pretty clear and the sun was shining-- it made it up to almost 50 degrees! Such a gorgeous day! After I cleared the driveway, we gave Theia the tour of the town, capped off with lunch at Friendly's. After that, we spent a few hours at the kids' science museum. Obligatory picture with Siegfried the stegosaurus: At that point, we were all pretty wiped out. So we had a quiet evening at home. No complaints!

Yesterday, despite the time change, I was up early. I was so nervous! I had never run any sort of race before, and I knew that I was woefully unprepared. I hadn't run in a few weeks... and I had NEVER run more than 2.5 miles at a time. So I had no idea how this 5k would go. And we were stressed out about parking, which ended up being super easy. We (my friends and I) got there sooooo early, haha! We parked pretty much right at the starting/finish line. I'm glad we got there when we did, because it ended up being the largest race ever in the city of Worcester (the second-largest city in MA). Just look at the video from the starting line! We are on the camera side of the street, just after the 1:30 mark. I have a purple shirt, black jacket, a green scarf, and a goofy grin. Click here to see a screen shot! :) So... it was a lot longer than I thought! And the three of us separated pretty quickly, so I was on my own. And there was a hill! Plus it was chilly (32 degrees when we started, and the road was wet and sandy from all the snow removal. BUT... I DID IT!!! I was aiming to do it in under 45 minutes... My official time was 36:44, which SHOCKED me. And I am in agonizing pain today. But, I DID IT!!!!!!!!! And I was also part of setting a record: largest race to ever take place in the city of Worcester. Kind of cool!!

The city's St. Patrick's Day parade started immediately after the race, on the same route. So we walked to a bar on the parade route, where we could stand outside, drink some beer, and watch the parade go by. By that time, it was in the 40s and very sunny-- it felt great! Except I actually got a little sunburn. In Massachusetts. In March. With snow on the ground. haha! Still, it was great. Here's one quick pic from after the race. We were feeling pretty accomplished! After the race and the parade, I came home to a house full of resting people. The four of them had gone to Nikos' ice skating lesson together. Maya was asleep on the couch, leaning up against Theia. Gus was asleep by the fire. And Theia and Niko were watching TV. I was so, SO tempted to fall asleep, too, but I resisted the urge! I took a nice, hot shower, popped some ibuprofen for my aching muscles, and we eventually went out to a lovely dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants.

Today, we spent the morning at home, then headed to the mall after lunch. The mall is halfway between here and the airport, and has become our usual stop when we are saying goodbye to family. We took two cars, so the kids and I could go home while Gus took his sister back to the airport. They had fun at the mall, but the kids literally cried almost all the way home. Even Nikos! Maya would cry for a bit, then feel better, then remember that Theia was leaving and get upset all over again. It was pretty much the saddest thing ever. I think they are both finally old enough to realize that they can't see their family as often as they used to. ugh! It breaks my heart!!!!!!!!

Before we left the house, though, we took a few REAL (non-cell phone) pictures for posterity. So here they are! All in all, it was a great weekend. The kids love their Theia! We hope she comes back again soon!